The Exit Five Podcast

413 | Anthony Pierri from Fletch PMM joins Dave to talk about what matters in B2B positioning and messaging. They break down how to think about value props, why buyers don’t care about your features, and what makes a homepage instantly click. Anthony shares lessons on positioning from working with hundreds of early-stage B2B SaaS companies and explains how to connect real customer problems to clear outcomes.Timestamps (00:00) - Why timeless marketing lessons still matter in the age of AI (01:21) - Meet Anthony Pierri, who fixes B2B startup homepages (06:49) - How to price positioning work for seed to Series A startups (14:40) - What a church job and a punk band taught him about B2B (18:01) - Why a tiny niche grows your LinkedIn audience faster (21:20) - A fill-in-the-blank framework for writing your value prop (28:47) - Early-stage startups need to answer “when,” not “why us” (32:36) - The #1 homepage mistake: Leading with vague outcomes (40:20) - What your homepage headline needs to say (45:08) - Clear beats clever on your homepage Join 50,0000 people who get The Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/***Brought to you by: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.Webflow: Webflow helps you get discovered in AI search and build fully custom sites without a developer, and its new Webflow Campaigns turns your brand system into on-brand landing pages and ads. Make your website your biggest growth engine in 2027 at webflow.com/exit-five.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.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.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.***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

#412 | We asked four B2B marketing leaders the same two questions: what’s your biggest win of 2026, and your biggest bet for 2027? At Drive, Dasha spoke with Casey Patterson (Snowflake) who explained how her ABM team sets off small “earthquakes” of AI change every week so they’re never blindsided by one big shakeup. Colin Kendall (SC&H) shared how a virtually unknown firm turned speaking at events into attributed revenue, and his bet on employee advocacy and personal branding for his leaders. Ross Simmonds (Foundation Marketing) named his proudest win – a team that runs, and outperforms him, without him – and bets on the return of in-person events. And Dave Gerhardt reflected on building the best Exit Five team yet and a refreshingly simple 2027 bet: keep raising the bar. Check out what these marketing leaders are saying about what worked and what’s next in B2B.Timestamps (00:00) - Intro: What’s your big bet for 2027? (00:50) - Dave Gerhardt’s biggest wins of 2026 (02:54) - Dave’s 2027 bet: Keep raising the bar on quality (03:54) - Ross Simmonds’ 2026 win: Building the Foundation team (05:02) - Ross’s 2027 bet: A surge in in-person events (05:46) - Casey Patterson’s 2026 win: Small AI “earthquakes” every week (07:18) - Casey’s 2027 bet: Automating and augmenting workflows (08:36) - Colin Kendall’s 2026 win: Turning events into attributed revenue (11:25) - Colin’s 2027 bet: Employee advocacy and personal branding (12:14) - Why leaders’ content has to be their own Join 50,0000 people who get The Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/***Brought to you by: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.Webflow: Webflow helps you get discovered in AI search and build fully custom sites without a developer, and its new Webflow Campaigns turns your brand system into on-brand landing pages and ads. Make your website your biggest growth engine in 2027 at webflow.com/exit-five.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.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.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.***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

