TalkToTheo

Builder

Fractional CMO & Growth Consultant

uman

Head of Marketing

Marked

After a few years working as online marketeer in different industries and being active as online marketing freelancer (side business) I decided to take the leap and focus myself on my own business. 

♦ Online marketing strategy development 
♦ Optimizing and monitoring campaigns in Google AdWords
♦ Conversion optimization
♦ Performing SEO optimisations to boost online visibility. 
♦ Performing keyword researches for specific industries
♦ Visualise data in presentations & keynotes. 
♦ Analyse data from Google Analytics and formulate suggestions for optimizations. 
♦ Google Tag Manager & Google Analytics for conversion tracking & data analysis.
♦ Set up highly effective social media campaigns on LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter. 

✉ Feel free to send me a message. I love networking!

Founder & Head of Growth (exited may 2024)

Birdhouse

Birdhouse Partner - Go to Market & Growth Strategy

Freelance growth marketer

Authority BVBA

Freelance Paid Advertising Specialist

GBL Studio

GBL Studio is a full service marketing agency where online marketing takes on an increasingly important role. For many B2C & B2B customers from various industries (construction, retail, food, etc.) I do the following:

♦ Google Adwords - Search, Display & Remarketing campaigns
♦ SEO Optimisation
♦ Linkbuilding 
♦ Content Marketing
♦ Social Media Management 
♦ Social Media Advertising + Remarketing
♦ CMS Management - Drupal & Wordpress
♦ Copywriting - Website content, Ad copy, SEO Copy
♦ Conversion Optimization for websites & webshops
♦ Comprehensive analyzes and reports 
♦ Marketing Automation
♦ Wireframing
♦ Email Marketing 

Tools & Systems used: Mailchimp - Flexmail - Ahrefs - AWR - Screaming Frog - Sharpspring - MockFlow - Google Analytics - Hotjar - Adwords Editor - SeoQuake - Google Tag Manager - Google Data Studio - Drupal - Wordpress 

Clients I'm working for: Tui - Oxygen Fitness - LVD Group - CBS Beton - Sociaalste School - Benedict Huysentruyt - Westlease - Deiso - Promarket/Publibon - Alpha Works - ABC Labels - Rijschool Merelbeke - Hyboma - Semperfi-Devos - Van Den Bossche Interieur - Vandatax - Gelis - MR Group

Online Marketeer

XMarketing

Online marketing freelancer (Sidejob)

♦ Optimise and monitor campaigns in Google AdWords, and track KPIs in Google Analytics. 
♦ Perform SEO optimisations (MOZ tool) to boost online visibility. 
♦ Perform keyword research in Google Keyword Planner. 
♦ Visualise data in presentations & keynotes. 
♦ Interprete data from Google Analytics and formulate suggestions for optimisations. 
♦ Implement Google Tag Manager & Google Analytics for conversion tracking & data analysis.
♦ Set up highly effective social media campaigns on LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter.

Freelance Online Marketeer (Sidejob)

Glorious Cars

♦ Car photography
♦ Social media management
♦ Content management
♦ Google analytics analysis for optimisation
♦ Google Adwords campaigns
♦ Event organisation
♦ Partnership deals
♦ Emailmarketing
♦ Influencer marketing
♦ Website optimisation (SEO)
♦ Social Advertising

Digital Marketeer

Guiding B2B SaaS Companies to unlocking Revenue-Driven Success. Founder & Head of Growth @ Marked.

Over the past decade, I've dedicated my career to helping B2B SaaS companies focus on revenue-driven marketing operations that result in tangible growth. 

As the former founder of Marked, a respected agency in Belgium, I have worked with over 50 clients worldwide, providing sustainable growth solutions.

My mission is to empower B2B SaaS businesses by setting up revenue programs that generate consistent and sustainable growth. My approach is centered around practical strategies that drive real results. Nothing fluffy, real action.

