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Building With Buyers

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Apr 2, 2025 • 53min

226 - How A Weekly Surprise & Delight Meeting Increases Customer Referrals (Elaine Zelby, Co-Founder at Tofu)

Elaine Zelby is Co-Founder and CRO at Tofu. Tofu puts top-of-funnel on autopilot for B2B marketing teams, so you can ship integrated marketing campaigns 8X faster. Series A funded (recent). Also check out Ep. 96 “First Time Founders Think Product Wins, Second Time Founders Know GTM Wins”.Here’s what we cover:Your recent funding round, what did it take to get there (HINT: 4 main things);How do you use tofu at tofu;How do you structure your nurture sequences;How do you incorporate customer research at tofu (HINT: product roadmap, website, GTM plan);Both companies and people are building agents and bots, how do you break away and ahead of everyone else;Where are you placing big bets in 2025;How do you know your content is good.Elaine on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/elainezelbyTofu: www.tofuhq.comFor more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com
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Mar 26, 2025 • 50min

225 - AI & Copycats Make Positioning and Messaging The Most Critical Pieces To Figure Out (Megan Bowen, CEO at Refine Labs)

Megan Bowen is CEO at Refine Labs. Refine Labs is a demand gen agency for growth stage and enterprise B2B SaaS companies. Also check out Ep. 78 "Hire For Customer Success, Not Customer Support."Here’s what we cover:Brand, Demand, and ABM. What's your approach to client work;I’m exploring the role that customers play in helping startups build to the next round - how have you seen this play out with companies you work with;What’s changed about how buyers buy today, and what’s still the same;Customer research is core to the work I do with my clients - how do you handle customer research at Refine Labs;How are you using AI, and what’s your take on where it’s going;Early stage startups testing paid ads, what’s your advice (HINT: it's an expensive experiment, you need at least $3M-5M ARR);What’s the biggest challenge for companies you’re working with right now;Megan asks me her burning question.Megan on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/meganwhitebowenRefine Labs: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.refinelabs.comFor more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com
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Mar 19, 2025 • 25min

224 - How To Practice Whole-Person Customer Research (Ivan Barajas Vargas, Co-Founder & CEO at Muuktest)

Ivan Barajas Vargas is Co-Founder and CEO at Muuktest, world-class QA 100% done-for-you. Seed funded.Here’s what we cover:What is Service-as-a-Software;How do you incorporate customer research at Muuktest;The Mom Test;What are some of your goals with customer research;What questions are you asking;How are you using research insights;Do you ask customers where do they learn and hang out;Why understanding “whole-person” with your research is important and goes beyond just your product;Why is customer research important;What are your challenges with customer research;There are so many voices, who should you listen to when you do this research.Ivan on LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/ivanbarajasvargas Muuktest: ⁠⁠⁠⁠muuktest.com For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com
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Mar 12, 2025 • 28min

223 - Customer Research Is Useless Without Action (Emily Steele and Mari Tippman, Hummingbirds)

Emily Steele is Co-Founder and CEO at Hummingbirds. Mari Tippman is Head of Sales at Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds helps brands drive awareness and sales with hyper-local content creators. The platform connects brands with “hummingbirds” who are trusted friends and neighbors with buying power and local influence. Hummingbirds recently raised Seed funding ($10M total!). Emily has been on the show before, check out Ep. 198 Impressions vs. Engagement: Why Partnering With Smaller Creators Can Actually Be More Effective.Here’s what we cover:Your recent funding round - what did it take to get there;How do you incorporate customer research at Hummingbirds and what have been the results;How do you incorporate customers in your marketing;Why is customer research importantWhat are your challenges with customer research;Emily shared that they have a podcast and what they use it for.Emily on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/emilysteele12Mari on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/maritippmannHummingbirds: ⁠www.hummingbirds.comFor more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com
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Mar 5, 2025 • 23min

222 - How Our Customers Helped Us Build To Series B (Peter Mollins, VP Marketing at Nooks)

Peter Mollins is VP of Marketing at Nooks. Nooks just raised Series B funding in October. Woop!With Nooks you can boost pipeline with AI assistants that automate the busywork of dialing, coaching, and prospecting, so sales reps can focus on the human side of selling.Here’s what we cover:Your recent funding round - what did it take to get there;How do you incorporate customer research at Nooks and what have been the results;How do you incorporate customers in your marketing;Oh my gosh you need to try to sell to Jim Hard*ss, your AI coaching assistant;Peter asks me his burning question.Peter on LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/petermollinsNooks: www.nooks.aiFor more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com
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Feb 28, 2025 • 57min

