Grown on LinkedIn

Meiling Tan, SVP of Marketing & Communications at Care.com and former founding head of marketing at Waymo, joins Caitlin Bigelow to unpack how brands build trust, grab attention, and create content for both people and AI search.

Meiling breaks down Care.com’s sandwich generation campaign, from original research on caregivers supporting both children and aging loved ones to a giant inflatable sandwich in New York City. She shares how the team brought that research into PR, social content, YouTube, and creator partnerships. The conversation also covers lessons from introducing self-driving cars at Waymo, why consistent messaging matters, and how useful content can support both brand building and visibility in AI search.

What you'll learn: how to turn customer insights into a memorable campaign, why original research gives you more to work with across channels, how to create content that answers questions people ask AI, and how smaller marketing teams can find attention-grabbing ideas with limited resources.

Guest: Meiling Tan — https://www.linkedin.com/in/meilingt/

Learn more about Blazel — https://blazel.com

Follow Grown On LinkedIn by Blazel for new episodes every week.

Joseph Lee, founder of Superdemo, joins Caitlin Bigelow to unpack the SaaS marketing and product-led growth strategy that took Superdemo to more than 200,000 users with a lean team and almost no traditional sales motion.

Joseph breaks down how founder-led content, YouTube, programmatic SEO, free tools, and product-led distribution became the foundation of Superdemo's growth while staying capital efficient. The conversation also covers why brand is becoming a stronger competitive advantage than features, how founders should think about distribution in the AI era, and why authenticity consistently outperforms polished marketing.

What you'll learn: how Superdemo grew to 200K+ users with a product-led approach, why founder-led content is now essential for SaaS growth, how YouTube and programmatic SEO create durable distribution, and what makes software defensible as AI changes the competitive landscape.

Guest: Joseph Lee — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jhylee/ 

Learn more about Blazel —  https://blazel.com

Follow Grown On LinkedIn by Blazel for new episodes every week.

Dave Gerhardt, founder of Exit Five, joins Caitlin Bigelow to unpack why AI-generated content is about to flood the internet, and why distribution has become a bigger competitive advantage than content production itself.

Dave shares his three-step framework for building a distribution engine that drives revenue, why community shapes every successful marketing strategy, and why most employee advocacy programs fail. The conversation also covers how personal branding creates opportunities far beyond social media, and why research and originality matter more than publishing at scale.

What you'll learn: Dave's three-step distribution framework, why AI-generated content could "kill the internet" and what replaces it, how personal branding drives real business opportunities, and how to build a distribution system that compounds long after you hit publish.

Guest: Dave Gerhardt — https://www.linkedin.com/in/davegerhardt/ 

Learn more about Blazel — https://blazel.com

Follow Grown On LinkedIn by Blazel for new episodes every week.

Amanda Natividad, Chief Evangelist at SparkToro and creator of the term "Zero Click Marketing," joins Caitlin Bigelow to explain why 59% of Google searches now end without a click, and why marketing strategies built around driving traffic may already be outdated.

Amanda unpacks why marketers should stop measuring success by clicks alone, how AI is changing search behavior, and why SEO, GEO, and AEO are dominating marketing conversations. The conversation also covers how to build an authentic voice that AI can't replicate, and why leading indicators matter more than website traffic.

What you'll learn: what Zero Click Marketing is and why Amanda predicted the shift years early, the difference between SEO, GEO, and AEO and what to prioritize, how LinkedIn's algorithm rewards native content over external links, and how SparkToro builds demand without relying on website visits.

Guest: Amanda Natividad — https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandanat/ 

Zero Click Marketing —  https://zeroclickmarketing.co/ 

Learn more about Blazel — https://blazel.com

Follow Grown On LinkedIn by Blazel for new episodes every week.

Ariel Rubin, VP Content at Air, joins Caitlin Bigelow to break down what actually makes brand marketing work in 2026, and why the best creative work almost always comes from constraints, not budget.

Before Air, Ariel generated 96 million impressions on Twitter for a midwest gas station chain, Kum & Go. In this episode, he unpacks the Webby-winning campaign that came from the "stupidest idea in the room," the eight-day turnaround behind an India Super Bowl activation with a Bollywood icon, and why brand is the only real moat in a world where AI can replicate almost everything else.

