Few things cause CMOs to panic more than hearing the dreaded phrase “we need to widen the lead funnel” from the head of sales. Or the CEO. Or maybe even the board. What they all really want is more qualified opportunities and ultimately more ARR. Maybe that means widening the funnel. Maybe not. But the …
Continue reading "Before you agree to widening the top of your lead funnel…"
We’re starting to run a Scrumban process in RapidMiner marketing. Scrumban is a great way accelerate output by creating more transparency around priorities in the hectic world of startup marketing. We’ve got our Scrumban board, with all colorful kanbans beautifully laid out into various columns. RapidMiner’s Scrumban board, blurred As we get into Scrumban, we often …
Continue reading "Is Specialization Bad for Startup Marketing?"
Unicorpses. Layoffs. Bursting bubbles. Winter is coming. Every day there’s a new story on the 2016 techpocalypse. Having lived through the 2000 dot com crash, this is nothing like it. But something has changed, so let’s start with a quick recap of how we got here. Starting in late 2012, tech companies began to raise …
Continue reading "You’ve been asked to cut your marketing budget. Now what?"
In no particular order, here are some of the lessons I’ve learned running marketing at three tech companies. Your most important job is to recruit and retain exceptional people Never forget that people are your most important asset. As a CMO, you’ll be in endless meetings: the weekly leadership meeting, the executive offsite, QBRs, territory …
Continue reading "Some Practical Advice for Aspiring Tech CMOs"
Tom Wentworth 