VP Marketing at SparkToro | Can keep hydrangeas alive in a vase for 10 days

I'm currently VP Marketing for audience research startup, SparkToro. I also co-host the Meme Team podcast, where Sonia Baschez and I discuss the marketing logic behind viral moments.

I've spoken at conferences like AdWorld, MozCon, and SaaStock. I've guest lectured at Columbia Business School, Cornell University, Stanford University, and University of Washington. In my spare time, I teach Content Marketing 201 which I host on Maven. I'm also a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef, and a former journalist.

Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of my profile to see the top 100 lists that I am not in.

Amanda Natividad

If you need something uncontroversial to discuss with your relatives at Thanksgiving dinner... you could always talk about B2B sales.

VP Marketing at SparkToro | Originator of "Zero-Click Content"

Good news: you don’t need a 40-page audience research deck to pick your next content channel.

You can "guess and test" your way there. Here are two paths marketers can take:

1) Use tools (like SparkToro) to see where your audience actually hangs out

2) Or, when you don’t have budget/access, run a thoughtful guess-and-test experiment instead.

What “guess and test” looks like in practice:

Step 1: Make a reasonable guess.
In B2B, assuming your audience is on LinkedIn is usually a safe starting point.

Step 2: Start tiny.
Record a short, limited-series podcast in a meeting room. Spin up a short LinkedIn series. Run a scrappy webinar. Nothing that needs a studio or a 3-month plan.

Step 3: Watch for directional signals.
Are the right people engaging? Do guests/partners share it? Is sales hearing “I saw your post/podcast…” on calls?

Step 4: Decide.
If you see traction, then invest more deeply. If you don’t, kill it without guilt and try a different format or channel.

Your job isn’t to be perfectly right upfront. Your job is to learn quickly enough that you know where to be excellent. (Of course... a tool like SparkToro can help you do all this a heckuva lot faster. 🙃)

I recently joined Dreamdata's Attributed podcast where we got into how Dreamdata did exactly this with their podcast and other “un-attributable” stunts that still clearly moved the needle. Link below.

Ramli John

Author of Product-Led Onboarding (+30K copies sold) | First Round Fast Track Mentor | Content Director at Appcues.

⭐️ Follow me for helpful tips to onboard, delight, and keep your customers coming back to your product.
📔 Author of Amazon #1 bestselling book "Product-Led Onboarding." 👉 𝙎𝙀𝘼𝙉 𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙎, Founder of GrowthHackers.com: "Product-Led Onboarding is 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭-𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 embarking on the critical activity of improving their user onboarding." 


⚡️ I use my multi-disciplinary skills in marketing, design, and software development to help product-led SaaS companies analyze their whole customer's journey and funnel to identify growth opportunities to 2-3X their MRR. 

Often, that means designing and implementing experiments to increase activation rate (trial-to-paid or free-to-paid conversions), decrease churn rate, or increase average revenue per user (ARPU)

If you asked my friends and colleagues how they would describe me, they'd say I'm resourceful, proactive, and entrepreneurial

►► CONTACT INFO
▷ Send a connection request
▷ Write me a note at ramli [at] ramlijohn.com

Founder

A weekly show and newsletter for marketers looking to level up their marketing and career. I interview world-class marketers to uncover the secrets, strategies, and frameworks behind their wins. In each episode, guests reveal three things:  (1) a marketing power-up,  (2) a real-world example of that in action, and (3) a power-up that’s helped them take their career to the next level.

Ramli "RJ" John

If I could grab coffee with my 21-year-old self, I'd give him 3 networking tips that took me 19 years to figure out.

Last week, I met someone new to the industry. They made every mistake I made early on.

Here's what I wish someone had told me:

1. Give more than you take.

Early in your career, you don't have much to give. What you CAN give:
→ A genuine thank you
→ Updates on how their advice helped you
→ Buying coffee when you can afford it

As you gain influence, you can give more. Just this week, someone I barely know sent me a Starbucks gift card out of nowhere. Didn't ask. They just wanted to say thanks for advice I gave months ago.

That's what happens when you give first.

2. Go beyond work topics.

Most people treat networking as transactions. It's short-term gains, immediate asks.

But real relationships are built on more than work:
→ Ask about their hobbies
→ Remember their kids' names
→ Check in about that marathon they mentioned

When I ask someone, "How's Cam doing?" and they're surprised I remembered their son's name? That's not a networking tactic. That's being a decent human who actually listens.

