Archita Fritz

Fractional Product Marketing Leader | I help operationalize product roadmaps for commercial success | Strategic Board Advisor | Workplace Culture

I help private equity–backed CEOs and value creation teams turn fragmented go-to-market efforts into a system that drives top-line growth, margin expansion, and commercial readiness for exit.

Most of the companies I support are post-acquisition, sitting around $15M–$50M in ARR, and moving fast toward their growth targets. But behind the scenes? The GTM motion is often still being driven by legacy sales instincts, founder-era marketing, and a whole lot of duct tape.

The symptoms are familiar:
⟶ Sales blaming marketing.
⟶ Marketing running plays that don’t align to revenue.
⟶ No clear ICP, no pricing discipline, and no real GTM narrative investors can buy into.

That’s where I come in.

With 20+ years across global MedTech, SaaS, and industrial technology—leading product launches in 80+ markets—I now partner with portcos as a short-term operator to unblock growth and build real commercial infrastructure.

Here’s how I support the PE lifecycle:

In the first 100 days
→ Run a GTM audit, identify gaps, and prioritize high-ROI quick wins.
→ Bring visibility to what’s actually driving pipeline, not just vanity metrics.

During the build phase
→ Align sales, marketing, and product around one repeatable commercial motion.
→ Fix positioning, pricing, segmentation, and campaign logic.
→ Install weekly operating cadence, dashboards, and conversion discipline.

As you scale
→ Shift from hero selling to system selling.
→ Equip reps with enablement that sticks, and codify what works.
→ Build segment-level GTM plays that actually reduce CAC over time.

Ahead of exit
→ Translate the growth story into buyer-ready clarity.
→ Highlight pipeline velocity, retention drivers, and future upside.
→ Package GTM IP as repeatable, not founder-dependent.

I’ve done this across portcos of AKKR, EQT, Cinven, and Nordic Capital, and across sectors from life sciences to enterprise SaaS.

Outside of portcos, I sit on four boards, keynote international stages, and host the Embracing Only podcast on leadership, identity, and transformation.

If you want marketing to “look busy,” hire an agency. If you want a GTM system that builds enterprise value, call me.

👉🏽 Learn more here: https://calendly.com/archita-e-fm/1-1-work-with-archita-intro-call

What my clients say:

“Archita turned GTM chaos into clarity! And she did it fast!”
— David Hall Rode, CEO, Blue Mountain (AKKR Portco)

“She built our product marketing function and aligned commercial with product.”
— Patrick Hughes, CRO, CluePoints (EQT Portco)

Chief Marketing Officer

We rise by lifting others! Driven by a commitment to build psychologically safe workplaces where people can unapologetically be themselves Archita is resolutely focused to work with partners who want to look beyond metrics to help shape cultures of belonging and cancel out the silent acceptance of bullying and harassment in the workplace.

Archita is the strategy and marketing lead on campaigns, partnerships, products and promotion. If you want to partner with Speak Out on organisational campaigns or partnerships please connect with her.

New client, new year.
First week at Veristat and I got to be onsite for their Commercial Kick Off Meeting! 

Within the first five minutes, I somehow became the Rock, Paper, Scissors Champion! 
(Truly not sure if I peaked there, but it set the tone.)

I love being remote, but a week onsite upfront compresses relationship + context in a way that’s hard to replicate.

A few things I’m taking with me:

👉🏽 Commercial + Operations came together in a real way. You could feel how both sides contribute to the outcome, not in theory, in practice.

👉🏽 They brought in a customer, a family member, and two partners to speak. Hearing from a Veristat team member sharing what it’s like to be a family member navigating finding clinical trials for your loved one, and how that experience changes the way you think about timelines, communication, rigor, and care really struck a nerve. There wasn’t one dry eye in the room with folks recognizing the impact of the work they do.  

👉🏽 The trust Veristat has earned with sponsors is undeniable. There aren’t many teams sponsors rely on to take them from data → direction → regulatory submission with that level of confidence.

Personal bonus: I worked with Andrew (AJ) Mills for a minute many moons ago, so it’s been a joy to reconnect and jump in with his team again.

And I’m genuinely excited to partner with Kim Boericke as CEO, first time I’ve gotten to work this closely with a woman CEO, and you can already feel the clarity she’s bringing.

Grateful for the welcome, Veristat. Let’s go.

