The Exit Five CMO Podcast (Hosted by Dave Gerhardt) - podcast cover

The Exit Five CMO Podcast (Hosted by Dave Gerhardt)

Dave Gerhardtexitfive.com
Dave Gerhardt (Founder of Exit Five, former CMO) chats with top marketing leaders and CMOs. Join 5,000+ members in our private community at exitfive.com.
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Episodes

The B2B Event Playbook: Building Revenue-Driving Events in 2025

#227: Events | In this episode, Dave hosts a live Exit Five session with Zuddl and panelists Stephanie Christensen (Event Marketing Leader) and Kristina DeBrito (Director of Strategic Events at Iterable ) to break down how B2B marketers should be thinking about events in 2025. From small VIP dinners to large customer conferences, events are making a big comeback—but without a solid strategy, they can be a massive waste of budget. Dave, Stephanie, and Kristina cover: The key metrics to track to p...

Mar 13, 202554 minEp. 227

What’s Your One Key Message? Mastering B2B Messaging & Copywriting with Diane Wiredu, Founder of Lion Words

#226: Messaging | In this episode, Dave sits down with Diane Wiredu, messaging expert and founder of Lion Words, a consultancy that helps B2B tech and SaaS companies achieve message-market fit so they can stand out, market more effectively, and sell more. Diane breaks down why most B2B messaging falls flat, how to fix it, and why messaging is more than just copy—it’s the bridge between positioning and execution. Dave and Diane cover: The difference between positioning and messaging (and why both...

Mar 10, 202550 minEp. 226

Content, Community, and Building a 200,000+ B2B Audience with Dave

#225: Q&A with Dave | In this episode, Dave joins Ross Hudgens on Content and Conversation: Organic Growth Insights from Siege Media to break down content strategy, brand building, and why organic marketing is the foundation of great B2B marketing. Dave shares his journey from marketing leader to building Exit Five and explains why community-driven content is the key to sustainable growth. Dave and Ross cover: How organic content and SEO fit into a modern B2B marketing strategy The power of ...

Mar 06, 202550 minEp. 225

How to Fix Your SEO Strategy

#224: Website Teardown | In this episode, Danielle (Head of Content at Exit Five) hosts a panel with top SEO and content marketing experts: Rita Cidre , Head of Academy at Semrush ; Ross Simmonds , CEO at Foundation & Distribution.ai ; and Tom Whatley , CEO of Grizzle . Together, they break down real B2B websites, exposing the biggest SEO mistakes and sharing data-driven strategies for improving rankings, content, and conversion rates. Danielle, Rita, Ross, and Tom cover: The most common SEO...

Mar 03, 202557 minEp. 224

Category Creation and Market Leadership with the CMO of 1Password, Melton Littlepage

In this episode, Dave sits down with Melton Littlepage , CMO at 1Password , to discuss how he’s transforming a well-known consumer brand into a B2B category leader in cybersecurity. With decades of experience in SaaS marketing, Melton shares insights on category creation, demand generation, and the intersection of brand and product marketing—and why being the leader in your space matters more than perfect attribution. Dave and Melton cover: Why category leadership is critical and how to position...

Feb 27, 202551 minEp. 223

How To Build a High Converting Product Page

#222: Website Teardown | Do your product pages actually tell potential customers what they need to know—or are they just a list of features they’ll ignore? In this session from the Ultimate Roast of B2B Websites, Madhav Bhandari, Head of Marketing at Storylane , joins Robert Kaminski , Co-Founder at Fletch PMM and Dan Murphy, COO at Exit Five to tear down real B2B product pages, exposing what works, what doesn’t, and how to fix it. They also cover: The biggest mistakes B2B marketers make on prod...

Feb 24, 202553 minEp. 222

Win/Loss Analysis: How to Turn Customer Insights Into Revenue

Episode #221: Strategy | In this episode, Matt Carnevale sits down with Drew Giovannoli , founder of Buried Wins, to dive deep into Win/Loss analysis and how product marketers can use it to drive better sales, positioning, and competitive strategy. Drew shares how he helps B2B companies turn customer insights into revenue-driving decisions, plus the three key changes every product marketer should make to get promoted. Matt and Drew cover: Why you shouldn’t obsess over lost deals - and how to foc...

Feb 20, 202548 minEp. 221

New On-Demand Training: AI Playbooks for B2B Marketers

Matthew Carnevale, Head of Community at Exit Five, introduces AI Playbooks , a new on-demand training program packed with expert-led tutorials and ready-to-use templates designed to help you drive better results with AI. No fluff, no theory—just real playbooks from 15 B2B marketers showing exactly how they use AI for ICP research, personalization at scale, cold email automation, marketing video creation, SEO, and more. If you’re tired of the AI noise and want actionable tactics you can use immed...

