I've led marketing at ventures all the way from inception to IPO - attracting over 30 million users between them (see my LinkedIn profile for more details). And while luck is certainly important -
a data driven, systematic, iterative approach significantly improves the chances of success.
I'm continuing to optimize my startup launch process through focused short-term Interim VP Marketing assignments - and sharing my findings on my new blog at www.startup-marketing.com.
Check out my latest project Xobni (www.xobni.com), where I serve as Interim VP Marketing. Xobni transforms Microsoft Outlook into a social network by giving you a new contact-based view into your
inbox (which is Xobni spelled backwards). You'll wonder how you ever lived without it. But you'll have to wait a bit; Xobni is still in private beta.
I also consult with VCs on the marketing viability of new venture investments they are evaluating.
Do you run marketing at a VC-backed startup? Let's connect and trade ideas, war stories, baseball cards, whatever...
Listening to marketing podcasts is a good way to make a long commute productive. Occasionally they stimulate a great marketing idea, but at the very least they keep me informed about new marketing tools. I've only found one consistently good marketing podcast - Jenerous (formerly Marketing Monger). Eric Mattson interviews several marketing leaders and entrepreneurs. Many of his guests have a unique marketing focus (such as web analytics, branding, etc) so I learn something new from almost every podcast. Unfortunately they don't come out frequently enough to give me a good backlog of podcasts. I'd love to get recommendations from anyone who has found other good marketing webcasts. Please add suggestions to the comments.
Beyond marketing podcasts, I also find a couple of tech podcasts to be informative. I recommend TWIT (weekly) and CNet Buzz Outloud (daily).
I will have to throw a couple of these on the iPod for the drive in.
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