Archita Fritz 

Partner to Private Equity CEOs | GTM & Value Creation | Board Member | 2 x Top 100 Product Marketing Leader

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A friend said something to me this week that I can’t stop thinking about.

She met our friend group when we were in our late 20s, because she was marrying one of our friends.

And she told me:

“I remember being genuinely surprised by how many of you were chasing a title like it had a deadline. Like you’d decided, that by this age, I have to be that… or I’ve failed.”

I laughed when she said it, because she was right.

Back then, we used to call it “ambition”, but what it also meant to most of us was “don’t be left behind!”

We were all trying to stay ahead of our insecurity.
 
And what’s wild is… I see the grown-up version of that same chase all the time now.

It is usually not “VP by 30.”

But it’s more like, 

“We need to look further along by the next board meeting.”
“We’ll fix the foundation after we hit the number.”
“Just get through this quarter.”

I get why people say it. I’ve said it too.
Usually it means we’re in scramble mode.

A few years ago, I started asking myself a different question…

𝑨𝒎 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒕…
𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰’𝒎 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 “𝑰’𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅” 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈?

And then, separately, this week I flew in to celebrate a different and very dear friend—mid-week—for her wedding.

I cleared the time properly and showed up without negotiating with myself. We laughed and danced so hard our face and feet hurt.

And for once I wasn’t doing that mental math of what I “should” be doing instead.

And I had this quiet thought on the way home: I’m really glad I don’t live in that frantic chase mode the way I used to.

👉🏽 What was your “by ___” deadline that you have finally loosened the grip on? 

PS: And LinkedIN can you please take a moment to celebrate my gorgeous and dearest friend Sneha on her wedding day!

Archita Fritz at Sneha and Chris Rossi wedding in New York City 

Best thing I’ve done this year so far: breakfast with two women I respect.

Just coffee, tea, some scones were involved and a bit of laughter, with the kind of conversation that puts you back in the right headspace. 

Shea Conboy’s growth over the years has been a joy to watch. 
This past week I got to say it in person.

She was on my team many moons ago, and seeing what she’s built since then is genuinely brilliant. From building social media and event capability from the ground up at various life science companies to starting to build her impact in product marketing, so proud of everything! 

 I left that part of the breakfast feeling properly proud.

And then I finally met Kisha Wynter in person. Author of Your Power Unleashed and a guest on our  Embracing "Only" Podcast  in person for the firs time.  

We talked women in leadership, boardrooms, sponsorship, timing…and every so often we’d stop and laugh: “That’s literally in your book.”

On the way out, I caught myself thinking how often the right conversations get pushed “until things calm down”. 

If you care about women in leadership, your calendar has to show it.

I love catch-ups like this, because In Private Equity land, it’s easy to live in spreadsheets and operating reviews. Breakfast like this pulls you back to what actually moves companies...the people.

Who are you making time for this month?

PS: Check out the link to Kisha's book and her episode in the comments below.

Archita Fritz advisor to Private Equity CEO's and Shea Conboy

Archita Fritz Advisor to Private Equity CEO's and Kisha Wynter author of the book Your Power Unleashed.

These are all the things I would rather do than sit down and do homework with the three littles who live in my home rent free:

✪ Get grilled by a PE sponsor on CAC payback.

✪ Walk into a board meeting with one slide and pure courage.

✪ Explain (again) that “pipeline” isn’t a strategy.

✪ Untangle a CRM that’s 47 versions of “called - no answer.”

✪ Run win/loss calls where the feedback is: “Pricing.”

✪ Rewrite positioning while Legal replaces every verb with “may.”

✪ Align five execs on one ICP without anyone saying “everyone.”

✪ Explain our investor story using chaos, caffeine, and a prayer.

✪ Do a “quick” launch that somehow needs 14 approvals.

——

Because the mental health damage of doing homework and test prep with little humans is something else.

To every parent doing the nightly and weekend sit-down, I see you! 

PS: Anyone else have to take a mid-homework walk outside the house to save themselves from absolutely losing it?

PPS: Picture below courtesy my mid lunch walk last week in the middle of a Sales Kick off meeting! Trying to channel in those calm vibes right now.

You want to be “easy to work with.”
But a lot of you learn the wrong version of it.

Last week, someone I’d never met got combative over email. This person was several levels senior to me.

