👉🏼 About the Guest:

Sonia Baschez was the Head of Marketing at Atmos and currently is a a Marketing and PR Advisor at The Council. She is an expert at building and executing marketing strategies for early-stage startups focused on social media, content creation, and email marketing.

She has previously worked on the Hillary for America campaign, where she wrote, designed, and launched email programs for 38 states. She has also worked with startups (Makerpad, Winnie, Holloway), authors (Elisabeth Rosenthal MD, Sam Walker, Alexandra Sacks MD), and influencers (Jeanne Pinder, Marlon Peterson, Luz Claudio, Muhammed Idris) to create their brands/profiles, grow followings, and promote their work.

Most recently, she's launching her own fractional CMO company, Bend Growth Co. Check her out at https://www.bendgrowth.co/!

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is building a SaaS product called GuestLab, and runs another podcast series called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this one.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

Shoutout to Acquire.com for being the first sponsor of The Undefeated Underdogs podcast! They’re the best online marketplace to buy/sell startups and I know many founders who have sold their businesses there. If you're looking to wind down your business and cash in some of your founder chips, check them out - https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Sonia discuss the future of personalization, where email marketing is headed, when you should make your first marketing hire, and more!
 
👉🏼 Timestamps:

• 00:00: Episode Highlight
• 00:47: Shoutout to Acquire.com
• 03:14: Introduction to Sonia Baschez - the fractional CMO!
• 04:35: The day-to-day life of a marketer
• 06:02: Life as the mom of a 2-year-old
• 09:43: How Sonia started her story in marketing
• 21:52: Similarities between startups and political campaigns
• 26:29: When should a founder prioritize marketing?
• 30:24: Downside of fractional employees
• 33:35: What is the future of email marketing?
• 43:39: How to do personalization perfectly.
• 51:12: The marketing part of product-market fit
• 59:10: Working with your spouse: how to maintain professional and personal boundaries
• 1:05:10: Bend Growth Co. - the new-age fractional CMO company!

👉🏼 Resources:

• Lenny Rachitsky: https://www.lennyrachitsky.com/
• Obviously Awesome by April Dunford: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/45166937
• Nathan Baschez: https://undefeatedunderdogs.com/50
• Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Sonia:

• Bend Growth Co.: https://www.bendgrowth.co/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SoniaBaschez?
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniabaschez
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soniabaschez/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
• Website: https://5harath.com/
• Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/