Brilliantly Wrong: Marketing. Creativity. Startups.

In this episode, Alex Stonehouse sits down with Amber Winter, former CEO of Web Courseworks and current Chief Revenue Officer at SuiteDynamics, to explore how trust-based leadership drives sustainable business growth. From scaling a company from $3M to $9M in annual revenue to successfully leading a business through a merger, Amber shares her unique journey across marketing, sales, and executive leadership positions. She reveals how transparent communication, deliberate delegation, and strategic team-building create the foundation for accelerated revenue growth.

• Amber's transition from aspiring veterinarian to marketing professional and eventual CEO

• How focusing on recurring revenue helped Web Courseworks triple in size

• The challenges and rewards of building an executive leadership team

• Navigating company acquisition while prioritizing both clients and employees

• Balancing perfectionism with progress in a growth environment

• Creating complementary leadership dynamics that amplify company strengths

• Leveraging professional services expertise to build stronger software products

In this episode, Alexander Stonehouse interviews Bernadette Van Gieson, Growth Marketing Manager at Stories Inc., about the power of authentic storytelling in marketing and employer branding. Bernadette shares insights from her experience helping global brands bring their workplace culture to life through employee stories and discusses how storytelling builds trust, creates emotional connections, and makes content more memorable.

• Stories are 22 times more memorable than statistics alone, making storytelling the most effective communication medium

• Authentic employee stories build trust with candidates by providing real examples of workplace culture

• The most effective employer branding strategies align internal and external communications across the employee lifecycle

• In a noisy digital landscape, focus on creating content that genuinely adds value to your audience

• For marketers on small teams: identify your strengths, seek feedback, and find alignment between personal passions and brand voice

Brilliantly Wrong is a StartUp Marketer podcast for marketers, founders, creatives, and anyone willing to embrace risk for extraordinary outcomes. Alex Stonehouse and his guests regularly dive deep into the art and science of marketing, startup growth, creativity, and mastery from a perspective that challenges the conventional.

Visit www.thestartupmarketer.com to learn more and be part of the community.

In this episode, Alex Stonehouse sits down with Matt Vanderlinden and Chris Vanderlinden, founders of Detonator, to discuss their journey from creative collaborators to brand storytelling specialists.

Highlighted Topics: 

• Origin Story: How two brothers with backgrounds in copywriting and cinematography joined forces to tell authentic brand stories 

• Creative Process: The art of selecting perfect voiceovers, crafting soundtracks that drive narrative, and creating memorable visual compositions 

• Art & Marketing: Exploring the meaningful parallels between artistic expression and effective brand communication 

• Taking Calculated Risks: Why the most impactful brand content often requires stepping outside comfort zones 

• B2B vs B2C Communication: Breaking down the misconception that business marketing can't be emotional or compelling 

• The Client Relationship: How Detonator adapts to different client needs while maintaining creative integrity 

• Starting Points: Advice for early-stage companies looking to establish their brand story and visual identity

Whether you're an early-stage startup or an established company looking to refresh your brand narrative, the Vanderlinden brothers offer valuable insights on creating content that resonates with authenticity and purpose.

Brilliantly Wrong is a StartUp Marketer podcast for marketers, founders, creatives, and anyone willing to embrace risk for extraordinary outcomes. Alex Stonehouse and his guests regularly dive deep into the art and science of marketing, startup growth, creativity, and mastery from a perspective that challenges the conventional.

Visit www.thestartupmarketer.com to learn more and be part of the community.

Host Alex Stonehouse sits down with product marketing expert Christine Moore to demystify the often misunderstood world of product marketing. Christine, with her background transitioning from publishing to tech, offers valuable insights on what product marketing truly entails, how it differs across organizations, and practical strategies for success in this dynamic field.

The discussion covers everything from effectively managing cross-functional relationships to conducting meaningful research and leveraging AI tools. Whether you're considering a career in product marketing or looking to enhance your current approach, this episode provides a comprehensive look at the challenges and rewards of this critical business function.

• Defining Product Marketing: Christine breaks down what product marketing is (and isn't), explaining how it "exists to drive both growth and retention by delivering the right product to the right audience using the right message."
• The Circle of Influence: How product marketers serve as the "connective tissue" between product, sales, customer success, and marketing teams.
• Research Strategies: The importance of competitive research, win/loss analysis, and customer conversations - particularly with churned customers.
• Product Launches: Why launches matter and the strategic value of both introducing and sunsetting features.
• From Publishing to Product Marketing: Christine's personal journey from book publishing to product management and eventually product marketing.
• Small Company vs. Large Company Experience: The contrast between working at established corporations and smaller, more agile companies.
• Challenging the Status Quo: The value of questioning "why do we do things this way?" and how to effectively drive change.
• Leveraging AI in Product Marketing: Practical applications of AI tools for research, content creation, and streamlining repetitive tasks.
• Common Misconceptions: Why product marketing isn't just sales enablement or "making slides pretty."
• Career Advice: Insights for professionals considering or new to product marketing careers.

