The Exit Five Podcast

Latest Episodes:

LinkedIn Advertising: What's Working Now in 2026 (with Davang Shah, VP Marketing at LinkedIn) Mar 17, 2026

Show notes

Dave is joined by Davang Shah, VP of Marketing at LinkedIn, for a conversation about what actually works with LinkedIn ads right now. They cover why brand and performance aren't two separate strategies, how to think about measurement beyond last-click attribution, and why 95% of your buyers aren't in market at any given time. Davang also shares the data behind thought leader ads, what most marketers get wrong about the buyer journey, and how he's leading his own team through the AI shift.

Timestamps

(00:00) - The stat that explains why B2B marketing is so hard
(01:56) - Davang's background: 17 years at Google, now VP Marketing at LinkedIn
(02:23) - The state of B2B marketing in 2026 and what CMOs actually care about
(05:04) - How AI search is changing buyer behavior (94% of B2B buyers use LLMs)
(07:43) - Why LinkedIn became a real social network, not just a professional one
(09:07) - Thought leader ads: what they are and why they outperform single image ads
(12:11) - Why brand and performance aren't two separate things
(15:22) - How to build a full-funnel LinkedIn ads strategy
(20:08) - The measurement problem: 211-day deal cycles and 22 decision-makers
(22:02) - CRM sync, Conversions API, and Company Intelligence explained
(26:17) - How AI will change the way marketers run ads (and what LinkedIn is building)
(32:28) - Making the case for keeping marketers: creativity, human connection, and trust

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Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive.

Convertiv - A B2B marketing agency that helps enterprise teams build an AI-powered go-to-market strategy, specializing in AEO. Podcast listeners get a free AI search review showing how you stack up against competitors. Learn more at convertiv.com/exitfive.

Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive.

Compound Growth Marketing- A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive.

Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive.

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Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.

They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.

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Building a Marketing Machine from Scratch (with Erin May, CMO at User Interviews) Mar 12, 2026

Show notes

#337 | Dave sits down with Erin May, CMO at User Interviews, who joined as the company's first marketer with a two-page website and zero recurring revenue and helped grow it to $20M+ ARR over eight years. Erin breaks down how she picked one niche audience and went all in, why she led with ungated content, and how she built a quarterly operating rhythm around "Bangers," tentpole marketing moments that get the entire company involved. They also get into podcasting ROI, what she'd do differently with AI-driven search today, and why she thinks the brand vs. demand debate is just noise.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Intro: 8 years, one niche, a two-page website, and $20M ARR
(03:58) - How Erin identified the right audience to go all in on
(06:00) - Building the UX Research Field Guide and the early SEO strategy
(08:29) - Why she went ungated and still captured 13% email conversion
(12:10) - What she'd do differently with content strategy today
(14:46) - Stacking channels one at a time instead of doing everything at once
(17:25) - How to plan for the next phase of growth before you need it
(19:56) - Introducing Bangers: the quarterly marketing OS
(22:24) - Top of funnel vs. bottom of funnel Bangers
(26:41) - How LinkedIn and employee advocacy fit into the Banger playbook
(31:00) - Why Erin started a podcast seven years ago when no one else was
(34:23) - How to think about podcast ROI when attribution is fuzzy
(37:15) - AI expectations for her marketing team
(41:43) - Why the brand vs. demand debate is stupid
(44:55) - The real secret: making your customer the hero

Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter

Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/

***

Brought to you by:

***

Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.

They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.

Visit hatch.fm to learn more

How Marketers Are Creating High Quality Content with AI (That's Not Slop!) Mar 09, 2026

Show notes

Eoin Clancy (VP of Growth at AirOps), Connor Beaulieu (Senior SEO Manager at LegalZoom), and Adina Timar (Head of AEO at Weflow) join this live session to talk about how to create high-quality content with AI. Connor walks through a workflow his team built at LegalZoom to automatically source expert quotes.. Adina shows how she rebuilds competitor pages from scratch using sales calls, LLM data, and live competitor analysis. And Eoin shares the research behind why content quality is now the single biggest lever in AI search. If you want to see what content engineering actually looks like in practice, this one is for you.

Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter

Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/

***

Brought to you by:

***

Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.

They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.

Visit hatch.fm to learn more

How to Build a Product Marketing Motion That Works (with Jeff Hardison) Mar 05, 2026

Show notes

#335 | Jeff Hardison, now VP of Product Marketing at Sanity, joined Dave when he was running product marketing at Calendly to break down what the product marketing role should actually look like inside a B2B company. They get into how Jeff structured his team to serve both a PLG motion and an enterprise sales team at the same time, why he hires for specialization instead of making everyone a generalist, and how he thinks about measuring a function that touches almost every team in the company. Jeff also shares his take on positioning and messaging, how to run product launches that actually rally the company, and the two interview questions he uses to figure out if someone will be happy in a product marketing role.

Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter

Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/

***

Brought to you by:

***

Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.

They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.

Visit hatch.fm to learn more

What B2B Marketers Can Learn from Restaurant Marketing (with Jessica Serrano, CMO at Bagel Brands) Mar 02, 2026

Show notes

#334 | Dave is joined by Jessica Serrano, CMO at Bagel Brands (Einstein Brothers, Noah's, Bruegger's, Manhattan Bagel), for a conversation about what B2B marketers can learn from consumer restaurant marketing. They discuss why consumer and B2B marketing are way more similar than people think, how she’s using AI across her marketing and sales process, and her philosophy that her job is to ‘build brand over time and drive sales overnight.’ Jessica shares how COVID forced Dig Inn to rebuild itself as an e-commerce business, how she built a B2B catering sales motion from scratch using HubSpot and buyer personas, and how filtering work emails out of a consumer list became a real customer acquisition tactic. Listen to this episode to learn tactics that work whether you're selling bagels or software.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Why a consumer CMO listens to B2B marketers (and vice versa)
(02:15) - How COVID forced Dig Inn to rebuild as an ecommerce business overnight
(05:37) - The math behind going after $500 catering orders vs. $15 walk-ins
(09:15) - Building buyer personas for office admins, sports nutritionists, and universities
(14:47) - Why Jessica switched from ChatGPT to Claude (and the breakthrough moment)
(21:36) - Using AI for rapid product testing on a budget that wouldn't cover traditional research
(26:22) - "Build the brand over time, drive sales overnight" and what that looks like at Bagel Brands
(29:15) - Why you can't just copy a playbook from Taco Bell to Burger King
(33:34) - The biggest lesson from working at brands with nearly 1,000 locations
(37:02) - Google reviews as a source of truth for aligning marketing and operations
(44:05) - Why organic-first content matters more in the age of AI and dead internet theory

Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter

Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/

***

Brought to you by:

***

Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.

They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.

Visit hatch.fm to learn more

How to Navigate a Rebrand with Clare Schmitt Feb 26, 2026

Show notes

#333 | Dave is joined by Clare Schmitt, a seasoned marketing leader and a member of our CMO community, to walk through what it actually takes to lead a rebrand at a mid-market B2B company. Clare shares how she partnered with her CEO to drive a full rebrand, from hiring a naming agency and running an RFP, to managing a small decision-making council, rolling out the new brand across every department, and measuring success post-launch. If you're a marketing leader thinking about a rebrand, this episode is a practical, top to bottom playbook from someone who just did it.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Why rebrands come up and what this episode covers
(01:40) - Clare's role at Piedmont Global and how the rebrand got started
(03:55) - Should you hire a naming agency? What it costs and what they actually do
(07:23) - Running an RFP and why they chose Focus Lab
(08:09) - Why the CEO has to own the rebrand go-to-market
(09:45) - Keeping the decision-making council small and who was in it
(15:25) - How to get CEO buy-in: framing a rebrand as infrastructure, not a marketing initiative
(18:02) - Timeline: how long a rebrand actually takes ($50M+ companies)
(19:44) - The rollout: project management, execution, and building the website internally
(21:41) - Measurement, post-launch QA, and tracking whether your narrative is sticking

Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter

Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/

***

Brought to you by:

***

Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.

They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.

Visit hatch.fm to learn more

How Domitille de Saint-Exupéry (CMO at Lemlist) Turned $1.2M into $31M in New ARR Feb 23, 2026

Show notes

#332 | Dave is joined by Domi de Saint-Exupéry, CMO at Lemlist, a bootstrapped $40M ARR sales engagement platform, to break down exactly how she turned $1.2M in marketing spend into $31M in new ARR in 2025. Domi shares the full breakdown of every channel, agency, influencer strategy, and partnership play that drove results. This includes how they went from $0 to $500K in paid ads, why partnerships are the most underrated B2B growth channel, how they built a micro-influencer program, and what AI use cases are actually working (and which are overrated). If you want real numbers and real playbooks, this one's for you.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Introduction: $1.2M in spend, $31M in new ARR
(02:15) - What Lemlist does and how the company got to $40M ARR
(05:30) - Going from $0 to $500K in paid ads: what triggered the shift
(09:45) - How to execute paid ads well: outsourcing vs. in-house, and scaling by channel
(16:00) - LinkedIn ads creative: why "on-brand and safe" was the wrong approach
(20:30) - Mistakes made in paid: Snapchat, Spotify, and channels that didn't work
(24:00) - The micro-influencer playbook: how to find, brief, and measure creators
(33:00) - How influencer content compounds with paid ads and outbound (the Julio story)
(38:30) - Partnerships: why $450K went here and why it's the most underrated B2B channel
(47:00) - AI in marketing: what's overrated (content generation) and what's actually working

Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter

Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/

***

Brought to you by:

***

Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.

They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.

Visit hatch.fm to learn more

ABM: What Ramp, Snowflake, and Hightouch are doing in 2026 Feb 19, 2026

Show notes

#331 | Dave is joined by a group of marketing leaders from Ramp, Snowflake, and Hightouch for a discussion about ABM and their plans for 2026. Casey Patterson (Director of ABM, Snowflake), Drew Pinta (Director of Growth Data Science, Ramp), and Brian Kotlyar (CMO, Hightouch) break down what ABM actually looks like in 2026 and what’s working right now inside of their companies. They share how they’re picking target accounts, aligning with sales, and building programs that go way beyond running ads. The group also digs into measurement, personalization, and how teams are using better data and AI to scale ABM without wasting budget. If you need a deeper dive on ABM tactics right now, this is the episode for you

Timestamps

(00:00) - - Why ABM is still a top topic in 2026
(03:10) - - Intros: Snowflake, Ramp, and Hightouch
(06:30) - - Defining ABM (and why sales alignment is everything)
(12:40) - - The “stop list”: ABM tactics they’ve killed
(15:10) - - Why paid social “ABM awareness” is overrated
(18:30) - - Shifting ABM to in-person and physical plays
(22:40) - - Budgeting for ABM and how to start small
(26:00) - - Why ABM measurement is different than traditional demand gen
(31:20) - - How they build ABM audiences using data + signals
(36:40) - - Scaling personalization without making it manual
(42:20) - - Final takeaways and wrap-up

Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter

Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/

***

Brought to you by:

***

Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.

They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.

Visit hatch.fm to learn more

How to Build a Brand in B2B with Ryan Narod (VP of Marketing at Rippling) Feb 16, 2026

Show notes

#330 | Dave is joined by Ryan Narod, VP of Marketing at Rippling, to break down how Rippling has built one of the stand outbrands in B2B right now. Ryan walks through real examples of campaigns they’ve run over the last year, from scrappy iPhone videos and webinar promos to high-production customer stories and their 2026 Super Bowl commercial. They talk about how Rippling shifted from being great at growth marketing to building a brand people actually recognize, how they inject more personality and “human” into everything they ship, and how they measure brand marketing without losing pipeline accountability.

To see Ryan's real campaign examples, head over to youtube.com/@heydavegerhardt.

Timestamps

(00:00) - - Why Rippling is going all-in on brand
(01:30) - - Ryan’s background and why he joined Rippling
(02:53) - - What Rippling does and how they position the platform
(06:53) - - What “brand marketing” means at Rippling
(09:13) - - Building a story that makes HR the hero
(18:26) - - Ryan shares Rippling marketing examples (ads, videos, webinars)
(24:18) - - High-production customer storytelling (Berries)
(29:40) - - The “HR Deserves Better” campaign
(32:38) - - How Rippling measures brand and pipeline impact
(40:15) - - The Super Bowl commercial and what it takes to pull it off
(42:18) - - Final takeaways and wrap-up

Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter

Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/

***

Brought to you by:

***

Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.

They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.

Visit hatch.fm to learn more

How to Upgrade Your Webinar and Email Strategy for 2026 with Jay Schwedelson (Founder, SubjectLine.com) Feb 13, 2026

Show notes

#329 | Dave is joined by Jay Schwedelson, Founder of SubjectLine.com and GURU Media Hub, to break down why most webinars and email programs underperform and what to do instead. They talk about how packaging drives performance, why the word “webinar” kills registrations, and how small tweaks like renaming your session, shortening it to 22 minutes, or adding an “attend to receive” hook can dramatically increase show rates. Jay also shares tactical email plays, from using white space and tighter subject lines to increasing reply rates and improving inbox placement.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Why packaging matters more than the content
(01:43) - Jay’s virtual event business and the GURU acquisition
(04:29) - Why you should stop calling it a “webinar”
(06:24) - The “attend to receive” tactic to boost show rates
(08:58) - Why on-demand is hurting your engagement
(13:07) - Why Fridays and Sundays outperform for B2B email + webinars
(16:40) - How to choose webinar topics based on your goal
(17:07) - Why 22-minute webinars and shorter podcasts win
(26:16) - The white space + no preview text email hack
(34:28) - The “reply with GUIDE” tactic to boost engagement
(36:14) - Final takeaways and wrap-up

Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter

Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/

***

Brought to you by:

***

Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.

They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.

Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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