What I Offer:
→ Coaching for CMOs & B2B Marketers: Tailored coaching to enhance skills and strategic thinking.
→ Fractional CMO Services: Providing leadership and expertise on a part-time basis to drive your growth.
→ Strategic Trajectories: Developing comprehensive plans that align with your business goals.
→ Building Revenue Systems: Crafting and implementing systems to ensure steady revenue growth.

Notable Clients:
I've had the privilege of working with leading B2B SaaS companies such as Mouseflow, Robovision, 6clicks, Sequesto, Froomle, and Accurat.

Key Achievements:
→ Assisted over 50 clients worldwide
→ Established Marked as a respected agency within Belgium
→ Advised startups through Belgian accelerators

If you're interested in learning more about how I can help your business grow, visit my personal site or subscribe to my newsletter for the latest insights and strategies.

Learn More:

Personal Site: xanmannekens.me
Newsletter: b2bmarketerscompass.com

Let's connect and explore how we can drive growth for your business together.

Xan Mannekens

Before you write your 2026 marketing plan, read this.

Another 50-page strategy deck won't help you
if your team can't execute it.

The #1 reason marketing plans fail isn't a lack of ideas.
It's a lack of connection to daily work.

If you want 2026 to be different,
you need to build the bridge between your plan and your team's priorities.

Here's the 5-step framework to make that happen:
1. Objectives: From vague goals to 3-5 key results.
2. Timeline: From annual pressure to weekly sprints.
3. Actions: From a long to-do list to 2-3 daily priorities.
4. Ownership: From group confusion to individual accountability.
5. Accountability: From monthly check-ins to a consistent daily rhythm.

Please don't start 2026 with another plan that is going to collect dust.

Start it with a system for execution.

What's your biggest goal for your marketing team in 2026?

I help early stage startups gain traction through smart marketing and GTM engineering | Fractional CMO

🌍 Global Fintech Advisor | Scaling Businesses via Digital Transformation & M&A | $500M+ Deals Executed | Empowering CXOs to Drive 10x Growth | Architect of Hypergrowth Strategies

Transformative fintech executive with 20+ years of impact across global markets, steering digital growth, scaling business models, and enabling market leadership across 3 continents.

📈 $300M+ in revenue growth.
🌍 Product Launch & Expansion into 10+ countries.
🤝 $500M+ in strategic M&A.

I specialize in executive advisory, strategic planning, go-to-market strategy, digital transformation, and international expansion; helping organizations unlock scale, efficiency, and sustained competitive advantage.

From digital banks to embedded finance, I’ve led fintechs, NBFIs, banks, software firms, and telecoms through large-scale transformation and innovation. My approach blends boardroom strategy with hands-on execution, building scalable operating models, navigating regulatory complexity, and launching high-impact digital products.

I advise ambitious institutions and founders on how to:
✔️ Build and scale in high-growth markets
✔️ Design business & operating models that drive profit and resilience
✔️ Align vision with execution for long-term impact

If you're building the next wave of financial innovation or navigating inflection points in growth, I bring the clarity, playbook, and momentum to help you lead from the front and make it a success.

Nadir Ali

You can replace a position.

But not passion.

That’s the real currency of performance and the hardest one to manufacture.

Across every transformation I’ve led, one truth stands out:
➟ People don’t quit jobs. 
➟ They quit indifference.

Here’s how leaders keep passion alive inside high-performance teams 👇

1. Connect role to purpose
↳ Don’t let titles define contribution.
↳ Show how every task ladders up to impact that’s where ownership begins.

2. Recognize effort, not just output
↳ Reward the behaviors that drive progress.
↳ When people feel seen, they give more than what’s measured.

3. Build psychological safety
↳ Passion dies in fear-based cultures.
↳ Let ideas breathe, innovation thrives where judgment pauses.

4. Empower, don’t hover
↳ Micromanagement breeds compliance, not creativity.
↳ Trust is the oxygen for initiative.

5. Model the energy you expect
↳ Passion is contagious.
↳ If you’re not inspired, no one else will be.

Leadership isn’t about filling positions.

