In this episode of Always Be Testing, host Tye DeGrange sits down with John Toskey, a seasoned marketing leader with over 25 years of experience in global partner and performance marketing. Having held senior roles at eBay, Affirm, and Opera Software, and now running his own consulting practice, John unpacks lessons from decades of leading high-performing global marketing teams. He shares valuable insights on building diverse and sustainable teams, creating a culture of experimentation, and the importance of asking the right questions when testing. The conversation dives into why diversity in location, experience, and seniority strengthens team performance, how to avoid “talent logjams” and keep growth pathways open, and what it takes to scale a test-and-learn culture while ensuring results are properly shared. John and Tye also explore the balance between data, intuition, and executive alignment in decision-making, the evolving future of performance marketing—from BNPL to retail media to influencer backlash—and the promise and risks of AI in marketing, including generational differences in its adoption. Adding a personal touch, John opens up about his passion for cooking, vegan living, and even bird-watching apps, making this conversation both insightful and relatable.
In this episode of Always Be Testing, host Tye DeGrange sits down with Kayla Castro, Senior Manager of Affiliates & Partnerships at Zenni Optical, to talk about the evolving world of affiliate marketing. Kayla shares her experience leading affiliate programs and offers practical insights on how to audit and optimize affiliate strategies for long-term success.The conversation covers common mistakes brands make in affiliate marketing and why internal communication is critical for gaining leadership buy-in. Kayla also dives into the complexities of measurement, breaking down MTA, MMM, incrementality, and attribution models in a way that helps marketers understand how to use the right tool for the right decision.They explore how to balance efficiency, partner diversity, and sustainable growth while leveraging AI as a supportive tool without losing the human touch that drives authentic, trust-based relationships with partners. Beyond marketing, Kayla shares personal perspectives on travel, books, and professional growth, making the discussion both practical and relatable.
In this special episode, Tye DeGrange, CEO of Round Barn Labs and host of Always Be Testing, reflects on his journey in marketing and the timeless principles he calls the Cowboy Code. Drawing from his upbringing on a California ranch and decades of experience leading growth at eBay, StubHub, and beyond, Tye explores what B2B marketers can learn from consumer brands.He highlights why trust and authenticity are more critical than ever in today’s trust-deficit world, and how partner and affiliate marketing can help bridge the gap. From lessons in finishing what you start, keeping promises, and “talking less but saying more,” Tye makes the case that B2B has its moment now—to embrace authenticity, invest in brand, and build lasting trust with buyers.
In this episode of the Always Be Testing podcast, Peter Denton—a seasoned growth and marketing leader with a 25+ year career in startups, product experimentation, and marketing innovation—shares a wealth of insights from his journey through the dot-com boom to leading growth at XMTP and previously Pioneer Square Labs.Peter discusses how to de-risk startups before launch, leverage APIs and data for faster insights, and adapt to changing marketing landscapes driven by AI, privacy, and emerging tech like blockchain and quantum security. From the rise of agents and protocols to the future of messaging platforms, Peter offers a masterclass on building, testing, and scaling products in today’s fast-moving world.
In this episode of Always Be Testing, host Tye DeGrange sits down with Erica Yoon, Director of Marketing at BuildOps, a vertical SaaS platform designed for commercial contractors. With prior experience at companies like Reddit, Erica brings a rich perspective on scaling marketing strategies that go beyond demand generation.
We’re joined by Lucas Beland, Co-Founder & CEO of Goloot, an innovative content platform helping Consumer and B2B brands secure content placements on a performance basis. In this episode, we dive into the evolving world of content and influencer marketing, exploring why it’s time to move past vanity metrics and focus on real business outcomes like customer acquisition cost, ROAS, and lifetime value rather than likes or impressions. We also discuss why authenticity wins—how raw, relatable, and creator-led content resonates more deeply with audiences than overproduced ads, ultimately driving stronger engagement and higher sales.
In this episode of Always Be Testing, host Tye DeGrange sits down with Kevin Weatherman, co-founder of Upscale AI, a performance streaming platform using AI to power connected TV ads for DTC brands. With a rich background that includes being the first business hire at multiple startups, angel investing, and co-founding a global run club, Kevin shares his journey from selling limo rides to Google employees to scaling AI-driven advertising solutions. Their conversation covers Kevin’s approach to identifying market trends, the evolution of A/B testing, connected TV measurement strategies, AI in creative production, the intersection of brand and performance marketing, influencer and affiliate strategies, hiring in the AI era, and personal insights from his journey to sobriety.
Sydney Sloan – CMO of G2, a leading software marketplace for businesses to discover, review, and manage technology solutions. She has extensive experience in customer marketing, community building, and scaling B2B SaaS companies. Formerly at Adobe, SalesLoft, and other high-growth companies, she’s recognized as a champion of customer advocacy.