221 - BONUS: Turn One Conversation Into A Full Content Calendar

I was asked to join a panel for Riverside's event "Content Repurposing: Turn 1 Conversation Into a Full Content Calendar" along with Emily Kramer (MKT1) and Ross Simmonds (Foundation Marketing). 1900 people registered! Really fun conversation and great group.We discuss: What to consider before creating content with repurposing in mind Step-by-step how to recycle and repurpose your content Which posts and methods have worked best The tools and automations to use for repurposing How to decide when, where and what to publish and moreSee the video version here: https://riverside.fm/webinars/content-repurposing-turn-1-conversation-into-a-full-content-calendarFor more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com
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Feb 26, 2025 • 47min

220 - How To Dig For The Energy In Customer Interviews (Bob Moesta, Founder of Jobs To Be Done)

A ton of people I speak to in B2B talk about the JTBD approach. So I had to bring on Bob because I have many questions. Bob Moesta is an entrepreneur and innovator known for his Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) theory. He started 10 companies and is currently the Co-Founder of the Re-Wired Group.Here’s what we cover:Define Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) for someone unfamiliar with it;How sales and buying aren't the same and why that matters;Where did JTBD Theory come from;People don't buy things, they hire to help them make progress;Deconstructing the parts of JTBD: push, pull, friction, habit, frame the solution;Should we trust what our customers say;How many customers do you need to talk to for good insights;Which customer insights to ignore;Bob walks me through an example for a company using the JTBD Theory;What's the most important question to ask in customer interviews;How to dig for energy in customer interviews;Mistakes people make when implementing the JTBD framework;The Jobs To Be Done Handbook is from 2014, what has changed about the way you think about and apply JTBD;How do you see JTBD fitting into the context of AI and automation.Bob on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bobmoestaThe Re-Wired Group: therewiredgroup.comFor more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠Website: ⁠furmanovmarketing.com
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Feb 19, 2025 • 26min

219 - The Missing Piece For Growth Is Connection (Joseph Lee, Co-Founder & CEO at Syncly)

Joseph Lee is Co-Founder & CEO at Syncly (Seed funded). Syncly is a customer feedback analysis platform that let’s you see customer pains and prevents customer churn.Here’s what we cover: How do you incorporate customer research at Syncly? What are your goals; Using the JBTD framework; How have you actually used research insights; How do you connect insights to your product roadmap; Your pricing page takes me to a demo form, why not share at least a range; Challenges with customer research; Customer research with your “haters” or lapsed buyers; Joseph asks me his burning question.Joseph on LinkedIn:⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/josephdhlee/Syncly:⁠ https://syncly.app/For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com
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Feb 12, 2025 • 24min

218 - How We Launched A Buyer-First Free Forever Plan At Navattic (Natalie Marcotullio & Raman Khanna)

Natalie Marcotullio is Head of Growth and Ops at Navattic (Seed funded). Raman Khanna is Growth Lead at Navattic. Navattic makes buying easier with interactive demos. 28k+ demos built so far. You can also check out Episode 139 and Episode 180 where I had Natalie on.Since 2020, Navattic has been a sales-led company. Plans start at $500/mo. They just released a product-led motion. One interactive demo, free forever.Here’s what we cover: Why’d you decide to go product-led; Why’d you decide to go freemium vs. free trial (HINT: buyer-focused); What were the main steps to get there; What were some stumbles and how did you fix; What was your launch plan; How many demos built on the free plan, and what % have converted to paid; What have you learned since launch.Natalie on LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-marcotullio Raman on LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/raman-khannaNavattic:www.navattic.comFor more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com
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Feb 5, 2025 • 26min

217 - Almost Like Our Customers Write Our Marketing Copy (Stella Garber, Co-Founder & CEO at Hoop)

Stella Garber is Co-Founder and CEO at Hoop (Seed).Hoop is AI task management for busy people. From meeting to Slack to yet another meeting to your email inbox, Hoop captures and prioritizes your tasks.Here’s what we cover:How do you incorporate customer research and insights at Hoop, what are your goals;What have been the results;Do you have a systematic approach to customer research;In your research, do you ever ask “why do you think this product can change your life?;Why is customer research important.Stella on LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/stellagarber Hoop:www.hoop.appFor more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com

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