It’s about fueling purpose.

♻️ Repost if you believe passion outperforms process every time.
🔔 Follow Nadir Ali for Strategy, Leadership & Productivity insights.

Success isn’t the goal. Integrity is.

Most people chase outcomes at any cost.

High performers do the opposite.
They protect the one thing that compounds forever: their values.

Here’s the real equation behind principled leadership 👇

1. A compromised win is a hidden loss
↳ If you sacrifice values to hit a target, you’re not winning.
↳ You’re trading long-term credibility for short-term approval.

2. A principled miss is strategic integrity
↳ Falling short while staying true isn’t failure.
↳ It’s proof your standards survive pressure.

3. Values matter most when they cost you
↳ The right choice is rarely the easy choice.
↳ Character is revealed when the stakes rise.

4. Principles compound like reputation capital
↳ Consistency builds trust faster than performance alone.
↳ People follow leaders whose values don’t fluctuate with outcomes.

Because at the end of every goal, one question always remains:
Did you win the right way or just win?

Choose the version of you you’ll respect in ten years.

♻️ Repost if you believe winning without integrity isn’t winning at all.
🔔 Follow Nadir Ali for Strategy, Leadership & Productivity insights.

Mastery is multi-disciplinary.

The best leaders borrow from every profession.

Because peak performance isn’t about knowing more, it’s about thinking better.

Here’s the multi-disciplinary playbook behind better judgment and execution 👇

1. Speak like a Lawyer
↳ Articulate with precision.
↳ Win arguments through clarity, not volume.

2. Express like a Philosopher
↳ Simplify the complex.
↳ Ask better questions, not longer ones.

3. Analyze like a Psychologist
↳ Understand motives before making moves.
↳ Influence begins with empathy.

4. Observe like a Detective
↳ See patterns others overlook.
↳ The smallest clue often hides the biggest truth.

5. Decide like a Judge
↳ Separate fact from feeling.
↳ Wisdom is balanced reasoning under pressure.

6. Create like an Artist
↳ Connect dots, don’t copy them.
↳ Innovation is discipline in disguise.

7. Work like an Engineer
↳ Build systems that scale.
↳ Reliability beats brilliance every day.

8. Lead with the balance of them all
↳ Leadership is integration, not imitation.
↳ Mastering perspective is the ultimate leverage.

Great leaders don’t stay in one lane.
They borrow the best mindset from every lane.

♻️ Repost to remind your team: versatility is the new intelligence.
🔔 Follow Nadir Ali for Strategy, Leadership & Productivity insights.

Most leaders manage people.

The best ones develop leaders.

And from two decades working with top-performing CEOs, I’ve seen one pattern:
➟ They don’t just talk about culture.
➟ They model it daily.

Here’s what the best leaders consistently do 👇

1. Reflect
✅ Stay aware of how your emotions shape your leadership.
🚫 Don’t ignore your emotions or their impact on others.
Tip: End your week asking, “How did I show up as a leader today?”

2. Listen
✅ Validate others’ perspectives before responding.
🚫 Don’t dismiss concerns or feelings.
Tip: In meetings, speak last, you’ll learn more than you expect.

3. Empower
✅ Delegate outcomes, not just tasks.
🚫 Don’t micromanage or withhold trust.
Tip: Define what success looks like let your team decide how to get there.

4. Feedback
✅ Be specific, empathetic, and solution-focused.
🚫 Don’t give vague or harsh feedback.
Tip: Use this frame: “What worked → What to improve → How I can support.”

5. Integrity
✅ Own your actions even when it’s uncomfortable.
🚫 Don’t shift blame to protect yourself.
Tip: Admitting a mistake publicly builds more trust than a perfect track record.

6. Adaptability
✅ Adjust based on new insights and changing contexts.
🚫 Don’t cling to outdated plans or processes.
Tip: Ask your team quarterly: “What should we stop doing?”

7. Purpose
✅ Link daily work to bigger goals and values.
🚫 Don’t rely only on rewards for short-term motivation.
Tip: Start projects with why it matters, not what to do.

