What CEOs Fear Most When Hiring CMOs

The Get: Finding And Keeping The Best Marketing Leaders in B2B SaaS

In this episode of The Get, host Erica Seidel discusses the intricacies and challenges of hiring CMOs in B2B SaaS companies. She highlights why the CMO role is particularly tough to fill, the high stakes involved, and the common concerns among CEOs and investors.

Erica is joined by Peter Mahoney, Chief Commercial Officer at GoTo and author of The Next CMO. Peter has been a GM, CMO, CEO, and now at GoTo has recently transitioned from CMO to Chief Commercial Officer. He offers practical advice on organizational structure, fostering CEO-CMO trust, and managing expectations.

You’ll learn about:

• The complexities and fears that CEOs face when hiring CMOs
• Distinctions between roles such as Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Revenue Officer
• How "everyone at the C-level thinks they understand marketing but at the same time fears that they don't understand it"
• The skills required to succeed in a small versus a big company as a CMO
• The wisdom of spending some of your career outside of marketing…. even if it is a sideways move
• Strategies for candidates to effectively communicate their impact during the hiring process
• Advice for rising CMOs

00:00 Introduction: The Hardest C-Level Role to Hire

00:41 Welcome to The Get: Reducing Risk in CMO Recruitment

01:14 Meet Peter Mahoney: A Journey from CMO to CCO

01:59 Understanding the Chief Commercial Officer Role

06:20 The Fears and Risks in Hiring a CMO

10:01 The Perfect Fit: Balancing Experience and Potential

13:19 Stage Experience: Scaling Up and Complexity

16:33 Embracing Flexibility and Depth in Marketing Roles

17:10 Navigating Revenue and Complexity in Marketing

17:57 Understanding Marketing Maturity and Budget Constraints

19:15 The Evolving Technical Landscape of Marketing

20:03 Effective Leadership and Strategy Alignment

23:17 Addressing CMO Candidate Concerns

24:41 Key Interview Insights for CMO Candidates

27:34 Advice for Aspiring CMOs

30:01 Career Growth and Risk Management

32:24 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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 Race to Reduce Risk in CMO Recruiting.

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 [e-mail]. You can also follow Erica on LinkedIn or sign up for her newsletter at TheConnectiveGood.com.

The Get is produced by the team at Simpler Media Productions.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy