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Building With Buyers: Startup Marketing and Growth Fueled By Customers

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Rating
★★★★★
4.8
from
28 reviews
This podcast has
281 episodes
Language
English
Publisher
Anna Furmanov
Explicit
No
Date created
2020/10/05
Latest episode
2026/09/25
Average duration
34 min.
Release period
21 days

Description

A show that explores the role that customers play in helping companies build to their next level of growth. Hosted by Anna Furmanov. Visit furmanovmarketing.com to learn more about the host.

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Check latest episodes from Building With Buyers: Startup Marketing and Growth Fueled By Customers podcast


279 - Are We Doing Product Launches All Wrong? with Yi Lin Pei
2026/09/25
Yi Lin Pei is 3x PMM leader turned coach, advisor, and founder of Courageous Careers where she’s helped 400+ product marketers navigate their career. We discuss: Product ships on a weekly basis. At the same time, marketers can pump out endless content. But the customer’s ability to absorb product change doesn’t work like that. How to navigate this disconnect and why your checklist launches don't work anymore. Here's the LinkedIn post we mention that talks about the GTM Launch Canvas: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/yilinpei_productmarketing-productmanagement-launch-share-7429939301456703488-9Giz/ Jump in: 03:06 Traveling to Scotland 07:15 Checklist launches and their pitfalls 11:11 Reevaluating launch strategies with first principles thinking 12:32 Implementing phased product launches and public beta testing 15:28 The value of building in public and transparent launches 17:12 The GTM Launch Canvas 19:12 The book 'Loved' and its influence 20:03 The effectiveness of a one-page go-to-market canvas 23:00 Unlearning cookie-cutter launch templates 24:37 First principles thinking in product marketing 27:55 Aligning messaging themes with customer and market needs 30:33 Innovative marketing tactics like physical events and street campaigns 32:21 The importance of brand and storytelling in B2B launches 33:11 Building a product marketing team: vision, structure, and traits 36:06 The evolving role of the "superPMM" and future skills 40:25 The importance of strategic thinking and mini GMs in marketing 44:38 Using insights from business analysis to drive product success 46:24 The real role of product marketing in business strategy Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Yi Lin on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/yilinpei Yi Lin's newsletter: www.courageous-careers.com/newsletter Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠One Insight⁠⁠⁠
Building With Buyers Trailer
2026/09/11
Building With Buyers is a show for marketing leaders on how to grow companies without losing sight of the buyer. Too many teams end up stuck in the office, staring at whiteboards and spreadsheets, chasing revenue while the buyer experience becomes an afterthought. This show is about proving you can have both — real growth and a buyer experience that actually surprises and delights. Hosted by me! Anna Furmanov.
278 - The Rise of the SuperPMM
2026/08/24
The PMM role is under real pressure right now.VPs of Marketing and CMOs are being asked to do more with less: fewer headcount approvals, leaner teams, tighter budgets. And PMM is often the first place that gets squeezed.Instead of hiring a full-time PMM, companies ask the existing team to absorb the work. Or they bring in a fractional. Or they just... don't do it, and wonder later why GTM feels off.At the same time, the scope of what PMMs are expected to own has exploded.Positioning, messaging, sales enablement, competitive intelligence, content strategy, analyst relations, product launches...and more.And now there's AI on top of it, which hasn't lowered the pressure to produce more, faster.So here's my take: we're at a real inflection point for this role. And in this episode, I explain where I believe we're headed. Here's the LinkedIn post where I talked about it first. Jump in: 02:26 - Marketing teams are under pressure to do more with less 03:38 - The PMM scope has expanded beyond what it was 5 years ago 04:09 - Introducing the "superPMM" 04:39 - Using ahaPMM to speed up customer research synthesis 05:22 - Building messaging infrastructure with MojoPMM 06:07 - Faster creative and landing page production using Claude, Figma, and Vector 06:31 - Why AI still needs human judgment07:32 - Execution is democratized, but judgment is not 08:17 - Why this topic is getting so much engagement Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website (getting a facelift, stay tuned): ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠One Insight⁠⁠
