In this episode of LifeSci Continuum, I sit down with Pete Tortorell, GM/Managing Director of Omni International (now Revvity).
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:24 Pete’s Story
02:07 COVID19 Case Study
07:20 Good Marketing is Hard to Find
12:00 Working with MESH Interactive
13:32 Lead Generation
14:50 Measuring KPIs
17:20 The Value of a FCMO
24:30 Marketing Education
26:05 Marketing Competition
28:45 Traditional Marketing is Dead
31:15 Founder & CEO Advice
When 2020 erased half of Omni International’s revenue in a single month, Pete didn’t slash headcount—he rebuilt the business.
Join me as Pete traces Omni’s journey from a stand-alone sample-prep brand to a Revvity business unit that still owns its P&L and customer relationships. He recounts the 2020 free-fall when labs closed worldwide, the rapid collaboration with Georgia Tech that repositioned saliva testing, and the acquisition turbulence that followed.
Pete explains why he skipped agency “textbook” pitches and chose a fractional CMO who could challenge assumptions, and built a repeatable framework that any mid-market life-science company can copy to generate demand without hiring a dozen specialists.
Do you think your marketing investment is going to waste? Learn why Founders are turning to FCMOs: https://meshagency.com/for-founders/
Three Overlooked Fixes That Turn Marketing Spend Into Pipeline Growth
Most early-stage companies assume a bigger marketing budget will automatically translate into qualified leads, yet the same dollars often vanish into tactics that look busy but move no revenue. The root causes usually hide in three places: unexamined spending, rigid staffing models, and content that talks instead of proves.
First, every life-science or med-device founder needs a single pane of glass for company health, marketing traction, and customer-service pulse.
First, hook your source-of-truth systems (ERP, CRM, and ticketing) to a lightweight BI tool—don’t custom-code; Zapier or native connectors will do. Second, agree on three to five metrics per area before you design anything; if it doesn’t guide a decision, kill it. Third, set automated alerts at the “uh-oh” thresholds so you react in hours, not quarters—think churn spike, lead-to-SQL drop, or NPS dip. Do that, and you’ve got a living cockpit that keeps the science moving and the money people smiling.
Second, think of senior marketing expertise as cloud infrastructure: rent it when you need it, scale it back when you do not, and keep permanent headcount focused on the science and customer support your brand is known for. Founders who insist on a full-time director before product-market fit end up paying executive salaries for work that could be handled fractionally (and at a fraction of the cost). A flexible model also brings in fresh perspective every quarter and prevents your message from calcifying around last year's tactics.
Finally, replace generic product copy with application stories authored by the scientists who actually use your products. Prospects trust peers who can say, “This homogenizer cut my sample-prep time by forty percent,” far more than they trust brochure language about “innovative design.” When real users explain the before and after of throughput, reproducibility, and budget impact, conversion rates climb and sales conversations start closer to the finish line. Marketing shifts from a push activity to proof that the tool already delivers in labs just like theirs.
Learn how I can help you grow your business as a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer. https://meshagency.com/fcmo-fractional-cmo-fractional-marketing/
