Nathan Barry (founder of Kit, formerly ConvertKit) joins Tim Soulo to break down one of the boldest rebrands in SaaS, and why it wasn’t just a logo change, but a complete overhaul of identity, voice, and vision.

We talk:

• Why they spent $260K with a top agency (and what they actually got)

• How to design word-of-mouth marketing that actually works• Using AI to scale brand consistency

• The Minimum Viable Personal Brand for founders

• Building creator flywheels instead of chasing funnels

• What Kit learned from celebrity newsletters (Tom Brady, Dua Lipa, McConaughey…)

If you care about brand, growth, or building in public, this is the episode to watch.

00:00 - Intro

00:54 - Why spend $360K for a rebrand?

06:14 - Using AI to stay on brand

10:28 - Acquiring a three-letter domain

16:05 - Business decisions beyond immediate profit

21:26 - Turning a rebrand into a marketing flywheel

26:06 - You can’t script word of mouth. But you can feed it

32:56 - Customers as marketing assets

42:30 - Funnels vs flywheels and landing celebrity clients

53:45 - Delegating like a CEO (but still showing up)

1:00:32 - Outro

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend).

Where to find Nathan:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbarry/

X: @nathanbarry

Website: https://kit.com/

Where to find Tim:

LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/)

X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/

_______________

Referenced in this episode:

🔹 People

Tom Brady — Referenced in relation to Kit newsletter visibility

https://www.instagram.com/tombrady/

Patrick Campbell — Founder of ProfitWell (acquired by Paddle)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickccampbell/

https://twitter.com/pattyc

Dua Lipa — Musician and creator, newsletter launched via Kit

https://www.instagram.com/dualipa/

⸻

🔹 Companies / Products / Platforms

Kit — Formerly ConvertKit, platform for professional creatorshttps://kit.com/

Koto — Design agency behind Kit’s $260K rebrandhttps://koto.studio/

Ahrefs — All-in-one SEO and marketing platform

https://ahrefs.com/

ProfitWell — Subscription analytics and retention toolhttps://www.profitwell.com/

Paddle — SaaS payment infrastructure company (acquired ProfitWell)

https://www.paddle.com/

Creator Network — Kit’s recommendation and newsletter growth engine

https://kit.com/features/creator-network

⸻

🔹 Books / Concepts“Do Things That Don’t Scale” — Paul Graham (essay from Y Combinator)

https://www.paulgraham.com/ds.html

Ahrefs Podcast

Host: Tim Soulo

Podcast Producer: Michelle Lindner

Intro Storyboard: Michelle Lindner

Intro Video Lead: George Dolgikh

Intro Video Animations: Ilya Yakymchuck

Filmed at: Content HQ, Miami

#branding #rebranding #marketing #emailmarketing #Kit #ConvertKit #domainnames #customerengagement #storytelling #businessstrategy #marketingstrategies #creatorplatforms #abtesting #directsales #networkeffects #teamprocesses #founderpassion

Everyone’s talking about AI in marketing. But most of it is hype, fluff, or screenshots of ChatGPT doing something useless. This episode is different.

Gael Breton ( ⁨@AuthorityHackerPodcast⁩ ) shows the real systems he’s using to replace time-wasting tasks, write high-performing content, and ship more work, without losing quality.

We’re talking about AI workflows that actually work in a lean, fast-moving marketing team.

We cover:

(00:00) Intro

(01:35) AI in marketing is broken. Here's how to fix it.

(03:22) Use Gemini to uncover B2B AI opportunities

(05:57) Why content still matters in the age of AI agents

(09:03) Auto-generate podcasts and deep research summaries

(11:27) Research video libraries with NotebookLLM

(15:31) Tim’s evolving take on AI-generated content

(18:43) Use AI to write high-engagement newsletters

(26:48) Feedback, refinement, and keeping AI content human

(31:33) Smarter, not spammy: Using AI like a creative calculator

(41:20) AI agents + MCP server to automate SEO tasks

(47:18:07) Outro

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend).

