Marketing Corner

We're back for another Casperless episode, Jennifer and Birte Steen (Rock Consulting, Verdane GTM Advisor).

And we did it - WE DID IT, GUYS! We've finally solved the age-old issue on how to achieve Sales & Marketing alignment!

Well, ok maybe not entirely, but Birte shares with us her insights gained from years as a CRO at multiple companies to help us move past blame, break down silos, and cut it with the NMFP attitudes to show how alignment creates a scalable, repeatable revenue engine.

Here’s what we cover:

• Why most alignment efforts fail (and how to fix it)

• How a shared data model turns arguments into action

• Using micro-moments to drive pipeline together

• Why incentives, culture, and coaching matter more than tools

• How marketing can make outbound easier (and more effective)

If you’re tired of finger-pointing and want your teams celebrating together, this episode is for you.

The Bowtie Funnel: Fix Your Leaky Funnel

This week on Marketing Corner, Jennifer sits down with Berta Steen (Rock Consulting, Verdane GTM Advisor) to break down the real reason your funnel isn’t driving sustainable growth.

We tear apart the “funnel to closed-won” mindset and show you how the bowtie helps you align marketing, sales, and CS while giving you a true data model for growth.

We cover:

• Why the traditional funnel is killing your NRR (and ultimately your CAC)

• How the bowtie creates a common language across teams

• The overlooked metrics that actually drive repeatable, scalable growth

• Using “micro-moments” to optimize your funnel starting today

• Why your bowtie should live inside your financial model, not just a slide deck

If you want to scale without scaling chaos, this episode will change how you think about your GTM.

This week we have another Casperless episode of Marketing Corner. Jen is back with Jacco van der Kooij to unpack how AI-native companies are really growing their user base.

Not only will we explore why your users are your best (but often under-recognized) pipeline, but we'll also dive into:

• Why AI-native companies scale faster by using users to generate pipeline

• The hidden math behind user-led growth most teams overlook

• Practical ways to tier and activate your users tomorrow

• Why Scandinavian SaaS needs a different playbook than Silicon Valley

• How to operationalize dark funnel word-of-mouth into measurable pipeline

• The mindset shift your CEO needs to stop wasting budget on stale acquisition tactics.

Hold on to your headphones and prepare to see pipeline generation with fresh eyes.

In this summer holiday special, Jen and Casper dig into the chaotic reality of modern marketing tech stacks and why too many teams are wasting budget on tools they barely use.

Sparked by the latest 2025 CMO Survey, we unpack why nearly half of marketing tools sit unused, while budgets for MarTech are set to more than double.

We get into:

• Why 44% of tools never get used and how that happens

• The hidden cost of bad procurement and security processes

• Why fancy tools don’t replace strategy or internal alignment

• How to build a stack that actually works across marketing, sales, and IT

• The real cost of not auditing your tech stack or training your team

  
  

If you’ve ever fought for tool access, been sold a fake integration, or wondered why your “AI-powered” platform adds zero value, this one’s for you.

And yes, they do suggest you ask yourself: Would I buy this tool with my own money?

Is hybrid work really working… or are we all pretending it is?

In this episode, Jen and Casper unpack the messy reality of hybrid, remote, and office work post-COVID.

If you’ve ever wondered why your Slack is overflowing, why “culture” feels harder, or why collaboration is slower even with all your fancy tools, this one’s for you.

We get into:

• Why hybrid work isn’t always as productive as it seems

• The hidden cost of remote flexibility on speed and culture

• Why over-communication isn’t optional if you want hybrid to work

• What actually works for marketing teams that need to move fast

Is hybrid the future? Yes. 

But it’s messier, costlier, and requires more intention than you think.

If you're learning a team and want to embrace a productive and efficient hybrid work culture, this is a must-listen.

The book we refer to, The World Is Your Workplace, by Raj Choudhury, is available here.

This episode is a full-blown rant, so if you like a rage listen, this one's for you.

Inspired by the episode “Common People” from Black Mirror, Jen and Casper dissect what is wrong (and what drives us NUTS) when it comes to SaaS pricing, including:

• Why modern SaaS can feel more like extortion than service

• How “upgrade or suffer” pricing kills trust and user experience

• The flood of underused tools draining budgets in startups

• Why usage-based pricing might be the reset SaaS needs

And yes, they compare Netflix bloat to enterprise software creep.

Is SaaS dead? No. But it’s bloated, messy, and overdue for a reckoning. Tune in to hear why the next big shift won’t come from the biggest players - and why that’s a good thing.

CCO, CRO, CMO - what’s the difference, and who should actually lead growth? In this episode, Casper and Jen untangle the chaos of commercial leadership titles in startups and scaleups. Whether you’re hiring your first C-level or stuck between Sales and Marketing turf wars, this episode brings clarity (and a few spicy takes 🌶️).

We cover:

• Why most CROs and CCOs don’t come from marketing, and why that matters

• When to hire a CMO, and the costly mistake founders make by doing it too early (or too late)

• The real reason your pipeline isn’t converting and why more sales hires won’t fix it

• How Customer Success is overlooked, and why that’s killing your revenue scalability

• Why your GTM motion - not your headcount - should decide your leadership structure

If you’re drowning in vanity C-level titles with serious overlap and not sure if you're getting enough bang for your C-level buck, this one's for you 🫵

Are you scaling your GTM motion… or just hiring more salespeople and hoping for the best?

How’s that working out for you❓

In this Caper-less 😭 episode, Jennifer sits down with Jacco van der Kooij, founder of Winning by Design, and Birte Steen, GTM advisor and founder of Rock Consulting, to unpack why growth needs to be designed - not improvised:

In this conversation, Jacco, Birte, and Jen explore:

• Why most companies stall - not because of product or market - but because of broken GTM execution.

• How the Bowtie Model reframes marketing’s role beyond just acquisition.

• The difference between a process and a framework (and why most teams confuse the two).

• What a “revenue production line” looks like in PLG, enterprise, or hybrid motions.

• Who actually owns the GTM architecture (spoiler: it’s not your head of sales).

• The three stages of growth: scalable, sustainable, and durable - and why so few companies get past stage one.
  

And so much more!

If you're in B2B and tired of GTM chaos, misaligned motions, and shooting from the hip, this one’s for you 🫵

This week, Katrine Rasmussen, CMO at Pixels, returns to break down how her team built a revenue engine disguised as an event strategy - and why ABX isn’t a tech stack, it’s a mindset.

We cover:

• How Pixels went from ad hoc event execution to a disciplined, cross-functional program built for scale.

• How the right team supports alignment across marketing, sales, and customer teams around one cohesive motion.

• Why protecting the attendee experience — even from sponsors and internal stakeholders — is non-negotiable.

This week on Marketing Corner, Katrine Rasmussen, CMO at Pixels, joins us to talk about what it really takes to grow enterprise deals when you're selling a high-ticket product in a niche market.

We cover:

• What ABX is (spoiler: it's more than rebranded ABM - it's a full commercial strategy).

• How COVID accidentally proved the ROI of their now-flagship event strategy.

• Why they killed off their free trial (yes, really) and what it took internally to make it stick.

• How planning events with military precision is what it takes to actually drive pipeline.

If you’re hunting whales but still operating a volume game, this one’s a must listen.

Available wherever you listen to podcasts.