Hi, you're listening to The Get, the podcast about finding and keeping
Speaker:great marketing leaders in B2B SaaS.
Speaker:I'm Erica Seidel, your host.
Speaker:Lately, I've noticed something that all my best CMO candidates do.
Speaker:When they hear that a company wants to, say, double in revenue, they make sure to
ask a particular question:"How exactly do you plan for the growth to come from?"
ask a particular question:Our guest today reminds CMOs to take the reins for growth planning.
ask a particular question:You'll hear from Jay Gaines, who now runs marketing for the insurance
ask a particular question:tech company AgentSync and is the former CMO of SiriusDecisions.
ask a particular question:You'll hear about mistakes to avoid when starting to scale.
ask a particular question:Spoiler alert - and this was surprising: Don't hire too
ask a particular question:heavily in demand generation.
ask a particular question:You'll also hear about the importance of hiring fast and hiring for
ask a particular question:diversity and equity and inclusion.
ask a particular question:And you'll hear about what candidates are looking for today and how
ask a particular question:that's different from before.
ask a particular question:Jay, welcome to the show.
ask a particular question:Let's talk about key things to avoid as a CMO embarks on a scale journey.
ask a particular question:I think the main thing, and all of these things are a little bit connected, the
ask a particular question:main thing to avoid is letting the scaling of the organization impact negatively
ask a particular question:the focus and purpose of marketing.
ask a particular question:Now, inevitably as a company scales, you're going to have a lot more
ask a particular question:products that are going to be launched.
ask a particular question:You're going to add complexity as you expand into new vertical
ask a particular question:industries, into new geos, all of those things are going to expand the
ask a particular question:scope of marketing's work for sure.
ask a particular question:But the other thing that happens along the way is that a lot of
ask a particular question:random projects come up and people aren't quite sure where they belong.
ask a particular question:The default seems to be marketing can do this, right?
ask a particular question:They've got limitless capacity, sure.
ask a particular question:Just throw it to marketing and they'll take it on.
ask a particular question:So you want to avoid allowing that to happen, and there's
ask a particular question:a few ways to avoid that.
ask a particular question:The first is to be constantly marketing internally.
ask a particular question:Being sure to reinforce with the CEO, the head of sales, other leadership in
ask a particular question:the company the role that marketing is playing at the business as it scales.
ask a particular question:Like I said, that will expand somewhat, but you always want to make
ask a particular question:sure that there's a shared, common understanding of what it is marketing
ask a particular question:is here to do for the business.
ask a particular question:That's important.
ask a particular question:The second thing to do is, and it usually falls to the CMO to do this, and this
ask a particular question:might be a surprise for some folks, but to seize control of that strategic
ask a particular question:planning process at the corporate level.
ask a particular question:Not talking about just marketing strategic planning, but I'm talking about
ask a particular question:strategic planning for the business.
ask a particular question:And when I say seize control, I don't mean that the CMO
ask a particular question:necessarily leads the entire thing.
ask a particular question:But it usually falls to the CMO to step up within the business and say, I understand
ask a particular question:that we are doing some planning and we are intending to hit this revenue number, for
ask a particular question:example, and expand maybe into these geos.
ask a particular question:And at a high level I understand what we're trying to accomplish as a business.
ask a particular question:Usually, it falls to the CMO to say, okay, but we have to go a click or
ask a particular question:two deeper than that in our strategic planning process and really define how
ask a particular question:it is we're going to hit those revenue targets and what it means for us as a
ask a particular question:business as we expand into new verticals or into new geos or scale in terms
ask a particular question:of the number of people we have here.
ask a particular question:That's important because if you don't do that, what will inevitably happen
ask a particular question:is marketing will be asked to treat everything across the business equally.
ask a particular question:For example, at my business, we're scaling very fast right now.
ask a particular question:We have very clear revenue targets that we want to hit next year, but I had to
ask a particular question:work with the head of sales, head of product, the founders, and really get
ask a particular question:at when we think about hitting that number, what products sold to which
ask a particular question:audience segments do we expect to contribute what percentage to that growth?
ask a particular question:And when I'm armed with that information, which we quickly got to, thankfully, we're
ask a particular question:a very operationally mature business.
ask a particular question:But when we got to agreement on that, that's the information I need to know
ask a particular question:how to focus marketing's investment of resources and efforts so we're
ask a particular question:not spread like peanut butter across everything the business does equally.
ask a particular question:It also puts me in a position to do the most important work as the CMO,
ask a particular question:which is create and protect focus for the marketing organization because,
ask a particular question:invariably, every product has a product manager that has a number on their head.
ask a particular question:You have sales teams that are oriented around different parts of the business.
ask a particular question:And as they observe marketing investing more in one part of the business
ask a particular question:than another part of the business, you're gonna have people come to you
ask a particular question:and be like, hey, what's going on?
ask a particular question:Why aren't you giving the part I care about as much
ask a particular question:attention as this other part?
ask a particular question:So you want to be in a defensible position to say, look, we've all agreed that this
ask a particular question:other part is going to contribute more to our growth than the part you care most
ask a particular question:about, so I'm investing more over there.
ask a particular question:It really creates an environment where there's shared understanding.
ask a particular question:And I, as the leader of the marketing team, can help everybody understand
ask a particular question:why we're doing the things we're doing and oh, by the way, not doing all of
ask a particular question:those other random things and treating everything equally across the business.
ask a particular question:I think that's great because it really puts marketing in the
ask a particular question:driver's seat of growth, which is what we're all talking about.
ask a particular question:But I think a lot of marketers they decide, like, I'm going to inherit
ask a particular question:the strategic plan from the CMO, and then I'm going to do my marketing.
ask a particular question:But you're right, there can be this kind of gap between CEO can set the plan and
ask a particular question:that plan might be, we're going to double in two years or we're going to increase
ask a particular question:our ARR growth rate to blah, blah, blah.
ask a particular question:But then it's easy to fall into these random acts of marketing or this, what
ask a particular question:I like to call, a vending machine kind of marketing, where it's like, oh, hey,
ask a particular question:we're just going to press on the belly of the marketing person and a campaign
ask a particular question:is going to come out or a new sales enablement toolkit is going to come out.
ask a particular question:So I can totally see that.
ask a particular question:You've scaled marketing at several companies now.
ask a particular question:How often do you revisit that plan?
ask a particular question:Because it would seem that every once in a while, you might want to
ask a particular question:go back and say, okay that person has been asking for marketing resources.
ask a particular question:Maybe we actually do want to allocate some resources to that.
ask a particular question:So, I'm curious about revisiting the plan and also the corollary
ask a particular question:of revisiting the budget.
ask a particular question:Well, you can't be too rigid.
ask a particular question:You have to adapt as you go, especially if you're at a relatively early stage
ask a particular question:company, which typically are the companies that are scaling the fastest, right?
ask a particular question:Things change over the course of a quarter, not just a year, but
ask a particular question:things can change pretty quickly.
ask a particular question:So you do have to be flexible and willing to adapt.
ask a particular question:You want to be revisiting it almost constantly.
ask a particular question:To that end, the idea that we have to revisit the marketing plan, for example,
ask a particular question:based on shifts that are happening at a high level in the business and the
ask a particular question:business's plan because you're learning as you go, everybody's learning.
ask a particular question:To make it easy to revisit that marketing plan, I do this thing that
ask a particular question:I call a marketing plan on a page.
ask a particular question:My mission is literally to get the marketing plan on a single page that
ask a particular question:lays out our primary objectives and how they link to the primary business
ask a particular question:goals, how we're executing to achieve those goals, how we're measuring it,
ask a particular question:and the risks and dependencies that exist that are going to get us there.
ask a particular question:It doesn't get into marketing activity planning, that's separate, but it gets
ask a particular question:into the strategic plan for marketing.
ask a particular question:If that's in place, and it's nicely, clearly defined business goals, when you
ask a particular question:do have to revisit it, it's easy to do and you can have a rational conversation
ask a particular question:about how things are going to change.
ask a particular question:Again, if you can go back to the corporate strategy and the corporate
ask a particular question:goals that are hopefully very clear, then you can say is, say, okay, it
ask a particular question:appears we need to change because this other thing has changed, but that means
ask a particular question:we're not going to do this other thing.
ask a particular question:So you can do a bit of, I don't want to call it horse trading, but it's
ask a particular question:trade-offs and make it very clear to people that we have X amount
ask a particular question:of resources, X amount of budget.
ask a particular question:Are we going to get more budget?
ask a particular question:Typically, the answer is no, but you never know.
ask a particular question:These days, actually, it's increasingly yes, you can have more budget.
ask a particular question:And if you can agree to that, you can say, okay if we're going to do it
ask a particular question:then there's a few other things that we're not going to do, or we're not
ask a particular question:going to give as much attention to.
