Ed Giansante

Hiring alert! One of our newest MKT1 portfolio companies is hiring a founding marketer. nodaFi is vertical SaaS that understands a wedge-in strategy. The team is scrappy and values marketing--and really understands their ICP - facilities managers. If you're based in the Bay Area and interested in helping bring a tech-first approach to an industry that operates with pen & paper, take a look. The founders are awesome (cc Jacob Pandl & Michael Loyda) JD link in the comments.

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Where do I find my templates, spreadsheets, and SOPs? 🤔 As a marketer, being a constant researcher is crucial. Here's where I source my best materials: → Communities: ↳ Private and paid (Exit Five, TechMarketingLeaders, Hirondo) ↳ Public forums (futur proche) → Newsletters: ↳ Paid and free options (Elena Verna, Emily Kramer) → Podcasts: ↳ Conquête, SaaS Club - Le Podcast, Exit Five (yes all things Dave Gerhardt) → AI tools: ↳ Perplexity, Claude by Anthropic, ChatGPT by OpenAI, Claap, Ignition → LinkedIn content creators: ↳ Following experts like Pierre Herubel, Devin Reed, Chris Walker, Matt Barker, Nicolas Cole 🚢👻, Chris Donnelly, Jake Ward, Nick Broekema... → Company inspiration: ↳ Observing strategies of Pennylane, Doctrine, lemlist... → Books: ↳ Continuous learning through reading My decade of marketing experience and client interactions also contribute significantly to crafting my best work. What are your go-to sources for marketing inspiration and resources? Share your favorites in the comments.

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Where should you build your startup? Last week, I attended LA Tech Week. For the first time since moving to Los Angeles three years ago, it felt like a real startup community with legitimate entrepreneurs. I met several founders who went through YC, several founders with exits, and many who came from strong LA backgrounds, including SpaceX, Riot Games, Google, Facebook, and more. For context, LA has struggled to build a startup scene until recently despite its size, proximity to Silicon Valley, presence of big tech, and access to great talent from top universities. So what changed? We all agreed that it was one thing. Access to capital. If you are an entrepreneur and you have the flexibility to choose your city, you optimize for two things. 1. Access to customers  2. Access to capital Before I moved to Silicon Valley 13 years ago, the LA venture scene was just a handful of firms and a handful of angels. Today, the tables have turned in favor of founders, and there is more capital than deals to invest in. What city will you build in?

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Let's get real with AI tool adoption in Marketing... As VP of Marketing at Wunderkind, Amandine Servain knows firsthand the challenges and opportunities that come with integrating AI tools into marketing workflows. In a recent AMA webinar, Amandine shared her approach to evaluating and adopting these tools. The key, according to Amandine, is to start not with the tools but by identifying specific pain points within your team's workflows. From there, look for AI solutions that can both solve those problems and also seamlessly integrate with your existing technology stack. "First, we look at the challenges that we have... then we move to trying to find a tool that can solve that pain point, could be AI, could not be AI," Amandine explained. "When we find AI tools, such as Tofu, that was solving a pain point, most of the time we do a POC first to make sure it actually solving the pain point that we think it's solving." But adoption is only half the battle. Measuring the impact of these tools is equally important. Amandine's team tracks engagement metrics and runs A/B tests to quantify the effectiveness of their AI-powered campaigns. However, Amandine cautions against data overload: "We track a lot of data, probably too much data, more than we actually use, but I think that's kind of the marketer's disease, tracking too many data points and not fully knowing what am I going to do with that data?" The key takeaway? Be strategic in your approach to AI adoption. Identify clear pain points, ensure seamless integration, and measure impact using meaningful metrics. With the right strategy, AI tools can be a powerful addition to your marketing workflows. What has been your experience with adopting AI tools in your marketing efforts? https://lnkd.in/gMTVPbtU

