Episodes

Udi Ledergor is Chief Evangelist and former CMO at Gong. You can centralize all your revenue workflows in Gong’s Revenue AI Platform. Gong is a Unicorn (last valuation was $7.25B). Total funding $583M. Also check out Ep. 156 “Gong’s Marketing Evolution From Early Stage To Unicorn”. Here’s what we cover: In what ways have customers helped Gong build to the next round; How to create raving fans; Where is Gong placing big bets in 2025; How do you sell to large strategic customers; Where is Udi...

Natalie Marcotullio is Head of Growth & Product Marketing at Navattic. Navattic makes buying easier with interactive demos. Seed funded. Also check out Ep. 139 (be the company that seems to be everywhere), Ep. 180 (podcast, ads, positioning, what’s the ROI) and Ep. 218 (launching the free forever plan). Here’s what we cover: The Navattic Fanatic Customer Event in NYC, what was your goal for the event and did you achieve it; What do you think made the customer event so successful; Anything tha...

Taylor Jennings is lead UX Researcher at Chili Piper. Chili Piper is your all-in-one Demand Conversion Platform. The only solution that consolidates Chat, Routing, and Scheduling all in one platform. They've raised $54.4M. Here’s what we cover: How do you incorporate customer research at Chili Piper; Product research and goals with this research; Pricing research, goals with this research, how you actually did this in the weeds; How have you actually used the research insights; What are you...

Elaine Zelby is Co-Founder and CRO at Tofu. Tofu puts top-of-funnel on autopilot for B2B marketing teams, so you can ship integrated marketing campaigns 8X faster. Series A funded (recent). Also check out Ep. 96 “First Time Founders Think Product Wins, Second Time Founders Know GTM Wins”. Here’s what we cover: Your recent funding round, what did it take to get there (HINT: 4 main things); How do you use tofu at tofu; How do you structure your nurture sequences; How do you incorporate custom...

Megan Bowen is CEO at Refine Labs. Refine Labs is a demand gen agency for growth stage and enterprise B2B SaaS companies. Also check out Ep. 78 "Hire For Customer Success, Not Customer Support." Here’s what we cover: Brand, Demand, and ABM. What's your approach to client work; I’m exploring the role that customers play in helping startups build to the next round - how have you seen this play out with companies you work with; What’s changed about how buyers buy today, and what’s still the same...

Ivan Barajas Vargas is Co-Founder and CEO at Muuktest, world-class QA 100% done-for-you. Seed funded. Here’s what we cover: What is Service-as-a-Software; How do you incorporate customer research at Muuktest; The Mom Test; What are some of your goals with customer research; What questions are you asking; How are you using research insights; Do you ask customers where do they learn and hang out; Why understanding “whole-person” with your research is important and goes beyond just your pro...

Emily Steele is Co-Founder and CEO at Hummingbirds. Mari Tippman is Head of Sales at Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds helps brands drive awareness and sales with hyper-local content creators. The platform connects brands with “hummingbirds” who are trusted friends and neighbors with buying power and local influence. Hummingbirds recently raised Seed funding ($10M total!). Emily has been on the show before, check out Ep. 198 Impressions vs. Engagement: Why Partnering With Smaller Creators Can Actuall...

Peter Mollins is VP of Marketing at Nooks. Nooks just raised Series B funding in October. Woop! With Nooks you can boost pipeline with AI assistants that automate the busywork of dialing, coaching, and prospecting, so sales reps can focus on the human side of selling. Here’s what we cover: Your recent funding round - what did it take to get there; How do you incorporate customer research at Nooks and what have been the results; How do you incorporate customers in your marketing; Peter asks...

I was asked to join a panel for Riverside's event "Content Repurposing: Turn 1 Conversation Into a Full Content Calendar" along with Emily Kramer (MKT1) and Ross Simmonds (Foundation Marketing). 1900 people registered! Really fun conversation and great group. We discuss: What to consider before creating content with repurposing in mind Step-by-step how to recycle and repurpose your content Which posts and methods have worked best The tools and automations to use for repurposing How to decid...

A ton of people I speak to in B2B talk about the JTBD approach. So I had to bring on Bob because I have many questions. Bob Moesta is an entrepreneur and innovator known for his Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) theory. He started 10 companies and is currently the Co-Founder of the Re-Wired Group. Here’s what we cover: Define Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) for someone unfamiliar with it; How sales and buying aren't the same and why that matters; Where did JTBD Theory come from; People don't buy things, they h...

Joseph Lee is Co-Founder & CEO at Syncly (Seed funded). Syncly is a customer feedback analysis platform that let’s you see customer pains and prevents customer churn. Here’s what we cover: How do you incorporate customer research at Syncly? What are your goals; Using the JBTD framework; How have you actually used research insights; How do you connect insights to your product roadmap; Your pricing page takes me to a demo form, why not share at least a range; Challenges with customer researc...

Natalie Marcotullio is Head of Growth and Ops at Navattic (Seed funded). Raman Khanna is Growth Lead at Navattic. Navattic makes buying easier with interactive demos. 28k+ demos built so far. You can also check out Episode 139 and Episode 180 where I had Natalie on. Since 2020, Navattic has been a sales-led company. Plans start at $500/mo. They just released a product-led motion. One interactive demo, free forever. Here’s what we cover: Why’d you decide to go product-led; Why’d you decide to ...

