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May 5, 2023 · 15m · top-founders

How I Built a Media Company (within Gainsight) that Created a $1B Brand

Anthony Kennada · 11m spoken Nathan Latka · 46s spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this SaasOpen presentation, Anthony Kennada shares the playbook for scaling B2B SaaS brands by building owned media channels, fostering human-centric community engagement, and driving efficient growth without relying on paid advertising.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 5.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 2.2 Guest teaching 4.0 Guest disagreement 1.0 Nathan pushing back 0.4
05100:0010:000:54–3:48 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Why B2B Companies Must Build Owned Media Channels The host asks Anthony why B2B brands should operate like media companies. Anthony articulates the distinction between owned audiences and rented land on algorithmic platforms, which the host enthusiastically validates and summarizes.3:48–7:03 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Serving Personas Before Product-Market Fit at Gainsight The host inquires about the playbook for early-stage marketing when pre-revenue. Anthony explains how Gainsight pursued persona-market fit by radically serving the customer success manager role before having true product-market fit.7:03–9:18 · Nathan as informed peer 1/10 Bootstrapping an Industry Conference from Scratch The host prompts Anthony on how to turn community interest into a full-scale event. Anthony shares how they leveraged Jeffrey Moore to land Aaron Levie to bootstrap their first conference with only four customers.9:20–13:11 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Connecting with the Humans Behind Software Purchases The host asks about building community around software and managing downturns. Anthony emphasizes that B2B software purchasing decisions remain emotional and that content and product marketing must balance brand with pipeline conversion.13:11–15:01 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Allocating Capital Between Sales and Marketing The host poses a direct resource allocation dilemma between sales and marketing. Anthony delivers a counterintuitive answer, advising founders to double down on sales while keeping marketing lean and organic during an economic downturn.0:54–3:48 · Guest teaching 4/10 Why B2B Companies Must Build Owned Media Channels The host asks Anthony why B2B brands should operate like media companies. Anthony articulates the distinction between owned audiences and rented land on algorithmic platforms, which the host enthusiastically validates and summarizes.3:48–7:03 · Guest teaching 5/10 Serving Personas Before Product-Market Fit at Gainsight The host inquires about the playbook for early-stage marketing when pre-revenue. Anthony explains how Gainsight pursued persona-market fit by radically serving the customer success manager role before having true product-market fit.7:03–9:18 · Guest teaching 4/10 Bootstrapping an Industry Conference from Scratch The host prompts Anthony on how to turn community interest into a full-scale event. Anthony shares how they leveraged Jeffrey Moore to land Aaron Levie to bootstrap their first conference with only four customers.9:20–13:11 · Guest teaching 4/10 Connecting with the Humans Behind Software Purchases The host asks about building community around software and managing downturns. Anthony emphasizes that B2B software purchasing decisions remain emotional and that content and product marketing must balance brand with pipeline conversion.13:11–15:01 · Guest teaching 3/10 Allocating Capital Between Sales and Marketing The host poses a direct resource allocation dilemma between sales and marketing. Anthony delivers a counterintuitive answer, advising founders to double down on sales while keeping marketing lean and organic during an economic downturn.0:54–3:48 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Why B2B Companies Must Build Owned Media Channels The host asks Anthony why B2B brands should operate like media companies. Anthony articulates the distinction between owned audiences and rented land on algorithmic platforms, which the host enthusiastically validates and summarizes.3:48–7:03 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Serving Personas Before Product-Market Fit at Gainsight The host inquires about the playbook for early-stage marketing when pre-revenue. Anthony explains how Gainsight pursued persona-market fit by radically serving the customer success manager role before having true product-market fit.7:03–9:18 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Bootstrapping an Industry Conference from Scratch The host prompts Anthony on how to turn community interest into a full-scale event. Anthony shares how they leveraged Jeffrey Moore to land Aaron Levie to bootstrap their first conference with only four customers.9:20–13:11 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Connecting with the Humans Behind Software Purchases The host asks about building community around software and managing downturns. Anthony emphasizes that B2B software purchasing decisions remain emotional and that content and product marketing must balance brand with pipeline conversion.13:11–15:01 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Allocating Capital Between Sales and Marketing The host poses a direct resource allocation dilemma between sales and marketing. Anthony delivers a counterintuitive answer, advising founders to double down on sales while keeping marketing lean and organic during an economic downturn.0:54–3:48 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Why B2B Companies Must Build Owned Media Channels The host asks Anthony why B2B brands should operate like media companies. Anthony articulates the distinction between owned audiences and rented land on algorithmic platforms, which the host enthusiastically validates and summarizes.3:48–7:03 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Serving Personas Before Product-Market Fit at Gainsight The host inquires about the playbook for early-stage marketing when pre-revenue. Anthony explains how Gainsight pursued persona-market fit by radically serving the customer success manager role before having true product-market fit.7:03–9:18 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Bootstrapping an Industry Conference from Scratch The host prompts Anthony on how to turn community interest into a full-scale event. Anthony shares how they leveraged Jeffrey Moore to land Aaron Levie to bootstrap their first conference with only four customers.9:20–13:11 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Connecting with the Humans Behind Software Purchases The host asks about building community around software and managing downturns. Anthony emphasizes that B2B software purchasing decisions remain emotional and that content and product marketing must balance brand with pipeline conversion.13:11–15:01 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Allocating Capital Between Sales and Marketing The host poses a direct resource allocation dilemma between sales and marketing. Anthony delivers a counterintuitive answer, advising founders to double down on sales while keeping marketing lean and organic during an economic downturn.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 29.4% · guest 70.6%0:00 · Nathan 29.4% · guest 70.6%3:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%3:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%12:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%12:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%15:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%15:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 1:40 Rejecting rented algorithmic distribution

