Welcome back!  As you may have heard, I'm intrigued by category design. I've had both Christopher Lochhead and Andy Raskin on the show to chat more on the topic, and those are actually some of the more popular episodes on the podcast.  Josh Lowman helps startups (like Robinhood, Newsela, Uber, Bizzabo, and Clari) create and own their category. I wanted to bring Josh onto the show and dig into exactly HOW he helps startups design categories and learn about some specific examples. Josh is Founder and CCO at Gold Front, a category design studio based in San Francisco and LA. He's also the host of the Category First podcast. Here's what we hit on: What does category creation mean to you (HINT: it's a whole company strategy); Exactly how you’ve helped different brands like Robinhood, Newsela, Uber, Bizzabo and Clari with category design. Where do you start? What does that process look like (HINT: everyone has a different context, but in common is to disrupt the old way of doing things); Why the CEO collaboration is key; What are the pitfalls or watch-outs if you’re a startup planning to create and own a category; How does timing play into successful category creation? What needs to click out there in the world for this to work; Can everyone be a category creator (HINT: we're just keeping people honest. As a startup you're not telling your investors that you have something incrementally better); How did you bring category creation into Gold Front’s business strategy; What are some goals you want to accomplish (personal, professional) in 2022. You can reach Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshlowman/ Find out more about Gold Front: https://www.goldfront.com/ Check out the Category First podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/category-first/id1601824968 For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen). You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com Thanks for listening!

I'm SO excited to bring you this episode on the MSM podcast. Many marketers are struggling to prove the ROI/value from their audio/video content but deep down we KNOW it's the good stuff. It's why we became marketers in the first place! The gems dropped throughout this episode are so valuable. Holly Pels is VP of Marketing at Casted. Prior, Holly was Director of Marketing at Emarsys (Series B SaaS acquired by SAP). Casted was founded in 2019, already has 58 people, and they've raised Series A ($9.5M). Based out of Indianapolis (IN). Casted is the first Amplified Marketing Platform and the only audio and video podcast solution designed for enterprise marketers. With Casted, marketers can unlock the power of audio and video by getting access to use your most valuable content across every channel, AND prove the ROI of your audio and video content. Customers include PayPal, OpenView, Salesforce, Hubspot, Auth0, ZoomInfo, Drift, and more. Here's what we hit on: What in the world is amplified marketing; Audio and video and being a media powerhouse - that’s table stakes for startup marketing these days. We know it’s important, but it can be 1) hard to do especially as you get bigger and 2) hard to prove the ROI of content like podcasts (downloads vs. how’s it actually impacting sales??) so that you can build in more budget and resources for it. What’s your recommendation for how to get this going and prove ROI; Why content marketers are undervalued and overworked and what can we do instead; Content is created for different purposes (e.g. get people engaged, excited, educated) and not necessarily linear to the sale. Still, you can prove the impact; Who's on Casted's marketing team; 2022 Marketing Plan - budget, channels, content; How are we building predictable pipeline; What are your top marketing challenges (HINT: educating people on the new category “Amplified Marketing” takes time and effort); You went from Director of Marketing to VP, what were those most important things you did that led to a promotion (HINT: making use of what was created before, not necessarily focused on net new); What are the last 1-2 really good, creative marketing ideas you/your team has come up with (HINT: our new Marketing Therapy show); Holly's personal/professional goals for 2022. You can reach Holly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hollypels/ Find out more about Casted: www.casted.us For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen). You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com Thanks for listening!

WOW these episodes are popular...which tells me that folks are lovin' the series...so let's keep this going! Sprinkling in another episode for the "Marketing Planning Series" where I invite back top startup founders and marketing leaders to talk about their marketing plans going into 2022. We'll dive into marketing channels, budget, resources and so much more. Alvaro De La Rocha is CMO at Bespoke Post. Previously he held roles at Ogilvy and Microsoft on the product/marketing side. We also went to business school together. I've had Alvaro on before - check out Episode 30! Bespoke Post was founded in 2011, has 80 people now, and is based out of NYC. They've raised Series B! ($48.9M total) Bespoke Post is goods and guidance, delivered monthly. Upgrade your day-to-day life through themed boxes full of gear – shaving sets, shoe shine kits, home bar essentials - for men. Here's what we hit on: 2022 Marketing Plan - how are you organizing your budget (HINT: it's been a challenging year from paid ads perspective, so getting more creative); How and why we've changed our attribution model (HINT: our new model includes relevant inputs like "how did you hear about us" survey); What did we put in our TV ad (HINT: it's a kind of testimonial spot which performs really well) What marketing channels are you leaning into (HINT: includes TV and radio); What content are you leaning into (HINT: we're reinforcing the lifestyle to build the brand); Some goals that Alvaro wants to accomplish this year, personal and professional. You can reach Alvaro on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/alvaro-de-la-rocha-2549b3/ Find out more about Bespoke Post: www.bespokepost.com For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen). You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit my website: www.furmanovmarketing.com Thanks for listening!

