Hey MSM listener! Anna here, host of the show. I hope you enjoyed Season 4 of Modern Startup Marketing.

I'm officially wrapped with this season, but will be back for more in the future. 

In the meantime, make sure you follow me on LinkedIn where I’ll continue to share top highlights from past pod episodes, and you can sign up to get my monthly startup marketing newsletter where I’m sharing frameworks and insights and cracking some jokes.

Peace and love.

For more content, subscribe to Modern 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

2. Sponsor my Top 5% podcast and get marketers interested in your product

3. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up to get my monthly early stage startup marketing newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ where I’m sharing frameworks and insights and cracking some jokes

You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn, definitely say hello and tell me what you're building.

Ryan Staley is Founder and CEO of Whale Boss where he does sales consulting and AI consulting. I heard Ryan present for an AI session earlier this year and thought “I gotta have him on my show.” So here we are.

Here’s what we cover:

What AI tools are you mostly into right now;

Biggest value use cases from AI for sales and marketing teams;

What are you still weary about when it comes to using AI;

AMA: Ryan asks me his burning question which actually inspired me to test something. Learn more about the AI experiment here.

Ryan's on LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-staley

Check out his website:⁠ ryanstaley.io

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 >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

2. sponsor my Top 5% podcast and get startup founders, marketers and VCs hearing about your brand >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠podcast.furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

3. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sign up to get my monthly early stage startup marketing newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ where I’m sharing playbooks and insights and cracking some jokes

You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn, definitely say hello and tell me what you're building >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠

Erin Balsa (Founder of Haus of Bold) asked me this question in our last episode:

“What is the #1 improvement area when you work with new startup clients?”

So I'm going to answer it now.

Happy Friday!

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 >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

2. sponsor my Top 5% podcast and get marketers hearing about your brand >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠podcast.furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

3. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sign up to get my monthly early stage startup marketing newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ where I’m sharing playbooks and insights and cracking some jokes

You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn, definitely say hello and tell me what you're building and how it's going >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠

*listeners: please fill out this short 3-min. survey to help me level up the show! https://forms.gle/iporNXSgtfuoHSPJA

In this episode I’m getting interviewed by Nelson Gilliat (Founder of the Marketing-Led Growth™️ movement and community modernizing and liberating B2B from Sales-Led Growth from the 1980s). 

Nelson wrote a book called Marketing-Led Growth via the Buyer Centric Revenue Model. He’s been advocating for a more Modern B2B Marketing and Sales model built for today, not 40 years ago.

Main topics we cover:

First I put my B2B buyer flip flops on to talk about the kind of buyer experience I enjoy (vs. don’t enjoy);

Then I put my on my Marketing hat and we talk about what’s broken with the system today;

We also talk about proper, modern, non-spam marketing (which I love).

Check out his website: www.buyercentricrevenue.com

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!

People call me (Anna) the Marie Kondo of startup marketing because I help VC backed early stage startups clean up their marketing mess to uncover more joy (and revenue). For those startups that have already built their marketing foundation and have been testing different marketing plays but just aren't satisfied with the traction they're seeing, I created the Marketing Audit + Roadmap offering. At the end of your audit, you’ll get a custom Roadmap with improvement opportunities for the next 3-6 months. So that you can finally put the missing pieces in place to start seeing more traction and stop spending time and money on the wrong things.

You can learn more about it by visiting my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com/pricing

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

*hey listeners: please fill out this short 3-min. survey to help me level up the show: https://forms.gle/iporNXSgtfuoHSPJA

HubSpot's INBOUND conference took place a couple weeks ago so I invited one of their speakers, Sarah Breathnach (Head of Demand Generation at Hunters, she was also on my show before this but that episode hasn't released yet) to jam on some of the highlights and topics covered during the conference. Of course our conversation took some winding turns! That's the point of these shorter unfiltered episodes and that's what makes them so fun to do and share.

Here's the link to HubSpot's new community that Sarah mentioned in the episode: https://connect.com/

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!

People call me (Anna) the "Marie Kondo of startup marketing" because I help VC backed early stage startups clean up their marketing mess to uncover more joy (and revenue). For those startups that have already built their marketing foundation and have been testing different marketing plays but just aren't satisfied with the traction they're seeing, I created the Marketing Audit + Roadmap offering. At the end of your audit, you’ll get a custom Roadmap with improvement opportunities for the next 3-6 months. So that you can finally put the missing pieces in place to start seeing more traction and stop spending time and money on the wrong things.

You can learn more about it by visiting my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com/pricing

You can also find me regularly posting on LinkedIn and join the convo: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

*listeners: please fill out this short 3-min. survey to help me level up the show: https://forms.gle/iporNXSgtfuoHSPJA

Guys, you're gonna love this episode. I finally got to bring on Pete Lorenco (VP of Marketing at Alyce) to join me on the show. I'm a big fan and you'll soon be too. Prior to Alyce, Pete was VP of Marketing at Avid Technology (a public company) and several other enterprise companies including Iron Mountain and EMC (prior to their acquisition by Dell).

Alyce was founded in 2015, has 174 people and is based out of Boston, MA. They've raised Series B funding ($46M total). Alyce provides a better way to do outbound B2B marketing by transforming from transactional touch-points to delivering personal experiences using gifting, swag, and direct mail.

Here's what we hit on:

I had Dan Frohnen (former CMO at Sendoso) on the show, Episode 16, and we talked about gifting. There are other players in the space, how do you compete;

How does gifting work effectively within the buyer journey;

Some people will not agree with our POV and why that's a good thing;

How is outbound broken today, and what should we do about it;

Why certain goals matter in order to create an experience people will love, and what those goals should be;

At Alyce you’re sourcing 70% of total new logo pipeline & revenue from inbound marketing - what's your 2022 marketing plan;

What channels are you leaning into;

How're you setting up effective ABM at Alyce, from your target list of accounts to winning deals;

What are your top marketing challenges;

What are the last 1-2 really good, creative marketing ideas you/your team has come up with.

You can reach Pete on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/peter-lorenco

Find out more about Alyce: www.alyce.com

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!

People call me (Anna) the Marie Kondo of startup marketing because I help VC backed early stage startups clean up their marketing mess to uncover more joy (and revenue). For those startups that have already built their marketing foundation and have been testing different marketing plays but just aren't satisfied with the traction they're seeing, I created the Marketing Audit + Roadmap offering. At the end of your audit, you’ll get a custom Roadmap with improvement opportunities for the next 3-6 months. So that you can finally put the missing pieces in place to start seeing more traction and stop spending time and money on the wrong things.

You can learn more about it by visiting my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com/pricing

You can find me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

*listeners: please fill out this short 3-min. survey to help me level up the show: https://forms.gle/iporNXSgtfuoHSPJA

Milestone Episode! I asked Gil Eyal (Founder of Stardust Ventures) to come back and talk with me on the show about startup celebrity partnerships which happens to be a very fascinating topic. In general we talk a lot about and even implement some of the (micro) influencer marketing strategies but I bet you never thought about working with a well-known celebrity to help grow your startup. Stardust invests in early stage consumer startups that want to leverage celebrities to grow their brand.

Gil is a long-time friend I met back in business school and was my very first guest on the podcast (Episode 1!) so go back and listen to that one if ya missed it. It's still one of my more popular episodes.

In THIS episode we hit on:

What makes celebrity partnerships with startups so effective;

How does it work;

How much do startups pay celebrities;

What KPIs are startups looking at;

As a startup that wants to partner with a celebrity, where do you even start;

In what ways does working with micro-influencers differ from a celebrity collaboration.

You can reach Gil on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gileyal/

Check out Stardust Ventures: www.stardustventures.us

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!

People call me (Anna) the "Marie Kondo of startup marketing" because I help VC backed early stage startups clean up their marketing mess to uncover more joy (and revenue). For those startups that have already built their marketing foundation and have been testing different marketing plays but just aren't satisfied with the traction they're seeing, I created the Marketing Audit + Roadmap offering. At the end of your audit, you’ll get a custom Roadmap with improvement opportunities for the next 3-6 months. So that you can finally put the missing pieces in place to start seeing more traction and stop spending time and money on the wrong things.

You can learn more about it by visiting my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com/pricing

You can also find me regularly posting on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

*listeners: please fill out this short 3-min. survey to help me level up the show: https://forms.gle/iporNXSgtfuoHSPJA

Here's a TikTok video I made for LinkedIn this week, also sharing with my listeners on here.

I'm launching the new EdTech Founders Go-To-Market bootcamp next week (together with Dano who I worked with previously) in case you're an EdTech founder and listening and interested. Companies like Seesaw, Branching Minds, Pear Deck, Yoga Ed, Thimble, Graspable Math, Marker Learning and more have loved the program but it was very sales-focused so now we're adding the marketing side to round it out.

Classes start Sept 14th, running for 7 weeks.  90-min sessions plus 1 on 1 time.  You'll get homework and resources. You can learn more and apply by going to the website. 

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!

