In this episode of Building in Public, host David Ellis dives into a core growth principle for B2B service businesses: shifting from product-pitching to point-of-view marketing. Drawing from direct consulting experience with startups and $100M enterprises alike, David shares a powerful framework for scaling demand by selling how you think, not just what you do. From lead generation strategies to the smart use of AI and custom GPTs, this episode is packed with real-world examples and actionable insights.

David Ellis is a seasoned B2B growth strategist and founder of a consultancy that helps companies scale by building demand through strategic content, IP-powered tools, and a differentiated worldview. With a background in marketing and tech, David's current focus includes leveraging AI tools, reshaping sales processes, and guiding clients on how to resonate deeply with their audience before pitching a product or service.

• Most businesses skip the vital middle step of selling a unique perspective before selling a product.
• Content should educate and align people with your worldview before pushing a call to action.
• Referral and Google Ads audiences are already problem-aware; social audiences often aren’t—your strategy must change accordingly.
• AI can supercharge content and case study production—but only with the right training and inputs.
• Custom GPTs (micro agents) can dramatically increase productivity if built around your IP..
• Measuring engagement rate, not just impressions, reveals content performance.

David explains how referral or Google Ads leads are often already problem-aware and looking for a solution, making the conversion easier. In contrast, platforms like LinkedIn require more nurturing because users aren't necessarily shopping for your solution.

This involves using content and marketing assets to promote your unique worldview. Once prospects resonate with your perspective, they’re more likely to trust your service recommendations and become loyal customers.

David shares a case study of a leadership coaching company targeting Gen Z engagement issues. Instead of a generic sales page for their workshop, they repositioned the landing page to sell their point of view on why Gen Z employees disengage—and only offered the workshop after establishing credibility.

Pushy, cold outreach can repel ideal clients. Building perceived abundance and expert status—by letting leads come to you through thought leadership—creates trust and demand without desperation.

David's team uses AI to write case studies by training a custom GPT on their tested frameworks and video interview transcripts. This not only saves time but leverages their internal IP to scale quality output.

AI content often feels generic because it lacks personality and perspective. The key is training AI on your tone, voice, and playbooks to produce content that feels authentic and valuable.

Start small. Build micro GPTs for single, high-value tasks (e.g. writing case studies) and train them on your own frameworks and examples. AI is a colleague, not a...

In this high-impact episode of Building in Public, the hosts dive into their Q1 performance—revealing how they aimed for 30 new clients and ended up closing 31. They unpack the lessons learned from doubling their marketing spend, crafting a resonant market message, experimenting across platforms like LinkedIn and YouTube, and refining performance metrics. This episode is a must-listen for B2B marketers, founders, and content strategists seeking to scale sustainably and authentically.

David (Host) – A seasoned fractional CMO with experience working across nearly 300 B2B companies. David shares insights from his growth consultancy work and leads the conversation around strategic marketing, content, and operations in a fast-scaling agency.

• A strong market message and unique point of view can 10x marketing effectiveness.
• Doubling marketing spend doesn’t guarantee better metrics—but maintaining performance while scaling spend is a big win.
• Content should align with platform and format for maximum resonance.
• YouTube is an untapped goldmine for B2B lead generation—every lead from YouTube converted this quarter.
• Engagement on LinkedIn (comments, conversations, networking) is just as important as content creation.
• Measuring engagement rate, not just impressions, reveals content performance.
• The content is the strategy; paid ads are simply a distribution booster.

The team aimed to sign 30 new clients and closed 31 (29 confirmed on the scorecard, 2 additional off-record). They consider this a win with room for optimization in Q2.

Maintaining key marketing metrics while doubling spend, and validating the importance of a unique market message that drives performance across cost per lead, deal size, and retention.

By uncovering inherent uniqueness already present within a business and articulating it clearly. It can't be faked—authenticity and thought leadership are essential.

Quantitatively: more engagement, leads, and revenue. Qualitatively: comments, mentions in calls, and that gut feeling of alignment.

They test content pillars in various formats (videos, carousels, memes), post organically, and iterate based on data.

Same message and format from LinkedIn didn’t resonate. Platform-specific tweaking led to 100% conversion from YouTube leads once fixed.

Crucial. Active engagement boosts algorithm reach and accelerates lead conversion. Comments and connections matter.

Engagement rate = engagements ÷ impressions. High impressions alone don’t prove resonance; it's the engagement that counts.

Content is the strategy. Ads are used to scale distribution of what’s already working organically. Great content must come first.

Maintaining spend, improving processes, reducing cost per lead/demo, tweaking sales operations, and evolving content strategy with more team involvement.

Discussion around Q1 goals and client acquisition performance.

In this episode of Building in Public, host David and his co-host dissect one of the most pressing challenges faced by high-growth B2B companies: the misalignment between marketing teams and business leadership. They unpack why even successful companies—those generating $10M–$100M in annual revenue—struggle to build scalable marketing engines and what to do about it. David shares insights from recent conversations with clients, offering practical advice on fixing fractured go-to-market strategies, unifying messaging, and bridging the gap between marketers and executives.

David, Founder of a leading B2B growth agency, brings first-hand insights from advising high-revenue companies. With deep expertise in demand generation, brand strategy, and go-to-market frameworks, David helps bridge the marketing-business divide that plagues many scale-ups.

• Disconnect between marketing and leadership is a key bottleneck in growth-stage companies.
• A unified market message is foundational before any content or campaign strategy.
• Holistic go-to-market strategies beat siloed channel approaches every time.
• Leads are not the ultimate metric—revenue and conversion matter more.
• Retargeting and demand generation offer fast wins for underperforming funnels.
• Viral content ≠ revenue — LinkedIn impressions don’t always convert.

Many $10M–$100M companies experience a serious disconnect between their leadership teams and marketers. Leadership pushes for more leads without understanding modern marketing dynamics, while marketers fail to tie campaigns back to business outcomes. This gap results in underperformance and frequent strategy overhauls.

Start by aligning on a unique point of view—not just your value prop, but how your company uniquely solves customer problems. Build a holistic marketing strategy around that message, ensuring all channels (Google Ads, LinkedIn, content) work together and reinforce each other.

You need a translator—someone who understands both business goals and marketing mechanics. This can be a strategic hire or an external partner, but the key is alignment between leadership vision and day-to-day marketing activity.

• Launching retargeting ads on LinkedIn or Google.
• Activating Google Ads if you already have strong SEO traffic.
• Focusing on bottom-of-funnel actions for quick conversions.

Not always. Posts with massive reach and engagement often fail to convert. The key is targeting the right audience and following up through genuine conversations and DMs. High impressions don’t always equal high impact.

David discusses how leadership and marketing often speak "different languages."

Tracking towards the goal of 30 new sales with strong CAC and CPL metrics.

Despite solid products, companies fail to build scalable marketing systems.

The push for leads...