Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Building With Buyers: Startup Marketing and Growth Fueled By Customers
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 275 - AI Made Writing Cheap, Listening Just Got More Valuable (Maitri Sheth, Hubspot) | 17 Jun 2026 | 00:54:44 | |
Maitri Sheth is Senior PMM at Hubspot, previously PMM at Gong. We discuss: From B2C to B2B marketing, me too! How has b2c shaped your approach to b2b product marketing; Previously Gong, now Hubspot. What did you do in your first 90 days; One PMM workflow that you’re excited about; Do you feel like you have a good grasp on how AI workflows tap into meaningful business results; Marketing is using creativity to solve business problems. Share how you infuse creativity into your work; Hubspot is 12k+ ppl! How do you get the rest of the org to adopt the same story; How do you approach writing with AI in your role. Jump in: 03:04 The Importance of Listening in PMM 06:06 B2C thinking in B2B 09:06 First 90 Days at HubSpot 12:00 Understanding Customer Needs 14:46 Pattern Recognition & Beyond Patterns 17:59 The Value of Direct Customer Engagement 21:08 Streamlining PMM Workflows with AI 24:03 Navigating Rapid Product Engineering Releases 26:45 Evaluating AI Tools and Their Impact on Business Results 32:56 the problems with "Blank Slate" 35:13 The Role of AI in Productivity 38:43 Creativity in Marketing 41:30 Balancing AI and Human Creativity 51:19 Effective Messaging Across 12,000 people Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, tell me what you're listening to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Maitri on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/maitri5 Hubspot: www.hubspot.com Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 274 - Your AI's Outputs Are Only As Good As Its Brain (GTM News Desk) | 06 May 2026 | 00:58:37 | |
Natalie Marcotullio & Mark Kilens invited me on their podcast GTM News Desk. We discuss: How do you build messaging that actually sticks across every team that touches it? How do you know when an "insight" is genuinely worth acting on or when it's just a pattern dressed up in fancy words? What does it take to teach AI to think like you, not just write like one version of you? Mojo Founder Eric Holland and I reveal what's really broken about how B2B companies develop and distribute their messaging. We dig into why most customer research is pulled from the most biased data available and how to document your decision-making, not just your knowledge, so AI can actually replicate your judgment. We also provide answers to why chasing every new AI workflow is making most marketers worse, not better. Eric and I challenge the idea that volume of insights equals quality of insights, arguing that a single finding that changes how your whole company goes to market is worth more than a hundred tagged Gong quotes. Jump in: (00:00) We need a higher standard for b2b research (00:35) What CMOs are actually talking about at conferences right now (04:40) How shame and fear became the default AI adoption strategy (08:41) The difference between AI-exhausted and AI-excited teams (12:44) Four Tendencies and what it means for AI adoption (16:31) Why B2B messaging is broken even at well-funded startups (19:14) What separates Mojo from just pointing Claude at your Notion (27:26) What good writing actually feels like and whether AI can get there (32:17) The solar plexus test and how to know when your copy is working (34:05) Why nuance and emotion are the real gap in AI writing (39:27) Why most insight tools are just pattern-matching machines (44:19) How to check if your researcher is actually any good (47:30) The danger of everyone using the same workflows to find the same "insights" (50:01) What B2B marketing gets wrong that B2C figured out long ago (53:21) Go deep on one thing for a quarter (55:22) Why you should only build what you already know in your sleep Connect with Eric: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-holland-not-a-marketer/ Connect with Anna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov/ Mojo: https://mojopmm.com/ Mojo + Moxie: https://mojo-and-moxie.com/ | |||
| 273 - What (Almost) Everyone Gets Wrong About Insights | 22 Apr 2026 | 00:14:09 | |
Hi, we need to talk. This is important. One of the worst things that AI is doing to PMMs right now: making pattern recognition look like insight. I've been surprised how many tools give you dozens of "insights" without anything to back it up other than pattern recognition and quotes. Just because something came up multiple times doesn't make it an insight! Please hear me out, we must do better. 00:00 The disconnect between interesting information and decision insights 02:48 Defining decision insights 05:16 Emotional insights in B2C 07:48 The limits of current research tools 10:07 Introducing Aha PMM 12:55 Why decision insights matter today Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, tell me what you're listening to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Aha PMM blog article Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 272 - Should AI Help You Write? with Eric Holland (Mojo PMM) | 25 Mar 2026 | 00:32:07 | |
Eric Holland is a recovering product marketer who quit his job to focus on custom messaging assistants + interactive demos. Founder @Mojo PMM: Burn your boring messaging doc. Mojo is your custom messaging assistant that creates bold, persona-specific messaging for anything you need, that your whole team wants to use. I recently joined Eric at Mojo PMM as their first ever Messaging Whisperer. Co-Founder @DemoDash: 100+ interactive demos shipped for Navattic customers (that’s actually how we met). Also co-hosts the We’re Not Marketers podcast. We talk about messaging & AI, specifically: Can AI help you write copy? Should AI help you write copy? Marketing teams are moving faster with AI, but not necessarily making better decisions. What’s broken? What we're building and why. Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, message me what you're listening to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Eric on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/eric-holland-not-a-marketer Mojo PMM: mojopmm.com Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 271 - BONUS: What Would Make AI More Trustworthy? | 30 Jan 2026 | 00:06:45 | |
