Building With Buyers: Startup Marketing and Growth Fueled By Customers

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;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

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 important;What 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pranav Piyush is Co-Founder and CEO at Paramark. Paramark (Pre-Seed) helps CMOs and CFOs invest in marketing with confidence and predictability. Here’s what we cover: I see the book Alchemy on Pranav's bookshelf and it's about "chasing the magic" so have to ask what got him into it; How do you incorporate customer research at Paramark? What are some of your goals with this research; What have been the results; Why is customer research important; Challenges with customer research; Pranav asks me his burning question. Pranav on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/pranavp Paramark: paramark.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/annafurmanov⁠ Website: ⁠furmanovmarketing.com

Hi! I'm back! I missed you. Did you miss me? Well it's a completely different show now, and I can't wait to share more with you. Tiffany McNeil is the coolest brand, innovation, and insights exec you’ll ever meet. Tiffany and I worked together at Del Monte Foods way back in 2010 (!) on the consumer insights and strategy team, specifically consumer food innovation for baby boomers. This was the perfect conversation to kick things off. Here’s what we cover: Let’s first define consumer insights and strategy in B2C; When I came over to B2B from B2C, there was no customer research, insights, or strategy that came from that work. It was super strange. So naturally, I just did the work. What is the work; Why is consumer insights important? How does this carry over to B2B; What’s new in consumer insights that’s shaping the industry; What do you still find challenging with consumer research; Tiffany asks me her burning question. Tiffany on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tiffany-mcneil-9b1615a  Oaktown Strategy: www.oaktownstrategy.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/annafurmanov Website: furmanovmarketing.com