Seeking Wisdom

The most important thing we can all do as product people is also something that most of us continue to fail at: talking to customers. Getting customer feedback is an example of something that’s simple, but not easy. It’s incredible that talking to customers and getting feedback is the one thing that we all know is the key to building great products—but apparently we don’t all do it. Luckily, there’s a way to massively increase the amount of feedback that you’re getting if you open up your definition of ‘customer feedback’ and instead focus on, ‘How can I talk to my customers more often?’” On Twitter @maggiecrowley and @seekingwisomio

Do you find yourself only learning from people that you like? If the answer is yes, then your growth is in serious jeopardy. Because guess what? There are not that many people in the world who are perfect. If you choose to wait around until they are, or until you like them, or until they have the right experience, you’re going to be waiting a very long time. Whatever the case may be, you must avoid this pitfall that Charlie Munger calls: The Liking/Loving Tendency. If you don’t rid yourself of it, it's going to be your biggest roadblock to growth.

What if your brand could be the battle cry, the rallypoint, the symbolic meeting place for your customers? What if your brand could transform your audience into a community of participants? That’s exactly what InVision has remarkably accomplished. They’ve found and listened to their community. They haven’t just provided solutions, they’ve understood the problem. They’ve created an elevated surface for their customers to have and share a voice. The InVision brand has built a platform. Is transforming your brand into a platform difficult? Yes. Impossible? Not for a #Exception. Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September.     PS. The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, finally, for all of us to hang out, get updates on the podcast, and share what we’re learning (plus some exclusives). Just search for the Seeking Wisdom Official group on Facebook. On T

I hope you’re ready for this. DG and DC just got back from Toronto, and they’re packed with tidbits of wisdom to download. This episode of Seeking Wisdom, DC and DG give us some straight up B2B advice. One nugget they dropped? Be yourself. Sure, sounds simple, almost too easy. That’s probably why most B2B companies forget how profound it is. No one wants to buy anything from someone who is fake. It hasn’t worked in B2C, and it will never work in B2B. Sometimes in B2B, we just have to get back to the basics.

Keeping a swipe file has been a game-changer for DG. It helps him come up with ideas and find patterns between ideas. If you don’t have a swipe file, you should definitely consider it. DG recorded this one in his car on the last day of vacation in Hilton Head, SC a few weeks back, just for you. The book he mentioned was Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This by Edward Boches and Luke Sullivan, who was an ad agency guy for 30 or so years. Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500 today (just $199 for your ticket). Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September. PS. The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, finally, for all of us to hang out, get updates on the podcast, and share what we’re learning (plus some exclusives). Just search for the Seeking Wisdom Official group on Facebook. On Twitter: @davegerhardt and @s

In this episode, DC busts out his whiteboard to talk about three different comparisons of company growth vs. individual growth. In the first, the company grows faster than the individual. In the second, the individual grows faster than the company. In the third (and rarest) scenario, both grow rapidly—together. You’ll also hear thoughts on intermittent fasting, Managing Oneself by Peter Drucker, and Total Recall (the book) by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500 today (just $199 for your ticket). Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September.     PS. The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, finally, for all of us to hang out, get updates on the podcast, and share what we’re learning (plus some exclusives). Just search for the Seeking Wisdom Official group on Facebook. On Tw

In this one, Maggie shares a recent Tweet that got her the most impressions she’s ever had—and her first internet troll. It went something like this:“Stop wasting time talking about tools and backlogs. It doesn’t matter. Go talk to your sales team, figure out what hurdles they’re running into, and solve for them.” Listen in to hear why this struck such a nerve in the product community. Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500 today (just $199 for your ticket). Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September.   PS. The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, finally, for all of us to hang out, get updates on the podcast, and share what we’re learning (plus some exclusives). Just search for the Seeking Wisdom Official group on Facebook. On Twitter @maggiecrowley and @seekingwisomio

