The Marketing Share

How Startup Founders Should Think About Marketing with Mark Donnigan (Ep 58)

Alec Cheung & Barb VanSomeren Episode 58

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What happens when a company has great technology but struggles to explain why it matters?

In this episode of The Marketing Share, our co-hosts Alec Cheung and Barb VanSomeren explore, in a conversation with Virtual CMO Mark Donnigan, what tends to break down when technical companies try to scale their marketing.

In this interview, they unpack the reality many founder-led companies face: they know their product deeply, but that doesn’t always translate into a clear story for the market.

Mark shares what he looks for when stepping into these environments and why the first step is often helping teams reconnect with the real problems their customers are trying to solve.

Along the way, the conversation touches on why marketing execution matters more than marketing theory, how small teams can move faster than large organizations, and why many companies still rely too heavily on outdated lead generation tactics.

If you're a founder, a first marketing hire, or a marketing leader working inside a technical company, this episode gives you a practical perspective on how to turn product expertise into messaging that resonates with the market.

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Connect with our guest: 
👉Mark Donnigan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markdonnigan/

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Cheers.