The B2B Revealed Podcast

Today’s guest is Ron Carucci, Cofounder and Managing Partner at Navalent, a company that works with CEOs and Executives who are pursuing transformational change. His Harvard Business Review article “Executives Fail to Execute Strategy Because They’re Too Internally Focused” put him our radar and led us to his fantastic book, Rising to Power.

We tackle both the book and the HBR article in this interview.

The crux of the episode--to borrow Ron’s phrase--is the ‘altitude sickness’ that all "rising" executives come across.

Examples of this altitude sickness are: ineffective use of power, effective and ineffective communication and organization design, as well as how effectively they are looking at the competitive landscape to leverage that information and make their organizations more profitable, successful spaces.

In This Episode

• Ron’s professional background and his current work with Navalent.
• Managing the competitive context for executives.
• The dizzying dynamics of managing and leveraging portfolios.
• Organizational ‘compression’ and strategic thinking.
• Why saying no is so important.
• A few words on Millennials and intergenerational connection.
• Why an executive should link their strategy to their company’s budget.
• Telling executives the truths they don’t want to hear but need to hear.
• Organization design as a system.
• A breakdown of power and its dangers.

If you don’t take care of your data, your marketing campaigns will have a lower ROI, sales teams will be starved for leads, and your company will miss it’s revenue targets. On today’s episode, I chat with Ruth Stevens, who has spent the last 20 years helping enterprise and mid-market companies take better care of their data. Ruth has also co-authored an excellent book on the subject named B2B Data-Driven: Marketing, Sources, Uses, and Results. Ruth and I chat about several important topics. First, we tackle the challenge of data degradation. When the rate of change on nearly any customer or prospect data set is 4% to 6% per month, all companies have to address the problem, this presents. Second, we cover some thorny problems, out of a full set of 20+ in the book, that bedevils anyone who tries to deal with B2B data. We also talk about why she is “opt-out” vs. “opt-in” and why this is not just the correct legal position but the appropriate one for B2B marketing leaders to consider. Finally, we talk about new types of data sets like intent data, along with a host of other topics.

You can learn more about Ruth’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/B2B-Data-Driven-Marketing-Sources-Results/dp/1933199172

Organic reach on Facebook has plummeted over the years and B2B marketers need to adjust. On today's episode, I chat with Peter Reitano, the Co-founder of Abacus, a digital marketing agency that specializes in leveraging Facebook and Instagram in a B2B context.

We discuss the challenges of finding organic reach through Facebook, the importance of vertical video and the importance of thumb stopper creative.

Peter also shares useful tips on how you can create an emotional punch with your Facebook and Instagram campaigns, even if you're a more "boring" B2B brand.

In This Episode

• The decline of organic research on Facebook.
• The importance of vertical video.
• Why short almost impulsive video clips are more powerful on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
• How to create an emotional punch with your content when you’re a “boring” B2B brand.
• Examples of emotional “thumb-stopper” creative.
• How emotional content leads to a more rational B2B “pitch.”
• Why repurposing content onto different platforms is not a good idea.

Learn more about the company behind B2B Revealed at www.cascadeinsights.com

Today I’m speaking with Sydney Finkelstein, an expert in leadership and the author of the well-researched book, Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Must Master the Flow of Talent.

We first discuss the main archetypes of different superbosses (the iconoclasts, the nurturers, etc.) through a number of different examples of well-known business leaders.

Then we get into various factors that make superbosses tick alongside some sentiments that are tantamount to treason when talking to a superboss.

Sidney also shares how superbosses almost always leverage the apprenticeship model when it comes to growing new talent.

In This Episode

• What is a superboss?
• The research that went into the book, including hundreds of interviews.
• The three archetypes of superbosses.
• Confidence and why it matters in being a superboss.
• Competitiveness and imagination in the workplace.
• Integrity and being a superboss.
• Why authenticity is essential for becoming a good leader.
• On being a hands-on delegator.
• Why apprenticeship can’t be beat.
• Network development and talent spotting.

Sangram Vajre, author of Account-Based Marketing for Dummies and co-founder of Terminus, believes the B2B funnel is all wrong. He shared his thoughts on smart marketing automation, the importance of account-based marketing, and why he started the #FlipMyFunnel movement.