The Dave Gerhardt Show (from Exit Five)

Exit Five
  • 4.6 (47)
  • MARKETING
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Interviews with top marketers sharing tactical tips, strategies, and lessons learned to help you grow your business. Hosted by Dave Gerhardt, founder of Exit Five, former CMO, and author of Founder Brand. Learn more at exitfive.com

  1. 3D AGO

    How to Navigate a Rebrand with Clare Schmitt

    #333 | Dave is joined by Clare Schmitt, a seasoned marketing leader and a member of our CMO community, to walk through what it actually takes to lead a rebrand at a mid-market B2B company. Clare shares how she partnered with her CEO to drive a full rebrand, from hiring a naming agency and running an RFP, to managing a small decision-making council, rolling out the new brand across every department, and measuring success post-launch. If you're a marketing leader thinking about a rebrand, this episode is a practical, top to bottom playbook from someone who just did it. Timestamps (00:00) - Why rebrands come up and what this episode covers (03:04) - Clare's role at Piedmont Global and how the rebrand got started (05:19) - Should you hire a naming agency? What it costs and what they actually do (08:47) - Running an RFP and why they chose Focus Lab (09:33) - Why the CEO has to own the rebrand go-to-market (11:09) - Keeping the decision-making council small and who was in it (18:03) - How to get CEO buy-in: framing a rebrand as infrastructure, not a marketing initiative (20:40) - Timeline: how long a rebrand actually takes ($50M+ companies) (22:22) - The rollout: project management, execution, and building the website internally (24:19) - Measurement, post-launch QA, and tracking whether your narrative is sticking Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: AirOps - The content engineering platform that helps marketers create and maintain high-quality, on-brand content that wins AI search. Go to airops.com/exitfive to start creating content that reflects your expertise, stays true to your brand, and is engineered for performance across human and AI discovery. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. Convertr - The enterprise lead data management platform that sits between your lead sources and your CRM, automatically validating, enriching, and standardizing every lead before it touches your systems. Check them out at convertr.io/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand generation agency that helps high-growth cybersecurity, DevOps, and enterprise software companies drive more pipeline through AI SEO, paid media, and go-to-market engineering. Visit compoundgrowthmarketing.com and tell them Dave sent you. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more

    32 min

  2. 6D AGO

    How Domitille de Saint-Exupéry (CMO at Lemlist) Turned $1.2M into $31M in New ARR

    #332 | Dave is joined by Domi de Saint-Exupéry, CMO at Lemlist, a bootstrapped $40M ARR sales engagement platform, to break down exactly how she turned $1.2M in marketing spend into $31M in new ARR in 2025. Domi shares the full breakdown of every channel, agency, influencer strategy, and partnership play that drove results. This includes how they went from $0 to $500K in paid ads, why partnerships are the most underrated B2B growth channel, how they built a micro-influencer program, and what AI use cases are actually working (and which are overrated). If you want real numbers and real playbooks, this one's for you. Timestamps (00:00) - Introduction: $1.2M in spend, $31M in new ARR (03:39) - What Lemlist does and how the company got to $40M ARR (06:54) - Going from $0 to $500K in paid ads: what triggered the shift (11:09) - How to execute paid ads well: outsourcing vs. in-house, and scaling by channel (17:24) - LinkedIn ads creative: why "on-brand and safe" was the wrong approach (21:54) - Mistakes made in paid: Snapchat, Spotify, and channels that didn't work (25:24) - The micro-influencer playbook: how to find, brief, and measure creators (35:38) - How influencer content compounds with paid ads and outbound (the Julio story) (41:08) - Partnerships: why $450K went here and why it's the most underrated B2B channel (49:38) - AI in marketing: what's overrated (content generation) and what's actually working Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: AirOps - The content engineering platform that helps marketers create and maintain high-quality, on-brand content that wins AI search. Go to airops.com/exitfive to start creating content that reflects your expertise, stays true to your brand, and is engineered for performance across human and AI discovery. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. Convertr - The enterprise lead data management platform that sits between your lead sources and your CRM, automatically validating, enriching, and standardizing every lead before it touches your systems. Check them out at convertr.io/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand generation agency that helps high-growth cybersecurity, DevOps, and enterprise software companies drive more pipeline through AI SEO, paid media, and go-to-market engineering. Visit compoundgrowthmarketing.com and tell them Dave sent you. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more

