Axel Sukianto

I partner with early-stage B2B SaaS companies with growth marketing strategy and execution.

Specifically, I help early-stage startups work on:
• Setting up the "infrastructure" for marketing and growth, including the marketing funnel, demand generation, and inbound processes.
• Identifying your best growth marketing channels via experimentation
• Gap analysis of your current marketing processes for sales-led and product-led companies

I am working with (or have worked with) early stage companies, including:
• Bootstrapped B2B SaaS financial tech startup in Australia
• Seed stage B2B SaaS medical tech startup in Australia
• Seed stage B2B SaaS construction tech startup in Australia 
• Seed stage B2B SaaS communications tech startup in Australia
• Series A B2B SaaS marketing tech startup in Australia

Fractional Growth Marketing Director

Generate

Generate is the #1 B2B marketing community in Australia and New Zealand.

If you are an in-house marketer based in ANZ, check out our website here: https://www.generate.community

Founder

UpGuard

In my role, I am responsible for growth marketing, demand generation, content marketing, SEO, and marketing operations.

Marketing Director, Demand Generation

About UpGuard
UpGuard is a cybersecurity platform that helps global organizations prevent data breaches, monitor third-party vendors, and improve their security posture. UpGuard uses proprietary security ratings, world-class data leak detection capabilities, and powerful remediation workflows to proactively identify security exposures for companies of all sizes.

Marketing Manager

Horangi Cyber Security - a Bitdefender company

In my role, I led the marketing team at Horangi, which includes demand generation, digital marketing, SEO, marketing operations, and PR activities.

Horangi Cyber Security is a Singapore-based CREST-accredited company backed by a team of global cyber security experts in Asia and trusted by Industry leaders such as GOJEK, MoneySmart, PropertyGuru and Tiket.com.

Cisco

In my role, I was responsible for partner marketing activities (including marketing-to, marketing-with, and marketing-through all Cisco channel partners in Asia Pacific). 

Cisco helps seize the opportunities of tomorrow by proving that amazing things can happen when you connect the unconnected.

Partner Marketing Manager

Cisco Meraki

In my role, I am responsible for all things marketing, including demand generation activities and channel marketing campaigns in the Asia Pacific region.

Cisco Meraki offers a comprehensive portfolio of cloud-managed IT solutions designed
to work together to help deliver a modern network that is powerful, reliable, and easy
to manage.

Dropbox

In my role, I was responsible for various aspects of the small & medium business market in Asia Pacific, including:
- Growth of the SMB market of Dropbox and Dropbox Business in Asia Pacific through marketing campaigns, scaled initiatives, and data-driven projects
- Manage inbound leads for the SMB market of Dropbox and Dropbox Business in Asia Pacific
- Reporting on various the sales operational levers of the business, including via Salesforce reporting

Dropbox is a home for all your photos, docs, videos, and files. With 500 million signups under our belt, it’s exciting to see Dropbox connecting people around the world with everything that’s important to them.

APAC Marketing

Clayton Utz

I was a Lawyer in the Corporate / M&A group, with a primary focus on Private Equity transactions. I represented both local and international private equity funds in Australian transactions including fund structuring, mergers, acquisitions, corporate restructuring and IPOs. 

During the 3 years in my role, I worked on some of Australia’s largest and most complex legal transactions, which included:
- MYOB and Bain Capital on the IPO of MYOB, an AUD800 million IPO;
- Pacific Equity Partners in block trades of publicly traded companies Spotless and Veda.

Clayton Utz is a top-tier Australian commercial law firm. As a full-service commercial law firm, Clayton Utz has lawyers around the country with diverse and broad-ranging legal experience, across a range of industry sectors.

Lawyer

Paralegal in the Workplace Relations & Safety group of Clayton Utz, Sydney.

Paralegal

Summer clerkship rotations in the following groups of Clayton Utz, Sydney:
- Intellectual Property Litigation, and 
- Corporate M&A (Equity Capital Markets)

Summer Clerk

b2b saas marketer in australia | marketingcareers.com.au

over the past decade, I have worked with marketing and growth teams in b2b saas in australia 🇦🇺 and apac 🇸🇬 🇮🇩 to drive revenue with customer-focused marketing campaigns.

one million impressions in 365 days. 

here's the truth about my linkedin growth →

reminder: this isn't free. 

sure, it may cost you $0 compared to ads, but it requires time, consistency, and showing up when you don't feel like it.

it's a marathon, not a sprint. first they mock you for "wasting time on linkedin", then they're asking for advice.

𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗰𝗸 (still works in 2025): commenting. thank you to everyone who engaged with my posts: your comments amplify content to new networks. hint: you can help others grow by commenting on their posts too...

𝗺𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗼𝗶? brand deals and influencer partnerships i never expected.

𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻: consistent posting + genuine engagement = real business outcomes.

axel sukianto

b2b saas marketer in australia | fractional growth marketing director

aussies are twice as likely to lose patience with automated systems (yep thats me) and 32% will tell everyone about it (yep my whatsapp mates will hear all about the bad customer service)

had a convo with Nicholas Kontopoulos from Twilio when he was in sydney about their new report “decoding digital patience” which featured 1000 aussie customers.

here are my 3 takeaways from my chat with him:

𝟭/ 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁, 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀
20% of aussies will straight-up abandon your brand if your digital experience feels robotic. 

nicholas called it: "poor experience = damaged brand". one finding: 40% wish they'd never even started if your sign-up process is convoluted. that's lost revenue before you even get a shot.

𝟮/ 𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗿

32% of aussies share negative experiences vs 25% across asia pacific. and 34% will downgrade their opinion of your brand after one bad interaction (vs 29% regionally in APAC). 

the fix? stop treating customer service as a cost centre. best brands turn it into a profit centre by understanding the full customer journey. 

nicholas said: "AI must reduce friction, not replace empathy" (!!!) 

key frustrations? AI that doesn't understand questions (46% hate scripted robotic answers)... solution: deploy AI with broader data sets for contextual answers.

𝟯/ 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
48% hate repeating themselves across channels. the winners create unified customer profiles that actually talk to each other. 

zero-party data (health goals in fitness apps, loan purposes in finance) + first-party data = contextual experiences that convert. 

nicholas' framework: unified data → contextual personalisation → orchestrated channels → balance AI with human empathy.

===

bottom line: measure time to resolution and escalation rates, stop celebrating the volume of automated interaction. 

your tech stack means nothing if customers can't get to a human when fraud hits their account.

Brand partnership • b2b saas marketer in australia | fractional growth marketing director

anyone who said "email is dead" as a marketing channel... should take a look at my inbox and the colossal amount of black friday email offers.

here's a hot take early-stage startup founders and operators don't want to hear:

no one cares about your brand until after you've had a first wave of success selling and delivering your product.

yet so many $1m arr startups burning money (and valuable time) on tagline campaigns, flashy sponsorships, and inspirational ads that say nothing concrete.

brand isn't built through abstract messaging. it's built through delivering value... and then people remembering you for it.

but here's the nuance: brand is everything long-term (assuming.. you're hoping to build a lasting company), and it takes years to compound into something meaningful. start working on your brand from day 0. it doesn't have to be a massive investment - but it only gets easier the earlier you begin.

the simplest test to know if you've got a real brand? look at your direct traffic and branded search volume.

𝟭/ 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰 = 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁-𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 when people type your url directly into their browser, they already know you and trust you enough to skip google. 

shopify built this through relentless education for entrepreneurs.. quickstart guides, founder content, real value. not taglines.

𝟮/ 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 = 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 are people searching "[your brand] + [category]"? 

that's proof of mindshare you earned. can't fake it with ad spend.

𝟯/ 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 high direct traffic means you're less reliant on algorithm changes and rising ad costs. 

it's a defensible moat... and if you're ever raising or looking at acquisition → these metrics signal real brand equity.

stop trying to manufacture brand with flashy campaigns. build something worth remembering - and start planting those seeds early.

have you checked what percentage of your traffic is direct or branded today?

i can only think of one b2b saas brand that nails rhyming: Zapier.

"zapier makes you happier" and "integrate, automate, innovate" – both stick in my head instantly.

research shows rhyming statements are judged 22% more accurate than non-rhymes even when the meaning is identical. people also remember rhyming phrases far better than non-rhyming ones.

so when zapier uses rhyme, they're not just being cute.. they're making their positioning more memorable and trustworthy during those long buying cycles.

but i'm struggling to think of other b2b examples. most brands seem to avoid rhyming because it feels "too gimmicky" for enterprise buyers.

and yes, familiar with a lot of consumer brands who do it well, ie, "maybe its maybelline", "beanz meanz heinz"... but curious what else exists in b2b.

what other b2b brands use rhyming well? i want to see if there are patterns i'm missing!

everyone obsesses over acquisition. not everyone focuses on onboarding.

often, b2b companies deprioritises onboarding, which could be the biggest retention lever. 