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I'm NOT speaking at brightonSEO in San Diego, and I couldn't be happier about that! I love BrightonSEO, and I'm thrilled to be ATTENDING instead of speaking because speaking at conferences is a LOT of work, at least for me... I tend to go way overboard with my presentations: 🔹 Months of data gathering and analysis. 🔹 Thinking about my data and my presentation obsessively in almost every waking moment leading up to the date. 🔹 Procrastinating about creating my slides until the few days before the event. 🔹 Locking myself in my office for the 3 days before the event and ignoring all other work while I stressfully try to get my presentation and slides done. 🔹 Working on the slides on the plane to the event (while other people watch movies) 🔹 Arriving in the city and locking myself in my hotel room trying to finish my slides while other speakers and attendees enjoy getting together over food and drinks. 🔹 Pulling an all-nighter trying to get my slides done and my presentation perfect before I have to get on stage. 🔹 Missing all the other awesome presentations because I'm still in my hotel room guzzling instant coffee trying to get those remaining slides done. 🔹 Showing up at the time of my talk completely frazzled, exhausted, and stressed out. 🔹 Then getting on stage, feeling perfectly great, and delivering a kick-ass talk that is well-received. Lol. 🔹 Then enjoying that high for the rest of the day/evening while I hang with my SEO friends (this is the best part). 🔹 Then crashing so hard the night of the event before I get on a plane and go home. I know this is just me and other speakers are a lot more planned, organized, and chill about speaking, but after presenting dozens of times at SEO conferences, I have come to terms with the fact that I am unable to do it any other way. I'm too much of an obsessive perfectionist about it. And it sucks. It sucks because I miss most of the event and all the things that make conferences awesome! So I cannot wait for BrightonSEO San Diego where I am NOT speaking. 🔹 I won't have any stress at all. 🔹 I'll get to spend time with my wonderful local search pals, Joy Hawkins, Greg Gifford, and Krystal Taing. 🔹 I'll get to hang out with awesome friends like Noah Learner and Nick LeRoy at the SEO Slack Community Boardwalk Bash. 🔹 I'll get to attend all the incredible talks. 🔹 I'll come away feeling freaking awesome, filled with new knowledge, and excited to start implementing everything I learned at BrightonSEO San Diego. So, thank you so much Kelvin Newman for NOT inviting me to speak. I am so grateful to be able to just BE at this conference. Can't wait! And if you're going to be there, please give a shout in the comments. I'd love to see you there!

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Bravo to Julie Crabill and the team at Fathom.org for this eye-opening, nuanced take on #AI's impact on American society. The research indicates not just the business and productivity impacts of AI we like to talk about, but also impacts on public policy, bipartisan viewpoints, and the growing lack of trust in the tech companies who are on the forefront of AI development. A great read and something for me to keep in mind as I work with organizations grappling with AI. Marie Gill, Gina Jeneroux, MBA FLPI, Mark Wayman, Allie K. Miller ORG AI Download the report from the Fathom site. https://fathom.org/

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Worth a listen/read: Airbnb’s Vlad Loktev on embracing chaos, inquiry over advocacy, poking the bear, and “impact, impact, impact” - https://lnkd.in/eFVRuNJJ I am a firm believer in the "humble inquiry" and "listen with the intent to understand, not respond" principles as key for being inclusive and getting your team involved and engaged as a product manager or product leader. It was encouraging to hear Vlad talk about how he also used and lived those principles while working with his team and stakeholders. There was another cool perspective on this approach to communication and understanding (either from a previous podcast episode or a different article): Approach the conversation with the initial belief that the other person / other people are right and let the questions and perspectives and understandings unfold from there. That doesn't mean that in the end you go with what they think or believe necessarily, but it helps you approach the different views with genuine curiosity and openness which in turn helps understand where each person's argument or opinion is coming from. As a bonus to taking this approach, your team also feels listened to and included in what you are all building in the end. Thanks Lenny Rachitsky for the cool guest and episode! #humbleinquiry #leadership #listentounderstand

