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

Content marketers run modern marketing.

Because almost all marketing today is shaped online.

And online marketing shows up as:

- Ads
- Videos
- Articles
- Podcasts and clips like this with Jess Cook
- Social posts
- Newsletters
- Communities
- Influencers

Different formats. But none of it works without a clear content strategy and strong content marketing.

Jess is a great example of this: she started her career as a copywriter for big CPG brands. She cut her teeth writing 200+ variations of a recipe for Rice Krispie Treats.

Then built a career in content marketing: content market manager, director, VP brand and content.

Then turned that into a Head of Marketing role at a startup and was recently promoted to VP on the heels of her success using - wait for it - content to drive revenue.

Not because Vector's content gets a lot of impressions and their podcast is unique or because their little mascot is cute.

But because it's working! Those things are driving revenue. 

I had a conversation with Jess last week (now out on my podcast) and she shared three key marketing plays that she's run over the past year:

1. Influencer Marketing - how does it work in B2B, how did she find influencers, what did it cost, how much pipeline was generated, how did they measure it

2. Podcasting - why they started a podcast, how their podcast stands out, how they record, when/where, how they prep, how they know it's working

3. LinkedIn - we talk a bit about what content types (and strategy) is working well here today

4. Career Path - her path from content to VP Marketing

Erin on my team messaged me last night and said this was the best interview we've done recently - please go listen if you need some tactical inspiration.

Founder: Exit Five | Community Builder | Former CMO

What events are you going to in Q1? We're hosting the first annual Exit Five Marketing Leadership Retreat in Arizona March 18-20.

This event is exclusively for in-house B2B marketing leaders.

It's all about who's in the room and we've pulled together a great group for this event. 

Here are the sessions we have planned:

1. How to Become the CMO Everyone Wants to Work With (with Dave Kellogg, EIR at Balderton Capital)

2. Building and Leading a High-Performing Marketing Team (led by Hillary Carpio, VP Growth at Snowflake)

3. Managing Your CFO and Board Relationship (led by Pranav Piyush, Founder at Paramark)

4. Personal Branding for B2B Marketing Leaders (led by Jane Serra, Head of Marketing at MemoryBlue)

5. Ecosystem Marketing as the Next Big Growth Lever (led by Emily Kramer, Founder of MKT1)

6. How Are You Really Using AI? At Work and Personally (led by Katie Miserany, CCO and Head of Marketing at SurveyMonkey) 

And I'm interviewing Kim Storin (CMO at Zoom) about how she does things and what's changing this year.
 
PLUS since it's a "retreat" - we have time for activities like golf, a workout, pool hang, or in-room massage; get lunch, dinner, drinks.
 
Will you join us?

Pass this on to your VP / CMO friends in B2B.

Full details here:

bit.ly/3Lxj75e

Open article: Marketing Leadership Retreat | March 18-20, 2026 by exitfive.com

Marketing Leadership Retreat | March 18-20, 2026

Youthvine Agency

I drive strategy, agency growth, and nurture creator and social community programs at Youthvine, a next-gen lifestyle marketing agency and talent network. Focused on connecting brands to youth culture’s pulse—action sports, music, fashion, and social change—we blend strategic expertise with hands-on creator-driven approaches to deliver authentic impact.

Chief Engagement Officer

ThinkWithWitt

We help companies and nonprofits modernize their brand storytelling, social content, creator partnerships and audience engagement strategies to impact change and drive business growth.

Specialization: youth culture, hard-to-reach demographics, fandom communities, and cross-generational communications.

Guided by data. Driven by culture 🔥

Senior Youth & Creator Marketing Strategist, Problem Solver & Brand Builder

Thrive Global

Thrive Global is Ariana Huffington's health, wellness and fitness media resource. Together we're on a mission to end the stress and burnout epidemic by offering companies and individuals sustainable, science-based solutions to enhance both well-being and performance.

Contributing Author

YouTube

As a Senior Youth Culture Marketing Strategist for YouTube via GLG consulting, I have leveraged my expertise and understanding of youth culture to drive product innovation, enhance user experience, and develop effective marketing communications strategies in collaboration with prominent creators and users. Through our co-creation efforts, we have delivered tangible results and helped businesses stay ahead of emerging trends and remain competitive in an ever-changing marketplace.

