In the Pit with Cody Schneider | Marketing | Growth | Startups

Brought to you by https://www.graphed.com/Deploy AI Agents for Marketing + GTMIntroMost of the marketing data you want is public. It's just not exposed. Ad platforms show you what makes you spend more with them, and hide the rest.Adrian runs Scrape Creators, an API for public social data. He spent this episode listing almost 20 tools that get at the stuff platforms don't hand over — creator emails, Instagram stories, full tweet history, every nutritionist in the United States.The real takeaway isn't any one API. It's that chaining them together takes an afternoon now. Google Maps → email finder → Instantly → booked meeting. No engineer.Timestamps(02:34) A customer got busted by Meta this week — where Adrian draws the legal line(08:41) Outlier identification: rank a creator's catalog, pull the transcripts, extract the hooks(12:31) The non-technical build loop — API docs into Perplexity, Python into a vibe coding tool, one-shot app(21:16) Hiker API — Instagram emails, followers, and stories from behind the login(25:56) Google Maps at scale — Targetron, Serper.dev, and the email enrichment chain on topFind Adrian- scrapecreators.com - [email protected] https://x.com/adrian_horning_ on X

Deploy AI agents for marketing - https://www.graphed.com/ Nick Abraham is breaking down the exact outbound system behind 250,000 LinkedIn DMs a month, including the numbers, infrastructure, and why LinkedIn is blowing cold email out of the water right now. He pulls back the curtain on the LinkedIn InMail arbitrage that most people have no idea exists, how he's stacking SalesNav licenses to send at scale without paying per credit, and why reply rates on LinkedIn are nearly 3x what he's seeing from cold email, even to the exact same lead lists. But it doesn't stop there. Nick also gets into how he's completely rethinking cold email as a one-to-one marketing channel powered by AI, where every email is essentially a personalized ad written specifically for that recipient's business, role, and pain point. He walks through a real live example using getleads.io and how he's slicing TAM lists into micro-campaigns by channel type, inbox provider, and job function to squeeze dramatically better results out of the same volume. They also get into the full outbound tech stack Nick is running right now: SmartLead for email sequencing, HeyReach for LinkedIn, Master Inbox for unified reply management, Close CRM for pipeline, and how Cursor plus Claude replaced his entire RevOps setup, no Zapier, no full-time hire. About the Guest Nick is the founder of Leadbird.io, one of the top outbound agencies running today. Link with him through here.https://x.com/NickAbraham12 https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-abraham/ Learn more about Leadbird https://leadbird.io/ 

Deploy AI agents for marketing - https://www.graphed.com/GTM engineering is one of the fastest-growing roles in tech right now, but what does it actually involve, and why are companies scrambling to hire for it? In this episode, I sit down with Benyamin Holley, a GTM engineer who's worked at multiple startups including AirOps, to break down what this job really looks like day to day.We dig into why API completeness is becoming the new buying criteria for software (and why Salesforce is quietly winning the AI era), why you should skip tools like Zapier and N8n entirely and go straight to code, and how "just-in-time" internal tools are changing the way teams build workflows. Ben also walks through real systems he's built and explains why expertise, not just tooling, is what actually separates winners in an increasingly saturated market.We also get into the debate around cold email as a marketing channel vs. a sales channel, why attribution is still an unsolved problem, and what companies should actually look for when hiring a GTM engineer.In this episode, we cover:00:00 — What a GTM engineer actually is (and why every company is hiring one)02:54 — Why Salesforce beats HubSpot now: API completeness is the buying criteria05:29 — Skip Zapier and n8n entirely, go straight to code08:31 — Your GitHub repo is your GTM portfolio32:29 — The job-change bot: vibe-coding UserGems and what made it hard