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Thrive is a silent killer of a channel. But driving velocity can be tricky. At least until yesterday. Thrive and Instacart have teamed up to provide Thrive Carrot Ads. Now you can drive velocity with a surgeon's scalpal. Oh, and if you're approaching Thrive's Innovation Program. This is your chance to secure a permanent spot on their digital shelf. If you're interested, feel free to DM me or book a call. (No, I cannot get you 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 Thrive. But I can help you stay there.) ——— 🔹 We grow brands on Amazon. 🔹 We increase velocity in Whole Foods, Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, Sam's, COSTCO, and lots of other cool retailers. #cpg #cpggrowth #retailgrowth #retailvelocity #omnichannel #retail #amazonagency #retailmedia #shoppermarketing #instacart #thrive #thrivemarket #carrotads

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Having a strong pharma content excellence strategy is one thing; successfully implementing it across a large organization is another. Read this great interview with Cari Meredith from Takeda, one of our customers.

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As I'm getting ready to be in Santa Clara to connect with people Face to Face, there's something pretty cool digitally- Matcha.so 🍵 pods and what Melissa Moody 🍵 is working on Small groups are the most effective way to tap into your valuable network. And we can all use support to reach our goals- this is where Matcha Pods come in Matcha Pods make it smooth (and fun) to invite, schedule, message async, and meet live with small groups of your peers around a shared goal or topic of interest. How it works- 1. Pick a shared goal or focus area. 2. Invite up to 5 other people who are working on or interested in the same thing. 3. Set a timeline and cadence that works for your group. 4. Up-level each other with async messaging and recurring virtual video chats.  5. High-five each other because, finally, your meetings are aligning with your key business goals. Want to try it? Right here ⤵ https://lnkd.in/gsGxN_2M Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored, but I'll get rewards at no additional cost to you if you use the referral link :-)

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Join Me this Thursday 6PM with Nate Zaru for Creating Product Videos that Drive Sales Workshop. PLUS networking happy hour at Gambit Lounge. Learn and mingle with the top marketers in the San Francisco SaaS world! Join us for a workshop on how to jump into 2025 with an unforgettable product video. You’ll learn what makes the best product videos and what mistakes to avoid. Bring your projects and case studies. Hosted by Nate at MyProductVideo.com with yours truly. AGENDA: 6:00-6:30 Welcome and networking 6:30-7:15 Workshop Presentation 7:15-8:00 Happy hour networking What You’ll Learn: The New Opportunity of Product Videos Why SaaS is different and how to leverage it The Story Comes First Crafting a narrative that defines your brand Work Backwards from Your Dream Context and Formats Planning with purpose for maximum impact Focus on One BIG Idea and a Strong CTA Simplify your message for clarity and action Show People—People Love People Harnessing the power of human connection Show the Product Without Showing the Actual Product Building intrigue and interest creatively Remix and Repeat Strategies to keep your content fresh

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Looking for a great read that explains the interconnections between emerging technologies? Sick of lazy tech writers who ask which technologies will "win" without understanding that they're all connected? Want deep dives into the future of work and VR; how to think like an AI native; and the future of experiences and mobility, among many other topics? Check out the Fast Future Blur, a collection of collaborative essays written by the faculty of the The Fast Future Executive! Available now wherever books are sold. https://lnkd.in/e2YsEa2T

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#Funding announcements are a staple of startup PR. As a former TechCrunch writer, I've covered thousands of these stories. They're perfect for grabbing attention and explaining your problem space. But what happens when that buzz fades? For non-consumer facing companies, hard news moments are rare. That's where the art of evergreen pitching comes in. It's about being creative and smart with your story, finding new angles on your core narrative. A great story has incredible mileage. With the right packaging, you can keep pitching it in fresh ways, maintaining media interest long after the funding confetti settles. For more check out the full episode of Nothing Ventured (linked  in the comments). If you need comms support then visit O'Hear & Co.  or email us at strategy@ohearco.com #Startup #PR #Tech

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As members of EO or YPO, we are committed to leading with excellence. Yet, when it comes to our marketing efforts, there's a candid truth we need to acknowledge: too often, they reflect outdated practices and out of step with the rapidly advancing digital landscape. We espouse the virtues of innovation and risk-taking, but does our marketing truly embody these principles? The mismatch between our progressive ambitions and our current strategies is clear. It's time for a paradigm shift. We must invest genuinely in our marketing, embrace substantial changes, and foster authentic connections with our audience. This isn't merely about spending more; it's about being smarter and more innovative with our strategies to lead our businesses into the future effectively. #LeadWithInnovation #DigitalTransformation #ModernizeMarketing #EmbraceChange #BusinessLeadership #FutureFocused #StrategicMarketing #InnovativeLeadership #EngageAuthentically #BusinessExcellence

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📢 Exciting #job alert 📢 Who is the best #product leader you know? (please tag them if they'd be interested) At Savvy Learning we are looking to add the next critical piece of our leadership team. A Head of Product. Psst... scroll to the bottom of this post for a few thoughts on why Savvy Learning's core problem is a BIG ONE. Here are some specifics about this amazing job opportunity: - Head of Product - Own product & #UX - WFH - Competitive salary + equity - 5+ years of experience required - Experience in B2C is preferred - Individual contributor on day one (we're a very early stage startup) but over time you get to grow & manage the UX, product, AND software engineering teams. About our core problem: The stakes in #education could not be higher when it comes to helping children catch up on reading and math. Did you know that children who are not reading proficiently by 3rd grade are 4x more likely to become high school dropouts? Why? Because 3rd grade marks the transition from "learning to read" to "reading to learn". Therefore, reading proficiency spills over into almost every aspect of our lives: cognitive, behavioral, motivational, etc. Savvy Learning exists to help children turn learning into their favorite superpower. We accomplish that through effective one-on-one and group tutoring (100% online) in reading and math, powered by custom/research-based curriculum and a delightful tech platform. We have hundreds of coaches, all with real classroom experience. And they are teaching thousands of students across dozens of countries (mostly US). Our learning outcomes for these students are amazing. So if you're a qualified product person or #PM and you've read this far on my post, it's probably a sign that you should send me a DM so I can tell you more about how great of an opportunity this is ;) We can't wait for that perfect-fit person to come and lead us.

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I distilled 𝟭𝟯+ 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 of my go-to-market experience as a CMO/VP/Head of Product into this 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲👇 So, if you need help building a go-to-market plan, this resource is for you. I originally built this for myself for my consultation work. → I wanted a template that covered all of the key considerations in an effective and efficient go-to-market engine. → While also still being lightweight enough to be completed quickly (and no more than ~2 pages if printed out). Here's a summary of what the template covers: 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟭 - 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 • 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼 - what you stand for, the change you're championing, why you should be trusted • 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 - the urgent & important problem you're solving and how you're solving it better than alternatives • 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 - segments, ICP and buying committee 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟮 - 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 • 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘆 - jobs to be done, buying triggers • 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘆 - objections, fears, alternatives • 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘀 they trust - where they learn and make decisions 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟯 - 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 • 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 and 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 - per customer segment • 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 strategy - how you price vs the market 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟰 - 𝗚𝗼-𝗧𝗼-𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 • GTM 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - sales-led, PLG, etc. • 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗪𝗲'𝗹𝗹 𝗪𝗶𝗻 - one sentence statement uniting GTM teams • 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 Gen - how you'll generate demand • 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗚𝗲𝗻 - how you'll collect demand • 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 - how you'll prospect, nurture and close • 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 - how you'll grow revenue 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟱 - 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 • 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀, 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 and 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 - for Product, Marketing, Sales and CS As I said, it is comprehensive. But as you can see below, it's all done in a lean package. ___ Want the FREE template? 👉 The 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 using a fictional company to help guide you through it. 1. CONNECT with me    ❗don't miss this step, I can't send you the post without :) ❗ 2. LIKE this post 3. COMMENT "GTM" And I'll share it straight with you :) Plus all my future training videos on it. ___ So why am I doing this? → Help better define what a GTM strategy consists of → Help others get a head start building theirs → Get your feedback to make the template better :) So what are you waiting for? ___ ✍️ Connect with me, like the post and comment "GTM" to get the template. ♻️ Reshare if you found valuable. #B2B #B2BMarketing #B2BMarketingStrategy #GoToMarket #Marketing #SaaS #Enterprise #BrandAwareness #DemandGen #LeadGen  #Sales #Data #ROI

