What if your biggest growth unlock wasn’t more speed, but better structure? In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, host Sundar Swaminathan sits down with Mattia Santin, SVP of Brand, Growth & Operations at ContentSquare, former CMO at Hotjar, and former marketing leader at Uber. They dive deep into the B2B vs. B2C debate, why product marketing is the missing engine in many orgs, and what Mattia learned running $300M+ in global media. From in-housing entire teams to turning off ad spend for bol...

How do you build a data team that actually drives business outcomes? In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, host Sundar Swaminathan sits down with Sebastian Hewing, Data & AI Advisor to C-Level leaders in VC and PE-backed companies, and ex-Rocket Internet, to uncover what most companies get wrong about building and scaling data teams. From startup chaos to structured experimentation, Sebastian shares his three-step consulting framework, lessons from over 40 implementations, and what it re...

🎯 Is your marketing KPI lying to you? In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, host Sundar Swaminathan sits down with Russell Tischler, VP of Marketing at Fundrise, to dismantle the myth of “good enough” metrics. From building predictive models that forecast investor behavior to questioning the ROI of lift tests, Russell shares hard-earned lessons from his time at Uber and Fundrise. If you're a B2C marketer, data scientist, or growth leader wondering how to prioritize the right metrics without wast...

What if product marketing was the secret weapon your growth strategy is missing? In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, Sundar sits down with Damian Valdes, Associate Director of Product Marketing at Spotify, to reveal why product marketers are often the most underutilized force in tech. From launching features like Spotify Jam to designing internal growth experiments, Damian breaks down how PMMs shape product roadmaps, avoid cannibalization, and influence business outcomes beyond campaign performa...

Mastering CRM: From Paper Notes to Lifecycle Growth In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, host Sundar sits down with Karan Tibdewal, The CRM Guy™️ and trusted CRM advisor to top subscription apps. Together, they trace CRM's journey from Rolodex-era notes to today’s role as a strategic lever for growth. Whether you’re leading lifecycle marketing or wondering if CRM is still relevant, this episode reveals what great looks like, what most teams miss, and why onboarding might be completely broken. Wit...

Why Brand Building Isn’t Just for CPG: Lessons From Wayfair and Chewy In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, host Sundar dives into the overlooked pivot from hypergrowth to brand building with Lauren Sutkowski, Head of Brand Marketing at Insurify and former marketing leader at Chewy and Wayfair. This isn't a fluffy chat. It’s a real, practical breakdown of what happens when the growth engine starts sputtering and brand finally takes the wheel. From internal education to channel strategy, Lauren sha...

Assumption Audit: The Step Most Marketers Skip Most marketing failures don’t stem from bad creative, poor media buys, or weak strategy. They start earlier, at the assumption level. In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, Sundar sits down with Oliver Raskin, Head of Research at Miro and former insights lead at Meta and Uber, to break down why assumptions kill great ideas and how marketers can audit them before launching campaigns. They explore the difference between optimism and magical thinking, why...

Gen Z Marketing Strategy That Actually Converts In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, Sundar sits down with Claudia from Howbout, the fast-growing social calendar app that's cracked the Gen Z code. With a mix of irreverent humor and sharp strategy, Claudia reveals how Howbout builds product and marketing with Gen Z in mind, why authenticity trumps polish, and why TikTok is more than just a channel. It’s a feedback loop. They unpack how Gen Z thinks, what makes them convert, and why influencer mark...

Building Marketplaces with Data: What We Learned at Uber and Faire On this episode of ExperiMENTAL, Sundar is joined by Gopal Nath, Director of Strategy and Analytics at Faire and former Marketing Analytics Lead at Uber. Together, they explore the data-backed decisions that shaped two of the world’s most dynamic marketplaces. From measuring efficiency to testing branded search strategy, this episode breaks down how growth actually happens behind the scenes. Expect tactical takeaways, sharp in...

In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, Sundar Swaminathan sits down with Nikhil Kant (Uber, FlixBus, Even Health) to break down why modern marketing has lost its magic and how over-relying on performance marketing is silently killing long-term brand value. You’ll learn: ✔ Why performance marketing is losing its creative edge ✔ How brand creates the only sustainable moat in saturated markets ✔ Tactical frameworks: Get-To-By, Think-Feel-Do, and Hero-Hub-Hygiene ✔ Why startups confuse product-market ...

The Future of Growth Marketing Is Cross-Disciplinary | Sunil Subhedar (Uber, Canva, Anthropic) Welcome to the very first episode of ExperiMENTAL, the podcast for marketers and data scientists who are done with fluff and ready to go deep. In this debut episode, host Sundar Swaminathan sits down with Sunil Subhedar, Growth Marketing Lead at Anthropic, and former head of growth at Canva and Uber, to unpack what modern growth marketing actually looks like when you’re building at scale. You’ll ...

Discovery vs. Optimization Marketing: Why Most Startups Get It Wrong | Libby Weissman (Caviar, DoorDash) In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, Sundar Swaminathan sits down with Libby Weissman (Caviar, Square, DoorDash) to unpack why so many startups fail to tell the difference between discovery and optimization marketing, and what it costs them. You’ll learn: ✔ How to tell if you're in discovery or optimization ✔ Why unrealistic CAC targets derail your growth ✔ How to use experiments to build ma...

Welcome to ExperiMENTAL, the podcast for B2C marketers, founders, and analysts who are done with surface-level advice and ready to make smarter, data-informed decisions. Hosted by Sundar Swaminathan, former Head of Brand Data Science at Uber and creator of the ExperiMENTAL newsletter, this show is your go-to space for cutting through noise and building high-impact marketing strategies that actually work. If you’ve ever wondered whether your best marketing move is to stop spending, or how to p...