Your biggest advantage in marketing right now isn’t better ads. It’s understanding what actually makes people buy — and it’s probably not what your feed is telling you.Rage bait is everywhere. It gets views. It gets engagement. But it doesn’t build trust — and it definitely doesn’t drive real revenue in B2B.In this episode, we sit down with Jason Levin, co-founder of Memelord.com, to break down why meme marketing is quietly outperforming rage bait, how humor builds trust with high-value buyers, and the exact systems top marketers are using to scale meme-driven acquisition.The deeper insight: the best marketers aren’t chasing attention — they’re engineering relatability at scale.You’ll learn how to operationalize memes across multiple accounts, why “remixing” is the real creative advantage, and how to turn humor into a repeatable growth engine.If you’re thinking about distribution in 2026, this is a playbook most companies still aren’t using.GuestJason Levin — co-founder of Memelord.com, an AI-powered meme marketing platform helping companies scale humor, distribution, and content velocity through AI-generated memes and multi-account social strategies.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamjasonlevinX: https://x.com/iamjasonlevinWhat You’ll LearnWhy rage bait drives views… but fails to convert high-value customersThe difference between attention farming and buyer-driven attentionHow meme marketing builds trust faster than traditional contentWhy humor is a lever — not a strategy replacementHow to run multiple niche meme accounts for different ICPsWhy remixing content beats originality in modern distributionHow AI is enabling meme velocity at scaleWhy relationships still outperform automation in closing dealsTimestamps00:00 - Introduction to Meme Marketing00:21 - Guest Introduction: Jason Levin from Memelord.com00:41 - Memes vs Rage Bait Marketing01:13 - Tactical Meme Marketing Strategies02:24 - The Importance of Branding and Trust03:27 - Rage Bait vs Smart Bait Philosophy05:01 - Why Meme Marketing Drives Revenue06:43 - Building Trust in B2B Through Humor08:13 - Niche Meme Accounts and High-LTV Distribution10:19 - The Problem with Rage Bait Culture in Silicon Valley15:00 - Inside Memelord.com: Product, Demo & AI Tools30:43 - Scaling Distribution, Verified Orgs & MeasurementKey Topics & Insights1. Rage Bait Gets Attention — But Not RevenueThere’s a growing belief that anger = growth.But here’s the reality:Rage bait attracts the wrong audience.It pulls in:Low-intent usersPeople looking to argueLow purchasing-power audiencesThe problem: High-value buyers don’t respond to manipulation — they recognize it.And when trust is broken, conversion dies.The takeaway: Views are not revenue.2. Meme Marketing = Relatability at ScaleMemes work because they create instant recognition.Instead of forcing attention, they generate:Emotional alignmentShared pain pointsFast trust-building through humorWhen people feel understood, they convert faster.3. Humor Is a Lever, Not a StrategyMemes don’t replace strategy — they amplify it.Smart marketing stacks multiple levers:Educational contentLong-form trust buildingPaid acquisitionHumor as distribution acceleration4. Remixing Is the Real Growth EngineModern content velocity comes from remixing, not originality.Instead of creating from scratch:Take what’s already trendingApply your ICP’s pain pointAdd context and distributionThis is how meme engines scale.5. Multi-Account Distribution StrategyScaling meme marketing requires fragmentation:Multiple niche accountsEach targeting a specific personaEach speaking in a tailored voiceThis creates parallel distribution channels instead of relying on one brand feed.6. Verified Org Arbitrage on XA key growth hack discussed:$1,000/month for verified orgAbility to spin affiliate meme accountsNetworked distribution across accountsThis creates ubiquity and compounding reach.7. Relationships Still Close RevenueEven in a world of automation:ConversationsTrustLong-term relationshipsstill outperform pure distribution hacks.8. Measurement Shift: Branded SearchInstead of tracking vanity metrics:Focus on branded search growthUse Google Search ConsoleMeasure demand creation, not just clicksThis becomes the true signal of market pull.9. The Meme Stack Is Becoming a SystemMemelord.com represents a shift:Trend detectionAI generationMulti-account publishingRapid iteration loopsMemes are no longer content — they are infrastructure.SponsorToday’s episode is brought to you by Graphed – an AI data analyst & BI platform.With Graphed you can:Connect data like GA4, Facebook Ads, HubSpot, Google Ads, Search Console, AmplitudeBuild interactive dashboards just by chatting (no Looker Studio/Tableau learning curve)Use it as your ETL + data warehouse + BI layer in one placeAsk:“Build me a stacked bar chart of new users vs. all users over time from GA4”…and Graphed just builds it for you.👉 Get a free trial worth $500 plus a personal discovery call to set up your first dashboard: https://graphed.com/