All I’d asked for was time on the calendar.

The reply wasn’t neutral, it was defensive and a tone that felt like: “know your place.”

In the past, I would have gone along with it. I  would have been extra polite, over-explained and tried to smooth it over.

I don’t do that anymore.

I stopped the email thread and moved it to a call.
On the call, this is what I said.

“We all want growth and a good way to work together. If that’s true, we’ll be fine. If what you actually want is friction or positioning, then this won’t be a good use of either of our time. Either outcome is okay, I just want it to be clear.”

Once that was said out loud, the defensiveness dropped and the real constraints came out. It turned into a productive discussion instead of a drawn-out thread.

By the end, they suggested spending more time together, not less.

Most people tolerate bad behavior because they want to be easy to work with. 

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆.

Going into this week: don’t confuse “easy to work with” with “easy to push around.”
If the tone is off at the start, address it early.

You’ll save yourself weeks of stress, and you’ll get better work out of the relationship.

Kicking off 2026 with a proud board moment: Inflectiv Group has made a minority investment in psLondon.

Huge congratulations to James Rose, Jan-Philipp Matthewes and the Inflectiv team, and a genuine welcome to Robert Pepper, Tony Speight, and everyone at psLondon. Excited to have you in the Inflectiv collective and for what we’ll build together.

Press release in the comments. 

Proud to share this marks Inflectiv Group’s third strategic addition, building a collaborative network of founder-led independents — now alongside Fresh Air and Hue & Cry | Certified B Corp.  

We’re continuing to grow selectively, making minority equity investments where there’s real alignment on quality, leadership, and culture.  
If you’re a founder exploring that kind of partnership, my DMs are open.

This week I got to do one of my favorite things: sit across the table from two C-suite leaders I genuinely love thinking with.

David Hall Rode and Amira Modi, thank you for the time, the candor, and the quality of the thinking.

I’m on my way back to Dusseldorf and smiling thinking about how grateful I am for leaders like them in my orbit. 

With David, we can brainstorm in 80 directions in 20 minutes… and somehow it doesn’t turn into chaos, it turns into clarity.

And then there’s Amira, who is the kind of leader who can zoom out to strategy and zoom in to the detail that will make or break execution.

She’s also one of the few women C-suite leaders in healthcare who brings both deep industry credibility and real commercial clarity. I’m lucky to have them both in my orbit.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞?

Because this is what separates teams that move from teams that stall.

Most teams don’t struggle because they lack ideas. They struggle because they can’t turn messy thinking into a clear direction people can execute.

What that looks like:
➟ People keep the real concerns to themselves because it’s not worth the friction
➟ The group talks through ten options and chooses none
➟ Everyone “agrees” in the room, then nothing changes after

What strong leaders do instead:
➟ Make it easy to say the unfinished thing out loud
➟ Keep the pace without steamrolling people
➟ Pull a real decision out of the noise
➟ End with a clear “here’s what we’re doing next”

It sounds very basic, but it really isn’t. And it’s a big reason some companies move faster with the same resources.

I’m grateful for leaders who make clarity feel normal and execution feel possible.

Archita Fractional Marketing Leader for Blue Mountain and other Private Equity Backed Middle Market Portfolio Companies 

This week I caught myself working like something was on fire, even though nothing was.

I’m onboarding a new client, and the engagement is off to a strong start. The work is clear, the team is aligned, and the trust is already there. 

I’ve been doing this independently for nearly three years, so none of this is new.

And yet, more than once this week, I caught myself pushing as if I still needed to earn the right to be here.

It was a strange moment of self-awareness, the kind where you can see your own behavior while it’s happening. I found myself asking a question I didn’t expect to be asking at this stage: 

👉🏾 Why am I going this hard when nothing is actually wrong?

This isn't new work or a new room, and it certainly isn’t about proving competence. By any rational measure, I already belong here.

And yet, something in me still behaves like 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭.

That question matters because it doesn’t point to a workload issue. 
It points to an identity issue. 

If you’re doing well in your role or building something that’s finally working, notice what shows up anyway. 

Pay attention to 
the extra effort that isn’t required, 
the urgency that isn’t real, 
the impulse to prove yourself in rooms that have already said yes. 

𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒙 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 
𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈.

I don’t have a neat answer yet.
Right now, I’m sitting with the question instead of rushing past it. 

