Ready to build your own Founder-Led Growth engine? Book a Strategy Call
Frontlines.io | Where B2B Founders Talk GTM.
Strategic Communications Advisory For Visionary Founders
Actionable
Takeaways
Map Your Customer's Influence Network With Precision:
Rather than broad targeting, identify specific individuals your best customers respect and listen to by name. Rebecca focuses on understanding who her target buyers follow, where those influencers participate, and how they contribute to the industry. This creates a foundation for strategic relationship building that reaches buyers through trusted voices rather than interruptive advertising.
Reframe Influencer Partnerships as Mutual Growth Opportunities:
B2B influencer marketing succeeds when positioned as authentic partnerships rather than sponsorships. Rebecca approaches industry experts by acknowledging their need for platform neutrality, being transparent about GrowthLoop's objectives, and focusing on how collaboration can grow both brands. She leverages her HubSpot credibility to earn respect while seeking ways to add value beyond financial support—thinking about content, audience access, and brand association as mutual assets.
Ruthlessly Prioritize Focus Over Scattered Tactics:
The shadow side of ambition is trying to do too much. Rebecca identifies her biggest 2025 learning as the need for greater focus, particularly questioning whether traditional paid advertising spend delivers value compared to investing that same budget in authentic influencer relationships. For resource-constrained teams, this means choosing fewer channels but executing with depth rather than spreading thin across multiple mediocre efforts.
Optimize Content for LLM Recommendation Engines:
With web traffic plummeting, marketers must think beyond traditional SEO. Rebecca observes that PR may experience a resurgence because LLMs perceive journalistic content as more reputable. Tactics include maintaining consistent company descriptions across all content, creating LLM-specific pages, and thinking about what you want AI to say when recommending your solution. The goal is training the algorithm through repetition and authoritative sources.
Structure Small Teams Around Category Leadership, Not Just Functions:
GrowthLoop's six-person team organizes around demand generation, events, and a "category team" that combines product marketing, sales enablement, and content. This structure emphasizes building market category understanding and point of view rather than siloed functional execution. Rebecca personally leads influencer marketing and customer announcements, showing how leadership can fill strategic gaps without hiring.
Create Conditions for Self-Empowerment, Not Control:
For first-time marketing managers, the hardest transition is measuring impact through team output rather than individual contribution. Rebecca's leadership philosophy centers on creating environments, resources, information, and direction that enable team members to make great decisions independently. This approach scales leadership impact while developing stronger contributors who don't need constant oversight.
Test AI in Your Personal Workflow Before Scaling to Team:
Rather than implementing AI tools top-down, Rebecca makes it her job to personally integrate AI into her own workflow first, questioning existing processes and instinctively gut-checking what could be done with AI instead. This hands-on experience informs better investment decisions for helping the team work faster and smarter, while modeling the continuous learning mindset needed in this transition.
Conversation
Highlights
In this episode of The Marketing Front Lines, we speak with Rebecca Corliss, VP of Marketing at GrowthLoop. After nearly a decade at HubSpot beginning as employee #45, Rebecca now leads marketing for a composable CDP that helps enterprise organizations like Costco leverage their data cloud for sophisticated audience segmentation. As B2B marketing faces seismic shifts—web traffic plummeting, LLMs reshaping discovery, and traditional playbooks failing—Rebecca shares how she’s rethinking enterprise marketing around influencer relationships, authentic content partnerships, and strategic focus over scattered tactics.