In the last episode (270), Caitlin Sullivan (AI + Customer Research expert) asked me "what would have to change for you to feel that AI is trustworthy?" It's a really good question and I answer it in this short episode. Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, message me what you're listening to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 270 - How AI Is Transforming Customer Research (Caitlin Sullivan) | 28 Jan 2026 | 00:56:55 | |
I know, I know. Season 5 wrapped up. But I couldn't help myself. Caitlin Sullivan is an expert in AI for Customer Research. She trains growth-ready product & design teams to know their customers faster. Clients include YouTube, Spotify, Ramp, Meta, and Canva. Here’s what we covered: 00:00 Introduction to AI in Customer Research 03:41 The Shift in AI Usage for Customer Research 09:25 Building Systems for Effective Research 12:59 Challenges with AI Insights 17:55 Completeness in Research with AI 21:17 Common Mistakes in Customer Research 25:01 Emotional Nuances in Research & Why they're important 27:08 Understanding AI's Interpretation of Emotions 29:46 The Role of Human Insight in AI Training 32:25 AI as a Co-Pilot and The Importance of Collaboration 35:37 Catching AI Errors 38:30 The Necessity of Human Involvement in Research 39:55 Balancing AI and Human Decision-Making 45:02 Knowing When You Have Enough Data To Stop And Decide 46:44 Favorite Tools for Research and Analysis 50:00 Caitlin asks me her burning question which I will answer in a separate BONUS episode Caitlin on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/caitlindsullivan AI Analysis for PMs course: https://maven.com/caitlin/ai-analysis-pms Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, message me what you're listening to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 269 - Season 5 Wrap Up! | 24 Dec 2025 | 00:01:46 | |
Thanks for being here, for listening, for collaborating, thanks for sharing episodes with others, for sharing stuff with me - when people DM me on LI with their fave episodes - for leaving a review, thank you for all of it. Here's the link to the article "35 Creative Customer Marketing Plays". Wishing you a warm + connected holiday season and positive, fresh beginnings for 2026. Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, message me what you're listening to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 268 - BONUS Marketing: What Worked 2025 + Big Bets 2026 | 19 Dec 2025 | 01:02:02 | |
To wrap the year, my client Navattic invited nine of their marketing advisors (including me!) for an open panel on what’s working and what’s worn out from 2025, and where we're placing big bets for 2026. ~300 ppl registered. A few highlights - Worn out: Being a part of every over-saturated channel. AI hype. Talking about how SEO traffic is “collapsing.” Instead, focus on channels where you are the only one (like self-hosted events), thoughtfully using AI tools instead of from pressure, and recognizing that traffic is no longer the best way to measure trust. What we're keeping for 2026:
Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, message me what you're listening to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 267 - Creating Customers for Life: Reimagining Customer Marketing (Kevin Lau, Freshworks) | 17 Dec 2025 | 00:53:15 | |
Everyone's been telling me "you gotta talk to Kevin!" Kevin Lau is VP Global Customer Marketing at Freshworks. Freshworks provides AI-assisted IT and customer service software to 75k+ companies. 9,500+ employees, IPO’d back in 2021. Here’s what we cover: 01:58 Why Customer Relationships are so important especially going into next year 05:40 The Customer Marketing Team at Freshworks 09:02 Redefining Customer Marketing at Freshworks (more than just advocacy) 12:56 Collaboration Between Customer and Product Marketing 16:48 Voice of Customer and ongoing Feedback Mechanisms 27:58 The Importance of Customer Marketing & why companies that focus on Net New are already behind 31:10 Most Creative Customer Marketing Plays 37:24 Building Customer Engagement Programs from scratch 39:42 Measuring the Impact of Customer Marketing 43:08 Using AI in Customer Marketing 50:46 Hopes, fears, future outlook on AI and Customer Marketing (it's not all bad) Kevin on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kevinkennethlau Freshworks: www.freshworks.com Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, message me what you're listening to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 266 - How To Turn Customer Marketing Into Your Strategic Advantage (Melanie Paddock, Gainsight) | 10 Dec 2025 | 00:44:52 | |
Melanie Paddock is Sr. Manager, Customer Marketing & Advocacy at Gainsight. Gainsight is the world’s leading Customer Success platform. 1,100 ppl, $156M+ total funding, Series E. Here’s what we cover: 02:48 The Importance of Customer Love 05:34 Building an Advocacy Program from Scratch 08:24 Gamification and Customer Engagement 11:16 Creating a Community for your Advocates 14:20 Leveraging Customer Proof for Sales 17:08 Top Challenges in Customer Marketing 19:57 Building deep Relationships with Customers is such an opportunity 22:41 Avoiding Transactional Relationships in Customer Marketing 23:31 How to build trust 29:08 Transforming Customer Marketing into your Strategic Advantage, not a "nice to have" 29:24 The Role of Customer Research in Marketing 34:30 Leveraging AI in Customer Marketing 43:59 Melanie asks me her burning question (HINT: the future of customer marketing + the impact of AI) Melanie on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/melaniepaddock Gainsight: www.gainsight.com Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 265 - Dear B2B CMOs: Customer Love Is The Strategy (Shannon Howard, Intellum) | 03 Dec 2025 | 00:55:40 | |