Stella Garber is Co-Founder and CEO at Hoop (Seed). Hoop is AI task management for busy people. From meeting to Slack to yet another meeting to your email inbox, Hoop captures and prioritizes your tasks. Here’s what we cover: How do you incorporate customer research and insights at Hoop, what are your goals; What have been the results; Do you have a systematic approach to customer research; In your research, do you ever ask “why do you think this product can change your life?; ...

Pranav Piyush is Co-Founder and CEO at Paramark. Paramark (Pre-Seed) helps CMOs and CFOs invest in marketing with confidence and predictability. Here’s what we cover: I see the book Alchemy on Pranav's bookshelf and it's about "chasing the magic" so have to ask what got him into it; How do you incorporate customer research at Paramark? What are some of your goals with this research; What have been the results; Why is customer research important; Challenges with customer research; Pranav as...

Hi! I'm back! I missed you. Did you miss me? Well it's a completely different show now, and I can't wait to share more with you. Tiffany McNeil is the coolest brand, innovation, and insights exec you’ll ever meet. Tiffany and I worked together at Del Monte Foods way back in 2010 (!) on the consumer insights and strategy team, specifically consumer food innovation for baby boomers. This was the perfect conversation to kick things off. Here’s what we cover: Let’s first define consumer insights a...

You're a startup founder. You think your product is amazing and feel like more people should be buying. But the road is long and slow. You've got some customers, surely you're on the right path? Why aren't deals closing faster? Why does it feel like a slog? You've tried a bunch of stuff. Or maybe you've tried a couple things, not sure where to go from here. It feels like you're stuck. There's always one thing I ask startup founders: Have you talked to your customers? They almost always say "h...

Hey MSM listener! Anna here, host of the show. I hope you enjoyed Season 4 of Modern Startup Marketing. I'm officially wrapped with this season, but will be back for more in the future. In the meantime, make sure you follow me on LinkedIn where I’ll continue to share top highlights from past pod episodes, and you can sign up to get my monthly startup marketing newsletter where I’m sharing frameworks and insights and cracking some jokes. Peace and love. For more content, subscribe to Modern S...

Ryan Staley is Founder and CEO of Whale Boss where he does sales consulting and AI consulting. I heard Ryan present for an AI session earlier this year and thought “I gotta have him on my show.” So here we are. Here’s what we cover: What AI tools are you mostly into right now; Biggest value use cases from AI for sales and marketing teams; What are you still weary about when it comes to using AI; AMA: Ryan asks me his burning question which actually inspired me to test something. Learn more a...

Sam Dunning is the Founder at Breaking B2B and host of the Breaking B2B podcast (Top 2.5%, 377 episodes). Sam came onto my podcast to talk more about the company he's building, plus: The Breaking B2B podcast is 377 episodes and Top 2.5%. How do you decide what to talk about and who to talk to? Do you have Seasons? How has the show changed over time? What’s been the impact on your business; Sam has been testing outbound cold calling and got surprised by the results; AMA: Sam asks me his burnin...

Hope you're having a meaningful Memorial Day if you're in the US. Sam Dunning (Founder at Breaking B2B) asked me to come onto his podcast "Breaking B2B" via a live session where we talk about the top deadly B2B startup marketing sins, how to avoid them, practical advice you can use right away, and we answer an audience question. Check out more of Breaking B2B: www.breakingb2b.com Here's the full video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRBg1qG3XjI For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing...

For this BONUS episode I brought on a friend. Friend episodes are great because you've talked to this person so many times and they just hit different. Come hang out with us. Meredith Hein is the Founder of Unicorn Content & Growth Marketing where she works with growth stage companies, she also went to Kellogg. Here’s what we cover: On writing books for her clients and what books accomplish; Udi Ledergor (Gong) once said "marketing’s goal is to make sales easier” and that still makes me cring...

Ian Faison is CEO and Founder of Caspian Studios where they create shorts, shows and moonshots (with podcasts and videos) for B2B companies. Ian wrote to me and said “I have an idea for your show…” and when Ian writes with an idea, I will of course say yes. Here’s what we cover: The old and dusty content marketing strategy; The new content marketing strategy and why companies are adopting an Owned Media Portfolio; Examples of shorts, shows and moonshots; How do you create a podcast that brea...

In the last episode, Drew Brucker asked me “What are some creative marketing ideas that you or someone on the show has shared that are 100% worth experimenting with?” Drew, you’re in luck because I focused on creativity in Season 3 of the podcast and then I wrote a whole article called “36 Startups Share Their Top Creative Marketing Ideas” so in this episode I pull out those I believe startups should test. For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever y...

Drew Brucker is the Founder and Creative Director at brainchild, a solo agency that helps brands with their creative and marketing execution. He's also master of Midjourney (genAI that generates beautiful images). Here’s what we cover: Why are you going big on Midjourney; What are some of your best prompts; How will Midjourney impact photography in the future; Why images are so important for standing out and how to leverage that; How can early stage startups incorporate Midjourney into thei...