Topics Discussed
- Transitioning from inbound content strategies to relationship-driven enterprise marketing
- Building influencer partnerships in B2B through authentic industry relationships
- Optimizing for LLM visibility and the resurgence of PR Managing marketing teams through rapid AI-driven workflow changes
- Balancing paid advertising versus influencer investment in resource-constrained environments
- Navigating enterprise sales cycles with ABM and targeted positioning
Recommended Founder
Interviews
Marty Ringlein
CEO & Co-Founder of Agree.com
Marty Ringlein, CEO & Co-Founder of Agree.com: $3M Raised to Transform Contract-Based Revenue Management
Jonas Rinde
CEO of Nomono
Jonas Rinde, CEO of Nomono: $15 million Raised to Power the Future of Podcasting
Adrien Menard
CEO and Co-Founder of Botify
Adrien Menard, CEO and Co-Founder of Botify: $82 Million Raised to Build the Future of SEO
Dirk Wolf
CEO of Market Logic Software
How Market Logic rebuilt customer segmentation to stop optimizing for the loudest accounts | Dirk Wolf
Creating the Marketing Automation Category with Mark Organ
CEO of Eloqua
Creating the Marketing Automation Category with Mark Organ
Jason Zintak
CEO of 6sense
Jason Zintak: The GTM Story of 6sense ($5.2 Billion Valuation)
David Walsh
Founder & CEO of Limelight
How Limelight validated the B2B creator market by interviewing 100+ creators before building | David Walsh
Daniel Saks
CEO & Co-Founder of Landbase
Daniel Saks, CEO & Co-Founder of Landbase: $12.5 Million Raised to Power the Future of GTM Automation
Taylor Lint
CEO and Founder of Swantide
Taylor Lint, CEO and Founder of Swantide: $7 Million Raised to Revolutionize How Companies Design and Build Their GTM Infrastructure
Sangram Vajre
Co Founder and CEO of GTM Partners
Behind the Category: Creating the Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Category with Sangram Vajre
Chris Strahl
CEO of Knapsack
Chris Strahl, CEO of Knapsack: $7 Million Raised to Build the Future of Design Systems
Hikari Senju
CEO and Founder of Omneky
Hikari Senju, CEO and Founder of Omneky: $10 Million Raised to Empower Brands With AI-Powered Ads To Maximize Performance
Canay Deniz
CEO & Co-Founder of Ren Systems
Canay Deniz, CEO & Co-Founder of Ren Systems: $8.8 Million Raised to Build the Future of Relationship Intelligence for Dealmakers
Parry Bedi
Co-Founder and CEO of Tingono
Parry Bedi, CEO of Tingono: $7 Million Raised to Help Companies Boost Net Revenue Retention
Vinay Jain
Founder of MadMen AI
Vinay Jain, Founder of MadMen AI: $4.5 Million Raised to Build the Future of AI-Powered Marketing Platforms
Natasha Woods
Senior Director Communications of The Linux Foundation
How GitLab’s comms team workshopped the “iPhone for DevOps” analogy for CNBC’s IPO interview | Natasha Woods
Justas Malinauskas
CEO & Co-Founder of Whatagraph
How Whatagraph generates 500+ marketing qualified leads monthly through competitor pain point SEO | Justas Malinauskas ($10+ Million Raised)
Jonathan Legge
Co-Founder and CEO of &Open
Jonathan Legge, Co-Founder and CEO at &Open: Over $35 Million Raised to Create the Future of Corporate Gifting
Marc-Alexander Christ
Co-Founder of SumUp
Marc-Alexander Christ: the Story of SumUp ($8.5 Billion Valuation)
Philipp de la Haye
Senior Vice President of Marketin of FrontNow
AI Will Cut Marketing Teams to 2 People – Here’s the Playbook
Cassandra Gholston
CEO & Founder of PartnerTap
Cassandra Gholston, CEO & Founder of PartnerTap: $9 Million Raised to Revolutionize Partner Orchestration
Rush Shahani
Co-Founder & CTO of Persana AI
Rush Shahani, Co-Founder & CTO of Persana AI: $2.3 Million Raised to Power the Future of GTM
Anthony Lye
Chairman & CEO of Quid
