The Founder-Led Marketing Show

Bryan Law is the CMO at SentinelOne, an AI-powered cybersecurity company that just crossed $1B ARR.Before joining SentinelOne, Bryan led marketing at Salesforce and ZoomInfo, where he learned the power of distinctive brands and founder-led storytelling.In this episode, Bryan breaks down how he helped SentinelOne become the fastest-growing cybersecurity brand on LinkedIn (up 61% YoY) — and how he’s rethinking executive content, AI, and brand-building in enterprise SaaS.What you’ll learnThe difference between being different and being distinct and why it matters more for B2B brandsHow SentinelOne doubled its LinkedIn followers in 12 monthsWhy follower growth isn’t vanity when it drives top-of-funnel awarenessHow to get executives posting consistently without forcing itBryan’s 4 stages of adopting AI in marketing teamsHow synthetic audiences and agentic AI are changing customer researchThe “Day 1 Buyer List” every marketer needs to understandWhy every brand investment should have a measurable impact on demandPerfect for Founders, CMOs, and marketing leaders who want to:Build distinctive brands that dominate the buyer’s “Day 1” listTurn executive teams into LinkedIn thought leadersBlend AI, content, and brand for measurable pipeline impactConnect with BryanBryan’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanbasdenlaw/SentinelOne: https://www.sentinelone.com/ Connect with mePodcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/ Website: https://www.project33.io/ Chapters00:00 Distinct vs Different02:00 Why distinctiveness beats differentiation05:30 Brand assets that make you recognizable08:30 Using AI and synthetic audiences for messaging10:45 Why SentinelOne made LinkedIn a top priority13:00 Metrics that actually matter beyond follower count16:00 The 3 levers that drove 100K+ new followers18:00 Getting executives active on LinkedIn19:45 The Henry Schuck story on building a personal brand21:30 How executives should approach LinkedIn posting25:00 Balancing personal content vs company relevance27:00 Why CEOs should post on LinkedIn (and how to convince them)30:00 The CEO as a distinctive brand asset32:00 Inside SentinelOne’s internal brand ambassador program35:00 The “Day 1 Buyer List” and marketing to the 95%38:45 Brand investments that actually drive demand42:30 What every CMO should still do in the AI era46:00 How SentinelOne uses GenAI operationally47:30 Favorite AI tools in Bryan’s stack49:00 Closing thoughts

Owner.com powers 10,000+ restaurants with tools to grow sales, from online ordering and loyalty programs, to marketing automation.Behind that growth is Kyle Norton, CRO and former Shopify revenue leader, who’s helped rebuild the business from zero to multi-millions ARR, twice.In this episode, Kyle opens up about the habits, frameworks, and trade-offs that drive long-term success as a leader, parent, and athlete.From rebuilding after failure to finding balance with two kids and a hyper-intense founder, this one’s packed with real talk on what high performance actually looks like.What You’ll Learn- How Owner.com rebuilt from $0 to $1M ARR in a year, twice- Why Adam Guild’s intensity sets the bar for what “founder-led” really means- How martial arts shaped Kyle’s approach to sales, discipline, and resilience- The real trade-offs between startup growth, family, and health- What separates great CROs from good ones and why “bar raising” matters- How Kyle uses AI in his revenue org (and what actually delivers ROI)- Why he doesn’t chase AI hype and how Owner’s mission keeps him grounded- Lessons from Jason Lemkin on board trust, transparency, and tough feedbackFounders, sales leaders, and executives who want to:-Scale teams without burning out- Lead with discipline, not chaos- Build brand trust that compounds- Stay grounded while chasing growthConnect with Kyle:- Kyle’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylecnorton/- Revenue Leadership Podcast: https://www.therevenueleadershippodcast.com/- Owner.com: https://www.owner.com/ Connect with me:Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFHLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/Website: https://www.project33.io/Chapters00:00 Owner.com’s story and rebuilding from $0 to $1M ARR03:00 Lessons from martial arts and disciplined practice07:00 Physical fitness as a superpower for startup leaders09:30 What makes founder-led intensity different13:00 Investing early in brand and why it paid off long-term17:30 Balancing family, health, and high performance24:00 The truth about kids, work, and “having it all”26:00 What separates elite CROs from good ones31:00 Company culture, ownership, and “the numbers too high”34:00 Why building a personal brand matters as a leader39:00 Kyle’s favorite podcasts and why he started his own42:00 AI in sales and what actually works51:00 Lessons from Jason Lemkin on trust and board management53:30 Closing thoughts and reflections#linkedin #founderledmarketing #linkedinads #linkedinagency #founderbranding #saas #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #demandgen #content #b2b #revenue #contentmarketing #performancemarketing #videomarketing #personalbranding

