#73: Recorded Future CMO Tom Wentworth - Growing Past $250M ARR in Cybersecurity, Hiring Journalists, No Agencies, & Why You Need Middle Management To Scale

Tom Wentworth is CMO at Recorded Future, a $250m+ revenue high growth cyber security company. Prior to Recorded Future Tom was CMO at Rapid Miner and CMO at Acquia. We talk about:- Running marketing at 1,000 person company doing $250M ARR- The breakdown of Recorded Future's 45 person marketing team roles & responsibilities & goals- RF's marketing operating system, campaigns, themes, and running plays quarterly and annually- Managing up, working with the CEO, and why "if you don't have a plan you'll be given one"- Why he hates category creation- Why he doesn't like spending budget on agencies- Why middle management is important to scaling marketing- Why RF built a news organization, how it works, hiring top journalist, how it fits within the marketing org, what they report on, doing millions of pageviews/month- And moreSend guest pitches and ideas to [email protected] Five on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/exitfive/Exit Five on Twitter: https://twitter.com/exitfiveco***Thanks to our 2023 presenting sponsors Demandwell, Jasper, and Zapier.This episode is brought to you by Zapier. Zapier empowers anyone to automate their work across 5,000+ apps, so that every person and business can move forward at growth speed. We power over 2.2 million businesses, from startups to Fortune 100, and we’ve been doing it for over a decade. Learn more + get started for free at zapier.comThanks 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 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