Grow with the Flow by The Growth Syndicate

#002 Jake Stainer: on growing Typeform, starting your own agency and why SEO isn't free.

May 14, 2024

In this discussion, Jake Stainer, Co-Founder and CEO of Skale, shares insights from his journey, including his role in Typeform's rapid growth. He emphasizes the often-overlooked importance of growth engineers in marketing success and reveals why SEO isn't free. Jake reflects on his decision to start an agency rather than merely advance a career. He offers valuable lessons on entrepreneurship, the pitfalls of traditional blogging, and the necessity of aligning marketing with real customer data.

57:46

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Episode guests

Jake Stainer

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Jake Stainer highlighted the vital role of marketing adaptability during rapid growth phases, showcasing successful strategies from his time at Typeform.

Transitioning from Typeform to TravelPerk allowed Jake to gain insights into B2B marketing, focusing on quality lead generation over sheer volume.

Jake emphasized that effective SEO requires significant investment and resources, debunking the myth of SEO as a free marketing channel.

Deep dives

Jake Steiner's Journey into Marketing

Jake Steiner's interest in marketing began at a young age, stemming from an early fascination with building websites. Starting with programs like Microsoft Front Page, he transitioned to coding in Notepad and quickly self-taught himself HTML and SEO principles. By the age of 15, he was already experimenting with online marketing strategies, navigating early challenges with expense and complexity in Google Ads. This foundation paved the way for a career that would eventually include pivotal roles at well-known companies like Typeform and TravelPerk.

Intro

2min

From Novelist to Web Developer: A Journey of Growth

8min

Navigating Growth Marketing in Tech

26min

Navigating Entrepreneurship and Marketing Trends

7min

Lessons from Marketing Failures and the Power of Networking

3min

Navigating Marketing Tools and Community Engagement

3min

Reevaluating Ideal Customer Profiles

9min

In this episode of Grow with the Flow, we speak to Jake Stainer, Co-Founder and CEO of Skale, a leading SEO agency specializing in b2b SaaS companies. Jake was previously the Head of Growth and Demand Generation at Typeform and the Head of Growth at Travelperk in addition to adivising several companies, including Hotjar.

Jake shared his story and we talked about a range of topics, including:

* What it was like to join Typeform early on and contribute to their hyper growth

* Why a lack of growth engineers is a major blocker to marketing success

* Building his own team at Typeform vs. “inheriting” a team at Travelperk

* How big keys to growth often lie in the smaller things

* Deciding to start a business over climbing the career ladder

* Learnings from starting his own agency, Skale.

* Why SEO isn’t free and why companies should kill their blog

And as always, we shared a “kudos” and a “facepalm” of the week and Jake answered some rapid-fire questions.

Follow Jake on LinkedIn and check out Skale if you need help with your SEO: https://skale.so/

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, like, share and rate wherever you listen — it really helps us grow and get found!

Stay tuned for more!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegrowthsyndicate.substack.com

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