Anthony critiques conventional B2B marketing tactics that optimize for Google SEO and rented social algorithms rather than human connection and owned data.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 13:11 Forced choice between sales and marketing

The host forces Anthony into a tight budgetary decision, pressing him on exactly where to allocate capital between sales and marketing.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 6:22 Defining persona-market fit

Anthony educates the audience and host on how Gainsight succeeded not through standard product-market fit, but by establishing persona-market fit with underserved customer success managers.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 3:22 Synthesizing the platform risk thesis

The host synthesizes and sharpens Anthony's thesis, demonstrating clear grasp of platform dependence and intermediary risks across TikTok, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Why B2B Companies Must Build Owned Media Channels 3410 The host asks Anthony why B2B brands should operate like media companies. Anthony articulates the distinction between owned audiences and rented land on algorithmic platforms, which the host enthusiastically validates and summarizes.
Serving Personas Before Product-Market Fit at Gainsight 2511 The host inquires about the playbook for early-stage marketing when pre-revenue. Anthony explains how Gainsight pursued persona-market fit by radically serving the customer success manager role before having true product-market fit.
Bootstrapping an Industry Conference from Scratch 1410 The host prompts Anthony on how to turn community interest into a full-scale event. Anthony shares how they leveraged Jeffrey Moore to land Aaron Levie to bootstrap their first conference with only four customers.
Connecting with the Humans Behind Software Purchases 2410 The host asks about building community around software and managing downturns. Anthony emphasizes that B2B software purchasing decisions remain emotional and that content and product marketing must balance brand with pipeline conversion.
Allocating Capital Between Sales and Marketing 3311 The host poses a direct resource allocation dilemma between sales and marketing. Anthony delivers a counterintuitive answer, advising founders to double down on sales while keeping marketing lean and organic during an economic downturn.

Statements from this episode (6)

Prediction Not checkable as stated
Building owned audiences will become existential for B2B marketers
“Fundamentally in a world where first party data is the most important currency for marketers, it's actually going to become existential for us to figure out how do we build that direct relationship.”
Anthony Kennada May 5, 2023 ▶ 3:03
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Customer success was not an accepted profession when Gainsight launched
“Customer success managers didn't have a platform of choice, they didn't have, they weren't empowered to actually make a lot of purchasing decisions at the time, and just that name, customer success, there was like, Handful of them at Salesforce, But it wasn't…”
Anthony Kennada May 5, 2023 ▶ 5:02
Insight
Early Gainsight succeeded on 'persona-market fit' rather than product-market fit
“It was certainly good for Gainsight, given that that company did not have did not have product market fit. If we're being honest, they had kind of like persona market fit, if that makes sense. There was like a persona that was, that owned the churn number an…”
Anthony Kennada May 5, 2023 ▶ 6:33
Insight
Thought leadership without product marketing effectively makes you a media company
“If that doesn't translate to the product value, then it's all for, then you are a media company, frankly. Like, you're not a software business at the end of the day, so I think it's important to kind of have product marketing then convert all of that.”
Anthony Kennada May 5, 2023 ▶ 12:54
Disclosure
AudiencePlus spent $0 on paid marketing and $50k total pre-product
“We've been in market for about six months, not with a product, but just kind of building our audience, and we've spent zero dollars on paid, we've spent probably, outside of the salary of one marketer, you know, 50,000 dollars total, like something along those…”
Anthony Kennada May 5, 2023 ▶ 13:43
Opinion
Companies should allocate incremental 2023 budgets to sales reps over marketing
“This year is all about growth, and if you can, if you have sales, you know, the sort of, like, dollar in, dollar out type of at least aspiration for a sales team of saying, okay, if I hire one more rep, get them productive, we can then kind of achieve the grow…”
Anthony Kennada May 5, 2023 ▶ 14:09
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