The Start-Up (R)evolution

And we are back. The new season of the Startup (R)evolution podcast is going live!
 
This is the show for leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs wanting to do things differently. 
 
For those of us who want to lead and work in a new way but have come to realize that good leadership is more complex than simply having that one great idea.
 
True leadership is about the difficult decisions and trade-offs, we encounter whilst executing against our vision.
 
The first episode in 2024 - this very one - is with John Schneider. He is the CMO at Betterworks, a performance management software. In this role, he is responsible for marketing, which includes brand, product marketing, public and analyst relations, demand generation, events, and customer marketing.
 
Five facts about John:
John has been working in Silicon Valley for more than 20 years
He recently led a start-up to IPO on Nasdaq with a $2B valuation.
Taught at Santa Clara University’s business school for 7 years, alongside his regular job.
Has 3 boys with his wife, and lives in San Diego
John and I have worked together since 2021.
 
In this conversation, we discuss John’s approach to leadership: head, hands, and heart.
If you are surprised or excited to hear the word heart - this episode is for you!
 
We cover why John opted for being a generalist and visionary vs specialist, what he learned from the 4-year journey to IPO at his last company, and when he last admitted a mistake to his team.
 
Let's dive in!
 
⭐ Don't forget to follow John: 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schneider/ 
Betterworks page: www.betterworks.com 
 
⭐ For more of The Startup (R)evolution you can check out our links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_startup_revolution/ 
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/the_startup_revolution 
Viola Eva’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/violaeva/

New episodes coming in spring 2024!
We are excited to change the world of startups for the better.
 
But trying to make a difference and turning out good intentions into reality has proven to be more complicated than expected.
 
We constantly encounter unexpected second-order effects: When we solve one issue, we end up unintentionally creating another one.
 
It is dawning on you that being a good leader is more complex than simply having that one big idea.
 
True leadership is about the difficult decisions and trade-offs you encounter whilst executing it.
 
On this show, we explore the entrepreneurial zeitgeist with the aim to work and lead differently. 
 
Between all of us, we can decode what it will take to be a leader today.
 
New episodes coming in spring 2024!
 

This week’s guest is Frederik Hermann, the VP of digital marketing at software startup Beekeeper. We met two years ago when he started the role and have worked together directly since then.
 
Interestingly enough, Frederik studied in Karlsruhe, near my hometown. He has lived in California for almost two decades, serving as a marketing leader for various startups.
 
In today's conversation, we talk about the turbulent year that 2023 has been so far - and why AI changes everything.
 
Frederik shares with us how he measures engagement and happiness in his team, what he looks for when he hires, and what it takes to progress from individual contributor to VP.
 
Let's dive in.
 
⭐ More about Frederik Hermann
 
Frederik is a senior marketing executive passionate about technology and innovation with a focus on marketing strategy, user acquisition, and growth.
 
He’s a resourceful, dynamic, and effective marketing executive with a record of achievement in developing and directing strategic marketing activities in challenging and highly competitive markets. Frederik is an influential leader with exemplary business sense and expertise, leading cross-functional teams and efficient campaigns that drive pipeline and revenue. 
 
⭐ Follow Frederik on social media:
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frederikhermann/ 
 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/frederikhermann 
 
Company website: ​​https://www.beekeeper.io/ 
 
Personal website: https://www.frederikhermann.com/ 
 
⭐ Don't forget to follow us:
 
Linktree: linktr.ee/the_startup_revolution
 

Brett and I met at a B2B marketer mastermind led by Jay Acunzo, a previous guest.
 
In the mastermind, Brett was working on The Juice, and I was working on the premise of this very show, The Startup Revolution.
 
We kick off this episode by discussing what it takes to go on vacation without your laptop. And I must admit that I am very guilty for not turning off my laptop during holidays this year - and planning to be better at it again.
 
Brett McGrath is The Juice's VP of Marketing and the Modern Day Marketer podcast host. We discuss the difference between working for a small early-stage startup vs. bigger and more corporate companies.
 
This is really a conversation of two marketers feeding off each other, talking about personal brands in B2B, pipeline creation, email marketing, experimentation, and building a brand.
 
