Jen Saxton, Founder and CEO of Tot Squad, joined me on the Modern Startup Marketing podcast. Here's what we covered: Partnerships and relationships as a growth hack (versus paid ads); Intriguing and funny founder's story on how the company got started; The case for doing more of those things that you're passionate about on the job (versus not so much); Growth that's dependent on marketplace liquidity (enough demand and enough supply); Marketing strategy to help clear the noise, prioritize and create a structured approach; When working with partners, give them your marketing materials (make sure it's meaningful to their audience); Questioning your customer targeting assumptions based on traction signals coming from another direction; COVID's impact on family dynamics - running a business, taking care of a toddler and another baby on the way. Jen is Founder and CEO of Tot Squad, founded in 2010 and based out of Los Angeles (CA). They've raised $3.3M+ funding and the baby gear cleaning part of the business just got acquired this year! Tot Squad is a baby services marketplace that connects new parents with health, wellness and safety services like car seat installation, lactation consultants, sleep consultants and more. Tot Squad offers virtual and in-home consultations which can be purchased through Amazon and Walmart.com when buying a related baby product. Because every parent needs a squad! You can find Jen on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jenbsaxton Find out more about Tot Squad here: www.totsquad.com For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify podcasts (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!

Laura Kendall, VP of Marketing at MadKudu, joined me on the Modern Startup Marketing podcast. We covered a lot, including: The team you need to set up in your company - the Customer Love & Community team; Who your first marketing hire should be (reporting into the Head of Marketing); How to ensure your brand is seen and heard in a noisy world, and especially during COVID; Narrow your focus on your specific target segment and pick 2-3 main growth levers; Using webinars effectively to engage with prospects; Personalization wins over automation, especially for follow-up; Transitioning jobs during COVID and how to make that process smooth; Using empathy during crisis (and beyond) to see your prospects as a whole person (not just employees). Laura is VP of Marketing at MadKudu (www.madkudu.com). MadKudu was founded in 2014 and is based out of Mountain View, CA with a total of 30 people. They've raised Series A funding ($5.5M). MadKudu is a lead scoring platform for marketing teams looking to create frictionless B2B customer journeys. So you can do things like identify the 10% of accounts that will make 90% of the revenue, put VIP visitors in touch with sales without friction, or personalize outreach based on what the customer needs. Customers include Outreach, Drift and InVision. You can find Laura on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/laura-kendall-48556911/ Find out more about MadKudu here: www.madkudu.com For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify podcasts (or wherever you like to listen). You can find Anna on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov) or visit this website (www.furmanovmarketing.com)

Michael Klozotsky, CMO at IMO, joined me on the Modern Startup Marketing podcast. We covered: How storytelling makes the marketer's work authentic; On team building and starting from a place of care; How to swim downstream with your marketing when others are swimming upstream; How to ensure your MQLs are quality leads that the sales team will follow up with; How sales and marketing can become successful partners in crime; Marketing simplicity will allow you to more easily shift and steer your ship; How marketers will need to think about engaging buyers differently going into 2021; Using ABM to approach key decision-makers; How to systematically make the time to be creative. Michael is CMO at IMO (www.imohealth.com). IMO is based out of Chicago, IL with ~270 employees. IMO received significant investment from Warburg Pincus (PE firm) and leading U.S. health systems in 2016. They've developed the most widely-accepted medical terminology solution for the management of medical vocabularies and software applications at healthcare organizations worldwide. You can find Michael on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/michaelklozotsky Find out more about IMO here: www.imohealth.com For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify podcasts (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!

Alexander De Ridder, Co-Founder and CTO of INK, joined me on the Modern Startup Marketing podcast. We covered: Marketing is a competitive sport and marketing campaigns can be as awe-inducing as great art; Why have 15 software developers at a 30-people total bootstrapped startup; Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to organize the inner-workings of the business; How 64 blog articles brought 100,000 site visitors in 5 months; Top marketing channels used to launch and grow INK including Product Hunt and contests; How to leave "trail of breadcrumbs" so people can find your company; How to think about and get exponential growth; The future of sophisticated content creation and how search engines will need to morph. Alexander De Ridder is the Co-Founder and CTO of INK (www.inkforall.com). INK is based out of Houston, TX,  started in 2019 and has been completely bootstrapped (so far). INK is patented AI software meant for content creators and writers. Writing your content with INK increases your chances of ranking on the first page in Google by 400% - and it’s completely free.   You can find Alexander on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/adridder/ You can get INK for yourself for free: www.inkforall.com For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify podcasts (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!

Lenny Lebovich, Founder of Pre Brands, came on the Modern Startup Marketing podcast. We covered: Why people misunderstand marketing and branding; How to solve a problem differently through your hiring efforts; The most effective ways to get people to try your (food) product; How to manage the power struggle with retailers, leveraging consumer love of your product; What to look for when you're hiring your startup dream team. Lenny Lebovich is the Founder and former CEO of Pre Brands (www.eatpre.com). Pre is a Chicago-based consumer brand started in 2012 that has raised multiple rounds of financing and become a national leader in the fresh beef category.  Pre is Beef Done Differently™ providing consumers with the very best tasting steaks, roasts, and ground beef that is sourced through its unique global supply chain and also happens to be grass fed and finished.  You can find Lenny on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lennylebovich For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify podcasts (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!

Gil Eyal, Founder of HYPR, came on the Modern Startup Marketing podcast.  We covered: How your marketing will change 100x from early stage to exit; What happens when you find the right investor; What drove the decision to get acquired; Doing marketing by the book slows you down, you have to think a step further to get a higher level of attention; How to get prospects to drop their status quo reality and buy your product. Gil Eyal is the founder of Starfund (www.starfund.io) which invests in early stage consumer startups. He is the former President and Founder of HYPR (sold to Juliusworks in April 2020). HYPR is a NY-based company started in 2013 and has raised $13M in funding (Series A). HYPR is the market leader in data-driven influencer marketing automation solutions, a tool that’s redefining the influencer industry. You can find Gil on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gileyal or at gil@starfund.io. For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Spotify or Apple podcasts (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!