People call me (Anna) the "Marie Kondo of startup marketing" because I help VC backed early stage startups clean up their marketing mess to uncover more joy (and revenue). For those startups that have already built their marketing foundation and have been testing different marketing plays but just aren't satisfied with the traction they're seeing, I created the Marketing Audit + Roadmap offering. At the end of your audit, you’ll get a custom Roadmap with improvement opportunities for the next 3-6 months. So that you can finally put the missing pieces in place to start seeing more traction and stop spending time and money on the wrong things.

You can learn more about it by visiting my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com/pricing

You can also find me regularly posting on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

Happy Labor Day to my US listeners!

*listeners: please fill out this short 3-min. survey to help me level up the show: https://forms.gle/iporNXSgtfuoHSPJA

On this episode I invited Frankie Scerbo (co-founder and CMO at Elude) to join me to talk about the cool travel startup he's helping to grow, their 2022 marketing plan, creative ideas, some challenges, and favorite places to travel.

Prior to Elude, Frankie was West Coast Regional Director for EON, a hardware accessory company for the gaming tech industry.

Elude was founded in 2019, has 21 people and is based out of CA. They've raised Seed funding ($7.1M total). Elude is the app that helps you wander more and wonder less. You might be wondering “where could we go for $600?” and the app helps you answer that question with a personalized trip list based on your travel preferences and goals.

Here's what we hit on:

Where did the idea for the startup come from;

10K+ followers on Instagram and 25K+ downloads in the app store within your first 2 weeks of launching – how’d you do that;

What did your social media look and feel like;

2022 Marketing Plan - where are you putting your dollars (HINT: downloads and revenue comes much easier from Instagram and email and WOM - events);

Our influencer strategy and what content they're sharing;

Top marketing challenges;

Creative marketing ideas ("The Boring Campaign);

Favorite places to travel;

Goals that Frankie wants to accomplish this year;

Frankie asked me a question to round out the conversation.

You can reach Frankie on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/frankie-scerbo-bba2ba81/

Find out more about Elude: https://elude.co/

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!

People call me (Anna) the Marie Kondo of startup marketing because I help VC backed early stage startups clean up their marketing mess to uncover more joy (and revenue). For those startups that have already built their marketing foundation and have been testing different marketing plays but just aren't satisfied with the traction they're seeing, I created the Marketing Audit + Roadmap offering. At the end of your audit, you’ll get a custom Roadmap with improvement opportunities for the next 3-6 months. So that you can finally put the missing pieces in place to start seeing more traction and stop spending time and money on the wrong things.

You can learn more about it by visiting my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com/pricing

You can find me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

*listeners: please fill out this short 3-min. survey to help me level up the show: https://forms.gle/iporNXSgtfuoHSPJA

I asked Christopher Lochhead (3X Silicon Valley public company CMO) to come back and talk with me on the show about the things we did not get to cover last time, so here's round 2! Christopher makes content (podcasts, books, newsletters) for entrepreneurs and marketers with a different mind. He's got a newsletter called "Category Pirates" and podcasts (Follow Your Different, Lochhead On Marketing) and books (Play Bigger, Niche Down).

Last time he was on the show was last summer! Episode 44. We talked about “Why 98% Of Startups (And Marketers) Waste Their Time”, how companies that lead with category design are valued at 5x more, what makes a legendary entrepreneur, and how to explain category design to a 7-year old. This is still one of my most popular episodes.

In THIS episode we hit on:

Given all that's happening in the world, is this still an amazing time to be an entrepreneur; 

Some startup marketing leaders that have done it are saying you shouldn't create a category! Why are they saying this, what's your take;

What's the best way to scale your business fast (HINT: category design, understand the power of WOM and super consumer and having a strong POV);

How does one actually go about creating legendary content;

What's the difference between obvious vs. non-obvious content;

Why solopreneurs (versus corporate) are actually really good at putting out great content;

How to generate non-obvious ideas.

You can reach Christopher on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/christopherlochhead/

Check out the website: www.categorypirates.com/

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!

People call me (Anna) the Marie Kondo of startup marketing because I help VC backed early stage startups clean up their marketing mess to uncover more joy (and revenue). For those startups that have already built their marketing foundation and have been testing different marketing plays but just aren't satisfied with the traction they're seeing, I created the Marketing Audit + Roadmap offering. At the end of your audit, you’ll get a custom Roadmap with improvement opportunities for the next 3-6 months. So that you can finally put the missing pieces in place to start seeing more traction and stop spending time and money on the wrong things.

You can learn more about it by visiting my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com/pricing

Don't forget to follow me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

*listeners: please fill out this short 3-min. survey to help me level up the show: https://forms.gle/iporNXSgtfuoHSPJA

I had Terri Avnaim, CMO at Boulevard, on the show and we talked about how her experience as Chief Customer Officer (CCO) has impacted the way she runs marketing, her 2022 marketing plans plus biggest learnings in B2B marketing tech from 25+ years experience.

Prior to Boulevard, Terri was Chief Customer and Marketing Officer at Sauce Labs ($151M funded SaaS). 

Boulevard was founded in 2016, has ~309 people, and is based out of CA. They've raised Series B ($38M total). Boulevard is a platform that’s helping to streamline the operations of appointment-based self-care businesses (e.g. salons, spas, barbershops). From a customer: “Boulevard is the Apple of salon software.”

Here's what we hit on:

Terri's background as Chief Customer Officer and how that impacts her approach to marketing;

2022 marketing plan during the downturn (HINT: we tripled our marketing team in 6 months);

What marketing channels are you leaning into;

What marketing content are you leaning into;

Top marketing challenges (HINT: this is a very emotionally charged industry);

Biggest learning from 25+ years in B2B marketing tech;

What has changed with marketing and what do marketing leaders need to do to adapt to this change (HINT: the best marketing is invisible, but make sure your effort doesn't disappear);

Some goals you want to accomplish (personal, professional) in 2022;

Terri asked me a question to round out the conversation.

You can reach Terri on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/terriavnaim

Find out more about Boulevard: www.joinblvd.com

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!

People call me (Anna) the Marie Kondo of startup marketing because I help VC backed early stage startups clean up their marketing mess to uncover more joy (and revenue). For those startups that have already built their marketing foundation and have been testing different marketing plays but just aren't satisfied with the traction they're seeing, I created the Marketing Audit + Roadmap offering. At the end of your audit, you’ll get a custom Roadmap with improvement opportunities for the next 3-6 months. So that you can finally put the missing pieces in place to start seeing more traction and stop spending time and money on the wrong things.

You can learn more about it by visiting my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com/pricing

You can find me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

*listeners: please fill out this short 3-min. survey to help me level up the show: https://forms.gle/iporNXSgtfuoHSPJA

In this episode I’m getting interviewed by Spyros Tsoukalas (Head of BD at GrowthMentor) and we talk through how to navigate through marketing chaos by prioritizing marketing efforts for early stage startups.

I've been a mentor on GrowthMentor for 8 months and have really enjoyed having 1:1 conversations with founders and marketers that have very specific marketing and growth questions related to what they're building and I can spend 30 minutes just helping them out. It's a wonderful community and I highly recommend it whether you're a founder/marketer looking for help or a mentor looking to help.

Main topics we cover:

The problem with startups' approach to marketing efforts;

What to do instead, how to prioritize your marketing;

What types of things should be done first, second, etc;

How marketing buzzwords confuse founders and marketers and how to think about it instead.

The original podcast show notes appear here: www.growthmentor.com/podcasts/prioritizing-marketing-efforts/

GrowthMentor's website: www.growthmentor.com/

My profile on GrowthMentor: app.growthmentor.com/mentors/anna-furmanov

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!

People call me (Anna) the Marie Kondo of startup marketing because I help VC backed early stage startups clean up their marketing mess to uncover more joy (and revenue). For those startups that have already built their marketing foundation and have been testing different marketing plays but just aren't satisfied with the traction they're seeing, I created the Marketing Audit + Roadmap offering. At the end of your audit, you’ll get a custom Roadmap with improvement opportunities for the next 3-6 months. So that you can finally put the missing pieces in place to start seeing more traction and stop spending time and money on the wrong things.

You can learn more about it by visiting my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com/pricing

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

*listeners: please fill out this short 3-min. survey to help me level up the show: https://forms.gle/iporNXSgtfuoHSPJA

A bit of a different flavor for this episode! I had my friend Lina Erez on the show, she works with brands and people that are pushing for positive change, to design their story and spark action. Lina's got a whole slew of clients including Adler Planetarium, BallotReady and Birthright Israel.

Here's what we hit on:

When you say “pushing for positive change” what does that actually mean (aren't we all pushing for positive change);

How do you help brands design their story for action, what’s your process;

What do many companies get wrong when it comes to brand design (HINT: a lot of times they're looking for BIG and BOLD but that's actually not what you want to do, you want to think about your BIG idea);

What has been your favorite project;

Goals for this year.

You can reach Lina on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/linaerez/

Check out her website: www.talinadesign.com

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!

People call me (Anna) the Marie Kondo of startup marketing because I help VC backed early stage startups clean up their marketing mess to uncover more joy (and revenue). For those startups that have already built their marketing foundation and have been testing different marketing plays but just aren't satisfied with the traction they're seeing, I created the Marketing Audit + Roadmap offering. At the end of your audit, you’ll get a custom Roadmap with improvement opportunities for the next 3-6 months. So that you can finally put the missing pieces in place to start seeing more traction and stop spending time and money on the wrong things.