Shannon Howard is Senior Director of Customer & Content Marketing at Intellum. Intellum is AI transformation for enterprise learning. $25M in funding, 139 people. Here’s what we cover: 05:35 Shannon shares some Creative Customer Marketing Strategies 08:41 Building the Foundation for Customer Marketing 11:09 The Role of Data in Customer Marketing 14:00 Surprise and Delight 16:49 Empowering Customers Through Recognition 19:57 Segmentation and Personalization in Marketing 22:33 B2B vs B2C Marketing Dynamics 26:28 Why Customer Marketing is often overlooked by CMOs 30:00 Customer Marketing Strategies to put in your back pocket 33:17 The Role of Customer Research & Shannon's take 37:12 The Impact of AI on Customer Insights 50:38 Shannon asks Anna her burning question Shannon on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shannonlagassehoward Intellum: www.intellum.com Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 264 - What My Clients Taught Me This Year | 26 Nov 2025 | 00:04:41 | |
If you're in the US, Happy Thanksgiving. When I look back at 2025, one thing is very clear: my clients taught me more than any book, course, or conference ever could. Here are the six lessons I learned from the leaders I worked with this year. Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 263 - The Customer Hero Mindset Shift (Aditya Vempaty, MoEngage) | 19 Nov 2025 | 00:47:44 | |
Aditya Vempaty is VP of Marketing at MoEngage. MoEngage is a consumer engagement platform used by 1350+ consumer brands globally. $180M funding, 869 ppl. Here’s what we cover: 02:46 Team Structure and Regional Dynamics - including why one PMM reports under the CEO 05:33 Steering the Ship & Gaining Buy-In for Strategic Initiatives 11:10 The Role of Customer Feedback in Marketing 13:48 Repositioning MoEngage in a Changing Market 16:32 Navigating AI in Customer Engagement 19:33 Positioning and Storytelling Across Regions 26:52 Cultural Nuances in Storytelling e.g. India versus US 28:07 The Importance of CEO Buy-In 30:43 Customers as your Heroes and why that's such an important mindset shift 43:47 The Nuances of AI in Marketing - Aditya's hot take Aditya on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/adityavempaty MoEngage: www.moengage.com Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 262 - What Happened When We Brought Our Customer Into Our Strategy Meeting (Jess Cook, Vector) | 12 Nov 2025 | 00:52:49 | |
Jess Cook is Head of Marketing at Vector. Vector is the only way to build ad audiences by name. Contact-based ads platform so your ads reach the right people (those that want to buy). Here’s what we cover: 02:39 Understanding Vector's (new!) Positioning 05:30 Customer-Centric Growth Strategies 08:16 Repositioning and Messaging Evolution 11:04 Incorporating Customer Feedback and why we brought our customer into our strategic company meeting 14:05 The Role of Research in Marketing 16:37 Building Ad Audiences by Name 19:18 Our Creative Process Behind the Brand 22:09 On Launching the Podcast with the CEO - we fly down to Florida and film in the studio 26:47 Focused growth channels 28:04 Creativity that stems from customer research and insights 30:42 Sabrina Carpenter's hairbrush microphone 34:06 My favorite customer interview question 38:30 Customer marketing plays at Vector 41:46 Our influencer marketing experiment results 46:47 Leveraging AI in Marketing 51:11 Innovative SEO Strategies we're using
| |||
| 261 - Why The Road Is Paved With Forgotten Strategic Narratives (Anthony Pierri, FletchPMM) | 05 Nov 2025 | 00:51:14 | |
Anthony Pierri helps founders market hard-to-market products as Co-Founder and Partner at FletchPMM. We're both in the Chicago area, Anthony is just a (trail) bike ride away. I asked Anthony to join me for round 2, also listen to Ep. 199 “Why Your Homepage Is A Great Predictor of Your Startup's Future Success...Or Failure.” Here’s what we cover: “Let’s fix your confusing positioning” why you changed the copy on your homepage; Positioning, messaging, how do you get the entire company marching to the same beat, especially larger companies; After you help companies with their positioning and messaging, do they stick to it? Do they go back to their old ways? Why might this happen; You don’t recommend outsourcing talking to customers BUT founders and marketers don't know how, so what's the solve here, let's talk this out; Segmentation old way versus new way. Anthony on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/anthonypierri FletchPMM: www.fletchpmm.com Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 260 - How Gamification In Customer Marketing Is Evolving (Mark Huber, VP Marketing at UserEvidence) | 29 Oct 2025 | 00:51:14 | |
Mark Huber is VP of Marketing at UserEvidence. UserEvidence is a Customer Evidence Platform that lets you collect feedback, curate success stories, and create content that credibly proves the value of your product. Don’t beg for case studies. Get customer proof at scale. Mark and I are both Navattic advisors. Here’s what we cover: Tell me about your team, what’s everyone doing; Tell me about how your positioning and messaging has changed, and how it’s landing; How’d you get the entire company marching to the same beat; How do you incorporate customers as part of UserEvidence’s growth efforts; How’re you using AI in your role, what scares you, what are you hopeful about; Mark asks me his burning question. Mark on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/markehuber UserEvidence: userevidence.com Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 259 - Former Therapist: How To Unravel The Emotion Behind Purchase Decisions (Your Buyers Aren't Logical) | 22 Oct 2025 | 00:49:41 | |
