Funnel Vision was supposed to be the thing. Six months of building. A slick product UI. A beautiful narrative about contact-level intent. Launch posts. Playbooks. Customer testimonials. Jess even made a scroll-stopping GIF with ghosts shooting lasers out of their eyes.Then reality hit. The product was buggy. Everyone ended up in the same two boxes. And instead of solving the "now what?" problem, we’d unknowingly created a new one: 16 squares meant 16 possible actions — hello, analysis paralysis.Hear how we went from "this will change everything" to "we need to kill this" — and why Josh spent weeks personally calling 180 customers to break the news.We discuss "tar pit ideas" and why some learning curves only make sense after you’ve lived them.Get to the good stuff:[00:18] Nothing says "friendly workplace banter" like accusing your co-founder of leading the company astray. No beta. No soft launch. Just ship it and see. What could go wrong? [01:42] The real problem wasn't the data. It was the dreaded "now what?" [03:08] The 4x4 grid that looked perfect on paper — but everyone ended up in the same one or two boxes anyway.[04:59] Josh’s soul-searching journey, founders falling in love with the wrong problem and the "my way or the highway" trap. [06:17] Plot twist: for Josh and Nick, this was just another Tuesday. For the rest of the team? Mildly terrifying. [07:26] People want resolution. Cue the Big Bang Theory reference nobody asked for (but secretly needed). [08:40] Why leadership chose to stop the bleeding fast — even though it meant 180 hard conversations. Rip those band aids off, people. [09:38] Saying goodbye to launch posts, the homepage hero, LinkedIn banners, customer testimonials...and worst of all, Alex's 26 playbooks. Sorry, Alex. [11:14] How investing in brand gave Vector permission to say: "This wasn’t the right move.” Being scrappy and authentic has its perks. [13:45] Why Josh personally called 180 customers to share the news instead of just blasting a HubSpot template. [15:40] The surprise outcome: most customers were more excited about where Vector was going than about Funnel Vision leaving.[18:07] Positive affirmations time. Your automation workflows are so good, time feels inadequate.[21:03] Jess on surviving the emotional side of killing work you love. No one can take away what you’ve created. [23:40] Jess’s GIF with the ghosts and the laser eyes. People still talk about it. RIP. [26:19] The light at the end of the tunnel and getting closer to launching Boo.0 (Yes, that's what Nick named it.) [28:20] Would Josh do Funnel Vision again? Surprisingly, yes.[29:28] Tar pit ideas: the ones that look incredible from afar — until you're stuck in them. [31:50] Should Funnel Vision make a comeback? Jess had to hold herself back. So that's a real quick no.This Meeting Could’ve Been a Podcast is a Vector production.Filmed and produced by Sweet Fish.Editing by Handy Man Edit.Music by Peter McIsaac Music.

Most companies guard their marketing plans like state secrets. We did a live podcast episode to show you everything. Josh tripled Jess's pipeline goal (classic CEO move), organic search is in chaos, and marketers everywhere are white-knuckling their way through what Josh calls "pipeline anxiety." So what's Vector doing about it? Ghost tours. Influencer programs. Adding a demand gen hire to the team. And a whole lot of marketing on vibes that's about to get way more measurable. In this bonus live episode, Jess and Josh break down their entire 2026 marketing strategy—the three big rocks, the budget, the hires, and yes, the Lexapro-inducing vulnerabilities keeping them up at night. Because if you're gonna build in public, you might as well go all in. Get to the good stuff: [00:00] Josh opened with a casual pipeline goal update: triple it. Jess pretended to be fine. She wasn't fine. [01:22] Marketing to marketers means you're getting paid to have therapy sessions about pipeline with your entire ICP. [02:00] Pickleball notepad flashcard game begins. First up: organic search. Pure chaos. SEO-GEO-EIO. [04:40] Josh's internal fear: losing organic traffic is scary, but losing visibility and attribution? That's the part nobody's talking about. [06:16] Vector's product roadmap includes bot detection for ads—because 10-15% of your ad spend is retargeting Terminator, not humans. [08:23] Paid media still has volatility and black box vibes, but it's making a comeback as cold email implodes. [10:00] Cost per ICP click is Vector's killer metric—because cost per click doesn't matter if everyone clicking is garbage. [12:32] ABM as a strategy? Love. ABM tools? Not so much. Marketers are finally leaving the legacy platforms. [15:37] Consolidation is inevitable, but Josh had thoughts on whether Vector is best-in-breed or all-in-one. (Spoiler: it's the political answer.) [18:00] The major theme for 2026: pipeline anxiety. Every marketer feels it. Lexapro sales are up. [23:00] Jess presented her 2026 plan the same way she pitched her budget—with a story, a Jaws gif, and three pictures of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. [24:54] Big Rock #1: Be everywhere your audience is and turn it up to 11. Ghost Tour Tour announcement dropped. [28:23] Piggybacking events to save budget while traumatizing prospects with haunted walking tours.  [31:41] Media sponsorships with Exit Five and Demand Collective—distribution plays that don't require a $100k booth. [33:42] Influencer program is back and doubled down after turning $12k into $1.1M in pipeline. [34:16] Big Rock #2: Be your favorite marketing team's favorite marketing team. Hiring top 1% talent who advocate for their discipline, not just the product. [36:32] Department excellence is the mandate—Alex is the best PMM Jess has ever met, and the new demand gen hire is at the same level. [37:00] Marketable moments—engineering has an OKR to ship enough that there's something valuable in the Ghost to Market newsletter every week. [38:55] Vector on Vector—demand gen marketer will build the ultimate playbook for using Vector at Vector, then share it with customers. [39:56] Big Rock #3: Build our own crystal ball. No more marketing on 100% vibes. Time for QBRs, metrics, and knowing the numbers cold. [41:13] Positive affirmations break—let's hear it for moments of zen. [42:41] Vulnerability Corner debut. Josh was worried about keeping Vector special while scaling, and fears a pipeline system collapse across B2B. [46:00] Jess just got promoted to VP of Marketing and is nervous about living up to the title, leading a team, and continuously outdoing themselves. [48:00] Q&A: How has your ICP evolved? Answer: sharper and sharper as positioning tightened from sales + marketing to just marketing. [50:00] Solo marketer priority? Focus on LLMs, SEO, and GEO—shape the narrative of what AI says about you. [51:47] Balancing weirdness with conversion? Be quirky at the top of the funnel, crystal clear at the bottom. Clarity is queen. This Meeting Could've Been a Podcast is a Vector production.

What does a CEO do when his head of marketing goes on vacation? Nothing much. Just go viral on LinkedIn asking for the worst marketing ideas imaginable, buy imsorryjess.com, hand-code a website that same night, and forget that Jess isn't in a third world country and does, in fact, have WiFi. Oh… and get cancelled. No biggie.Josh gave away Vector's swag to capture leads — shipped one by one from his garage with handwritten notes. No fulfillment center. No pipeline. That’s what we call karma folks.In this episode, Josh and Jess unpack how a spur-of-the-moment mutiny turned into the moment their podcast dynamic spilled onto LinkedIn and beyond — and became a defining moment for the brand. This is why B2B marketing doesn't have to be boring.Get to the good stuff:[00:26] Josh's mutiny begins. Jess is on vacation — time to prove marketing isn't that hard. "Everyone give me your worst ideas." First up? Hire your cousin to run social.[02:58] Nah dawg. Turns out Jess has Wi-Fi in Turks and Caicos. And a LinkedIn addiction her therapist should probably know about.[05:01] Josh’s post about overthrowing Jess goes viral — now what? Head to GoDaddy, of course. [05:40] imsorryjess.com is born. Josh hand-codes the website and builds a chronicle of the hundreds of comments his post received. A Wix template could never.[07:08] A suggestion to give away all the swag…? Game on. Josh decides to prove he's a real marketer by slapping a lead capture form on there. Demand gen, baby.[08:10] Josh ships hundreds of Marketers Against Humanity decks from his garage. Handwritten notes. $5 a pop. Zero fulfillment plan. That's karma for you.[09:30] The groveling apology post begging Jess to come back— a.k.a. the one that also got Josh cancelled.[10:00] But wait, Josh and Jess are now trade show famous. A total accident that snowballed and became the moment their brand broke through.[11:41] PSA — tell your team before LinkedIn's algorithm shows them your apology post first. We’re sorry Sarah.[12:32] Jess on why marketing doesn't have to be so serious. And why those leads might not have converted — yet.[13:05] Pause for affirmations. And a Pretty Woman moment.[14:02] Imposter syndrome? Everyone has it. Success stories are written by the victors — most "aha moments" are accidents in hindsight.[16:20] Jess's take? Be bold. You're not Coca-Cola. You can't break your brand. Experiment. And most importantly, have fun.[19:06] You don't have to be boring just because you think you sell to boring people. Even engineers have a sense of humor — you just have to tap into it. (Trivia night, anyone?)[20:19] Josh got cancelled for his Ozempic hook. Genuinely apologized. Lesson learned: hooks matter.[25:24] Key takeaways — overthrow your marketer, regret it, get cancelled, ruffle some feathers. A classic Monday.[25:41] Jess's advice — ditch the company page. LinkedIn's algorithm buried it anyway. Post from personal pages. And if you must use the company page? Repost your people’s posts.[27:02] Or post from your brand page like it's a persona. Vector's secret to page growth? Being a great ghostie.This Meeting Could’ve Been a Podcast is a Vector production.Filmed and produced by Sweet Fish.Editing by Handy Man Edit.Music by Peter McIsaac Music.

Jess tells Josh that she's keen to start running ads. After all, you can't pivot to being an ad tech company without actually running ads yourself.All she needs is a designer, someone to launch the ads, and a budget of tens of thousands of dollars. Nothing huge. Okay, maybe a few heart palpitations from Josh.In this episode, Jess takes us through her advertising journey—from the creative side of marketing to hitting the big green launch button for paid ads. And what's all of this got to do with Josh pretending to be in the gym? You'll just have to listen to find out.Get to the good stuff:[00:00] Vector's an ad tech company now…so shouldn't we be running ads?[01:02] Jess reminisces about her B2C advertising days with a flashback to a Roomba-riding cat (naturally).[02:36] Moving into ads when it isn't your area of expertise? And when your customers are looking to you for marketing inspiration? Absolutely no pressure there, Jess.[05:35] A key lesson in ads—take what's working organically and put money behind it. Pretty safe bet.[06:04] What do ghosts and knock-knock jokes have in common with great ads?[07:25] Be brave. Be bold. Bring back mascots to stop the scroll.[08:37] Josh with the mic drop—ad creative matters more than the offering. Safe = snoozefest. Think outside the box.[09:59] How did ghosts getting less pale by the pool make LinkedIn stop doomscrolling?[11:33] Jess wanted to start using Vector for Vector, so she brought in reinforcements. Shout-out to Isaac Ware and Sara McNamara, the real MVPs.[14:27] Jess shares an insider trick—use ads to test new messaging first. Josh definitely already knew this.[17:13] Jess and Josh stress the importance of testing—no room for assumptions in advertising.[18:32] Jess uses some hauntingly good messaging to boost newsletter sign-ups. The pipeline generator. Don't sleep on top-of-funnel content. Or, as Josh puts it, don't be a putz.[21:59] Turn off any ad that doesn't work—apart from Josh's gym post. He's jacked.[25:13] Dear marketer…email inbox or tiger attack? Affirmations to save your soul.[26:48] The best ad campaigns don't always need changing. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And if you're Chick-fil-A, don't replace the cows.[30:45] Jess reminds us that sometimes the media is the message. When everyone else is doing the same thing, do something different.[34:06] Cost per ICP click is the new KPI—light bulb moment for Vector. Best news? We're releasing a new campaign reporting feature for cost per ICP click (included in the basic plan, yay!)[36:00] Jess's top takeaways for starting an ad program: use broad awareness to gather information, create variance, give it time to see if it works, figure things out in one channel first, and if you really don't know where to start, start with what you already have.[38:52] PSA: anyone want to join the team as a demand gen marketer?This Meeting Could’ve Been a Podcast is a Vector production.Filmed and produced by Sweet Fish.Editing by Handy Man Edit.Music by Peter McIsaac Music.

Josh went to dinner with a CMO friend. A couple of drinks in, she showed him her entire 27-step influencer marketing strategy. Josh's takeaway? One step: tell Jess. She can just handle the other 26…So, she built Vector's first influencer pilot with seven creators, $12,000, and zero vanity metrics. The result? $1.1 million in pipeline, 82% ICP demos, and posts so good you couldn't tell they were sponsored.Hear how Jess started small, gave creators actual freedom, and proved influencer marketing works without a massive budget.Get to the good stuff:[00:20] The CEO move. The hack. The 27-step process for influencers. Josh has 1 step, Jess gets 26. Yayyyy.[03:10] Jess talks context. They didn't have the same budget or team size. There may have been some rounding up involved. Carry the one, people.[04:00] Start small, start with a pilot. Customers, leaders and an average following? 13,000. Trust beats vanity metrics every time.[06:37] Follow your influencers for a while. Understand their content, their tone, and their storytelling style before you reach out.[07:44] Let influencers have full access to your tool. Onboard them properly. They need to know your product, believe in it, and actually use it.[09:20] They may say no to your rate. That's fine. Build long-term partnerships, not one-off transactional posts.[10:20] Deep camera focus—affirmations from our mouths to your ears. ASMR vibes.[13:38] What does the brief look like? Tight, short, flexible. Focus on messaging points they can borrow or riff on. (Just, you know, avoid posting on Fridays.)[15:37] How Jess aligned posts with product launches, survey results, and Ad Reveal. All within the same week because organizational bliss.[19:04] Let influencers do what they do best. They know their audience. Let them loose. They want it to work for you.[19:44] If you don't know it's an influencer post until you see the hashtag, it's a great influencer post. Matching ads and banners? That's just an ad.[21:25] Jess consciously skipped the tracking rabbit hole for the pilot. Sometimes "how did you hear about us?" is all you need.[22:53] The marketer's duty—thank you, dear marketers, for filling out attribution forms with wild detail. I got you, boo.[26:01] The results? $12,000 turned into $1.1 million in pipeline. 45 leads in 3 months directly from LinkedIn. 82% ICP. Josh almost fell out of his seat (again).[27:30] Marketing doesn't fix product-market fit. If your product sucks, all that pipeline will disappear just as fast as it came in.[28:45] What's next? Jess is changing up the mix, but she can’t scale this alone.[33:30] Jess's key takeaways: Start small. Give them the story, then step back and let them “Cook.”This Meeting Could’ve Been a Podcast is a Vector production.Filmed and produced by Sweet Fish.Editing by Handy Man Edit.Music by Peter McIsaac Music.