Founders' Marketing Compass

A podcast where founders and investors describe how they worked with their own marketing people: what they hired for, what they got, and where it went wrong.

Hosted by Etgar Shpivak since 2024. 31 episodes, all in English.

Where to listen Spotify · Apple Podcasts · YouTube · Substack · RSS

Episodes

Every episode has its full transcript on this site, linked under it with the article written from the conversation.

  1. Episode 31

    Daniel Ziv

    Principal at Glilot Capital Partners

    · 19 min listen

    Transcript Daniel Ziv of Glilot Capital Partners on guerrilla marketing that pays

    Written up as How a startup does guerrilla marketing on a budget · Founders spend too little on marketing

    Listen Spotify · YouTube

  2. Episode 30

    Ron Oren

    Co-founder and CMO at Imagen

    · 29 min listen

    Transcript Ron Oren of Imagen on whether paid ads are really driving growth

    Written up as How to know if your paid ads are driving growth

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  3. Episode 29

    David Howland

    CMO at Earnix

    · 42 min listen

    Transcript David Howland of Earnix on why marketing leaders leave startups

    Written up as Why marketing leaders quit early-stage startups

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  4. Episode 28

    Jason Harper

    Founder at Ready Signal

    · 35 min listen

    Transcript Jason Harper of Ready Signal on hiring for attitude before experience

    Written up as How to spot a bad attitude before hiring someone

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  5. Episode 27

    Talor Sax

    Managing Partner at eHealth Ventures

    · 25 min listen

    Transcript Talor Sax of eHealth Ventures on moving to the market you sell into

    Written up as Should a founder move to their target market?

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  6. Episode 26

    Lior Handelsman

    General Partner at Grove Ventures

    · 29 min listen

    Transcript Lior Handelsman of Grove Ventures on marketing problems and product problems

    Written up as Is it a marketing problem or a product problem?

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  7. Episode 25

    Ira Belsky

    Co-founder and Co-CEO at Artlist

    · 29 min listen

    Transcript Ira Belsky of Artlist on growth, profit and underspending on marketing

    Written up as When a high marketing return means you are underspending

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  8. Episode 24

    Alex Frenkel

    CEO & Co-founder at Kai

    · 30 min listen

    Transcript Alex Frenkel of Kai on cheap installs, unit economics and a pivot

    Written up as What counts as a good customer acquisition cost for an app

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  9. Episode 23

    Udi Ledergor

    Chief Evangelist & former CMO at Gong

    · 57 min listen

    Transcript Udi Ledergor of Gong on the CEO and CMO relationship

    Written up as What decides whether your first marketing hire works

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  10. Episode 22

    Dor Eligula

    Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at Bridgewise

    · 30 min listen

    Transcript Dor Eligula of Bridgewise on earning enterprise trust in Japan

    Written up as How to build trust with enterprise clients in a new market

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  11. Episode 21

    Barrel Kfir

    Partner at Dell Technologies Capital

    · 30 min listen

    Transcript Barrel Kfir of Dell Technologies Capital on how much to spend on marketing

    Written up as How much should a startup spend on marketing by stage

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  12. Episode 20

    Maya Ber Lerner

    Co-founder and CEO at Chiefy

    · 24 min listen

    Transcript Maya Ber Lerner of Chiefy on vanity metrics and the goal behind a KPI

    Written up as How to avoid vanity metrics in startup marketing

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  13. Episode 19

    Maya Szutan Azoulay

    Partner at lool ventures

    · 30 min listen

    Transcript Maya Szutan Azoulay of lool ventures on paying a startup marketing team

    Written up as How to compensate your startup's marketing team

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  14. Episode 18

    Reut Rachel Geva

    Entrepreneur and Investor

    · 27 min listen

    Transcript Reut Rachel Geva on when the founder should be the face of the company

    Written up as Should the founder be the face of the startup?