This is a geeking out episode. If you love customer research as much as I do and know how important it is for marketing and business growth, this is the episode you'll want to hear. Hannah Shamji is a former Therapist and now Consumer Psychology Researcher. Hannah digs deep to uncover the emotional and psychological reasons your customers buy, stay, or leave in order to help inform retention, engagement, or positioning challenges. Here’s what we cover: Focus of your work these days; How're you using AI as part of your work; In research conversations, how to peel back the layers beyond logical answers, in order to go deeper on the emotional and political stuff; The worst customer interview you’ve ever done; How do you know something is an insight; An example of turning insights into action; Hannah asks me her burning question. Hannah on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/hannahshamji For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 258 - Finding Purpose In An AI-Changed World (Mark Schaefer, Futurist) | 15 Oct 2025 | 00:52:12 | |
Mark Schaefer is keynote speaker, university educator, futurist, and bestselling author of books like Marketing Rebellion, Audacious, and most recently How AI Changes Your Customers. Mark also joined me a couple years ago, listen to Ep. 132: How AI Is Changing Marketing Forever & Why Creativity Matters More. Here’s what we cover: What’s changing with our customers, and how do we change alongside them; What scares you most about AI; What makes you hopeful; Why curiosity matters now more than ever; Where are you finding purpose and where can marketers find purpose at a time when we’re kinda lost; Why awkwardness is a brand superpower; The 3 questions we should be asking to guide our company's next chapter. Mark on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/markwschaefer Mark's website: businessesgrow.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 257 - Customer Insights Roadmap: How A Strong Customer Foundation Aligns Your Team & Strategy | 08 Oct 2025 | 00:22:02 | |
After 5+ years working with early and growth stage companies, I created the Customer Insights Roadmap, a 4-phase process that helps founders/CEOs and their teams understand their customers deeply, translate those insights into clear and compelling positioning and messaging, and then scale growth in a way that works for your specific target buyer. It’s the exact process I take my clients through and it all starts with the hard work: real conversations with your customers. We run this program and it's not uncommon to see faster sales cycles and even 4X closed won deals. Read about the Customer Insights Roadmap: furmanovmarketing.com/blog/customer-insights-roadmap Read more about the Content Strategy Canvas: furmanovmarketing.com/blog/content-strategy For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com One Insight newsletter: Subscribe | |||
| 256 - Customer Marketing Is Your Hidden Growth Lever (Holly Higgins, Customer Marketing at Nectar) | 01 Oct 2025 | 00:48:07 | |
So ya know how I’m exploring the role that customers play in helping companies build to their next level of growth? My goal is to invite on more superstar customer marketers and this episode is no exception. Why such an obsession with customer marketing? people don’t stop to consider how important their customers are; we always seem to be chasing net new; trust is peer-led and most growth (still) comes from referrals, word of mouth, and bottom-up adoption; your customers are your moat because they are unique to you; you're probably doing some of this, it's just not officially in your business strategy (it should be). Holly Higgins is Sr. Customer Marketing Manager at Nectar. Nectar is an employee recognition & rewards platform for companies investing in culture. $58.7M in funding. 245 people. Here’s what we cover: Holly's responsibilities and goals; How do you incorporate customers as part of your growth efforts; Gamifying customer engagement; How you use AI in your role; How AI makes you and me more human; Holly asks me her burning question. Holly on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/holly-higgins-28841a1b7 Nectar: nectarhr.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com Newsletter: One Insight | |||
| 255 - How Customer Advocacy Programs Can Significantly Influence Your Market Success | 24 Sep 2025 | 00:20:59 | |
I reached out to Denny Hollick on GrowthMentor as a mentee. Denny was a good match because I wanted to ask him some questions I’ve had for a while around customer marketing and customer advocacy. Yes, most people agree that understanding customer needs can transform product development, but what’s often overlooked is how customer advocates can significantly influence your market success and GTM plan's impact. Denny is Head of Product Marketing at Puzzle. Prior, he held marketing leadership roles at Minerva, Kajabi, Unbounce, and Wealthbar (acquired in 2018). Here’s what we cover: Why customer advocacy is crucial for startup growth; How building relationships with customers can lead to advocacy; Examples of customer advocacy programs; Effective customer marketing requires collaboration between teams; Startups should invest in customer advocacy programs early; Creating a customer advisory board is probably the easiest step one; Customers want to feel valued and recognized, how can you make that happen; How successful advocacy programs turn customers into partners. Denny on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dhollick For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com One Insight newsletter: Subscribe | |||
| 254 - How To Create A State Of The X Report (Should You?) | 17 Sep 2025 | 00:43:53 | |
