Product marketing often operates behind the scenes, but is it actually the most important growth lever in your organization? Rick Nendza, longtime B2B tech marketing leader believes it might be. On this episode of Pipeline Brew, he breaks down what product marketing really is and why its role as the connective tissue across departments has never been more critical.

Matt and Rick unpack the biggest misconceptions about PMM, how to measure impact without getting “KPI’d to death,” and why internal adoption of messaging and enablement content is just as important as external performance metrics. Drawing on decades of experience and multiple roles where Rick was the first PMM hire, he shares practical advice for building the function from the ground up and navigating blurred lines across organizations.

You’ll also hear what Rick means when he refers to AI as a “super-eager intern,” how content strategy is shifting as search continues to evolve, and why strong messaging and positioning remain foundational in modern B2B. If you’re a marketing leader trying to align teams, prove out ROI, or take your GTM to the next level, this episode delivers thoughtful, tactical insights you can put to work immediately.

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Guest Bio

Rick Nendza has over 25 years of experience in product and content marketing in the B2B tech space. He currently has a contract role with Forrester, researching and writing Total Economic Impact (TEI) reports for the analyst firm’s clients - and is a fractional product and content marketing consultant “doer” for tech GTM teams.

Rick’s experience has specialized in SaaS product marketing in startup/scale out environments. In 20+ years at TechTarget, he was a key member of the team that launched Priority Engine, the publisher’s flagship SaaS platform. He also delivered content audits for tech customers – combining proprietary data with observed best practices to advise on demand gen content strategy. Since then, he’s initiated the product marketing function at two companies, working closely with demand gen teams in developing positioning and content for SaaS product launches.

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Guest Quotes

“Product marketing is the connective tissue between the executive level, sales, marketing, customer success and product. Being naturally collaborative is one thing, but you sort of have to be super focused in terms of how you're gonna get folks from around the organization to collaborate and to agree on things, and be really mindful and methodical on how you approach that from the start.”

“The way that product marketing is measured is ultimately going to be on pipeline and sales, right? But I think that there's two extremes that I've seen. One is: You're gauged on how the company is doing and you know, you're not the CEO, so it's not granular enough to give a fair assessment of what you're doing. On the other side, the product marketing function can be KPI’d to death.”

“If you've got messaging and positioning and you've got AI tools, the key really goes back to create the best content. Step back and say the way that content is being found is changing, so let's just refocus on creating the best content and stuff that's interesting and sounds different from things that your competitors are saying and something that somebody might find. Whether it's posted on social or on your website, or a sales rep is using it, have it be something that everybody is excited about sending.”

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Time Stamps

00:00 Episode start

02:00 Rick’s background and career journey

05:00 Product marketing as the connective tissue

08:45 Common misconceptions about PMM

12:30 Measuring impact with healthy KPIs

15:00 Sales enablement and internal adoption

19:45 Advice for the first product marketer

22:00 Blurred lines across marketing roles

27:00 AI as a “super eager intern”

33:00 Content strategy in the age of AI search

36:45 What’s on tap for Rick Nendza

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Links

• Connect with Rick Nendza
• Check out Forrester
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

Can AI make B2B buying more human? Ben Henson, Co-Founder and CRO of Peel AI, thinks so. On this episode of Pipeline Brew, he shares how his team is using AI to flip outdated sales motions on their head and create genuinely helpful, buyer-first experiences.

Matt and Ben talk about what’s broken in the traditional buying journey, and where sales and marketing teams can look to fix it. Drawing from decades of experience leading revenue teams, Ben sheds light on the rise of offline buying behavior, the limits of content formats such as PDFs and white papers, and why the phrase “nobody wants to be sold to” has never rang more true.

You’ll hear why Ben believes that Voice Experience (VX) is the next step in leveraging AI to create real connection throughout a buyer’s journey alongside the lessons he’s learning as a founder operating in today’s rapidly changing climate. If you’re under pressure to do more with less or rethinking how your team actually helps buyers buy, this conversation is packed with smart, tactical insights you can apply today.

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Guest Bio

Ben Henson is a seasoned B2B revenue leader and entrepreneur, having co-founded Peel AI in 2024. Serving as CRO, Ben is helping to redefine how buyers engage with brands by bringing AI-driven conversational experiences to static content and sales motions.