277 - Marketing Leaders Intense Needs Right Now & Where To Go From Here
2026/07/15
Finally doing a solo episode! 'Bout time. I talked to 18 CMOs / Mktg VPs for 9 hours about what is super intense for them right now and then I analyzed what I heard and packaged it up for you. Here's the report. Let me know if you have any questions as you review + please share with your team and your marketing leader friends. Jump in: 00:00 - Intro to the research 00:33 - The motivation behind exploring in-depth insights 01:14 - The "Aha Moment" skill for finding truths 01:57 - The scoring system 02:45 - The mess AI leaves behind 03:11 - What's going well 05:09 - The surprising top needs 06:02 - Governance over AI 06:27 - The debate: buy or build 07:07 - Internal marketing is even more important today 07:53 - The challenge of product builds outpacing marketing playbooks 08:13 - Leadership burnout 08:41 - Visibility concerns from AI search and zero click 09:02 - The bottleneck of editing content produced by AI 10:04 - Creating a clear AI governance system to help avoid chaos 11:35 - Product survival in an AI future 12:38 - Example of a company moving towards in-house tool development 13:32 - The importance of differentiation, distinction, positioning, story, brand 14:06 - Winning through relationships, outcomes, and showing up at the right moments (memorable) 15:01 - The case for powerful storytelling and brand 15:38 - Organizational shifts - the org chart is changing 16:11 - The impact of AI on headcount and organizational structures 16:33 - CEOs' perspectives on AI replacing marketing jobs and the potential fallout 17:19 - Leveraging AI to scale teams 20:23 - The overall mood is that two things are true Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. marketing leaders intense needs report: https://marketing-needs-synthesis.vercel.app/ Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠One Insight⁠⁠⁠
276 - Rob Snyder Changed My Mind On How To Sell
2026/07/08
Rob Snyder is founder and advisor to b2b startups, Fellow at Harvard Innovation Labs, and Operating Partner at Grix VC. He wrote a book called The Power of PULL which I recommend to folks that are building 0 to 1 (and beyond). We discuss: Quick explanation of PULL; Anything less than "Hell Yes!" is a no, but this is not what we learn in sales; The Rule of One and focus on one person when you’re creating your PULL hypothesis; Are aesthetics even meaningful; Why selling and delivering needs to be a startups primary form of research (wait what about customers); What happens when you had PULL, scaled it, and now growth is stalling; One thing you're working on that you don't fully know how to solve yet. Jump in: 02:14 Understanding the Concept of PULL 08:58 The Importance of Hell Yes Customers 12:38 The Rule of One in Customer Understanding 17:07 Aesthetic Differentiation: Meaningless or Meaningful? 22:49 Customer Conversations versus Sales Conversations 28:44 Navigating Sales Challenges and Growth Stalls 33:05 Understanding Demand vs. Supply in Startups 39:42 Rob’s Current Struggles Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Rob on LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1 Rob's website: ⁠robsnyder.org⁠ Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠One Insight⁠⁠
275 - AI Made Writing Cheap, Listening Just Got More Valuable (Maitri Sheth, Hubspot)
2026/06/17
Maitri Sheth is Senior PMM at Hubspot, previously PMM at Gong. We discuss: From B2C to B2B marketing, me too! How has b2c shaped your approach to b2b product marketing; Previously Gong, now Hubspot. What did you do in your first 90 days; One PMM workflow that you’re excited about; Do you feel like you have a good grasp on how AI workflows tap into meaningful business results; Marketing is using creativity to solve business problems. Share how you infuse creativity into your work; Hubspot is 12k+ ppl! How do you get the rest of the org to adopt the same story; How do you approach writing with AI in your role. Jump in: 03:04 The Importance of Listening in PMM 06:06 B2C thinking in B2B 09:06 First 90 Days at HubSpot 12:00 Understanding Customer Needs 14:46 Pattern Recognition & Beyond Patterns 17:59 The Value of Direct Customer Engagement 21:08 Streamlining PMM Workflows with AI 24:03 Navigating Rapid Product Engineering Releases 26:45 Evaluating AI Tools and Their Impact on Business Results 32:56 the problems with "Blank Slate" 35:13 The Role of AI in Productivity 38:43 Creativity in Marketing 41:30 Balancing AI and Human Creativity 51:19 Effective Messaging Across 12,000 people Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, tell me what you're listening to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Maitri on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/maitri5 Hubspot: www.hubspot.com Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠One Insight⁠⁠
274 - Your AI's Outputs Are Only As Good As Its Brain (GTM News Desk)
2026/05/06
Natalie Marcotullio & Mark Kilens invited me on their podcast GTM News Desk. We discuss: How do you build messaging that actually sticks across every team that touches it? How do you know when an "insight" is genuinely worth acting on or when it's just a pattern dressed up in fancy words? What does it take to teach AI to think like you, not just write like one version of you? Mojo Founder Eric Holland and I reveal what's really broken about how B2B companies develop and distribute their messaging. We dig into why most customer research is pulled from the most biased data available and how to document your decision-making, not just your knowledge, so AI can actually replicate your judgment. We also provide answers to why chasing every new AI workflow is making most marketers worse, not better. Eric and I challenge the idea that volume of insights equals quality of insights, arguing that a single finding that changes how your whole company goes to market is worth more than a hundred tagged Gong quotes. Jump in: (00:00) We need a higher standard for b2b research (00:35) What CMOs are actually talking about at conferences right now (04:40) How shame and fear became the default AI adoption strategy (08:41) The difference between AI-exhausted and AI-excited teams (12:44) Four Tendencies and what it means for AI adoption (16:31) Why B2B messaging is broken even at well-funded startups (19:14) What separates Mojo from just pointing Claude at your Notion (27:26) What good writing actually feels like and whether AI can get there (32:17) The solar plexus test and how to know when your copy is working (34:05) Why nuance and emotion are the real gap in AI writing (39:27) Why most insight tools are just pattern-matching machines (44:19) How to check if your researcher is actually any good (47:30) The danger of everyone using the same workflows to find the same "insights" (50:01) What B2B marketing gets wrong that B2C figured out long ago (53:21) Go deep on one thing for a quarter (55:22) Why you should only build what you already know in your sleep Connect with Eric: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-holland-not-a-marketer/  Connect with Anna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov/  Mojo: https://mojopmm.com/ Mojo + Moxie: https://mojo-and-moxie.com/ Natalie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-marcotullio/ Mark: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markkilens/
273 - What (Almost) Everyone Gets Wrong About Insights
2026/04/22
Hi, we need to talk. This is important. One of the worst things that AI is doing to PMMs right now: making pattern recognition look like insight. I've been surprised how many tools give you dozens of "insights" without anything to back it up other than pattern recognition and quotes. Just because something came up multiple times doesn't make it an insight! Please hear me out, we must do better. 00:00 The disconnect between interesting information and decision insights 02:48 Defining decision insights 05:16 Emotional insights in B2C 07:48 The limits of current research tools 10:07 Introducing Aha PMM 12:55 Why decision insights matter today Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, tell me what you're listening to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Aha PMM ⁠blog article⁠ Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠One Insight⁠⁠
272 - Should AI Help You Write? with Eric Holland (Mojo PMM)
2026/03/25
Eric Holland is a recovering product marketer who quit his job to focus on custom messaging assistants + interactive demos. Founder @Mojo PMM: Burn your boring messaging doc. Mojo is your custom messaging assistant that creates bold, persona-specific messaging for anything you need, that your whole team wants to use. I recently joined Eric at Mojo PMM as their first ever Messaging Whisperer. Co-Founder @DemoDash: 100+ interactive demos shipped for Navattic customers (that’s actually how we met). Also co-hosts the We’re Not Marketers podcast. We talk about messaging & AI, specifically: Can AI help you write copy? Should AI help you write copy? Marketing teams are moving faster with AI, but not necessarily making better decisions. What’s broken? What we're building and why. Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, message me what you're listening to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Eric on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/eric-holland-not-a-marketer Mojo PMM: mojopmm.com Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠One Insight⁠
271 - BONUS: What Would Make AI More Trustworthy?