You can learn more about it by visiting my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com/pricing

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

Thanks for listening and don't forget to leave a review!

Happy Passover!

In my work with early stage startups, I've seen some of the ways that they approach their content strategies. Sometimes there's structure, but usually it's all over the place. It's not their fault, though. I haven't really seen any visual diagrams that would help startup founders and marketing teams build this out. Nothing too fancy, but at least some kind of easy to use, systematic approach that brings it all together. 

So I brought on Erin Balsa to help hash this out. Erin Balsa is Founder of Haus of Bold where she builds and executes content marketing strategies for B2B SaaS startups that sell complex, enterprise-ready solutions.

If you want to see the Content Strategy Canvas, you can now because I wrote up an article to show you.

We also cover:

AMA: Erin asks me her burning question which I will answer in the next BONUS episode.

You can find Erin on LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/erinbalsa

Haus of Bold: hausofbold.com

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 >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

2. sponsor my Top 5% podcast and get startup founders, marketers and VCs hearing about your brand >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠podcast.furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

3. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sign up to get my monthly early stage startup marketing newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ where I’m sharing playbooks and insights and cracking some jokes

You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn, definitely say hello and tell me what you're building and how it's going >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

*listeners: please fill out this short 3-min. survey to help me level up the show: https://forms.gle/iporNXSgtfuoHSPJA

I'm such a big fan of April Dunford. I've read her book "Obviously Awesome - How to Stand Out in Noisy Crowded Markets" and consider her the startup positioning pro.

April Dunford is founder and CEO of Ambient Strategy, a consulting firm that specializes in positioning for tech companies. April has worked with 200+ companies across the globe. For early stage startups her focus is on GTM strategy, she also works with large companies on new product intros and market positioning. Prior, April held executive roles in a series of successful startups as CEO, COO, VP Marketing and VP Marketing and Sales.

Here's what we hit on:

Where most companies go wrong with their positioning;

April's approach to positioning for early stage startups (HINT: ask customers to "take me back before you bought our stuff, what was the trigger");

There's a handful of things that are important early stage when you only have your first few customers;

After you get your first customers that love you and learn more about why, then start working on your GTM strategy;

What are your top challenges, what are you trying to figure out these days.

You can reach April on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/aprildunford/

Check out her website: www.aprildunford.com/

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!

People call me (Anna) the Marie Kondo of startup marketing because I help VC backed early stage startups clean up their marketing mess to uncover more joy (and revenue). For those startups that have already built their marketing foundation and have been testing different marketing plays but just aren't satisfied with the traction they're seeing, I created the Marketing Audit + Roadmap offering. At the end of your audit, you’ll get a custom Roadmap with improvement opportunities for the next 3-6 months. So that you can finally put the missing pieces in place to start seeing more traction and stop spending time and money on the wrong things.

You can learn more about it by visiting my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com/pricing

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

I invited Lee Anne Grant, Chief Growth Officer at babylist, onto the show and we unpacked some very cool stuff happening at their startup.

Prior to babylist, Lee Anne held sales roles at Google, AOL, POPSUGAR and Brandless.

Babylist was founded in 2011, has 212 people, and is based out of CA (also remote). They've raised Series C ($40.7M total). Babylist is the leading vertical marketplace and commerce destination for baby, driving purchase decisions for more than 8 million people each year! Babylist is way more than a baby registry and we talk about those different revenue streams.

Here's what we hit on:

You’ve been in sales for much of your career and now you’re CGO. What does that mean, what are you in charge of, and how does that impact how you lead;

Babylist is a commerce company that has a media business - tell me more about how this works and how that affects your marketing decisions (HINT: having 3 revenue streams is incredibly intellectually interesting);

Tell me more about your growth strategy during this downturn, where are you putting your dollars, what marketing channels are you leaning into;

Their Halsey influencer story and how that has impacted their growth;

What kinds of marketing content are you leaning into;

What are the last 1-2 really good, creative marketing ideas you’ve come up with (HINT: in-person plays plus the metaverse);

What are your top marketing challenges;

Some goals you want to accomplish (personal, professional) in 2022;

Lee Anne asked me a question to round out the conversation.

You can reach Lee Anne on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leeannegrant/

Find out more about babylist: www.babylist.com

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!

People call me (Anna) the Marie Kondo of startup marketing because I help VC backed early stage startups clean up their marketing mess to uncover more joy (and revenue). For those startups that have already built their marketing foundation and have been testing different marketing plays but just aren't satisfied with the traction they're seeing, I created the Marketing Audit + Roadmap offering. At the end of your audit, you’ll get a custom Roadmap with improvement opportunities for the next 3-6 months. So that you can finally put the missing pieces in place to start seeing more traction and stop spending time and money on the wrong things.

You can learn more about it by visiting my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com/pricing

You can find me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

Have you ever met a workplace futurist before? Well, let me tell ya, they're pretty awesome and very helpful in exploring what's to come in the future of (all) work plus specific to marketers.

Marti Konstant is a workplace futurist and best-selling author of “Activate Your Agile Career: How Responding to Change will Inspire Your Life's Work.” She's also the owner of Konstant Change. Prior, Marti held marketing and demand gen roles at Samsung and Open Kernel Labs (acquired by General Dynamics). Try typing in "career agility" into Google and her article still comes up #1 in the results.

Here's what we hit on:

What in the world is a workplace futurist; 

What has made you successful in this field;

Marti explains her DNA framework for how to bring your future into your present (HINT: Disrupt the model, Notice the signals, Act);

How do you stay ahead;

What does the Marketer of the future look like, what will they need to do and know (HINT: the expiration date for your set of skills is 4 years or less);

How do we continue to stay relevant in the field of marketing as we get older;

Why today’s workforce is no longer a "workforce," it’s really a “work net” (different people that are augmenting your team);

What does the Metaverse have to do with all of this;

What are your top challenges, what are you trying to figure out these days.

You can reach Marti on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/martikonstant/

Check out her website: www.martikonstant.com/

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!

People call me (Anna) the Marie Kondo of startup marketing because I help VC backed early stage startups clean up their marketing mess to uncover more joy (and revenue). For those startups that have already built their marketing foundation and have been testing different marketing plays but just aren't satisfied with the traction they're seeing, I created the Marketing Audit + Roadmap offering. At the end of your audit, you’ll get a custom Roadmap with improvement opportunities for the next 3-6 months. So that you can finally put the missing pieces in place to start seeing more traction and stop spending time and money on the wrong things.

You can learn more about it by visiting my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com/pricing

You can find me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

A request I've gotten from listeners is to bring on a VC firm to talk through “the view from the VC side” so here we go (again)!

I invited Andrew Bluestein, Managing Partner at Bluestein Ventures, to join me on the show and talk about the future of food, how the pandemic has affected food startups, what they're looking for before they decide to invest in a startup, and so much more.

I know Andrew from our days at Kellogg! And we recently saw each other at Kellogg's 10-year reunion.

More about Bluestein Ventures:

• investing in the future of food
• founded in 2014
• based out of Chicago
• early stage investments typically Seed and Series A
• portfolio companies include Crafty, FoxTrot and Factor_ (acquired)

Here's what we hit on:

Why the focus on the future of food, what's so cool about food;

How the pandemic has impacted the food industry;

What VCs want to see before they decide to invest in an early stage startup (HINT: an innovative GTM strategy);

What marketing and growth opportunities can B2B learn from B2C;

What do you look at to confirm if there's product/market fit (HINT: things are still happening despite all the shortcomings);

What are those unique ways that startups can reach customers (HINT: post COVID, we need to go offline again);

On building brands and acquiring customers, what seems to work really well;

Which 1-2 portfolio companies are you personally really excited about and why.

You can reach Andrew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewbluestein/

Check out Bluestein Ventures: https://www.bluesteinventures.com/

For more content like this, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen.

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

Thanks for your patience, I usually post these episodes on Mondays MUCH earlier but we just got back from a road trip and I rushed over to the computer almost as soon as we got back :)

WOW! 100 episodes, I can't even believe it. Thank you to all my listeners, my fans, my guests, for being a part of something that I wanted to build so I could share what top startups and leaders are doing, what’s working, what’s not, just being very transparent. Truly a labor of love. 

Don't forget to leave a review if you've been joining me!

In this 100th episode I’m getting interviewed (again) by Kap Chatfield (CEO at Rveal Media and host of B2B Podcasting) and we talk through modern approaches to digital content strategy for startups.

Main topics we cover:

Why your B2B startup needs a digital content strategy;

What goes into your digital content strategy;

Digital marketing needs to work for you so that you don’t need to hire more salespeople to do that work for you;

Gartner’s Future of Sales research shows that by 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions with buyers will occur in digital. This is because 33% of all buyers desire a seller-FREE sales experience – a preference that climbs to 44% for millennials - what that means for you going forward;

How to assess the value of your content strategy (HINT: not through vanity metrics);

What it takes to create great content;

Your content strategy includes both content creation and distribution;

Your customer's sales experience is not a linear journey and what that means for you.