In this episode, Ben Edelman shares insights from his years studying the intersection of economics, digital marketing, and consumer protection. He and the host dive deep into the evolution of affiliate marketing, the early days of web advertising, and how regulation and business incentives have shaped online behavior—both good and bad. Ben also reflects on ad fraud, deceptive affiliate practices, legal enforcement challenges, and how platforms and advertisers can improve accountability in the digital space.
Bryant Garvin, a 20-year veteran of the digital marketing world, announced his new position as Operator in Residence at Triple Whale. This role leverages Triple Whale's massive data set (35,000+ stores, $55B+ GMP annually) to build better products for marketers and e-commerce operators. Garvin discussed his evolved perspective on attribution, emphasizing Triple Whale's holistic approach using AI and data integration beyond simple dashboards. He highlighted the power of MOBI, Triple Whale's platform, in providing data-driven insights for strategic planning, such as Prime Day optimization. The conversation also touched upon the importance of humanizing data, considering the broader context of marketing beyond immediate clicks, and the crucial role of product quality in marketing success. Garvin shared successful marketing strategies from his past, including adding value instead of discounting and leveraging Kickstarter for product launches. He championed YouTube as an underutilized e-commerce channel and cautioned against relying solely on quick wins, advocating for long-term brand building. Finally, he emphasized the importance of authenticity and human connection in marketing, even in the age of AI, and shared a personal anecdote about his childhood dream of becoming a paleontologist.
Sales expert Sam McKenna, Founder of Sam Sales, shares her journey from solo consultant to a thriving 20-person team with 250+ clients. The podcast discusses her unique sales strategies, including the "Expand the Sandbox" method for LinkedIn prospecting, which landed her a deal with Equifax. Key takeaways include the importance of building genuine rapport with clients (even discussing breakfast!), prioritizing consistent outreach, and investing in employee growth. McKenna emphasizes the critical need for sales leadership training and highlights the detrimental effects of slow responses in communication, advocating for a "give a shit" (GAS) approach that prioritizes human connection over automation. She also shares a surprising personal anecdote about her father's grave and recommends the book "Unreasonable Hospitality." The conversation underscores the transferable nature of sales skills across various business functions and the power of human interaction in building lasting relationships.
This Always Be Testing podcast features James Little, a UK affiliate marketing legend and key figure at TopCashback. The episode covers TopCashback's 20-year history, its unique 100% cashback model, and its global success without venture capital. Little discusses the challenges and rewards of operating in various markets, the importance of clear customer education around cashback, and the evolving relationship between cashback sites and brands. He highlights the crucial role of accurate tracking and the positive impact of AWIN's move towards server-to-server tracking. The conversation also touches upon the impact of AI on affiliate marketing, the importance of mental health awareness, and Little's personal experiences.
The Performance Marketing Association (PMA) released its third triennial affiliate marketing survey, revealing a booming industry. Data from eight networks, 53 publishers, and over 20,000 brands showed ad spend skyrocketing from $6 billion to $13.63 billion (a 14.42% CAGR), exceeding e-commerce growth and contributing 10% to overall US e-commerce revenue. While cashback and coupon sites remain significant, their market share decreased, likely due to the rise of card-linked offers and buy now, pay later options. These, along with influencer marketing, fueled growth, though the overall increase in market size means some sectors saw proportional decreases in share. The survey also highlighted growth in less directly correlated sectors like finance and telecom, and a slight decrease in ROAS (from 12:1 to 11:1), potentially due to a shift towards top-of-funnel traffic. Publisher sentiment shows concern about Google changes but optimism for the future.
This podcast features Ryan Fitzgerald, an affiliate industry expert at AWIN, discussing various aspects of affiliate marketing. Key takeaways include the importance of initially working with all publisher types to build brand equity, AWIN's global reach and commitment to a publisher-centric approach, and Fitzgerald's sales leadership focusing on educating and mentoring SMBs. He emphasizes the need for transparency and data-driven decision-making in affiliate marketing, particularly for convincing C-suite executives of its value. Fitzgerald also shares insights into his team's success strategy, focusing on deal closure, self-education, and organization, and offers advice for brands on time commitment and agency utilization. The conversation touches upon AWIN's ShareASale integration, bringing modernized technology to a large existing client base. Finally, Fitzgerald shares personal insights, including book and movie recommendations, and advice for fathers.
This podcast episode features Vinod Varma, founder and CEO of Creator Co., discussing the evolving landscape of social commerce. Varma defines social commerce as the next wave of influencer marketing, enabled by expired Amazon patents, and highlights TikTok Shop's leading role due to its seamless user experience. Creator Co. helps brands navigate this space by providing technical setup and access to a vast influencer network. The conversation touches upon the potential of other platforms like YouTube, YouTube Shorts, and the surprisingly underutilized Pinterest, emphasizing the platform's aspirational and positive nature. A key theme is the importance of authenticity in influencer marketing, particularly in the age of AI, and the need for improved attribution models and transparency in influencer compensation to address concerns arising from browser extensions like Honey.