ask a particular question:And if you have that starting point of agreement on focus and how you're going to
ask a particular question:grow, if anything changes the trade-offs become pretty clear, pretty obvious.
ask a particular question:Something increases in importance and another thing diminishes, and you can
ask a particular question:adjust your resources accordingly.
ask a particular question:What's harder to do is adjust people accordingly.
ask a particular question:Moving budget around is relatively easy, changing up some programs
ask a particular question:and tactic mixes, and that sort of thing is relatively easy.
ask a particular question:But as you're scaling, you're also building a marketing organization
ask a particular question:that's designed to do certain things.
ask a particular question:Hopefully, you're not just building it randomly.
ask a particular question:And that gets a little bit harder.
ask a particular question:So especially when I'm at earlier stage companies where I know change
ask a particular question:can be anticipated, it's going to come, I try to populate my team with
ask a particular question:people who are multi-position players.
ask a particular question:People who, yes, they have strong skill sets, for example, in
ask a particular question:product marketing, but guess what?
ask a particular question:They've done a little bit of customer marketing, as well, and maybe they've
ask a particular question:got a little demand in their background.
ask a particular question:So that as things change, people are able to wear a few hats.
ask a particular question:It's really important that people can be flexible.
ask a particular question:I also, as I'm bringing people on, I get them ready for that.
ask a particular question:I make it very clear that, hey, you're joining a company that's at this stage.
ask a particular question:We're scaling quickly.
ask a particular question:We're going to be learning as we go.
ask a particular question:So we all have to be flexible.
ask a particular question:We all have to be willing to wear a bunch of hats.
ask a particular question:And guess what?
ask a particular question:Our roles might shift a little bit as we go along.
ask a particular question:Are you down for that?
ask a particular question:Is that something that you're okay with as you join us?
ask a particular question:That makes it a bit easier, but people change is the hardest, I think.
ask a particular question:Can you talk about an organizational misstep that you made at some point?
ask a particular question:Sure, I'd be happy to.
ask a particular question:Let me think.
ask a particular question:The problem isn't finding one.
ask a particular question:The problem is picking one.
ask a particular question:I've become successful through a series of mistakes that I've
ask a particular question:learned through in my career.
ask a particular question:I would say the biggest one that I made, and this was probably my first CMO role,
ask a particular question:I was building an organization essentially from scratch and it was in a company
ask a particular question:that had been around for about twenty years, but was just releasing some new
ask a particular question:products and extending into new markets.
ask a particular question:So we were scaling pretty quickly.
ask a particular question:When I joined, there were two people and I grew us to about twenty-seven people over
ask a particular question:the course of about a year and a half.
ask a particular question:My background was very much oriented around digital marketing and demand.
ask a particular question:I had some product marketing background and some other things as well, but I was
ask a particular question:really focused on demand and I completely over-rotated around demand as I was
ask a particular question:building out my marketing organization.
ask a particular question:I brought on a lot of people who were really good at demand.
ask a particular question:I made that part of the function just really big, kind of too big.
ask a particular question:I forgot the fact that demand needs to be fed by all kinds of other stuff
ask a particular question:like really great product marketing and really great content and all
ask a particular question:sorts of other things, and really good comms and messaging and all that.
ask a particular question:So, I kind of failed at creating all the demand I expected to make 'cause
ask a particular question:I just had too many demand-focused and experienced people and not
ask a particular question:enough of the other people that were going to feed that demand engine.
ask a particular question:It was just a lack of foresight and, frankly, being too focused on what
ask a particular question:I knew best, if that make sense.
ask a particular question:That's so interesting because I think a lot of CEOs, I mean, god bless
ask a particular question:them, but they're like overgrown salespeople in many cases and they love
ask a particular question:the idea of a marketing organization that's over-rotated on demand.
ask a particular question:So it sounds good in theory until you realize you can pour more budget into
ask a particular question:it, but there are diminishing returns.
ask a particular question:And you're right.
ask a particular question:I like to think of it as you need the product marketing and branding
ask a particular question:people to help you point and then the demand gen people to help you shoot.
ask a particular question:That's a very over simplistic way to think about it, but there is that piece.
ask a particular question:It's accurate, though.
ask a particular question:To your point, the CEO at that company was cheering me on the whole way,
ask a particular question:loved the fact that I was building out this huge demand organization.
ask a particular question:Since then, including at the company I'm at now and my last
ask a particular question:company, the same is true.
ask a particular question:CEOs, especially of early stage SaaS companies, they want that demand and
ask a particular question:they're right to want that, but in both cases I've gotten a lot of pressure.