In this engaging discussion, Charles Tenot, CEO of Lemlist and Lempire, shares his journey transitioning from COO to CEO of a thriving $33M bootstrapped SaaS company. He reveals effective strategies for leveraging LinkedIn, emphasizing a personal writing system that enables him to create posts in just 10 minutes. Charles tackles the importance of authentic content over clickbait, the challenges of tech debt, and how Lemlist's strong brand trust allows for impressive 10:1 LTV to CAC. He also highlights the shift away from SEO blogs to a more impactful content strategy.

David Heinemeier Hansson, co-founder of Basecamp and creator of Ruby on Rails, shares insights on achieving wealth without following Silicon Valley trends. He discusses the true meaning of 'fuck you money' and why it's often misunderstood. DHH emphasizes the importance of authenticity and consistency over luck and advocates for early pursuit of passions. He critiques the label 'content creator' and encourages genuine craftsmanship. Plus, he highlights cultural differences between Europe and the U.S. regarding work and entrepreneurship.

Ted Merz spent 32 years at Bloomberg. He started as reporter #15 and ended as Global Head of News Product.In this episode, Ted breaks down how storytelling became his next career. He shares the turning point after getting fired, the content habits he developed, and how that turned into Principals Media, a company helping executives build real audiences through honest stories.We talk about founder content, comms vs. brand, what most ghostwriters get wrong, and the difference between vulnerability and clarity.Topics we cover in this episode:- The truth about getting laid off at 57 (and what came next)- How LinkedIn became a proving ground for executive content- Why most founder content sounds like it was written by ChatGPT- What Bloomberg taught Ted about voice, clarity, and leadership- The difference between being vulnerable and being honest- Why memorability is more important than engagement as metric- How ghostwriters can help execs find their POV (not just polish)- The real ROI of storytelling is reputation, not reachPerfect for:- Founders and execs trying to grow on LinkedIn- Comms teams turning leadership into creators- Ghostwriters building long-term client relationships- Anyone starting over and using content to get back in the gameConnect with Ted:- Ted’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ted-merz-cfa-b711257/- Principals Media: https://www.principalsmedia.com/Connect with me:Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFHLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/Website: https://www.project33.io/Chapters00:00 From Bloomberg to LinkedIn: how storytelling became the next chapter02:30 Getting laid off at 57 with no plan05:00 Going viral with real stories (and no strategy)07:45 Why so much founder content feels generic09:30 What ghostwriters should be doing for execs12:15 The Bloomberg comms lessons that stuck14:45 The danger of over-polished “vulnerability”17:10 What metrics Ted cares about (and what he ignores)20:20 Starting Principals Media: from DMs to clients23:00 Helping execs write without dumbing it down25:30 Why founder content is just good leadership in public27:40 How writing helped Ted clarify what came next30:00 If you want to start posting this is what you should start with#linkedin #founderledmarketing #linkedinads #linkedinagency #founderbranding #saas #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #demandgen #content #b2b #revenue #contentmarketing #performancemarketing #videomarketing #personalbranding