    57 min

  3. FEB 19

    ABM: What Ramp, Snowflake, and Hightouch are doing in 2026

    #331 | Dave is joined by a group of marketing leaders from Ramp, Snowflake, and Hightouch for a discussion about ABM and their plans for 2026. Casey Patterson (Director of ABM, Snowflake), Drew Pinta (Director of Growth Data Science, Ramp), and Brian Kotlyar (CMO, Hightouch) break down what ABM actually looks like in 2026 and what’s working right now inside of their companies. They share how they’re picking target accounts, aligning with sales, and building programs that go way beyond running ads. The group also digs into measurement, personalization, and how teams are using better data and AI to scale ABM without wasting budget. If you need a deeper dive on ABM tactics right now, this is the episode for you Timestamps (00:00) - - Why ABM is still a top topic in 2026 (04:34) - - Intros: Snowflake, Ramp, and Hightouch (07:54) - - Defining ABM (and why sales alignment is everything) (14:04) - - The “stop list”: ABM tactics they’ve killed (16:34) - - Why paid social “ABM awareness” is overrated (19:54) - - Shifting ABM to in-person and physical plays (24:04) - - Budgeting for ABM and how to start small (28:38) - - Why ABM measurement is different than traditional demand gen (33:58) - - How they build ABM audiences using data + signals (39:18) - - Scaling personalization without making it manual (44:58) - - Final takeaways and wrap-up Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: AirOps - The content engineering platform that helps marketers create and maintain high-quality, on-brand content that wins AI search. Go to airops.com/exitfive to start creating content that reflects your expertise, stays true to your brand, and is engineered for performance across human and AI discovery. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. Convertr - The enterprise lead data management platform that sits between your lead sources and your CRM, automatically validating, enriching, and standardizing every lead before it touches your systems. Check them out at convertr.io/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand generation agency that helps high-growth cybersecurity, DevOps, and enterprise software companies drive more pipeline through AI SEO, paid media, and go-to-market engineering. Visit compoundgrowthmarketing.com and tell them Dave sent you. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more

    49 min

  4. FEB 17

    How to Build a Brand in B2B with Ryan Narod (VP of Marketing at Rippling)

    #330 | Dave is joined by Ryan Narod, VP of Marketing at Rippling, to break down how Rippling has built one of the stand outbrands in B2B right now. Ryan walks through real examples of campaigns they’ve run over the last year, from scrappy iPhone videos and webinar promos to high-production customer stories and their 2026 Super Bowl commercial. They talk about how Rippling shifted from being great at growth marketing to building a brand people actually recognize, how they inject more personality and “human” into everything they ship, and how they measure brand marketing without losing pipeline accountability. To see Ryan's real campaign examples, head over to youtube.com/@heydavegerhardt. Timestamps (00:00) - - Why Rippling is going all-in on brand (02:54) - - Ryan’s background and why he joined Rippling (04:17) - - What Rippling does and how they position the platform (08:17) - - What “brand marketing” means at Rippling (10:37) - - Building a story that makes HR the hero (19:50) - - Ryan shares Rippling marketing examples (ads, videos, webinars) (26:56) - - High-production customer storytelling (Berries) (32:18) - - The “HR Deserves Better” campaign (35:16) - - How Rippling measures brand and pipeline impact (42:53) - - The Super Bowl commercial and what it takes to pull it off (44:56) - - Final takeaways and wrap-up Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: AirOps - The content engineering platform that helps marketers create and maintain high-quality, on-brand content that wins AI search. Go to airops.com/exitfive to start creating content that reflects your expertise, stays true to your brand, and is engineered for performance across human and AI discovery. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. Convertr - The enterprise lead data management platform that sits between your lead sources and your CRM, automatically validating, enriching, and standardizing every lead before it touches your systems. Check them out at convertr.io/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand generation agency that helps high-growth cybersecurity, DevOps, and enterprise software companies drive more pipeline through AI SEO, paid media, and go-to-market engineering. Visit compoundgrowthmarketing.com and tell them Dave sent you. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more