ask a particular question:Are you sure that's enough demand people?
ask a particular question:Which has offered me the opportunity to get into really how demand is fed.
ask a particular question:Effective demand comes from the crews over all the things that marketing does.
ask a particular question:I would especially emphasize product marketing 'cause you're right, we
ask a particular question:have to have a depth of understanding of not just our products, but our
ask a particular question:audiences, and really strong positioning and competitive intelligence and
ask a particular question:great content and all of that stuff.
ask a particular question:If those are in place, then demand becomes far more effective.
ask a particular question:So I've had to do that repeatedly to avoid making the same mistake
ask a particular question:that I made in that first CMO role I had because it's easy to go along.
ask a particular question:When your CEO is like "Build demand!"
ask a particular question:Of course you just want to go along, but that's when you've
ask a particular question:got to step up and explain.
ask a particular question:It makes me think of a former boss of mine who says, "Today's
ask a particular question:brand is tomorrow's demand."
ask a particular question:Once I heard that
ask a particular question:- I love that.
ask a particular question:I know it's great, right?
ask a particular question:So I started a list of things to say to a CEO who is thinking more on the
ask a particular question:demand side than on the brand side.
ask a particular question:It might be over-rotating, to use your word.
ask a particular question:Are there others catchphrases that you have seen work to
ask a particular question:communicate that to a CEO?
ask a particular question:'Cause I feel like that's half of my job, that's half of a CMO's job is
ask a particular question:to educate and guide a CEO and not get into so much of the weeds, but
ask a particular question:get them to see what's going to help make things work and make things grow.
ask a particular question:Yeah.
ask a particular question:So I don't know if they're as catchy as the one that you just had, but a
ask a particular question:few things that I've said and have said repeatedly that seem to resonate
ask a particular question:and seem to work are things like I've talked to quite a bit about the fact
ask a particular question:that awareness and trust fuel demand.
ask a particular question:That's the context that creates the ability to engage audiences, build
ask a particular question:audience, and convert audience because you can have the coolest product in the world,
ask a particular question:but if you're just driving people to demos without them understanding who you are,
ask a particular question:without them trusting you, any of that being in place, chances are, you're not
ask a particular question:going to be very effective at doing that.
ask a particular question:Obviously, "content is king."
ask a particular question:Content is also "the fuel that drives the demand engine" is another big one.
ask a particular question:That's become less of a problem.
ask a particular question:But as recently as six, seven years ago, I literally had to sit down with some
ask a particular question:people and just explain to them why yes, we have to invest in creating content.
ask a particular question:I guess a catchphrase I use around that is "what marketing should be delivering
ask a particular question:to our prospects all the time is value."
ask a particular question:It's all about value and there is no value in asking people to watch that
ask a particular question:demo video or fill out that form.
ask a particular question:All of the value is in that content that's created.
ask a particular question:Oh, and by the way, brand as well and awareness and trust is built
ask a particular question:if you can deliver value over time.
ask a particular question:The other thing I've been thinking about lately is, there's always this
ask a particular question:brand versus demand kind of thing and I think now there's a growing awareness
ask a particular question:of the holistic approach to marketing.
ask a particular question:I'm seeing more and more CEOs want the demand and the brand.
ask a particular question:There's just this concern that the brand person is going to be a typical B2C
ask a particular question:person, or the perception of a typical B2C person, who's just going to go and
ask a particular question:find an agency and spend a million dollars and that's going to be so expensive.
ask a particular question:What I've been thinking about lately is what you really want is the
ask a particular question:tight cycles of test and learn, not just for your performance and your
ask a particular question:demand gen, but also for branding.
ask a particular question:So I've been asking people how quickly can you test out a message?
ask a particular question:How do you test out a message?
ask a particular question:How do you swap it out, et cetera, which I think can be a helpful way of thinking.
ask a particular question:Testing is difficult when it comes to that stuff, I find.
ask a particular question:In the world of demand, obviously, testing a subject line or a call to action is
ask a particular question:pretty straightforward, assuming you have a big enough audience to do relevant AB
ask a particular question:and multivariate testing and all of that.
ask a particular question:But testing messaging can be a lot harder and it takes a little bit longer
ask a particular question:to figure out what's actually working and resonating and what's not from a
ask a particular question:positioning and messaging standpoint.
ask a particular question:The way I like to do it is that it's not just marketing's job.
ask a particular question:Obviously, you want to do your work up front.
