Is Marketing Taking the Blame for a Product Problem?

Why stalled growth isn't always marketing's fault, plus Monday.com’s surprising efficiency hack. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

July 31, 2025 |Read OnlineIs Marketing Taking the Blame for a Product Problem?Why stalled growth isn't always marketing's fault, plus Monday.com’s surprising efficiency hack.Tyler Morian🚀 Connect on LinkedIn💡 B2B Website InspirationMonday.commoreRethink Your Go-to-Market Math“If growth stalls, marketing isn’t broken 90% of the time — theproduct is,” warnsRand Fishkin. Leadership sets aggressive quotas, then looks to the CMO when leads don’t materialize. A classic misdiagnosis.Causation unpacked byTK Kader: the “one more feature” myth and the “we just need volume” lie funnel cash into leaks. Dev Basu counters: treat the first two quarters of any motion as$-per-truth estimation, not forecast theatre. Start with baselines, not assumptions.Avoid crash-diet growth plans.Marketers who arm CEOs with hard baselines and segmented CAC live to fight another round; those who promise unsubstantiated results face consequences when the math collapses.BIG IDEA🔑Over-aggressive targets ≠ strategy. Proven value > hand-wavy lead gen.WHY IT MATTERSYour next budget defense is a spreadsheet, not a storyboard. Come armed with reality, or risk being blamed for fantasy.Comment on Rand’s post: “Marketing accelerates the inevitable; if it’s not inevitable, you’re just burning money.”Same thread: top-down expectations usually start with VCs pushing impossible comps.Dev Basu thread reply: “Leadership wants commitments, not est—friction begins there.”Monday.com’s Efficiency FlywheelContrary to SaaS lore,Monday shrank Sales & Marketing spend as a share of revenue from 95% to 48%while 5×’ing ARR (SaaStr). The lever wasn’t head-count—it was product synergy. Add-on modules pulled existing accounts deeper, ballooning LTV and subsidizing cheaper acquisition.Toast replicates the playbook vertically: embedded payments finance boots-on-the-ground reps, which can be difficult for horizontal SMB SaaS to replicate.The shared pattern—dominate a focused ICP(100k→2M ARR founderonReddit)—builds a defensible wedge before horizontal expansion.Sequence matters: nail retention + expansion economics first;asking marketing to accelerate a leaky funnel simply magnifies losses. Use ARR per CAC segment as your north star before any broad spend.BIG IDEA🔑GTM efficiency begins with product breadth inside a narrow ICP; volume spend is the reward, not the strategy.WHY IT MATTERSEvery new dollar you request should tie back to proven retention or expansion segments, or you’re fundraising against churn.Shiv Narayanan: map revenue source (new vs. expansion) before budget allocation.SaaStr commenter: Monday’s PLG motion slashed upfront CAC too.Reddit insight: “Hired a marketer before knowing repeatability—wasted $40k.”Search Has Already Re-Written Its Own RulesSeeing organic traffic dip?Zenith.aiparsed 30,000 Gen-AI citations;LLMs quote company domains and docs 7× more often than blogs or forums. Translation: classic SEO keywords aren't the only path to visibility anymore. Buyers ask ChatGPT, not Google.The fix is GEO—Generative Engine Optimization: crystal-clear specs, official docs, tight schema markup. Gavin Heaton calls it “becoming the answer instead of a result.” Surprising wrinkle—G2.comis the#4 cited sourcein ChatGPT answers (Adam Goyette). Your reviews just became TOFU.Restrategize:website, docs and even G2 profiles are now first-touch discovery assets. Audit every page forcite-worthiness—zero fluff, factual learnability.BIG IDEA🔑Discovery no longer lives on page-one SERPs; it lives in the answers LLMs stitch together.WHY IT MATTERSIf ChatGPT can’t source you, you’re invisible to a fast-growing slice of B2B research time. Re-prioritize docs and listingsbeforeyour next SEO sprint.HN user: “LLMs ask for specs, not spin.”Allie Smith thread commentnotes we need “a shift from content to knowledge.”Reddit: founder listed his SaaS on Crunchbase & G2 with schema, overnight “found by GPT.”Sound Bites🎙️B2B Lead Generation Crisis: When Word of Mouth Marketing Stops Working: Darrell Evans explains why referral pipelines are drying up for B2B tech and how to pivot with strategic video content and targeted paid advertising.🎥How To Build A High Converting Sales Team That Won’t Get You Sued: Sales expert Josh Troy breaks down how to build a high-performing and compliant high-ticket sales team in the current trust-depleted market.🎙️The Seller-Free Trend Will Be MASSIVE: Marcus Sheridan explains why 75% of buyers now prefer a seller-free experience and how to arm them with self-service tools before they even ask for a demo.Until next week!Update your email preferences or unsubscribehere© 2025 B2B Marketing Brief228 Park Ave S, #29976, New York, New York 10003, United StatesTerms of Service

July 31, 2025 |Read OnlineIs Marketing Taking the Blame for a Product Problem?Why stalled growth isn't always marketing's fault, plus Monday.com’s surprising efficiency hack.Tyler Morian

July 31, 2025 |Read Online

Is Marketing Taking the Blame for a Product Problem?Why stalled growth isn't always marketing's fault, plus Monday.com’s surprising efficiency hack.