8. Composure
✅ Stay calm under pressure.
🚫 Don’t let panic ripple through your team.
Tip: When uncertainty hits, your tone sets everyone’s temperature.

9. Conflict
✅ Address tension early and openly.
🚫 Don’t avoid tough conversations.
Tip: Reframe conflict as problem-solving not personal friction.

10. Burnout
✅ Promote balance and spot fatigue early.
🚫 Don’t overlook your or your team’s limits.
Tip: Protect energy like capital, recovery drives results.

Leadership isn’t about control. 
It’s about creating systems where trust, clarity, and accountability do the work.

♻️ Repost to remind that leadership evolves when behavior outperforms position.
🔔 Follow Nadir Ali for Strategy, Leadership & Productivity insights.

Only 1 in 3 fintechs ever achieve real scale from their transformation initiatives.
The rest keep rebuilding the same engine every year.

I saw this up close.

A few years ago, I walked into a fintech that had every advantage on paper
➟ Funding, talent, big ambitions. 
➟ But inside, everything was fragmented. 
➟ Teams were building in silos. 
➟ Tech was modern, but the operating model was ancient. 
➟ Strategy sounded good, but execution had no pulse.

Everyone was busy.
No one was aligned.

That’s when it hit me:
Digital transformation doesn’t fail because of technology.
It fails because the foundations are missing.

And after leading multiple transformations across markets, I’ve learned one truth:

Every successful fintech transformation gets the same 8 components right.
Miss even one, and the entire system drags.

Here’s the breakdown 👇

1. Strategic Vision
↳ Define the future state with clarity and measurable ambition.
↳ Direction beats speed.

2. Governance & Leadership
↳ Ownership, decision rights, escalation paths.
↳ Transformations collapse without accountability.

3. Customer Focus
↳ Build around journeys, not assumptions.
↳ Solve friction before adding features.

4. Operational Excellence
↳ Redesign for speed, automation, and flow.
↳ A broken process can’t be digitized.

5. Technology Enablement
↳ Modern stack, clean data, scalable platforms.
↳ Tech must accelerate, not complicate.

6. Culture & Talent
↳ Shift mindsets, upskill teams, reward adaptability.
↳ Transformation is 80 percent people.

7. Ecosystem Partnerships
↳ Leverage fintechs, vendors, and alliances to scale faster.
↳ No fintech wins alone anymore.

8. Continuous Improvement
↳ Experiment, measure, refine.
↳ Momentum comes from iteration, not perfection.

Fintech transformation isn’t a project.

It’s an operating system.

And when these 8 components lock together, execution accelerates, teams align, and customers feel the difference immediately.

Which of these 8 components is your organization underinvesting in?

♻️ Repost if your fintech is building for speed, scale, and real impact.
🔔 Follow Nadir Ali for Strategy, Leadership & Productivity insights.

Most leaders don’t fail because of bad strategy.

They fail because they confuse strategy with planning.

Here’s the cleanest way to separate the two 👇

1. Strategy defines direction. Plans define execution.
↳ Strategy decides where to play and how to win.
↳ Plans translate that into tasks, timelines, owners.
↳ Strategy is the “why”; plans are the “how.”

2. Strategy forces choices. Plans manage coordination.
↳ Strategy is about trade-offs, what you stop doing.
↳ Plans are about sequencing, what happens first.
↳ No choices = no strategy.

3. Strategy is long-term advantage. Plans are short term.
↳ Strategy spans 3–5 years.
↳ Plans run in weeks and quarters.
↳ One sets direction; the other drives momentum.

4. Strengthen Strategy
↳ Make choices explicit and eliminate distractions.
↳ Align resources where the impact is highest.
↳ Review assumptions quarterly and refine direction.

5. Strengthen Planning
↳ Assign one owner per outcome.
↳ Build short feedback loops (weekly or bi-weekly).
↳ Keep tasks simple, focused, and impact-driven.