2026/01/30
In the last episode (270), Caitlin Sullivan (AI + Customer Research expert) asked me "what would have to change for you to feel that AI is trustworthy?" It's a really good question and I answer it in this short episode. Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, message me what you're listening to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠One Insight⁠
270 - How AI Is Transforming Customer Research (Caitlin Sullivan)
2026/01/28
Caitlin Sullivan is an expert in AI for Customer Research. She trains growth-ready product & design teams to know their customers faster. Clients include YouTube, Spotify, Ramp, Meta, and Canva. Here’s what we covered: 00:00 Introduction to AI in Customer Research 03:41 The Shift in AI Usage for Customer Research 09:25 Building Systems for Effective Research 12:59 Challenges with AI Insights 17:55 Completeness in Research with AI 21:17 Common Mistakes in Customer Research 25:01 Emotional Nuances in Research & Why they're important 27:08 Understanding AI's Interpretation of Emotions 29:46 The Role of Human Insight in AI Training 32:25 AI as a Co-Pilot and The Importance of Collaboration 35:37 Catching AI Errors 38:30 The Necessity of Human Involvement in Research 39:55 Balancing AI and Human Decision-Making 45:02 Knowing When You Have Enough Data To Stop And Decide 46:44 Favorite Tools for Research and Analysis 50:00 Caitlin asks me her burning question which I will answer in a separate BONUS episode Caitlin on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/caitlindsullivan AI Analysis for PMs course: https://maven.com/caitlin/ai-analysis-pms Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, message me what you're listening to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠One Insight
269 - Season 5 Wrap Up!
2025/12/24
Thanks for being here, for listening, for collaborating, thanks for sharing episodes with others, for sharing stuff with me - when people DM me on LI with their fave episodes - for leaving a review, thank you for all of it. Here's the link to the article "35 Creative Customer Marketing Plays". Wishing you a warm + connected holiday season and positive, fresh beginnings for 2026. Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, message me what you're listening to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠One Insight
268 - BONUS Marketing: What Worked 2025 + Big Bets 2026
2025/12/19
To wrap the year, my client Navattic invited nine of their marketing advisors (including me!) for an open panel on what’s working and what’s worn out from 2025, and where we're placing big bets for 2026. ~300 ppl registered. A few highlights - Worn out: Being a part of every over-saturated channel. AI hype. Talking about how SEO traffic is “collapsing.” Instead, focus on channels where you are the only one (like self-hosted events), thoughtfully using AI tools instead of from pressure, and recognizing that traffic is no longer the best way to measure trust. What we're keeping for 2026: Pipeline acceleration campaigns (instead of just acquisition).Customer marketing as a strategic growth strategy.Bespoke events that attendees want to post photos of on social. Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, message me what you're listening to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠One Insight
267 - Creating Customers for Life: Reimagining Customer Marketing (Kevin Lau, Freshworks)
2025/12/17
Everyone's been telling me "you gotta talk to Kevin!" Kevin Lau is VP Global Customer Marketing at Freshworks. Freshworks provides AI-assisted IT and customer service software to 75k+ companies. 