Most marketing teams are setup for failure.

They are asked to do the impossible:

Develop new and innovative campaigns…

…but make sure we have data to prove it will work before we launch. 

Develop positioning that’s specific and differentiated…

…but resonates on a broad scale.

Make the brand feel premium and exclusive…

…but make sure we also drive mass adoption.

Deliver as many leads as possible…

…but make sure we only get hyper-qualified buyers who are ready to purchase. 

Be bold, provocative, and different…

…but make sure we don’t alienate anyone. 

Make sure our marketing speaks to executive buyers…

…but make sure users get the value too. 

Make the product feel easy to use…

…but also highlight how sophisticated and powerful it is. 

We should be executing the marketing tactics that our competitors are doing…

…but make sure we don’t look like them. 

We all know where this stuff leads:

Operational & strategic chaos

Stressed out teams.

Slow growth.
And the eventual replacement of the CMO.

The root cause of this failure?

👉 Founders/CEOs not taking ownership over go-to-market. 

They let outside expectations set the goals.

(instead of looking at progress internally)

They play politics with investor/board expectations.

(instead of delivering the reality of the situation)

They view GTM as a function to delegate

(instead seeing it as their most important responsibility)

———

This isn’t just a large company problem.

I’ve seen this “failure setup” happen at all levels.

(from early stage startups to publicly traded companies)

The worst part, there isn’t a solution (in most cases).

You either have a CEO/founder who’s willing to own go-to-market WITH sales and marketing leaders...

…or you have a founder who’s going to dodge this responsibility. 

My best advice to marketers:

Figure out quickly which CEO/founder you have. 

If they “get it” — lean in and fight like hell alongside them.

If they don’t — get out.