Tyler Morian

🚀 Connect on LinkedIn💡 B2B Website InspirationMonday.commoreRethink Your Go-to-Market Math“If growth stalls, marketing isn’t broken 90% of the time — theproduct is,” warnsRand Fishkin. Leadership sets aggressive quotas, then looks to the CMO when leads don’t materialize. A classic misdiagnosis.Causation unpacked byTK Kader: the “one more feature” myth and the “we just need volume” lie funnel cash into leaks. Dev Basu counters: treat the first two quarters of any motion as$-per-truth estimation, not forecast theatre. Start with baselines, not assumptions.Avoid crash-diet growth plans.Marketers who arm CEOs with hard baselines and segmented CAC live to fight another round; those who promise unsubstantiated results face consequences when the math collapses.BIG IDEA🔑Over-aggressive targets ≠ strategy. Proven value > hand-wavy lead gen.WHY IT MATTERSYour next budget defense is a spreadsheet, not a storyboard. Come armed with reality, or risk being blamed for fantasy.Comment on Rand’s post: “Marketing accelerates the inevitable; if it’s not inevitable, you’re just burning money.”Same thread: top-down expectations usually start with VCs pushing impossible comps.Dev Basu thread reply: “Leadership wants commitments, not est—friction begins there.”Monday.com’s Efficiency FlywheelContrary to SaaS lore,Monday shrank Sales & Marketing spend as a share of revenue from 95% to 48%while 5×’ing ARR (SaaStr). The lever wasn’t head-count—it was product synergy. Add-on modules pulled existing accounts deeper, ballooning LTV and subsidizing cheaper acquisition.Toast replicates the playbook vertically: embedded payments finance boots-on-the-ground reps, which can be difficult for horizontal SMB SaaS to replicate.The shared pattern—dominate a focused ICP(100k→2M ARR founderonReddit)—builds a defensible wedge before horizontal expansion.Sequence matters: nail retention + expansion economics first;asking marketing to accelerate a leaky funnel simply magnifies losses. Use ARR per CAC segment as your north star before any broad spend.BIG IDEA🔑GTM efficiency begins with product breadth inside a narrow ICP; volume spend is the reward, not the strategy.WHY IT MATTERSEvery new dollar you request should tie back to proven retention or expansion segments, or you’re fundraising against churn.Shiv Narayanan: map revenue source (new vs. expansion) before budget allocation.SaaStr commenter: Monday’s PLG motion slashed upfront CAC too.Reddit insight: “Hired a marketer before knowing repeatability—wasted $40k.”Search Has Already Re-Written Its Own RulesSeeing organic traffic dip?Zenith.aiparsed 30,000 Gen-AI citations;LLMs quote company domains and docs 7× more often than blogs or forums. Translation: classic SEO keywords aren't the only path to visibility anymore. Buyers ask ChatGPT, not Google.The fix is GEO—Generative Engine Optimization: crystal-clear specs, official docs, tight schema markup. Gavin Heaton calls it “becoming the answer instead of a result.” Surprising wrinkle—G2.comis the#4 cited sourcein ChatGPT answers (Adam Goyette). Your reviews just became TOFU.Restrategize:website, docs and even G2 profiles are now first-touch discovery assets. Audit every page forcite-worthiness—zero fluff, factual learnability.BIG IDEA🔑Discovery no longer lives on page-one SERPs; it lives in the answers LLMs stitch together.WHY IT MATTERSIf ChatGPT can’t source you, you’re invisible to a fast-growing slice of B2B research time. Re-prioritize docs and listingsbeforeyour next SEO sprint.HN user: “LLMs ask for specs, not spin.”Allie Smith thread commentnotes we need “a shift from content to knowledge.”Reddit: founder listed his SaaS on Crunchbase & G2 with schema, overnight “found by GPT.”Sound Bites🎙️B2B Lead Generation Crisis: When Word of Mouth Marketing Stops Working: Darrell Evans explains why referral pipelines are drying up for B2B tech and how to pivot with strategic video content and targeted paid advertising.🎥How To Build A High Converting Sales Team That Won’t Get You Sued: Sales expert Josh Troy breaks down how to build a high-performing and compliant high-ticket sales team in the current trust-depleted market.🎙️The Seller-Free Trend Will Be MASSIVE: Marcus Sheridan explains why 75% of buyers now prefer a seller-free experience and how to arm them with self-service tools before they even ask for a demo.Until next week!

