I invited Lee Anne Grant, Chief Growth Officer at babylist, onto the show and we unpacked some very cool stuff happening at their startup. Prior to babylist, Lee Anne held sales roles at Google, AOL, POPSUGAR and Brandless. Babylist was founded in 2011, has 212 people, and is based out of CA (also remote). They've raised Series C ($40.7M total). Babylist is the leading vertical marketplace and commerce destination for baby, driving purchase decisions for more than 8 million people each year! Bab...
Aug 01, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 103
Have you ever met a workplace futurist before? Well, let me tell ya, they're pretty awesome and very helpful in exploring what's to come in the future of (all) work plus specific to marketers. Marti Konstant is a workplace futurist and best-selling author of “Activate Your Agile Career: How Responding to Change will Inspire Your Life's Work.” She's also the owner of Konstant Change. Prior, Marti held marketing and demand gen roles at Samsung and Open Kernel Labs (acquired by General Dynamics). T...
Jul 25, 2022•49 min•Season 2Ep. 102
A request I've gotten from listeners is to bring on a VC firm to talk through “the view from the VC side” so here we go (again)! I invited Andrew Bluestein, Managing Partner at Bluestein Ventures, to join me on the show and talk about the future of food, how the pandemic has affected food startups, what they're looking for before they decide to invest in a startup, and so much more. I know Andrew from our days at Kellogg! And we recently saw each other at Kellogg's 10-year reunion. More about Bl...
Jul 18, 2022•48 min•Season 2Ep. 101
Thanks for your patience, I usually post these episodes on Mondays MUCH earlier but we just got back from a road trip and I rushed over to the computer almost as soon as we got back :) WOW! 100 episodes, I can't even believe it. Thank you to all my listeners, my fans, my guests, for being a part of something that I wanted to build so I could share what top startups and leaders are doing, what’s working, what’s not, just being very transparent. Truly a labor of love. Don't forget to leave a...
Jul 11, 2022•41 min•Season 2Ep. 100
To all my US listeners, Happy 4th of July 🎉🎉 I first heard Jay Acunzo speak on Mark Schaefer’s podcast Marketing Companion and have been following him ever since. Jay says "Don't market more. Matter more." I agree so so so much with that statement. Jay is a content entrepreneur, host of the podcast Unthinkable, writes the weekly newsletter Playing Favorites, author of the book Break the Wheel, and develops podcasts and docuseries for B2B brands. In his prior lives, Jay worked in marketing and ...
Jul 04, 2022•52 min•Season 2Ep. 99
***This was my most engaging LinkedIn post across 2 years of posts*** Time for another solo episode! I started creating TikTok videos and posting them to LinkedIn. So I'm stripping out the audio and adding it to the podcast. People asking me: “Anna, does your podcast drive leads?" Me: “No." People: "Then WHY are you doing it??" Most people think about marketing in terms of "will this get me leads" (lead gen) Few think about marketing in terms of "will this be really good content for my target au...
Jul 01, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 98
I brought back Amy Volas, founder and CEO of Avenue Talent Partners, to talk about how marketing and sales have fundamentally changed (and also what has remained the same). Last time I had Amy on was last summer, Episode 40! So I was so glad to have her back. Love her. Amy helps startups hire sales leaders without the cringe. She has been a sales leader at ZipRecruiter, Indeed, and Yahoo!, she has personally closed $100MM+ in revenue and counting, and she's got 70+ recommendations on LinkedIn. S...
Jun 27, 2022•16 min•Season 2Ep. 97
A request that I've gotten from listeners is to bring on a VC firm to talk through “the view from the VC side” so here we go! I invited Elaine Zelby, Partner at SignalFire, to join me and talk about all things investing in startups, building a strong relationship with port companies, product market fit and what that actually means and how that's changed over time, and more. I’ve helped advise and have also worked with SignalFire’s portfolio companies on their marketing efforts. More about Elaine...
Jun 20, 2022•28 min•Season 2Ep. 96
TL;DR If you love mac n' cheese and you haven't tried Goodles yet then you're in for a wild ride. Seriously, just had them this weekend and my tummy is happy and my body is thanking me. I invited Jen Zeszut, co-founder and CEO at Goodles, onto the show and we talked about how their small startup has grown so much, so fast. Prior to Goodles, Jen was CEO at Cerebelly (baby food for healthy brain development). Prior to that she was co-founder and CRO at Beckon (SaaS, raised $44M). Goodles was found...
Jun 13, 2022•47 min•Season 2Ep. 95
Time for another solo episode! It's fast but packs a punch. I started creating TikTok videos and posting them to LinkedIn and so far it's going well and I love how it takes less than 5 minutes to record, add a title, and add captions and do it all myself. Talk about scrappy AND engaging. Video works, ya'll. So I'm stripping out the audio and adding it to the podcast. I was asked on a recent discovery call: “Where should we prioritize marketing in the funnel, TOF? Middle? Bottom to help close? Wi...