Why the next great tech companies will sell outcomes, not software | Anthony Lye
Ishveen Jolly
CEO and Co-Founder of OpenSponsorship
Ishveen Jolly, CEO and Co-Founder of OpenSponsorship: Over $5 Million Raised to Build the Future of Sports Influencer Marketing
Katy Carrigan
CEO of Goody
Katy Carrigan, CEO of Goody: $32 Million Raised to Build the Future of Corporate Gifting
Ashish Nagar
Founder & CEO of Level AI
Ashish Nagar, CEO of Level AI: $35 Million Raised to Power Contact Centers of the Future
Avi Avital
VP of Customer Success of Nimble
How Nimble evolved CSMs from technical support to revenue owners with NRR/NGR targets | Avi Avital
Stephen Karaolis
Marketing Director of Cleary
Stephen Karaolis, Marketing Director at Cleary: Mastering Speed to Market – The Key to Dynamic Content Strategy
Elio Narciso
Co-Founder & CEO of Scalestack
How Scalestack landed MongoDB as their first enterprise customer through cold email | Elio Narciso ($3.1 Million Raised)
Pulkit Agrawal
CEO & Co-Founder of Chameleon
Pulkit Agrawal, CEO & Co-Founder of Chameleon: $15 Million Raised to Build the Product Adoption Category
Jonathan Corbin
CEO & Co-Founder of Maven AGI
Jonathan Corbin, CEO and Co-Founder of Maven AGI: $28 Million Raised to Build the Future of Customer Experience
Dan Malgran
VP of Marketing of Steno
Dan Malgran, VP of Marketing at Steno: Elevating Legal Tech with Revenue-Driven Marketing Strategies
Franklin Morris
Vice President, Marketing of Alloy.ai
Why ChatGPT Converts 30x Better Than Your Website
Patrick Woods
CEO and Co-Founder of Orbit
Patrick Woods, CEO and Co-Founder of Orbit: Over $22 Million Raised to Power the Future of Communities
Chris Golec
CEO and Founder of Channel99
Chris Golec, CEO and Founder of Channel99: $5 Million Raised to Power the Future of B2B Marketing
Tyler Strand
Co-Founder and CTO of Air
Tyler Strand, Co-Founder and CTO at Air: $38 Million raised to Build the Creative Operations Category
Zack Rosenberg
CEO and Founder of Qortex
Zack Rosenberg, CEO & Founder of Qortex: $11 Million Raised to Build the Future of Video Analytics
CEO and Co-Founder of Sendoso
Creating the Sending Management Category with Sendoso’s Kris Rudeegraap
Tine Karlsen
Co-Founder & CEO of Vev
Tine Karlsen, CEO and Co-Founder of Vev: $7 Million Raised to Power the Future of No-Code Visual Design
Sam Mallikarjunan
Co-Founder & CEO of OneScreen
Sam Mallikarjunan, Co-Founder & CEO of OneScreen: $10 Million Raised to Power the Future of Offline Advertising
Lars Grønnegaard Hansen
CEO and Co-Founder of Dreamdata
Lars Grønnegaard Hansen, CEO & Co-Founder of Dreamdata: $12 Million Raised to Build the Future of B2B Revenue Attribution
John Jahnke
CEO and Co-Founder of Tackle.io
John Jahnke, CEO and Co-Founder of Tackle.io: $148 Million Raised to Build the Future of Cloud Go-to-Market
Sarah Gavin
Interim Chief Marketing Officer; Chief Communications Officer of Zendesk
How Zendesk rebuilt a 40-person in-house comms team in 9 months and eliminated all agency spend | Sarah Gavin
Cory Schmidt
Head of Marketing of Heyflow
Mastering Organic Growth: Insights from Heyflow’s Head of Marketing
Sam Kellett
Head of Marketing of ProfitMetrics.io
Why ROAS Is Lying to Your CFO About Campaign Performance
Max Elster
CEO & Founder of Minoa
Max Elster, CEO & Founder of Minoa: $2.7 Million Raised to Build the Go-to-Market Value Intelligence Platform
Robert Thelen
CEO & Founder of Rownd
Robert Thelen, CEO & Founder of Rownd: $3.3 Million Raised to Build the Future of App Onboarding
Leena Joshi
CEO of CloseFactor
Leena Joshi, CEO of CloseFactor: $15+ Million Raised to Automate Repetitive Sales Processes
Creating the Go to Market Category with ZoomInfo’s Bryan Law
CMO of ZoomInfo
Creating the Go to Market Category with ZoomInfo’s Bryan Law