3. Turn online into offline when you can

If someone's in your city, make time to meet.
→ Not a 30-minute "networking coffee."
→ An actual hangout  for breakfast, a walk, whatever feels natural

Five years ago, Kirsty McConnell just started at Chameleon. She helped promote my first book, Product-Led Onboarding, when almost nobody knew who I was. Last week, she flew from Barcelona to Toronto. We met, not for networking but as friends.

We talked about marathon training, family adventures, and life moves. The professional stuff came up, but it was secondary.

That shift from transaction to friendship? That's when your "networking" becomes more about relationship-building.

Networking is simple: be genuinely helpful, stay in touch, and show up when you can.

If you're ever in Toronto, let me know. There are some great coffee spots I'd love to show you.

What's one networking lesson you wish you'd learned earlier?

—

PS. 🔖 Bookmark this for when you're wondering how to build real relationships, not just collect connections.

PPS. I'm building a private community space for 25 experienced product leaders (VPs, Directors, and Heads of Product) to connect about life and the latest hot topic... AI in product. It's called the Product Leaders Lab. If that's you, I'd love to connect.

Building a community for product leaders (VP and Director-level). Founder @ Delight Path. 2x best-selling author. New book “Eureka” now available. Author of “Product-Led Onboarding” (+40K copies sold).

933 product leaders registered. 415 showed up live. That's 44% attendance (avg is 25%). The AI Product Leaders Summit exceeded everything I hoped for!


But the stats aren't what got me. It's the messages after yesterday's summit:

"Great Summit today Ramli! You provided huge value in the community!"

"Thanks, Ramli, this was a very enjoyable, educational and interactive summit! Great speakers and hosting! 👏👏"

"So well done! The speakers/content were top notch, where I just wanted more!"

Hosting a 5 hour live event drained my batteries. But messages like those made it all worth it.

Here are the biggest takeaways from 16 product leaders:

→ Every single session came back to customer research and knowing "why"
→ Lauren Creedon shared Goldcast's actual product org chart and AI roadmap (transparency level: 100)
→ Time-to-value matters, but product growth is now more than ever focused on time-to-trust
→ Product leaders opened up about the specific AI tools they're using to enable and upskill their teams
→ And a ton more (I'm writing a blog post about it!)

Thank you to every product leader who showed up—from 143 different companies. You made this what it was.

Thank you to the speakers who brought real strategies, not theory:
Janna Bastow, C. Todd Lombardo, Nesrine Changuel, PhD, Netali Jakubovitz, Christine Itwaru, Lauren Creedon, Bernadette Fisher, Mariana Danylak, Deepti Pradeep, Lauren Schuman, Jacob Bank, Betsy Shaak, Vivek Balasubramanian, Partho Ghosh, Ryan Barry, Colin Matthews, and Matthew Abersfeld.

You shared what actually worked (and what didn't). That's what made this valuable.

Thank you to Userflow, Goldcast, and LogRocket for sponsoring and making the giveaways happen.

One more thing:

I announced something BIG yesterday. Something I've been quietly building the last few weeks. I shared it live at the summit.

I'll share more tomorrow. Can't wait!

What was your biggest takeaway from the summit?

I've had the same conversation 30 times in the past few weeks. Different product leaders. Different companies. Same exhaustion...


Here's what I heard:

🔥 "I'm exhausted from constant firefighting."
🙅‍♂️ "I need to learn to say no with confidence."
😵 "AI is changing things so much. It's hard to catch up."
🤔 "I need more space for strategic thinking than being stuck in the weeds."

Product leaders are stuck firefighting when they want to be two steps ahead. 

AI's moving fast, expectations are moving faster, and we're supposed to have all the answers while coaching our team and keeping execs confident.

And when we finally pause? It's hard to find people who actually get what it's like to sit in our seat.

The truth is that we don't need another framework or AI playbook.

We need space to think, connect with peers who get it, and build our leadership practice.

That's why I'm excited to finally announce the Product Leaders Lab. 🧪

A private community I'm building for experienced product leaders (CPOs, VPs, Directors, Heads, Group PMs, etc.) who want to stay ahead and lead through change with confidence.

Inside the Lab, you'll get:

→ Cabin Crews: Small groups of 5-6 peers for honest conversations and accountability
→ Workshops & AMAs: Leadership topics like setting strategy, managing up, and leading through AI-driven change
→ Co-Labs: Bring a challenge, leave with clarity and support
→ The Leadership Library: Resources on defining success, influencing without authority, and building teams that scale

I'm also intentionally building for diversity. The industry is male-dominated, and I'm aiming for at least 50% of members to be women. There's real value in creating a more balanced space where different perspectives shape the conversation.

I'm opening 25 Founding Member spots right now.

