Ghalib Hassam

Account Manager @ Kurogo | We create thought leaders through personal branding

I’m the Head of Content at Darkroom.

My job is helping the people inside the company share what they already know without turning it into performative content or forcing anyone into a creator box.

I’m building an internal thought-leadership motion across LinkedIn, X, Substack, and TikTok by putting structure around good thinking and making it easier to create content consistently.

Before this role, I spent a few years deep in LinkedIn, working closely with founders and operators, asking a lot of questions, and turning long conversations into clear, useful content.

What I noticed pretty quickly was that the people with the most insight are usually the least interested in posting. They don’t lack ideas. They lack time, systems, and a clean way to translate what’s already in their heads.

I come from an engineering background (master’s in engineering), which probably explains how I think about content.

At Darkroom, that shows up as helping leaders find their real point of view and designing content systems that work across platforms.

I’m especially interested in founder-led and expert-led content, and in building internal content engines that feel sustainable.

Always up for a coffee chat. Feel free to hit me up.

Personal Brand Manager.

Today is my birthday. And I’m sure I’m not alone in this… LinkedIn DMs turn into a sociology experiment on this day.

There are levels to the birthday DMs.

Level 1: The Annual Visitor.

One message every year, like clockwork.

No conversation before or after... you've got to admire the consistency.

Level 2: The Wired-to-Sell Professional.

“Happy Birthday!” and somehow their website, their services, and maybe a Calendly link makes its way into the DM.

I don't think it's intentional, it’s just instinct at this point.

Level 3: The Long-Lost Friend.

Haven’t spoken in years, but the message reads like we built a startup together.

And then…

The small percentage of people you’ve actually had conversations with.

I’ve probably been Level 1 in someone else’s inbox too.

LinkedIn birthdays are funny.

Since joining Darkroom, one thing I didn’t expect to enjoy this much is how often marketing talks to sales.

We’re in touch almost every single day.

Marketing only exists for one reason: revenue.

You can call it brand or storytelling, but at the end of the day, the job is to create enough attention and clarity that sales has an easier time closing.

Being this close to revenue conversations makes the work better and far more enjoyable.

The only right answer to OpenAI’s $110bn funding round

Exit Five

The leading community for B2B marketing professionals. Join 5,000+ members at exitfive.com

Member

B2B PodPros

Lead content creation and brand positioning efforts to establish B2B PodPros as a leader in the b2b podcast advertising space.

Growth Marketing - B2B PodPros

Bonjoro

Oversee partner marketing and social efforts to impact demand generation and product adoption. Develop strategies across full customer lifecycle including sales enablement, content, video, partnerships, and webinars.

Demand Generation & Partnerships Marketing Manager

Sunnova Energy Corp.

Responsible for digital campaign operations including the development of an automated email personalization strategy at scale across touchpoints to increase active engagement, minimize churn, and re-engage lapsed and dormant customers.

Customer Experience and Digital Marketing Director

Kids Health Program I www.FlyMovement.org

Fly Movement is a one-of-a-kind kids’ health program that provides students an opportunity to reach a fitness goal through fun, rewarding team competition and fitness trackers. Responsible for overseeing the administration, fundraising, programs, and strategic plan of the organization.

Founder of Kids Health Program Fly Movement

Spark Energy

Managed a team responsible for growing residential sales (excluding D2D and OTM), customer communications, user experience, website for 4+ brands, and strategic online partnerships.

Digital Marketing Director

Frontier Utilities

Responsible for leading online retail expansion into 5 new markets, developing strategic business relationships with online retailers, building digital marketing programs, and managing digital marketing team.

Digital Marketing Manager

TL;DR – 2x founder, digital marketing background + love for building social connections.

Moved to Romania from Texas in 2020. Prior to the move, I held marketing leadership roles in publicly traded companies. When I moved to Europe, because I had an interest in tech, I’ve been mostly busy with growth and customer marketing roles at various startups like Bonjoro, OptiMonk and RoninSport.io.

Some notable accomplishments
--------------

Launched a one-of-a-kind kids fitness program in Houston, Fly Movement, that encouraged kids’ to increase their fitness activity through the use of fitness trackers.

Interviewed 130+ European startup founders on my podcast Innovators Can Laugh.

Helped grow a b2b podcaster community and network, B2B PodPros, that helps SaaS brands reach new audiences. Clients include Deel, Dealfront, Mouseflow and others.

What I am looking forward to in 2025
--------------

Being a part of an exciting and fun scale up where I can add value through my marketing experience.

Throwing a few cocktail parties with some of the most interesting people in Bucharest


Thank you for visiting my profile. Feel free to learn more at https://linktr.ee/ericmelchor

Eric Melchor

I just hosted my first paid event. Here are the lessons learned.

First, I had no idea anyone would actually show up.

They did and that alone meant a lot.

But I was nervous... would people actually connect?

Because that was the goal.

Not “networking.”
Not trying to meet someone to date.
Not a polished TED-style production.

Connection.

So I designed the night around one principle:

Make it easy for strangers to feel comfortable.

We started with light icebreakers: "What’s your favorite breakfast?”