ask a particular question:You want to pass things by actual customers and prospects and talk to
ask a particular question:your salespeople and all of that.
ask a particular question:I'll give you an example, a tangible one.
ask a particular question:We just launched a new product in my company earlier this week
ask a particular question:and it's pretty groundbreaking.
ask a particular question:It's a pretty new concept.
ask a particular question:And we had to be very cautious about how we message around it and position
ask a particular question:it because, without getting into too much detail, it could change
ask a particular question:the way people perceive our company and it could provide an opportunity
ask a particular question:for our competition to misposition us if we didn't get it just right.
ask a particular question:And I'm brand new so I spent a lot of time talking to customers and people who have
ask a particular question:been at the company longer than myself.
ask a particular question:But now that it's launched, one of the things I set up right off the
ask a particular question:bat was a feedback cycle from our frontline people, our salespeople,
ask a particular question:our customer success people who are going to be talking to the recipients
ask a particular question:of this message all the time and ask them to constantly create feedback.
ask a particular question:But also to set up a series of regular meetings where we're going to sit in
ask a particular question:a room and I'm asking them to tell me, from their point of view, how it's
ask a particular question:going because it's not always visible to us in marketing as immediately
ask a particular question:as it is to those other folks.
ask a particular question:So that helps a lot.
ask a particular question:I like that.
ask a particular question:That's awesome.
ask a particular question:You're right, you're going to get sick of your messaging well before your
ask a particular question:customers will and that's probably a good thing for you to be ahead of that.
ask a particular question:So we talked about organization stuff.
ask a particular question:Is there a really unique organizational decision that you have either seen
ask a particular question:or implemented yourself that funnily worked but you didn't expect would
ask a particular question:work during a period of rapid scaling?
ask a particular question:That's a good question.
ask a particular question:I'm trying to think.
ask a particular question:Marketing organizational design is something that I've done more of than
ask a particular question:I care to even either think about.
ask a particular question:Because, as you know, I spent ten years as an analyst as well, working
ask a particular question:with CMOs, and one of my areas of expertise was organizational design.
ask a particular question:So I've done it across dozens of companies at various scales.
ask a particular question:I'm trying to decide there's this demand center thing, but that's more
ask a particular question:like companies that are at scale.
ask a particular question:I think for companies that are smaller and scaling quickly, probably the
ask a particular question:most unique one and the one that I still get pushback on quite a bit.
ask a particular question:In fact, I'm hiring this person, my new company right now, is this idea of a
ask a particular question:senior leader who is head of campaigns.
ask a particular question:It sounds logical and pretty obvious, but when you're a relatively small
ask a particular question:company that's scaling pretty rapidly and you're the head of
ask a particular question:marketing, oftentimes the pushback you'll get is why is that necessary?
ask a particular question:We're pretty narrowly focused.
ask a particular question:We're not that complex in how we're going to market.
ask a particular question:Oh, and by the way, isn't that your job as the head of marketing to
ask a particular question:play that role of head of campaigns?
ask a particular question:Because the way I define the head of campaigns is somebody who is helping to
ask a particular question:coordinate activity across marketing, make it cohesive and programmatic to
ask a particular question:drive the desired optimal outcomes that you're trying to drive.
ask a particular question:At a relatively small scale of company, you would say, well, yeah, that's
ask a particular question:definitely something that the head of marketing can and should be doing.
ask a particular question:But I found bringing somebody in who owns that role completely and all the
ask a particular question:time, is critically important and plays, again, this effect of focusing and
ask a particular question:aligning within marketing everything that we're doing in a huge way because I, as
ask a particular question:the head of marketing, in this rapidly scaling company, have many, many jobs.
ask a particular question:I can give that a bit of my attention and if it's only getting
ask a particular question:a bit of somebody's attention, it's not getting enough attention.
ask a particular question:So it's one of those things that I've found to be very valuable
ask a particular question:and that person oftentimes ends up becoming my right-hand person.
ask a particular question:I will say that the last person who had that role for me is now CMO of a
ask a particular question:really great company in their own right.
ask a particular question:The person who had the role before that person is also a CMO.
ask a particular question:So it's this path to the CMO role because you're organizing a lot of what
ask a particular question:marketing is doing, a lot of coordination across all of what marketing does.
ask a particular question:And again, it sounds like something that a big company would have,
ask a particular question:but not a smaller company, but I think it's critical very early on.
ask a particular question:And how was that role different from a head of demand gen?
ask a particular question:Good question.
ask a particular question:So for example, the role I'm hiring for right now is Head of Demand and Campaigns.