Lately, I’ve been intrigued by “State of The” reports. Many of them are examples of what good content looks like. Tommy Walker created his State of (Dis)Content report so naturally I wanted to learn exactly how he did it. Tommy is founder at The Content Studio. The Content Studio is a content marketing consultancy focused on creating, developing, and improving content programs for growth-stage B2B startups and enterprises. Here’s what we cover: What's your approach to creating really good content; The problem with good enough content; The problem with perfectionism; Walk me through the steps you took to create The State Of (Dis)Content; How does this report tie directly into the sales process. Tommy on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tommyismyname The Content Studio: www.thecontentstudio.com The State Of (Dis)Content: www.thecontentstudio.com/the-state-of-discontent For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com One Insight newsletter: Subscribe | |||
| 253 - What Is A Useful Customer Insight? | 10 Sep 2025 | 00:28:09 | |
Shoshana Kordova joined me to talk about some of my favorite customer research and insights topics, she's founder of Peel Product Marketing and 3X founding product marketer with over a decade of journalism experience. Here’s what we cover: How does your journalism background help you with customer research; There are many Product Marketers, how do you differentiate; How do you know something is a true customer insight; How do you turn insights into action; What’s the biggest challenge for companies you’re working with right now. Shoshana on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/shoshana-kordova Peel Product Marketing: https://app.assetmule.ai/vVFtTvys Check out her customer insights playbook: https://jetpack.productivepmm.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 252 - Customer-Led Growth vs. Customer Marketing & Why Both Are Important (Gianna Scorsone, ChampionHQ) | 03 Sep 2025 | 00:25:44 | |
Gianna Scorsone is co-founder and COO at ChampionHQ. ChampionHQ is the customer-led growth platform. Turn your customers into your No. 1 growth engine. Seed funded. Here’s what we cover: Customer-led growth vs. customer marketing and why both are important; How to turn customers into your No. 1 growth engine; How do you incorporate customers as part of your own growth efforts; Who’s doing customer marketing well; How you're building community at ChampionHQ. Gianna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/giannascorsone ChampionHQ: www.championhq.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 251 - The Three Emails B2B Should Be Sending | 27 Aug 2025 | 00:20:58 | |
Lately, I've been thinking about email newsletters. I paused my own newsletter back in March because I was like "is this thing even working?" Turns out it is (builds trust, brings clients) so I'll be bringing it back, but I wanted to talk to an expert, learn about what's working, and ask my email questions. Enter: Marc Thomas. Marc has led Growth at various companies and currently helps $1M-$10M ARR SaaS companies with lifecycle marketing. This was supposed to be just a casual conversation but there were so many AHA moments that I couldn't just keep this to myself. Marc on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/iammarcthomas Positive Human: www.positivehuman.co For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 250 - What Happens When Customers Feel Like Family (Evan Quinn, Co-Founder at Hiyo) | 20 Aug 2025 | 00:30:56 | |
It's a bittersweet moment. My kids are officially back at school. And that means summer is over (is it though? I'm in denial). Evan Quinn is Co-Founder and CEO at hiyo. Hiyo is a stress-relieving social tonic (new category) mindfully crafted with natural adaptogens, nootropics, and functional botanicals to be a better-than-alcohol alternative. Founded in 2021, they're DTC and also in 6,000+ retail locations. Here’s what we cover: What does it take to get into retail stores; Tell me about your customer superfans; When customers feel like family, the game changes; An umbrella with an origin story is not just an umbrella How you incorporate customers as part of your growth efforts in unique and creative ways; What’s been challenging. Evan on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/evanhquinn hiyo: drinkhiyo.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 249 - What The Best and Worst Case Studies Have In Common | 14 Aug 2025 | 00:26:23 | |
Okay, it's time we discussed customer case studies. Like really discussed them. So I invited Em Thomas to join me, she's founder of StackCat Content (full-stack case study services for B2B SaaS companies). Here’s what we cover: What do the worst case studies have in common; What about the best case studies; How to structure customer calls to pull out the right info for case studies; What format performs best; How to create case studies that sell; Companies that do this well; Em asks me her burning question. Em on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/imemthomas StackCat Content: www.stackcatcontent.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 248 - Too Customer Obsessed? No Such Thing (Sandhya Simhan, Glean) | 06 Aug 2025 | 00:54:42 | |
Sandhya Simhan is Head of Customer & Growth Marketing at Glean. What's Glean? Work AI for all. Give every employee an AI Assistant and Agents that put your company’s knowledge to work. Glean has exploded, and their customers play a big part. Series F, $150M raised, $7.2B valuation, 850+ people. Here’s what we cover: Tell me about your team, especially Customer Marketing; What are your goals for this year; How do you incorporate customers as part of Glean’s growth efforts; So much success, but what’s hard right now; Tips if you’re applying to an AI-focused startup; Where are you placing big bets in 2025. Sandhya on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sandhyasimhan Glean: www.glean.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 247 - We 4X'd Sales From New Positioning & Messaging (Customer Interview With Teryn Thomas) | 30 Jul 2025 | 00:23:13 | |
