Standout Startup Brands

In this last episode of Season 2, Janessa and Amrita take a look back at key themes from this past season.

They cover:
- How CMOs build brand teams
- Memorable brand campaigns
- The intersection of brand and demand

And much more.

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Join Janessa Lantz as she interviews Shafqat Islam, the CMO of Optimizely. Shafqat discusses his unique marketing approach focused on speed, creativity, and risk-taking and shares details of Optimizely's bold campaign at the Adobe Summit.

Shafqat also shares his journey from founding Welcome to leading marketing at Optimizely, offering insights into brand investment strategies at different growth stages. He emphasizes the importance of community, thought leadership, and exceptional content.

Find Shafqat Islam and learn more about Optimizely at:

• LinkedIn: Shafqat Islam
• Website: Optimizely

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Dave Kellogg is well-known in B2B marketing circles thanks to his popular and sometimes contrarian blog Kellblog. In this episode, Dave emphasizes the importance of building trust and maintaining professional consistency in brand presentation. He discusses the significance of "hygiene" in branding, stressing the need for professional-looking materials and consistent messaging. He also covers competitive messaging, the importance of thought leadership, and when to invest in higher-level branding efforts.

Follow Dave on LinkedIn and Kellblog. 

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In this insightful episode, we sit down with Roger, the CMO at #paid, to delve into the intricacies of influencer marketing, brand reputation, and creating memorable customer experiences. Roger, a prominent figure in the greater Toronto tech community, shares his journey and strategies for building and maintaining a strong brand from the ground up.

Learn how to focus on brand reputation and credibility from the very beginning, even with limited resources. Discover the optimal way to organize your marketing team for maximum impact, regardless of your company's size. Understand how to leverage influencers in both B2C and B2B spaces to enhance your brand's reach and reputation.

Follow Roger on LinkedIn.

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Angela Whiteford, a repeat CMO with multiple exits, discusses her approach to brand and communications in Series C or D stage startups.  Angela highlights the importance of having a strong point of view and leveraging partnerships to build a brand. She shares examples from her career, such as working with Intel to validate technology claims, which bolstered her company’s credibility. 

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Meagen Eisenberg is the CMO at Lacework, former CMO at TripActions and MongoDB, and advisor to multiple successful startups. Her career spans 19 successful exits since 2011 as an operator and advisor, including 3 IPOs and 16 mergers and acquisitions.

In today's episode, Meagen shares how the brand leader's job is to get everyone aligned and consistent, how she operationalizes the brand at Lacework, and all the details of their infamous CISO Barbie campaign.

Follow Meagen on LinkedIn.

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As an advisor and board member to high-technology startups, Jamie Barnett has taken on leadership roles in marketing, product, and customer success across top startups in cybersecurity, AI, DevOps, and IoT sectors. 

In this interview Jamie shares

• Which roles that are important in brand work
• The evolution of the role of visual identity in the last 10 years
• The importance of prioritizing brand work and the psychology behind consistency and trust

Follow Jamie on LinkedIn and Medium.

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This conversation with veteran marketing leader Meghan Keaney Anderson explores the importance of brand in marketing and the challenges of integrating brand and performance marketing. It highlights the role of values in shaping a company's brand and the need for goal alignment within marketing teams. Finally, Meghan shares her observations on the shift away from pure performance marketing towards a holistic approach to marketing that leans more heavily on brand for awareness and differentiation.

Follow Meghan on LinkedIn.

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In this episode, we interview Tom Wentworth, CMO of Recorded Future and former CMO at high growth startups including Acquia and Optimizely.

Tom shares his thoughts on everything from building internal brand teams to building brand as a strategic asset to why standout brands go beyond marketing teams to bring together a truly integrated approach to awareness, positioning and trust building.

Follow Tom Wentworth on LinkedIn
Tom's presentation on Brand Fuels Demand

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Maya Spivak is a seasoned marketer who has built multiple beloved developer brands, most recently as the VP of Marketing at Gretel, as well as Mux, the video infrastructure platform, and Segment, joining when the company was only 60 people and leaving shortly after its 10x growth in size and ARR, when it was acquired by Twilio for $3.2B.

In this episode we discuss category creation, brand's impact on demand, and getting buy-in for brand campaigns.

To learn more:

Maya Spivak on LinkedIn
Beloved Tech Brands Conference

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