Dave Gerhardt

Hey I'm Dave Gerhardt. I created Exit Five, which has turned into the top community for B2B marketing professionals. Before starting Exit Five I had a 10 year career in marketing and grew from PR intern to CMO. I even once had hair! My wife says I'm more handsome now though, and she's quite pretty so that means a lot -- but the internet just boxes me in as the typical bald guy tech bro. So oh look, another bald tech guy writing on LinkedIn! whoopty freaking do.

Anyway. Where was I... OH. Receipts! I wanted to talk about receipts, because in a world of fluff and online influencers, I actually have some receipts and I want to tell you about them here because it signals power, credibility, and makes it seem like I'm super rich, so: I used to be pretty good at marketing, and my work as a marketer played a key role (at least I think so) in helping two software companies to successful exits: Drift for $1B+ and Privy for $100M+. I certainly helped the founders make a bunch of money, and I was able to comfortably purchase a brand new Toyota Sienna minivan for my family in 2021.

Today I spend my time working on Exit Five, and it's actually been super fun and given me a bunch of purpose. We're a team of six full-time team members now, and we have a private online community and host in-person events around the world. Plus there's a popular podcast and newsletter for marketers. We reach something like 20 MILLION marketers with our content every year, and we've got a pretty special thing going on. I hope to keep it going. You can learn more about it all at exitfive.com.

I spent most of my life in the Boston area but now live in the woods in Vermont with my wife, two kids, two cats, and one dog.

You can reach me at dave@exitfive.com if you want, but TBD if I reply. Depends on the message. But please don't send me any more swag or books. But if for whatever reason you do want to send me something, I play the ProV1x golf ball and like the low numbers.

PS. Find my podcast “The Dave Gerhardt Show” on Spotify

Founder & CEO

Exit Five is a media company focused on B2B marketing. We help B2B marketers build successful careers through our content and community. Learn more at exitfive.com

The CEO should put the Product team and Marketing team together. 

In lock step. 

To drive momentum and success for the company. 

I see so much about Sales and Marketing. 

Not enough about Product and Marketing. 

There should be a vision. And a roadmap. And regular launches. Some small. Some big. And this becomes the operating system for the company. 

You can CREATE momentum for your company by doing this. Deadlines drive actions. 

These regular launches give Marketing and Sales regular opportunities to talk to new customers. 

The CEO should be in the middle of this.

PS. If this topic lands with you and you're a CMO: we've been running a super secret group for CMOs / VP Marketing doing $25M+ ARR at Exit Five over the last few months and we're now accepting new members. Community is more important now than ever and it's all about who is in the room. We have curated the right room for you. If you want a peer group like this you can apply for a spot here: tinyurl.com/23h2c5eh

Founder: Exit Five. Community Builder. Former CMO. Building the top community for B2B marketers right now at exitfive.com

I didn't want my team to publish this talk. It was too good. Should have only been for the memory of the people that went to Drive this year.

But I'm also a marketer and understand the power of social media and free content, so fine. 

We published my pal Harry Dry's talk from Drive 2025 yesterday, and if you missed it he gave a masterclass in storytelling.

The long lost art of conflict and emotion in the world of AI, PLEASE GO LISTEN TO THIS MAN.

The first line of this clip says it all "You should know so much about your category you could write a book on it."

You're not creating a category to fit into Gartner or G2. You are creating a category because you are literally inventing a new of way of doing things!

That's the opportunity.

I'll put the recording in the comments (audio only)

Founder: Exit Five. The top community for B2B marketers.

Merck Group

Working Student - Global Communications & Strategic Planning 

Strategic Comms Deck

'Strategic Comms Deck', a practical toolkit developed in collaboration with Hochschule Darmstadt, Merck KGaA, and various industry professionals, designed to empower teams with goal-oriented, impactful communication strategies using media content formats. 

This brainstorming cards deck can help you in crafting engaging, memorable messages that strengthen organizational culture and foster collaboration. My approach integrates clear, effective communication techniques with innovative media to enhance team dynamics and drive corporate objectives. 

Let's connect and explore how strategic communication can elevate your organization.

Creator - Strategic Comms Deck 

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Amplifying Internal Communications through Expanded Media at Merck.

Masters Thesis 

TEDxTUDarmstadt e.V.

Executive Board

Creative Marketing & Event Strategist 

StudySmarter

- Enhanced SEO ranking through potential keyword research, landing page audits, content improvement, editorial planning, and generating new content ideas.
- Earned the title "Speedy Gonzales" in the SEO keyword research team, by contributing to millions of website visits and app downloads.
- Performed thousands of in depth-keyword analyses and researches to optimize content marketing, social media platforms and blogs.
- Contributed to StudySmarter's recognition as "IndexWatch 2022 - The SEO winners of the year" by SISTRIX GmbH.
- Collaborated with senior management and content team to execute SEO growth strategy for www.studysmarter.de , enhancing website structure, titles, keywords, and content copy that drove customer acquisition and increase traffic.
- Developing roadmap for technical on-page SEO (indexing, page speed, crawlability, mobile friendliness, site architecture), in collaboration with IT department.
- Tools: SEMrush, Sistrix, Ahrefs, Screaming Frog, Asana, Google Search Console, Hootsuite, GatherContent and Google Analytics.