6. What to Avoid
↳ Calling a plan “strategy” because it looks organized.
↳ Changing direction without data or signals.
↳ Trying to win everywhere at once.

If your team can’t explain your strategy in a page, you don’t have one.

What’s one area where your organization is mixing strategy with planning today?

♻️ Repost if you believe direction matters more than motion.
🔔 Follow Nadir Ali for Strategy, Leadership & Productivity insights.

Your team loses 2.5 hours per day to distraction.

Over a year, that’s 5+ weeks of lost execution.

On your watch.

And the fix isn’t more hours.

It’s better systems.

In my career on several executives positions, these 9 time frameworks have helped me and my teams.
➟ Unlock focus.
➟ Reduce friction.
➟ Scale results.

The Time Management Cheat Sheet for Leaders

1. Timeboxing
↳ Block focused work like meetings. Treat it as non-negotiable.

2. Eat That Frog
↳ Start with the task you’re most likely to avoid.

3. Eisenhower Matrix
↳ Prioritize by urgency and importance then act accordingly.

4. 80/20 Rule
↳ Double down on the 20% of tasks that drive 80% of results.

5. 3–3–3 Method
↳ Design your day: 3 deep work, 3 urgent, 3 maintenance tasks.

6. MoSCoW Method
↳ Classify tasks into: Must, Should, Could, and Won’t.

7. Buffett’s 25/5 Rule
↳ Identify your top 5 goals. Ruthlessly ignore the other 20.

8. $10,000/hr Work
↳ Focus on strategic tasks that create leverage. Delegate the rest.

9. Goldratt's Theory of Constraints
↳ Find and fix the one bottleneck limiting your output.

You don’t need to master all 9.

Pick 2. Apply relentlessly.

You don’t scale by doing more. You scale by choosing better.

Which system do you need to start?

♻️ Repost if you believe time isn’t managed, it’s engineered.
🔔 Follow Nadir Ali for strategy, leadership & productivity insights.

They said he was too young. 

Too early. Not ready.

That’s what people say when they can’t see your pace.

Because most people confuse timing with readiness.

Here’s the truth 👇

1. Readiness is built in motion.
↳ Waiting to feel ready is disguised fear.
↳ You don’t earn confidence first, you earn it through doing.

2. Speed is useless without direction.
↳ Progress isn’t about moving fast; it’s about moving right.
↳ Discipline sets your lane, not emotion.

3. Belief compounds faster than talent.
↳ The mind crosses the finish line before the body does.
↳ Doubt slows execution long before fatigue does.

4. Critics measure by comfort. Winners measure by effort.
↳ Most people project their limits, not your potential.
↳ You don’t need approval; you need consistency.

Cole didn’t wait to be ready.
He became ready by running anyway.

Because performance isn’t about age, timing, or permission.
It’s about pace, purpose, and proof.

Execution reveals what validation never will.

♻️ Repost to remind your network that readiness is a decision, not a milestone.
🔔 Follow Nadir Ali for Strategy, Leadership & Productivity insights.

When a Fintech crosses $30M–$50M ARR, the problem shifts:
Execution isn’t the constraint, leadership systems are.

Every stalled scale-up I’ve advised in GCC or SEA showed the same five blind spots months before numbers flattened:

1. Fragmented Focus
↳ Multi-market bets too early.
↳ Diluted execution kills momentum.

2. Regulatory Neglect
↳ Compliance gaps destroy investor trust.
↳ Rebuilding confidence costs 3x more.

3. Leadership Lag
↳ The org scales faster than its leaders.
↳ Alignment cracks before execution does.

4. GTM Copy-Paste
↳ One-size-fits-all launches flop.
↳ Local nuance drives true adoption.

5. Cultural Blindness
↳ Ignoring local norms slows velocity.
↳ Behavior beats translation every time.

Before your next funding round or market expansion:
✅ Stress-test leadership capacity before capital capacity.
✅ Map compliance readiness like you map customer journeys.
✅ Localize GTM not just in language, but in decision behavior.

