In a world where using AI to do more, automate more, get more leads (more more more!) is celebrated, one thing that early stage startups have as the upper hand over larger companies is the permission and ability to do those things that don’t scale. Build community and relationships in unique ways (like with events), be creative, test wild ideas, learn and pivot quickly, etc. Why might a focus on doing more with AI and automation actually hurt early stage startups? That's the focus of my conv...
Mar 01, 2024•25 min•Ep 193•Transcript available on Metacast ABM often gets a bad rap, especially with early stage startups. People think ABM means you’re just running ads to a list of people, or that you need really expensive tech. A couple of weeks ago I had Trinity Nguyen (VP of Marketing at UserGems) on the podcast and we talked about how she joined an early stage startup and decided to go the route of Scrappy ABM which ended up being super successful for them (90% of their pipeline was generated from this play). There’s something about ABM when you r...
Feb 26, 2024•50 min•Ep 192•Transcript available on Metacast Happy Presidents Day 🇺🇸 🎉 Does your CEO like the content your marketing team is producing? Does your CMO? Does your head of Sales? Do you know the answer for sure? Does it matter? John Bonini (Founder of Some Good Content) has been meeting with founders and marketing execs that have said some variation of the following regarding their content marketing: “We’re doing SEO, but the content is not good, and it’s just not working very well anymore.” So what’s broken with our content efforts? And h...
Feb 19, 2024•26 min•Ep 191•Transcript available on Metacast Picture this. You’re the first business hire at a 4-person early stage startup. Head of Marketing. So you get hired, and you’re trying to follow the Hubspot Playbook. The problem is, it’s taking too long. You’re impatient. The founders are impatient. You want to see something faster. You need to prove yourself. How do you cut through the noise? How do you get your target buyer to pay attention? Trinity Nguyen (VP of Marketing at UserGems) was in exactly this situation and shares what happened ne...
Feb 12, 2024•52 min•Ep 190•Transcript available on Metacast Happy Friday ya'll. I just finished a 3-part series of episodes where I explored 3 topics: positioning strategic narrative category design I hear these concepts being thrown around all the time but I wanted to get to the heart of them. What are the key differences? When should you use one approach over another? And finally, what’s my take? Which one do I think is actually the most helpful for me and WHY? That's what I'm covering in this BONUS episode. Check out the prior episodes whe...
Feb 09, 2024•8 min•Ep 189•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is the 3rd in a 3-part series of episodes where I explore 3 topics: Positioning (two episodes ago) Strategic Narrative (last episode) Category Design (this episode) I hear these concepts being thrown around all the time but not always fully understood. What are the key differences? When should you use one method over another? What’s my take on them? Which one do I think is actually the most helpful and WHY? That's comin' in a BONUS episode this Friday. This episode was recor...
Feb 05, 2024•36 min•Ep 188•Transcript available on Metacast Hiya! This episode is the 2nd in a 3-part series of episodes where I explore 3 topics: Positioning (last episode) Strategic Narrative (this one) Category Design (next time) I hear these concepts being thrown around all the time but not always fully understood. What are the key differences? When should you use one method over another? What’s my take on them? Which one do I think is actually the most helpful and WHY? Andy Raskin is the master of strategic narrative. He helps CEOs align their teams...
Jan 29, 2024•50 min•Ep 187•Transcript available on Metacast Happy New Year! I'll keep saying that until we're well into February. Winter is so much easier when there's something to celebrate! This episode kicks off a series of episodes where I’m going to explore three topics in-depth: Positioning Strategic Narrative Category Design I hear these concepts being thrown around all the time but not always fully understood. What are the key differences? When should you use one method over another? What’s my take on them? Which one do I think is act...
Jan 22, 2024•57 min•Ep 186•Transcript available on Metacast Gotta love a BONUS on a Friday! In the last episode (Ep. 184) I didn’t get a chance to answer Merci and Derek's burning questions so I decided to put together this quick BONUS episode and do just that. Questions: 1) What are you seeing that’s working (with marketing) with your clients? 2) Which channel or method are startups underutilizing? For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you...