Working Student - SEO & Digital Marketing 

AIESEC in Germany

Marketing Team Lead

Data BI

- Led the marketing department's strategic direction and vision, including branding, content marketing, design, newsletters, videos, SEO, positioning, business growth, and digital media communications activities focused on the B2B Tech Industry. 
- Designed and created www.databi.me , by focusing on improving customer journey and UX, as well as targeting keywords to increase organic traffic.
- Managed a team of 2 interns, collaborated directly with the CEO on marketing. 
- Launched the digital email marketing campaign rounds every month.
- Increased sales by 25% in 9 months through lead generation and successful pitches. 
- Grew social media engagement, presence and impressions with targeted content. 
- Ensured the success of products and services through digital media, marketing strategies, consistent social media calendar, content creation, emails and utilizing organic traffic on LinkedIn.
- Accepted at Pakistan's top startup incubator, National Science & Technology Park.
- Drives business through strong market differentiation, audience acquisition and new product promotion.
- Innovative ideas generation to promote startup, products and services.
- Managed to build a new corporate brand identity and image for Data BI.
- Managing overall strategic operations of research, startup growth planning, talent acquisition, employee branding and culture and environment.

Co-Founder - Marketing & Brand Communications Expert 

Thought For Food

- Advisement on TFF strategic plan and initiatives.
- Representation of TFF at various events in South Asia region. 
- Recruitment of social entrepreneurs to participate in the Thought for Food Challenge. 
- Engagement with social media and public relations about the program's objectives and requirements.
- Build and managed TFF volunteers team in Pakistan.
- Host meetups, events and other impactful activities focused on raising awareness about food and agriculture and the opportunities to innovate in this space.

Global Brand Ambassador 

Students For Liberty

- Building up local communities and establishing monthly group meetings.
- Design of graphics and creation of posts for social media.
- Raising brand awareness.

Digital Coordinator

CarFirst

Inducted into Management Trainee Program where I helped CarFirst in marketing and reach out to digital audience by building brand videos, marketing strategies and collateral. I was responsible for branding of North Region Sales Center of CarFirst. Out of 30 MTO's hired nationwide, My name was in special mentions in final report released by HR.

- Planned and executed successful marketing communications & digital branding campaigns.
- Responsible for branding of CarFirst Sales Center in Region North.
- Conducted insightful data analysis on sales and purchase activities.
- Developed interactive dashboards on business activities.
- Conducted successful recruitment bench marking.
- Responsible for employee branding and achieved excellent results for the KPI.
- Presented and provided recommendations to all departments for improving the
workflow.
- Graduated from CarFirst Management Trainee Program with recognition.
- C2B & B2B purchasing and worked in Purchasing, HR, Operations, Marketing, BI and Product Development Departments.

Management Trainee Officer (Marketing)

Global Marketing Access @ Merck KGaA | Marketing & Communications Expert | Brand Strategist | Digital Media | SEO | Content Marketing | Masters in Expanded Media @ Hochschule Darmstadt.

A keen learner and would want to keep my learning curve steep throughout my life. A creative ambitious individual with determination to achieve recognition in marketing communications, brand strategy, social media and content marketing. With a demonstrated history in conceptualizing and delivering marketing strategies and proven records of building relationships, managing projects and events from concept to completion. Exceptional team player and a team leader with ability to lead the strategic direction of team as I worked in both roles.

Key Competencies:
-Marketing Communications
-Growth Marketing
-Content Marketing
-Digital Marketing
-Search Engine Optimization - SEO
-Social Media Strategy and Management 
-Brand Management
-Product Marketing 
-Community Building and Engagement
-Entrepreneurship and Startup Marketing Management
-Business Growth and Digital Transformation
-LinkedIn Marketing and Optimization 
-UI & UX Design
-Strategy Planning and Implementation
-Video Editing 
-Project Management
-Event Management
-Media Communications 
-Public Relations
-Branding and Design Thinking
-Operations Management
-Email Marketing
-Graphics Designing 
-Human Resource Marketing
-Employee Branding 
-Personal Branding
-Talent Acquisition

Technologies:
Digital Marketing Tools, Microsoft Power BI, SEMrush, Sistrix, Ahrefs, Google Search Console,  Figma, Hootsuit, Hubspot, Jira, Asana, Just in Mind, Adobe Creative, GatherContent. MailChimp, Sony Vegas, Microsoft Office Suite, Tableau, ClickUp, Slack, Google Analytics, Trello, Zoom, Canva.

Personal Email: arslanashrafrana@gmail.com

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Dave Gerhardt

Arslan Ashraf

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