Something is broken inside the marketing functions of mid-market and PE-backed companies right now. Output is up. Results are flat. In some cases, results are quietly getting worse while the team is busier than ever. You have never spent more in AI tools, yet you have never felt more disconnected from what actually drives revenue. And since the tools are humming and the subscriptions are paid, there is a systemic temptation to ramp up the volume of activity just to justify the investment. Let...

You bought the car for the long haul. Loved it in the lot. Six months in, on the road you actually drive every day, it’s wrong. Too much for the commute, not enough for the weekend trip. You start running the numbers on what you’d give to be in a lease, free to swap into something that fits the road you’re on. Marketing leadership is that car. Most CEOs find out the same way, after they’ve already bought the ‘car’. The good news: the signs show up early, and you have more options than...

When your B2B firm was early stage, you did everything. You built the product, sold to the first customers, and managed the messaging. That all-hands mentality was a survival requirement. But today, you’re running a mid-market or PE-backed company with an ambitious 2026 growth target. Somewhere between scaling the business and running everything else, you became your own marketing department. Congrats. That's not a promotion. I’ve seen this pattern across enough mid-market B2B companies...