Where to find Gael:

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/gael-breton-78305118⁠

X: @GaelBreton

Website: https://www.authorityhacker.com/

Where to find Tim:

LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/)X: @timsoulo

Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

_______________

Referenced in this episode:

Ahrefs – https://ahrefs.com/

Authority Hacker – https://www.authorityhacker.com/

Gemini (Google AI) – https://deepmind.google/technologies/gemini/

Claude (Anthropic) – https://claude.ai/

NotebookLM – https://notebooklm.google/

Perplexity AI – https://www.perplexity.ai/

Firecrawl – https://www.firecrawl.dev/

Make.com – https://www.make.com/

n8n – https://n8n.io/

CapCut – https://www.capcut.com/

Opus Pro – https://www.opus.pro/

Notion AI – https://www.notion.so/product/ai

Buffer – https://buffer.com/

_______________

Ahrefs Podcast

Host: Tim SouloPodcast

Producer: Michelle Lindner

Intro Storyboard: Tim Soulo

Intro Video Lead: George Dolgikh

Intro Video Animations: Ilya Yakymchuck

Filmed with:  ⁨@Riversidefm⁩ 

#ai, #automation, #businessscaling, #technology, #entrepreneurship, #saas, #innovation, #brand, #contentcreation, #marketingstrategies, #businessgrowth, #aiworkflow, #aicontentcreation

What if your business could run itself...and actually get better over time? In this episode, we sit down with Amos Bar-Joseph, founder of Swan AI, to explore the future of autonomous business and what it means for marketers and SaaS founders. Amos shares how Swan is rethinking onboarding, support, and user engagement through the dynamic of human-AI collaboration.

From automation and content creation to go-to-market strategy and brand-building, this conversation unpacks the real potential (and limits) of AI as it reshapes how we build, grow, and support products.

We cover:

(0:00) Intro

(01:18) Can 3 founders scale to $30M ARR with AI?

(02:51) Automation is dead. Augmentation is the future.

(04:59) Why they said no to Intercom and built their own AI

(09:31) How support works when AI reads your docs

(11:44) Teaching AI like a teammate (not a tool)

(14:19) Could you build this with no-code?

(17:10) The only moats left: brand and user experience

(25:33) AI-led onboarding that starts without you

(28:40) Why high-intent leads skip the free trial

(34:21) How they turned LinkedIn into a pipeline engine

(39:41) Detecting ICPs in real time with AI agents

(44:12) Writing bangers on LinkedIn with Claude

(49:56) When AI freedom crashes your margins

(55:05) AI-powered research, outreach, and follow-up all in Slack

(1:07:41) What they’re automating next (and why)

(1:10:33) Why AI still sucks at web design

(1:13:25) Outro

------------------------------------------------

Where to find Amos:

LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amos-bar-joseph-5a665a142/)

Website: https://www.getswan.com/Where to find

Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/)

X: @timsoulo

Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

------------------------------------------------

Referenced in this episode:

🏢 Companies & Products

Intercom – “Fin” AI assistant: https://www.intercom.com

6sense (Lead & intent data platform) : https://6sense.com

HubSpot (CRM): https://www.hubspot.com

Slack: https://slack.com

Claude (Anthropic AI): https://www.anthropic.com/index/claude

ChatGPT (OpenAI): https://chat.openai.com

Gemini (Google AI): https://gemini.google.com

⸻

🛠️ AI, Automation & No-Code Tools

Anthropic (Claude models): https://www.anthropic.com

OpenAI (GPT models): https://openai.com

N8n (No-code automation platform): https://n8n.io

Relevance AI: https://relevance.ai

Make (formerly Integromat – automation platform): https://www.make.com

Unipile (LinkedIn scraping and automation): https://www.unipile.com

Generect (Real-time B2B data enrichment): https://generect.com

Apollo (Alternative B2B database tool): https://www.apollo.io

Lovable (No-code app builder): https://lovable.dev/

Bubble (No-code app builder): https://bubble.io

#ai, #automation, #swann, #customersupport, #humanaicollaboration, #businessscaling, #technology, #entrepreneurship, #saas, #innovation, #brand, #userexperience, #onboarding, #customerengagement, #contentcreation, #autonomousbusiness, #linkedin, #gotomarket, #websitevisitoridentification, #aiautonomy, #marketingstrategies, #businessgrowth

As the creator of The Marketing Meetup, Joe Glover has built one of the most popular, respected, and emotionally resonant communities in the industry.

In this episode, he shares a refreshingly human take on community building, leadership, and the kind of cultural values that drive real engagement—both online and off.

Explore in this episode:

(00:00) Intro

(01:41) How do you know if you have a community

(04:20) What exactly IS a community

(11:37) Community is NOT a sales channel

(21:36) Don’t build a community; build a culture

(29:58) Finding the sprouts of community culture

(37:44) Getting people to keep coming back

(44:59) Can a community continue without its founder?