Structure creates speed.

Speed compounds into valuation.

♻️ Repost to raise the bar on how Fintech CEOs scale without stalling.
🔔 Follow Nadir Ali for Strategy, Leadership & Productivity insights.

You’re not tired because your goals are heavy.

You’re tired because you’re carrying people who don’t lift.

Watch kids for five seconds and they’ll teach you what adults forget:
Progress is easier when someone boosts you instead of blocking you.

In productivity, this is the hidden variable no one tracks: 
The people who either multiply your effort or drain it.

Here’s the system behind it 👇

1. You’re surrounded by emotional passengers
↳ They enjoy your results but don’t share your effort.
↳ You become the engine, the fuel, and the driver, alone.
↳ Your environment demands output without giving you momentum.

2. This kills your performance more than workload
↳ Energy drains faster than time.
↳ One unsupportive person can cancel out ten good habits.
↳ High performers don’t burn out from pulling dead weight.

3. Build an environment that actively lifts you
↳ Use a simple rule: If they don’t add momentum, they add friction.
↳ Audit your circle quarterly: Who challenges you? Who anchors you?
↳ Protect people who elevate your standards. Remove those who dilute them.

Success becomes simpler the moment your circle learns to lift, not lean.

♻️ Repost as a challenge: upgrade your circle, upgrade your output.
🔔 Follow Nadir Ali for Strategy, Leadership & Productivity insights.

You can’t scale judgment if you can’t regulate emotion.

In every transformation stall I’ve advised, 
From $40M fintechs in SEA to $300M industrials in GCC, the pattern is the same:
➟ Execution doesn’t break because of strategy.
➟ It breaks because composure collapses.

When markets turn volatile, EQ stops being a “soft skill.”

It becomes your execution discipline.

Here’s how high-EQ leaders create structural advantage 👇

1. Composed Under Pressure
↳ They anchor the room.
↳ Reaction time slows; decision quality rises.

2. Strategic Listener
↳ They decode before they decide.
↳ Listening becomes their competitive intelligence.

3. Emotionally Intelligent
↳ They sense tension before it becomes resistance.
↳ Alignment accelerates because empathy is operationalized.

4. Transparently Imperfect
↳ They own errors early.
↳ Trust velocity increases, politics decrease.

5. Optimistic Realist
↳ They balance hope with truth.
↳ Confidence becomes contagious, not careless.

6. Growth Multiplier
↳ They scale judgment through people, not process.
↳ Teams evolve faster than markets shift.

If you lead large teams or complex markets, 
your EQ isn’t a trait, it’s an asset class.

EQ sustains what strategy starts.
Control the emotion, and you control the execution.

♻️ Repost to raise the bar on how CEOs build EQ into execution.
🔔 Follow Nadir Ali for Strategy, Leadership & Productivity insights.

Champions aren’t fearless.

They’re resilient under fire.

Roger Federer said it best:
“You want to become a master at overcoming hard moments.”

That’s the real game not avoiding pressure, but performing through it.

Here’s how to build that skill 👇

1. Expect the hit
Turbulence means you’re stretching capacity, not failing.
↳ Pressure is proof you’re growing.

2. Control the noise
Self-doubt screams louder under stress.
↳ Breathe. Reset. Re-enter.

3. Detach from the outcome
You lost a point, not your potential.
↳ Analyze, don’t agonize.

4. Ritualize resilience
Small resets build big composure.
↳ Reflection, rest, rhythm. Every day.

5. Learn in motion
Pain teaches faster than comfort.
↳ Study the miss. Adjust the move.

Resilience isn’t a trait.
It’s a trained response under chaos.

♻️ Repost to remind your team: skill starts the game & resilience finishes it.
🔔 Follow Nadir Ali for Strategy, Leadership & Productivity insights.

taplio

The Battle

Xan Mannekens

Nadir Ali

Followers

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Performance ScoreXan Mannekens's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Xan Mannekens

Nadir Ali

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

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);}Xan Mannekens's LinkedIn Performance

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