Here's the article I wrote mentioned in this episode: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/modern-digital-content-strategy-startups-playbook-anna-furmanov/

You can find Kap on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kapchatfield/

Rveal's website: https://site.rveal.media/

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen.

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening, and don't forget to leave a review!

To all my US listeners, Happy 4th of July 🎉🎉

I first heard Jay Acunzo speak on Mark Schaefer’s podcast Marketing Companion and have been following him ever since. Jay says "Don't market more. Matter more." I agree so so so much with that statement.

Jay is a content entrepreneur, host of the podcast Unthinkable, writes the weekly newsletter Playing Favorites, author of the book Break the Wheel, and develops podcasts and docuseries for B2B brands. In his prior lives, Jay worked in marketing and media roles at Google, HubSpot, ESPN, and the VC firm NextView.

Ann Handley (CCO at MarketingProfs and bestselling author of Everybody Writes) says about Jay: “You can go ahead and create more content. Or you can create something special that stirs hearts and engages minds. If you are the kind of person who wants your work to really matter, listen to Jay. He’ll be your perfect guide.”

Here's what we hit on:

Resonance is today’s top marketing skill - tell me why this is so important today;

The art of storytelling - how to write stories that people connect with emotionally, and can you share your specific process;

How do you measure what resonates;

Great marketing is not about who arrives...it's about who stays;

How to tie storytelling concepts to the startup world, how can marketers level up (HINT: marketers create a lot of stuff but it’s not gripping);

How Lessonly and Kyle Lacy developed an original POV;

Why being their favorite makes you completely change-proof;

How do we tie storytelling back to ROI and revenue, how do we know we're really good at it;

Intuition should lead and data should course correct;

What are your top challenges, what are you trying to figure out;

Goals (personal/professional) for 2022.

You can reach Jay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayacunzo/

Check out his website: https://jayacunzo.com/

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen.

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening, and don't forget to leave a review!

***This was my most engaging LinkedIn post across 2 years of posts***

Time for another solo episode! I started creating TikTok videos and posting them to LinkedIn. So I'm stripping out the audio and adding it to the podcast.

People asking me: “Anna, does your podcast drive leads?"

Me: “No."

People: "Then WHY are you doing it??"

Most people think about marketing in terms of "will this get me leads" (lead gen)

Few think about marketing in terms of "will this be really good content for my target audience"

And then there's the trickle down effect.

Bc if you have really good content for your target audience

then they will be more likely to want to know, like and trust you

they'll refer people over to watch/listen to your stuff

they'll refer people over to work with you

A podcast is just part of it

Can be a podcast, events, webinars, unique internal data, etc.

Most of it is HOW you'll develop high-quality content that stands out bc you have a unique POV you want to share out that your target audience cares about

Most of it is your strategy.

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen.

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening, and don't forget to leave a review!

I brought back Amy Volas, founder and CEO of Avenue Talent Partners, to talk about how marketing and sales have fundamentally changed (and also what has remained the same). Last time I had Amy on was last summer, Episode 40! So I was so glad to have her back. Love her.

Amy helps startups hire sales leaders without the cringe. She has been a sales leader at ZipRecruiter, Indeed, and Yahoo!, she has personally closed $100MM+ in revenue and counting, and she's got 70+ recommendations on LinkedIn. Saweeet.

Amy also co-hosts the #1 weekly virtual sales happy hour (Thursday Night Sales), link in the show notes below.

Here's what we hit on:

Top ways sales has changed due to the pandemic;

Top ways marketing has changed due to the pandemic;

What hasn't changed?

You can find Amy on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/amyvolas

Find out more about Avenue Talent Partners: www.avenuetalentpartners.com

Link to join Thursday Night Sales: www.thursdaynightsales.com

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen).

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

A request that I've gotten from listeners is to bring on a VC firm to talk through “the view from the VC side” so here we go!

I invited Elaine Zelby, Partner at SignalFire, to join me and talk about all things investing in startups, building a strong relationship with port companies, product market fit and what that actually means and how that's changed over time, and more. I’ve helped advise and have also worked with SignalFire’s portfolio companies on their marketing efforts.

More about Elaine:

• on the Board of Directors at SVEN (Silicon Valley Executive Network)
• worked on the product and marketing side at Zazzle, Capriza (Series C), Slack and Consensys (Series D)
• host of the (un)sexy podcast - ranked Top 3% globally - an exploration of just how sexy unsexy industries can be!
• sends a weekly newsletter called “3 Things” - a dive into 3 rabbit holes and you can join her if you want

More about SignalFire:

• founded in 2013
• based out of San Francisco
• invests in startups Seed through Series B

Here's what we hit on:

What VCs want to see before they invest in an (early stage) startup, what matters (HINT: Team, Market and Product and it's very rare to find companies with tech moats so you should be creating brand and distribution moats);

What do you want to see during the relationship (HINT: be an A+ at 1-2 things and B- in everything else and we'll help get you A+ support in those other things);

What does product market fit mean today, how do you know, what do you look for (HINT: customers rip it out of your hands faster than you can sell it);

Which 1-2 portfolio companies are you personally super excited about and why.

You can reach Elaine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elainezelby/

Check out SignalFire: https://signalfire.com/

Check out the (un)sexy podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/un-sexy/id1527034265

For more content like this, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen.

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

TL;DR

If you love mac n' cheese and you haven't tried Goodles yet then you're in for a wild ride. Seriously, just had them this weekend and my tummy is happy and my body is thanking me.

I invited Jen Zeszut, co-founder and CEO at Goodles, onto the show and we talked about how their small startup has grown so much, so fast.

Prior to Goodles, Jen was CEO at Cerebelly (baby food for healthy brain development). Prior to that she was co-founder and CRO at Beckon (SaaS, raised $44M).

Goodles was founded in 2021 (!), based out of Santa Cruz (CA) and has 24 people. Seed funding ($6.4M). Goodles is noodles, gooder. PROTEIN-PACKED, VEGGIE-BOOSTED mac n' cheese. Yum.

Here's what we hit on:

This is cool because Wonder Woman’s Gal Gadot co-launched with you - why did you decide to bring her on the team? What were the results? How's it going;

Why a celebrity is not the brand;

How do you organize your marketing budget (HINT: we have "big noodles" or big rocks launching monthly);

What marketing channels are you leaning into;

Why you started the Make, Be and Do Gooder Community and how's it going;

What content are you leaning into;

Having a celebrity partner is like having a megaphone;

How we measure what marketing content is working (HINT: we’re pretty meticulous measurers and turn things on and off in a staggered way);

What paid ads creative seems to be working the best for you (HINT: our ads are weird like the 3D rendering of cheese dripping);

Why knowing "what is your soul" (why you do what you do) is so important for startups;

What are your top marketing challenges;

What are the last 1-2 really good, creative marketing ideas you’ve come up with (HINT: we're a lifestyle brand so we're selling all sorts of fun things like a stuffie and we just had a stuffie drop which was our biggest sales day other than launch day);

Some goals you want to accomplish (personal, professional) in 2022 (HINT: it’s not the focus on the outcome. Do great work with great people that you love working with. I’m bringing personal joy to my every day and we are laughing and joking and having a fun time. I feel like I can taste the joy in this food.)

You can reach Jen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenzeszut/

Find out more about Goodles: https://www.goodles.com/

For more content like this, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen.

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

Shane Murphy-Reuter (CMO at Webflow) asked me a question in our last episode: "If you were the CMO at Webflow, what would you do differently?" Well that is a loaded question, isn't it. First, let me just say Shane you’re doing an amazing job. Leading a team of 70 people! I just have a couple of things to suggest. Well, I have 13 things. I hope we can still be friends.

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 >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

2. sponsor my Top 5% podcast and get startup founders, marketers and VCs hearing about your brand >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcast.furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

3. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sign up to get my monthly early stage startup marketing newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ where I’m sharing playbooks and insights and cracking some jokes

You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn, definitely say hello and tell me what you're building and how it's going >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

Time for another solo episode! It's fast but packs a punch. I started creating TikTok videos and posting them to LinkedIn and so far it's going well and I love how it takes less than 5 minutes to record, add a title, and add captions and do it all myself. Talk about scrappy AND engaging. Video works, ya'll. So I'm stripping out the audio and adding it to the podcast.

I was asked on a recent discovery call: “Where should we prioritize marketing in the funnel, TOF? Middle? Bottom to help close? With Customers to grow WOM and referrals?”

Answer: Yes.

The cool thing is your content strategy can hit ALL those levels (even with a very small team) if you’re being thoughtful about it.

I like to use a 1-page marketing plan that includes specific marketing plays across the funnel.

For example:

TOF to Engage: podcast, social media video clips

MOF to Nurture: podcast, social media video clips, newsletter, 1:1 sharing on LinkedIn, weekly virtual events

BOF to Convert: case studies, testimonials, testimonial videos

Customer Success: surprise and delight e.g. super responsive Slack channel, case studies / video testimonials from superfans, give them a platform to share their expertise >> get them on your podcast to discuss wins and challenges

And then for each stage, also have objectives (e.g. increased website visitors MoM, 50% OR and 20% CTR for email, 5 new customers per month, etc.) How is your content strategy impacting your objectives?

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen.

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening, and don't forget to leave a review!