(58:04) Why is TMM an Events Company vs a Media Company(

01:02:21) Promoting events(

01:05:32) The role of storytelling in community

(01:07:47) The purposefully planning behind the first TMM conference

(01:10:51) The power of good (and bad) networking events

(01:23:57) Mobilizing a team of event organizers

(01:29:34) The 10 magic moments essential for event success

(01:36:34) Baiting Ryan Reynolds to join TMM

(01:38:43) Outro

------------------------------------------------

Where to find Joe: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/josepheglover/)

Website: https://themarketingmeetup.com/

Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/)

X: @timsoulo

Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

------------------------------------------------

Referenced in this episode:

👤 People Mentioned

Dave Gerhardt (Founder of Exit Five)LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davegerhardt/)

Website: https://www.exitfive.com

Crystal Carter (Head of SEO Communications at Wix)

LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystalcarterseo/)

Kelvin Newman (Founder of BrightonSEO)

LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelvinnewman/)

Event: https://brightonseo.com

#mentalhealth, #communitybuilding, #marketing, #selfawareness, #culture, #followership, #emotionalconnection, #communitydynamics, #community, #events, #culturalvalues, #engagement, #leadership, #storytelling, #humanexperience, #networking, #onlineevents, #eventplanning, #ai, #personalbranding, #localorganizers, #valueexchange, #generosity

Louis Grenier has built a reputation for calling bullsh*t on conventional marketing. In this episode, he delivers sharp, unfiltered insights on what it really takes to stand out in saturated markets. As the founder of Stand The F*ck Out and host of Everyone Hates Marketers, Louis breaks down why most branding efforts fail, how to create a truly unique positioning, and what marketers get wrong about differentiation and audience engagement.

Discover:

(00:00) Intro

(00:57) Parental advisory

(03:24) How do you know if your positioning is bad?

(07:02) Positiong vs product-market fit

(16:00) Step 1: Insight foraging

(40:02) Step 2: Unique positioning

(56:36) Step 3: Creating a distinctive brand

(1:12:59) Step 4: Continuous reach

(1:36:17) The book that cost him $36,000

(1:48:02) Outro

------------------------------------------------

Where to find Louis:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisgrenier/

Website: https://www.stfo.io/

Where to find Tim:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/

X: @timsoulo

Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

-----------------------------------------------

Referenced in this episode:

👤 People

Seth Godin

Website: https://www.sethgodin.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethgodin/

Gary Vaynerchuk

Website: https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyvaynerchuk/

Neil Patel

Website: https://neilpatel.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilkpatel/

Jason Hennessey

Website: https://www.jasonhennessey.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonhennessey/

David C. Baker

Website: https://www.davidcbaker.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidcbaker/

Martin Neumeier

Website: https://www.martinneumeier.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinneumeier/

⸻

🏢 Companies & Podcasts

Hotjar

https://www.hotjar.com

Everyone Hates Marketers Podcast

https://www.everyonehatesmarketers.com

Duolingo

https://www.duolingo.com

Ryanair

https://www.ryanair.com

Dentsu

https://www.dentsu.com

VaynerMedia

https://www.vaynermedia.com

NP Digital

https://npdigital.com

Hennessey Digital

https://www.hennessey.com

HubSpot

https://www.hubspot.com

Compare the Market (UK)

https://www.comparethemarket.com

⸻

📚 Books

Stand the Fck Out* by Louis Grenier

https://link.stfo.io/amazon

The Business of Expertise by David C. Baker

https://www.amazon.com/Business-Expertise-Entrepreneurs-Firms-Clients/dp/1605440590

Zag by Martin Neumeier

https://www.amazon.com/Zag-Strategy-High-Performance-Voices-Matter/dp/0321426770

How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp

https://www.amazon.com/How-Brands-Grow-What-Marketers/dp/0195573560

What does it really take to drive scalable, data-informed growth in today’s competitive marketing landscape?

In this episode, we sit down with Tim Dalrymple — former Head of Growth Marketing at Notion and Director of Growth at Webflow — to unpack how elite teams are rethinking attribution, customer acquisition, and product-led growth from the ground up.

Tim shares lessons from leading marketing at two of the most iconic product-led brands and offers a clear-eyed look at how to build growth systems that actually move the needle. Whether you’re deep into performance marketing or looking to sharpen your measurement strategy, this conversation brings sharp insights into everything from SEO and user-generated content to ethical marketing and AI-driven decision-making.

