Executive Conversations

In this episode of Executive Conversations, Maeva Cifuentes speaks with Rob Freedman, VP of Marketing at EZO. Rob shares insights from his two-decade career in marketing leadership, including lessons from preparing companies for IPO and navigating high-stakes executive rooms. He discusses how the role of marketing has shifted from brand-led to performance-driven, and why CFOs and product leaders are now calling more shots in GTM strategy.Rob explains the pressure VC-backed companies face to deliver short-term results, and how that’s reshaping what kinds of campaigns get approved. He also breaks down how marketers can earn a seat at the strategic table by adopting accountability early—well before any IPO is on the horizon.From failed international campaigns to executive transparency, Rob unpacks the realities of aligning across functions, staying data-driven, and owning the full customer journey. He shares why filtering messaging down to teams does more harm than good, and how applying IPO-level rigor can elevate performance—even for mid-market companies.

In this episode of Executive Conversations, Maeva Cifuentes speaks with Kathleen Booth, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Pavilion. Kathleen shares her perspective on why so many marketers today feel cornered—expected to own revenue without the resources, time, or internal alignment to succeed. She explores the short-termism trap, where overreliance on pipeline metrics erodes brand value and creates long-term risk. Kathleen talks about the limits of “educating up” in VC- and PE-backed environments, and why mindset alignment with the CEO is non-negotiable for long-term success.She also makes a bold case for why CMOs stepping into CRO roles isn’t a concession—it’s a power move. Kathleen challenges assumptions about marketing’s role in revenue leadership and shares how broader executive support, including structural changes like guaranteed severance, can give leaders the freedom to place high-impact bets.

In this episode of Executive Conversations, Maeva Cifuentes speaks with Rick Egan, chief marketing officer at Beyond Inc., a public marketplace for home goods. Rick traces his path from SEO specialist to leading marketing at a listed company, explaining how that journey sharpened his focus on demand signals, technology fluency and stakeholder management. He unpacks the post-covid demand crash, why falling conversion rates reveal market size—not media problems—and how tariffs and inventory gluts pressure margins and pricing. Rick shares the hard conversations he has with the board when shareholder expectations collide with shrinking buyer pools, and why discounting is often a last resort. He argues that modern CMOs must be part technologist, part psychologist: pushing AI workflows despite team fears, rewarding early adopters and managing out the refusers. Finally, Rick explains why letting domain experts own their lanes beats micromanagement and how public-company constraints force clearer strategic bets.

In this episode of Executive Conversations, Maeva Cifuentes speaks with Dan Chapman, VP of sales and marketing at DocNow. Dan tells the story of walking into a startup that was generating one or two MQLs a month, then building a 90-day lead-gen engine that lit up the entire pipeline. He explains how owning both sales and marketing forces a single-funnel mindset, why every project must prove its revenue impact fast, and how he justifies brand spend by showing that one closed deal covers the cost. Dan shares his “north star” spreadsheet of thirty ranked experiments, describes hiring creatives who can tie design to bookings, and details how constant calls with reps eliminate silos. He also digs into measuring success with CAC efficiency, balancing short-term pipeline with long-term credibility, and adapting to buyers who either want total handholding or zero contact. The conversation is a blueprint for making marketing accountable without killing creativity.  

In this episode of Executive Conversations, Maeva Cifuentes speaks with Igor Kranjcec, VP of marketing at Farseer and at the Sastanak conference. Igor traces his 15-year shift from traffic-obsessed marketer to revenue-owned operator, explaining how linking every marketer’s bonus to closed-won deals ended budget battles and vanity metrics. He breaks down the mechanics of joint sales-marketing deal reviews, share-of-wallet dinners, and full-funnel KPIs that turn marketing into a genuine profit driver. Igor also digs into the psychology of “leading without authority,” showing how project-management rigor plus emotional intelligence lets marketers influence peers and executives without formal power. For new leaders, he shares why landing a visible win in the first 30–60 days is non-negotiable and how to manage up by handing execs decisions—not research. Finally, Igor warns against promoting star performers who refuse to leave execution, and offers a playbook for making support and CS teams accountable for upsell revenue. In this episode, we talk about:revenue accountabilitymarketing-sales alignmentleading without authorityfull-funnel KPIsexecutive buy-in