Jun 10, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 94
I had the pleasure of talking to Maya Grossman, Founder of Maya Grossman Consulting, about her experiences as VP of Marketing and how she prioritized her marketing efforts in those critical first 90 days. Maya has 15+ years of marketing experience building brands and driving growth at companies like Microsoft, Google, and most recently Canvas. As the VP of Marketing at Canvas she built the marketing team, grew qualified pipeline 3X Q/Q, doubled ARR Y/Y, and helped secure Series C at $400M valuat...
Jun 06, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 93
Time for another solo episode! It's fast but packs a punch. I started creating TikTok videos pretty much weekly and posting them to LinkedIn and so far it's going well and I love how it takes less than 5 minutes to record, add a title, and add captions and do it all myself. Talk about scrappy AND engaging. Video works, ya'll. So I'm stripping out the audio and adding it to the podcast. As a mentor at Growth Mentor I talk to a few startups every Friday about their marketing challenges and specifi...
Jun 03, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 92
Happy Memorial Day if you're in the US! WOWZA these episodes are popular...so let's keep this going! Sprinkling in another episode for the "Marketing Planning Series" where I invite back top startup founders and marketing leaders to talk about their marketing plans going into 2022. We'll dive into marketing channels, budget, resources and so much more. Kyle Lacy is SVP of Marketing at Seismic (Series G). Prior, Kyle was CMO at Lessonly (Series C) for almost 5 years where he 20X’d revenue g...
May 30, 2022•24 min•Season 2Ep. 91
I invited Kathleen Booth, SVP Marketing at Tradeswell, to the show and we had a blast talking about how to do marketing the way it SHOULD be done - with a customer/audience-first approach focused on community, great content, and building a brand that people love, whether they buy from you or not. Prior to Tradeswell, Kathleen served as CMO at clean.io (Series A). She's also the host of The Inbound Success Podcast and Board-level advisor to several tech startups. Tradeswell was founded in 2...
May 23, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 89
Time for another solo episode! This one's fast but packs a punch. I started creating TikTok videos weekly and posting them to LinkedIn and so far it's going well and I love how it takes just 4 minutes to record, add a title, and add captions and do it all myself. Talk about scrappy AND engaging. Video works, ya'll. So I'm stripping out the audio and adding it to the podcast. In this quick episode, I cover my conversation with someone I know at a super cool VC firm that helps his portfolio of com...
May 20, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 89
Hi and welcome or welcome back! You're going to love this episode. I've known about Justin Welsh since I saw him in a video clip with Chris Walker about 2 years ago, and I've been following his journey ever since. Justin Welsh is the founder of Justin Welsh Media. He's an angel investor in B2B SaaS and an advisor for healthcare SaaS. He has built digital courses for how to get followers and customers from LinkedIn and Twitter. He would know. Justin has almost 200k followers on LI and almost 65k ...
May 16, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 88
When I say "no fridge needed and 90 second convenience" what comes to mind? Well soon, my friend, you will be seeing Proper Good everywhere. I invited Christopher Jane, co-founder and CEO at Proper Good, to talk about his delicious company and what they're working on with their marketing efforts. Prior, Christopher was co-founder and CEO at Montana Mex (clean label seasonings, sauces and oils carried by Whole Foods, H-E-B, Albertsons and more). Proper Good was founded in 2020, is based out of Au...
May 09, 2022•39 min•Season 2Ep. 87
WOW these episodes are popular...so let's keep this going! Sprinkling in another episode for the "Marketing Planning Series" where I invite back top startup founders and marketing leaders to talk about their marketing plans going into 2022. We'll dive into marketing channels, budget, resources and so much more. Rob Singer is CMO at Remitly. Prior, Rob was CMO at Ancestry.com, and at Smule, and at Habit. I've had Rob on before - check out Episode 17! Remitly was founded in 2011, has 1,264 people ...
May 02, 2022•25 min•Season 2Ep. 86
We talk about how important storytelling and emotional connection is for really great marketing. But can banking be emotional? You betcha. I brought on a creative leader to talk about how and why it's important to nail this. Matthieu Silberstein is VP of Creative Marketing at Lili. Matt works on commercials, PR, influencers, podcasts, social, content, media partnerships, OOH, and creative writing including voice and storytelling. Matt also owns his own business, creating video conten...
Apr 25, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 85
Welcome back! As you may have heard, I'm intrigued by category design. I've had both Christopher Lochhead and Andy Raskin on the show to chat more on the topic, and those are actually some of the more popular episodes on the podcast. Josh Lowman helps startups (like Robinhood, Newsela, Uber, Bizzabo, and Clari) create and own their category. I wanted to bring Josh onto the show and dig into exactly HOW he helps startups design categories and learn about some specific examples. Josh i...