What you'll learn: why constraints produce better creative work than big budgets, how a midwest gas station became a viral Twitter brand, why earned attention beats paid attention, and what actually makes creative teams do their best work.

Guest: Ariel Rubin — https://www.linkedin.com/in/arieljrubin/

Learn more about Blazel — https://blazel.com

Follow Grown On LinkedIn by Blazel for new episodes every week.

Renée Shaw, Head of Brand and Social at tl;dv, joins Caitlin Bigelow to explain how she generated 8.5 to 9 million impressions last year on LinkedIn with no media budget, no editor, and no formal content strategy.

Renée shares her chaos scheduling method, why intentional imperfection drives some of the highest engagement on LinkedIn, and how she built humor into B2B content without a traditional creative background. The conversation also covers how different LinkedIn audiences (engineers, marketers, salespeople) engage in completely different ways, and why low-fi, unpolished video consistently outperforms high-production content in B2B.

What you'll learn: the chaos scheduling method for content that doesn't burn you out, how to build humor into B2B marketing, why intentional mistakes can outperform polished posts, and why low-fi video consistently beats high-production content on LinkedIn.

Guest: Renée Shaw — https://www.linkedin.com/in/reneeeshaw/ 

Learn more about Blazel — https://blazel.com

Follow Grown On LinkedIn by Blazel for new episodes every week.

Peter Walker, Head of Insights at Carta, joins Caitlin Bigelow to unpack the content system behind 28 million organic LinkedIn impressions, built with a 3-person team and zero ad spend.

Peter shares his "atoms before reports" approach: publishing charts and data points first, then building long-form content only once audience demand is proven. The conversation also covers the private-channel "dark funnel," why posting to crickets for months can be a sign of long-term momentum, and how Peter pitched (and won) a role at Carta by building a public portfolio before he was hired.

What you'll learn: how to build atomic, data-led content that spreads in private channels and drives real pipeline, why cycle time matters more than likes, how to turn raw data into stories people share, and how to measure organic ROI without proprietary data.

Guest: Peter Walker — https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterjameswalker/ 

Learn more about Blazel — https://blazel.com

Follow Grown On LinkedIn by Blazel for new episodes every week.

Olivia O'Sullivan, General Partner at Forum Ventures, joins Caitlin Bigelow to explain how she grew Forum's inbound deal flow from zero to more than 6,000 startup pitches a year using LinkedIn.

Olivia unpacks why storytelling has become one of the most valuable skills for founders raising capital, how consistent content builds credibility before the first conversation with an investor, and why traditional fundraising playbooks are becoming less effective. The conversation also covers why low-engagement posts often drive the biggest business outcomes, and how to write cold outreach that investors actually respond to.

What you'll learn: why investors check your LinkedIn before opening your pitch deck, the two-week LinkedIn challenge that built Forum's inbound engine, how storytelling helps founders attract talent and capital, and why building in public creates trust before your first meeting.

Guest: Olivia O'Sullivan — https://www.linkedin.com/in/oosuli/ 

Learn more about Blazel —  https://blazel.com

Follow Grown On LinkedIn by Blazel for new episodes every week.

Josh Lowman, founder of Gold Front, the San Francisco agency behind 11 unicorn companies including Stripe and Uber, joins Caitlin Bigelow to unpack how LinkedIn became the growth engine that generated $1.2M in pipeline in just six weeks.

Josh shares the "Comment X for Y" framework that produced more than 5,000 comments on a single post, why cold email stopped working and what founders should focus on instead, and how category design helps founders become the obvious choice in a crowded market. The conversation also covers how Gold Front booked 18 qualified meetings on the first day of a product launch without spending on ads.

What you'll learn: the LinkedIn strategy behind a $1.2M pipeline in six weeks, the Comment X for Y lead magnet framework, why your lowest-performing posts can become your highest-converting content, and how category design helps founders own their lane.

Guest: Josh Lowman — https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshlowman/ 

Learn more about Blazel —  https://blazel.com

Follow Grown On LinkedIn by Blazel for new episodes every week.