I had the pleasure of talking to Maya Grossman, Founder of Maya Grossman Consulting, about her experiences as VP of Marketing and how she prioritized her marketing efforts in those critical first 90 days.

Maya has 15+ years of marketing experience building brands and driving growth at companies like Microsoft, Google, and most recently Canvas. As the VP of Marketing at Canvas she built the marketing team, grew qualified pipeline 3X Q/Q, doubled ARR Y/Y, and helped secure Series C at $400M valuation. She was also the VP of Marketing at Colu ($40M VC backed startup).

Here's what we hit on:

What's your process for getting prospects to go from "what is this?" to "I want this!" (HINT: sell the CHANGE, this is the core of product marketing);

As VP of Marketing at Canvas, how did you build out the team, build out demand gen, build pipeline and sales, help secure Series C funding...all the things. How you prioritized that role the first 90 days and the results from there (HINT: start by talking to all different people and teams within the company about product, customers, positioning, etc. and see if there's a consistent message at home);

How to handle ambitious goals as VP of Marketing (HINT: there will always be ambitious goals, but how to balance that with being realistic and also having quick wins);

What would you have done differently while at Canvas;

How did you build out your marketing team early stage (HINT: product marketing, content manager, demand gen manager and this took 5-6 months);

How did you handle marketing attribution early stage (HINT: you don't have to measure everything, we didn't gate our content, we launched a podcast, community, created demand, created resources);

We stopped doing Instagram and Twitter and instead focused on LinkedIn > doing one thing really well versus a bunch of things not well;

Now your focus is "how to build a thriving career in marketing" - why did you decide to help people with this;

Maya shares her strategy/steps for how to build a thriving career.

You can reach Maya on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayagrossman/

Check out her website: https://www.mayagrossman.com/

Check out her book: Invaluable

For more content like this, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen.

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

Time for another solo episode! It's fast but packs a punch. I started creating TikTok videos pretty much weekly and posting them to LinkedIn and so far it's going well and I love how it takes less than 5 minutes to record, add a title, and add captions and do it all myself. Talk about scrappy AND engaging. Video works, ya'll. So I'm stripping out the audio and adding it to the podcast.

As a mentor at Growth Mentor I talk to a few startups every Friday about their marketing challenges and specific questions they have for me. Recently I was asked "as you work across startups, what marketing channels approach seems to work the best?" Cool thing about working across early stage startups is I get to see their top challenges and also help prioritize top marketing channels (based on talking to customers and finding out where they hang out online, how easy it will be to implement and based on potential impact). My answer is "it depends" but I know that's not helpful so I share more in this quick audio.

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen.

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening, and don't forget to leave a review!

Happy Memorial Day if you're in the US! 

WOWZA these episodes are popular...so let's keep this going! Sprinkling in another episode for the "Marketing Planning Series" where I invite back top startup founders and marketing leaders to talk about their marketing plans going into 2022. We'll dive into marketing channels, budget, resources and so much more.

Kyle Lacy is SVP of Marketing at Seismic (Series G). Prior, Kyle was CMO at Lessonly (Series C) for almost 5 years where he 20X’d revenue growth (70% sourced by marketing).

I've had Kyle on before - check out Episode 31 where we talk about “the power of irrational ideas and golden llamas” among other things.

Seismic was founded in 2010, has ~1,175 people, is based out of San Diego, CA, and Series G funded. Seismic is the #1 global sales enablement solution. Lessonly got acquired by Seismic in 2021. Lessonly is focused on training and coaching sales teams and Seismic does way more.

Here's what we hit on:

2022 Marketing Plan, budget splits (HINT: the board really cares about the one metric LTV/CAC so as long as that stayed in the lane we can do whatever with our budget);

Marketing channels you're leaning into this year (HINT: organic should be primary, and should always be primary);

Marketing content you're leaning into this year;

How you're planning to build out resources;

What's your secret sauce to managing such a big (marketing) ship?? (HINT: hire people that understand how to move quickly but also have empathy/EQ because it's easier to have those difficult conversations;

You need to build the marketing plan that's right for YOUR team, resources, etc;

Goals that Kyle wants to accomplish in 2022.

You can find Kyle on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kylelacy

Find out more about Seismic: https://seismic.com/

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen).

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

I invited Kathleen Booth, SVP Marketing at Tradeswell, to the show and we had a blast talking about how to do marketing the way it SHOULD be done - with a customer/audience-first approach focused on community, great content, and building a brand that people love, whether they buy from you or not. 

Prior to Tradeswell, Kathleen served as CMO at clean.io (Series A). She's also the host of The Inbound Success Podcast and Board-level advisor to several tech startups.

Tradeswell was founded in 2019, is based out of Baltimore (MD), and has 38 people. They've raised Series A ($18.8M). Tradeswell is the real-time operating system for e-commerce. Like "mission control" for growing e-commerce businesses. Tradeswell is creating a new category called “real-time operating system”.

Here's what we hit on:

How buyers used to buy and how buyers are buying today (HINT: they go to peers, communities, Slack, LinkedIn, etc.) and how "meh" marketing still follows the old approach;

To truly succeed you need to win the hearts and minds of the buyer and the people they’re talking to;

How we organize our budget (HINT: it's not the usual 10% of revenue is spent on marketing);

What marketing channels are working well (HINT: podcasts, community, niche newsletter ads);

What marketing content are you leaning into this year (HINT: your content should shine a spotlight on your audience PLUS we have data that nobody else has access to);

How are you building out resources this year;

What are your top marketing challenges (HINT: saying no can be hard AND we're creating a category and that's a challenge for sure but there are things we are looking for in the short-term);

How we're aligning really well with sales (HINT: don't pit marketing against sales, it's about the channel and not the team);

What are the last 1-2 really good, creative marketing ideas you’ve come up with (HINT: niche Substack newsletter sponsorship, check out the link below to learn more);

Some goals you want to accomplish (personal, professional) in 2022.

You can reach Kathleen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleenslatterybooth/

Find out more about Tradeswell: https://www.tradeswell.com/

Check out Swapstack for niche newsletter advertising: https://swapstack.co/

For more content like this, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen.

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com and you can also subscribe to Anna's monthly newsletter by going here: https://share.hsforms.com/1cP1V40x7RGes5gHk1XNgNw47lba

Thanks for listening!

Time for another solo episode! This one's fast but packs a punch. I started creating TikTok videos weekly and posting them to LinkedIn and so far it's going well and I love how it takes just 4 minutes to record, add a title, and add captions and do it all myself. Talk about scrappy AND engaging. Video works, ya'll. So I'm stripping out the audio and adding it to the podcast.

In this quick episode, I cover my conversation with someone I know at a super cool VC firm that helps his portfolio of companies with marketing and growth. He said something and at first I was offended, and then I realized there's some nuance that needs to be unpacked and I do it right here.

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen.

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com and you can also subscribe to Anna's monthly newsletter by going here: https://share.hsforms.com/1cP1V40x7RGes5gHk1XNgNw47lba

Thanks for listening!

Hi and welcome or welcome back!

You're going to love this episode. I've known about Justin Welsh since I saw him in a video clip with Chris Walker about 2 years ago, and I've been following his journey ever since.

Justin Welsh is the founder of Justin Welsh Media. He's an angel investor in B2B SaaS and an advisor for healthcare SaaS. He has built digital courses for how to get followers and customers from LinkedIn and Twitter. He would know. Justin has almost 200k followers on LI and almost 65k on Twitter AND tons of engagement.

In the past, Justin helped to build two $50M+ ARR companies and raise over $300M in venture capital (SVP of Sales at PatientPop, a Series C SaaS where he still serves as strategic advisor, and Director of Strategic Sales at ZocDoc).

Here's what we hit on:

Writing can be harder and take longer versus (for example) talking on a podcast. How do you have so much content to write every single day? What are those systems you use to produce 10-15 pieces of high-quality written content every single day;

Top books and creators Justin follows and recommends;

Most people push content out and don’t analyze it...you do have to study it;

What are the specific tools you use as part of your system;

Justin's mission is to be a "diversified entrepreneur" and he's creating operating systems to do just that. Can you help explain what diversified entrepreneur means? What’s your WHY;

Justin built The Content OS digital course, what are your top learnings to share for folks that want to be successful at productizing their knowledge (HINT: Justin has a 5-step process);

How to build and execute from $0 to $50M+ ARR at your startup...thinking back to PatientPop and ZocDoc, what were the milestones for the different stages, e.g. hiring, running experiments, marketing + sales collaboration, etc. What matters at each stage;

What are your top challenges, what are you trying to figure out;

What are 1-2 big sales trends you're seeing today that startups should be aware of (HINT: there's a big missed opportunity to empower your team to create content where your buyers are hanging out online);

What are some goals you want to accomplish (personal, professional) in 2022.

You can reach Justin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinwelsh/

On Twitter: @JustinSaaS

Find out more about Justin by visiting his website: https://www.justinwelsh.me/

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen).

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

When I say "no fridge needed and 90 second convenience" what comes to mind? Well soon, my friend, you will be seeing Proper Good everywhere.