    47 min

  5. FEB 13

    How to Upgrade Your Webinar and Email Strategy for 2026 with Jay Schwedelson (Founder, SubjectLine.com)

    #329 | Dave is joined by Jay Schwedelson, Founder of SubjectLine.com and GURU Media Hub, to break down why most webinars and email programs underperform and what to do instead. They talk about how packaging drives performance, why the word “webinar” kills registrations, and how small tweaks like renaming your session, shortening it to 22 minutes, or adding an “attend to receive” hook can dramatically increase show rates. Jay also shares tactical email plays, from using white space and tighter subject lines to increasing reply rates and improving inbox placement. Timestamps (00:00) - Why packaging matters more than the content (03:07) - Jay’s virtual event business and the GURU acquisition (05:53) - Why you should stop calling it a “webinar” (07:48) - The “attend to receive” tactic to boost show rates (10:22) - Why on-demand is hurting your engagement (14:31) - Why Fridays and Sundays outperform for B2B email + webinars (18:04) - How to choose webinar topics based on your goal (18:31) - Why 22-minute webinars and shorter podcasts win (28:54) - The white space + no preview text email hack (37:06) - The “reply with GUIDE” tactic to boost engagement (38:52) - Final takeaways and wrap-up Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: AirOps - The content engineering platform that helps marketers create and maintain high-quality, on-brand content that wins AI search. Go to airops.com/exitfive to start creating content that reflects your expertise, stays true to your brand, and is engineered for performance across human and AI discovery. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. Convertr - The enterprise lead data management platform that sits between your lead sources and your CRM, automatically validating, enriching, and standardizing every lead before it touches your systems. Check them out at convertr.io/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand generation agency that helps high-growth cybersecurity, DevOps, and enterprise software companies drive more pipeline through AI SEO, paid media, and go-to-market engineering. Visit compoundgrowthmarketing.com and tell them Dave sent you. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more

    42 min

  6. FEB 12

    The Strategy Behind Canva’s B2B Growth with Emma Robinson and Kristine Segrist

    #329 | Dave is joined by Emma Robinson, Head of B2B Marketing at Canva, and Kristine Segrist, Global Head of Consumer Marketing at Canva, to break down how Canva is scaling growth across both enterprise and consumer audiences. They talk about how Canva balances brand-building with pipeline accountability, how they turn bottom-up product adoption into enterprise deals, and why brand investment is a long-term growth lever. Emma and Kristine also share how their team structure, data science investments, and creative bets like the Love Your Work campaign help Canva scale without losing the brand identity that made them famous. Timestamps (00:00) - – Intro (03:24) - – Canva’s marketing org structure (06:24) - – Blurring B2B and B2C (11:24) - – How Canva measures marketing impact (16:24) - – Turning free users into enterprise deals (21:24) - – Data science’s role in marketing (24:24) - – Balancing brand bets with ROI (30:38) - – Inside the “Love Your Work” campaign (37:38) - – How Canva executes large campaigns (41:38) - – Building enterprise credibility and trust (44:38) - – FedEx case study on brand governance (48:38) - – Lessons from Google and Meta (52:38) - – Why creativity is a marketing superpower (54:38) - – Closing thoughts Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: AirOps - The content engineering platform that helps marketers create and maintain high-quality, on-brand content that wins AI search. Go to airops.com/exitfive to start creating content that reflects your expertise, stays true to your brand, and is engineered for performance across human and AI discovery. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. Convertr - The enterprise lead data management platform that sits between your lead sources and your CRM, automatically validating, enriching, and standardizing every lead before it touches your systems. Check them out at convertr.io/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand generation agency that helps high-growth cybersecurity, DevOps, and enterprise software companies drive more pipeline through AI SEO, paid media, and go-to-market engineering. Visit compoundgrowthmarketing.com and tell them Dave sent you. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more

