Building Marketing Teams: Finding hUNGRY Talent Over Prestigious CVs
When building marketing teams from the ground up, particularly in resource-constrained environments, the temptation is often to chase candidates with impressive CVs from household-name companies. However, this approach may be fundamentally flawed for organisations that need to create rather than refine.
The reality facing many growing companies is starkly different from established enterprises. As marketing leaders navigate tight budgets and ambitious growth targets, the question isn't just about finding talent—it's about finding the right type of talent that can thrive in an environment where very few people have heard of your company or understand your differentiation.
The Scrappy Advantage Over Prestigious Pedigree
Jerome Stuart, VP and Head of Marketing at Conviva, who recently appeared on an episode of Spotlight on B2B Marketing, challenges conventional hiring wisdom. Having transitioned from marketing leadership roles at Microsoft, Salesforce, and Splunk to the scale-up world, Jerome brings a unique perspective on what truly matters when building teams.
"If I'm talking to somebody who has a great resume and they've worked with larger sized companies, that's might attract me initially, but I want to know, are they comfortable in a scrappier environment when you're not building on somebody else's past success? Your focus is on establishing that first success."
This insight reveals a critical distinction often overlooked in marketing recruitment. The skills required to optimise existing, well-oiled marketing machines differ vastly from those needed to build foundational marketing capabilities. Jerome emphasises this point: "It's easier to refine something that somebody has done and fine tune it. It's a totally different circumstance and challenge to create it for the first time, and that's often what we're doing."
Host Karen Lloyd notes that this challenge is particularly acute in today's rapidly evolving business landscape, where even established frameworks must constantly adapt to new technologies and market conditions.
The implications for talent acquisition are profound. Rather than defaulting to candidates with blue-chip experience, marketing leaders should prioritise attributes like adaptability, resourcefulness, and the ability to create from scratch.
Building Teams That Embrace Iteration
The marketing messaging challenge in growth-stage companies requires a fundamentally different approach. Unlike established brands with recognised positioning, scale-ups must often communicate value propositions that audiences have never encountered before.
Jerome advocates for an iterative approach, starting with what he calls a "version 0.1" narrative—an MVP marketing storyline that can evolve through testing and refinement. This methodology requires team members who are comfortable with ambiguity and rapid change.
"Some of the best talent earlier career stage people who are just really scrappy and they're willing to to listen and learn from people who have more experience," Jerome observes. The key attributes he values include willingness to learn, work ethic, and the ability to execute—qualities that don't necessarily correlate with prestigious company backgrounds.
The Essential Marketing Foundation Framework
For marketing leaders building teams in resource-constrained environments, Jerome's framework offers practical guidance. He distils complex marketing activities into three essential categories: demand generation (establishing first meetings for sales teams), awareness activities (analyst relations, media relations, social media), and sales enablement (narrative development, training, and account progression support).
This simplified framework helps leaders communicate marketing's value to stakeholders who may not understand the nuances of brand building or thought leadership initiatives. It also provides clarity for team members about priorities and expected outcomes.
Karen Lloyd emphasises that this clarity becomes even more critical when marketing teams must justify every investment and demonstrate direct business impact, particularly in smaller organisations where long-term brand building may be less understood or valued.
What can marketing and business leaders implement for their marketing teams?
Assess candidates for adaptability over pedigree - Prioritise candidates comfortable with ambiguity who show evidence of building from scratch rather than optimising existing systems, seeking examples of creating new processes.
Implement version-based messaging development - Start with "version 0.1" messaging frameworks that evolve through testing with trusted sources, reducing perfectionism paralysis and enabling faster market feedback while building iterative capabilities.
Focus hiring on undervalued talent pools - Consider earlier-career professionals demonstrating scrappiness, work ethic, and learning agility who often provide better value and cultural fit than expensive corporate hires.
Establish clear marketing outcome frameworks - Simplify marketing activities into measurable categories like demand generation, awareness, and enablement to communicate value to stakeholders and demonstrate direct business contribution.
Karen Lloyd, December 2025
About Karen Lloyd
As the founder and director behind our recruitment approach, I bring almost 30 years of unique expertise spanning both recruitment and marketing. Having placed my first candidate in 1996, I've since built 5 start-ups, served as a Board Director for 25 years, and developed recruitment strategies that work in competitive talent markets.
I'm also the host of "Spotlight on B2B Marketing", where I explore B2B marketing trends with industry leaders. My passion lies in helping global businesses grow their revenue-generating teams through strategic hiring and fractional CMO services.
About Armstrong Lloyd
Armstrong Lloyd goes above and beyond being a pure search firm - we partner with your business because we have all stood in your shoes as experienced hiring managers, marketing, and operational business leaders. We have a hidden network that goes beyond LinkedIn searches, adverts, or referrals from ex-colleagues to ensure you're getting the top 1% of talent.
Whether you need interim leadership, marketing team building, or executive search across the UK and beyond, the team at Armstrong Lloyd are here to ensure you reach your commercial business goals by building the best marketing team and strategy to give you a competitive advantage.
Ready to transform your marketing team? Let's talk about how we can help you hire the right talent at the right time.
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