I invited Christopher Jane, co-founder and CEO at Proper Good, to talk about his delicious company and what they're working on with their marketing efforts. Prior, Christopher was co-founder and CEO at Montana Mex (clean label seasonings, sauces and oils carried by Whole Foods, H-E-B, Albertsons and more).

Proper Good was founded in 2020, is based out of Austin (TX) and has raised Seed funding ($1.5M). Proper Good is 90-second tasty meals with clean ingredients delivered direct to your door. Check out their keto, vegan & low-calorie options. I tried 'em and they're tasty!

Here's what we hit on:

Proper Good was on Shark Tank! How'd it go? (HINT: got a lot of interest from just the viewership but also a lot happened AFTER the show aired);

How'd you come up with that name, what's the backstory;

2022 Marketing Plan - budget, channels, resources (HINT: reduced spend on Insta and FB, increased spend on sampling and top of funnel);

How's TikTok working out for you;

What types of content are you leaning into (HINT: simple and focused messaging, customer reviews and testimonials, and emotional messaging);

Who's your competition (HINT: competition really "lifts all boats");

We grew 400-500% in 2021 with the same base team, who's on the team;

What are your top marketing challenges;

What are the last 1-2 really good, creative marketing ideas you’ve come up with (HINT: it involves food donations and creating an enormous flywheel effect);

Some goals you want to accomplish (personal, professional) in 2022;

How new product innovation works at Proper Good (HINT: we have a private Slack channel for feedback and our Broccoli Cheddar has been revised 5X over 2 years!

You can reach Christopher on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisofthejane/

Find out more about Proper Good: https://eatpropergood.com/

For more content like this, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen.

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

WOW these episodes are popular...so let's keep this going! Sprinkling in another episode for the "Marketing Planning Series" where I invite back top startup founders and marketing leaders to talk about their marketing plans going into 2022. We'll dive into marketing channels, budget, resources and so much more.

Rob Singer is CMO at Remitly. Prior, Rob was CMO at Ancestry.com, and at Smule, and at Habit.

I've had Rob on before - check out Episode 17!

Remitly was founded in 2011, has 1,264 people (WOAH) and is based out of Seattle. And guess what?! They IPO'd September 2021!! Remitly helps people send money across borders. There are millions of immigrants around the world that make the huge sacrifice of leaving their families behind to live and work in another country. Remitly makes international money transfers easy.

Here's what we hit on:

2022 Marketing Plan (HINT: being public doesn’t matter, what’s gotten us here will enable us to keep moving forward);

For new customer acquisition and revenue growth, we spend to a certain payback;

Now we're focusing more on organic growth (creating demand in lower cost channels);

Marketing channels we're leaning into (HINT: audio, TV);

Marketing content we're leaning into (HINT: music and food);

Rob's personal and professional goals.

You can reach Rob on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rob-singer-313131/

Find out more about Remitly: www.remitly.com

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen).

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

We talk about how important storytelling and emotional connection is for really great marketing. But can banking be emotional? 

You betcha. 

I brought on a creative leader to talk about how and why it's important to nail this.

Matthieu Silberstein is VP of Creative Marketing at Lili. Matt works on commercials, PR, influencers, podcasts, social, content, media partnerships, OOH, and creative writing including voice and storytelling. Matt also owns his own business, creating video content for companies like FOX STUDIOS, HEARST DIGITAL, CONDE NAST, FUSE, THE NEW YORK POST, POPSUGAR, and more.

Prior to Lili, Matt served as video content director for Spoon U, a media-tech startup (acquired by Scripps Networks for $11M, and then Scripps was acquired by Discovery for $14.6B) and video director and marketing producer for Popsugar.

Lili was founded in 2018, is based out of NYC, and has 84 people. They've raised Series B ($80M total). Lili is the all-in-one banking app designed for freelancers. Your checking/savings account, taxes, invoices, expense reports – all in one app.

Here's what we hit on:

You joined Lili in 2019 as a contractor, what were you focused on then as Head of Content;

What is the stigma around the term "freelancer" (HINT: it's not a job title, it's a status);

2022 Marketing Goals (HINT: I'm inspired by seeing real people, not by looking at my phone);

What content marketing are you leaning into this year (HINT: trying to make taxes sexy);

What marketing channels are you prioritizing (HINT: we created a cool TV ad, link in the show notes below);

What is Lili’s unique Voice and how do you use Storytelling as part of your creative efforts (HINT: Lili’s voice is my voice because it’s so organic to me);

What are your top creative challenges;

What does “creative'' mean to you and which brands are most creative;

Some goals Matt wants to accomplish in 2022 (HINT: go back out into the world and rekindle inspiration, find that fire).

You can reach Matt on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/matthieusilberstein/

See Matt's creative work: www.matthieusilberstein.com

Find out more about Lili: https://lili.co/

Here's the "I Need This" commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGuDgvx0EWo

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen).

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

I've been talking about websites quite a bit on the show, on LinkedIn, and I just came off a project where I looked at close to 200 B2B websites (!) and realized that being a B2B buyer in 2024 is kind of still awful. I wanted to explore why that is with Shane Murphy-Reuter, CMO at Webflow.

We also cover:

Who's on the marketing team at Webflow;

Why do B2B websites still suck in 2024;

Going beyond your website copy, how else can companies think about improving their websites today? (HINT: make it a memorable experience);

What marketing big bets are you taking in 2024 and why;

AMA: Shane asks me his burning question which I will answer in the next BONUS episode.

About Webflow:

• Founded: 2012
• Funding: Series C (($334.9M total)
• Description: Webflow is the way to design, build, and launch powerful websites visually — without coding.

You can find Shane on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/shanemurfy

Learn more about Webflow: https://webflow.com

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 >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

2. sponsor my Top 5% podcast and get startup founders, marketers and VCs hearing about your brand >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcast.furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

3. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sign up to get my monthly early stage startup marketing newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ where I’m sharing playbooks and insights and cracking some jokes

You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn, definitely say hello and tell me what you're building and how it's going >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

Welcome back! 

As you may have heard, I'm intrigued by category design. I've had both Christopher Lochhead and Andy Raskin on the show to chat more on the topic, and those are actually some of the more popular episodes on the podcast. 

Josh Lowman helps startups (like Robinhood, Newsela, Uber, Bizzabo, and Clari) create and own their category. I wanted to bring Josh onto the show and dig into exactly HOW he helps startups design categories and learn about some specific examples.

Josh is Founder and CCO at Gold Front, a category design studio based in San Francisco and LA. He's also the host of the Category First podcast.

Here's what we hit on:

What does category creation mean to you (HINT: it's a whole company strategy);

Exactly how you’ve helped different brands like Robinhood, Newsela, Uber, Bizzabo and Clari with category design. Where do you start? What does that process look like (HINT: everyone has a different context, but in common is to disrupt the old way of doing things);

Why the CEO collaboration is key;

What are the pitfalls or watch-outs if you’re a startup planning to create and own a category;

How does timing play into successful category creation? What needs to click out there in the world for this to work;

Can everyone be a category creator (HINT: we're just keeping people honest. As a startup you're not telling your investors that you have something incrementally better);

How did you bring category creation into Gold Front’s business strategy;

What are some goals you want to accomplish (personal, professional) in 2022.

You can reach Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshlowman/

Find out more about Gold Front: https://www.goldfront.com/

Check out the Category First podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/category-first/id1601824968

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen).

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

I'm SO excited to bring you this episode on the MSM podcast. Many marketers are struggling to prove the ROI/value from their audio/video content but deep down we KNOW it's the good stuff. It's why we became marketers in the first place! The gems dropped throughout this episode are so valuable.

Holly Pels is VP of Marketing at Casted. Prior, Holly was Director of Marketing at Emarsys (Series B SaaS acquired by SAP).

Casted was founded in 2019, already has 58 people, and they've raised Series A ($9.5M). Based out of Indianapolis (IN). Casted is the first Amplified Marketing Platform and the only audio and video podcast solution designed for enterprise marketers. With Casted, marketers can unlock the power of audio and video by getting access to use your most valuable content across every channel, AND prove the ROI of your audio and video content. Customers include PayPal, OpenView, Salesforce, Hubspot, Auth0, ZoomInfo, Drift, and more.

Here's what we hit on:

What in the world is amplified marketing;

Audio and video and being a media powerhouse - that’s table stakes for startup marketing these days. We know it’s important, but it can be 1) hard to do especially as you get bigger and 2) hard to prove the ROI of content like podcasts (downloads vs. how’s it actually impacting sales??) so that you can build in more budget and resources for it. What’s your recommendation for how to get this going and prove ROI;

Why content marketers are undervalued and overworked and what can we do instead;

Content is created for different purposes (e.g. get people engaged, excited, educated) and not necessarily linear to the sale. Still, you can prove the impact;

Who's on Casted's marketing team;

2022 Marketing Plan - budget, channels, content;

How are we building predictable pipeline;

What are your top marketing challenges (HINT: educating people on the new category “Amplified Marketing” takes time and effort);

You went from Director of Marketing to VP, what were those most important things you did that led to a promotion (HINT: making use of what was created before, not necessarily focused on net new);

What are the last 1-2 really good, creative marketing ideas you/your team has come up with (HINT: our new Marketing Therapy show);

Holly's personal/professional goals for 2022.