Teryn Thomas is Founder and CEO at EdLight. EdLight is your AI Math Co-Teacher, they're Seed funded. I worked with the EdLight team using the Customer Insights Roadmap process which included customer research, insights, positioning, messaging, competitor analysis, GTM strategy, website, social channels, sales emails, and conference materials. I’m doing a bit of my own customer research with this unique episode. Here’s what we cover: How’s it going for you guys since we worked together; How were you feeling before we started working together; Why did you go with me; Now that we’ve worked together what was the stand out moment for you; What’s been the impact of our working together. Teryn on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/teryn-thomas-a00b51145 EdLight: www.edlight.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 246 - While AI Gives You Logic, GrowthMentor Gives You The Feels (Foti, Founder at GrowthMentor) | 23 Jul 2025 | 00:48:32 | |
Foti Panagiotakopoulos is Founder at GrowthMentor. GrowthMentor helps you get unstuck quickly with 1:1 advice from vetted startup mentors. Growth is tough, and sometimes you just want to talk to someone. I’ve been mentoring on GrowthMentor since 2022 and have recently started using it as a mentee as well. Here’s what we cover: How you incorporate customers as part of growth efforts; Insights from talking to people that are on the fence; How adding friction actually strengthens human connection; What is Growth Journalism; What’s working well; What’s hard right now; Where are you placing big bets this year; Foti asks me his burning question. Foti on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/fotis-panagio GrowthMentor: app.growthmentor.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 245 - SEO Hasn't Really Changed (Brendan Hufford, Growth Sprints) | 16 Jul 2025 | 00:51:08 | |
Brendan Hufford is Founder at Growth Sprints where he helps take SaaS companies from $10M to $100M ARR using the SaaS Growth Sprint Framework. Brendan is also a Navattic advisor and that's how we met. He has 4 kids which is double what I have so already a ton of respect. Here’s what we cover: Simon Sinek and AI ramblings (oh so good); What's different with SEO today and how Brendan helps companies navigate with success; Companies that incorporate customers as part of their growth; You find your brand in the pattern of what your best customers say when they’re pissed, proud, or paying (LinkedIn post); Anna asks Brendan her burning question. Brendan on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/brendanhufford Growth Sprints: growthsprints.co For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 244 - BONUS: Focused Growth Clinic For Wordbrew | 11 Jul 2025 | 00:08:34 | |
Hey builders, it's Anna! This BONUS episode is a focused growth clinic for Georgia Austin, Founder & CEO at Wordbrew. Wordbrew makes it simple for teams to create unique content with expert insights. They have 20 paying customers. In our last episode, Georgia talked about her main challenges: positioning, packaging, distributing, lean team, small budget, and limited manpower for posting on LinkedIn. I'm going to try to help. For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 243 - Our Best Growth Channel Is Our Customers (Georgia Austin, Founder & CEO at Wordbrew) | 09 Jul 2025 | 00:26:29 | |
Georgia Austin is Founder and CEO at Wordbrew. Wordbrew makes it simple for teams to create unique content with expert insights. Collaborate with experts on the platform (and AI) to create unique content at scale. They have 20 paying customers at the moment. How I met Georgia: she reached out to me on LinkedIn to see if I could help them with something as they're building their product and of course I was excited to help. Here’s what we cover: Give me your best customer’s Wordbrew use case; What’s unique about your customer superfans; How do you incorporate customers as part of your growth efforts; Georgia asks me her burning question which I will answer in a BONUS episode Friday. Georgia on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/georgiaaustin Wordbrew: wordbrew.com The post that went viral mentioned in the episode For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 242 - How Did I Get Here? | 02 Jul 2025 | 00:42:52 | |
It's my birthday week and I'm droppin' an episode where I explore my career, why I went solo, on landing my first client, on noticing the seasons after leaving corporate, solo business ups & downs, adapting to market shifts, turning perspectives into sales momentum, future goals and reflections, what would be my last meal, and more. I recorded this episode with Nick Bennett on his podcast 1,000 Routes. This is my route, one route out of many, and I hope you'll tune in. For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 241 - BONUS: How To Grow Your Podcast Based On My Experience | 27 Jun 2025 | 00:06:01 | |
Amanda Natividad (VP of Marketing at SparkToro) asked me her burning question in this week's episode and I do my best to answer it. Also check out Jeremy Enns, he's Founder of Podcast Marketing Academy and he knows his podcast creation and growth stuff. Jeremy Enns on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-enns For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 240 - AI-First Messaging Means Nothing To Your Customers (Amanda Natividad, VP of Marketing at SparkToro) | 25 Jun 2025 | 00:49:39 | |
