Kyle Lacy

Kyle Lacy, CMO of Jellyfish, brings his extensive SaaS and brand marketing experience to discuss the synergy between sales and marketing. He highlights how storytelling fuels brand growth while technology must preserve human creativity. The conversation explores the evolution of marketing strategies, balancing short-term ROI with long-term brand-building. Lacy also addresses the impact of AI on branding, advocating for a blend of data-driven insights and authentic creativity to enhance organizational performance.

Summary:This week on How To Win: Kyle Lacy, Chief Marketing Officer at Jellyfish and former CMO at Lessonly, a sales training and coaching platform. Lessonly was acquired by Seismic in 2021. Kyle also served as the Director of Global Content Marketing at Salesforce after its acquisition of ExactTarget in 2014. Before its acquisition, Lessonly made $24M in revenue and had a team of 230 that migrated over to Seismic. Lessonly was used by 1,200 B2B customers. In this episode, Kyle breaks down six important lessons he’s learned throughout his career. We discuss making the customer the hero, why you should always be willing to experiment and take risks, and why you should encourage your teams to grow their relationships. I give my thoughts on the power of customer feedback, building a strong brand moat, and trusting your team to be creative.Key Points:Lesson One - The importance of a meaningful story (01:08)I explain why your company's story is more than just "marketing fluff" (04:06)Seismic's Doug Winter explains how they created a category around sales enablement (05:12)Lesson Two - Make your customers your heroes (07:36)I dive into why customer feedback is essential for your company with a quote from Red Hat's Claire Delalande (09:17)Lesson Three - Revenue first, brand second (10:47)My thoughts on why every marketer also needs to be a brand marketer (12:48)Lesson Four - When it comes to brand, be experiential and irrational (13:30)Rory Sutherland explains why some business problems require logic, and some require irrationality (15:04)I unpack why creative work sometimes requires thinking outside the bounds of a standard operating procedure (17:12)Lesson Five - Encourage alignment through shared goals (17:32)I define what product marketing really is, and why it's so important (22:19)Lesson Six - Invest in your team's careers (22:50)I talk through why personal relationships are essential to career growth with a quote from Verhaal Brand Design's Philip VanDusen (24:40)Wrap up (27:07)Mentioned:Kyle Lacy LinkedInKyle Lacy TwitterJellyfish LinkedInJellyfish WebsiteSeismic + Lessonly WebsiteSalesforce WebsitePlaying to your strengths and strengthening your brand identity with Seismic's Doug WinterClaire Delalande LinkedInRory Sutherland's AlchemyPhilip VanDusen LinkedInMy Links:TwitterLinkedInWebsiteWynterSpeeroCXL

Dave is joined by Kyle Lacy (CMO at Jellyfish) and Shauntle Barley (Director of Marketing at Demandwell) to chat about what business is like right now Q2 2023 for B2B SaaS, Kyle's new role as CMO at Jellyfish, what the CMO does in the first 90 days of a new job, talking through marketing budget and spending on brand vs demand, and more.Send guest pitches and ideas to hello@exitfive.comExit Five on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/exitfive/Exit Five on Twitter: https://twitter.com/exitfiveco***Thanks to our 2023 presenting sponsors Demandwell, Jasper, and Zapier.This episode is brought to you by Zapier. Zapier empowers anyone to automate their work across 5,000+ apps, so that every person and business can move forward at growth speed. We power over 2.2 million businesses, from startups to Fortune 100, and we’ve been doing it for over a decade. Learn more + get started for free at zapier.comThanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.comJoin the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterCheck out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership***Today’s episode is brought to you by Grammarly.Ever have one of those weeks where you spent more time replying to Slack and email than doing actual marketing work?You’re not alone. The average marketing team spends 28+ hours a week just keeping up with comms.That leads to burnout, frustration, and a whole lot of performative productivity that doesn’t actually move the needle.AI-fluent marketing teams are changing that. Grammarly’s 2025 Productivity Shift Report shows how they’re using AI to:– Cut down on back-and-forth– Automate content, research, and reporting– Eliminate busywork– Make space for strategyWe’re marketers because we love crafting campaigns, driving revenue, and proving impact – not spending all day buried in messages.Get the report and see how top teams are making AI actually useful.Visit go.grammarly.com/exitfive to grab it.***Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more

In this discussion, Kyle Lacy, CMO of Jellyfish and a seasoned SaaS marketer, shares insights on building a quality pipeline in B2B markets. He reveals why traditional metrics are outdated and discusses the impact of launching a Pipeline Council to align sales and marketing. The conversation also highlights forecasting pitfalls, the transformative role of AI in marketing, and the balance between technology and creativity. Kyle's journey emphasizes the importance of originality in copywriting and adaptation in a rapidly evolving landscape.

Meet Kyle Lacy, CMO of Jellyfish, balancing work-life, talks about creating swag that surprises, delights, and sells. He shares insights on managing work-life guilt, shutting off on weekends, and communicating with kids about work life. A goldmine for ambitious individuals seeking balance.