You can reach Holly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hollypels/

Find out more about Casted: www.casted.us

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen).

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

WOW these episodes are popular...which tells me that folks are lovin' the series...so let's keep this going! Sprinkling in another episode for the "Marketing Planning Series" where I invite back top startup founders and marketing leaders to talk about their marketing plans going into 2022. We'll dive into marketing channels, budget, resources and so much more.

Alvaro De La Rocha is CMO at Bespoke Post. Previously he held roles at Ogilvy and Microsoft on the product/marketing side. We also went to business school together.

I've had Alvaro on before - check out Episode 30!

Bespoke Post was founded in 2011, has 80 people now, and is based out of NYC. They've raised Series B! ($48.9M total) Bespoke Post is goods and guidance, delivered monthly. Upgrade your day-to-day life through themed boxes full of gear – shaving sets, shoe shine kits, home bar essentials - for men.

Here's what we hit on:

2022 Marketing Plan - how are you organizing your budget (HINT: it's been a challenging year from paid ads perspective, so getting more creative);

How and why we've changed our attribution model (HINT: our new model includes relevant inputs like "how did you hear about us" survey);

What did we put in our TV ad (HINT: it's a kind of testimonial spot which performs really well)

What marketing channels are you leaning into (HINT: includes TV and radio);

What content are you leaning into (HINT: we're reinforcing the lifestyle to build the brand);

Some goals that Alvaro wants to accomplish this year, personal and professional.

You can reach Alvaro on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/alvaro-de-la-rocha-2549b3/

Find out more about Bespoke Post: www.bespokepost.com

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen).

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

Hello and welcome back! On this episode of MSM not only do we talk startup marketing, but Dean also throws in some great life advice. We talk money. We talk kids. We chat about how parents traditionally handle money with their kids and why it's time to revamp that approach.

Dean Brauer is co-founder and president at GoHenry (US). Prior, Dean held senior roles at leading advertising and digital agencies for PlayStation, Unilever and O2 (a large European telco).

GoHenry was founded in 2012, is based out of London and New York, and has 200+ people. Funding: $66.2M total. GoHenry is the kids’ debit card and financial learning app that helps you nurture money confidence in your kids. Meant for kids ages 6-18 years old.

Here's what we hit on:

Chase has a banking service for kids (I just got a mailer recently and my friend mentioned she’s using Chase with her kids). How do you think about GoHenry (startup) vs. the big banks offering something similar? How do you step up as the challenger brand? (HINT: the biggest competition is cash, not banks);

2022 marketing planning - what marketing channels are you leaning into this year? Where have you seen the most success (HINT: organic growth is always happening and if you can deliver delight then people will tell other people);

What content (marketing) are you leaning into (HINT: our content efforts drive storytelling and inspires people);

How do you think about ROI from content marketing (HINT: give yourself 6 months of discovery with resources, figuring out KPIs, and to see how your hypotheses turn out);

How are you planning to build out resources this year;

How do you successfully change the status quo (HINT: build on the frictions);

What are your top marketing challenges;

What have you learned about the UK vs. US consumer and how does that help inform your marketing efforts;

What are the last 1-2 really good, creative marketing ideas you/your team has come up with (HINT: the Money Missions concept was a really creative approach to tackling financial literacy, we had product + marketing working very closely together);

What are some goals you want to accomplish (personal, professional) in 2022.

You can reach Dean on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-brauer-a3a2126/

Find out more about GoHenry: www.gohenry.com

This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen).

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

I had the pleasure of welcoming Nairi Hourdajian (VP of Communications, Content and Community Marketing at Figma) to the show. Nairi is also the founding member of All Raise (programs to accelerate the success of female founders and funders to build a more prosperous, equitable future). She has held marketing leadership roles at Canaan (early stage VC firm) and Uber.

Figma was founded in 2012, has 550 people, and is based out of San Francisco, CA. They've raised Series E funding ($332.9M total). Figma is a design platform for teams who build products together. Customers include Slack, Twitter, DropBox, Square, AirBnB, Netflix, Zoom, Uber, and more.

Here's what we hit on:

Figma’s Marketing team, what are the different groups, who and how many people on your team;

How does your team integrate campaigns together across other teams within Marketing? Internal communications - how do you make sure the whole company knows and is excited about what you’re working on? What processes are in place (HINT: preview those BIG initiatives internally first, this gets people excited and talking which is more leverage for your company);

Your 2022 Marketing Plan. How are you thinking about and splitting your budget for content and community;

To build your content/community, what marketing channels are you leaning into;

What specific content are you leaning into;

What have you learned from your expert designers so far;

You're an expert in PR. Tell me about your experience with PR, what has changed, what has stayed the same? What are startups doing wrong with their PR efforts (HINT: if you’re the PR head at your startup, tell it straight to your founder "here’s what’s possible, here’s what’s not");

What are your thoughts on building a brand successfully for early stage vs. for later stage startups? What tends to happen and what should be done instead (HINT: your website is a channel and it's worth taking a beat to really think about your positioning, where you fit in the competitive landscape, what kind of response from customers are you looking for, that foundational brand work, what is the core narrative, what is the brand promise);

What are your top marketing challenges? (HINT: make sure there's philosophical alignment at your company around ROI from brand marketing efforts);

What are the last 1-2 really good, creative marketing ideas you/your team has come up with.

You can reach Nairi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nairi-tashjian-hourdajian-37601411/

Find out more about Figma: https://www.figma.com/

Check out the Figma store: https://store.figma.com/

This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen).

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

These episodes are pretty popular, which tells me that folks are lovin' the series, so let's keep this going! Sprinkling in another episode for the "Marketing Planning Series" where I invite back top startup founders and marketing leaders to talk about their marketing plans going into 2022. I get questions from startups about this a lot (especially as the marketing landscape has changed so much throughout the pandemic). We'll dive into marketing channels, budget, resources and so much more.

Kristi Annes is VP Marketing Strategy at IMO (Intelligent Medical Objects). Prior to that she was a marketing leader at IBM Watson.

I’ve had IMO on before - Michael Klozotsky, CMO at IMO, came on for Episode 4 back in November 2020! We talked about how IMO’s marketing plan shifted after the pandemic hit (instead of scrambling to get their in-person even over to virtual, IMO ran a really creative marketing campaign around how it’s so great we don’t have to travel called “No Travel Required.” We talk about that and so much more.

IMO is based out of Chicago, has ~270 employees, and received significant investment from Warburg Pincus (IMO's PE firm) and leading U.S. health systems in 2016. IMO has developed the most widely-accepted medical terminology solution for the management of medical vocabularies and software applications at healthcare organizations worldwide. IMO's solution is used by more than 3,500 hospitals and 450,000 physicians daily.

Here's what we cover:

IMO's 2022 Marketing Plan - what's your budget split;

What marketing channels are you leaning into (HINT: we talk about the importance of in-person events and some other channels they're testing);

What content are you leaning into;

Who's on the marketing team to help put the plan into action;

Anything else that's unique about your plan;

Some goals that Kristi wants to accomplish this year, both personal and professional.

You can reach Kristi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristiannes/

Find out more about IMO: https://www.imohealth.com/

This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen).

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

Megan Bowen is COO at Refine Labs. If you don't know her, you're missing out because she's a smart, kind and genuine leader. Prior to Refine Labs, Megan was VP of Customer Success at Platterz, COO at Managed by Q, and held leadership roles at GrubHub and ZocDoc.

I’ve had MJ Peters, now at Refine Labs, on the show (Episode 9 - we talked a lot about voice of customer research and insights) and of course Chris Walker (Episode 35 - “over-prioritizing sales is your SaaS startup’s biggest mistake”). Now Megan!

Refine Labs is a demand accelerator for B2B SaaS companies. They help companies increase marketing’s contribution to qualified pipeline and revenue while lowering CAC.

Here's what we talk about: 

Customer onboarding, success, retention is SO important but often we create our marketing plan and we leave that part out, we’re so focused on creating awareness and acquiring new customers. What does strong customer success look like for an early stage startup (HINT: it's NOT customer support);

When is the best time to hire a dedicated customer success person or team (HINT: as soon as you have customers);

Who should you hire (HINT: Megan shares a framework for building your team);

What are the most common pitfalls when it comes to customer onboarding/success;

How to ensure customer success + sales + marketing + product is fully aligned, and on what things do they need to align on;

What does Customer Success look like at Refine Labs (HINT: we've recently revamped our onboarding);

Megan embraces a “human-first” leadership approach - what does this mean and what are top 1-2 leadership lessons to share;

What are some goals Megan wants to accomplish (personal, professional) this year.

You can reach Megan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganwhitebowen/

Find out more about Refine Labs: www.refinelabs.com

This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen).

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

These episodes are pretty popular, which tells me that folks are lovin' the series, so let's keep this going! Sprinkling in another episode for the "Marketing Planning Series" where I invite back top startup founders and marketing leaders to talk about their marketing plans going into 2022.

I get questions from startups about this a lot (especially as the marketing landscape has changed so much throughout the pandemic) so I know this is on people's minds. We'll dive into marketing channels, budget, resources and so much more.

Kristina Simonson is Director of Demand Gen at Privy. Prior to that she was at Wordstream managing full-funnel marketing and sales results.