On this episode of Brilliantly Wrong, host Alex Stonehouse is joined by Caitlin Bartley, CEO and Founder of cred, an event impact agency that has helped over 200 thought leaders share their voices across thousands of global stages. shares her entrepreneurial journey from competitive athlete to successful agency founder. Together, they discuss:

• Why Caitlin started her business, and how she’s grown it over the past decade.

• Her decision to bootstrap and grow without venture capital investments.

• The importance of saying “yes” as an entrepreneur and business leader

• Much, much more.

Founded in 2015, cred has grown from a solo operation to a team of now 22, specializing in strategic speaker programs and event management. Under Caitlin's leadership, the bootstrapped agency has maintained an impressive 50% four-year employee retention rate while revolutionizing how companies build thought leadership through events.

A former Division I soccer player, she brings the same competitive drive and resilience to entrepreneurship that shaped her athletic career.

Before founding cred, Caitlin led marketing at LiveRamp where she helped create RampUp, now a cornerstone event in the MarTech industry. Caitlin also serves as the entrepreneurship liaison for Women of Dartmouth and recently managed speaker programming for the inaugural TEDxAI conference, continuing her mission to elevate diverse voices and perspectives in technology and business.

Brilliantly Wrong is a StartUp Marketer podcast for marketers, founders, creatives, and anyone willing to embrace risk for extraordinary outcomes. Alex Stonehouse and his guests regularly dive deep into the art and science of marketing, startup growth, creativity, and mastery from a perspective that challenges the conventional. Visit www.thestartupmarketer.com to learn more and be part of the community.

The days of a clueless buyer who needs to be educated from scratch are long gone! Modern B2B buyers come armed with research, reviews, and comparisons before they ever talk to Sales.

The question is - how are Marketing and Sales teams adapting?

In this episode, Alex Stonehouse sat down with veteran sales leaders Matt Harpold and Nate Scherer to explore how successful Go-To-Market teams are evolving to meet buyers where they are.

Primary topics include:

• Why sharing product specs and pricing transparency online is no longer optional 

• How to personalize outreach for C-suite buyers who get hundreds of emails daily

• Why small GTM teams often have advantages in staying nimble

• How Marketing and Sales can build mutually beneficial relationships

• Using AI strategically to enhance communication and prioritize the work that matters

In this solo episode of Brilliantly Wrong, host Alex Stonehouse dives into three critical topics shaping the future of startup marketing:

Is a startup the right move for your marketing career?

Startups offer a unique blend of challenges and rewards, but they aren’t for everyone. In this episode, I break down the 5 Ws (and 1 H) for marketers considering a leap into the startup world.

Whether you’re a curious newbie or a seasoned marketer craving a fresh challenge, this episode is packed with insights to help you decide if startup life is your next big move.

#MarketingCareers #Startups #Podcast #Growth

If you aren’t embracing the “Younger Brother Mentality” it’s time to start now! 

In Originals by Adam Grant, he shares a striking stat: younger brothers in pro baseball are 10.6X more likely to attempt stealing a base and 3.2X more likely to succeed than their older siblings.

Why? They’re purposeful risk-takers. Not reckless—but rather wired to take calculated chances. They have a fundamentally different approach to risk than their older brothers. And because they are constantly seeking opportunities to steal, they find more good ones and are more successful.

Startup leaders and marketers are the "younger brothers" of the business world. To thrive, we take bold, unconventional moves that lead to outsized success. Whether it’s a daring product launch or a risky-but-rewarding campaign, staying safe means staying stuck.

Play it safe, and you stay on first base. Take the calculated risk. It’s worth it.

#Startups #Marketing #Leadership #Innovation #Risk #Creativity 

In this enlightening episode of Brilliantly Wrong, we're joined by dynamic Sales leader, Dustin Posey. Dustin shares how he ventured into the world of sales and quickly discovered his knack for it, setting the stage for a series of transformative roles. 

During his time at Sunpro, his career blossomed in lockstep with the company’s revenue growth, scaling to incredible heights. 

Dustin provides an insider's view on the unique hurdles of the solar industry, what technologies he prefers for sales and CRM, and his proud moments during Sunpro’s rapid growth.  We also explore Sunpro’s sale to global security giant, ADT, along with his current focus as the founder of PV Elite, shedding light on the evolving interplay between sales and marketing and the impact of new technologies like generative AI on sales enablement.

Don’t miss our discussion on the philosophy of being "Brilliantly Wrong" — where Dustin shares personal anecdotes about taking bold risks that defy conventional wisdom. This episode is a treasure trove for anyone looking to step into sales or navigate the complexities of a growth-stage company.

Tune in for an episode filled with practical wisdom, inspiring stories, and Dustin’s invaluable advice for aspiring sales professionals.