I’m Sudarshan Somanathan (SS)
It’s not great positioning, but my partner says I’m a nonsense human being.
Although my LinkedIn bio says,
“I’m an experienced marketing leader with a background in B2B SaaS. I was fortunate to lead marketing and growth in the early days at three startups that went on to exceed billion-dollar valuations: Gainsight, Freshworks, and Zenoti. I, now, head content and organic growth at ClickUp, another unicorn heading toward an IPO. These companies combined generate nearly a billion dollars in annual recurring revenue.
My zone of genius is at the intersection of content, brand, and community— all tying back to revenue growth. I specialize in building organic moats for companies that result in sustainable, long-term growth. Think content as media, engineering as marketing, customers as advocates and community, and lifecycle marketing (PLG, viral loops).
I love playing in large TAMs, building new narratives, and thought leadership in different spaces. I'm a natural servant leader with a history of building high-performing, happy, and closely-knit teams.
You can find more about my work on LinkedIn. You can also follow me on Twitter.
Disclaimer: Humor/satire is a coping mechanism. Sometimes, I use it to process the terrible things happening in the world.
Honor Roll
Arsene Wenger, Head Coach, Arsenal
“I believe the target of anything in life should be to do it so well that it becomes an art.”
Scott Dikkers, Founding Editor, Onion.com
"Sometimes satirists have to set aside the wackier tools and connect with people on a human level and say what everyone is thinking."
Maciej Ceglowski, Founder, Pinboard
Jim Coudal, Founder, Field Notes & The Deck
"In our marketing of Field Notes we don’t have any rules except for one: no fiction, so we can’t make a commercial about a happy family using Field Notes because that’s not a real happy family. So if we’re gonna make a film about Field Notes, we can make a film about the printer who actually printed them. But it’s got to be him. We can make documentaries that sell Field Notes, but we can’t make stories that sell Field Notes. “
Jason Fried, Founder, Basecamp & Hey
“Marketing is not a department Do you have a marketing department? If not, good. If you do, don’t think these are the only people responsible for marketing. Accounting is a department. Marketing isn’t. Marketing is something everyone in your company is doing 24/7/365. Marketing isn’t just a few individual events. It’s the sum total of everything you do.”
