Industrial Growth Institute

Why do so many industrial companies still sell like it's 2005, while B2B software has built a whole cookbook of go-to-market recipes? Ed Marsh sits down with Brian C. Reed, Chief Market Officer at Corsha, to explore where tech marketing and sales meet traditional industrials. Brian has spent decades in software and cybersecurity, and now helps manufacturers secure the machines, robotics and physical AI that power modern production lines.They cover why communities beat SEO content farms, how to tell stories that stick, what physical AI means for the plant floor (and its security risks), how AI is changing sales, and how a mid-market manufacturer should build a GTM team from scratch. Brian closes with a challenge: what if you spent 2–3% more of your capital budget on professional go-to-market instead of that next quarter-million-dollar machine?In this episode:Why being part of peer communities (Pavilion, TMA, CMO Coffee Talk) makes you better at building communities for your customersLessons from "unreasonable hospitality" and why service beats sellingHarry the Hair-on-Fire, Paul the Proactive Planner, and Carla the Compliance person: three buyer personas found in almost every marketMapping the "communities of influence" around your ICP, and why you should join existing communities rather than build your ownHow to find worthwhile communities when engineers mostly lurkInformation fragmentation: why the 20-page white paper is dead and snackable content winsMaking your content GPT-friendly so AI tools recommend youFrom Duke BME/EE to CMO: learning the business side after a startup failed for lack of sales and marketingStorytelling as the brain's native format, with the OT ransomware story as an exampleUsing AI as a writing and ideation companion without producing "AI slop"What physical AI is and how it will transform inspection and quality in manufacturingThe security downside: constraints, fail-safes, and IT/OT/cloud convergenceHow AI is reshaping sales, and what makes the best salespeople (empathy, team sports, hospitality backgrounds)Marketing vs. sales: why you can't have a one-sided coinSpecialization vs. full-cycle sellers, SDRs, and high-low sellingBuilding a GTM team from scratch for a mid-market industrial manufacturerDefining go-to-market enablement: people, process, technology and contentWhy tech marketers should consider a move to industrialsLinks:Brian C. Reed on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briancreedCorsha: https://corsha.comEmail Brian: [email protected] Marsh Consulting: https://edmarshconsulting.comMentioned in this episode:Pavilion (and the Pavilion podcast)Technology Marketing Alliance (TMA)CMO Coffee TalkUnreasonable Hospitality by Will GuidaraStoryBrandSANS InstituteICS Village at DEF CONMike Holcomb (OT security educator)OWASPAll Day DevOpsDragosARM InstituteGridRasterJohn BarrowsApril DunfordPodcasts: Nerd Talking Good, StoryBrand, Prof G, CMO Confidential, Hard ForkIf you enjoyed this episode, please like, share, comment and subscribe, and pass it along to someone in your industrial network who'd find these ideas useful.

Joe Angel — Executive Vice President of Industry Outreach for PMMI (The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies), founder of Packaging World magazine, and a true legend in the packaging industry — joins Ed Marsh to unpack the full arc of B2B media, from bingo cards to AI.Ed and Joe cover:Why PR and traditional media are becoming relevant again as SEO and organic search declineThe early days of launching Packaging World in 1993–94, and how print media measured leads before the internetHow the 2009 recession (not digital disruption) forced Summit Media to rethink its business — and led to the birth of digital lead-gen tools like landing pagesWhy PMMI ultimately acquired Summit Media Group in 2014, and what "always-on" content means for trade shows@jamesHow manufacturers misuse (or underuse) verified audience data — and what smart companies do differentlyBlending print, digital, and events: the "Game Plan" personalized show-floor guide as a case study in integrationWhether AI can replace editors — and the real risk Joe sees: losing decades of tacit engineering knowledge as experienced workers retireWhy in-person relationships and trade shows still matter, even in an AI-driven worldJoe's advice for treating marketing as an investment, not an expenseWhether you're in packaging, industrial manufacturing, or B2B marketing more broadly, this conversation is a masterclass in how media strategy has evolved — and where it's headed next. Reach out to Joe directly via PMMI, or stop by the PMMI booth at the next PACK EXPO show.Joe's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeangel/Note: As of this interview early 2026, the verified audience for PMMI “verified” database has changed to now a152,00 - the result of advanced data-cleaning/sweeping technology. Still the largest and most comprehensive database in packaging and processing Like, share, comment, and subscribe to the Industrial Growth Institute podcast for more conversations on growth, marketing, and strategy in industrial and middle-market businesses.#B2BMarketing #TradeShows #PackagingIndustry #IndustrialMarketing #PMMI #PackagingWorld #IndustrialGrowthInstitute

Derek Baer returns to the Industrial Growth Institute podcast for a candid, unscripted conversation about the sales accountability issues most companies avoid talking about.Ed and Derek dig into four core topics with plenty of detours, war stories, and a little friendly disagreement along the way:Do Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) actually work? Why most companies wait too long, what a PIP should really look like, and how to handle a rep who's crushing quota but showing all the wrong behaviors"Telephonobia" — why so many salespeople avoid the phone, the self-limiting beliefs behind it, and a real story of a single cold call turning a "maybe in November" into an immediate opportunityWhere marketing ends and sales begins — handling chatbot leads, using website visitor intent data, and why sales reps ignore some of the best tools they already haveCreating deals vs. uncovering them — the real stats behind buyer shortlists, why only 3% of buyers are "in market" at any given time, and what that means for how you should actually be prospectingPlus: PIP horror stories, a secret side project proving that "our industry is different" is almost always an excuse, and why compensation structure quietly shapes rep behavior more than most leaders realize.👍 Like, share, comment, and subscribe to the Industrial Growth Institute podcast for more real talk on sales, growth, and accountability in industrial and middle-market businesses.💬 Disagree with something Derek or Ed said? Drop it in the comments — let's argue about it.#SalesLeadership #ColdCalling #SalesAccountability #PerformanceImprovementPlan #B2BSales #IndustrialGrowthInstitute #SalesManagement