It’s innocent. Low pressure. Surprisingly effective.

Then we tried something new: shared learning.

Two guests told short, unpolished stories about traveling to Cuba and Mexico. No slides. Just real experiences. The room leaned in. People asked questions. It felt human.

Another guest shared his advice for becoming an entrepreneur.

Later, we split into small groups by name tag color for deeper conversations.

▶️  That’s where I learned my first big lesson.

Most people stayed in those groups the rest of the night.
Which meant fewer cross-room connections.

Next time, I’ll run two structured group rotations instead of one.
Same depth. More mixing.

▶️ Lesson #2: test everything.

The QR code for live feedback?

It worked the day before the party but during the event it didn’t work.

I hadn’t tested it. 
So no real-time feedback. That’s on me.

▶️ Lesson #3: make the events longer.

The event was supposed to end at 8pm.
Many people stayed until 9.
Some stayed for karaoke.

One guy absolutely crushed three songs and got a full-room ovation. 🕺
 
What worked:

 – Light icebreakers
 – Short, human storytelling
 – A clear structure
 – A great venue with mics
 – Interesting people from LinkedIn, Facebook expat groups, Instagram and past connections.

What I’ll improve next month:

 – Two group rotations
 – Test everything the day of
 – Start the event a bit later and make it 3 hours instead of 2

Biggest takeaway?

You don’t need a master plan to build something meaningful.

You just need the courage to take action.

This was the first Third Space Bucharest cocktail party. 🍸 

And I'm excited about the next one on March 16th!

👉  If you'd like to learn more or join, get on the waitlist here: https://lnkd.in/dCDw78Z4

#3rdSpaceBucharest #Bucharestcommunity

Channel Marketing for UK, Nordics & Eastern Europe @ Honeywell | founder of 3rd Space Bucharest 🇷🇴

To help my daughter become the woman I know she can be, I have to become a better man.

Not louder.
Not stricter.
Better.

Because whether I like it or not, I’m her first example.

Her first model of what a man sounds like when he’s frustrated.
How he treats people when no one’s watching.
What love feels like.

No future boyfriend.
No husband.
No teacher.

They’ll influence her.
But I set the baseline.

When we’re eating dinner.
Reading a book.
Walking to school.
Missing tennis shots and laughing about it.

It doesn’t look like a big moment.
But it is.

Time with her isn’t a bonus.
It’s the foundation.

And the more present I am, the steadier both of our lives feel.

One of my jobs as her father is to help her aim higher than the world will ask her to.

To set goals.
To build competence.
To expect more of herself.  Not because she isn’t enough, but because she’s capable.

She’s growing up in a world that will show her everything, early.

Sexualized media.
Influencers selling confidence while quietly lacking it.

So my role isn’t control.
It’s clarity.

Remind her that character matters more than appearance.
That people who reduce others to looks usually struggle with their own worth.
That strength is emotional, intellectual, and physical.

And maybe the most confronting truth for me:

Be the man I hope she marries.

If I imagine the kind of partner I’d want for her..

Hardworking, steady, kind, courageous, committed.

Then I need to embody that now.

Not to control her future.

But to quietly shape what she believes is normal.

Happy Women’s Day to the most important girl in my life.

#womensday #Internationalwomensday

What happens when you remove networking, dating, and pitching from a social event?

You get something surprisingly rare.

I just hosted the first 3rd Space Bucharest event.

And here’s what makes it different.

This isn’t networking.
There are no pitches.
No panels.

It’s also not a singles night.
And it’s definitely not 40 people shouting over music in a crowded bar.

3rd Space is designed around one idea:

Make it unusually easy for strangers to feel comfortable - fast.

Here’s what that actually looks like:

We start simple.
An innocent icebreaker like: “What’s your favorite breakfast?”

It sounds trivial. It’s not.

Low pressure → shared laughter → relaxed nervous systems.

From there, after some mingling we move into short, unpolished storytelling.

No slides.
No rehearsed TED-style talks.
Just real people sharing real experiences.

At our first event:
– Two guests shared stories from Cuba and Mexico.
– Another talked honestly about becoming an entrepreneur.

The room leaned in.
People asked questions.
It felt human and not rehearsed.

Then we shifted into small, color-coded groups for deeper conversation.

Not random mingling.
Not awkward hovering.

Structured depth.

And here’s the key difference:

Most social events optimize for volume.
More people. More noise. More surface-level interactions.

3rd Space optimizes for quality of interaction per person.

20–25 people.
Intentional structure.
Designed friction removal.

The result?

Many people stayed long after the official end time.
Conversations didn’t feel rushed.
Some stayed for karaoke.

No one was trying to “get something.”

3rd Space Bucharest is a cocktail-style gathering built for real connection. Not performance, not pressure.

The next monthly social is on March 16th.

If you are in Bucharest and are curious to learn more, comment below or get on our waitlist for one of my monthly events at https://lnkd.in/dCDw78Z4

#Bucharest #3rdSpaceBucharest

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Eric Melchor

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Eric Melchor

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Ghalib Hassam's LinkedIn Performance

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