Hello hello 👋🏽,

Welcome to the 9th edition of Marketers Help Marketers.

Today, I'm revisiting the podcast’s most popular episode to date.

Over the past few months, I've heard from so many of you about how impactful this episode has been. It gets the most downloads and shares, till date.

And I totally get why.

I'm talking about my chat with Rohit Srivastav. 

He's the Head of Marketing and Agentic AI Onboarding at Petavue, prev. FleetPanda, Kula and founder of the s11s community. 

So for this edition, I will be sharing some of the biggest lessons and takeaways from Rohit’s journey.

If you're an early or mid-career marketer figuring out your next role or move, this is pure gold.

Get ready to take notes! 📝

Double down on your A+ skills, not your weaknesses

Most people focus on fixing what they're bad at.

It took a copy of Peter Drucker's Managing Oneself to change that for Rohit.

That book taught him to double down on what he was already good at.

He said something in the episode that really stuck with me:

So he started leaning on his strengths and hired people for areas he wasn't strong in.

Many marketers want to jump straight to strategy. 

Execution can seem… well, unfashionable.

Rohit has a different take.

You need tactical experience to make your strategy work.

Knowing how the "guns" operate makes you a better "general." (he used a fantastic example from Lakshya to explain that)

Going straight into strategy without getting your hands dirty is just…big talk.

Before accepting any role, write down why you might fail in 18 months.

If all the reasons are in your control, it is a good sign.

If there are unknown factors, you know what to ask in interviews.

If there are obvious red flags, run.

This is what a post-mortem may look like for a marketing role at startup:

• "I might fail if I can't learn performance marketing quickly."

• "I might fail if the product doesn't find PMF."

• "I might fail if there's no budget for marketing"

The first one? You can control that.

Ask about training and mentorship.

The second? Ask about traction metrics and customer feedback.

The third?

Ask about marketing budget allocation.

This exercise forces you to think through risks before they become problems.

Mostly when people interview, they think about the role and the $$. 

But you need to remember that you're investing your time (and forgone salary from other offers) into a company. 

Would you invest your own money in this company if you had it? 

This forces you to assess its fundamentals (TAM, PMF, leadership).

Do back-channel references, read about the company's funding, and check their employee reviews.

Most people spend more time researching a laptop than a job that can impact the trajectory of their career.

One of Rohit's go-to mental models for evaluating new job opportunities is what he calls the 3-legged stool.

The idea is simple:

The three "legs" or key elements to consider are:

1. Money: The compensation.

2. Brand: The company's prestige.

3. The Job: The actual work you'll do.

He suggests that you often have to pick which two of these three matter most, as getting all three can be rare, especially if you're not from a top-tier college.

For instance, Rohit often prioritized good money and interesting work over joining an already established big brand.

This framework forces you to be honest about trade-offs instead of hoping you'll magically get everything you want.

It's particularly useful for early and mid-career professionals who are still building their track record and leverage in the job market.

One of Rohit’s favorite mental models is: Is the bus going where you want to go?

You might be on a great bus - your job is comfortable, your boss is amazing, you have a nice office, and decent pay.

But if the bus is not taking you toward your career goals, none of that matters.

For example:

You're a content marketer wanting to move into product marketing. A company offers you a senior content role with, say, 30% more money.

Ask yourself: Does this get me closer to my goal of working in product marketing?

If not, maybe the lower-paying product marketing role at a startup is better.

The bus test cuts through all the noise.

Rohit's SaaS career started because he wrote Quora answers during lunch breaks.

Not LinkedIn posts. Not a fancy blog. Random Quora answers.

One viral answer caught someone’s attention that ultimately led him out of insurance sales into his first-ever SaaS marketing role.

The lesson here is - start somewhere. Anywhere.

Write about what you're learning at work. Share behind-the-scenes insights. Answer questions in your field.

Your next career opportunity might come from that random post you almost didn't publish.

Richard Branson's advice changed Rohit's career.

He took up roles he did not necessarily have experience doing.

Each role taught him something invaluable.

This doesn't mean say yes to everything.

But if the opportunity aligns with your career direction, trust yourself to figure it out.

We all want to work with supportive founders and teams. 

But how do you find them? 

Rohit shared some great ideas:

Picture this: 

You have two job offers to choose from.

Offer A has higher pay, but the founder is known to micromanage.

Offer B has slightly less pay.

But the founder is known to empower their team.

Using Rohit's suggestions, Offer B might lead to more growth and happiness.

For many marketers, especially in content and brand, owning a revenue number can seem like a big leap. 

Rohit argues it's crucial. 

He quotes a colleague:

The closer you are to revenue, the more money you make, and the bigger your seat at the table. 

How did he make the shift? 

By being honest about what he didn't know and learning voraciously from founders and colleagues.

I asked Rohit for enduring principles for marketers. 

Here’s what he said -

Navigate: 

Build genuine connections.

Help others when you can.

It always pays off in the long run.

Grow: 

Accept yourself, your strengths, and weaknesses. 

Ask for help genuinely.

If you are a startup marketer, you’ll see that founders are "shameless" about asking for help; learn from them.

It’s a great trait to learn from them.

Thrive: 

Don't play short-term games if you're in it for the long haul. 

Be yourself. Be a good human. 

People remember how you make them feel. 

Be firm and opinionated, but "don't be an a-hole".

I know that was a lot of wisdom, and it's just scratching the surface. 

What I love most about Rohit's story is that it didn’t follow a playbook.

He didn't have a 5-year plan. 

He started with what he had: a love for writing, a curiosity for tech, and a habit of showing up.

That was enough.

It still is.

I highly recommend listening to both parts of his episode.

It’s a mentorship session on steroids. 🤌

As always, I'd love your thoughts on this edition.

Have an amazing week ahead! ✨

Your marketer friend,

Mita ✌🏽