Peter Caputa (CEO of Databox, former 15th employee at HubSpot) returns to the Industrial Growth Institute podcast to unpack how business intelligence and AI-driven performance management can transform the way private equity firms oversee their portfolio companies.Ed and Peter dig into Databox's evolution from a marketing dashboard tool to a full business intelligence platform — now featuring OKR management and forecast modeling — and explore why organic growth remains the most under-supported piece of most PE investment theses.They cover:Why most PE and VC firms don't closely track portfolio company performance — and the risk that creates in today's marketGoodhart's Law, vanity metrics, and Amazon's "weekly business review" approach to KPIsThe five-step SPEARS framework (Strategize, Plan, Execute, Adjust, Repeat, Scale) for building a data-informed growth strategyCommon blockers to becoming data-driven: broken CRM discipline, IT resistance, and misaligned incentivesCorrelation vs. benchmarking — and how portfolio-level comparisons could reshape PE diligence and oversightWhy "inbound marketing" as a standalone strategy is dead, and what's replaced it (multi-channel, multi-format, multi-perspective content)How AI and agentic systems are pushing businesses toward being managed more like algorithmic hedge fundsWhether you're a PE operating partner, a portco executive, or just curious how data discipline separates high performers from the rest, this conversation is packed with frameworks you can apply immediately.🔗 Learn more about Databox: databox.comConnect with Peter on LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/pc4media/📘 Check out Peter's course, Predictable Scale: databox.com/predictable-scale👍 Like, share, comment, and subscribe to the Industrial Growth Institute podcast for more conversations on growth, strategy, and operations in industrial and middle-market businesses.#PrivateEquity #BusinessIntelligence #DataDriven #B2BMarketing #PortfolioManagement #Databox #GrowthStrategy #IndustrialGrowthInstitute

Why can't successful industrial leaders change — even when they know they should? It's not stubbornness. It's not bias. It's something deeper: their beliefs aren't opinions — they're truths. And you can't argue with truth. How often is that dissonance the real source of buyer objections? Understanding epistemological truths — and how to work with them instead of against them — is the key to unlocking change in your company and in your buyers. In this solo Episode #76, host Ed Marsh explores why middle-market industrial companies struggle to adapt, even when the evidence for change is overwhelming, and lays out five practical strategies for navigating buyers' deeply held beliefs. Summary In this episode, Ed Marsh introduces the concept of epistemological truths — beliefs grounded in real evidence and experience that function as unassailable truth for the person holding them. He explains why these truths, not simple bias, are the real barrier to change in middle-market manufacturing companies. Using eleven common examples from industrial sales and marketing, Ed shows how two people can hold completely contradictory yet fully justified truths — and why that makes traditional persuasion useless. He then presents five strategies for working with epistemological truths rather than against them: Explore whether their truths are delivering the outcomes they need Surface contradictory evidence without attacking the belief Test predictions that their truths imply Run premortems comparing outcomes under different assumptions Follow a truth to its logical conclusion to reveal gaps Takeaways What we call "bias" in business is often epistemological truth - beliefs backed by real evidence and experience You cannot hold two contradictory truths simultaneously, which is why change feels impossible The traits that made founders and Gen2 leaders successful become their ceiling Telling buyers they're wrong doesn't work - their truth is as justified as yours Companies that repeat the same messaging as competitors get deflected by buyers' existing truths Consultative sales and marketing must help buyers examine whether their truths serve their goals Creating new recognition beats forcing confrontation every time The political polarization analog applies directly to B2B sales conversations Sales reps who bring business acumen and outcomes focus can reach CEOs; those peddling specs cannot 84% of the time vendors are contacted, the spec doesn't change - so create projects, don't just find them Five practical strategies can help you navigate buyers' epistemological truths without attacking them Takeaway Quote from Ed Marsh "Stop trying to convince buyers they're wrong. Start helping them discover whether their truths are serving their goals." LinkedIn: Ed Marsh Twitter: Ed Marsh Instagram: Ed Marsh YouTube: @EdMarsh Show Transcript  Chapters 00:00 🧱 Perception Is Reality — Or Is It? 01:58 🔄 Why Smart Leaders Can't Pull the Trigger on Change 03:25 🗳️ The Political Polarization Analog 04:25 📚 Defining Absolute Truth, Epistemological Truth & Bias 06:35 🏭 11 Epistemological Truths Industrial Leaders Hold 08:59 🧠 Why You Can't Hold Two Contradictory Truths 11:26 ⚔️ The Sales Challenge: Competing Against Buyers' Truths 12:25 🛠️ Five Strategies to Navigate Epistemological Truths 15:41 💡 From Tactics to Transformation 16:48 🎯 Stop Convincing — Start Guiding