
Advertise on podcast: Building With Buyers: Startup Marketing and Growth Fueled By Customers
Rating
4.8from
This podcast has
273 episodes
Language
EnglishPublisher
Anna FurmanovExplicit
No
Date created
2020/10/05
Latest episode
2026/03/25
Average duration
42 min.
Release period
12 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
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
I know, I know. Season 5 wrapped up. But I couldn't help myself.
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
265 - Dear B2B CMOs: Customer Love Is The Strategy (Shannon Howard, Intellum)
2025/12/03
Shannon Howard is Senior Director of Customer & Content Marketing at Intellum. Intellum is AI transformation for enterprise learning. $25M in funding, 139 people.
Here’s what we cover:
05:35 Shannon shares some Creative Customer Marketing Strategies
08:41 Building the Foundation for Customer Marketing
11:09 The Role of Data in Customer Marketing
14:00 Surprise and Delight
16:49 Empowering Customers Through Recognition
19:57 Segmentation and Personalization in Marketing
22:33 B2B vs B2C Marketing Dynamics
26:28 Why Customer Marketing is often overlooked by CMOs
30:00 Customer Marketing Strategies to put in your back pocket
33:17 The Role of Customer Research & Shannon's take
37:12 The Impact of AI on Customer Insights
50:38 Shannon asks Anna her burning question
Shannon on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shannonlagassehoward
Intellum: www.intellum.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
264 - What My Clients Taught Me This Year
2025/11/26
If you're in the US, Happy Thanksgiving. When I look back at 2025, one thing is very clear: my clients taught me more than any book, course, or conference ever could. Here are the six lessons I learned from the leaders I worked with this year.
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
263 - The Customer Hero Mindset Shift (Aditya Vempaty, MoEngage)
2025/11/19
Aditya Vempaty is VP of Marketing at MoEngage. MoEngage is a consumer engagement platform used by 1350+ consumer brands globally. $180M funding, 869 ppl.
Here’s what we cover:
02:46 Team Structure and Regional Dynamics - including why one PMM reports under the CEO
05:33 Steering the Ship & Gaining Buy-In for Strategic Initiatives
11:10 The Role of Customer Feedback in Marketing
13:48 Repositioning MoEngage in a Changing Market
16:32 Navigating AI in Customer Engagement
19:33 Positioning and Storytelling Across Regions
26:52 Cultural Nuances in Storytelling e.g. India versus US
28:07 The Importance of CEO Buy-In
30:43 Customers as your Heroes and why that's such an important mindset shift
43:47 The Nuances of AI in Marketing - Aditya's hot take
Aditya on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/adityavempaty
MoEngage: www.moengage.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
262 - What Happened When We Brought Our Customer Into Our Strategy Meeting (Jess Cook, Vector)
2025/11/12
Jess Cook is Head of Marketing at Vector. Vector is the only way to build ad audiences by name. Contact-based ads platform so your ads reach the right people (those that want to buy).
Here’s what we cover:
02:39 Understanding Vector's (new!) Positioning
05:30 Customer-Centric Growth Strategies
08:16 Repositioning and Messaging Evolution
11:04 Incorporating Customer Feedback and why we brought our customer into our strategic company meeting
14:05 The Role of Research in Marketing
16:37 Building Ad Audiences by Name
19:18 Our Creative Process Behind the Brand
22:09 On Launching the Podcast with the CEO - we fly down to Florida and film in the studio
26:47 Focused growth channels
28:04 Creativity that stems from customer research and insights
30:42 Sabrina Carpenter's hairbrush microphone
34:06 My favorite customer interview question
38:30 Customer marketing plays at Vector
41:46 Our influencer marketing experiment results
46:47 Leveraging AI in Marketing
51:11 Innovative SEO Strategies we're using
Jess on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jesscook-contentmarketing
Vector: www.vector.co
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
261 - Why The Road Is Paved With Forgotten Strategic Narratives (Anthony Pierri, FletchPMM)
2025/11/05
Anthony Pierri helps founders market hard-to-market products as Co-Founder and Partner at FletchPMM. We're both in the Chicago area, Anthony is just a (trail) bike ride away. I asked Anthony to join me for round 2, also listen to Ep. 199 “Why Your Homepage Is A Great Predictor of Your Startup's Future Success...Or Failure.”
Here’s what we cover:
“Let’s fix your confusing positioning” why you changed the copy on your homepage;
Positioning, messaging, how do you get the entire company marching to the same beat, especially larger companies;
After you help companies with their positioning and messaging, do they stick to it? Do they go back to their old ways? Why might this happen;
You don’t recommend outsourcing talking to customers BUT founders and marketers don't know how, so what's the solve here, let's talk this out;
Segmentation old way versus new way.
Anthony on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/anthonypierri
FletchPMM: www.fletchpmm.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
260 - How Gamification In Customer Marketing Is Evolving (Mark Huber, VP Marketing at UserEvidence)
2025/10/29
Mark Huber is VP of Marketing at UserEvidence. UserEvidence is a Customer Evidence Platform that lets you collect feedback, curate success stories, and create content that credibly proves the value of your product. Don’t beg for case studies. Get customer proof at scale.
Mark and I are both Navattic advisors.
Here’s what we cover:
Tell me about your team, what’s everyone doing;
Tell me about how your positioning and messaging has changed, and how it’s landing;
How’d you get the entire company marching to the same beat;
How do you incorporate customers as part of UserEvidence’s growth efforts;
How’re you using AI in your role, what scares you, what are you hopeful about;
Mark asks me his burning question.
Mark on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/markehuber
UserEvidence: userevidence.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
259 - Former Therapist: How To Unravel The Emotion Behind Purchase Decisions (Your Buyers Aren't Logical)
2025/10/22
This is a geeking out episode. If you love customer research as much as I do and know how important it is for marketing and business growth, this is the episode you'll want to hear.
Hannah Shamji is a former Therapist and now Consumer Psychology Researcher. Hannah digs deep to uncover the emotional and psychological reasons your customers buy, stay, or leave in order to help inform retention, engagement, or positioning challenges.
Here’s what we cover:
Focus of your work these days;
How're you using AI as part of your work;
In research conversations, how to peel back the layers beyond logical answers, in order to go deeper on the emotional and political stuff;
The worst customer interview you’ve ever done;
How do you know something is an insight;
An example of turning insights into action;
Hannah asks me her burning question.
Hannah on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/hannahshamji
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever, 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
258 - Finding Purpose In An AI-Changed World (Mark Schaefer, Futurist)
2025/10/15
Mark Schaefer is keynote speaker, university educator, futurist, and bestselling author of books like Marketing Rebellion, Audacious, and most recently How AI Changes Your Customers.
Mark also joined me a couple years ago, listen to Ep. 132: How AI Is Changing Marketing Forever & Why Creativity Matters More.
Here’s what we cover:
What’s changing with our customers, and how do we change alongside them;
What scares you most about AI;
What makes you hopeful;
Why curiosity matters now more than ever;
Where are you finding purpose and where can marketers find purpose at a time when we’re kinda lost;
Why awkwardness is a brand superpower;
The 3 questions we should be asking to guide our company's next chapter.
Mark on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/markwschaefer
Mark's website: businessesgrow.com
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever, 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
Podcast reviews
Read Building With Buyers: Startup Marketing and Growth Fueled By Customers podcast 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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