Feb 19, 20259 min

Strategies for Building a High-Converting B2B Homepage

Episode #220: Website Teardown | In this session from the Ultimate Roast of B2B Websites , Dave Gerhardt teams up with Diane Wiredu, messaging strategist and founder of Lion Words , and Lee Reshef , Head of Product Marketing & Retention at Fiverr , to break down what makes a high-converting B2B homepage. They critique real B2B homepages, analyzing messaging, design, and user experience to highlight what works, what doesn’t, and how to fix it. Dave, Diane, and Lee cover: The biggest homepage ...

Feb 17, 202558 minEp. 220

#219: Strategy | ABM and AI for Outbound with Trinity Nguyen, CMO at UserGems

In this episode, Dave sits down with Trinity Nguyen , CMO at UserGems , to discuss her journey from first business hire to CMO, the role of product marketing in B2B, and how AI is transforming outbound sales. Trinity got started at UserGems’ by building their first website for free, then got hired as Head of Marketing and has shaped the company’s ABM strategy and demand generation playbook. Dave and Trinity cover: Why every startup should hire a product marketer How to develop a strong vision an...

Feb 13, 202552 minEp. 219

#218: Website Teardown | How to Build B2B Landing Pages That Actually Convert with Tas Bober, Founder of The Scroll Lab, Gabi Sellam, Conversion Specialist at Fiverr, and Will Hoekenga, Founder of Six Words Studio

You work hard to drive traffic to your landing pages – they’re the backbone of lead generation and conversion. In this session from our Ultimate Roast of B2B Websites, Tas Bober, Founder of The Scroll Lab , Gabi Sellam, Conversion Specialist at Fiverr, and Will Hoekenga , Founder of Six Words Studio and expert copywriter, sit down to discuss how to nail your B2B landing pages. The panel breaks down real B2B landing pages, highlighting common mistakes, best practices, and live optimizations that ...

Feb 10, 202559 minEp. 218

#217: Marketing Leadership | Why Product Marketing is the Foundation of Great Marketing Leadership with Jessica Andrews, VP of Marketing at Copper

In this episode, Matt Carnevale sits down with Jessica Andrews , VP of Marketing at Copper, a CRM built specifically for agencies, consultancies, and media companies, designed to help relationship-driven businesses find ideal clients, win new business, manage projects, and nurture customer relationships. The two discuss Jessica’s journey from Senior Product Marketing Manager to VP of Marketing, how she’s navigated imposter syndrome, and her strategies for leading a successful marketing team. Mat...

Feb 06, 202545 minEp. 217

#216: Website Teardown | How to Nail your B2B Pricing Page with Emily Kramer (Co-Founder & Advisor of MKT1), Bill Wilson (CEO & Founder of Pace Pricing), and Karan Sood (Director Sales Operations at Rakuten Kobo)

Is there anything more terrifying for a marketer than having to work on the pricing page? How do you handle packaging, listing out features, and deciding whether to put the actual price, or “contact sales”? In this session from our Ultimate Roast of B2B Pricing Pages, Emily Kramer (Co-Founder & Advisor of MKT1 ), Bill Wilson (CEO & Founder of Pace Pricing ), and Karan Sood (Director Sales Operations at Rakuten Kobo ) share their secrets to a killer B2B pricing page. Then, they do a live ...

Feb 03, 202558 minEp. 216

#215: Social | LinkedIn Profile Best Practices for 2025 with Kanika Sharma, Founder of Copywriting Teardowns

In this episode, Matt Carnevale sits down with Kanika Sharma , a conversion page copywriter and Founder of Copywriting Teardowns . Kanika audited over 100 LinkedIn profiles in the Exit Five community and shares her biggest takeaways on how marketers can optimize their profiles to attract the right audience and drive conversions. Matt and Kanika cover: Why your LinkedIn profile should be treated like a landing page The biggest mistakes B2B marketers make with their LinkedIn presence How to struct...

Jan 30, 202556 minEp. 215

#214: Q&A with Dave | Brand vs. Demand, Personality In Your Marketing, and The Most Successful B2B Marketing Campaigns

In this solo episode, Dave shares his POV on marketing with answers to a bunch of burning questions, including: Balancing Brand vs. Demand Working with the sales team vs. serving customers How to inject personality into your brand The most successful marketing campaigns Dave was a part of in his career How to plan and brainstorm good marketing ideas The biggest mistake marketing teams make How to structure a marketing team How did you know it was the right time to start your own company? How to ...