Amanda Zhu is the co-founder of Recall.ai, the API that lets SaaS tools access data from Zoom, Meet, Teams, and more.In just 8 months, Amanda grew her LinkedIn following to 40,000+ and turned content into a serious GTM channel, helping Recall land customers like HubSpot, Calendly, Apollo, and Datadog, while scaling past $20M ARR.In this episode, Amanda walks through her full playbook, from getting lucky with her first viral post, to building a structured, repeatable system for consistent growth. We also break down Recall’s content ops, audience targeting, and why Amanda believes credibility is earned in public, not in your pitch deck.Topics that we will cover in this episode: - The 2-week LinkedIn experiment that changed Recall’s GTM strategy- How Amanda and her marketer co-write 6 posts every week- Building a Notion database of content ideas, voice notes & pillars- Why “hook + value” is still the core formula for going viral- How to keep content fresh by varying tone, depth, and topic- What they’ve learned about the LinkedIn algorithm (and how it’s changing)- The real ROI: 20M+ impressions and customers that “already know her”- Why Amanda briefly added PS product pitches and why she removed them againConnect with Amanda: - Amanda’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhu-amanda/- Recall.ai: https://www.recall.ai/Connect with me:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/Website: https://www.project33.io/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH Chapters00:00 Amanda’s Background & What Recall.ai Does02:10 Why LinkedIn Became Their Top GTM Channel04:00 The First Posts: No Framework, Just Instinct06:15 Going Viral Early - Luck or Strategy?08:00 Reverse-Engineering What Works (And Building a System)10:00 Notion Board, Weekly Content Meetings, Hands-on Writing13:00 Voice Notes, Pillars, and Getting Granular16:00 Scheduling Posts vs. Posting Live17:45 Daily LinkedIn Routine & Why They Avoid Automation19:20 The Target Account List Strategy (Manual, Not Automated)20:45 What They Track Instead of Attribution22:00 The Unquantifiable ROI (Conferences, Familiarity, Warm Leads)24:30 Why Hooks Matter More Than Anything Else25:30 The Role of Founder Stories, Frameworks, and Granular Value27:30 Tradeoffs: Building for Founders vs. Selling to Product Leaders29:00 Why Content Only Works if You’ve Lived the Story30:30 Should Her Co-founder Post Too? Why Timing Matters32:00 Advice to YC Founders: Just Start Posting (Even If It Sucks)34:20 How to Build Your Own System36:15 The “PS Buy Our Product” Era (Why It Worked & Why They Paused It)Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFHLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/Website: https://www.project33.io/#founderledmarketing #b2bmarketing #linkedin #saas #founderbranding #executivebranding #pr

Sylvia LePoidevin is the CMO at Kandji, where she helped grow the Apple device management company from employee #4 to 300+, scaling from the zero-to-one phase to a mid eight figure business valued at $850M.In this episode, Sylvia breaks down what it really takes to market to technical buyers, why her team now invests in the 95% of prospects who aren’t yet in-market, and how she’s scaling brand, community, and content without losing the human touch.We talk podcast flywheels, internal marketing, enabling sales reps on LinkedIn, and building a culture of experimentation even at scale.Topics we cover in this episode:- Sylvia’s journey from employee #4 to CMO at an $850M company- Why Kandji bets on the 95% of buyers who aren’t yet in market- How to earn trust with technical buyers (and why community matters)- Their content system: podcast → blog → video → flywheel- Launching The Sequence as a separate media brand (and why it works)- Empowering internal voices: from sales reps to podcast hosts- Social selling: how Kandji is doing it- Measuring brand without relying on attribution dashboards- Marketing’s new job: internal clarity and executive storytelling- How Sylvia helps her team become future CMOsConnect with Sylvia: - Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylvialepoidevin/- Kandji: https://www.kandji.io/Connect with me:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/Website: https://www.project33.io/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH Chapters00:00 From employee #4 to CMO at an $850M company01:50 The biggest lesson: Don’t wait to build brand04:00 Who Kandji sells to and how they market to them06:10 Why community works with technical audiences08:30 How they balance messaging across the buying committee10:15 Measuring brand when attribution falls short12:00 Using podcast content to power the flywheel14:30 Launching The Sequence as a standalone media brand17:10 Why “people posts” outperform company posts on LinkedIn19:40 Building a studio and enabling internal creators21:20 LinkedIn for recruiting, not just lead gen23:10 Social selling for sales reps: early wins25:45 The zero-to-one content that blew up for Sylvia28:00 How content shaped her leadership30:50 Leading a large team: what matters now33:15 Internal marketing and storytelling for executives35:00 Shark Tank pitch day + being bold in brand37:00 Giving your team space to experiment in the AI era#founderledmarketing #b2bmarketing #linkedin #saas #founderbranding #executivebranding #pr

