Building Your Flywheel of Credibility: A Playbook for New CMOs in PE-Backed Companies

The Get: Finding And Keeping The Best Marketing Leaders in B2B SaaS

On today’s episode, Erica talks with Gary Survis, an Operating Partner with Insight Partners. Erica and Gary discuss how the strongest CMOs limit risk when transitioning into new marketing leadership roles:

• They stand out by demonstrating credibility, collaboration, and curiosity. They're aware that what you don't say in an interview is just as important as what you do say.
• When interviewing, they communicate their experience with this structure: strategy + example + numbers.
• Once in the new CMO role, they realize that no matter what their background is, they have to deliver on their demand gen goals or risk losing their job.
• They have a perspective on AI and know how they will organize their teams and define roles differently for AI-supported marketing.
• They create a "flywheel of credibility."
• They take the time they need to form an assessment – "it'll be the only time in your tenure when you are afforded the luxury of time."
• They follow the "Diagnose, Don't Delude" approach – identifying and surfacing problems rather than sweeping problems under the rug.
• They swiftly make the org changes they need to make: "If you are not successful because the people below you are not strong, you have no one to blame but yourself for not making the changes you know you need to make."

00:00 Welcome to The Get: Season Overview

00:47 Introducing Gary Survis: Insights from an Operating Partner

01:37 De-risking the CMO Hiring Process

02:10 Common Pitfalls in Recruiting Marketing Leaders

05:01 Balancing Strategy and Execution in Marketing

11:00 Key Traits of Successful Marketing Leaders

13:19 The Importance of Curiosity in Leadership

17:15 AI in Marketing: What to Look for in a CMO

19:36 Early Steps for a New CMO

21:41 The Role of AI in Organizational Structure

22:34 Setting and Achieving Goals

24:25 Challenges in Coaching CMOs

26:53 Reflections on Past Marketing Roles

28:56 Marketing Under the CRO: A Controversial Trend

31:13 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

The Get is here to drive smart decisions around recruiting and leadership in B2B SaaS marketing. We explore the trends, tribulations, and triumphs of today’s top marketing leaders in B2B SaaS.

This season’s theme is The Race to Reduce Risk in CMO Recruiting.

The Get’s host is Erica Seidel, who runs The Connective Good, an executive search practice with a hyper-focus on recruiting CMOs and VPs of Marketing, especially in B2B SaaS.

If you are looking to hire a CMO or VP of Marketing of the ‘make money’ variety - rather than the ‘make it pretty’ variety, contact Erica at [e-mail]. You can also follow Erica on LinkedIn or sign up for her newsletter at TheConnectiveGood.com.

The Get is produced by the team at Simpler Media Productions.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy