Thrills and Chills: Establishing Product Marketing

Apart from being a certified first degree black belt in taekwondo, William is a seasoned product marketer who is taking the good he’s learned from former roles at Twilio and GitLab and channeling that into building out the PMM function at Osano, a data privacy platform. In this interview he and JD discuss what it was like to be a part of two different companies that went public, how to create and build a 30/60/90 day plan that encompasses both quick wins and long term strategy, and the benefits of being transparent and making your work accessible to all.

Connect with William on LinkedIn.
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Questions covered in this interview:
  1. What is it like to own product marketing?
  2. What do you look for in a company/team/role?
  3. How did you evaluate the risk of a new role?
  4. What are some of the challenges early on? What about now?
  5. What are some of the thrills (highs) and chills (lows) of your product marketing career?

What is Thrills and Chills: Establishing Product Marketing ?

“The company story is the company strategy.”
— Ben Horowitz, Partner and Co-founder, Andreessen Horowitz

For many startups, marketing isn’t important—until it is. This hasn’t always been the case. For the past decade, everyone was obsessed with finding a “growth hacker.” But now, product marketers are in high demand as companies realize their value. Startups are now asking: when should I hire a product marketer? Should my first marketing hire be a product marketer?

Lots of people want to be the first product marketer, but only a few make the leap. They’re the builders. The fixers. The risk-takers. They embrace the chaos. They’re comfortable being uncomfortable.

This is a journey into their world. It’s about sharing the thrills and chills of being the first product marketer at a startup. Along the way we’ll meet some amazing people. You’ll hear engaging stories about imperfect product launches. The challenges and nuances of everyday work. The skills needed to succeed. And of course, fresh perspectives on what it really takes to be a company’s first product marketer.

The only way to be on this journey is to begin. Let’s go.