Because something tells me this isn’t about working more or less. It’s about updating who I think I need to be in rooms that have already said yes.

PS: I came across a photo of one of my old teams I had the privilege of leading many moons ago. They were one of the first groups that ever held up a mirror to me around this pattern. Seeing that picture again felt like a quiet reminder I needed more than advice.

We’re in a pilot phase rolling out a suite of AI solutions at a PE-backed company.
And the impatience is… Olympic level.

Week 2:
“Why isn’t the AI delivering value yet?”

Because AI isn’t a vending machine.
You don’t insert “tool” and get “pipeline” back.

In the pilot stage, you’re not “deploying AI.”

You’re validating the conditions that make AI worth using

➟ Data integrity (what we think is true vs what’s actually in the system)
➟ Use case fit (what works in generic SaaS ≠ what works in this industry)
➟ Signal quality (which inputs predict response, and which are noise)
➟ Customer reality (how buyers actually reply, in the wild)
➟ Workflow adoption (if humans don’t use it, it doesn’t exist)

So yes, we should push for outcomes. But if you treat a pilot like a finished product, you don’t speed things up, you just create noise, churn, and “AI doesn’t work” opinions before you’ve even set it up properly.

If you’re a revenue leader in a PE-backed company, here’s the better question than “Why isn’t it working yet?”

“What do we need to make this work reliably, and at scale?”

If you’re in the messy middle of an AI pilot right now, what’s the biggest friction point you are navigating?

👉🏾  data, use cases, adoption, or expectations?

AI is not like a vending machine, you cannot put stuff in and hope to get pipeline out.

In a lot of mid-market PE portfolio companies, the issue isn’t lead generation. 

It’s that the company hasn’t agreed on the rules of the funnel, so leads get handled differently depending on who touches them. 

Marketing passes names,
Sales disputes quality, 
follow-up is inconsistent, 

and the CEO ends up asking for “more pipeline” when the real problem is a messy handoff.

There are other things that matter, and deal velocity is increasingly the bigger constraint I’m seeing, but without a clean handoff you can’t tell what’s working, what’s broken, or what to fix next.

When I’m brought in to steady this quickly, I put a basic GTM system in place in the first two weeks:

➟ 𝑫𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆 “𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅” 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈
One page that Sales and Marketing both agree to. If you can’t say the same sentence, you don’t have a funnel.

➟ 𝑫𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆.
Fit, intent, recency, and engagement, it doesn’t have to be perfect, but consistent enough to run the week on.

➟ 𝑺𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘-𝒖𝒑 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆. 
Who responds, how fast, and what happens when it doesn’t happen.

➟  𝑹𝒖𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅.
Routing, speed, fit, or follow-through, then fix one failure point each week.

This is not complicated. It’s just missing in more companies than anyone wants to admit.

In a recent engagement, this system helped moved leads from roughly 5–10 SQLs a month to 170+ sales-qualified leads in 60 days. 

Not because we “did more marketing,” but because we stopped debating opinions and installed a system the team could run.

If you’re a CEO and this feels familiar, ask one question in your next commercial meeting: what happens in the first 24 hours after a lead is marked sales-qualified? If the answer isn’t clear, start there.

Why Private Equity PE Portcos don’t have a Lead Gen Problem. They have a systems problem. “We don’t have enough leads” is the biggest misplaced diagnosis in private equity portcos

Good products don't sell themselves.
At least, they don't do it twice.

Most companies find their first "big win" through sheer grit and a great product. But when they try to launch the second or third product, the wheels usually start to wobble.

If your revenue is plateauing despite a great roadmap, the gap is likely in your Product Marketing foundation. Transitioning from a single-product company to a multi-product powerhouse requires a specific shift in "muscle memory." 

👉🏾 You have to move from selling a tool to selling a solution universe.

I helped a mid-market private equity portfolio company navigate this exact pivot. 

They had the talent and the tech, but their growth was capped by their position. By building a repeatable "pre-commercialisation" engine, they unlocked a 40% revenue lift across their entire portfolio.

1️⃣ Defining the Operating Model: 
↳ Moving away from ad-hoc launches toward repeatable playbooks.

2️⃣ Pre-commercialisation is more than just feedback: 
↳It’s about doing the heavy lifting, market sizing, competitor mapping, and message testing, long before the sales team ever sees the product. If you haven't validated that a "gap in the market" is actually a "market in the gap," you’re just setting your reps up to fail.