Amanda Natividad is VP of Marketing at SparkToro. SparkToro is a free-to-try market research & audience intelligence tool. Been a big fan of Amanda and Rand Fishkin (Co-Founder and CEO) for a while. Founders like to hide behind their products, but the thing that makes you unique is not your product. There are so many companies solving the same problem you’re solving, and they have customers too. The thing that makes you unique is your superfan customers. That’s your moat. And you need to know your customers beyond just the product you're building that they're using. This ties into the broader idea of audience research. Here’s what we cover: Audience Research versus Customer Research; In what ways do you leverage customers as part of your growth efforts at SparkToro; Asking your customers for favors; Why are companies not doing audience research; Amanda's new podcast “Meme Team”; Amanda asks me her burning question which I will answer in a BONUS episode Friday. Amanda on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/amandanat SparkToro: sparktoro.com SparkTogether Event: sparktoro.com/sparktogether For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 239 - Why Everyone's Talking About Customer Led Growth Again (Greg Portnoy, CEO & Co-Founder at Euler) | 18 Jun 2025 | 00:25:34 | |
Greg Portnoy is CEO and Co-Founder at Euler. Euler allows you to manage your partner programs, end to end. Founded in 2023, bootstrapped, 60 customers, they just doubled their business in Q1. They've never done a single outbound sales message. Here’s what we cover: What's working well; What’s hard right now; How do you incorporate customers as part of your growth efforts; How do you incorporate customer research at Euler; Where are you placing big bets in 2025; Greg asks me his burning question. Greg on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gregportnoy Euler: eulerapp.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 238 - Your Customers (Not Your Product) Are Your Moat With Emily Kramer | 11 Jun 2025 | 00:44:14 | |
Emily Kramer is creator of the MKT1 Newsletter and new Dear Marketers podcast. I am a huge fan. Emily was on the show before: Ep. 141 “Mistakes To Avoid When Hiring Your First Head of Marketing” is a Top 5 most listened to episode. Ep. 183 “If Your Startup Can't Win On GTM, We Won't Invest” Here’s what we cover: How's the pod going; In what (creative) ways have you seen companies leverage customers as part of their growth efforts; What’s important for customer marketing efforts to impact growth; How “Ecosystem Marketing” goes beyond customer marketing and why it works so well; What does a good ecosystem look and feel like; Where do you start; What startups come to mind that are running customer marketing or ecosystem marketing plays well, who should we be watching; Emily asks me her burning question. Emily on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/emilykramer MKT1: mkt1.co For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 237 - From $800K to $10M Without A Growth Hacker (Jennifer Tsay, CEO & Co-Founder at Shoott) | 04 Jun 2025 | 00:27:00 | |
Jennifer reached out to me after listening to me speak on Riverside’s content repurposing panel. Jennifer Tsay is CEO and co-founder at Shoott. Shoott is a marketplace connecting photographers with customers. Founded in 2018, they've grown from $800K to $10M. Here’s what we cover: What does it take to go from $800K to $10M; What’s hard right now; How do you incorporate customers as part of growth efforts; How do you incorporate customer research at Shoott; Where are you placing big bets in 2025; Jennifer asks me her burning questions. Jennifer on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-tsay Shoott: shoott.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov | |||
| 236 - Beyond JTBD: Your Customers Are Whole People So Why Isn’t Your Research | 28 May 2025 | 00:10:25 | |
Hey, it’s Anna, and today I want to talk about something I’ve been quietly refining over the last five years, working with founders and marketing teams. It’s called Whole-Person Customer Research and it’s the foundation for how I help startups get clarity on their positioning, messaging, GTM and content strategy. For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 235 - Do You Empathize With Your Customers Socially, Emotionally, And Behaviorally? (Anna Baskin, Co-Founder & CEO at Hightail) | 21 May 2025 | 00:29:16 | |
It was really fun recording this episode with my longtime friend! We go waaaay back. Anna Baskin is Co-Founder and CEO at Hightail. Hightail is a low-dose THC infused beverage for when you want to sip in some fun. Here’s what we cover: What you're building; Wow I’m just so proud of you; How’re you growing your customer base; What’s hard right now; How you incorporate customers as part of your growth efforts; Customer research and the insights you're finding; Where are you placing big bets in 2025; Anna asks me her burning questions. Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/anna-hight-baskin Hightail: siphightail.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 234 - Listen To Your Top 3% Superconsumers And Find What's Weird (Christopher Lochhead) | 14 May 2025 | 00:55:11 | |
Christopher Lochhead is 3X Silicon Valley public company CMO, the father of category design, and makes content for entrepreneurs and marketers with a different mind. I invite Christopher on the show to talk about certain topics but I always know we will be twisting and turning to other topics which is why it's so fun to hang with him. Listen to these other episodes if you want more with Christopher: Ep. 44 - Why 98% Of Startups And Marketers Waste Their Time Ep. 108 - Why Most Content Is 100% Content Free And How Non Obvious Ideas Help Ep. 136 - Why Treating Your Creative Marketing Like It’s Not Tied To Revenue Will Get You More Revenue Here’s what we cover: Politics; Israel war; Terrorism; Disagreements are healthy; What does customer obsession mean, really; Why customers are the most important part of GTM; How can Marketing build respect from Sales and Engineering; Examples of how customers help startups build to their next level of growth; Which customers are most important for customer research; What you should look for when analyzing customer research (HINT: it’s not what you think); Why it’s important to learn about how customers use your product as part of their products ecosystem, desires and preferences. Christopher on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/christopherlochhead Category Pirates: www.categorypirates.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 233 - A Brand New Channel For Marketers During Tough Times (Melissa Rosenthal, Co-Founder at Outlever) | 07 May 2025 | 00:25:55 | |
