#128: Marketing Leadership | The Role of CMO, Taking a New Job, Making Changes in the Marketing Org (with Peter Mahoney, CMO, GoTo)

Dave is joined by Peter Mahoney, CMO of GoTo. Prior to that, he was the CMO at Nuance Communications and later founded Plannuh, which was acquired by Planful. Peter is the author of The Next CMO: A Guide to Operational Marketing Excellence, a book that teaches you how to form marketing goals, create a strategy, build a plan, craft impactful campaigns, optimize budgetary spending, and measure true ROI.In this episode, they discuss:Why Peter got back into the game as CMO after being CEO at PlannuhHow he landed his role at GoToWhat his strategy has been coming into a new company as CMO (and a company that has been around for a while)How do you make changes in a marketing org?What does his team look like at GoTo? What are they focused on?Peter is a master at marketing strategy and execution, and this episode will teach you a lot of that. Enjoy.Timestamps(00:00) - - Intro & balancing business and personal aspirations (09:59) - - Journey to being a CMO (15:31) - - Navigating company restructuring (16:49) - - Streamlining marketing operations (21:43) - - Expectations for rapid change in marketing leadership (23:19) - - The importance of role transition (31:00) - - Navigating layoffs and leadership (34:33) - - Past mistakes in hiring practices (35:25) - - Embracing diversity for better problem-solving (40:25) - - Strategy: Navigating resources, blind spots, and team dynamics (43:47) - - How to balance strategy and execution (47:20) - - How to build long-term vision and short-term plans in marketing (48:50) - - Brand strategy 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 Grammarly.Ever have one of those weeks where you spent more time replying to Slack and email than doing actual marketing work?You’re not alone. The average marketing team spends 28+ hours a week just keeping up with comms.That leads to burnout, frustration, and a whole lot of performative productivity that doesn’t actually move the needle.AI-fluent marketing teams are changing that. Grammarly’s 2025 Productivity Shift Report shows how they’re using AI to:– Cut down on back-and-forth– Automate content, research, and reporting– Eliminate busywork– Make space for strategyWe’re marketers because we love crafting campaigns, driving revenue, and proving impact – not spending all day buried in messages.Get the report and see how top teams are making AI actually useful.Visit go.grammarly.com/exitfive to grab it.***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