The Difference Between Marketing and BS with Jonathan Cowperthwait

What’s the difference between marketing and BS? On this episode, Corey Quinn is joined by Jonathan Cowperthwait, Duckbill’s brand-new Head of Marketing. Jonathan's career path is a bit unconventional. After all, not everyone can say their professional journey was influenced by The West Wing. Even though he’s a marketer by trade, Jonathan still has the technical know-how needed to work in the often expensive world of cloud economics. Have you ever wanted to know what The Duckbill Group’s relationship with AWS is really like? How fun is it to sit on domains like “oldmanstartup?” Is there a similarity between clouds and butts? This interview is the inside scoop on The Duckbill Group that you never knew you needed. 

Show Highlights

(0:00) Intro

(1:11) Duckbill Group sponsor read

(1:45) Acquiring the Duckbill Group office post-pandemic

(2:52) Keeping your pants on during a pandemic so you can officiate your nanny's wedding

(6:07) Jonathan's background prior to joining The Duckbill Group

(11:29) What Duckbill was looking for when they hired Jonathan

(14:54) When marketing begins to feel like spam

(15:40) The fun of having disposable domains and email addresses

(18:20) The importance of a good name for a product

(19:38) Duckbill Group sponsor read

(20:07) The Duckbill Group isn't just Corey Quinn

(21:03) The "Cloud to Butt" extension

(24:01) Corey's beef with Google's AI search engine

(24:57) What can people expect from the Duckbill Group's new marketing effort

(30:58) Where you can find more from Jonathan

About Jonathan Cowperthwait

Jonathan Cowperthwait does positioning, messaging, and go-to-market strategy to maximize awareness and revenue for technology brands of all sizes.

He prides himself on being a slow runner, fast talker, and good writer.

Links

• Jonathan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cowperthwait/
• Jonathan on Bluesky: https://web-cdn.bsky.app/profile/cowp.co
• Email Jonathan: offmylawn@oldmanstartup.com
• Email Corey: corey@shitposting.monster

Sponsor

The Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com