Jan 19, 2024•8 min•Ep 185•Transcript available on Metacast Happy MLK Day! So I did this once before where I had a couple of startup founders join me on the show (check out Ep. 168) and I super loved the dynamic (listeners did too!) so I did it again. These are a couple of companies that, at first glance, look and seem similar. They’ve got similar sized teams. They both talk about Growth or GTM which are seemingly similar concepts. But after digging deeper, I realize that they’ve got a bunch of differences. Who they’re for, what they do for their target ...
Jan 15, 2024•56 min•Ep 184•Transcript available on Metacast Happy New Year! I'll keep saying that until we're well into February, and you can't stop me. I feel like I could talk to Emily for hours every time she comes on the pod. Emily Kramer is Co-Founder at MKT1. MKT1 helps founders and marketers build and scale their marketing functions through investing (MKT1 Capital fund) and advising. Emily was on the pod before, listen to Ep. 141 “Mistakes To Avoid When Hiring Your First Head of Marketing.” It’s a Top 5 most listened to episode of all ...
Jan 08, 2024•52 min•Ep 183•Transcript available on Metacast Happy New Year! Wishing you a year filled with gratitude and grace, light over darkness. After 3 years of podcasting and 180+ episodes, I'm sharing with you what I've learned. For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show! And whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: 1. fractional head of marketing for early stage startups >> w...
Jan 01, 2024•6 min•Ep 182•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. OK, final episode of 2023! I swear this time, this was just too important to leave until next year. Just coming off the last episode with Natalie Marcotullio (Navattic) we talk a lot about measuring our marketing efforts. Huge challenge for marketers and founders and will continue to be a huge challenge because the methods we use ...
Dec 29, 2023•7 min•Ep 181•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. Merry Christmas! You can snuggle up to the fireplace with this final episode of 2023. I’ve been working with the Navattic team for 1+ years now as an advisor, great team and super love the space they're playing in and the problem they're solving. I’ve had Natalie on the show before, check out Ep. 139 “To Be The Company ...
Dec 25, 2023•48 min•Ep 180•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. It's Season 4 of the Modern Startup Marketing podcast and this episode is me continuing to share MaaS (Marketing as a System) which is the systematic approach to marketing that I built over almost 4 years of working with VC-backed early stage startups. In this episode I cover Step 10: GTM Strategy including wha...
Dec 18, 2023•12 min•Ep 179•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. Peter Light is Co-Founder and CEO at Lumen Energy. Peter and I worked together back in 2021 and at that time Lumen was just a handful of people and they were building out their GTM strategy, positioning, messaging, and team. About Lumen Energy: Founded: 2020 Funding: Series A ($15.3M total) Description: Lumen enables commercial bu...
Dec 11, 2023•42 min•Ep 178•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. Josh Lowman (CCO and Founder at Gold Front) joined me on the show for the second time for this BONUS episode. Check out Ep. 84 “What I've Learned From Category Designing 50+ Startups” where Josh shares how he's helped startups like Robinhood, Newsela, Uber, Bizzabo, and Clari create and own their category. In this episode: Wh...
Dec 08, 2023•29 min•Ep 177•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. It's Season 4 of the Modern Startup Marketing podcast and this episode is me continuing to share MaaS (Marketing as a System) which is the systematic approach to marketing that I built over almost 4 years of working with VC-backed early stage startups. In this episode I cover Step 9: Case Studies including what it i...
Dec 04, 2023•10 min•Ep 176•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. This episode is also sponsored by PDCflow, payment management made easy. Visit pdcflow.com/flow-billing to learn more. Krish Ramineni is Co-Founder and CEO at Fireflies.ai and he joined me in this episode to dig into growing from Seed to Series A, top focus areas for growth, their PLG approach from the early days, differentiati...
