Essays on the art and science of Founder-led GTM.
This is our 7th Year Helping SaaS and AI Founders unlock scalable growth. These are our field notes.
The 3 Kinds of Marketing
September 5, 2026
The average tenure of a B2B CMO is 18-months. Anytime this stat is mentioned, the default case is to hate on CMOs. BUT. And this is an important but… Here’s another stat that doesn’t get mentioned as often but should: 62% of CMOs go on to a similar or bigger role at another company when they exit. This means that the flaw isn’t the person in the role, they get “promoted” to better fit roles. The problem is in the role itself and more importantly, how CEOs view the CMO role. Over the past ten years, I’ve worked intimately with CEOs at organizations from a little bit of revenue to public companies with hundreds of millions in revenue to work through solving their growth problems. The biggest thing I’ve learned? C-Suites and especially CEOs, especially ones that don’t come from a Marketing background, they grossly misunderstand Marketing. I found myself educating CEOs about the difference between Brand Marketing, Demand Acquisition Marketing, and even Product Marketing. Because of this, the B2B CMO is expected to be a unicorn. They are tasked with fixing the brand, driving short-term demand, attracting talent, while spearheading the strategic narrative on the new AI product offering
CEOs and Marketing
August 4, 2026
I’ve worked with hundreds of CEOs. When it comes to Marketing, the best of them fall into one specific category: they value Marketing, and they have acquired Marketing skills. Here are the three key categories CEOs fall into: Doesn’t Value Marketing: These are CEOs who are stuck with a Sales-driven process. Every new $1 of revenue is directly dependent on their Sales Team generating pipeline. Every new lead is coming either from a referral, or a shared lead aggregation agency. Because of this, they never are able to find exponential growth in their business. Values Marketing, But Doesn’t Have Marketing Skills: This is the CEO who knows how Marketing can transform their business. But they refuse to get skilled at it. They refuse to understand the difference between Brand Marketing, Direct Response Marketing, and Product Marketing. And because of this, they’re never able to attract or recruit a great Marketer into their organization. And so, they stay stuck with short stints with fractional Marketers, and DIY marketing efforts that never have the stamina to deliver actual results. Values Marketing, Acquires Marketing Skills: This CEO is the most successful. Think Steve Jobs, Marc