You don’t need more marketing. You need the right marketing.

I’ve worked with companies at nearly every stage, from startups figuring things out to growth-stage companies building their engine to large organizations with big teams and big budgets.

And I’ve worked across pretty much every part of marketing.

I’ve built marketing departments from a blank sheet of paper. I’ve developed positioning and go-to-market strategies, built demand generation engines, launched products, created campaigns, developed websites, written content and press releases, built pitch decks, managed PR, supported sales teams, developed partnerships and, yes, posted on social.

I’ve also led teams and managed some pretty big marketing budgets.

That combination has made me a better leader because I know how the work actually gets done.

The marketing Swiss Army knife

I’ve had plenty of opportunities in my career to be the marketing Swiss Army knife, especially working with startups.

I haven’t spent my career managing functions I’ve only read about or inherited. I’ve actually done the work. I understand how the different pieces of marketing fit together, what good looks like and what it realistically takes to execute.

I’ve also learned that growing companies don’t need to do everything.

They need to figure out what will actually work for their business.

I’m a marketing optimization machine.

This is probably one of my favorite things to do.

Large budgets let you buy almost anything in the marketing ecosystem. When you’re working with a startup or growth-stage company, you have to be a lot more thoughtful.

Where should you invest? What can wait? What will actually help sales? What should you build internally versus outsource? What deserves your attention right now, and what is just a shiny object?

I’ve spent years making those decisions.

Growth Guru is about bringing that experience to companies that want to grow intelligently without wasting money or doing marketing just because someone said they should.