Nov 27, 2023•53 min•Ep 175•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. This episode is also sponsored by PDCflow, payment management made easy. Visit pdcflow.com/flow-billing to learn more. It's Season 4 of the Modern Startup Marketing podcast and this episode is me continuing to share MaaS (Marketing as a System) which is the systematic approach to marketing that I built over almost 4...
Nov 20, 2023•12 min•Ep 174•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. This episode is also sponsored by PDCflow, payment management made easy. Visit pdcflow.com/flow-billing to learn more. Brad Pedersen is Co-Founder and Chairman at Lomi and Pela. We're focusing on Lomi in this episode (B2C). I always get so many takeaways from talking to B2C startups that I can carry over into B2B, and that's ...
Nov 13, 2023•53 min•Ep 173•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. This episode is also sponsored by PDCflow, payment management made easy. Visit pdcflow.com/flow-billing to learn more. It's Season 4 of the Modern Startup Marketing podcast and this episode is me continuing to share MaaS (Marketing as a System) which is the systematic approach to marketing that I built over almost 4 years...
Nov 06, 2023•13 min•Ep 172•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. This episode is also sponsored by PDCflow, payment management made easy. Visit pdcflow.com/flow-billing to learn more. Devin Reed is the Head of Content at Clari. Devin was also at Gong for almost 5 years and what's interesting about Devin's background is that he's got both the deep Sales (AE) + Marketing (Content) experi...
Oct 30, 2023•52 min•Ep 171•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. This episode is also sponsored by PDCflow, payment management made easy. Visit pdcflow.com/flow-billing to learn more. It's Season 4 of the Modern Startup Marketing podcast and this episode is me continuing to share MaaS (Marketing as a System) which is the systematic approach to marketing that I built over 3+ years of working ...
Oct 23, 2023•12 min•Ep 170•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. This episode is also sponsored by PDCflow, payment management made easy. Visit pdcflow.com/flow-billing to learn more. I’d just like to take a brief moment of silence to remember those innocent lives that have been lost during the terrorist attacks committed by Hamas in Israel. Especially the children, babies, and families that were ...
Oct 20, 2023•31 min•Ep 169•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. This episode is also sponsored by PDCflow, payment management made easy. Visit pdcflow.com/flow-billing to learn more. I’d just like to take a brief moment of silence to remember those innocent lives that have been lost during the terrorist attacks committed by Hamas in Israel. Especially the children, babies, and families that were asle...
Oct 16, 2023•59 min•Ep 168•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. This episode is also sponsored by PDCflow, payment management made easy. Visit pdcflow.com/flow-billing to learn more. It's Season 4 of the Modern Startup Marketing podcast and this episode is me continuing to share MaaS (Marketing as a System) which is the systematic approach to marketing that I built over 3+ years of working with e...
Oct 09, 2023•13 min•Ep 167•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. This episode is also sponsored by PDCflow, payment management made easy. Visit pdcflow.com/flow-billing to learn more. Mary Keough (Head of Marketing at Map My Customers) joined me on the show. Season 4 I’m bringing on mostly startup founders but with Mary I made an exception and you'll understand why when you listen. She's the s...
Oct 02, 2023•48 min•Ep 166•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. This episode is also sponsored by PDCflow, payment management made easy. Visit pdcflow.com/flow-billing to learn more. It's Season 4 of the Modern Startup Marketing podcast and this episode is me continuing to share MaaS (Marketing as a System) which is the systematic approach to marketing that I built over 3+ years of working with e...
Sep 25, 2023•14 min•Ep 165•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by Riverside, your all-in-one podcast and video platform. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/Anna and use the code MSM23 for 15% off. This episode is also sponsored by PDCflow, payment management made easy. Visit pdcflow.com/flow-billing to learn more. I'm welcoming my first guest for Season 4 of the show, Hayes Davis (Co-Founder and CEO at Gradient Works). I had Jenn Davis (Co-Founder and CMO at Gradient Works) on the show (Ep. 137 - “Pitfalls to Avoid When Design...
Sep 18, 2023•29 min•Ep 164•Transcript available on Metacast 