Andy Mowat
CEO and Co-Founder of Gated
Andy Mowat, CEO and Co-Founder of Gated: Over $3 Million Raised to Build Noise Cancelling Headphones for Email
Ori Entis
CEO and Co-Founder of Staircase AI
Ori Entis, CEO and Co-Founder of Staircase AI: $5 Million Raised to Power the Future of Customer Revenue Growth
Dan Rua
CEO of Admiral
Dan Rua, CEO of Admiral: $28 Million Raised to Build the Future of Visitor Relationship Management
Steve Keifer
Chief Marketing Officer of Ordway
100K Outbound Emails Monthly Without Getting Blocked
Alex Mann
Head of Growth of Lunos
What’s the ROI of Bringing a Horse to Wall Street? (Ft. Alex Mann)
Jared Siegal
CEO and Founder of Aditude
Jared Siegal, CEO and Founder of Aditude: $15 Million Raised to Build the Future of Publisher Monetization
Omed Habib
VP of Sapient AI
Omed Habib, VP of Marketing at Sapient AI: A Technical Founder’s Guide to B2B SaaS Marketing
Marc Bernstein
CEO and Founder of Balto
Marc Bernstein, CEO and Founder of Balto: $52 Million Raised to Power the Future of Contact Centers
Alex Reynolds
Alex Reynolds, CEO & Co-Founder of Vendelux: $20 Million Raised to Build the Future of Event Intelligence
Andrew Forman
Founder of Givz
Andrew Forman, CEO of Givz: $3 Million Raised to Make Donating, Not Discounts, eCommerce Brands Ultimate Growth Lever
Daniel Erickson
Founder and CEO of Viable
Daniel Erickson, CEO of Viable: $9 Million Raised to Build the Future of Customer Feedback Analysis
Sam Fonoimoana
Founder & CEO of Datajoin
Sam Fonoimoana, Founder & CEO of Datajoin: $3.5 Million Raised to Help Brands Leverage Customer Behavioral Insights
Danielle Pederson
Chief Marketing Officer of Amaze
Why Amaze Markets Experiences Over Channels
Ksenija Rohrkamp
Director of Marketing of Buynomics
Why Product Marketing Should Be Your First Category Creation Hire
Tara Robertson
Director of Marketing of ContactMonkey
Why ContactMonkey Spent 50% of Marketing Budget on Events in 2025
Tom Lee
Co-Founder of LOVO AI
Tom Lee, Co-Founder of LOVO AI: $7 Million Raised to Build the Future of AI Voiceovers
Michael Bamberger
CEO and Founder of Tetra Insights
Michael Bamberger, CEO and Founder of Tetra Insights: $7 Million Raised to Power the Future of Qualitative Research
Matt Martin
CEO & Co-Founder of Clockwise
Why organic referrals drive 80% of Clockwise’s growth after a decade of marketing experiments | Matt Martin
Woody Klemetson
Founder of AskElephant
How AskElephant achieved 400% growth with zero marketing spend | Woody Klemetson
Marty Kausas
CEO & Co-Founder of Pylon
Marty Kausas, CEO & Co-Founder of Pylon: $20 Million Raised to Build the First B2B Support Platform
Thomas Millay
CEO of DemandJump
Thomas Millay, CEO at DemandJump: Over $25 Million Raised to Power the Future of Content Strategy
Pierce Ujjainwalla
CEO of Knak
Pierce Ujjainwalla, CEO of Knak: $25 Million Raised to Empower Enterprise Marketers with Codeless Email and Landing Page Creation
Vitaly Pecherskiy
CEO and Co-founder of StackAdapt
Building stackadapt: how three founders turned failure into a 1,600-person company | Vitaly Pecherskiy
Adam Haskew
Associate Director, Brand Experience at Redis of Redis
How Redis trained a custom GPT on rebrand documentation to automate brand compliance | Adam Haskew
David DeWolf
CEO & President of Knownwell
David DeWolf, CEO & President of Knownwell: $2 Million Raised to Build the Future of Commercial Intelligence
Rajat Mishra
Founder & CEO of Prezent
Rajat Mishra, Founder & CEO at Prezent: Over $24 Million Raised to Build the Presentation Productivity Platform Category
Matt Krebsbach
Senior Vice President of Thought Leadership & Brand Awareness of Acquia
From Politics to PR: Building Unassailable Market Position