Dave Gerhardt — Join us for Drive 2026. The top event for B2B marketing professionals September 8-10 in Vermont: exitfive.com/drive
Join us for Drive 2026. The top event for B2B marketing professionals September 8-10 in Vermont: exitfive.com/drive
Dave Gerhardt ranks #143 of 18,566 LinkedIn creators in Growth Marketing, and is a standout voice in United States. They have 202.3K followers and published 28 posts in the last 60 days at a 0.1% average engagement rate.
- 202.3K followers
- 28 posts / 60d
- 0.1% avg engagement
- 1.4K follower growth / 30d
The roast
Dave Gerhardt bragged about his massive influence only to end up with an engagement rate lower than the interest on a savings account. He’s the only person in B2B marketing who spent a decade chasing a billion-dollar exit just to end up selling subscriptions to a Toyota Sienna.
About Dave
Hey I'm Dave Gerhardt. I created Exit Five, which has turned into the top community for B2B marketing professionals. Before starting Exit Five I had a 10 year career in marketing and grew from PR intern to CMO. I even once had hair! My wife says I'm more handsome now though, and she's quite pretty so that means a lot -- but the internet just boxes me in as the typical bald guy tech bro. So oh look, another bald tech guy writing on LinkedIn! whoopty freaking do. Anyway. Where was I... OH. Receipts! I wanted to talk about receipts, because in a world of fluff and online influencers, I actually have some receipts and I want to tell you about them here because it signals power, credibility, and makes it seem like I'm super rich, so: I used to be pretty good at marketing, and my work as a marketer played a key role (at least I think so) in helping two software companies to successful exits: Drift for $1B+ and Privy for $100M+. I certainly helped the founders make a bunch of money, and I was able to comfortably purchase a brand new Toyota Sienna minivan for my family in 2021. Today I spend my time working on Exit Five, and it's actually been super fun and given me a bunch of purpose. We're a team of six full-time team members now, and we have a private online community and host in-person events around the world. Plus there's a popular podcast and newsletter for marketers. We reach something like 20 MILLION marketers with our content every year, and we've got a pretty special thing going on. I hope to keep it going. You can learn more about it all at exitfive.com. I spent most of my life in the Boston area but now live in the woods in Vermont with my wife, two kids, two cats, and one dog. You can reach me at dave@exitfive.com if you want, but TBD if I reply. Depends on the message. But please don't send me any more swag or books. But if for whatever reason you do want to send me something, I play the ProV1x golf ball and like the low numbers. PS. Find my podcast “The Dave Gerhardt Show” on Spotify
Highlights
- Top 1% Audience — 202,295 followers
- Top 1% in United States — Ranked #57 of 5851 creators
- Top 5% Creator — 28 posts in 30 days
- Top 5% Impact — 222 avg engagements per post
Recent posts
The best way to build team chemistry is to do the work together. Not trust falls. Pizza parties. Wine tastings on a video call. The right people want to WIN together. To do good work together. To put the puzzle together as a team. Where every one has a small part. I’d skip the 30-60-90 day onboarding plans and get in the mix right away. That’s at least what I’ve seen with the crew at Exit Five. When someone new joins they want to see how this new person is going to help. Not always how funny or silly they might be :)
99 reactions · 45 comments · 0 reposts
I am tired of the slop. I can't take anymore! Using AI to do all of your writing and creating is not a differentiator!! And it brings your marketing back to the middle because EVERYONE is doing it. Brand is the SECRET GROWTH HACK in B2B. Not because of AI. It's been that way for years. But it might be more important now because of how easy it is for anyone to just fire up the slop machine and "do marketing." I asked Louis Grenier (author of Stand The F*ck Out + upcoming Drive 2026 keynote speaker) to share his research in the Exit Five newsletter this week. He audited 100 B2B SaaS and AI br
148 reactions · 74 comments · 6 reposts
Got snubbed for a job ~10 years ago and been on a heater ever since. Probably the best thing that happened to me. But impossible to know that at the time. So I'm writing it here for you on LinkedIn, in case you needed to hear this today.
185 reactions · 42 comments · 0 reposts
Last updated 2026-08-01