Senior Youth Market Insights and Strategic Advisory 

We Are Family

Cross Generational Marketing Strategist | U.S. Market

Kogan Page

Co-Authored 'The Gen Z Frequency: How Brands Tune In and Build Credibility' with Derek E. Baird. The title was released on September 28, 2018.

Connect your marketing with youth culture and resonate with Generation Z using this expert guide, packed with proven strategies and usable frameworks for effective youth marketing. Generation Z, ranging from tweens to young adults, has enormous spending power; yet it is one of the most challenging generational cohorts for brands to reach.

Embodying an unrelenting relationship with information and mobile technology from a young age, Generation Z's ecosystem is infinitely more complex and varied than any generation before. Staying tuned-in to this demographic's impatience, confidence and constantly evolving trends can be daunting for any marketer trying to keep up.

The Gen Z Frequency offers a comprehensive guide for any brand, non-profit/social impact or organization trying to reach this demographic, covering fundamental truths, content creation, engagement strategies and tactics such as social media, experiential, emerging technologies, and much more. It is woven with fascinating case studies and real-world stories from the trenches, plus key insights from leading youth brands and Gen Z themselves.

Best-Selling Author  | Named Top Youth Marketer to Follow by  Inc. Magazine

Motivate Inc.

Motivate is the leading insights and media partner for reaching Multicultural, Youth and LGBTQ segments. We specialize in consumer segmentation, custom insights, product development and turnkey media strategy and execution for high-growth demographics. 

Motivate acquired Immersive Youth in 2016. The newly formed Motivate Youth practice provides best-in-class media activation in digital, traditional, social and influencer marketing services used by Fortune-500 brands and major advertising agencies.

EVP, Youth Marketing

Immersive Youth Marketing

Immersive is a youth marketing agency cultivating brand relevance with young people. 
We unlock the passions of consumers through cohesive solutions that emotionally connect, inspire action, and positively change behaviors. We’ve helped some of the world's greatest brands reach mass audiences while building credibility within niche youth segments.

Youthvine is our proprietary youth-powered resource. We deliver actionable insights, innovation, strategy and advocacy programs to help brands rapidly and cost-efficiently connect with influential tweens, teens, and young adults. 

Some of the brands we are honored to work with, include; Walt Disney World, Autodesk, Qualcomm, Nitro Circus, Funny Or Die, Bravo Sports, Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, Texas Department of Agriculture, Hansen's Natural, and Konami Digital Entertainment.

Premise | Youth Marketing + Immersive Media 

Premise is a full service agency that builds positive connections between brands and youth.   We provide the depth of expertise needed to resonate with young people in ways that are trend conscious. Our work impacts targeted consumer segments from the inside out to provide your brand the authentic foundation needed for success.  

We deliver a complete set of youth marketing services including; youth market strategy, brand development, research and cultural insights, social media, creative design and media services, content production, and education programs.

Head of Strategy and Consumer Insights

Landscape Structures

Strategic Advisor, Youth and Fitness Markets

Youth Brand Builder | Gen Z & Alpha Specialist | Creator Marketing Strategist | Author, The Gen Z Frequency | Youth Marketer to Follow, Inc. Magazine | #CreatorEconomy | Let's talk brand and business growth 🔥

Gregg L. Witt’s tireless pursuit of youth culture has been a long and winding road. Never content to just ‘know it when he sees it,’ Witt has dedicated his career to understanding the wisdom and authenticity of youth culture while guiding others to do the same.

With over 25 years of experience, Gregg is a senior marketing strategist specializing in building brands and directing campaigns that resonate and drive growth. Recognized by Inc Magazine as a "Top youth marketer to follow," he connects with tweens, teens, and young adults through cultural storytelling and youth-driven strategies.

Gregg’s journey began at 16 when he launched Goodtimes Skateboards, generating $500K in sales within its first year. This entrepreneurial spirit laid the foundation for his career as a trusted youth culture advisor.

As an independent consultant, Gregg advised major brands like YouTube, Meta, Samsung, Intuit, and Axe, while mentoring over 150 emerging creators and collaborating with Reichman University’s ContentShapers Masterclass Program.

From 2018 to 2021, Gregg served as USA Youth and Creator Marketing Strategist for We Are Family Global Agency Group, partnering with Adobe, Thorn, and Radio Disney to create youth-focused campaigns. Before that, as Vice President of Youth and Creator Brand Partnerships at Motivate Agency (2016–2018), he drove avg 33% annual growth, generating over $5M in revenue with work for Hollister, Cooper Tires and Walmart.