3️⃣ Internal Readiness: 
↳ Ensuring Sales knows not only what the product is, but also where it fits in the broader universe.

I’ve attached the one-pager we used to guide this process. If your team is struggling to move beyond your first "big win," I hope this roadmap helps you find some clarity this week.

Roadmap to take your company from a single product to a multi product universe. How to scale your company from a single product to a multi product solution. How Product Marketing can help you grow your product roadmap. How to commercialize your product roadmap.

At Christmas, I was lightly chiding my brother-in-law about how much he cares about football. 

Because I genuinely don’t relate. 

I’m not wired to tie my mood to something I can’t control for three hours on a Saturday/Sunday. My brain files it under: “entertaining… but not emotionally binding.” 

Also, I know basically nothing about American football. 

My strongest credential is still that I once stood on the inside of a football field because I was crowned University Homecoming Queen in 2004. That’s the whole resume!

Fast forward to Saturday, Jan 17. 
The Buffalo Bills lost 33–30 to the Denver Broncos.

My BIL and his entire family are huge Buffalo Bills fans. 
Like it affects the entire "household mood" fans.

So you can imagine, the family chat lit up immediately.

 And it wasn’t just analysis. It turned into people fast:
“He’s such a good guy.”
“He does so much with kids.”
“He deserves a ring.”

Bills fans… I’m sorry. 
That one looked painful.

---
And it made me think about something I see in Private Equity-backed leadership teams after a miss:

𝘐𝘯 𝘗𝘌, 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵.

The room starts hunting for the person attached to the number. Usually it is because we want the chaos to make sense, so we pin the story to a person.

In sports, it can swing either way just as fast:
one moment, one person… 
and suddenly it’s either pile-on or protective loyalty.

A few things I’ve seen the best PE teams do instead:

➜ Separate “bad outcome” from “bad decision.” 
Sometimes the call was right and the timing just didn’t cooperate. 
Sometimes you got lucky and you shouldn’t repeat it.

➜ Force specificity. 
Not “we need to execute.”
More like: “3 deals slipped 30 days” or 
“churn ticked up in X segment.”

➜ Make the next step small and real. 
One fix, one owner, one date, before the next LT/board call.

➜ Do a quick ‘what changed’ review. 
What we thought, what happened, what we’re changing. 
No courtroom or character trial.

Pinning it on one person is the quickest way to feel like you’ve explained it. It’s rarely the quickest way to improve it.

PS: Serious question...are you a “watch with people” fan or a “do not speak to me during the game” fan?

Picture credit: AP Photo/Jack Dempsey

Crafting a killer GTM strategy and executing it is much easier said than done

The right GTM approach can skyrocket your growth, but the wrong strategy will keep your B2B SaaS startup grounded

You need a partner with the GTM expertise & experience to scale your startup the right way

I’ve spent a decade+ developing & executing winning GTM strategies for B2B SaaS startups, and I want to partner with you too

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐁𝟐𝐁 𝐒𝐚𝐚𝐒 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩 ($10-250M) 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭:
→ Needs help defining & executing their GTM strategy 
→ Is open to new perspectives, candid feedback, and change
→ Has a leadership team that’s eager to collaborate

Then we should chat!

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩:

→ 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 
We'll serve as your Fractional PMM Leader, developing & executing your foundational GTM strategy from soup-to-nuts. Think: ICP/personas, positioning & messaging, pricing & packaging, sales pitch, etc.

→ 𝐆𝐓𝐌 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
We'll lead & execute a tightly-scoped GTM initiative such as a product launch or pricing and packaging project.

🚀 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝? 
Send me a DM or book some time: https://meetings.hubspot.com/bluemantaconsulting/initial-consult


Expertise
B2B Product Marketing | SaaS | Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy | Storytelling, Positioning & Messaging | Product Launches | Cross-Functional Leadership | Team Building | Coaching, Mentorship, and Training | Market Research | Customer Journeys & Personas | Packaging & Pricing | Sales Enablement | Product Adoption | Customer Experience | Voice of Customer (VOC) | Co-marketing

Jonathan Pipek

I want to launch a podcast. but only if it's actually different. here's the concept:

startup leaders bring their #1 GTM problem. no prep deck, no background brief, just the issue they're stuck on

