VelociTEA

Freeman and Forrest

VelociTEA is a show about modern go-to-market strategy in B2B tech, spicy takes included. Hosts Emily Freeman and Forrest Brazeal draw on their experience leading developer-focused influencer marketing programs to explore how technical products gain traction, how companies communicate with buyers, and what it takes to build trust in a noisy market. Featuring discussions with marketers, founders, and product leaders who are shaping the future of B2B growth.

  1. Episode 16 | It’s Not a Pyramid Scheme, It’s A Marketing Strategy

    27 apr

    Episode 16 | It’s Not a Pyramid Scheme, It’s A Marketing Strategy

    This week on VelociTEA, Emily and Forrest break down their proprietary Influencer Activation Pyramid: a five-layer framework for B2B influencer content that moves from owned content at the base through sponsored, paid, earned, and organic at the top. They explain why you can't skip levels, why "paid is predictable," and what happens when brands mistake organic buzz for a birthright. Plus: why AI could never replace a great sales dinner, and the FTC disclosures your brand needs to be aware of.

    21 min
  2. Episode 15 | Why Your Influencer Strategy Isn’t Working

    31 mar

    Episode 15 | Why Your Influencer Strategy Isn’t Working

    This week on VelociTEA, Emily and Forrest break down the most common mistakes they see on both sides of influencer marketing: the brands and the creators. They talk about why brands get into trouble when they over-control messaging, chase only “big names,” or try to hide sponsorships instead of owning them. On the creator side, they unpack the pitfalls of losing your voice, overpricing yourself out of your ROI, overloading your audience with sponsored content, and letting AI flatten the very credibility people follow you for in the first place. The throughline is simple: the best influencer marketing works when both sides know who they are, act like real partners, and don’t try to be sneaky.

    27 min
  3. Episode 14 | PR in the Influencer Era

    23 mar

    Episode 14 | PR in the Influencer Era

    Traditional PR is dead. Attention is the new currency.  In this episode of VelociTEA, Emily and Forrest talk about how PR teams are adapting to a world where content creators can function like journalists, analysts, or something entirely new. They discuss how brands should think about influencer relationships, why treating creators like traditional press often fails, and how PR, marketing, and influencer teams can collaborate.

    23 min
  4. Episode 13 | Content Sommeliers

    16 mar

    Episode 13 | Content Sommeliers

    In technical communities, trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. Developers have a nose for authenticity and credibility. In this episode of VelociTEA, Emily and Forrest talk about why the best tech content often looks a little imperfect. From avoiding “AI slop” to letting creators speak in their own voice, they break down the subtle signals that separate credible content from manufactured marketing. *No wine was harmed in the making of this episode.

    17 min
  5. Episode 12 | How Big Companies Lose (and Regain) Momentum

    9 mar

    Episode 12 | How Big Companies Lose (and Regain) Momentum

    This week on Velocitea, Emily and Forrest break down the pendulum swing they’ve seen across marketing and engineering teams: fast, autonomous execution on one side and centralized, consensus-driven collaboration on the other. They explore why orgs drift toward process and visibility, what causes them to snap back toward small “special ops” teams, and how market pressure, redundancy, and leadership changes accelerate the swing. They also share practical advice for surviving (and influencing) the shift including why high-output teams often look “inefficient” on paper, how centralized teams can avoid becoming bottlenecks, and what to do when a new leader arrives and starts rewriting the rules.

    26 min
  6. Episode 11 | Distributed by Design

    2 mar

    Episode 11 | Distributed by Design

    This week on Velocitea, Emily and Forrest pull back the curtain on how they’ve built and scaled a fully distributed company in an era obsessed with return-to-office mandates. They unpack the real incentives behind RTO, the productivity myth of “visible busyness,” and why written culture, intentional connection, and flexibility matter more than shared square footage. From hiring outside tech hubs to designing workflows around real life, they share what’s worked (and what they’re still learning) as a 20+ person remote team. If you’re building a company and wondering whether in-person is truly required for innovation and performance, this is a candid look at what distributed can actually look like when done intentionally.

    21 min
  7. Episode 10 | Why B2B Influencer Marketing Works Differently

    24 feb

    Episode 10 | Why B2B Influencer Marketing Works Differently

    This week on Velocitea, Emily and Forrest break down the real differences between B2C and B2B influencer marketing: from affiliate links and promo codes to multi-stakeholder enterprise sales cycles that take months (or years).  They explore why B2C expectations often sabotage B2B programs, how to measure success beyond “vibes,” and why B2B influence is about renting social capital, not chasing clicks. They also unpack the looming question: will AI influencers replace real experts? And why that shortcut could backfire hard in technical markets. If you’ve ever tried to apply a B2C playbook to a B2B product and wondered why it didn’t translate, this episode is your reset.

    24 min
  8. Episode 9 | AI vs. Developer Identity

    16 feb

    Episode 9 | AI vs. Developer Identity

    This week on Velocitea, Emily and Forrest discuss how the tech world is currently having a massive identity crisis, how AI is alienating developers from the very work they used to love, and explore the question: What happens when tech disrupts itself? From the collapse of "tool-based identity" to the rise of vibe coding, they explore why this moment feels so chaotic. Along the way, they connect the dots between 19th-century naval battles, serverless hype cycles, and the very real possibility that we’re just in a messy transition phase. It’s a look at why the tech industry's ego is currently hitting a brick wall, and why the real disruption isn't the software, it's the incentives.

    24 min
Elenco completo (16)

Descrizione

VelociTEA is a show about modern go-to-market strategy in B2B tech, spicy takes included. Hosts Emily Freeman and Forrest Brazeal draw on their experience leading developer-focused influencer marketing programs to explore how technical products gain traction, how companies communicate with buyers, and what it takes to build trust in a noisy market. Featuring discussions with marketers, founders, and product leaders who are shaping the future of B2B growth.

Informazioni

  • Creatore
    Freeman and Forrest
  • Anni di attività
    2025 - 2026
  • Puntate
    16
  • Classificazione
    Contenuti adatti a tutti
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Sito web del podcast
    VelociTEA
  • Fornitore