Jill Rowley is not a CMO, and we didn’t drink coffee during this interview. That should tell you just how much we wanted to interview her. Jill is the Chief Growth Officer at Marketo. She’s been in sales her whole life, although she has a soft spot for marketing and loves to study the best CMOs in the world. In this one, she told a crazy story about landing a deal at Eloqua that was a decade in the making, talked about her time at Salesforce, and shared when to walk away from a potential deal. Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500 today (just $199 for your ticket). Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September. PS. The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, finally, for all of us to hang out, get updates on the podcast, and share what we’re learning (plus some exclusives). Just search for the Seekin

The people want more DC on Seeking Wisdom, and nothing says DC like books. So in this one, we’re covering our favorite books that we’ve read this summer. DG runs through his four favorites, and DC mentions three—all by the same author. Check them out: The Tao of Charlie Munger - David Clark Confessions of An Advertising Man - David Ogilvy High Growth Handbook - Elad Gil Supermensch - Shep Gordon The Culture Code - Daniel Coyle The Talent Code - Daniel Coyle The Little Book of Talent - Daniel Coyle Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500 today (just $199 for your ticket). Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September.     PS. The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, finally, for all of us to hang out, get updates on the podcast, and share what we’re learning (plus some exclusives). Just search fo

Wistia is a company that markets a mission, not just a bunch of products. A few years ago, you might have described Wistia as a SaaS company that offers video hosting and analytics. But thanks to a major product launch this year, the company is in flux. They’re in growth mode, but they’re also in control of that growth. Like all other brands in the #Exceptions series, Wistia puts a huge emphasis on customer centricity. It’s one of the biggest reasons why more than 30,000 companies worldwide use Wistia products to create, host, and measure their videos, including companies like Mailchimp, Sephora, Zendesk, Squarespace, and Casper. Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500 today (just $199 for your ticket). Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September.     PS. The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, f

Mike Volpe is now a CEO, so what’s he doing on Coffee With a CMO? Well, Mike has a long history in marketing, and at the time of this recording, he still had a few hours left as CMO before he transitioned into the big chair. So technically, we didn’t cheat. In this one, Mike talks about how your PR focus should change as your company grows, why you should associate with big-name brands, and why you should hire people who are better than you. Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500 today (just $199 for your ticket). Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September. PS. The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, finally, for all of us to hang out, get updates on the podcast, and share what we’re learning (plus some exclusives). Just search for the Seeking Wisdom Official group on Facebook. On Twitter: @dav

DC is back from sabbatical, people. This is a very important day. If you listened to the episode with ET, you know that Drift’s two co-founders put sabbaticals in place for every three years instead of the typical five. Not just one time, but every three years. Which seemed like a great idea three years ago, but then DC had to be the first one to do it or else no one would… He was gone for a month, in Vermont, then L.A. And boy, does he have some stories... The three books DC recommended, all by Daniel Coyle, were The Culture Code The Talent Code The Little Book of Talent And here’s Jeff Bezos’s rubric for hiring. Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500 today (just $199 for your ticket). Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September.    PS. The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, finally, for all o

Brian Kardon is the CMO at Fuse and former CMO at Lattice Engines, Eloqua, and Forrester. He joined us in our Coffee With a CMO series to talk about his time at Forrester, the future of marketing, why tech isn’t as important as it used to be, what it takes to be a great CMO, and why you need to stop listening to other B2B vendors. Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500 today (just $199 for your ticket). Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September.     The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, finally, for all of us to hang out, get updates on the podcast, and share what we’re learning (plus some exclusives). Just search for the Seeking Wisdom Official group on Facebook. On Twitter: @davegerhardt and @seekingwisdomio

Facebook. Twitter. LinkedIn. Instagram. YouTube. What makes content on those channels effective? The answer is engagement. The more engagement a post gets, the more it gets shared. Comments (i.e., conversations), therefore, are a big deal. There’s a lesson to be learned here about your overall marketing strategy, and DG has it for us today. Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500 today (just $199 for your ticket). Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September.  PS. The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, finally, for all of us to hang out, get updates on the podcast, and share what we’re learning (plus some exclusives). Just search for the Seeking Wisdom Official group on Facebook. On Twitter: @davegerhardt and @seekingwisdomio