⭐More about Brett McGrath
 
Brett has spent 13 years in the B2B SaaS industry in various marketing functional and leadership roles. His passions are messaging and positioning, sales alignment, demand generation, and content creation. Brett is highly focused on building out go-to-market strategies that elevate the organization's brand and develop sales pipeline. He’s results-driven and believes it's all about bringing in the right people.
 
⭐Follow Brett on social media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettmcgrath/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IndyMcGrath 
Company website: https://www.thejuicehq.com/ 
Podcast & Newsletter: https://www.thejuicehq.com/modern-day-marketer  
 
⭐Don't forget to follow us:
Linktree: linktr.ee/the_startup_revolution

My guest today is Grant Donovan PhD, Grant and I met whilst developing a Search marketing and content strategy for his new company Chaos Cultures.
 
His perspective on leadership immediately inspired me: He embraces the Chaos that is inherent to organizations.
 
All workplace cultures are complex and chaotic by nature because they contain an array of genetically diverse people, with varied personal experiences, a range of intelligence levels, differing belief systems, broad personality variations, mixed motivations and assorted aspirations that are all thrown randomly together in a group where productive outcomes normally rely heavily on collaborative efforts.
 
I don’t know about you but acknowledging that leadership and teams are chaotic by nature was a relief for me!
 
⭐More about Grant Donovan, PhD: 
Grant Donovan is a specialist in culture change and the development of leaders.
With a background in performance psychology, Grant moved to corporate coaching and
consulting in 1984.
 
He is a frequent presenter at International Management Conferences and has led many management tours to the best performing worksites in Europe and North America.
 
Grant has written five management books including the best-selling, “The Customer and the Performance Power of Self-Managed Work Teams,” and is co-author of the very popular “Coffee Conversations: The Simple Leadership Secret of High Performance Workplaces.”
 
⭐Follow Grant on social media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantdonovan/
⭐Don't forget to follow us:
Linktree: linktr.ee/the_startup_revolution 

My guest today is Alison Murdock - Alison has worked as a marketing leader for many tech startups in the Bay Area, including Firstup and 6sense.
 
On today's episode, we talk about what is working for startups in the wild year that 2023 has been so far. We dive into go-to-market motion and how it affects marketing, the channels we use, the metrics we track, and the teams we build. 
 
Alison and I meet at a conference in Austin this spring and immediately hit it off. Her consultancy offers startups and growth-stage companies the marketing resources, experience, and talents to make a greater impact on their business.
 
If you're wondering how to build your marketing team from scratch, this episode is for you!
 
⭐Follow Alison on her socials:
🌀Company website: https://www.trustedcmo.com/ 
🌀LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisonmurdock/ 
 
⭐ Don’t forget to follow us: 
🌀Instagram: @the_startup_revolution
🌀LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/the-startup-revolution-podcast/ 
🌀Website: http://the-startup-revolution.com

The SaaS marketplace is getting more and more crowded by the day. We are more distracted than ever as we get flooded with content, especially this year with the rise of AI content tools. So the voices advocating for uniqueness and creativity for B2B brands are getting louder and louder. 
 
However, saying you need to build a strong brand is always easier said than done. Today, we take a dive deep with Nick Gaudio into what it truly means to make it weird as a B2B brand. We discuss creating unique brand messages and building your marketing organization around that. 
 
Nick is a former seventh-time AP award-winning writer and creative writing professor. He has served as a brand and marketing expert for the last 10 years. Most recently, he's been working for the revenue workflow tool Rattle. 
 
Let's dive in.
 