ask a particular question:I oftentimes blend them together and the same is true at Sirius.
ask a particular question:It's different in the sense that a head of demand, what I found is if
ask a particular question:you're just kind of director of demand or VP of demand or whatever it is,
ask a particular question:you are very exclusively focused on designing and executing demand programs
ask a particular question:that generate leads, or focused on end-to-end demand management.
ask a particular question:You're working with ops to measure it.
ask a particular question:Whereas this campaigns person is taking a much more holistic view and saying,
ask a particular question:when I think about all the work we're doing across brand and comms and product
ask a particular question:marketing and digital and all of those things, how do I make sure that they
ask a particular question:are accruing to cohesive programs that drive ideal demand outcomes?
ask a particular question:I should mention, without getting too deep into it, this role becomes
ask a particular question:necessary when you take a specific approach to your go-to-market strategy.
ask a particular question:I take a campaign framework based approach to go-to-market and was something that
ask a particular question:was developed at Sirius when I was there.
ask a particular question:It's something that I've implemented many times.
ask a particular question:I've seen it work over and over again, and it basically aligns
ask a particular question:all sub functions within marketing around a set of programs and a mix
ask a particular question:of tactics to drive optimal outcomes.
ask a particular question:The reason I blend demand into that role is because, at the stage I'm
ask a particular question:at, and usually when you're scaling rapidly, the primary arrow comes
ask a particular question:through trying to drive our demand.
ask a particular question:So that's why I blend them.
ask a particular question:Thank you so much for sharing.
ask a particular question:That's going to be great for folks to hear about.
ask a particular question:So we talked about organization, let's talk about hiring.
ask a particular question:One thing that people can struggle with is, should I hire fast, or
ask a particular question:should I hire slow and fire fast?
ask a particular question:Can you talk about how you've thought about it?
ask a particular question:What's a CMO to do?
ask a particular question:What's your perspective now?
ask a particular question:In my two and a half months in my current role right now, I've probably spent 60%
ask a particular question:of my time on hiring, and that's painful because there's so much else to do.
ask a particular question:But I also know my greatest risk of not being able to do what I know I
ask a particular question:need to do for the business will be not having the right people in place.
ask a particular question:So I have to give it time.
ask a particular question:That means writing really good job descriptions, reaching out to my
ask a particular question:network and engaging them in every way I can, talking to people like yourself.
ask a particular question:I think I've reached out to you a couple of times along the way.
ask a particular question:It's really critical.
ask a particular question:Then, engaging the rest of my business as well.
ask a particular question:I get our COO, our head of sales, other people involved in the hiring process
ask a particular question:too, and the interviewing process.
ask a particular question:So it's not just me making these decisions along the way.
ask a particular question:And as my team grows, my team gets involved in it as well.
ask a particular question:My current company, AgentSync, we are scaling very, very fast.
ask a particular question:I think I was in the low seventies two and a half months ago, and
ask a particular question:we've surpassed a hundred people.
ask a particular question:And we're just adding more and more and more, very quickly.
ask a particular question:And we, as a leadership team, know that our greatest risk to us not
ask a particular question:hitting our number is not getting the right people in place fast enough.
ask a particular question:That's across everything from engineering to customer success, to sales, to
ask a particular question:marketing, and everything in between, program management, you name it.
ask a particular question:Yet, we made a deliberate decision as a team, and this was top-down from our
ask a particular question:founders, that we're willing to miss our goals to slow down the hiring a little
ask a particular question:bit to make sure we hire the right people, but also hit our diversity, equity,
ask a particular question:and inclusion goals, which I can tell you is having the effect of actually
ask a particular question:helping us bring on talent a lot faster.
ask a particular question:A commitment to DEI, for example, and a commitment to work-life balance that
ask a particular question:is tangible and very real, is the kind of thing that's a differentiator today.
ask a particular question:We find that people care about and want to join companies that are truly
ask a particular question:committed to that and see companies taking action, not just speaking to it.
ask a particular question:For example, I think I shared this story with you on the work-life
ask a particular question:balance thing as we've been on boarding and bringing on a lot of people.
ask a particular question:Everybody who's a go-to-market hire in sales and marketing and product,
ask a particular question:the CEO still talks to as the final stage in that interviewing process.
ask a particular question:We're going to get past that point pretty quickly, but we're still at
ask a particular question:the scale where we can handle that.
ask a particular question:And the CEO has a new young daughter at home.
