133 - The Most Creative Startups Build Marketing Into Their Company DNA (Dave Gerhardt, Founder of Exit Five)

WOWZA. Guess who came on to jam with me? YUP. Dave. 

You're gonna love this episode as we dive into what it means to be creative at your startup, why it's so important today and way more. We ran over because there was just so much to talk about (thanks Dave!).

Dave Gerhardt is Founder of Exit Five. He's a former marketing exec at Drift ($1B valuation) and Privy (Series A) and now he's got his company of one. Exit Five (started as DGMG back in the day) is a community for B2B marketing pros with 3,000+ paying members. The main premise: “You didn’t go to school for B2B Marketing, but you can learn through the Exit Five community + podcast.” Dave also does some 1:1 consulting work with a small group of high-growth B2B startups like Metadata and Goldcast and Equals. His book "Founder Brand" was released in 2022 and was an instant #1 best-seller on Amazon in Marketing. He's got 150k+ followers on LinkedIn.

Here's what we hit on:

What does “creative” mean to you (HINT: it doesn't necessarily mean crazy and wild);

Some creative ideas from Dave's time at Drift;

How to have really good taste for what your audience wants;

How to sell the CEO on the creative stuff (HINT: the key to brand building and marketing is not 100% direct response);

When it's OK to have a feeling but not a growth plan;

How to balance creativity with results;

Why and how marketers need to make their ideas and expertise more public inside their company;

Are startups being creative enough? (HINT: No.)

What's stopping startups from being more creative;

Which specific startups ARE being more creative, pushing boundaries, and experimenting with their marketing;

When Dave was at his creative peak (HINT: at Drift we created a lot of demand and raised money);

Why moving fast is so important (not just ideas);

Dave asks me his burning question.

You can find Dave on LinkedIn.

Learn more about Exit Five.

Visit Dave's website davegerhardt.com.

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