Hello and welcome back! On this episode of MSM not only do we talk startup marketing, but Dean also throws in some great life advice. We talk money. We talk kids. We chat about how parents traditionally handle money with their kids and why it's time to revamp that approach. Dean Brauer is co-founder and president at GoHenry (US). Prior, Dean held senior roles at leading advertising and digital agencies for PlayStation, Unilever and O2 (a large European telco). GoHenry was founded in 2012, is based out of London and New York, and has 200+ people. Funding: $66.2M total. GoHenry is the kids’ debit card and financial learning app that helps you nurture money confidence in your kids. Meant for kids ages 6-18 years old. Here's what we hit on: Chase has a banking service for kids (I just got a mailer recently and my friend mentioned she’s using Chase with her kids). How do you think about GoHenry (startup) vs. the big banks offering something similar? How do you step up as the challenger brand? (HINT: the biggest competition is cash, not banks); 2022 marketing planning - what marketing channels are you leaning into this year? Where have you seen the most success (HINT: organic growth is always happening and if you can deliver delight then people will tell other people); What content (marketing) are you leaning into (HINT: our content efforts drive storytelling and inspires people); How do you think about ROI from content marketing (HINT: give yourself 6 months of discovery with resources, figuring out KPIs, and to see how your hypotheses turn out); How are you planning to build out resources this year; How do you successfully change the status quo (HINT: build on the frictions); What are your top marketing challenges; What have you learned about the UK vs. US consumer and how does that help inform your marketing efforts; What are the last 1-2 really good, creative marketing ideas you/your team has come up with (HINT: the Money Missions concept was a really creative approach to tackling financial literacy, we had product + marketing working very closely together); What are some goals you want to accomplish (personal, professional) in 2022. You can reach Dean on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-brauer-a3a2126/ Find out more about GoHenry: www.gohenry.com This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen). You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com Thanks for listening!

I had the pleasure of welcoming Nairi Hourdajian (VP of Communications, Content and Community Marketing at Figma) to the show. Nairi is also the founding member of All Raise (programs to accelerate the success of female founders and funders to build a more prosperous, equitable future). She has held marketing leadership roles at Canaan (early stage VC firm) and Uber. Figma was founded in 2012, has 550 people, and is based out of San Francisco, CA. They've raised Series E funding ($332.9M total). Figma is a design platform for teams who build products together. Customers include Slack, Twitter, DropBox, Square, AirBnB, Netflix, Zoom, Uber, and more. Here's what we hit on: Figma’s Marketing team, what are the different groups, who and how many people on your team; How does your team integrate campaigns together across other teams within Marketing? Internal communications - how do you make sure the whole company knows and is excited about what you’re working on? What processes are in place (HINT: preview those BIG initiatives internally first, this gets people excited and talking which is more leverage for your company); Your 2022 Marketing Plan. How are you thinking about and splitting your budget for content and community; To build your content/community, what marketing channels are you leaning into; What specific content are you leaning into; What have you learned from your expert designers so far; You're an expert in PR. Tell me about your experience with PR, what has changed, what has stayed the same? What are startups doing wrong with their PR efforts (HINT: if you’re the PR head at your startup, tell it straight to your founder "here’s what’s possible, here’s what’s not"); What are your thoughts on building a brand successfully for early stage vs. for later stage startups? What tends to happen and what should be done instead (HINT: your website is a channel and it's worth taking a beat to really think about your positioning, where you fit in the competitive landscape, what kind of response from customers are you looking for, that foundational brand work, what is the core narrative, what is the brand promise); What are your top marketing challenges? (HINT: make sure there's philosophical alignment at your company around ROI from brand marketing efforts); What are the last 1-2 really good, creative marketing ideas you/your team has come up with. You can reach Nairi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nairi-tashjian-hourdajian-37601411/ Find out more about Figma: https://www.figma.com/ Check out the Figma store: https://store.figma.com/ This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen). You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com Thanks for listening!

