Episode 2

How To Avoid Guesswork And Embarrassment When Interacting with Your Board

Chris Fountain is an Operating Partner with Frontier Growth, the PE firm that invests in B2B SaaS companies in scale-up mode. He has been a GTM leader, a CEO, and a Board member. In his role, he collaborates with multiple CEOs and CMOs both inside and outside of the Boardroom. 

You'll hear about:

  • What it takes to be a successful operating partner for a PE shop (Spoiler alert: Be able to be non-threatening to a CEO)
  • How to be successful in your first Board meeting as a CMO and how to avoid guesswork when aligning with the Board
  • How the best marketing leaders provide a 'heads up display' for the business
  • How psychological factors can get in the way when CMOs interact with their Boards
  • How you can evolve from seeing your Board members as gatekeepers to seeing them as resources
  • How you can stand out when you interview with a Board member for a CMO job
  • Why it's important to focus on key results… not the time that went into those key results 

Key Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/fountainchristopher/

https://frontiergrowth.com/


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The Get is here to drive smart decisions around recruiting and leadership in B2B SaaS marketing. We explore the trends, tribulations, and triumphs of today’s top marketing leaders in B2B SaaS.


This season’s theme is the CMO and Board Relationship in B2B SaaS. 


The Get’s host is Erica Seidel, who runs The Connective Good, an executive search practice with a hyper-focus on recruiting CMOs and VPs of Marketing, especially in B2B SaaS. 


If you are looking to hire a CMO or VP of Marketing of the ‘make money’ variety - rather than the ‘make it pretty’ variety, contact Erica at erica@theconnectivegood.com. You can also follow Erica on LinkedIn or sign up for her newsletter at TheConnectiveGood.com


The Get is produced by Evo Terra and Simpler Media Productions.



This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

About the Podcast

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The Get: Finding And Keeping The Best Marketing Leaders in B2B SaaS
Your inspiration from the best marketing leaders in B2B SaaS today... from hiring, getting hired, leading, organizing, and more!

About your host

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Erica Seidel

Erica Seidel recruits the marketing leaders of the 'make money' variety – not the 'make it pretty' variety. As the Founder of The Connective Good, a boutique executive search firm, she is retained to recruit CMOs and VPs in marketing, growth, product marketing, demand generation, marketing operations, and corporate marketing. She also hosts The Get podcast. Previously, she led Forrester Research's global peer-to-peer executive education businesses for CMOs and digital marketing executives of Fortune 500 companies. Erica has an MBA in Marketing from Wharton, and a BA in International Relations from Brown. One of her favorite jobs ever was serving as the Brown Bear mascot.

You can find her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericaseidel/, or on her website/blog at www.theconnectivegood.com.