#411 | Dave and Dasha go live with four B2B marketers to walk through ABM campaigns that sales ran - from account selection to pipeline. Joicee Lu, Account Based Marketing Manager at Snowflake, shares how personalized CMO video ads drove 3.3x engagement over static ads and VP+ meetings at 42% of targeted accounts. Jordan Voskuil, VP of Marketing at Amsive, explains how a “random acts of ABM” budget turned one warm intro into a 12-month, one-to-one play built around a single relationship. Jen Leaver, Senior Director of Demand Gen at Recurly, breaks down her “wake the dead” campaign, which reframed a lower-risk offer for closed-lost accounts and opened 20 new opportunities and $3.3M in pipeline in two quarters. Shawn White, Senior Lifecycle Marketing Manager at Lendio, shows how ungated gifts (custom AirPods plus a five-minute AI-generated podcast) turned $8K in spend into $300K in sourced pipeline and a 30% meeting rate with ice-cold accounts. Shawn also takes home the prize of this live session. All speakers also cover how to tier accounts with sales, why a real human beats an AI avatar, and how to pitch ABM internally as a small pilot. Listen in to this recording of our recent live session.Show notes:This live session is brought to you by Vector. Get their report on where ABM programs break down, based on a survey of 200+ marketers: The Reality of ABM Report (https://www.vector.co/guides-and-reports/reality-of-abm-report)The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes, the origin of the “dream 100”: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/300195/the-ultimate-sales-machine-by-chet-holmes-with-amanda-holmes-foreword-by-michael-gerber-notes-by-jay-conrad-levinson/9781591842156/Capsule, the video platform Snowflake is using to scale personalized intros: https://capsule.video/Claude, used by Recurly and Lendio for account research and briefs: https://claude.aiNotebookLM, used by Lendio to generate the five-minute account podcasts: https://notebooklm.google.comClay, used by Lendio to find and validate addresses: https://www.clay.comTimestamps (00:00) - Four ABM campaigns that got sales to run them (03:00) - Only 9% of marketers can prove their ABM is working (07:37) - Snowflake: personalized CMO video ads that got VP+ meetings at 42% of accounts (13:59) - Why a real human beats an AI avatar in ABM video (16:39) - Amsive: a "random acts of ABM" budget and a plan built as you go (23:06) - How to know when to ease off an account and when to push (25:28) - Recurly: winning back closed-lost accounts with a lower-risk offer (34:46) - Lendio: ungated gifting that turned $8K into $300K in pipeline (43:19) - The biggest ABM mistake: relying on tech without sales alignment (44:14) - How to get ABM approved: pitch it as a small pilot Join 50,0000 people who get The Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/***Brought to you by: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.Webflow: Webflow helps you get discovered in AI search and build fully custom sites without a developer, and its new Webflow Campaigns turns your brand system into on-brand landing pages and ads. Make your website your biggest growth engine in 2027 at webflow.com/exit-five.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.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.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.***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

#410 | Drive was an extremely popular B2B marketing event for three years straight - it sold out in 24 hours its first year and got 800+ people to come to Vermont. And we’re retiring it anyway. In this rare episode, Dan Murphy (CEO) and Dave Gerhardt (founder) take you behind the scenes of Exit Five’s event strategy and what we’re doing instead of Drive. You'll get a sneak peek into our next big bet: small, intimate events in cities like NYC, SF, Boston, Houston, and Toronto, plus an executive retreat. Dave and Dan also discuss Exit Five's origin story and its growth with no VC money. They also reminisce about the cold email that turned into Dan’s role as CEO. Finally, Dan shares how he runs Exit Five, why he doubled the team in 2026, and why AI won’t replace marketing jobs in the future.Timestamps (00:00) - Why we're retiring our super popular Drive Event (that once sold out in 24 hrs) (04:01) - What we're doing instead in 2027: intimate events in hub cities and an executive retreat (06:22) - Why we didn't turn Drive into a trade show (09:45) - How to know when to kill something that works (13:40) - The cold email that made Dan an accidental CEO (17:48) - Growing with no VC money and doubling the team in 2026 (18:59) - Dan's leadership hacks for running Exit Five (26:28) - Will AI replace marketing jobs? Dan's predictions Join 50,0000 people who get The Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/***Brought to you by: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.Webflow: Webflow helps you get discovered in AI search and build fully custom sites without a developer, and its new Webflow Campaigns turns your brand system into on-brand landing pages and ads. Make your website your biggest growth engine in 2027 at webflow.com/exit-five.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.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.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.***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

#409 | Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs and author of “Everybody Writes”, takes the Drive stage to make the case for slowing down in a marketing world built for speed. Using episode eight of a 1987 Mighty Mouse cartoon as her guide, she contrasts “cow mode” (fast, efficient, easy to measure) with “sloth mode” (slow, deliberate, harder to quantify). Ann argues that AI has scaled marketing’s cow energy as the job shifted from being seen to being chosen. She walks through her ASAP (as slow as possible) matrix for deciding when to move fast and when to slow down, and a “wallop tracker” that measures trust and resonance before a sale shows up. She illustrates her points with the story of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, where one marketer built a devoted following by choosing to matter more instead of mooing harder. Her throughline: when speed is cheap, judgment is what carries the premium.Timestamps: Join 50,0000 people who get The Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/***Brought to you by: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.Webflow: Webflow helps you get discovered in AI search and build fully custom sites without a developer, and its new Webflow Campaigns turns your brand system into on-brand landing pages and ads. Make your website your biggest growth engine in 2027 at webflow.com/exit-five.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.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.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.***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