Jan 27, 202541 minEp. 214

#213: Community | B2B Community Growth Strategies with Matthew Carnevale on the Direct Podcast

This episode is from the Direct podcast hosted by Corrina Owens (Fractional ABM consultant) and Taylor Young (Director of Strategy, Professional Services at DemandScience ). Corrina and Taylor sit down with Exit Five ’s Head of Community, Matthew Carnevale, to discuss his journey in scaling the Exit Five community to over 5,000 members. They dive into engagement strategies, fostering connections, and creating value-driven programming for B2B marketers. Corrina, Taylor, and Matthew cover: How to ...

Jan 23, 202536 minEp. 213

#212: Marketing Leadership | Lessons for First-Time Marketing Leaders with Michael Cole, SVP of Everflow

In this episode, Dave sits down with Michael Cole , SVP of Marketing at Everflow , a partner marketing platform that helps companies manage referral and affiliate programs. Michael discusses his journey from being Everflow’s first marketing hire to leading a marketing team of 16, and shares strategies for building a marketing function from the ground up. Dave and Michael cover: How Everflow turns happy customers into referral partners What it’s like to be a first-time marketing leader Building a...

Jan 21, 202551 minEp. 212

#211: Growth | The Future of GTM and Sustainable Growth with Chris Walker, CEO at Passetto

In this episode, Dave is joined by Chris Walker , CEO of Passetto , and a prominent voice on LinkedIn, where he has been pushing the boundaries of B2B marketing for years. Chris shares actionable insights and tactics on social media strategy, what has changed in marketing over the last five years, and how to build effective feedback loops and flywheels. Dave and Chris also cover: The future of GTM and the evolving role of the CMO Why sustainable growth is the only path forward The transformative...

Jan 16, 202556 minEp. 211

#210: Strategy | Building a Marketing Operating System with the Team at Tenon (Ben Person, CEO & Co-Founder, Jessica Skovira, VP Marketing, & Hannak Rankin, Growth Marketing Manager)

In this episode, Dave is joined by the team at Tenon to go behind the scenes of B2B marketing. They talk about the marketing operating system -- specifically: how to organize your 2025 campaigns, align your team, and stay laser-focused on what matters most. You’ll learn how top marketers are using work management tactics to simplify the complexity, free up time for high-value work, and boost team performance—all while showing your boss the real impact of marketing. Dave and the Tenon team cover:...

Jan 13, 202552 minEp. 210

#209: Content | B2B Content Strategy, Distribution Tactics, and Organic Social with Ross Simmonds, Founder and CEO at Foundation & Distribution.ai

Dave is joined by Ross Simmonds . Ross is the Founder & CEO of Foundation , a content marketing agency that strategizes, distributes, and optimizes content for some of the most successful SaaS companies in the world and works as partners for multiple publicly traded cloud companies that have redefined entire industries. They share lessons they both learned on their content journeys and discuss things like: Prioritizing search as a distribution channel Why social followers are not a vanity me...

Jan 09, 202556 minEp. 209

#208: Drive | How To Build A B2B Community with Dan Cmejla, B2B Community Expert

This episode is from Drive 2024, our first-ever in-person event for B2B marketers in Burlington, Vermont. Dan Cmejla, B2B Community Expert and former VP of Community at Apollo and Chili Piper, shared actionable frameworks and three phases for building impactful B2B communities that drive brand growth and customer engagement. Dan covers: How community marketing transforms brands by turning customers into primary distribution points for your story. Why it’s important to map influence spaces and le...

Jan 06, 202548 minEp. 208

#207: Strategy | Jason Lemkin on What Makes a Great VP Marketing in SaaS, Working with the CEO, and Lessons from SaaStr

Dave is joined by Jason Lemkin . Jason is the founder of SaaStr , the world’s largest community of SaaS executives, founders, and entrepreneurs. Before SaaStr, Jason founded EchoSign, which was sold to Adobe in 2011. They discuss: Why Jason started SaaStr What makes a great VP of Marketing in SaaS and how to hire one How tech and SaaS have changed since 2020 CROs vs CMOs Importance of alignment between the CEO and marketing team Timestamps (00:00) - - Intro (06:43) - - Understanding the Importan...

Jan 02, 202559 minEp. 207

#206: Drive | How to Build an AI-Powered $0 CAC Strategy with Kyle Coleman, CMO at Copy.ai

This episode is from Drive 2024, our first-ever in-person event for B2B marketers in Burlington, Vermont. Kyle Coleman , CMO at Copy A I and former SVP of Marketing at Clari, hosted a session on leveraging AI to create a $0 CAC strategy that drives demand generation. With a career spanning leadership roles in B2B SaaS, Kyle brings a wealth of experience in building high-performing teams and transforming go-to-market strategies. Kyle covers: Why developing a provocative point of view is critical ...

