Lightning Speed

Corinne Cavanaugh
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Marketing leaders who engineered revenue growth at Fortune 500 companies share blueprints to help SMBs grow quickly. In each episode, a CMO who has worked with both SMBs and companies including Disney, Microsoft, Estée Lauder, PepsiCo, Wizards of the Coast and more, shares their learnings and systems for acquiring customers, reducing churn, and scaling revenue. Hosted by Corinne Cavanaugh, Harvard-educated three-time founder and former Microsoft marketing leader.

Episodes

  1. 6d ago

    Lightning Speed Ep. 4 | 300 Percent ROAS D2C Profitability | Rachel Wilkie

    The key to performance marketing, and e-commerce is sending fewer messages with higher intent. That is what Rachel Wilkie does best. She has the results to back it up: 300% ROAS on a $27 million digital marketing budget at Merrell, P&L ownership for $300 million MAC Cosmetics brand and $110 million at Merrell. She has done over 300 Shopify replatforms, and created a revenue engine running 40 experiments a month to increase learning velocity. In this episode of Lightning Speed, Rachel breaks down why P&L ownership is the unlock most CEOs are missing, by giving your CMO ownership, they shine. That is how she achieved 300% ROAS, why retention is about fewer messages with higher intent not more volume, how to replatform your e-store in six months when everyone else takes eighteen, and what D2C brands can learn from legacy brands about partnerships and vice versa. Here are two resources depending on where you are right now. If you are building out your AI marketing strategy, download the SCALE Framework free at cac-media.com/pod. A five-part system for scaling creative, automating segmentation, and embedding AI into your marketing operation without losing brand integrity. If you are ready to move now, the AI Modernization Jumpstart is a two-week CMO-led engagement that audits your stack, delivers five prioritized recommendations, and hands you a custom AI workflow blueprint. Flat fee. No retainer. Learn more at cac-media.com/ai-modernization-jumpstart ___ About Rachel Wilkie: Rachel Wilkie serves as Fractional CMO and CDO, D2C and Ecommerce at CAC Media & Publishing. Learn more from Rachel. Work with us: CAC Media & Publishing connects founders and CEOs with fractional CMOs and CROs who have 20+ years of Fortune 500 experience and have already solved your exact challenges. Ready to grow? Book a free 20-minute call with Corinne: scheduler.zoom.us/corinne-cavanaugh/exploratory-w-corinne Follow host Corinne Cavanaugh: Instagram | LinkedIn | X | TikTok The post Lightning Speed Ep. 4 | 300 Percent ROAS D2C Profitability | Rachel Wilkie appeared first on CAC Media.

  2. May 27

    From $8M to $50M in 12 Months: The B2B Pipeline Playbook That Compounds | Lightning Speed Ep. 3 | Brandon Smith

    “Find the people with the problem. Talk about the actual risk. Make sure you’re touching the right people who are really in the weeds at the moment.” In this episode of Lightning Speed, Brandon breaks down: how to grow ARR 6X while simultaneously cutting costs, why ABM is a surgical tool not a growth engine, and how to build B2B content that moves both the buyer and the person holding the pain, so your pipeline converts faster and compounds over time. Brandon Smith took Plainsight from $8 million to $50 million ARR in 12 months while reducing cost per lead by 30%. At BlastPoint he ran a FinTech C-suite ABM campaign that generated $2 million in influenced pipeline, with over 200 whitepaper downloads and 60% from target accounts. At Delhivery he led marketing through an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange while driving $130 million in ARR at the same time. If you are running a B2B or FinTech business and your pipeline is not moving the way your product deserves, this episode is for you. Enjoying this episode? Here are two resources to help grow your business. If you are building out your AI marketing strategy, download the SCALE Framework free at cac-media.com/pod. It is a five-part system for embedding AI into your marketing operation without eroding brand trust or slowing your team down. If you are ready to move now, the AI Modernization Jumpstart is a two-week, CMO-led engagement that audits your stack, delivers five prioritized recommendations, and hands you a custom AI workflow blueprint. Flat fee. No retainer. Learn more at cac-media.com/ai-modernization-jumpstart About Brandon Smith: Brandon Smith serves as Fractional CMO, FinTech and B2B SaaS at CAC Media & Publishing. Learn more: https://cac-media.com/fintech-marketing-brandon-smith/ Work with us: CAC Media & Publishing connects founders and CEOs with fractional CMOs and CROs who have 20+ years of Fortune 500 experience and have already solved your exact challenges. Learn more: cac-media.com. Ready to grow? Book a free 20-minute call with Corinne: scheduler.zoom.us/corinne-cavanaugh/exploratory-w-corinne Follow host Corinne Cavanaugh: Instagram | LinkedIn | X | TikTok Know someone building a business? Share this podcast with them! The post Lightning Speed Podcast Ep. 3 | The B2B Pipeline Playbook | Brandon Smith appeared first on CAC Media.