In the second episode of Coffee With a CMO, DG talks to Tim Kopp. They cover what it takes to get on Tim’s CMO “coaching tree,” how to hire right early to scale your company fast, what separates would-be marketing executives, and what he learned as a marketing leader for Procter & Gamble. Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500 today (just $199 for your ticket). Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September. PS. The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, finally, for all of us to hang out, get updates on the podcast, and share what we’re learning (plus some exclusives). Just search for the Seeking Wisdom Official group on Facebook. On Twitter: @davegerhardt and @seekingwisdomio

ET is filling in for DC while he's wrapping up his sabbatical. We talked about the Drift Sabbatical program, why it's 3 years vs. 5, and how the company scales as the founders take more time off, how to set up systems to scale, and the power of unplugging. We also talked about the Drift Leadership Principles and how they set up new hires for success and help scale the company too. And we talked about READING! Why Elias hated reading and how he's addicted to it and his tips for reading & learning more. Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500 today (just $199 for your ticket). Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September. PS. The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, finally, for all of us to hang out, get updates on the podcast, and share what we’re learning (plus some exclusives). Just search for th

We are starting a new series of video/audio episodes called “Coffee With a CMO.” The idea is to have a relaxed conversation with a CMO and let the conversation take us to the real heart of things. First up is Joe Chernov, Chief Marketing Officer at InsightSquared. In this one, Joe covers a range of topics including why being a good interviewer is becoming such an important skill, the problem with common marketing metrics, and his journey from being known for his content to being known for his work with ABM. Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500 today (just $199 for your ticket). Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September. PS. The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, finally, for all of us to hang out, get updates on the podcast, and share what we’re learning (plus some exclusives). Just search

In the very first episode of #Exceptions, we meet a company so excited about building a brand that it kind of feels like they name the whole company after how they feel. In this one, Jay explores Gusto, a SaaS platform that helps automate and improve your payroll, benefits, and HR processes. They launched in 2012 and employ over 500 people across San Francisco and Denver offices. They’re valued at over $1 billion. In 2018, Gusto was named to the Fintech 50 by Forbes. They’ve also made the list for best places to work in both office places. Today’s big idea: Be better than a commodity Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500 today (just $199 for your ticket). Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September. PS. The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, finally, for all of us to hang out, get updates on t

Jay Acunzo is the host of the podcast "Unthinkable." But now he's the host of something else: #Exceptions, the newest original Seeking Wisdom show. Exceptions will be a show about why brand matters so much in B2B. We'll dig up stories and ideas that companies haven't shared before. You can also expect a VERY different format from what we've done in past shows, which Jay explains in this intro episode. Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500 today (just $199 for your ticket). Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September. PS. The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, finally, for all of us to hang out, get updates on the podcast, and share what we’re learning (plus some exclusives). Just search for the Seeking Wisdom Official group on Facebook. On Twitter: @jayacunzo and @seekingwisdomio

DG found out a secret that has completely changed the way he does public speaking. It turns out, if you actually have a good framework, public speaking can become easy. Anytime you’re stuck, you can use these five points to get unstuck. They work for everything from presentations to slide decks to blog posts and even emails. In this one, DG responds to Andy Raskin’s comment about Drift being more like a reality show than a vendor before moving onto his five-part presentation framework. Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500 today (just $199 for your ticket). Visit https://hypergrowth.drift.com/ to get your tickets today and come see speakers like Jocko Willink, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Amelia Boone, Grant Cardone, and more in September. PS. The Seeking Wisdom Official Facebook Group is live! One place, finally, for all of us to hang out, get updates on the podcast, and share what we’re learning (plus some exclusives). Just search for the Seeking Wisdom