ask a particular question:So as I was hiring my initial hires, when I first joined and said we've
ask a particular question:got to set you up to talk to Niji, our CEO, there were moments where we said,
ask a particular question:ooh, well, Niji can't do it after a certain time because that's family time.
ask a particular question:He spends that time with his daughter.
ask a particular question:And when these people then joined the company, they told me that was the
ask a particular question:deciding factor, hearing that your CEO set aside that time for family every evening
ask a particular question:was all I needed to hear to know that this is the kind of company I want to be at.
ask a particular question:It was unintentional.
ask a particular question:It was just a nice side effect.
ask a particular question:But also being able to tell the story and demonstrate through our actions
ask a particular question:and how we bring people on that we are really dedicated to achieving very
ask a particular question:aggressive DEI goals is something that really appeals to a lot of people and
ask a particular question:causes them to want to be with us.
ask a particular question:So this kind of decision we made that we're going to slow down to get this
ask a particular question:right has actually helped us accelerate in a strange way, in terms of our ability
ask a particular question:to bring on the people we really want.
ask a particular question:I think that's great.
ask a particular question:It just speaks to the fact that what people want out of their jobs is changing.
ask a particular question:I don't want to say they're looking for a family, there's a little bit of that.
ask a particular question:But when a company and an employee come together, it's like you're
ask a particular question:hiring the whole person and you're ingesting the whole company.
ask a particular question:That is very different from how it used to be.
ask a particular question:What I'm seeing on the hiring side is, I always ask people,
ask a particular question:what are the top three things that you're looking for from a company?
ask a particular question:It used to be upside is key, and I need this industry and I need this growth
ask a particular question:rate, and that can still be important, but what I'm hearing more and more
ask a particular question:is this pivot towards a really great culture, a really great leadership team,
ask a particular question:integrity, transparency, authenticity.
ask a particular question:It makes me realize that those things that you think are, not a throwaway
ask a particular question:thing, but, okay, the CEO's busy with his kid, but these signals become almost
ask a particular question:the most important thing to put forward.
ask a particular question:It's not that they're intangible, but they need to come across naturally.
ask a particular question:It's not the kind of thing that I think can be forced, so it's gotta be authentic.
ask a particular question:It's gotta be just an actual part of the culture and the way that the
ask a particular question:business is for it to be effective.
ask a particular question:And I think you're right, with COVID and so much that's happened over the past
ask a particular question:year and a half plus, people's values have shifted in very tangible and real ways.
ask a particular question:People want to be part of successful businesses that are growing, but they
ask a particular question:also, for the most part, and I know I'm making generalizations now, aren't
ask a particular question:all that interested in being part of growth-at-all-costs kind of companies,
ask a particular question:like sacrifice all elements of your personal life to achieve these goals.
ask a particular question:I know I personally have no interest in being part of that, and I think
ask a particular question:that's pretty common these days.
ask a particular question:It's not as cool as it once was to talk about how sleep deprived
ask a particular question:you are and how you have no life because all you do is work.
ask a particular question:I think that's out right now and I'm glad.
ask a particular question:Exactly.
ask a particular question:The world has changed and companies need to change along
ask a particular question:with it to get the top talent.
ask a particular question:My last question for you is can you share your favorite interview question?
ask a particular question:What is the question that you find most revealing when you
ask a particular question:interview people for your team?
ask a particular question:Sure.
ask a particular question:It's a tough one 'cause I have a few that I really, really like to ask.
ask a particular question:The one I'll talk about, and it sounds like it's a very cliche question, but
ask a particular question:I like to think that the way I do it is a little bit different and it actually
ask a particular question:links to what we were just talking about because I do think that part of
ask a particular question:the shift that I perceived happening in the world is people allowing themselves
ask a particular question:to be a little bit more vulnerable than we used to allow ourselves to be.
ask a particular question:And just more human than we used to allow ourselves to be.
ask a particular question:One of my favorite questions starts with me telling a story about
ask a particular question:myself, a very self-effacing story.
ask a particular question:I pick from a few where I just failed miserably at something, like
ask a particular question:I really got something wrong or something I'm really not good at.
ask a particular question:And I tell it in a very tangible way, like I really mean it,
ask a particular question:and I make myself vulnerable.
ask a particular question:Then I ask the person to tell me a similar story about themselves.
ask a particular question:So, it's kind of cliche in the sense that it's like, hey, what's your
ask a particular question:greatest weakness kind of question.