Dec 30, 202453 minEp. 206

#205: Career | Do you really want to be CMO? Returning from Parental Leave, What's working in B2B marketing today with Amanda Natividad, VP of Marketing at SparkToro

Amanda Natividad is VP of Marketing at SparkToro. She's also a contributor for Adweek, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef, and a former journalist. Dave and Amanda catch up after Amanda's return to work after having her second child, talk about trends they are seeing in B2B marketing today and what Amanda's seen work at SparkToro (including email strategy and LinkedIn). Plus they talk about the path to CMO - and why Amanda enjoys being a team of one. Timestamps (00:00) - - Webinar Promotion Without L...

Dec 26, 202449 minEp. 205

#204: Inside the Exit Five Holiday Party | What’s Working in B2B Marketing and a Look Ahead to 2025 with the Exit Five Team

In this episode, Dave and the Exit Five team celebrate the end of the year with a holiday party for the Exit Five community. They share insights, lessons, and highlights from their growth and events in 2024, play a game show with Ding Zheng , sales rapper and co-founder of EventShark , and provide a sneak preview of what's in store for 2025. Dave and the team cover: 2024 stats: How treating community as a product drove nearly 80% growth this year The hottest content topics in B2B marketing in 20...

Dec 23, 202454 minEp. 204

#203: Strategy | Why Cookie Cutter Marketing Doesn’t Work with Gurdeep Dhillon, CMO at ContentStack

In this episode, Dave is joined by Gurdeep Dhillon , CMO of Contentstack . Gurdeep has built an impressive career leading marketing at some of the biggest names in enterprise software, from SAP to Adobe, Marketo to Zoura. Now at Content Stack, he's challenging conventional B2B marketing wisdom in rethinking how enterprise companies should approach demand generation and brand building. In this conversation, Dave and Gurdeep dive deep into why marketing is ultimately a game of memory and reputatio...

Dec 19, 202453 minEp. 203

Be the GM, Not the Player: A Story on Creating Leverage in Marketing (Micro-Lesson)

In this episode, we’re delivering another B2B marketing lesson in under 10 minutes—no fluff, just practical insights. Matthew Carnevale , Marketing Manager at Exit Five, shares a game-changing mental model for marketers: the GM vs. Player mindset . Inspired by a sports analogy, Matthew explains why thinking like a General Manager—hiring resources and creating leverage—will help you tackle big opportunities without waiting for bandwidth. Learn how shifting your mindset from “doing the work” to “m...

Dec 18, 20248 min

#202: Marketing Leadership | How To Build A High Performing B2B Marketing Org with Peter Mahoney, CCO at GoTo

This episode is from Drive 2024, our first-ever in-person event for B2B marketers in Burlington, Vermont. Peter Mahoney, Chief Commercial Officer at GoTo , and author of The Next CMO , shared strategies for building and leading high-performing marketing organizations. Peter covers: 10 Guidelines for building (or re-building) a marketing organization Running marketing: how to build your CMO operating system 5 strategies for effectively leading an organization Timestamps (00:00) - - Intro to Peter...

Dec 16, 202441 minEp. 202

#201: Paid Spend | Mastering B2B Paid Spend: A 2025 Roadmap for Marketers with John Short, CEO of Compound Growth Marketing and Kym Parker, SVP of Media Strategy

When done right, paid spend is like throwing gasoline on the flames of what’s working in your marketing. Done wrong – it’s just a huge waste of time and money. In this episode, Dave Gerhardt hosts an live session with John Short , CEO of Compound Growth Marketing (CGM), and Kym Parker , SVP of Media Strategy at CGM , who walk through tried and true strategies they’ve built from managing over $50 million in paid spend. They also cover: How to choose which strategy is best for you and exactly how ...

Dec 12, 202457 minEp. 201

The Secret Behind My Best Ad Ever: Raw Social Proof (Micro-Lesson)

In this episode, we’re delivering another B2B marketing lesson in under 10 minutes. Matthew Carnevale , Marketing Manager at Exit Five, breaks down the story behind the best ad he’s ever created—one that generated $77,822 in MRR over two years. Spoiler: it wasn’t fancy production or clever wordplay. The secret? Raw, undeniable social proof. Matthew shares why raw social proof, like screenshots, before-and-after results, and authentic testimonials, outperforms polished case studies or logos. By t...

Dec 11, 202410 min
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