9,500+ employees, IPO’d back in 2021. Here’s what we cover: 01:58 Why Customer Relationships are so important especially going into next year 05:40 The Customer Marketing Team at Freshworks 09:02 Redefining Customer Marketing at Freshworks (more than just advocacy) 12:56 Collaboration Between Customer and Product Marketing 16:48 Voice of Customer and ongoing Feedback Mechanisms 27:58 The Importance of Customer Marketing & why companies that focus on Net New are already behind 31:10 Most Creative Customer Marketing Plays 37:24 Building Customer Engagement Programs from scratch 39:42 Measuring the Impact of Customer Marketing 43:08 Using AI in Customer Marketing 50:46 Hopes, fears, future outlook on AI and Customer Marketing (it's not all bad) Kevin on LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/kevinkennethlau Freshworks: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.freshworks.com Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, message me what you're listening to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠One Insight
266 - How To Turn Customer Marketing Into Your Strategic Advantage (Melanie Paddock, Gainsight)
2025/12/10
Melanie Paddock is Sr. Manager, Customer Marketing & Advocacy at Gainsight. Gainsight is the world’s leading Customer Success platform. 1,100 ppl, $156M+ total funding, Series E. Here’s what we cover: 02:48 The Importance of Customer Love 05:34 Building an Advocacy Program from Scratch 08:24 Gamification and Customer Engagement 11:16 Creating a Community for your Advocates 14:20 Leveraging Customer Proof for Sales 17:08 Top Challenges in Customer Marketing 19:57 Building deep Relationships with Customers is such an opportunity 22:41 Avoiding Transactional Relationships in Customer Marketing 23:31 How to build trust 29:08 Transforming Customer Marketing into your Strategic Advantage, not a "nice to have" 29:24 The Role of Customer Research in Marketing 34:30 Leveraging AI in Customer Marketing 43:59 Melanie asks me her burning question (HINT: the future of customer marketing + the impact of AI) Melanie on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/melaniepaddock Gainsight: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.gainsight.com Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter. Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠One Insight

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4.8 out of 5
28 reviews
★★★★★
AJStonehouse 2025/08/05
Amazing Host. Wonderful Guests. Great Topics.
Anna is ahead of the curve, and she’s actively helping startups and growing companies take a buyer-centric approach to marketing and growth. The lands...
★★★★★
evforija 2024/04/04
Top-tier guests
No fluff interviews with some of the best marketers around.
★★★★★
amcgovea 2024/03/09
Great listen!
I’m a huge fan of Anna’s perspective and how she relates to her guest. A must listen!
★★★★★
h011yw00d 2023/10/21
Solid insight and on target content
I’ve listened to Anna now for quite a few weeks. I’ve been looking for a podcast that fits the needs of being in marketing early on in a startup and h...
★★★★★
Dcb2386 2023/04/20
For a startup marketer, this is your golden ticket
One of the reasons I love this pod is that Anna has great guests who provide excellent examples and interesting viewpoints around startup marketing. ...
★★★★★
LindseyPodcast2 2023/03/30
Inspiring and Tactical
One of the only podcasts I listen to religiously. After listening I not only have a ton of new ideas but actionable tasks I can execute to start impro...
★★★★★
TheNicholaus 2023/01/02
My marketing source of truth
With so many great marketing podcasts out there, it's amazing to have access to so much free advice. But after listening to hundreds of episodes, I wa...
★★★★★
ASobering 2022/12/14
Entertaining, insightful, and actionable! 🔥
Startup founders - meet your new favorite podcast! Anna has created an incredible resource with Modern Startup Marketing. Hear from experts as they di...
★★★★★
Bolaji O 2022/11/03
The curriculum startup founders didn’t know they needed.
Startup marketing is hard. For some, it’s an oxymoron . Most startup founders are thinking product first (they should.) Then sales next (they need i...
★★★★★
Adoniisz 2022/08/25
Great for founders & marketers alike
I started listening to this podcast to keep my finger on the pulse of B2B marketing trends, tactics and strategies and it never fails to disappoint. ...
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