FIR Podcast Network

For Immediate Release: Podcasts for Communicators

  • Home
  • Shows
  • Episodes
  • People
  • Blog
  • Subscribe
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us
    • Join the FIR Podcast Network
  • Archives
You are here: Home / FIR B2B / FIR B2B #79: How to find the right CMO for your startup

FIR B2B #79: How to find the right CMO for your startup

August 28, 2017 by David Strom and Paul Gillin Leave a Comment

http://traffic.libsyn.com/fir/Fir-B2B_79.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:44 — 19.0MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS

This week Paul and David talk to Crowded Ocean’s partners Carol Broadbent and Tom Hogan. The two have written The Ultimate Startup Guide, the foundation of which is their work with 47 different startups over the past 10 years. Ten of those companies have had successful exits, and only two went out of business, so our guests have credibility.

We invited them to join us after we read their piece in VentureBeat about “marketing-as-a-service.” Most organizations hire their CMOs first, but the duo recommend that this should actually be the last position to be filled by a startup. “Most CMOs have a bulls-eye painted on their backs, they have the shortest tenure, and often startups hire the wrong species,” they said.

Instead, Carol and Tom suggest that you examine more closely the different component skills that make up marketing, and staff accordingly. These include product management, corporate marketing, product marketing and IT fluency. The evolved CMO has the backbone of the marketing department, the breadth and understanding of the customer experience and the depth of a new key organizational growth pillar that shapes their point of view. Our guests suggest that the initial full-time marketing insider should be someone that they call “Seth” who is a 28-year-old numbers jockey who can give their sales organization demand generation data. 

Other recommendations: Hire a stable of reliable contractors rather than fulfilling every need with full-timers. Simplify your website’s message. “Too many startups want to display all their great ideas and technology on their website, turning it into a library of brochure-ware that a prospect has to wade through,” they wrote in VentureBeat. And design online content and structure that can be useful on mobile devices. 

Carol and Tom’s recommendations challenge a lot of the conventional wisdom, but they have the track record to justify them.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related Posts

  • FIR B2B #150: B2B Marketing Truths from Ruth Stevens
  • FIR B2B #123: The Differences Between B2B and B2C Marketing
  • FIR B2B #46: LinkedIn's B2B Marketing Chief Tells What Works

About David Strom

David Strom is a former editor-in-chief of Network Computing and Tom's Hardware who has written two computer networking books and thousands of articles about B2B IT.

About Paul Gillin

Paul Gillin, host of FIR B2B, is a veteran technology journalist and a thought leader in new media. Since 2005, he has advised marketers and business executives on strategies to optimize their use of social media and online channels to reach buyers cost-effectively. Full bio

Filed Under: FIR B2B Tagged With: Carol Broadbent, chief marketing officer, Crowded Ocean, startups, Tom Hogan

Share Your Comments with FIR B2B

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Social connect:
Login Login with facebook
Login Login with twitter
Login Login with google

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Connect with FIR

Support FIR

Become a Patron

Pledge as little as $1 per month to help support the existing stable of shows, make new shows possible, and be part of the growth of the FIR Podcast Network.

FIR Podcast Network Shows

FIR SPONSOR

The FIR Podcast Network is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors, of which we currently have none. Please reach out to us if you are interested in sponsoring FIR. Contact us at fircomments@gmail.com.

Looking for Older Episodes?

Visit the FIR Podcast Network Archives at forimmediaterelease.biz.

Join Our Facebook Community

Facebook Group Icon

FIR Podcast Network on Twitter

My Tweets

We Want Your Feedback

Email comments with or without audio attachments (5 MB/3 minute limit) to fircomments at gmail dot com.

North America Comment Line:
+1.415.895.2971

Europe Comment Line:
+44.20.3239.9082

Skype: fircomments

Promote FIR!

Let your readers and colleagues know about FIR by adding a logo to your blog or web page. Get it here!

FIR Podcast Network Logo

Help Spread the Word about FIR!

GaggleAMP: spread the word about FIR!

License

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

FIR Podcast Network website © 2023 Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson | Community Guidelines | Privacy Policy

Website development by WP Fangirl. Album art and design by Effective Edge Communications.