Your “source of truth” for customer acquisition isn’t GA4. It’s what people tell you when they sign up — and right now, that story is changing fast.In this episode, we unpack a simple but brutally effective tactic: adding a required “How did you hear about us?” field to your signup form — and using that data to understand where real discovery is happening. The surprise? More and more B2B customers are saying social media, even when analytics tools claim otherwise.But here’s the deeper shift: organic social is hard to measure… unless you track the right trailing indicator. That indicator is branded search.You’ll learn how to use Google Search Console to track brand-name impressions over time, why it’s becoming the only KPI that matters for modern founder-led marketing, and how branded search creates a defensible moat competitors can’t easily steal.If you’re planning your marketing strategy for 2026, this is the measurement system you need.What You’ll LearnWhy signup form attribution is often more reliable than your analytics dashboardsThe biggest B2B acquisition shift happening right now: from search → socialWhy organic social is nearly impossible to ROI… and how to measure it anywayThe “branded search” metric that acts as a trailing indicator for social discoveryWhy branded search is a marketing moat your competitors can’t take from youHow to build a branded-search chart using Google Search Console in minutesThe exact prompt to pull branded impressions by query and track them over timeTimestamps00:00:00 - Customer Discovery Starts at Signup00:00:10 - The Shift: Search → Social00:00:31 - Why Organic Social Now Matters Most00:00:52 - The Measurement Problem (and the Fix)00:01:12 - Branded Search = Your Trailing Indicator00:01:33 - Why Branded Search Is a Moat00:01:54 - Where to Invest Time, Money, and Energy00:02:04 - The 2026 Strategy: Grow Brand Searches00:02:15 - How to Track Branded Search in GSC00:02:25 - Building the Branded Impressions Chart00:02:46 - Live Demo: Google Search Console Setup00:03:07 - Final ThoughtsKey Topics & Insights1. Signup Attribution Beats Analytics (Almost Every Time)One of the fastest ways to understand how customers actually found you is simple: add a required “How did you hear about us?” field in your signup form.Why it works:It captures customer intent in their wordsIt reveals channels analytics often misattributesIt shows the real discovery story (not the last-click story)And the punchline: it often contradicts what GA4 says.2. The B2B Discovery Shift: Search → SocialIf you’ve been paying attention to the data, something big is happening:People aren’t discovering new software products through search anymore. They’re discovering them on social — then Googling them afterward.This shift has accelerated over the past 12–18 months. Even in B2B, where trends typically lag behind DTC.What this means:SEO is no longer the first touchpointSocial is becoming the top-of-funnel discovery engineSearch is evolving into a validation channel3. Organic Social Has a Measurement ProblemThe hardest part about investing in organic social is that it’s difficult to tie to ROI.Whether you’re doing:Founder-led contentCreator sponsorshipsCommunity distributionOrganic growth loops…it doesn’t fit neatly into traditional attribution.So instead of forcing bad ROI models, track the trailing indicator that proves social discovery is working.4. Branded Search Is the Trailing Indicator That MattersHere’s the key idea:When someone discovers your product on social, they don’t click your link. They Google your name.That branded search becomes the measurable proof:A discovery event happenedPeople care enough to look you upYour brand is entering the market’s memoryThis is why branded search growth is one of the strongest indicators of momentum.If branded search is increasing month-over-month, your brand is winning.5. Branded Search Creates a Defensible MoatThis is where it becomes more than measurement — it becomes strategy.Branded search is difficult for competitors to steal. Once people are searching your name, you own that demand.The only way competitors can interfere:They bid on your brand in Google AdsThey try to outspend youOr they attempt to confuse the marketBut that’s expensive, obvious, and usually temporary.So branded search is not only a KPI — it’s defensibility.6. How to Track Branded Search in Google Search ConsoleThis is the tactical part.To track branded search over time, you want a chart that shows:Impressions over timeFor queries containing your brand nameCaptured in every format your audience might type itAnd this is surprisingly easy to pull from Google Search Console.7. The Exact Chart & Prompt to Build ItThe goal is to extract Search Console impressions where queries include your brand name.Example prompt:“Build a chart showing total impressions over time for queries containing ‘YOURBRAND’.”Then your job becomes simple:Increase branded impressions month-over-month through:social contentdistributioncreator partnershipspodcast mentionsrepeated brand exposureconsistent visibilityThis becomes the clearest signal that marketing is compounding.Action Steps (Do This Today)Add a required “How did you hear about us?” field on signupReview responses weekly (and compare against analytics)Use Google Search Console to track branded query impressionsCreate a monthly KPI: branded impressions growthUse branded search growth as the scoreboard for your organic social effortsSponsorToday’s episode is brought to you by Graphed – an AI data analyst & BI platform.With Graphed you can:Connect data like GA4, Facebook Ads, HubSpot, Google Ads, Search Console, AmplitudeBuild interactive dashboards just by chatting (no Looker Studio/Tableau learning curve)Use it as your ETL + data warehouse + BI layer in one placeAsk:“Build me a stacked bar chart of new users vs. all users over time from GA4”…and Graphed just builds it for you.👉 Get a 14-day free trial with 10 seats for your team: https://graphed.com/