Adam Frankl was the first VP Marketing at JFrog, Neo4j, and Sourcegraph, all three dev-first unicorns.He’s helped dozens of early-stage DevTool startups go from “cool idea” to credible company. And now he’s written the book on it.In this episode, Adam breaks down the biggest mistakes technical founders make when they try to grow. He shares the exact process he’s used to validate real problems, build developer trust, and create go-to-market clarity, before spending a single dollar on ads or content.This is the DevTool marketing blueprint.Topics we cover in this episode:- Why the best DevTools start with a real problem, not a cool idea- How to recruit a “Technical Advisory Board” to guide your strategy- The 3 best questions to ask in early-stage user interviews- Why GitHub stars ≠ validation- What your first dev-focused marketer should actually do- How to earn developer trust without hype or paid media- The difference between a founder brand and a founder POV- How to become the go-to expert in your space, even if nobody knows you yetPerfect for:- DevTool founders figuring out go-to-market- Early-stage marketers building developer credibility- Technical leaders turning product into motionConnect with Adam:- Adam’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamfrankl/ - Adam’s book - The Developer Facing Startup: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Developer-Facing-Startup-market-developer-facing/dp/B0D4KGHQML Connect with me:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/Website: https://www.project33.io/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH Chapters00:00 The real DevTool go-to-market playbook02:10 Why the best companies solve old problems, not invent new ones04:25 How to validate with 50+ real conversations (not downloads)06:45 What most founders get wrong about early traction08:20 GitHub stars ≠ signal10:00 The “Technical Advisory Board” strategy explained13:00 How to ask better questions in early interviews15:10 Why cold outreach work if you lead with value17:45 The biggest red flags in early-stage feedback20:30 Turning developer insight into content that actually works22:50 What your first marketing hire should focus on (it’s not leads)26:00 Founder POV vs. Founder Brand28:30 Why developers follow people—not companies30:15 Adam’s content hierarchy: 1. research, 2. insight, 3. distribution33:00 The social proof flywheel and when to start turning it35:45 Picking the right distribution channel for your audience37:20 Why forced content formats always fail40:00 Do you need a new category or just a better story?42:10 Final advice: what early DevTool teams should obsess overPodcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFHLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/Website: https://www.project33.io/#linkedin #founderledmarketing #linkedinads #linkedinagency #founderbranding #saas #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #demandgen #content #b2b #revenue #contentmarketing #performancemarketing #videomarketing #personalbranding

Meghan Barr, VP of Brand, Content & Comms at ZoomInfo, brings her journalism expertise to the tech world, transforming CEO Henry Schuck's LinkedIn presence into a powerful storytelling platform. She discusses the shift from traditional media to prioritizing LinkedIn for executive communication and the importance of blending personal storytelling with business messages. Meghan reveals their strategy for scaling content production, managing risk in bold campaigns, and engaging other executives, all while maintaining authentic connections with their audience.

Alec Paul is the CEO and Founder of SalesBrand, and behind some of the most successful CEO brands on LinkedIn.He’s helped founders like Adam Robinson (Retention.com), Gal Aga (Aligned), and Sam Jacobs (Pavilion) generate millions of views, without sounding like everyone else.In this episode, Alec shares his full playbook for building a breakout founder brand: from narrative structure and viral storytelling to POV development, content systems, and how to win on LinkedIn in 2025.If you want to build your founder's brand presence on LinkedIn this is required.Topics we cover in this episode:- What makes a founder’s POV stand out- How to build trust without “sounding like LinkedIn”- The frameworks Alec uses to structure posts that perform- Why most ghostwriting sounds like AI (and how to fix it)- The 3 post types every CEO brand needs- How to balance virality with long-term positioning- Why story + structure are more important than hooks + hacks- What Gal Aga, Adam Robinson, and Sam Jacobs are doing differently- Why most CEOs fail to commit to content (and how to change that)- The truth about engagement drops and why LinkedIn still worksPerfect for:- Heads of Brand and Coms trying to grow their CEO's brand- Ghostwriters building POV-led content systems- Content marketers helping executives show up authentically- Anyone who wants to scale founder-led marketing the right wayConnect with Alec:- Alec’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alecjpaul/- SalesBrand: https://forms.gle/2SgtaT31pHDgccDM8Connect with me:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/Website: https://www.project33.io/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFHLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/Website: https://www.project33.io/Chapters:00:00 Alec’s background and the rise of Arch Public02:00 What makes a CEO brand break out on LinkedIn04:45 The difference between viral content and thought leadership06:30 Why Gal Aga’s content strategy works08:30 Narrative design vs. “just write a hook”11:10 Storytelling frameworks that actually perform14:20 Why “pillar content” isn’t enough to scale a brand17:15 The problem with AI-generated posts19:40 How Alec thinks about trust, tone, and differentiation22:30 When founders should outsource (and when they shouldn’t)25:20 Helping execs find their voice without sounding forced28:10 The 3 formats that every executive brand needs30:45 What LinkedIn is rewarding right now34:00 What most ghostwriters miss about long-term POV36:30 Building content systems vs. chasing engagement38:15 Why LinkedIn reach is down but still worth it40:10 The power of comment DMs and mid-funnel plays42:00 Measuring success beyond vanity metrics44:15 Final advice for founders and ghostwriters in 2025#linkedin #founderledmarketing #linkedinads #linkedinagency #founderbranding #saas #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #demandgen #content #b2b #revenue #contentmarketing #performancemarketing #videomarketing #personalbranding