I’ve had Privy on before, Episode 55 - Dan Murphy, VP of Marketing at Privy. We talked about TikTok! Listen to that episode too.

Privy was founded in 2011, has 94 people, and is based out of Boston. Funding: Series A ($4.3M total). Privy is the leader in e-commerce marketing. Email & SMS for online brands that need the tools & coaching to grow sales. Privy is used by over 600,000 stores in 180 countries today, helping to generate $6B in sales. WOA.

Here's what we cover:

What does Demand Gen mean at Privy? (HINT: top of funnel + full funnel);

Privy's 2022 Marketing Plan - what's your budget split? (HINT: a big focus on plugging gaps, not just bringing in more);

What marketing channels are you leaning into;

How we're thinking about using TikTok strategically;

What content are you leaning into (HINT: working with influencers, building on our podcast);

How does the podcast help to impact your funnel;

Who's on the marketing team now and how will you plan to build out resources;

Anything else that's unique about your plan;

Some goals that Kristina wants to accomplish this year, both personal and professional.

You can reach Kristina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinasimonson/

Find out more about Privy: https://www.privy.com/

This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen).

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

Hey everyone. So I have not done a solo episode in a WHILE and I thought "hey, it's time."

I did a OneGuide Marketing Roundtable a while back and answered these 10 questions from CEOs of tech companies. What's OneGuide? OneGuide is like your on-demand advisory board >> expert calls and written how-to guides for fast-growing B2B companies. Check them out here: https://askoneguide.com/

Here are the questions I answer in this episode:

1. What are best practices to convert leads into customers with minimal direct human interaction (e.g. focusing on digital)?

2. How do you stay current with the latest marketing trends?

3. What is the difference between demand generation and lead generation?

4. What do you need to set a foundation for your demand generation?

5. Interested in learning how to get the biggest bang for the buck?

6. Nowadays creating and posting “expert content” is all the rage. However, most companies that do that seem to outsource composing such content to agencies without the expertise in the area. Does that work? Is it worth it to improve company visibility?

7. As we establish the marketing department with scarce resources, which strategies should we be focusing on?

8. Does inbound marketing have an impact on outbound sales?

9. How to effectively implement online demand generation in a business that is primarily offline?

10. We have a good foundation (SEO, paid search, analytics, CRM, content) - how to scale effectively?

Resources mentioned during this episode:

- How to Prioritize your Startup Marketing is Episode 15

- My content creation conversation with Devin Bramhall (CEO at Animalz) is Episode 63

- Modern Demand Gen Playbook: https://furmanovmarketing.com/playbooks/modern-demand-gen-for-startups

- VoC Research Playbook: https://furmanovmarketing.com/playbooks/use-these-6-steps-to-build-personas-like-a-boss

- 1-Page Marketing Plan Playbook: https://furmanovmarketing.com/playbooks/3-steps-to-create-a-winning-marketing-plan

This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen.

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com. Anna's monthly newsletter: subscribe by going here: https://share.hsforms.com/1cP1V40x7RGes5gHk1XNgNw47lba

Thanks for listening!

I got a chance to speak with Jen Root, co-founder and VP of Marketing at Manifest Commerce, and it was a great convo with an early stage startup that's got some exciting stuff in the works plus a "sprint and fix" mentality. It's such an exciting time. They've also been the podcast's sponsor!

Manifest Commerce was co-founded in 2021 by a team of four people including George Wojciechowski (ShipBob's co-founder, ShipBob has raised Series E and the company is valued at over $1B). Together, the team at Manifest Commerce has a passion for climate action. Manifest is earth-friendly e-commerce fulfillment and they're leading the logistics movement towards a greener supply chain.

Here's what we hit on:

Your 2022 marketing plan - how are you organizing your marketing budget, what channels are you leaning into (HINT: Partnerships);

What's the difference between a merchant and a sustainability-focused merchant;

What are your top marketing challenges right now (HINT: understanding CAC and CLTV plus finding the time to engage with our community on social);

How has the pandemic affected your marketing strategy (HINT: we're still focusing on in-person e.g. April/May sustainability summit where merchants can learn from other merchants);

What are the last couple of really good marketing ideas you've come up with;

What’s a tough question you’ve had to ask yourself recently (HINT: "what if this doesn't work?");

What are some goals you want to accomplish in 2022 (HINT: once we're bigger, one of our big goals is to speak at the United Nations!);

I found out that Jen is a singer so I asked her to sing a bit for us at the end.

You can reach Jen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-root-70249051/

Find out more about Manifest Commerce: https://manifestcommerce.io/

This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen).

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

Happy solar eclipse Monday! Hope you've got your special sunglasses handy.

Modern Startup Marketing just reached 200 episodes!!! Wild. 🦁 Do I feel tired? Does it feel like a lot? Will I be doing 100 more episodes? What's been the hardest thing about podcasting for 4 years? What’s been the most surprising thing about podcasting for 4 years? What are the most important Qs to ask if you're doing a pod? What are my most favorite episodes? How do you know if your podcast strategy is working? How am I celebrating 200 episodes? What mistakes did I make? I answer ALL these questions in this 200th episode. Oh, and there are some pretty funny bloopers. Come for the bloopers, stay for the insights.

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 >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

2. sponsor my Top 5% podcast and get startup founders, marketers and VCs hearing about your brand >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcast.furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

3. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sign up to get my monthly early stage startup marketing newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ where I’m sharing playbooks and insights and cracking some jokes

You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn, definitely say hello and tell me what you're building >> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

What a cool company! I recently spoke with Mitch Wainer, Co-Founder and CMO at Welcome Homes. Prior to Welcome Homes, Mitch was CMO at Clubhouse (renamed to Shortcut, a Series B SaaS startup), CMO and Co-Founder at DigitalOcean, and he's also a Techstars alum.

Welcome Homes was founded in 2020, has 49 people, and is based out of New York. They've raised Seed funding ($5.4M). Order your dream home, online! Build the home you want, where you want for a guaranteed, all-in price. Right now it's available in the NY metro area, with more cities coming soon.

Here's what we hit on:

Mitch's 2022 Marketing Plan - budget, channels, content and resources;

Online AND offline channels;

Paid is faster, sure, but here's why you need to invest in organic from Day 1 (HINT: it takes time, the content compounds, and your audience grows);

Why it's important to have reps and sets on a daily basis;

The content we're leaning into (HINT: create value without asking for anything);

The last 1-2 really good, creative marketing ideas we've come up with (HINT: brand partnerships and the broker/agent channel. One big creative idea is great but it's more important to do reps and sets);

Why we're treating home buyers (B2C) as B2B;

Mitch's goals for 2022.

You can reach Mitch on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchwainer/

Find out more about Welcome Homes: https://welcomehomes.com/

This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen).

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

Well, well, well. Another startup from NYC that is growing FAST! I explored a slightly different angle with Wes Yee (Head of Integrated Marketing at Ramp) specifically how to make sure your marketing efforts are truly integrated at a fast growing startup. 

Prior to Ramp, Wes was the Senior Director of Growth at Guru (Series C tech startup). Wes has 10+ years experience building and scaling revenue-focused marketing teams at early-stage (Series A -> Series D) B2B tech startups. His teams have grown ARR from less than $5M to $15M+ and less than $10M to $50M+.

Ramp was founded in 2019, is already at Series C ($620M total), has a unicorn valuation of $3.9 billion, and 220 people strong.

Ramp is a finance automation platform designed to save businesses time and money. “The only corporate card and spend management platform designed to help you spend less.” More than 2,000 businesses are using Ramp already.

Check out this UX (web page) for "Why Ramp?" I love this reader experience and how the problem is explained.

Here's what Wes and I cover:

What marketing trends should startups be aware of or exploring (HINT: how to measure what's hard to measure, also "intrinsic advertising" in gaming);

You sell to startups, small business, and enterprise, so how does your marketing need to change for each of these segments;

What's been working well for marketing/growth;

Creating a culture around radical accountability;

What's your key metric (HINT: his job is to translate copywriting into revenue);

What are the big challenges right now;

How do you integrate your marketing efforts;

What's the one question you'd ask 100 of your peers in marketing leadership;

What are some goals you want to accomplish this year.

You can reach Wes on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wesyee/

Find out more about Ramp: https://ramp.com/

This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen).

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!

This was a fun interview I had with Kap Chatfield, Host of the B2B Podcasting podcast.

In this episode, Kap and I talk about:

Marketing needs a mindset shift to evolve in today’s digital age;

How to find your ICP (ideal customer profile) and what questions to ask;

Most common marketing problems that I hear from startup founders;

Biggest issues startups have with their marketing;

Why you should start your own thought leadership podcast;

Why storytelling is so important for startups;

How video clips from your podcast help you reach your target audience;

How your business will grow from the influence of your podcast.

Here's a link back to the original episode with the full transcript: https://blog.rveal.media/why-you-need-to-treat-your-startup-like-a-media-powerhouse-with-anna-furmanov

This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io

For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen.

You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com. Anna's monthly newsletter: subscribe by going here: https://share.hsforms.com/1cP1V40x7RGes5gHk1XNgNw47lba

Thanks for listening!