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  15. Episode 17

    Orlie Gruper

    General Partner at Mobilitech Capital

    · 29 min listen

    Transcript Orlie Gruper of Mobilitech Capital on a value proposition in one sentence

    Written up as How to write a one-sentence value proposition

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  16. Episode 16

    Will Decker

    Investor at Plug and Play

    · 31 min listen

    Transcript Will Decker of Plug and Play on telling whether the timing is right

    Written up as How to tell if the timing is right for your startup

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  17. Episode 15

    Dr. Maya Huber

    Co-founder and CEO at TaTiO

    · 27 min listen

    Transcript Dr. Maya Huber of TaTiO on qualified leads that never show up

    Written up as Why qualified leads book meetings and never show up

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  18. Episode 14

    Paul Knegten

    Founder and former CMO at Beeswax

    · 56 min listen

    Transcript Paul Knegten of Beeswax on why CMOs last 18 months, and whose fault it is

    Written up as Why CMOs only last about 18 months at a startup

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  19. Episode 13

    Didi Azaria

    CEO at Workiz

    · 20 min listen

    Transcript Didi Azaria of Workiz on retention by segment and building a brand

    Written up as A good net dollar retention rate for a SaaS company

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  20. Episode 12

    Avishai Ben-Tovim

    CEO & Co-Founder at MDI Health

    · 22 min listen

    Transcript Avishai Ben-Tovim of MDI Health on setting marketing OKRs

    Written up as How to set marketing OKRs for an early-stage startup

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  21. Episode 11

    Gadi Eliashiv

    Co-founder and CEO at Singular

    · 31 min listen

    Transcript Gadi Eliashiv of Singular on whether a marketing leader needs marketing experience

    Written up as Does a marketing leader need marketing experience?

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  22. Episode 10

    Ohad Tzur

    Founder and investor at NuFund Venture Group

    · 22 min listen

    Transcript Ohad Tzur of NuFund on what investors look for in a marketing team

    Written up as What investors look for in a startup marketing team

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  23. Episode 9

    Guy Benjamin

    CEO & Co-founder at Healthee

    · 26 min listen

    Transcript Guy Benjamin of Healthee on the red flags in a marketing leader interview

    Written up as Red flags when hiring a startup marketing leader

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  24. Episode 8

    Bryan Kujawski

    Founder and investor

    · 19 min listen

    Transcript Bryan Kujawski on marketing a boring product in a dull category

    Written up as How to make a boring product go viral in a dull category

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  25. Episode 7

    Avishai Sam Bitton

    Angel investor

    · 32 min listen

    Transcript Avishai Sam Bitton, angel investor, on reading CAC from the ad platforms

    Written up as How to read incremental CAC on Facebook and Google ads

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  26. Episode 6

    Eran Savir

    Founder & Managing Partner at Savyon Ventures

    · 28 min listen

    Transcript Eran Savir of Savyon Ventures on turning a return policy into marketing

    Written up as Turn your return policy into a marketing strategy

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  27. Episode 5

    Shaul Olmert

    Co-founder & CEO at KwaKwa

    · 42 min listen

    Transcript Shaul Olmert of KwaKwa on finding the one KPI that tells the story

    Written up as How many KPIs should an early-stage startup track

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  28. Episode 4

    Atticus LeBlanc

    Founder & CEO at PadSplit

    · 28 min listen

    Transcript Atticus LeBlanc of PadSplit on what a customer really costs

    Written up as What a good LTV to CAC ratio looks like for a startup

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  29. Episode 3

    Guy Poreh

    Co-founder at 5eyes

    · 29 min listen

    Transcript Guy Poreh of 5eyes on testing demand before you hire a marketer

    Written up as Do you need to talk to customers before hiring a marketer?

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  30. Episode 2

    Serhat Pala

    General Partner at Cross Ocean Ventures

    · 34 min listen

    Transcript Serhat Pala of Cross Ocean Ventures on churn, CAC and what investors check

    Written up as Why is my B2B SaaS churn rate so high when growth is strong

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

  31. Episode 1

    Kadion Preston

    Co-founder at Carib Shopper

    Transcript Kadion Preston of Carib Shopper on when to let go of a marketing hire

    Written up as When to let go of an underperforming marketing hire

    Listen Spotify · YouTube · Substack

Tell me what stopped working

I help seed and Series A founders run their marketing, week by week.