Apr 18, 2022•25 min•Season 2Ep. 84
I'm SO excited to bring you this episode on the MSM podcast. Many marketers are struggling to prove the ROI/value from their audio/video content but deep down we KNOW it's the good stuff. It's why we became marketers in the first place! The gems dropped throughout this episode are so valuable. Holly Pels is VP of Marketing at Casted. Prior, Holly was Director of Marketing at Emarsys (Series B SaaS acquired by SAP). Casted was founded in 2019, already has 58 people, and they've raised Series A ($...
Apr 11, 2022•52 min•Season 2Ep. 83
WOW these episodes are popular...which tells me that folks are lovin' the series...so let's keep this going! Sprinkling in another episode for the "Marketing Planning Series" where I invite back top startup founders and marketing leaders to talk about their marketing plans going into 2022. We'll dive into marketing channels, budget, resources and so much more. Alvaro De La Rocha is CMO at Bespoke Post. Previously he held roles at Ogilvy and Microsoft on the product/marketing side. We also went t...
Apr 04, 2022•28 min•Season 2Ep. 82
Hello and welcome back! On this episode of MSM not only do we talk startup marketing, but Dean also throws in some great life advice. We talk money. We talk kids. We chat about how parents traditionally handle money with their kids and why it's time to revamp that approach. Dean Brauer is co-founder and president at GoHenry (US). Prior, Dean held senior roles at leading advertising and digital agencies for PlayStation, Unilever and O2 (a large European telco). GoHenry was founded in 2012, is bas...
Mar 28, 2022•47 min•Season 2Ep. 81
I had the pleasure of welcoming Nairi Hourdajian (VP of Communications, Content and Community Marketing at Figma) to the show. Nairi is also the founding member of All Raise (programs to accelerate the success of female founders and funders to build a more prosperous, equitable future). She has held marketing leadership roles at Canaan (early stage VC firm) and Uber. Figma was founded in 2012, has 550 people, and is based out of San Francisco, CA. They've raised Series E funding ($332.9M total)....
Mar 21, 2022•44 min•Season 2Ep. 80
These episodes are pretty popular, which tells me that folks are lovin' the series, so let's keep this going! Sprinkling in another episode for the "Marketing Planning Series" where I invite back top startup founders and marketing leaders to talk about their marketing plans going into 2022. I get questions from startups about this a lot (especially as the marketing landscape has changed so much throughout the pandemic). We'll dive into marketing channels, budget, resources and so much more. Kris...
Mar 14, 2022•24 min•Season 2Ep. 79
Megan Bowen is COO at Refine Labs. If you don't know her, you're missing out because she's a smart, kind and genuine leader. Prior to Refine Labs, Megan was VP of Customer Success at Platterz, COO at Managed by Q, and held leadership roles at GrubHub and ZocDoc. I’ve had MJ Peters, now at Refine Labs, on the show (Episode 9 - we talked a lot about voice of customer research and insights) and of course Chris Walker (Episode 35 - “over-prioritizing sales is your SaaS startup’s biggest mistake”). N...
Mar 07, 2022•41 min•Season 2Ep. 78
These episodes are pretty popular, which tells me that folks are lovin' the series, so let's keep this going! Sprinkling in another episode for the "Marketing Planning Series" where I invite back top startup founders and marketing leaders to talk about their marketing plans going into 2022. I get questions from startups about this a lot (especially as the marketing landscape has changed so much throughout the pandemic) so I know this is on people's minds. We'll dive into marketing channels, budg...
Feb 28, 2022•26 min•Season 2Ep. 77
Hey everyone. So I have not done a solo episode in a WHILE and I thought "hey, it's time." I did a OneGuide Marketing Roundtable a while back and answered these 10 questions from CEOs of tech companies. What's OneGuide? OneGuide is like your on-demand advisory board >> expert calls and written how-to guides for fast-growing B2B companies. Check them out here: https://askoneguide.com/ Here are the questions I answer in this episode: 1. What are best practices to convert leads into customers...
Feb 25, 2022•22 min•Season 2Ep. 76
I got a chance to speak with Jen Root, co-founder and VP of Marketing at Manifest Commerce, and it was a great convo with an early stage startup that's got some exciting stuff in the works plus a "sprint and fix" mentality. It's such an exciting time. They've also been the podcast's sponsor! Manifest Commerce was co-founded in 2021 by a team of four people including George Wojciechowski (ShipBob's co-founder, ShipBob has raised Series E and the company is valued at over $1B). Together, the team ...
Feb 21, 2022•49 min•Season 2Ep. 75
What a cool company! I recently spoke with Mitch Wainer, Co-Founder and CMO at Welcome Homes. Prior to Welcome Homes, Mitch was CMO at Clubhouse (renamed to Shortcut, a Series B SaaS startup), CMO and Co-Founder at DigitalOcean, and he's also a Techstars alum. Welcome Homes was founded in 2020, has 49 people, and is based out of New York. They've raised Seed funding ($5.4M). Order your dream home, online! Build the home you want, where you want for a guaranteed, all-in price. Right now it's avai...
Feb 14, 2022•24 min•Season 2Ep. 74