    18 min

  3. Apr 30

    Lightning Speed Podcast Ep. 2 | Plug The Leaky Bucket The Retention Playbook That Compounds Revenue | Brad Schlachter

    “A lot of churn is because you aren’t attracting the right customer in the first place.” In this episode of Lightning Speed, Brad breaks down: how to fix the leaky bucket problem in subscription and SaaS businesses, why growing fast and retaining customers are the same goal executed well, and the retention playbook behind some of the most impressive subscriber growth numbers in gaming, streaming, and SaaS. Brad Schlachter has built subscription growth and retention systems at Disney, MLB, Hallmark+, MotorTrend+, Konami, Codemasters, and Microsoft. At Slate Digital he drove 104% user growth while cutting churn 40% simultaneously. He also reduced customer acquisition cost by 85% year over year while improving conversion by 97%. If you are running a SaaS or subscription business and you are ready to build a revenue engine that compounds, this episode is for you. Enjoying this episode? Get the SaaS Marketing Playbook. Brad’s approach to subscription growth runs on the same systems covered in our free SaaS Marketing Playbook: how to build a revenue engine that acquires the right customers, keeps them longer, and compounds growth over time. Download it free at cac-media.com/saas-marketing-playbook-download/ About Brad Schlachter: Brad Schlachter serves as Fractional CMO, SaaS, Gaming and Subscription at CAC Media & Publishing. Learn more: https://cac-media.com/2026/01/21/reduce-customer-acquisition-cost-saas-growth/ Work with us: CAC Media & Publishing connects founders and CEOs with fractional CMO who have 20+ years of Fortune 500 experience and have already solved your exact challenges. Learn more: cac-media.com. Follow host Corinne Cavanaugh: Instagram | LinkedIn | X | TikTok The post Lightning Speed Podcast Ep. 2 | Plug The Leaky Bucket The Retention Playbook That Compounds Revenue | Brad Schlachter appeared first on CAC Media.

  4. Apr 17

    Lightning Speed | Why Your Product Launch Is Stalling | Angela Martin

    “A launch is not a date. It’s a revenue event.” In this episode of Lightning Speed, Angela breaks down: the real reason product launches stall, the three gaps that kill go-to-market execution, and she explains her 90-day activation roadmap and how it outperforms annual planning. Angela Martin has powered over $52 million in product launches at PepsiCo, Mayo Clinic, Harley-Davidson, Sara Lee, and Kimberly-Clark. At Cantel Medical, she turned around a stalled business unit in eight months: capital sales up 789%, combined revenue up 101%. Then she was promoted to lead a $250 million business unit. If you’re a founder or CEO in CPG or healthcare trying to move from hustle mode to a real commercial flywheel, this episode is for you. Resources mentioned: AI-First Marketing Department SCALE Framework: free download at https://cac-media.com/scale-framework-download/ About Angela Martin: Angela Martin serves as Fractional Chief Commercial & Growth Systems Officer at CAC Media & Publishing. Learn more: https://cac-media.com/2026/03/02/cpg-marketing-healthcare-angela-martin/ Work with us: CAC Media & Publishing connects founders and CEOs with fractional CMOs and CROs who have 20+ years of Fortune 500 experience and have already solved your exact challenges. Learn more: https://cac-media.com Ready to grow? Book a free 20-minute call with Corinne: https://scheduler.zoom.us/corinne-cavanaugh/exploratory-w-corinne Follow host Corinne Cavanaugh: Instagram LinkedIn X TikTok The post Lightning Speed Podcast Ep. 1 | Why Your Product Launch Is Stalling | Angela Martin appeared first on CAC Media.

    21 min
  • 4 Episodes

About

Marketing leaders who engineered revenue growth at Fortune 500 companies share blueprints to help SMBs grow quickly. In each episode, a CMO who has worked with both SMBs and companies including Disney, Microsoft, Estée Lauder, PepsiCo, Wizards of the Coast and more, shares their learnings and systems for acquiring customers, reducing churn, and scaling revenue. Hosted by Corinne Cavanaugh, Harvard-educated three-time founder and former Microsoft marketing leader.

Information

  • Creator
    Corinne Cavanaugh
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 CAC Media & Publishing
  • Show Website
    Lightning Speed