Prior to Peel, Ben spent over two decades leading sales, marketing, and GTM strategies to drive growth in B2B. Throughout his career, he has focused on creating more effective ways to connect and communicate, blending practical GTM experience with consistent innovation.

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Guest Quotes

“Nobody wants to be sold to. I think that in our consumer lives, I think that in our professional lives, I think if you feel like you're being sold to, your antennae pick up and you're like, wait a second, what's happening? Conversely, everybody wants help buying. So if they know that they want to do the thing, then it's like, okay, well let's figure this thing out.”

“If you don't know the answer to a question, ask your customer. You want to adjust your pricing? Ask your customer. You want to add a new product? Ask your customer. The basics, the fundamentals, still come into play here in a very meaningful way.”

“Go try [AI]. Go get better at it. Have fun with it. Don't get rigid. We're in a brave new world, and marketers have the flexibility and the ability to try new things and figure out how we can communicate well to somebody else. How can we give them good customers, and this is the place that you really get to play, that you really get to stretch your legs.”

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Time Stamps

00:00 Episode start

01:25 Icebreaker

04:05 Ben’s background

06:20 What inspired Peel

10:00 Enabling buyers at the moment of curiosity

13:35 Asynchronous research and content clarity

16:20 Rethinking content hubs and deal rooms

19:45 Building a GTM engine with limited budget

23:50 The power of real thought leadership

25:15 UX to CX to VX

28:45 AI, voice, and the rise of interactive selling

33:00 What success looks like at Peel

34:45 What’s on Tap for Ben Henson

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Links

• Connect with Ben Henson on LinkedIn
• Check out Peel
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

What happens when growth stalls and alignment breaks down between marketing and sales? John Eitel, Chief Growth Officer at Orum, has made a career out of solving just that. In this episode of Pipeline Brew, John joins host Matt Hummel, CMO at Pipeline360, to share how CGOs think differently about scale, structure, and strategic focus.

From his early days scaling Rackspace to leadership roles at Canva, Demandbase, and now Orum, John opens up about the biggest changes he’s seen when it comes to building high-performing GTM teams. He dives into the pressures revenue leaders face today, the value of brand in a demand-heavy world, and why sales-marketing tension is still so common.

You’ll also hear why John believes onboarding is more listening than doing, the steps modern distributed teams can take to build trust, and why alignment starts with shared KPIs and honest communication. If you’re responsible for growth, or accountable to it, this episode is a blueprint for leading with clarity, empathy, and measurable impact.

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Guest Bio

John Eitel is a seasoned revenue and go-to-market leader with over 20 years of experience accelerating growth in B2B SaaS, cloud, and digital businesses. He’s built and scaled high-performance teams across sales, marketing, operations, and customer success in both emerging startups and large enterprises exceeding $1 billion in revenue.

Known for transforming underperforming organizations and launching successful market expansions, John combines strategic vision with operational discipline and a people-first leadership philosophy. He’s passionate about coaching leaders, aligning cross-functional teams around outcomes, and driving measurable business impact.

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Guest Quotes

“Not to say we abandon all other numbers and metrics, but at the end of the day, that shared understanding that pipeline is everyone's problem is so important. I think if you can get that common agreement . . . that really does force a good, healthy dialogue.”

“In that first month of onboarding, remember you have two ears and one mouth. Listen more than you talk. Resist the urge to just take action right out of the gates and start kind of showing up with your point of view. Ask a ton of questions, take a lot of notes, listen, absorb; people will notice.”

“I learned early in my career the power of when [marketing and sales] are aligned. It's a magical thing. But many folks never ever get to see that, right? I now have responsibility for sales and marketing, and so this has been fun for me to lean out of my comfort zone and bridge that gap even more so and really put my money where my mouth is.”

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Time Stamps

00:00 Episode start

01:25 Icebreaker

03:00 John’s background

06:15 Finding alignment across distributed teams

09:45 Marketing misunderstandings on revenue

13:00 Closing the sales/marketing gap

16:20 Finding the balance between brand and demand

20:05 Aligning sales and marketing around pipeline

28:10 The one metric that ties everything together

34:40 Advice for new GTM leaders

39:00 How customer trust shapes sustainable growth

42:15 What’s on Tap for John Eitel

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Links

• Connect with John Eitel on LinkedIn
• Check out Orum
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360