I get 10 minutes to work through it live... no script, no safety net

sometimes I'll nail it, aaaand sometimes I'll suggest something they already tried, or I'll be missing context, or they won't have budget for the idea

but that's the point! 

real problem-solving is messy and I want to show the actual thought process. the good, the bad, and the "wait, let me think out loud for a second"

the goal is to get closer to solving a real GTM problem in under 10 minutes, or at least get them unstuck and moving in the right direction

so here's my question: would you actually listen to this?

p.s. please be honest. if this sounds like every other podcast or sounds lame, tell me now before I get into it lol

Jonathan Pipek 🔱

Product Marketing Consultant & Recruiter for B2B SaaS Startups | 2x Top 100 Product Marketing Influencer | Kellogg MBA

interested in PMM consulting? then join the first PMM Consulting Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) of 2026!

𝗼𝗻 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝘁 𝟯:𝟬𝟬 𝗽𝗺 𝗖𝗧, 𝘄𝗲'𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿:
- what day-to-day consulting looks like
- how to get started
- why clients hire PMM consultants
- how I decide what PMMs to bring on to Blue Manta Consulting
+ anything *you* want to ask!

it’ll be an open discussion with stories + practical advice

so if you're considering PMM consulting or just curious about the realities behind the LinkedIn posts, come on by! 

OH, and there'll be ~40 minutes of Q&A time, so please, for the love of Gouda, come with plenty of questions

👇link in the comments 👇

p.s. if you're an experienced PMM consultant, would love to have you join and share your perspective. 

p.p.s. if you're down to moderate (basically kick out bots and add links to the chat) lmk!

my career suffered because I never had formal mentors 

now, I did have some great managers along the way, but that's definitely not the same thing

so a few years ago, with Kevin Chan's encouragement, I started mentoring on ADPList and it's been so fun and rewarding

excited to keep mentoring PMMs in 2026 and hopefully motivate other folks to share their experience and knowledge too, like Kevin inspired me

p.s. if you're waiting for a sign to go mentor, this it it!

ADPList Top 50 Product Marketing Mentor

early in our pmm careers, we think execution is *everything.* just ship the deliverables, check the boxes, call it a day.

but here's what nobody tells you: completing the checklist doesn't mean anyone will actually use what you built

positioning? ✅
messaging? ✅
sales enablement? ✅
website copy? ✅

great work.... now comes the hard part

you have to sell your work internally

Sales needs to believe your messaging will help them close deals
Product needs to trust your positioning resonates with customers
Leadership needs to see how it all connects to revenue

this is especially true for messaging. you can craft the perfect value prop, but if Sales doesn't buy in or understand when to use it, it just sits in a messaging document somewhere collecting virtual dust

the best PMMs aren't just great marketers, they're great persuaders

if this resonates, check out my feature in Josh Chronister's micro prose where I dig deeper into this. 👇 link in the comments 👇

p.s. happy Friday eve!

"clear & differentiated messaging" is the fastest way to sound exactly like everyone else

that's the uncomfortable truth Josh Chronister and I unpacked on Micro Prose, and why most B2B SaaS messaging doesn't really have an impact

𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄, 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻:
👉 the messaging failure that forced me to completely rethink how I work with sales and marketing
👉 the simple shift that makes prospects point at your copy and say "wait, that's me"
👉 the one book I recommend every product marketer read

if your messaging currently sounds good but doesn't change behavior, this conversation will probably sting a little (in a useful way)

read the full interview on Josh's Substack 👇 link in comments

p.s. what's one messaging belief you've had to unlearn in your career?

you ever experienced the bliss that is the 𝗣𝗠𝗠 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮?

it's where:
1️⃣ your manager is great (you get the right amount of autonomy + guidance)
2️⃣company is growing like a weed, so you have tons of opportunities to work on impactful initiatives
3️⃣ leadership understands what PMM is and actually trusts you

if you've never experienced this, you're missing out! the trifecta is the sweet spot where you do your best work

if that's the kind of PMM experience you're looking for, I've got a role for you

Yi Lin Pei and I are placing a founding Sr. PMM at a Series A AI platform that's building the customer feedback category from scratch

𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹:
1️⃣ you'll report to the VP of Marketing who is wicked smart and thoughtful. she's is looking for a true partner to define the category from the ground up

2️⃣ Series A momentum with real growth. autonomy to build something from nothing, owning positioning, product launches, category education, & sales enablement

3️⃣low-ego leadership team that gets PMM and is open to your ideas

𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗷𝗼𝗯, 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿:
👉 based in NYC
👉 5-8+ years in B2B SaaS PMM
👉 proven 0→1 experience
👉 killer storytelling chops
👉 enterprise sales enablement background
👉 someone who thrives when the path isn't paved yet

$150k–$200k base + equity, hybrid 3 days/week in NYC (Union Square)

if this opportunity is screaming your name, apply using the link in the comments below 👇👇👇 

p.s. check out the comments for an analogy for the PMM trifecta that got cut!

🚨 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗡𝗬𝗖-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗿. 𝗣𝗠𝗠!

3AM Recruiting just started a 0→1, founding Senior PMM search in NYC (hybrid, Union Square) for a Series A, AI feedback platform

𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
👉 founding PMM, building the category from scratch
👉partner directly with VP Marketing + Growth
👉 heavy on GTM, launches, enterprise enablement
👉 pays $150k–200k + equity

the 3AM Recruiting post has all the details: https://lnkd.in/g3QvUEX6

p.s. make sure to follow 3AM Recruiting, all PMM jobs get posted there!

every week, there are 10+ meetings on my calendar with zero context

the title will say something super generic like:
- Jeff <> Jonathan
- Catch-up
- Quick chat

cool, but about *what*, exactly?

there's no description

no agenda

not even a cheesy “here’s what I’m hoping we cover"

so now I’m forced to guess how to prep... and I end up digging through emails, Slack, and LinkedIn messages for clues

so, here's a pro-tip for Calendly (or any scheduling tool really). you gotta do one of two things:

1️⃣ 𝗮𝗱𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲
- what this is about
- what you need from the other person
- any links / docs they should read

OR 

2️⃣ 𝗮𝗱𝗱 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲: “what prompted this call?” or "what do you want to walk away with?"

this saves everyone time, reduces anxiety, and makes the actual meeting 10x better

p.s. anyone else constantly asking, “wait… what’s this meeting about again?”

every conference keynote I give ends the same way: "wow, who designed your deck?"

you won't be shocked to learn that it's not me, but in fact the incredible George Little ⚡ from BrandZap!

I partner with George on everything design related

he creates beautiful websites for my companies, incredible presentations for keynotes, and designs impactful sales collateral for my clients

below are a few screenshots from the deck he designed for my keynote at the Chicago PMA Summit

check out his work at brandzap [dot] xyz

p.s. fair warning that he is in very high demand and does tend to book out a few months in advance!

over the 45 days, I’ve talked with so many prospects about fractional or project-based PMM help, that it’s helped me refresh Blue Manta Consulting's differentiators

here are the 4 big reasons B2B SaaS startups & scaleups choose to work with Blue Manta:

1️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝘃𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗠𝗠 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀
I share a shortlist of vetted, startup-tested PMMs that are a good fit for your specific needs. That means much less risk, and faster ramp

2️⃣ 𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱
I have weekly 1:1s with each Blue Manta consultant, offering coaching where needed, and making sure the work ties back to the goals and priorities we agreed on with our client

3️⃣ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁-𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆
If a consultant wins the lotto, takes a full-time role, or just isn’t a great fit, I handle the backfill (usually within just a few days)

4️⃣ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆
If your scope shifts or priorities change, we can bring in additional support or adjust the setup to fit. We've had up to 4 PMMs working with the same client before

bottom line is that Blue Manta Consulting was built for startups that need product marketing horsepower that works on their terms

expertise, bandwidth, and speed to market. that's what you get with us!

p.s. if you're interested in working as a Blue Manta fractional or project based PMM consultant - fill out the link in the comments! 👇👇👇

it's one thing for 𝘮𝘦 to tell you how incredible the Blue Manta Consulting team is, but it's another when a client says it!

here's Melanie Nottingham from Instructure sharing why she chose to work with Blue Manta and what made her confident we were the right partner 💪 

this is our 3rd year partnering with Mel and her team! it's been a blast tackling such a wide range of projects together: from sales enablement, win/loss analysis, product migrations, customers comms, website updates, and more!

we've even had four PMMs collaborating at once, including the incredible Nikki Chawla! 