Earlier in his career, Gregg co-founded Premise Marketing, delivering strategies for brands like Funny or Die and action sports companies, and before that worked with Powerline 6 Design, collaborating with Ecko Unltd., Burton, Razor., and others. He also led award-winning social impact programs for the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids and Queen Rania of Jordan during his tenure at Immersive Youth.

Gregg is the co-author of The Gen Z Frequency (Kogan Page), a best-selling guide to understanding Gen Z, translated into seven languages.

As Founder and Chief Engagement Officer of Youthvine, Gregg leads a next-generation marketing agency connecting brands with youth culture through creators, community builders, and social media. Youthvine’s network spans 100+ creators and 500+ social communities, reaching over 100M youth globally.

Gregg’s work resonates because it is grounded in cultural intelligence and authenticity. “Gregg is this marketing dude that talks like us,” says Dana Barbaro, 15. From insights to advocacy marketing, Gregg ensures measurable results—all delivered in a new pair of bright red Vans Grossos.

Gregg L. Witt💡

Movement in 2025 didn’t become louder. It became participatory.
People didn’t just watch action sports. They showed up.

Performance still mattered, but participation mattered more. Brands that built sessions, access, and repeat experiences earned trust over time. Brands that treated action sports like media placement got ignored.

Growth came from systems that helped people do the sport, not from chasing visibility. That perspective shaped what stood out this week.

🎯 This Week’s AI Check: Rewind

Rewind turns personal memory into searchable infrastructure. It records what you see and hear across meetings, docs, and messages, then lets you search your own history privately, without breaking flow.

Where it shows up best:
• Brands rethinking learning, onboarding, and knowledge retention
• Schools and nonprofits supporting context-rich learning
• Teams preserving institutional memory over time

The net effect:
Participation beats exposure.
Recall compounds when systems support continuity.

Other signals worth noting:
🏃 Movement replacing doomscrolling as social infrastructure
⚡ Sports marketing shifting from interruption to immersion
🏁 Action sports maturing into long-term, league-level ecosystems

If you are building for trust, systems, and long-term relevance, that is what we unpack each week in The Gen Z Frequency.

Worth subscribing if you are building for what lasts.

Gregg L. Witt

Welcome to Edition 117 🌐 Tune in for a few minutes each week to elevate your youth and creator marketing game in a generational context. Here's what 

Open article: Why Participation, Not Visibility, Defined Action Sports in 2025 by Gregg L. Witt • 12 min read

Why Participation, Not Visibility, Defined Action Sports in 2025

Influence in 2025 didn’t disappear. It stopped being automatic.
People didn’t disengage. They decided faster.

Followers still matter, but they no longer carry the weight they used to. Relevance does. Trust does. Brands that treat creators as partners and build for participation earn staying power. Brands that treat influence like a media buy get skipped.

Growth now comes from systems built to earn attention repeatedly, not from chasing reach once. That lens shaped what stood out this week.

🎯 This Week’s AI Check: Arc Search

Arc Search doesn’t send you down a list of links. It reads the web for you and returns a clean, structured answer, which makes discovery feel more like exploration than homework.

Where it shows up best:

 • Brands adjusting to faster, summary-driven discovery habits
 • Schools and organizations simplifying research and learning
 • Teams looking for clarity without tab overload

The net effect:

Influence is earned, not owned.
Trust grows when usefulness replaces noise.

Other signals worth noting:

🌍 Digital skills framed as economic dignity, not just education
🚀 Learn-to-earn pathways expanding through platforms that fund youth-led innovation and leadership
🤝 Partnerships proving that scalable impact comes from building with young people, not for them

If you are building for trust, systems, and long-term relevance, that is what we unpack each week in The Gen Z Frequency.

Worth subscribing if you are building for what lasts.

Welcome to Edition 116 🌐 Tune in for a few minutes each week to elevate your youth and creator marketing game in a generational context. Here's what 

Open article: What 2025 Taught Us About Influence, and Why Trust Has Replaced Reach as the Real Growth Engine by Gregg L. Witt • 14 min read

What 2025 Taught Us About Influence, and Why Trust Has Replaced Reach as the Real Growth Engine

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The Battle

Dave Gerhardt

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Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Dave Gerhardt's LinkedIn Performance

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