Precision Pipeline at scale? That's Genius.

I lost nearly half our ARR in 60 days.

It took 11 seconds to read the email. 4 years of work, gone. PE deal collapsed. I had to fire people with families. I sat at my desk 100 feet from where we eat dinner and questioned everything.

Most CROs would hide that.

We rebuilt. Won back Europe's largest software company. Grew back ARR at 30% EBITDA margins (3x more efficient than before). 

Now we're launching AdGenius to solve a problem I've watched for 12 years in this industry. 

**My Background:**

→ CRO at LeadGenius (7 years)
→ Grew ARR from $6M to $10M in 2 years as VP Sales
→ Rebuilt to 30% EBITDA after catastrophic churn
→ Started in mobile advertising in 2013 (yes, sketchy dating apps, don't judge)
→ "Doctored" my resume to skip the BDR role and get into ZoomInfo
→ 12+ years in go-to-market data, sales intelligence, and digital advertising

I share what most people won't: the failures, the near-death moments, the mistakes that almost cost me my career. Because that's where the real lessons are.

"We can't hire you. You don't have the right background."

That's what the hiring manager at HubSpot told me after my 2nd interview.

I knew where she was coming from. I even agreed with her back then.

But I was wrong, and so was she.

People with unconventional paths often make the best hires, the best friends, and the most interesting people I want to surround myself with.

An unconventional path exhibits curiosity, comfort in the unknown, bravery, humility, and ambition.

What an incredible basket of qualities.

Being around people like that rubs off. I've been lucky enough to capture a smidgen of that stardust from many folks in my life.

As LeadGenius begins a new year building a new product, reflection on the journey has taken a big chunk of my mindshare.

A little over ten years ago, I had a similar reflection point after that HubSpot interview.

I escaped to my family's shack in Maine (same place my grandparents honeymooned in 1940, a year before my granddad entered WWII).

Sitting at a small desk with a dim lamp, I wrote out my journey in an old leather journal.

I took stock of all the things I'd done, people I'd met, detours, and seemingly random pathways I'd taken.

The image of my cataloging is part of this post.

I think I wrote all these things out in part as a protest to the hiring manager ("oh yeah? what've you done, lady?"... such youthful arrogance) and in part as a celebration.

It's important you celebrate your journey.

There are times you need to 'embrace the suck' and times when you're moved to tears of joy.

They all mean something. They're all part of your journey, and they're all part of what makes you unconventional.

If you've started this year building something new.
If you've started this year without the role you had last year.
If you've started this year still searching for what will give you purpose...

You're not alone. This is the year you're going to celebrate all the wonderful things you've already done and the new things you're yet to accomplish.

I'm rooting for you in 2026. I bet you have a few others in your life who are, too.

Just don't forget to add yourself to the list!

Zeb Couch

Building AdGenius | Modern Paid Media for Modern Demand Gen ❤️ | CRO @ LeadGenius

More people are moving to LinkedIn. That sounds like good news. I'm skeptical. 

The WSJ just reported on it. 1.3B total users (doubled since 2021).  

Users tired of the shouting matches and deep fakes on X and Facebook are showing up here looking for civil discourse and real names.

𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀? 

More people = more conversations. More reach. More opportunities to connect with folks who weren't on LinkedIn before.

And in theory, more audience supply should lower advertising costs.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆:

LinkedIn CPM costs jumped 30% from Q3 to Q4 2024 alone.

More users didn't lower costs. It gave LinkedIn more leverage to charge more.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺:

People are showing up here craving authenticity.

But what are they finding?

AI-generated "thought leadership." ChatGPT posts about "10 ways to be a better leader." Engagement bait disguised as vulnerability.

The same slop they left other platforms to escape.

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲?

Those new users will contribute to the slop. They'll see what "performs well" and copy the formula. 

More generic. More artificial. More noise. More gross. 

𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼?

The same thing you should've been doing all along.

𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹.

Share what you actually do for a living. How you help clients, customers, colleagues. The messy parts. The failures. The rebuilds.

Share your tools, strategies, tactics. Break down your process. Teach something you actually know.

Share what you like or dislike about your industry. Why certain things work. Why others don't.

Be the person who makes people think. Sell your stuff. Put a smile on faces. Ruffle some feathers. Make a dad joke. 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘄.

Most people are hiding behind AI prompts and recycled frameworks.

All it takes to stand out is sharing the REAL you.

More users on LinkedIn means more competition for attention.

But when all the AI slop, products and chatter sounds the same...its authenticity that cuts through.

“We don’t do retargeting for 3 reasons,” a head shaking director of demand gen told me. 

“Why not?” I asked (I get very snoopy when people make such definitive statements). 

“Well, first of all…” 

…and then my spotty WIFI turned her voice into a robot. 

“Chitx zi bee rumprt ferpul” She said. 

Arrrggg! I thought. 

“Cheryl…you still there? Hello?” I asked while clicking around in the Google Meet as if that’d somehow help.  

30 seconds passed…felt like 3 minutes. 

“Zeeriply zimp ferbule verbumbt….” 

Ugh! I thought

“Cheryl, I just missed everything you said. My connection is awful, can you say again?” 

“Sure sure,” she reassured, “it doesn’t work because:

𝟭/ 𝗜 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗜𝗖𝗣 𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 
𝟮/ 𝗜𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸
𝟯/ 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀, 𝗜’𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀.” 

Cheryl’s apprehensions are real. These are the 3 most common reasons I hear B2Ber’s not running retargeting. 

Each are BS and you’re leaving money on the table (I didn’t use that language with Cheryl). 

Here’s the short version of what I shared with her: 

𝟭/ 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲. 

You can use the LinkedIn Insights Tag or the AdGenius pixel (*cough* *cough)* for filtered retargeting of ICP-only contacts. LI Insights Tag does it across LI only, AdGenius does it everywhere your buyers work, live & play digitally. 

𝟮/ 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘀𝗼! 

In this era, there are 5+ other competing solutions for what your product does. Attention spans are minimal. They’re more likely to forget you than return to you. 

So few B2B orgs are effectively running retargeting, or doing it at all. Retargeting represents a huge opportunity for your brand to stand out, especially when you’re running it cross-channel. 

𝟯/ 𝗜𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸. 

This is a common objection I hear from people comparing through the B2C lens. B2B definitely can’t copy B2C retargeting mechanics, it needs to reinterpret them. 

Cheryl’s company has about 10K monthly visits. If you start to retarget that by specific page visits, accounts AND personas you’re definitely going to reduce your audience way too much. 

Instead, focus just on retargeting ICP-fit visitors across your entire site. I’ve seen CPL costs reduce by 30% with this approach alone. 

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗢𝗧𝗧𝗢𝗠 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘: 

Retargeting can provide meaningful lift for B2B when executed correctly. 

You need to test different strategies based on your traffic. 

Use a combination of non-cookie identity and true cross-channel execution. This is where AdGenius can help.

I need a better internet connection.

taplio

Zeb Couch's Linkedin Analytics

Zeb Couch 🤜🤛

Performance ScoreZeb Couch 🤜🤛's LinkedIn Performance

Who is engaging with Zeb

Zeb Couch 🤜🤛's Best Posts (last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?