⭐Follow Nick on her socials:
 
🌀Company website: www.gorattle.com  
🌀LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nick-gaudio-a88229132/ 
⭐ Don’t forget to follow us: 
 
🌀Instagram: @the_startup_revolution
🌀LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/the-startup-revolution-podcast/ 
🌀Website: http://the-startup-revolution.com

My guest today is Abril Lombardi; we met a few months ago when she wrote me this bold message from LinkedIn: “The truth is, I really admire your work, and I follow your webinars regularly, and since I'm looking for a new remote work opportunity, I thought you were one of the big ones I wanted to contact.” 
Since then, she has supported Flow as an SEO specialist. But this episode is not about SEO. 
It's about Abril's journey from a journalism degree to marketing professional. It's about outreach, job hunting, and the challenges of remote work. April is bold, and she doesn't give up. She is a great example for Gen Z and millennials that want to dream bigger and take a leap of faith, especially when searching for a new job.
So let's dive in.
⭐ More about Abril
Abril's career path began at the age of 15 as a fashion model. Four years later, her passion for communication and journalism led her to obtain a degree in the field and quit modeling. By then, she began creating content for her social media, which sparked her love for marketing and growing businesses online. 
Driven by her passion for telling stories, Abril has honed her SEO Specialist, Copywriter, and content marketer skills, collaborating with remote teams and startups from the U.S., Canada, and Germany. She's now looking forward to combining her marketing and journalistic skills as a business storyteller. 
⭐Follow Abril on her socials:
🌀Instagram: @abilombardi🌀Tiktok:@abiroad__🌀Youtube: https://youtube.com/@abilombardi 🌀LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/abril-lombardi/ 
⭐ Don’t forget to follow us: 
🌀Instagram: @the_startup_revolution🌀LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/the-startup-revolution-podcast/ 🌀Website: http://the-startup-revolution.com

In today's episode, Juliana Mendez and I decode some of the myths around startup growth and what it takes to be successful in B2B SaaS.
 
Juliana is a Fractional Growth Marketing leader for B2B SaaS startups. She leads growth marketing teams for a fixed time of three to six months. So she needs to make good things happen quickly. 
 
She gets hired to sell specific growth challenges. To build, hire, and develop growth marketing teams and implement cross-functional processes and a culture of growth. Growth marketing is a cross-functional approach across marketing, product, and sales that is looking to optimize end to end, from acquisition to retention and monetization.
 
Juliana has a very data-led lean and experimentation-based approach, and I really appreciate her learnings from knowing the behind-the-scenes of a variety of startups and teams. 
 
So let's dive in.
 
⭐More about Juliana: 
Juliana is a tri-lingual fractional VP of growth marketing and startup advisor for B2B SaaS, with more than a decade of professional experience in creating data-driven growth strategies from the early stage to the growth stage (0-30M ARR). 
Her industry focus: (product-led, hybrid, Sales-led) B2B SaaS, product-led Sales transformation, TravelTech, FinTech, PropTech. 
⭐Follow Juliana on social media:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/julianamendez/ 
⭐Don't forget to follow us:
Linktree: linktr.ee/the_startup_revolution

My guest today is Jay Acunzo, a podcast host of many shows, writer, speaker, and a major inspiration of mine on the intersection of art and marketing. 
He was also our coach for developing the premise of The Startup (R)evolution, which is this: It always sounds easy in the business books and Ted Talks. But the kinks and second-order effects get unraveled in the implementation. 
So in this episode, we talk about creativity and authenticity in B2B.Jay says: "The problem isn't bots replacing tons of creators; the problem is tons of creators acting like bots. "
Let's dive in.
 
⭐ More about Jay
He’s an author, show host, speaker, and brand consultant. His narrative-style podcast, Unthinkable, has been heard by over a million people worldwide. (It’s kinda like Radiolab but for creators.) Jay also writes books, develop & hosts original series for brands, and offer 1:1 coaching to help you resonate more deeply and build your brand and audience.
In 2023, Jay founded a membership program to help you push yourself creatively: the Creator Kitchen.
Previously, he worked in marketing and editorial roles at Google, HubSpot, and ESPN and as a creative leader for a tiny startup and the VC firm, NextView.
Jay’s grand aspiration/delusion is to be the Anthony Bourdain of workplace storytelling.
Make sure to follow Jay:
⭐ Website: https://jayacunzo.com/ 
⭐ Twitter: @jayacunzo
⭐ Instagram: @jacunzo
⭐ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayacunzo/ 
 
Follow us: 
⭐ Instagram: @the_startup_revolution