These episodes are pretty popular, which tells me that folks are lovin' the series, so let's keep this going! Sprinkling in another episode for the "Marketing Planning Series" where I invite back top startup founders and marketing leaders to talk about their marketing plans going into 2022. I get questions from startups about this a lot (especially as the marketing landscape has changed so much throughout the pandemic). We'll dive into marketing channels, budget, resources and so much more. Kristi Annes is VP Marketing Strategy at IMO (Intelligent Medical Objects). Prior to that she was a marketing leader at IBM Watson. I’ve had IMO on before - Michael Klozotsky, CMO at IMO, came on for Episode 4 back in November 2020! We talked about how IMO’s marketing plan shifted after the pandemic hit (instead of scrambling to get their in-person even over to virtual, IMO ran a really creative marketing campaign around how it’s so great we don’t have to travel called “No Travel Required.” We talk about that and so much more. IMO is based out of Chicago, has ~270 employees, and received significant investment from Warburg Pincus (IMO's PE firm) and leading U.S. health systems in 2016. IMO has developed the most widely-accepted medical terminology solution for the management of medical vocabularies and software applications at healthcare organizations worldwide. IMO's solution is used by more than 3,500 hospitals and 450,000 physicians daily. Here's what we cover: IMO's 2022 Marketing Plan - what's your budget split; What marketing channels are you leaning into (HINT: we talk about the importance of in-person events and some other channels they're testing); What content are you leaning into; Who's on the marketing team to help put the plan into action; Anything else that's unique about your plan; Some goals that Kristi wants to accomplish this year, both personal and professional. You can reach Kristi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristiannes/ Find out more about IMO: https://www.imohealth.com/ This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen). You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com Thanks for listening!

Megan Bowen is COO at Refine Labs. If you don't know her, you're missing out because she's a smart, kind and genuine leader. Prior to Refine Labs, Megan was VP of Customer Success at Platterz, COO at Managed by Q, and held leadership roles at GrubHub and ZocDoc. I’ve had MJ Peters, now at Refine Labs, on the show (Episode 9 - we talked a lot about voice of customer research and insights) and of course Chris Walker (Episode 35 - “over-prioritizing sales is your SaaS startup’s biggest mistake”). Now Megan! Refine Labs is a demand accelerator for B2B SaaS companies. They help companies increase marketing’s contribution to qualified pipeline and revenue while lowering CAC. Here's what we talk about:  Customer onboarding, success, retention is SO important but often we create our marketing plan and we leave that part out, we’re so focused on creating awareness and acquiring new customers. What does strong customer success look like for an early stage startup (HINT: it's NOT customer support); When is the best time to hire a dedicated customer success person or team (HINT: as soon as you have customers); Who should you hire (HINT: Megan shares a framework for building your team); What are the most common pitfalls when it comes to customer onboarding/success; How to ensure customer success + sales + marketing + product is fully aligned, and on what things do they need to align on; What does Customer Success look like at Refine Labs (HINT: we've recently revamped our onboarding); Megan embraces a “human-first” leadership approach - what does this mean and what are top 1-2 leadership lessons to share; What are some goals Megan wants to accomplish (personal, professional) this year. You can reach Megan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganwhitebowen/ Find out more about Refine Labs: www.refinelabs.com This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen). You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com Thanks for listening!

These episodes are pretty popular, which tells me that folks are lovin' the series, so let's keep this going! Sprinkling in another episode for the "Marketing Planning Series" where I invite back top startup founders and marketing leaders to talk about their marketing plans going into 2022. I get questions from startups about this a lot (especially as the marketing landscape has changed so much throughout the pandemic) so I know this is on people's minds. We'll dive into marketing channels, budget, resources and so much more. Kristina Simonson is Director of Demand Gen at Privy. Prior to that she was at Wordstream managing full-funnel marketing and sales results. I’ve had Privy on before, Episode 55 - Dan Murphy, VP of Marketing at Privy. We talked about TikTok! Listen to that episode too. Privy was founded in 2011, has 94 people, and is based out of Boston. Funding: Series A ($4.3M total). Privy is the leader in e-commerce marketing. Email & SMS for online brands that need the tools & coaching to grow sales. Privy is used by over 600,000 stores in 180 countries today, helping to generate $6B in sales. WOA. Here's what we cover: What does Demand Gen mean at Privy? (HINT: top of funnel + full funnel); Privy's 2022 Marketing Plan - what's your budget split? (HINT: a big focus on plugging gaps, not just bringing in more); What marketing channels are you leaning into; How we're thinking about using TikTok strategically; What content are you leaning into (HINT: working with influencers, building on our podcast); How does the podcast help to impact your funnel; Who's on the marketing team now and how will you plan to build out resources; Anything else that's unique about your plan; Some goals that Kristina wants to accomplish this year, both personal and professional. You can reach Kristina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinasimonson/ Find out more about Privy: https://www.privy.com/ This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen). You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com Thanks for listening!