Discover:

(0:00) Intro

(1:29) What is growth marketing (and how it differs from brand marketing)

(6:55) Where growth marketing sits on the org chart

(10:40) Tracking view-through conversions through YouTube

(20:20) Geolift tests: why you want them and how to do them

(23:34) Why platforms claim attribution

(26:57) Bidding on branded keywords

(31:25) Performance marketing on social media

(35:58) Who owns campaign ideation

(38:09) Creating brand videos

(47:39) SEO at Notion and Webflow

(51:22) Linkbuilding at Notion and Webflow

(54:18) Using agencies to forge channels

(56:27) The AI growth marketing co-worker

(01:03:43) Scaling growth at Roadway

(01:11:51) Outro

_______________________________________

Where to find Tim Dalrymple:

LinkedIn

Website

Where to find Tim Soulo:

LinkedIn

Website

-------------------------

Referenced:

Sean Ellis

Brian Balfour

Reforge - The Growth Series

Bryant Chou (Webflow Co-founder)

Monday.com

Tableau

Recast

Eppo

Rand Fishkin

Bruno Clay

Product Fit Article

Misha Vaughn

Graphite

Clay

Borko Kovacevic is the co-founder of Poddster, a fast-growing podcast studio network with locations in Dubai and Singapore, with upcoming locations in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Borko is also the co-founder of podcast operations software, Podyx.

In this episode, Borko shares the behind-the-scenes story of building Poddster, the trends shaping podcasting today, and what it really takes to create a podcast that drives business results.

What you’ll learn:

1. Why podcasting is shifting from audio-only to video—and how YouTube is winning the game

2. How businesses and creators approach podcasts differently (and why only 5% of Poddster’s clients are full-time creators)

3. The biggest mistakes businesses make when starting a podcast—and why “interesting guests” aren’t enough

4. Why every small business owner needs to be a content creator in today’s world

5. The role of trust and authenticity in podcasting—and how mainstream media’s decline has fueled the format’s growth

6. The untold challenges of podcasting (hint: it’s way harder than it looks)

7. Why podcasting is the ultimate networking hack—and how it can be used as a business development tool

8. How production quality impacts discoverability and engagement

9. The surprising reasons 99% of podcasts don’t make it past 20 episodes

10. Much more

In this episode: (0:00) Intro

(1:25) Why podcasting is the wave of the future

(5:05) Who is podcasting?

(10:58) Creator vs business podcasting

(16:18) Motivations and goals behind business podcasts

(34:53) What makes a good podcast or podcast episode

(41:37) Common challenges in podcasting

(53:40) Zoom vs in-person interviews

(1:03:35) Different podcast strategies

(1:08:37) Types of podcasts

(1:16:12) How to market a podcast

(1:35:34) The benefits of video studios beyond podcasting

(1:38:31) Where to find quality studios

(1:46:47) Outro

Where to find Borko

LinkedIn

Poddster

Podyx

Where to find Tim

LinkedIn

X

Website

ReferencedMagnus Grimeland: https://youtu.be/6dNFsSWcQFY

Nir Eyal:  @nirandfar 

Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary Vee):  @garyvee 

Lex Fridman:  @lexfridman 

Joe Rogan:  @joerogan 

Scott Galloway (Prof G):  @TheProfGPod 

Steven Bartlett"  @TheDiaryOfACEO 

Tom Bilyeu:  @TomBilyeu 

Meet Magnus Grimeland - the founder and CEO of Antler - a one BILLION dollar venture capital firm dedicated to investing in startups at the earliest stages.

As of today, Antler has invested in over 14 hundred companies, making it the largest day-zero investor in the world. And they have an audacious goal to invest in 6 thousand companies before 2030.

In this episode, you'll learn:

(0:00) Intro

(02:36) Why are people more important than ideas? 

(06:04) Examples of iterating on ideas

(19:17) Hipster, Hacker, Hustler vs. Spike, Drive, Grit

(29:22) Can marketers be good founders

(34:39) Soft skills vs hard skills

(39:03) The role of marketing in zero-day investments

(46:07) What do experts get out of advising zero-day startups? 

(53:45) Borrowing other people’s platforms

(1:00:54) The first marketing steps for any startup

(1:05:42) Building a brand

(1:15:27) Founder brand vs. building local networks

(1:22:03) How Antler gets referrals

(1:29:52) Why VC firms don’t use SEO

(1:37:33) How Antler decides who to invest in

(1:40:06) Outro

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend).