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I attended the AMO Summit in New York this week with some of our Optimism leadership. It’s clear the tectonic plates in our industry are shifting. Traditional playbooks are being replaced with new ones marked by data, experimentation, and creativity. Here are five takeaways from the Summit: Iteration & experimentation cycles are speeding up. Allison Murphy, COO of Axios, said that the response time of the entire industry has shifted from 2-3 years to 2-3 months. The companies that test, learn, and iterate the fastest will win. Stay customer-obsessed. Eric Newcomer pointed out that it was far easier to sell event tickets than it was to sell premium memberships for his content, and he’s built a profitable events business based on consumer demand. The media companies that will rise above the noise deeply understand their customers. AI can be your creative partner. Dan Shipper, CEO of Every, spoke about how he's using AI tools to stretch his thinking and be his creative partner in generating content. We’ve found dozens of use-cases for AI in our own business, and we’re confident that the most successful media businesses of the future will leverage AI 10x better than their peers. We’ve entered the age of personalized data. Jessica Hogue, Chief Data Officer at Hearst, is hiring data scientists to focus on personalized content, which she said sits at the intersection of content that’s delightful and useful. 2024 has been slow in media business M&A, but there are tailwinds for 2025. Daniel Pitchford, CEO at Collingwood, broke down the state of capital markets and M&A in the industry. The lesson: there’s a flight to quality companies. The core challenge in the media landscape in 2024 and 2025 is this: every company is now a media business. Today there's an infinite supply of content but a fixed amount of attention. In moments of transition, next generation media companies need to do two things simultaneously: 1) return to the fundamentals and focus on what works, and 2) experiment rapidly to identify what’s next. The future is for those who seize it. Naturally, we're optimistic! Special thanks to Jacob Donnelly for convening such brilliant minds!

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Every Product Marketing team wants a feature that is fully differentiated and brings such obvious value to customers that it sells itself. But guess what, those features are rare and if they weren't...you probably wouldn't have a job because well, the product would sell itself. So what that means is positioning your releases, tying together features with other benefits like services, integrations, and partnerships, and differentiating nuances vs competitors is core. Then how do you tell a consistent story, how do you enable, and make sure that the customer experience you promise is delivered. So while we all dream of that unicorn product release (and they do happen from time to time), the top product marketing teams do their best work on those other releases. 

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Innovation for doers: Focus on Impact, Not Jargon Your customers don't care if your innovation is labeled as disruptive, adjacent, or incremental. They won't ask which "Horizon" it fits into or whether it aligns with the latest innovation framework. It's time to cut through the noise. What matters most is the tangible impact your innovations have on their lives and businesses. They care about solutions that solve real problems, enhance their experiences, and drive meaningful change. So, let's shift our focus from terminology to transformation. Instead of getting bogged down by jargon, concentrate on delivering results that truly matter. 🔍 Stop overanalyzing. 💡 Start making a difference. Your next breakthrough could be just around the corner—if you let go of the labels and embrace the possibilities. #Innovation #CorporateInnovation #BusinessTransformation #InnovationStrategy #ImpactfulChange #venturebuilding #CVC #openinnovation #accelerators

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