🪦 RIP Gated Content

Author

Ian Ito
January 10, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

ISSUE #259

Some habits are harder to kill than others. While I have big ambitions for the year (the usual…working out), the only “sixpack” I gained so far is in the cooler – it’s a metaphor (I promise) 🤷🏻‍♂️.

But tech marketers are having an easier time shedding the old for the new. For years, giving away e-books and PDFs was the gold standard for lead gen, but that time is coming to an end đź‘€.

In this week’s roundup, we cover:

  • The rise of free SaaS tools: how marketers found the lost leader they’ve been looking for

  • The unfair advantages framework: building a GTM motion boils down to these basics

  • The critical role Product Marketing plays: what you should know and what you shouldn’t do

Let's dive in!

Ian at SaaS Weekly

INDUSTRY ROUNDUP

🎯 Marketing | The PDF lead magnet is having a midlife crisis
After 20 years of flooding inboxes with e-books, SaaS marketers are pivoting to free mini-tools that actually solve problems – I guess PDFs just got ghosted. (Link)

🦄 Unicorns | The $150B+ club just got crowded
OpenAI, Databricks, and xAI casually dropped valuations north of $50B each in Q4, while billion-dollar rounds jumped from 15% to 19% of all funding – somebody's been feeding the unicorns their Wheaties. (Link)

đź’° VC | The crystal ball consensus is in for 2025
20 VCs are placing their bets on AI agents and task-specific models, while 74% of CXOs are ready to open their wallets wider – looks like enterprise tech is getting its cake and eating it too this year. (Link)

📕 Guide | Amazon’s innovation approach adapted for startups
Marcelo Calbucci, a former Director of Product/Technology at Amazon and a serial startup founder, published a book about Press Release + Frequently Asked Questions (PRFAQ) to help founders and innovators to think critically, better articulate their ideas, and inspire investors and team members to act â€“ pretty good! (Link)

FOR YOUR COMMUTE

🎙HubSpot: An Underdog Takes on Goliath
Crucible Moments | Sequoia Podcast

FROM THE TRENCHES

đź‘· | Joe Rhew | GTM Engineering | Founder & CEO of The Workflow Company
“By combining AI and web research, you can create a tailored segmentation that aligns with your perspective on the market”

What’s one growth lesson you’ve learned recently?

With modern data orchestrators and AI, you can slice and dice your TAM to generate tailored market segments that align with your company’s offering. Perplexity, Claygent, Exa, and Firecrawl are great tools for this.

How did you put this lesson into practice?

Instead of looking at whether a company was B2B or B2C (somewhat unique), I had AI assign a score based on whether it was B2B, B2C, or B2B2C (marketplaces); as well as the size of its customers (consumers, SMBs, midmarket, enterprise).

This allowed us to be much more specific with our outreach messaging for each of the segments we generated.

LEADERS ON LINKEDIN

Another big change for our team in 2025: Marketing is taking ownership of the SDR function.

Here's why this shift makes sense right now:

Notion just turned their brand identity into a viral moment

1-day post launch data…

Here's why this worked - and why it's impossible to replicate unless you nail ALL three factors:

Olga Andrienko on LinkedIn →

GROWTH PLAYS IN PRACTICE

🏓 Framework | 5 min read | Gaurav Vohra, Growth by Gaurav
The unfair advantages framework

In theory: Fundamentally, successful GTM strategies emerge from the intersection of two key questions: “where do customers naturally spend time,” and “what unique advantages can you leverage to reach them there?”

In practice:

  1. Map your customer's hangout hotspots: Document offline locations (offices, events), digital platforms (social, content), and problem-solving behaviors through 5-10 customer interviews.

  2. Leverage built-in distribution: Like Superhuman, create natural virality within the product (email signatures), influential early users (hand-picked from your network), and owned channels (high-quality content that targets ICP pain points).

  3. Connect channels for compound growth: Draw clear lines showing how channels amplify each other. Consider killing isolated channels that don't create network effects with your other GTM motions.

🤔 Roles & Responsibilities | 8 min read | Maja Voje, GTM Strategist
What everyone should know about PMM

What everyone should know about PMMIn theory: Product Marketing Managers (PMMs) are the bridge between product development and revenue generation, acting as "universal translators" across teams.

As companies hit the growth stage, this role becomes critical for product launches and building systematic approaches to market research, sales enablement, and competitive positioning.

In practice:

  1. Build voice of customer program: Create continuous feedback loops through G2/Capterra monitoring, quarterly discovery surveys, and customer advisory boards. This gives product and sales teams real-time insights into buyer needs and competitive dynamics.

  2. Launch scalable enablement systems: Develop a central repository of battlecards, customer stories, and competitive intel – be sure to update this quarterly.

  3. Own segment-specific GTM playbooks: Create detailed go-to-market strategies for each buyer persona, including positioning, pricing, and channel strategy.

TOP READS FROM LAST WEEK

  1. 🤫 Big changes are coming (Link)

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