🚀 Connect on LinkedIn💡 B2B Website Inspiration

Monday.commore

Rethink Your Go-to-Market Math

“If growth stalls, marketing isn’t broken 90% of the time — theproduct is,” warnsRand Fishkin. Leadership sets aggressive quotas, then looks to the CMO when leads don’t materialize. A classic misdiagnosis.

Causation unpacked byTK Kader: the “one more feature” myth and the “we just need volume” lie funnel cash into leaks. Dev Basu counters: treat the first two quarters of any motion as$-per-truth estimation, not forecast theatre. Start with baselines, not assumptions.

Avoid crash-diet growth plans.Marketers who arm CEOs with hard baselines and segmented CAC live to fight another round; those who promise unsubstantiated results face consequences when the math collapses.

BIG IDEA🔑Over-aggressive targets ≠ strategy. Proven value > hand-wavy lead gen.

WHY IT MATTERSYour next budget defense is a spreadsheet, not a storyboard. Come armed with reality, or risk being blamed for fantasy.

Comment on Rand’s post: “Marketing accelerates the inevitable; if it’s not inevitable, you’re just burning money.”Same thread: top-down expectations usually start with VCs pushing impossible comps.Dev Basu thread reply: “Leadership wants commitments, not est—friction begins there.”

Monday.com’s Efficiency Flywheel

Contrary to SaaS lore,Monday shrank Sales & Marketing spend as a share of revenue from 95% to 48%while 5×’ing ARR (SaaStr). The lever wasn’t head-count—it was product synergy. Add-on modules pulled existing accounts deeper, ballooning LTV and subsidizing cheaper acquisition.

Toast replicates the playbook vertically: embedded payments finance boots-on-the-ground reps, which can be difficult for horizontal SMB SaaS to replicate.The shared pattern—dominate a focused ICP(100k→2M ARR founderonReddit)—builds a defensible wedge before horizontal expansion.

Sequence matters: nail retention + expansion economics first;asking marketing to accelerate a leaky funnel simply magnifies losses. Use ARR per CAC segment as your north star before any broad spend.

BIG IDEA🔑GTM efficiency begins with product breadth inside a narrow ICP; volume spend is the reward, not the strategy.

WHY IT MATTERSEvery new dollar you request should tie back to proven retention or expansion segments, or you’re fundraising against churn.

Shiv Narayanan: map revenue source (new vs. expansion) before budget allocation.SaaStr commenter: Monday’s PLG motion slashed upfront CAC too.Reddit insight: “Hired a marketer before knowing repeatability—wasted $40k.”

Search Has Already Re-Written Its Own Rules

Seeing organic traffic dip?Zenith.aiparsed 30,000 Gen-AI citations;LLMs quote company domains and docs 7× more often than blogs or forums. Translation: classic SEO keywords aren't the only path to visibility anymore. Buyers ask ChatGPT, not Google.

The fix is GEO—Generative Engine Optimization: crystal-clear specs, official docs, tight schema markup. Gavin Heaton calls it “becoming the answer instead of a result.” Surprising wrinkle—G2.comis the#4 cited sourcein ChatGPT answers (Adam Goyette). Your reviews just became TOFU.

Restrategize:website, docs and even G2 profiles are now first-touch discovery assets. Audit every page forcite-worthiness—zero fluff, factual learnability.

BIG IDEA🔑Discovery no longer lives on page-one SERPs; it lives in the answers LLMs stitch together.

WHY IT MATTERSIf ChatGPT can’t source you, you’re invisible to a fast-growing slice of B2B research time. Re-prioritize docs and listingsbeforeyour next SEO sprint.

HN user: “LLMs ask for specs, not spin.”Allie Smith thread commentnotes we need “a shift from content to knowledge.”Reddit: founder listed his SaaS on Crunchbase & G2 with schema, overnight “found by GPT.”

Sound Bites

🎙️B2B Lead Generation Crisis: When Word of Mouth Marketing Stops Working: Darrell Evans explains why referral pipelines are drying up for B2B tech and how to pivot with strategic video content and targeted paid advertising.🎥How To Build A High Converting Sales Team That Won’t Get You Sued: Sales expert Josh Troy breaks down how to build a high-performing and compliant high-ticket sales team in the current trust-depleted market.🎙️The Seller-Free Trend Will Be MASSIVE: Marcus Sheridan explains why 75% of buyers now prefer a seller-free experience and how to arm them with self-service tools before they even ask for a demo.

Until next week!