    53 min

  7. FEB 11

    How to Lead Marketing Through the AI Shift with Bill Glenn (SVP of Marketing at Esper)

    #328 | Jess Lytle is joined by Bill Glenn, SVP of Marketing at Esper, for a conversation about what it actually looks like to lead a marketing team through the AI shift. They talk about why most teams are still figuring AI out, how leaders should think about adoption beyond just tools, and why curiosity and experimentation matter more than having the “right” answers. Bill also shares how Esper is rolling out AI across the company with guardrails, the internal process they use to evaluate new tools, and why the biggest opportunity right now is using AI to eliminate busywork and unlock better thinking. Timestamps (00:00) - Why AI feels overwhelming for marketing leaders (04:09) - What Esper does and why software powering hardware matters (06:54) - Why AI feels like the early internet shift (08:44) - Leading with curiosity instead of pretending to be an AI expert (11:24) - Why AI adoption is a behavior change problem, not a tools problem (13:24) - How Esper is rolling out AI with guardrails across the company (19:09) - Why “boring AI” that saves time matters most (20:24) - Phase 1 vs Phase 2 AI adoption in marketing teams (31:48) - AI, mentorship, and preparing the next generation of marketers (44:33) - Leadership advice for first-time CMOs and VPs (49:38) - Final takeaways and wrap-up Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: AirOps - The content engineering platform that helps marketers create and maintain high-quality, on-brand content that wins AI search. Go to airops.com/exitfive to start creating content that reflects your expertise, stays true to your brand, and is engineered for performance across human and AI discovery. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. Convertr - The enterprise lead data management platform that sits between your lead sources and your CRM, automatically validating, enriching, and standardizing every lead before it touches your systems. Check them out at convertr.io/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand generation agency that helps high-growth cybersecurity, DevOps, and enterprise software companies drive more pipeline through AI SEO, paid media, and go-to-market engineering. Visit compoundgrowthmarketing.com and tell them Dave sent you. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more

    53 min

  8. FEB 4

    How to Use AI for Content Without Creating Slop with Eoin Clancy (VP Growth at Airops)

    #326 | Dave is joined by Eoin Clancy, VP of Growth at Airops, to break down what it takes to create great content without pumping out AI slop. They talk about the rise of the content engineer role and why more teams are hiring for it and three dead-giveaway signs content is low-quality AI generated. Eoin also shares why webinars are Airops’ best growth channel right now, including how they choose topics, source guests, why the sessions are ungated, and how to follow up in a way that drives revenue. A tactical episode for marketers trying to move faster with AI while keeping quality high. Timestamps (00:00) - Why AI content, content engineers, and webinars matter right now (03:47) - What Airops does and the AI search problem they’re solving (04:42) - What a “content engineer” actually is (16:22) - How to use AI without creating AI slop (19:38) - The 3 signals content is AI slop (34:02) - Why webinars are Airops’ best growth channel (36:27) - How they choose webinar topics and guests (52:39) - Other channels working (enablement, community, events) (55:39) - Final takeaways and wrap-up Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: AirOps - The content engineering platform that helps marketers create and maintain high-quality, on-brand content that wins AI search. Go to airops.com/exitfive to start creating content that reflects your expertise, stays true to your brand, and is engineered for performance across human and AI discovery. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. Convertr - The enterprise lead data management platform that sits between your lead sources and your CRM, automatically validating, enriching, and standardizing every lead before it touches your systems. Check them out at convertr.io/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand generation agency that helps high-growth cybersecurity, DevOps, and enterprise software companies drive more pipeline through AI SEO, paid media, and go-to-market engineering. Visit compoundgrowthmarketing.com and tell them Dave sent you. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more

    59 min
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4.6
out of 5
47 Ratings

About

Interviews with top marketers sharing tactical tips, strategies, and lessons learned to help you grow your business. Hosted by Dave Gerhardt, founder of Exit Five, former CMO, and author of Founder Brand. Learn more at exitfive.com

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