#73: Recorded Future CMO Tom Wentworth - Growing Past $250M ARR in Cybersecurity, Hiring Journalists, No Agencies, & Why You Need Middle Management To Scale

Tom Wentworth is CMO at Recorded Future, a $250m+ revenue high growth cyber security company. Prior to Recorded Future Tom was CMO at Rapid Miner and CMO at Acquia. We talk about:- Running marketing at 1,000 person company doing $250M ARR- The breakdown of Recorded Future's 45 person marketing team roles & responsibilities & goals- RF's marketing operating system, campaigns, themes, and running plays quarterly and annually- Managing up, working with the CEO, and why "if you don't have a plan you'll be given one"- Why he hates category creation- Why he doesn't like spending budget on agencies- Why middle management is important to scaling marketing- Why RF built a news organization, how it works, hiring top journalist, how it fits within the marketing org, what they report on, doing millions of pageviews/month- And moreSend guest pitches and ideas to [email protected] Five on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/exitfive/Exit Five on Twitter: https://twitter.com/exitfiveco***Thanks to our 2023 presenting sponsors Demandwell, Jasper, and Zapier.This episode is brought to you by Zapier. Zapier empowers anyone to automate their work across 5,000+ apps, so that every person and business can move forward at growth speed. We power over 2.2 million businesses, from startups to Fortune 100, and we’ve been doing it for over a decade. Learn more + get started for free at zapier.comThanks 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 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 PharosIQ. In 2024, you face tougher pipeline challenges than ever: reduced budgets, tighter resources, and fewer active buyers. Yet your growth goals remain unchanged.  PharosIQ leverages down-funnel intent signals along with targeted demand solutions to help you build your pipeline efficiently. They help B2B marketing leaders reach their ideal buyers and generate leads that actually convert for businesses of all sizes.  Generating leads is easy; generating leads that convert is what separates PharosIQ from the competition. Check them out at PharosIQ.com/exitfive; book a meeting with their team …PLUS, their team is giving away memberships to Exit Five so go check out their website that’s P-H-A-R-O-S-I-Q dot com slash exitfive one word right now. ***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