Diary of a first-time CMO - Imposter syndrome
Hey B2B marketers
Here it is. Four years, $50m+ ARR and 200 pages later… My journey as a first-time CMO.
Covering the key learnings I've gathered in four years of leadership. This diary reveals the lessons that helped me scale Cognism from $3m to $50m ARR, build a team from 3 to 39, and transform our set-up from a classic lead gen function to a demand gen engine.
It’s my handbook for B2B marketers looking to thrive in leadership.
(especially if you’re as daunted as I was when I started out!)
Imposter syndrome
This was my first ‘viral’ post!
It is crazy to look back sometimes, thinking about how much has changed, how we have managed to scale and at the speed in which we have grown.
I mentioned in the post that I didn’t think I could do this job before I took it on. And believe it or not, that imposter syndrome still lives in me today. I have to fight daily to have the confidence to make the decisions I need to in my role.
Since I wrote this post, we are now approaching 40M+, with 100% growth this year. And an important point to note is that marketing has predictably driven the majority of this new business revenue month over month.
But I still doubt myself.
And every day I will have a decision to make where I feel uncomfortable.
But the biggest difference from three years ago to now is that I’m starting to trust myself more and more. I embrace being uncomfortable. I actually thrive on it now.
I get excited by new challenges. No two days are the same.