Superhuman did the opposite… in the early days, they manually onboarded tens of thousands of paying customers. (if you've never heard of superhuman, they have some epic paying users who loveeee the product) 

sounds insane? here's why it drove 2x activation and 2x referrals for them in the early days:

𝟭/ 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁

superhuman spent 30-90 mins with every customer initially. captured pages of notes, 5-10 feature requests, 5-10 bugs per call.

this depth of learning? impossible from analytics alone. 

also, each conversation = rapid product iteration.

𝟮/ 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 

early superhuman was gmail-only, macos-only, chrome-only. 

no mobile. missing features everywhere.

but in-person, they could explain why. customers went from disappointed to intrigued when they noted requests and followed up later.

𝟯/ 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

at $30/mo, each onboarding specialist drove $650k arr/year. 

but the real metric? 65% of manually onboarded customers fully transitioned vs 30% self-serve.

they scaled human onboarding until supply/demand mismatch overtook benefits.

===

whats hard to stomach: your self-serve onboarding with tooltips and checklists is forgettable. 

superhuman's approach? 
✅ be opinionated (force keyboard shortcuts) 
✅ interruptive (full-screen setup)
✅ interactive (synthetic inbox to hit zero)

result: 57% of users opted into "get me to zero" - archiving a billion emails and counting.

what is your onboarding teaching your users... or are you leaving them to figure it out alone?

just because it works in one business doesn't mean it will work in another business.

as b2b marketers, we often look at successful strategies from other companies and think, "we should do that too."

but the reality is, what works for one business might not work for another.
every company has its unique set of challenges, target audience, and market dynamics... blindly copying tactics can lead to wasted resources and missed opportunities.

take for example, yahoo's attempt to replicate google's search engine strategy. google's success was driven by its innovative page-rank algorithm and clean user interface, which quickly made it the dominant player in the search engine market

seeing this success, yahoo tried to follow suit by revamping its search engine. however, yahoo's strategy didn't resonate with users in the same way. they continued to struggle with their complex interface and couldn't match google's search accuracy and speed.

ultimately, yahoo's efforts failed to generate the same impact, and they fell further behind in the search engine race.

instead, focus on understanding your own business, customers, and industry (for example, yahoo is BIG in japan)

test different approaches and iterate based on data-driven insights.

remember, there is no one-size-fits-all solution in marketing.
what works for one company may not work for yours, and that's okay. find what works best for your business and stick to it.

you spend months nailing your positioning. you come out with your pricing, and suddenly nobody understands why you're different (or worth it).

but your price should prove your positioning, not undermine it.

my good friend Kayla Medica is running a full-day masterclass in melbourne next week and honestly, if you're serious about this stuff, it's worth your time.

i've worked with kayla before (on client projects and on Generate - The B2B Marketing Community in ANZ): she's the real deal and not a theorist. someone who's actually helped companies connect the dots between how they position themselves and what they charge.

by the end of the day, you'll have:
✅ a clear framework connecting positioning → value → price 
✅ the language to justify why you cost what you cost 
✅ a pricing strategy that makes selling easier (not harder)

whether you're selling products or services, this works. you'll leave with something tangible—a workbook, clarity, and real answers.

melbourne. small group. the folks in the room who do the pricing work. you’ll spend the whole day solving your problem, not some generic case study.

get your tickets: https://lnkd.in/g4nnSdHU

public transport social accounts are get way better social engagement than most b2b brands.

i wonder if it is because their kpi isn't leads...

Transport for NSW just dropped a collab with Transport for London that shows exactly how to use social for brand building + trust building, not just pipeline building.

𝟭/ 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 public transport measures success through education, safety awareness, and community engagement. no sales targets. just value delivery.

𝟮/ 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘀 scroll-stopping collabs and entertainment that actually serves the community beats another product demo video every time.

𝟯/ 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗼𝘀 sydneysiders know the term "shittyrail" but still rely on transport nsw for real-time updates and now... actual entertainment. 

not every post needs to drive pipeline. sometimes the best strategy is just... being useful and entertaining.

ps londoners, the video doesnt say how to properly pronounce any of london station names.. help plz (how are you supposed to pronounce theydon bois?)

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