193: David Joosten: The Politics and architecture of martech transformation

What’s up everyone, today we have the pleasure of sitting down with David Joosten, Co-Founder and President at GrowthLoop and the co-author of ‘First-Party Data Activation’.

• (00:00) - Intro
• (01:02) - In This Episode
• (03:47) - Earning The Right To Transform Martech
• (08:17) - Why Internal Roadshows Make Martech Wins Stick
• (10:52) - Architecture Shapes How Teams Move and What They Believe
• (16:25) - Bring Order to Customer Data With the Medallion Framework
• (21:33) - The Real Enemy of Martech is Fragmented Data
• (28:39) - Stop Calling Your CRM the Source of Truth
• (34:47) - Building the Tech Stack People Rally Behind
• (38:18) - Why Most CDP Failures Start With Organizational Misalignment
• (44:18) - Why Tough Conversations Strengthen Lifecycle Marketing
• (55:15) - Why Experimentation Culture Strengthens Martech Leadership
• (01:00:00) - How to Use a North Star to Stay Focused in Leadership

Summary: David learned that martech transformation begins with proof people can feel. Early in his career, he built immaculate systems that looked impressive but delivered nothing real. Everything changed when a VP asked him to show progress instead of idealistic roadmaps. From that moment, David focused on momentum and quick wins. Those early victories turned into stories that spread across the company and built trust naturally. Architecture became his silent advantage, shaping how teams worked together and how confidently they moved.

About David

David is the co-founder of GrowthLoop, a composable customer data platform that helps marketers connect insights to action across every channel. He previously worked at Google, where he led global marketing programs and helped launch the Nexus 5 smartphone. Over the years, he has guided teams at Indeed, Priceline, and Google in building first-party data strategies that drive clarity, collaboration, and measurable growth.

He is the co-author of First-Party Data Activation: Modernize Your Marketing Data Platform, a practical guide for marketers who want to understand their customers through direct, consent-based interactions. David helps teams move faster by removing data friction and building marketing systems that adapt through experimentation. His work brings energy and empathy to the challenge of modernizing data-driven marketing.

Earning The Right To Transform Martech

Every marketing data project starts with ambition. Teams dream of unified dashboards, connected pipelines, and a flawless single source of truth. Then the build begins, and progress slows to a crawl. David remembers one project vividly. His team at GrowthLoop had connected more than 200 data fields for a global tech company, yet every new campaign still needed more. The setup looked impressive, but nothing meaningful was shipping.

“We spent quarters building the perfect setup,” David said. “Then the VP of marketing called me and said, ‘Where are my quick wins?’”

That question changed his thinking. The VP wasn’t asking for reports or architecture diagrams. He wanted visible proof that the investment was worth it. He needed early wins he could show to leadership to keep momentum alive. David realized that transformation happens through demonstration, not design. Theoretical perfection means little when no one in marketing can point to progress.

From then on, he started aiming for traction over theory. That meant focusing on use cases that delivered impact quickly. He looked for under-supported teams that were hungry to try new tools, small markets that moved fast, and forgotten product lines desperate for attention. Those early adopters created visible success stories. Their enthusiasm turned into social proof that carried the project forward.

Momentum built through results is what earns the right to transform. When others in the organization see evidence of progress, they stop questioning the system and start asking how to join it.

Key takeaway: Martech transformations thrive on proof, not perfection. Target high-energy teams where quick wins are possible, deliver tangible outcomes fast, and use that momentum to secure organizational buy-in. Transformation is granted to those who prove it works, one visible success at a time.

Why Internal Roadshows Make Martech Wins Stick

An early martech win can disappear as quickly as it arrives. A shiny dashboard, a clean sync, or a new workflow can fade into noise unless you turn it into something bigger. David explains that the real work begins when you move beyond Slack celebrations and start building visibility across the company. The most effective teams bring their success to where influence actually happens. They show up in weekly leadership meetings for sales, data, and marketing, and they connect their progress to the company’s larger mission. That connection transforms an isolated result into shared purpose.

“If you can get invited to those regular meetings and actually tie the win back to the larger vision, you’ll bring people along in a much bigger way,” David said.

The mechanics of this matter. A martech team can create genuine momentum by turning their story into a live narrative that other departments care about. Each meeting becomes a checkpoint where others see how their world benefits. Instead of flooding channels with metrics, show impact in person. When people see faces, hear real stories, and feel included in the mission, adoption follows naturally.

David has seen that the most credible voices are not the ones who built the system, but those who benefited from it. He encourages marketers to bring those users along. When a sales manager or a CX leader shares how a workflow saved hours or unlocked new visibility, trust deepens. One authentic endorsement in a meeting will do more for your reputation than a dozen slide decks.

Momentum also depends on rhythm. Passionate advocates move ideas forward, not mass announcements. David’s playbook involves building a few strong allies who believe in your work, keeping promises, and maintaining a consistent drumbeat of delivery. Predictable progress creates confidence, and confidence earns permission to take bigger swings next time.

Key takeaway: Wins that stay private fade fast. Present them live, in front of the right rooms, and connect them to the company’s shared mission. Bring along the people most impacted to tell their side of the story, and focus on nurturing a few genuine allies instead of broadcasting to everyone. That way you can turn one early success into a pattern of momentum that fuels every project that follows.

Architecture Shapes How Teams Move and What They Believe

Technology architecture does more than keep the lights on. It defines how much teams trust each other, how quickly they adapt, and how confidently a brand competes. David describes it as invisible scaffolding, the kind that quietly dictates how an organization moves. Once the systems are in place, the defaults harden into habits. Those habits shape behavior long after anyone remembers who set them.

“People can get used to almost anything,” David said. “You acquire habits from architectural decisions made long ago, and it’s not conscious. You just walk into the context and act within it.”

That pattern shows up inside every marketing organization. Data teams often build for accuracy and control, while marketers push for agility and access. The architecture decides which side wins. When the design prioritizes risk management, marketers spend months waiting for queries to be approved. When it prioritizes freedom without governance, trust breaks down the first time a campaign misfires. Neither version scales.

Composable system...