Jordan Koene, CEO & Founder of Previsible.io, breaks down how AI is reshaping the SEO landscape. As tools like ChatGPT provide direct answers, many websites are seeing noticeable drops in organic traffic—ranging from 10% to as much as 90%, depending on the industry and keyword.This shift is happening quickly and requires a thoughtful response. Jordan explains why it's important for brands to focus on becoming trustworthy sources within AI ecosystems, addressing inaccuracies in AI-generated content, and leaning into unique brand assets. He also emphasizes the need to shift from broad outreach to more targeted strategies on platforms where the audience is most active.AI isn’t replacing jobs, but it’s changing them—making skill development and retraining a priority. The future of SEO will center around helpful, relevant content, deeper personalization, and multimedia formats like video that build trust and engage users.The key is to move from reactive to prescriptive marketing by focusing on serving specific audience needs within the evolving limitations of AI.
This podcast features a conversation between two performance marketing experts with 20+ years of experience, discussing the evolving landscape of digital marketing. Svet, with a background at Stanford, McKinsey, and Nextag, shares his insights on leveraging first-principle thinking and algorithmic understanding to optimize marketing campaigns across B2B, e-commerce, and local service businesses. Key themes include the importance of rigorous testing, overcoming common data measurement mistakes (like under-tagging and misaligned attribution), and adapting to the increasing influence of AI and automation in paid search. The discussion highlights the ongoing relevance of keywords despite Google's shift towards AI-driven contextual search, the untapped potential of Bing Ads for B2B marketers, and the crucial need for marketers to develop a "hacker mentality" and deep technical skills to thrive in this rapidly changing environment. Svet also recommends utilizing AI tools effectively, studying AI models, and understanding the underlying algorithms to gain a competitive edge.
In this episode, Brendan Regan, Senior Director of Lifestyle/Lifecycle Marketing at Smartsheet, shares his strategic, multi-channel approach to engaging both enterprise and SaaS customers. He explains how Smartsheet blends digital programs with human touchpoints—such as customer success reps and account executives—to optimize acquisition, retention, and monetization. Brendan discusses key growth levers they’ve tested, including freemium conversion, upgrades, seat expansion, and cross-sell/upsell tactics, all rooted in a data-driven, experimental mindset. He also explores the benefits and challenges of Product-Led Growth (PLG) and Product-Led Sales (PLS), highlighting how A/B testing and propensity modeling support smarter decision-making. Among his most surprising learnings: onboarding plays a larger role in expansion than expected, and simple, sales-driven heuristics can be remarkably effective in cross-selling. Brendan wraps up with valuable advice for B2B SaaS companies—avoid silos, don’t fall into copycat marketing, and never underinvest in technology. Mastering your martech stack and integrating it properly, he emphasizes, is essential for impactful customer communication.
This podcast features Kayla Hamilton, who is the affiliate marketing manager of Sage. The discussion centers on Sage's B2B SaaS affiliate marketing strategy within the FinTech vertical. Key topics include the challenges and successes of building a year-old affiliate program, targeting high-value executives, the importance of internal collaboration between marketing, sales, and PR teams, leveraging AI for forecasting, content creation, and data analysis, and the crucial role of data-driven decision-making in optimizing partner performance and achieving scalable growth. Hamilton emphasizes the need for a holistic approach, aligning product offerings with partner audiences, hyper-targeting growing SMBs, and focusing on quality leads over volume. She also highlights the importance of understanding the nuances of medium-sized business (M) marketing and the value of non-traditional sub-affiliates and industry-focused partners. The conversation concludes with Hamilton's recommendations for further learning and personal insights.
This podcast features Vanessa Lawrence, Chief Content Officer at Linkby, an ad tech platform connecting brands with premium publishers using a CPC model. Linkby operates globally and has recently expanded into Europe. The platform's success is attributed to its measurable approach, fast turnaround, and no upfront costs for brands. Linkbee complements existing publisher revenue streams (CPA, flat fee) rather than replacing them, emphasizing diversification and experimentation. The platform offers access to a wide range of publishers, from major media outlets to newsletter creators and Substack writers. A key differentiator is Linkbee's focus on publisher authority and trust, recognizing that brands are paying for more than just ad placement. Lawrence discusses Linkby's innovative "publisher pitches" feature, which allows publishers to proactively pitch brands, and highlights the importance of data and third-party validation in their operations. The conversation also touches on Lawrence's background, her role at Linkby, and her passion for helping publishers diversify their revenue streams.