grateful for the continued trust, Mel 🙏  looking forward to the many ways we'll work together this year!

p.s. huge shout out to Sergey. R. and Sway One for creating this testimonial video! if you need a testimonial video, check them folks!

my manager once took the blame for my $100k mistake instead of throwing me under the bus, and it completely changed how I lead today

I unpacked that experience (and a whole lot more) in episode one of "the product marketing leader" with Mike Brooks

we went deep on how moments like this shape PMM leaders

we talked about the power of soft skills, specifically why managing up and influencing the c-suite is the real superpower in product marketing

also shared a story from early in my career where I had to de-escalate a physical confrontation using relationship-building instead of authority (not something you learn in a textbook lol)

we also got into the messy stuff...

my most embarrassing career failure (the $100,000 mistake) and what I learned from my manager who took the blame instead of throwing me under the bus 

(this had a major impact on the type of leader I became)
​
other things we covered:
- how to move beyond just sharing data with executives and start providing actual insight-driven recommendations​
- why PMM leaders need to fight to define their team's scope to avoid getting stuck with low-impact work​
- why product marketers are often terrible at marketing themselves (and how to fix it)​

grateful to Mike for kicking off this series and having me on episode one

as always, link in comments 👇

p.s. anyone else want to share their embarrassing failure so I don't feel so vulnerable? hehe

every startup wants hockey stick growth, but most don't want to build the GTM foundation that makes it possible

and look, I get it. it's easy to get swept up in the idea of rapid growth

the ads. the funnels. the dashboards lighting up with leads... it sounds kinda beautiful, right? (in like a B2B SaaS way, lol)

but before you throw fuel on the fire, you need a foundation. and that foundation starts by nailing your ICP and personas

getting brutally specific about who you serve best, the exact organizations and decision-makers that get the most value from what you do

next, you gotta lock in your positioning and messaging

because if you can't clearly articulate why you're different and how you solve your customer's biggest pain points, no fancy marketing campaign can save you

once the fundamentals are solid, personally I'm a fan of building relationships with prospects via small-scale, high-impact plays like hosting intimate dinners at conferences, sponsoring local groups, or just showing up where your customers gather

and this is actually slower than spending a metric ton of $ on ads, but it's cheaper and you learn so much MORE about your ICP, personas, and your own positioning and messaging that you can actually make the critical pivots your startups needs much sooner

the founders that end up scaling their businesses aren't necessarily the ones that move the fastest or do the most things

they're typically the ones who stay focused long enough to build trust and momentum and to get the feedback they need in order to iterate and find PMF and THEN accelerate it

p.s. I guess a shorter way of saying this is "focus on achieving PMF first, *then* throw fuel on the fire"

how do fractional PMMs ramp up fast enough?

^^^ I get asked that by nearly every startup before they hire a Blue Manta fractional PMM

𝘀𝗼, 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗜'𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 Blue Manta Consulting 𝗣𝗠𝗠𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗽 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗹𝘆:

1️⃣  𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁
match consultants who already know the industry, vertical, or audience. built-in familiarity saves weeks
 
2️⃣ 𝗱𝗶𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
recorded calls, CABs, and buyer interviews, to get the actual language and pain points customers care about
 
3️⃣ 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆
focused chats with the right personas surface insights that are tough to find in docs
 
4️⃣ 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀, 𝗖𝗦, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗠𝗘𝘀
they know what lands and what misses, gotta learn from them!
 
5️⃣ 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘀
ICP & personas, positioning & messaging, analyst research, enablement decks. we focus on the most relevant & high value content to connect dots quickly

𝗯𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀: of course we use AI to learn about the industry, quickly learn new information, and find the right info!

the goal is to be dangerous in a few days and up-to-speed in a week or two

p.s. how do you shorten your ramp when jumping into a new product or market?

PMMs that become leaders all have one thing in common: they've mastered influence with at least two C-suite members

I'm running a roundtable at the Austin PMA Summit next month on building strategic partnerships with the C-suite and I need your help to actually make it relevant & actionable

we know that for PMMs, having credibility with execs is the difference between being the team that executes and being a strategic growth lever for the business

but which C-suite relationship matters the most for PMMs? vote below!

𝗽.𝘀. 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝟮 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀, 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟱 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲? 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 👇👇👇

which C-suite exec do PMMs need to influence most?

The author can see how you vote. Learn more

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The Battle

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