Hey everyone. So I have not done a solo episode in a WHILE and I thought "hey, it's time." I did a OneGuide Marketing Roundtable a while back and answered these 10 questions from CEOs of tech companies. What's OneGuide? OneGuide is like your on-demand advisory board >> expert calls and written how-to guides for fast-growing B2B companies. Check them out here: https://askoneguide.com/ Here are the questions I answer in this episode: 1. What are best practices to convert leads into customers with minimal direct human interaction (e.g. focusing on digital)? 2. How do you stay current with the latest marketing trends? 3. What is the difference between demand generation and lead generation? 4. What do you need to set a foundation for your demand generation? 5. Interested in learning how to get the biggest bang for the buck? 6. Nowadays creating and posting “expert content” is all the rage. However, most companies that do that seem to outsource composing such content to agencies without the expertise in the area. Does that work? Is it worth it to improve company visibility? 7. As we establish the marketing department with scarce resources, which strategies should we be focusing on? 8. Does inbound marketing have an impact on outbound sales? 9. How to effectively implement online demand generation in a business that is primarily offline? 10. We have a good foundation (SEO, paid search, analytics, CRM, content) - how to scale effectively? Resources mentioned during this episode: - How to Prioritize your Startup Marketing is Episode 15 - My content creation conversation with Devin Bramhall (CEO at Animalz) is Episode 63 - Modern Demand Gen Playbook: https://furmanovmarketing.com/playbooks/modern-demand-gen-for-startups - VoC Research Playbook: https://furmanovmarketing.com/playbooks/use-these-6-steps-to-build-personas-like-a-boss - 1-Page Marketing Plan Playbook: https://furmanovmarketing.com/playbooks/3-steps-to-create-a-winning-marketing-plan This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen. You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com. Anna's monthly newsletter: subscribe by going here: https://share.hsforms.com/1cP1V40x7RGes5gHk1XNgNw47lba Thanks for listening!

I got a chance to speak with Jen Root, co-founder and VP of Marketing at Manifest Commerce, and it was a great convo with an early stage startup that's got some exciting stuff in the works plus a "sprint and fix" mentality. It's such an exciting time. They've also been the podcast's sponsor! Manifest Commerce was co-founded in 2021 by a team of four people including George Wojciechowski (ShipBob's co-founder, ShipBob has raised Series E and the company is valued at over $1B). Together, the team at Manifest Commerce has a passion for climate action. Manifest is earth-friendly e-commerce fulfillment and they're leading the logistics movement towards a greener supply chain. Here's what we hit on: Your 2022 marketing plan - how are you organizing your marketing budget, what channels are you leaning into (HINT: Partnerships); What's the difference between a merchant and a sustainability-focused merchant; What are your top marketing challenges right now (HINT: understanding CAC and CLTV plus finding the time to engage with our community on social); How has the pandemic affected your marketing strategy (HINT: we're still focusing on in-person e.g. April/May sustainability summit where merchants can learn from other merchants); What are the last couple of really good marketing ideas you've come up with; What’s a tough question you’ve had to ask yourself recently (HINT: "what if this doesn't work?"); What are some goals you want to accomplish in 2022 (HINT: once we're bigger, one of our big goals is to speak at the United Nations!); I found out that Jen is a singer so I asked her to sing a bit for us at the end. You can reach Jen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-root-70249051/ Find out more about Manifest Commerce: https://manifestcommerce.io/ This episode is exclusively sponsored by Manifest Commerce, helping merchants with earth friendly e-commerce fulfillment. You can check them out here: www.manifestcommerce.io For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify (or wherever you like to listen). You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com Thanks for listening!