We’re Building the B2B Avengers — Why I Hired a Product Marketer First

I’d barely made it to Day 2 when I told Josh we needed to hire.

Not soon. Not later. Now.

Josh? Still recovering.
To his credit, he didn’t blink (twice). But yeah—I was still onboarding and already asking for headcount.

Why? Because I saw what was missing. If we wanted a real engine—not just a leaky funnel and “more leads” — we needed the right foundation.

In this episode of This Meeting Could’ve Been a Podcast, Josh and I unpack how we approached our first major hire at Vector—why I started with product marketing instead of demand gen, what top 1% talent actually looks like, and how we ended up hiring someone other teams were already trying to recruit.

TL;DR: If you're building a marketing team from scratch—or want to know how we assembled the B2B marketing Avengers—this one’s for you.

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What you’ll learn

• Why product marketing came first—and why it changed everything
• How to spot standout marketers when your inbox is on fire
• Why “hire for your weaknesses” isn’t a cliché—it’s a strategy
• What happens when you launch campaigns without content (spoiler: nothing good)
• How personal brand + referrals helped us attract top-tier talent
• What top 1% marketers actually do differently (hint: it’s way beyond positioning docs)

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TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS

Takeaway 1: Hire for your weaknesses (and it’ll make you stronger)

Your first hires should do the things you can’t.

I came in with content chops—storytelling, brand building, top-of-funnel motion. What I couldn’t do alone was build the use cases, nurture flows, and sales assets that move someone from “interested” to “in.”

So, I didn’t look for a clone. I looked for a complement. That’s how you scale.

Takeaway 2: Hire the fuel before the rocket

It’s tempting to hire for growth first— leads feel urgent.

But if you haven’t built the content underneath, there’s nothing to amplify. That’s how you burn budget without traction.

We started with product marketing because it created the fuel: walkthroughs, enablement, and product-led content that actually supports scale. Only then did the rocket have something to launch with.

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Takeaway 3: What makes a marketing candidate stand out? Three things.

My LinkedIn post announcing the role hit 55k views in under 48 hours. We got 65+ applications. I wasn’t hiring for volume—I was hiring for signal.

1. Peer recs. When someone I trust says, “You need to talk to this person,” I listen.
2. Clarity. I asked for one piece of work. Some sent nothing. Some sent twelve. The ones who nailed the brief stood out immediately.
3. Energy. I didn’t need a novel — just a sharp intro and a reason they cared. That told me a lot.

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The best marketers don’t just fill a job description. They:

• Step into gaps without being asked
• Say no to comfort and yes to building
• Care about the outcome as much as the output

Hiring your first marketer isn’t about filling a gap— it’s about building momentum. Get it right, and you won’t just add headcount… you’ll add firepower.

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Catch the full episode (and subscribe to This Meeting Could’ve Been a Podcast!) on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform.