#182: Growth | Building a Strong Brand, Embracing AI, and Leading a Marketing Team with Mychelle Mollot, CMO at Knak

In this episode, Dave sits down with Mychelle Mollot, CMO at Knak, a platform for creating, designing, and optimizing email and landing page content. Mychelle shares her wealth of experience, having led marketing efforts at IBM and various startups. She discusses her approach to leading marketing teams, scaling brands, and embracing AI in B2B marketing.Dave and Mychelle cover:How Knak built a brand and captured demand in a space without a known categoryThe balance between meeting short-term goals and dedicating some marketing budget to high-risk, high-reward experimentsHow AI is evolving from a standalone tool to being embedded in the core functionalities of marketing platformsTimestamps(00:00) - - Intro to Mychelle (05:50) - - Embracing Diverse Career Paths to Become a CMO (10:34) - - Leveraging Big Company Skills in Startups (11:25) - - Influencing Resources Without Ownership in Large Organizations (15:47) - - Weekly Team Meeting Tips (18:48) - - Mychelle’s OKR Framework (23:34) - - How Knak Creates and Captures Demand (25:06) - - How To Understand and Target Buyers (30:50) - - Having AI Discussions With Your Team (34:24) - - AI is Shifting from Core Component to Creative Assistant (35:46) - - Integrating AI into Core Tools (41:28) - - Sales and Marketing Alignment (44:50) - - Navigating Relationships as a CMO Send guest pitches and ideas to [email protected] the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterCheck out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership***Today's episode is brought to you by Customer.io.You know that feeling when you open your inbox, and it’s just… noise? Bad marketing. Spam. Most companies are out here just talking at customers, not talking to them.Marketing messages should do more than just land in an inbox – they should create impact and drive real engagement.Customer.io helps companies send smarter, more personalized messages using first-party data. Their platform enables brands to reach customers at the right time, in the right place, on the right channel—whether that’s email, SMS, push notifications, or beyond.And the best part is that it’s all automated, so you’re not just blasting campaigns and hoping for the best. You’re running a machine that delivers real, human engagement at scale.7,000+ brands already trust Customer.io to make their marketing feel less like noise and more like connection. Join them by visiting Customer.io to get started. ***Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more