ask a particular question:But again, I do it in such a way where I make myself vulnerable and I'm seeing if
ask a particular question:this person who I'm talking to, who, by the way, is in an interview situation,
ask a particular question:which is difficult to begin with, is willing to be honest and vulnerable in
ask a particular question:that situation and be very open with me.
ask a particular question:Because very often what people will respond with are things like "I care
ask a particular question:too much," or "I just work too hard."
ask a particular question:And that's not what I'm looking for.
ask a particular question:I'm looking for somebody to get pretty honest and be like, you know
ask a particular question:what, here's something that I really messed up or that I'm really not good
ask a particular question:at, and by the way, I don't think I'm ever going to be good at it.
ask a particular question:That's real.
ask a particular question:I love hearing that from people because it tells me that they're
ask a particular question:human, they're willing to get vulnerable, and they're going to
ask a particular question:be transparent, which I care about.
ask a particular question:There's a lot of stuff I'm not good at.
ask a particular question:And the extent to which I'm honest about that with others and myself is the extent
ask a particular question:to which I can augment myself and build really good teams and be effective.
ask a particular question:So that's a big one that I like to ask.
ask a particular question:The other one, 'cause I have to say two, sorry.
ask a particular question:The other one is, usually at the end, I ask them, "Is there anything I didn't
ask a particular question:ask you that you wish I had asked you?"
ask a particular question:It's just fascinating to see what people come out with.
ask a particular question:Some people are totally stumped.
ask a particular question:Other people come out with really revealing things.
ask a particular question:Because if there is something that they wish I had asked that I hadn't asked,
ask a particular question:it's because there was something they really want to tell me about themselves
ask a particular question:that they haven't had a chance to.
ask a particular question:So it gives them a window to do that.
ask a particular question:Do you get more personal and more professional stories from that?
ask a particular question:It's fascinating, I get a mix of the two.
ask a particular question:I would say it's weighted towards more professional, but
ask a particular question:- actually, I wouldn't say that.
ask a particular question:It might be weighted towards more personal.
ask a particular question:Usually, people tell me something about themselves that they're really proud of.
ask a particular question:So I think it's a mix of the two, but I just find it interesting
ask a particular question:to see what people say.
ask a particular question:It also helps me get better too, because I get great ideas for other
ask a particular question:questions to ask when they tell me what I should have asked that I didn't.
ask a particular question:Yeah, it's interesting 'cause I think so much of interviewing,
ask a particular question:on both sides, is just getting comfortable with the other person.
ask a particular question:And while there is a professional benefit to somebody who can admit that they
ask a particular question:don't know it all or have some soft spots that they need to augment themselves
ask a particular question:around, I think a big piece is it makes the interviewer feel more comfortable.
ask a particular question:Oh, I'm actually getting at the real person here and it's not just
ask a particular question:some polished interview thing.
ask a particular question:Thank you so much for sharing Jay.
ask a particular question:This has been great to chat with you and I appreciate all of your insights on scaling
ask a particular question:and org design and hiring, and I really appreciate your insights for the show.
ask a particular question:So thank you again.
ask a particular question:Well, thank you, Erica.
ask a particular question:It was really fun to be here.
ask a particular question:That was Jay Gaines, who runs marketing for SaaS insuretech scaleup AgentSync, and
ask a particular question:earlier was the CMO of SiriusDecisions, sharing some hard-won do's and don'ts on
ask a particular question:scaling -- and focus -- for B2B SaaS CMOs.
ask a particular question:Next time on The Get, we'll do a deep dive on budgeting for marketing during growth
ask a particular question:with CMO scale-up queen Kristin Hambelton.
ask a particular question:Don't miss it.
ask a particular question:Thanks for listening to The Get.
ask a particular question:I'm your host Erica Seidel.
ask a particular question:Hiring great marketing leaders is not easy.
ask a particular question:The Get is designed to inspire smart decisions around recruiting and
ask a particular question:leadership in B2B SaaS marketing.
ask a particular question:We explore the trends, tribulations, and triumphs of today's top
ask a particular question:marketing leaders in B2B SaaS.
ask a particular question:This season's theme is Solving for the Scale Journey.
ask a particular question:If you liked this episode, please share it.
ask a particular question:For other insights and recruiting great marketing leaders, what I
ask a particular question:call the 'make money' marketing leaders rather than the 'make it
ask a particular question:pretty' ones, follow me on LinkedIn.
ask a particular question:You can also sign up for my newsletter at TheConnectiveGood.com.
ask a particular question:The Get is produced by Evo Terra and Simpler Media Productions.