Always fun when folks refer me to founders building cool products, and that's exactly how I met Melissa. Melissa Rosenthal is Co-Founder at Outlever. Outlever helps companies become the #1 news source in their industry. They're self-funded and $5M in revenue. Here’s what we cover: What you're building; How many customers; Sales cycle length; What’s hard right now; How do you incorporate customers as part of your marketing and sales efforts; How do you incorporate customer research; Tell me about your superfan customers; Where are you placing big bets in 2025. Melissa on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/melissarosenthal5 Outlever: outlever.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 232 - BONUS: Setting The Record Straight On Some Important Words (Erin Balsa, Bland To Bold) | 02 May 2025 | 00:24:22 | |
Every so often I like to set the record straight on some terms that people like to toss around. Erin Balsa (Founder of Bland To Bold) and I were emailing back and forth about Positioning, Messaging, Category Design, and Strategic Narrative. And then I realized, hey, I really just want to talk this through. Erin was on the show before, you can listen to Ep. 203 "Hashing Out The Perfect Content Strategy Visual Framework" Here’s what we cover: Define each of these terms; Which path to take? Or do all 4; Of the 4, which is the hardest to do and why; How can startups make sure their messaging is unique, valuable, and consistent. Erin on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/erinbalsa Bland To Bold: www.blandtobold.co For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 231 - How To Uncover Juicy Customer Insights And Actually Use Them For Messaging (Gia Laudi, Forget The Funnel) | 30 Apr 2025 | 00:40:48 | |
Georgiana (Gia) Laudi is co-founder and chief strategist at Forget The Funnel. She's author of the book "Forget The Funnel" that's about Customer-Led Growth and a customer-led approach for driving predictable, recurring revenue. Here’s what we cover: I have to ask why did Gia and April Dunford bash Voice of Customer (VoC) on April's podcast because I'm honestly curious; How to pick the right insights and turn those into positioning and messaging; How to create your messaging guide; How often should you conduct customer research. Gia on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/georgianalaudi Forget The Funnel: forgetthefunnel.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 230 - BONUS: What Impact Does AI Have On Customer Research & How To Prepare | 25 Apr 2025 | 00:09:42 | |
I'm answering Udi Ledergor's questions in this BONUS pod episode: 1. How is AI changing the work that we do on customer research? 2. How should we as consultants and advisors prepare for this change? For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 229 - Why Your Customers Aren't Actively Talking About You (Udi Ledergor, Chief Evangelist at Gong) | 23 Apr 2025 | 00:43:35 | |
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 (e.g. redefining category boundaries); How do you sell to large strategic customers; Where is Udi placing big bets in 2025 (new book!); Why courage in marketing is so important and oftentimes missing; What’s your favorite use case for using AI. Udi on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/udiledergor Courageous Marketing book: https://mybook.to/courageousmarketing Gong: www.gong.io For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 228 - How Customer Events Increase Word Of Mouth (Natalie Marcotullio, Head of Growth & Product Marketing at Navattic) | 16 Apr 2025 | 00:37:29 | |
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 that surprised you; What will you change for next time; After the event is often the most important - how did you make the event last beyond the two days; Other ways you’re incorporating customers into your business and marketing strategy; Your new role heading up product marketing, what are you planning to tackle first; Natalie asks Anna her burning question; 30 days of customer obsession; Thoughts on being audacious to differentiate; What are the top drivers of WOM for Navattic. Natalie on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-marcotullio Navattic: www.navattic.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 227 - Navigating Startup Uncertainty With Product and Pricing Research (Taylor Jennings, UX Research at Chili Piper) | 09 Apr 2025 | 00:22:39 | |
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 your challenges with customer research. Taylor on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/taylorjennings1 Chili Piper: www.chilipiper.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||
| 226 - How A Weekly Surprise & Delight Meeting Increases Customer Referrals (Elaine Zelby, Co-Founder at Tofu) | 02 Apr 2025 | 00:53:04 | |
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 customer research at tofu (HINT: product roadmap, website, GTM plan); Both companies and people are building agents and bots, how do you break away and ahead of everyone else; Where are you placing big bets in 2025; How do you know your content is good. Elaine on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/elainezelby Tofu: www.tofuhq.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com | |||