Where to find Magnus:

LinkedIn

Website

Where to find Tim:

LinkedIn

X

Website

-------------------------

Referenced:

• Zalora

• Lion

• Basket of goods

• G&A

_______________

Ahrefs Podcast

Host: Tim Soulo

Podcast Producer: Michelle Lindner

Intro Storyboard: Michelle Lindner & Tim Soulo

Intro Video Lead: George Dolgikh

Intro Video Animations: Ilya Yakymchuck

Filmed at:  @PoddsterSingapore 

What's the key to creating a viral marketing campaign? Meet Delbert Ty, CMO at Coffee Meets Bagel, a popular dating app that sets itself apart by courting only those interested in serious relationships.

And even before that he worked at Procter & Gamble, where he was responsible for such well-known brands as Duracell, Tide & Pantene.

During his time at these companies Delbert has pulled off quite a few hilarious creative marketing campaigns.

Some of them failed, but others brought lots of new customers and tons of brand awareness.

In our interview, we discussed quite a few of Delbert's viral campaigns and tried to deconstruct what made them successful and how you could replicate that success.

In this episode:

(0:00) Intro

(02:17) Three biggest marketing campaigns


(06:44) Vandalizing a billboard

(11:10) Buying out telco contracts (failed)

(13:10) Coffee Meets Bagel tells users to leave

(16:30) "Free money" from a vending machine

(25:01) The cost (not in $$$) of viral campaigns

(30:10) Courage in viral marketing

(35:43) Setting objectives for viral campaigns

(41:13) Measuring the impact of viral campaigns


(47:20) When bad ideas are actually good ideas

(55:23) Structural elements of a viral campaign

(01:15:07) Physical vs digital creative marketing

(1:22:20) Split between creative marketing and other tasks

(1:24:01) Is viral marketing only for consumer brands?

(1:28:10) Why certain campaigns fail

(1:38:00) The difference between celebrity and brand


(1:47:25) Using AI for creative marketing

(01:51:42) Outro

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend).

Where to find Delbert:

LinkedIn

Website

Where to find Tim:

LinkedIn

X

Website

-------------------------

Referenced:

Coffee Meets Bagel  @CoffeeMBagel 

Circles.life  @circleslifesg 

Calm app  @calm 

Kanye Super Bowl ad

Coinbase Super Bowl ad

Old Spice  @oldspice 

Drake "God's Plan" music video

Lenny’s Podcast with Lulu Cheng Meservey

Lulu Cheng Meservey

Supermensch

Shep Gordon

Data is Beautiful subreddit

WePay/PayPal stunt

Dan Price/Gravity Payments wages

Coffeezilla:  @Coffeezilla 

Paris Hilton for SodaStream

_______________

Ahrefs Podcast

Host: Tim Soulo

Podcast Producer: Michelle Lindner

Intro Storyboard: Michelle Lindner & Tim Soulo

Intro Video Lead: George Dolgikh

Intro Video Animations: Ilya Yakymchuk

Filmed at: Poddster Studios (Singapore)

Early-stage marketing can be full of challenges, but what if there were a playbook to follow?

Meet Madhav Bhandari, first marketing hire at Hubstaff and one of the first marketers at Close.io, and Weflow, all of which he helped to cross $10M+ in ARR.

He's currently the CMO of Storylane, where he has helped grow their ARR by 250% in 2024 alone.

In other words, Madhav has pretty much mastered the art of scaling SaaS companies from $5M to $15M+ ARR.

Here's what you'll learn in this episode:

(00:00) Intro


(1:01) Early-stage marketing playbook


(12:25) Why Madhav only scales to $15M

(15:42) The average tenure for a CMO

(19:50) The ideal CEO/CMO fit

(26:46) Earning your CEO’s trust

(36:01) Employee advocacy as a marketing tool

(49:10) Easing friction by bringing community together (Demo Days)

(56:16) Creativity in community awards (Demo Dundies)(1:05:40) 10xing traffic in 6 months through demo-led SEO(

1:13:36) Hot take on backlinks

(1:15:41) Strategies for growing a brand

(1:24:08) Defining and codifying a brand

(1:31:20) When rebranding makes sense

(1:34:18) Founder brand vs company brand

(1:40:50) Is testing multiple tactics in a short period of time a good idea?

(1:45:17) The best channels for early stage founders

(1:47:47) Fixing burnout in marketing

(1:52:45) Outro

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend).

Where to find Madhav:

LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/madhavbhandari/)

Website: https://earlystagemarketing.com/

Where to find Tim:

LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/)

X: @timsoulo

Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

-------------------------

Referenced:

• Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com

• Canva: https://www.canva.com

• Notion: https://www.notion.so

• HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com

• Slack: https://slack.com

• Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com

• Hubstaff: https://hubstaff.com

• Close: https://close.com

• Weflow: https://www.getweflow.com