A marketing career masterclass with Axel Sukianto: personal brand, community, and saying yes

A marketing career masterclass with Axel Sukianto: personal brand, community, and saying yes

In this episode of GTM Wonderland, Niki sits down with Axel Sukianto. He's VP of Marketing at TrueScope, founder of Generate (the #1 B2B marketing community in Australia and New Zealand), and last but not least: one of Australia's most beloved B2B marketing creators. Axel started out as a corporate lawyer before falling into marketing, working across Dropbox, Cisco Meraki, Series A startups, and going fractional, before landing back in-house at a Series C company. This is the conversation Niki set out to have without making it all about AI: a candid, human chat about craft, career, and community. What you'll learn: * Career advice that compounds: be the person who says yes and is dependable, and why that reputation opens doors. * Fractional vs. in-house: what Axel learned juggling multiple clients, and why he came back in-house to go deep. * The first 90 days: why a listening tour matters, and how to find where the real power actually sits in an organization. * Storytelling as the differentiator: why narrative is becoming marketing's most valuable skill in a world where anyone can generate a 4,000-word blog post in seconds. * Consistency over virality: how Axel built his personal brand on LinkedIn by showing up rather than chasing likes, and pushing past tall poppy syndrome. * Building a community from a personal need: the origin story of Generate and what it takes to run their flagship event Generate Summit. Plus Axel's goals for 2026, and a reassuring note for anyone feeling the ground shift beneath them in the AI era.

From CMO to founder: building a company around the problem you know best, with Priya Rajan

In this episode of GTM Wonderland, Niki sits down with Priya Rajan, founder and CEO of StageZero AI. After building her marketing career at Visa, Cisco, and Nutanix and serving as CMO at DataVisor, Priya took on the friction point that had frustrated her for years: the gap between MQLs and SQLs, and why buyers show up to sales conversations not really understanding the product. StageZero AI brings buyer education to the very start of the process, redefining how go-to-market teams educate prospects before they even enter the sales cycle. What you'll learn: * The Stage Zero fix: Why buyer enablement at the start of the sales cycle transforms MQL quality, conversion rates, and the marketing-sales relationship. * Domain knowledge as a GTM edge: Why verticalized SaaS is winning, and how deep industry expertise is the real differentiator in an AI-saturated world. * Product marketing's identity shift: How the function is evolving from a supporting role to revenue driver (and what's still blocking that transformation). * The founder reality nobody talks about: What it's like to sell something you built from scratch, and why sales becomes deeply personal when the product is an expression of your vision. • The CMO opportunity: Why right now is actually the best time to be a marketing leader.

The future of enterprise tech sales with Ann Davis, SVP of Sales at Crunchbase

In this episode of GTM Wonderland, Niki sits down with Ann Davis, SVP of Sales at Crunchbase. With nearly 30 years of experience scaling enterprise sales in SaaS and data analytics, Ann is now at the forefront of helping teams focus on the right opportunities at the right time with predictive intelligence.  We all know that AI is the modern sales team's competitive edge, but how do you implement it without losing the human touch that closes enterprise deals? Ann breaks down the frameworks leading organizations use to automate the mundane and focus on the meaningful. What you'll learn: * The AI-human balance: How to integrate AI from prospecting to closing while maintaining the trust necessary for high-stakes enterprise sales. * The data advantage: Why private market predictions are the secret weapon for identifying high-growth targets before your competitors do. * Stack optimization: A deep dive into integrating revenue operations tools for a seamless sales workflow. * The mindset shift: How to move from being "driven" by the sales cycle to "driving" it through internal champion development.

Building brand equity in the AI era with Andrei Faji

In this episode of GTM Wonderland, Niki speaks with Andrei Faji, founder of On Brand Labs, about the critical relationship between branding and customer experience in B2B SaaS. They discuss the importance of aligning brand promises with actual customer experiences, the evolving role of marketing in the age of AI, including how overlooked fundamentals are still crucial to be successful nowadays (remember the four P’s, anyone?). More than ever, marketers need to deeply understand their customers and create meaningful experiences to build brand equity in an AI world. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Andrei and On Brand Labs 01:23 The Essence of Branding in B2B SaaS 03:52 Connecting Brand and Customer Experience 09:09 Challenges of Silos in B2B Companies 16:21 Real-Life Examples of Customer Experience 24:51 The Four P's of Marketing 35:12 The Role of AI in Marketing 44:01 Practical Approaches to Client Onboarding 01:05:46 Closing Thoughts on Customer Experience

Exploring behavioral economics and passion assets with Gertjan Verdickt

In this episode of GTM Wonderland, Niki sits down with Gertjan Verdickt, a renowned behavioral economist and finance lecturer. Explore the complexities of financial markets, the role of AI in shaping investor beliefs, and the concept of passion assets. Gertjan shares his unique perspective on economic trends and his experiences as a member of the investment committee at WineFi. Tune in for an engaging conversation that blends finance, personal passion, and the future of investment strategies.