Apply by November 25 to help shape the Lab.

✅ Apply now → https://lnkd.in/gHrG7AaB

I've already said yes to a handful of product leaders:

→ Betsy Shaak, VP of Product at Voxpopme
→ Luis Caceres, Product Director at Spotify
→ Brent Beatty, VP of Product at 7shifts
→ Michelle (Reiman) Wright, CPO at Kurtosys

Want to join them? That means only 21 spots left.

—

PS. Know a product leader who needs this? Tag them below. They'll thank you for it!

99% of podcasts are hour-long interviews with one guest. I'm launching a new show in 2026 that's WAY different...

There are now hundreds of thousands of business podcasts on Spotify. Most follow the same format: interview an expert, hear their best practices.

In 2026, that just won't stand out anymore (unless you're Joe Rogan or Mel Robbins).

So I've been workshopping a new format for the last year.

It's called the Product Leaders Lab. Here's how it works:

→ One impossible scenario per episode
→ Three veteran VPs or Directors who've lived it
→ Three completely different approaches
→ Documentary-style editing (20-25 min, not 60+ min rambling)

Here's an example episode called "The AI Ambush."

Your CEO just announced an AI pivot. Didn't tell you first. The product team is panicking. Board meeting in 48 hours.

What do you do?

I'll show you what 3 different VPs actually did:
1. The Collaborator (went straight to CEO)
2. The Protector (shielded the team first)
3. The Pragmatist (scenario-planned with everyone)

It's like a lab experiment. Same crisis. Three paths. Three outcomes. None is perfect.

At the end, you decide: What would you do in their shoes?

The first 10-episode season drops late Q1 2026 with Mariana Danylak (Director of PM, Growth at Slack), Betsy Shaak (VP of Product at Voxpopme), Netali Jakubovitz (VP of Product at Maze), Partho Ghosh (VP of Product at Uberall), and more sharing their toughest decisions.

—

Now I need your help with three things:

(1) Which podcast artwork from the image resonates most?
Vote with an A, B, C, or D in the comments.

(2) Know a VP/Director/Head of Product who wants to be a guest on the show?
Tag them. I'm looking for leaders who aren't afraid to share their experience.

(3) I'm looking for 3 Founding Partners in 2026.

This isn't just a podcast. It's the Product Leaders Lab—a year-long content and community platform including:
→ AI Product Leaders Summit 2026
→ State of AI Product Leaders Report
→ Quarterly community programming

I'm offering Founding Partner spots with category exclusivity:

Product Analytics: Amplitude, Mixpanel, UXCam
Behavioral Data: LogRocket, PostHog, Fullstory
Qualitative Research: Maze, Lyssna, UserTesting
Customer Feedback: Canny, Productboard, Aha!

If your product serves VPs of Product and you want to co-create something different in 2026, I'd love an intro. I can send you the program overview.

—

PS. What impossible scenario would you want to see 3 VPs tackle?

PPS. Bookmark this for when you're debating what podcast format will actually stand out in 2026. Future you will thank me for trying something different. I'm happy to share 5 other podcast concepts I had before landing on this one.

Most B2B websites look the same. Blue gradients. Stock photos. "Enterprise-grade AI solutions." But PostHog's site is different...

Their team page? Trading cards. Click on someone, and you get their bio plus "Do you like pineapple on pizza?"

Their mascot (a hedgehog) shows up everywhere, from blog posts, team cards, and even their docs.

It feels like the early internet. Playful. Human. Weird in the best way.

Here's what PostHog gets right about B2B websites:

1. Personality beats polish
→ Most B2B sites optimize for "professional" and end up boring
→ PostHog chose memorable over safe
Result: I'm writing about them on a Monday morning.

2. Make your team real people
→ Not just headshots and titles
→ Show what makes them human (even polarizing pizza opinions)
Builds trust faster than any "about us" page

3. Own your weirdness
→ B2B doesn't mean bland
→ Your mascot can be everywhere if you commit to it
Consistency in personality = brand recognition

The lesson here: Your website doesn't have to look like everyone else's just because you're B2B.

It takes people willing to be different. And a team that trusts the process enough to put pineapple pizza preferences on the company site.

Shoutout to the team there (🦔 james hawkins, Joe Martin, and everyone!)

What's the most memorable B2B website you've visited recently?

—

PS. Not a sponsored post. Just a fun Monday find that reminded me boring isn't a B2B requirement.

PPS. Bookmark this for when your team says, "We need to look more professional" during your next website redesign. I'm sure that's in the 2026 strategy plan for many CEOs. 😜

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