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DH

Dan Hockenmaier

06/27/19

@ Y Combinator

Hiring the perfect VP of Marketing is tough; it's often better to disaggregate the responsibilities and hire individual people for specific challenges instead.

Video

YC

Advice on Organizing and Running Growth Teams from Dan Hockenmaier and Gustaf Alströmer

@ Y Combinator

Advice on Organizing and Running Growth Teams from Dan Hockenmaier and Gustaf Alströmer

06/27/19

Related Takeaways

VK

Vinod Khosla

01/09/19

@ Y Combinator

When hiring, focus on how a VP of Marketing can improve the quality of your VP of Engineering; this nonlinear thinking is essential.

DH

Dan Hockenmaier

06/27/19

@ Y Combinator

Most companies can go longer without a VP of Marketing than they think, as there are not many experienced team builders who fit the VP Marketing profile.

GA

Gustaf Alströmer

06/27/19

@ Y Combinator

I often see companies getting pressured to hire a VP of Marketing too soon, which can lead to misalignment in growth strategies if the foundational work isn't established first.

YS

Yotam Segev

05/09/25

@ The Logan Bartlett Show

I learned that hiring a VP of sales won't solve your problems; as a founder, you must be deeply involved in driving the go-to-market strategy.

YC

Y Combinator Cast

11/23/24

@ Y Combinator

Having an engineer manage marketing efforts can be more effective than hiring traditional marketing executives, as they can leverage their technical skills to optimize campaigns.

BF

Brad Flora

02/13/25

@ Y Combinator

Hiring for sales or marketing before achieving product-market fit can be a mistake; founders should focus on learning these roles themselves first.

KS

Krithika Shankarraman

05/25/25

@ Lenny's Podcast

When considering when to hire a marketing expert, it's essential to have strong product-market fit. This ensures that marketing efforts amplify existing demand rather than create it from scratch.

ac

a16z crypto Cast

05/30/25

@ a16z crypto

It's often more effective to hire a generalist who can handle multiple roles rather than specialists, especially in early-stage startups.

RH

Raaz Herzberg

11/17/24

@ Lenny's Podcast

It's challenging to succeed in a marketing role without a deep connection to the product and the founding team.