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

We polled ~100 CMOs at companies $50M - $500M+ ARR on what their top marketing challenges are right now. Here are the top takeaways.

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1. AI. No surprise. 85% said AI adoption is # 1 priority for 2026.

But this goes beyond the cute use cases you see on LinkedIn and from the AI creators showing you all the new things to do with the new tools.

"I need practical use cases and quick wins to show” - VPM $25M ARR

“We are expected to be using AI to scale marketing  efficiently” - VPM $30M ARR

“We are under pressure to demonstrate hard savings and additional value created via AI adoption.” - CMO $450M ARR

“Wondering am I moving fast enough on AI transformation — not just adopting tools, but truly rethinking how marketing works from the ground up.” - CMO $600M ARR

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2. Everyone said some version of this: "We need to grow more, spend less, & prove marketing did it.”

Grow more. Spend less. And PROVE that marketing did it. That is the key word there.

They all talked about revenue growth, but the framing has evolved beyond "drive more MQLs."

The dominant language was:

• Marketing-sourced and marketing-influenced pipeline (not just leads)
• Pipeline quality over volume
• Tying marketing to ACV expansion and retention, not just new logos

“We ned to tie marketing more directly to revenue outcomes — not just MQLs, but marketing-sourced and marketing-influenced pipeline, ACV growth, and expansion revenue” - VPM $85M ARR

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3. The other repeat topics we heard included:

• Team too small for scope of work
• Feeling  caught between strategic work (positioning, GTM, C-suite influence) and heavy day-to-day execution
• Structural misalignment after acquisition or reorg
• AI search disruption
• Moving upmarket
• Moving from single product to multi-product

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PS. We run a private group for in-house B2B marketing leaders. If you're running the marketing team at a company doing $50M+ ARR you should check this group out. Apply here:

exitfive.com/cmo-council

LinkedIn is the number one channel for B2B marketers (for content, social, ads, you know we love it here) so I had LinkedIn VP Marketing Davang Shah on the podcast this week to go right to the source about what's working, what's not, and trends across the platform.

We covered: 

- What actually works with LinkedIn ads right now
- Brand vs performance marketing strategies and how they differ
- How to think about measurement beyond last-click attribution on ads
- Why 95% of your buyers aren't in market at any given time and what to do about it

Davang also shares the data behind thought leader ads, what most marketers get wrong about the buyer journey, and how he's leading his own team through the AI shift at LinkedIn.

Listen here:

https://lnkd.in/erc8w2vM

PS. Did you know the average B2B deal takes 211 days and involves 22 people?

Javier Lozano Jr

CMO @ Wrapmate | 1st FM Industry Marketing Podcast Host | World Champ Athlete | #1 Best Selling Author

Fractional CMO and GTM leader building predictable pipeline for founder-led B2B tech and Smart Buildings / Build World.

• Scaled revenue from $1M to $20M+ with 11x pipeline growth and 8-15:1 ROAS
• Designed multi-channel demand engines across paid, SEO, social, lifecycle
• Installed RevOps, attribution, and scoring to lift SQL close rates to 60%
• 3x key-account revenue via ABM and enterprise GTM for complex deals
• Advise startups and growth-stage firms on brand, GTM, and pipeline acceleration

That was the highlights. Now, here’s my backstory.

In 2008, I was a world champion athlete-turned-entrepreneur who started an SMB during the Great Recession. But here’s what I noticed.

Most B2B companies aren’t short on leads. They’re short on systems.

CEO & Founder-led teams rely on hustle instead of frameworks. They treat marketing as a cost center instead of an engine.

That’s why I built The Bolder Growth Engine… a framework that helps CEO & founder-led B2B companies turn chaos into a repeatable go-to-market rhythm.

It’s not about running more ads or adding another tool. It’s about installing the operating system that aligns 3 levers of growth.

• Positioning & Narrative: clarity that turns noise into demand
• Demand & Pipeline Systems: compounding flow that doesn’t reset each quarter
• Revenue Ops & Cadence: tight handoffs and consistent accountability

Because growth doesn’t stall from lack of effort. It stalls due to a lack of structure.

The edge belongs to leaders who think in frameworks, not tactics.

Follow for weekly frameworks on building GTM systems, aligning marketing + sales, and scaling without chaos.

Ways to engage with me:
• Follow my Predictable B2B Growth podcast for weekly playbooks
• Grab the free Predictable Pipeline Diagnostic (Featured section)
• Book a 30-min Strategy call → boldermediasolutions.com/strategy

Have you ever asked yourself how to successfully grow a facility management company in today's digital age... while STILL remaining profitable?

I mean, you probably know that marketing should probably be in the mix. Actually... marketing should be part of your business function, such as finance or operations. But, you may not know the best approach to market your Facility Service company. There are so many new trends, strategies, and digital platforms -- marketing can just be plain confusing.

So how do you use marketing to grow your FM business today? How does marketing grow your pipeline? How does marketing generate leads? How does marketing make you a category king (or queen)?

Plus, if you're used to going to trade shows such as Connex, RFMA (Restaurant Facility Management Association), SPECS, and more -- you're literally SHARING the "leads" generated at these conferences.

Wouldn't it be awesome to have YOUR own leads? Where these FM's found you through a Google search, Google ad, social media -- or some other form of marketing.

Well... this podcast will give you the answers on how to use marketing to grow your Facilities Management company.

Welcome to the Facility Management Marketing Podcast

I get asked this question a ton about the name of my fractional consultancy Bolder Media Co.

Usually, it's around the "media" part. 

Most people think I just produce videos... social stuff... you know... media. But, I look at MEDIA a bit differently than most B2B leaders. 

I believe every brand (your company) should create and position your brand as a media company within the company.

Video
Social
Content
Podcast
Community
Thought Leadership
Email
PR
Sales enablement
Customer success

... all of that is a form of media. And it's been easier to produce than ever before. 

When you look at your brand as a media company, you start thinking about HOW can you capture attention. Not just make a post.

When you operate as a MEDIA company, you're approaching GTM strategy differently. Not just campaigns. Or tactics. But, how can you shape the narrative about your brand.

The best brands publish like a media company. They run marketing strategies like a media company. They are looking beyond an uptick in leads from a campaign. They are looking at brand equity. Demand engines. Scalable GTMs. And how media supports these initiatives. 

👋 Hey, I’m Javier — but most people call me Javy. I’m the founder of Bolder Media Co. and a fractional CMO/CRO for B2B companies.

I help founders and growth-stage leaders doing $1M to $15M in revenue build the systems, structure, and strategy needed to create a more predictable pipeline and scalable revenue engine.

My work centers on building GTM systems that scale, aligning sales and marketing, and making sure strategy actually translates into revenue.

At my core, I’m an operator. I believe businesses scale through strong systems.  Not guesswork. I help build those systems from the ground up so teams can grow with more clarity, efficiency, and consistency.

In prior roles, I helped drive 20x revenue growth in under four years, compress sales cycles, improve close rates by 50%, and build a brand that partnered with one of the largest OEMs in the world.

(my wife so far hasn't figured out that i married up... and she married way, way down)... 😎

I heard a founder say this to me the other day... “brand is fluff.”

Me: .... ah... OK... Then stop expecting inbound to magically get cheaper.

Founders that dismiss brand because it’s not as clean as a lead form are missing the point, because brand isn’t just vibes.

It’s a leading indicators that show up before revenue does.

Here's how you should be treating brand instead.

- Brand search volume -- Are more people literally typing your name into Google? That’s awareness you didn’t pay for today… but you’ll benefit from later.

- Mentions (social + web) -- If nobody is talking about you, you’re not top-of-mind. If mentions rise, your distribution is starting to work.

- Direct + organic traffic trends -- Direct traffic is “I already know you.” Organic is “I found you while solving a problem.” Both are signals you’re earning attention.

- Audience growth (followers / subscribers) -- These aren't vanity metrics. It's like inventory. A growing audience is a cheaper way to reach buyers repeatedly.

And, here are some tools (all free) you can use to help track the value of brand.

Google Trends & Google Ads for search interest

Google Analytics for traffic

Google Search Console for queries + visibility

The key isn’t tracking it once. It’s building a rhythm. Weekly glance, monthly decisions.

If you had to pick ONE metric that would expose the truth fastest in your business… which would it be? Search volume, mentions, traffic, or followers?

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