In this episode, Dave sits down with Trinity Nguyen, CMO at UserGems, to discuss her journey from first business hire to CMO, the role of product marketing in B2B, and how AI is transforming outbound sales. Trinity got started at UserGems’ by building their first website for free, then got hired as Head of Marketing and has shaped the company’s ABM strategy and demand generation playbook.

Dave and Trinity cover:

Why every startup should hire a product marketer
How to develop a strong vision and align with product teams
Scaling outbound with AI-driven ABM and sales engagement

Timestamps

(00:00) - - Intro to Trinity
(07:31) - - Why product marketing is the foundation of great B2B marketing
(09:08) - - The importance of positioning and messaging in a competitive market
(11:17) - - How Trinity rebuilt UserGems’ website for free before joining the company
(12:34) - - Negotiating your role and setting the foundation for marketing
(14:10) - - Why marketing should own SDRs and outbound prospecting
(15:51) - - The early days of building demand gen at UserGems
(17:29) - - Differentiation and positioning in a crowded market
(19:34) - - Aligning marketing with product teams and company vision
(23:15) - - Developing ICP and refining target accounts
(26:00) - - Why outbound was the first major pipeline driver for UserGems
(27:50) - - Transitioning from a startup to a growth-stage company
(30:05) - - How UserGems runs ABM at scale
(32:19) - - The AI shift in outbound marketing and its impact
(35:31) - - AI for sales outreach and improving outbound efficiency
(38:55) - - Why Trinity was initially skeptical about AI in outbound
(41:38) - - Cutting spend while increasing pipeline with AI-driven outbound
(44:22) - - The role of brand and inbound marketing in a demand gen playbook
(46:34) - - Why traditional inbound marketing didn’t work for UserGems
(48:20) - - Creating engaging demand gen campaigns
(50:15) - - Final takeaways

Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.com
Join the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
Check out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/
Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership

***

Today's episode brought to you by Navattic.

B2B websites are filled with too much story, too much narrative these days. You visit a website and you have no idea what the product does and how it works.

This is why Navattic has become a popular product for B2B Marketers. They help you build interactive demos so you can give buyers a real look at the product before they ever talk to sales.

And guess what - it works. They found that companies using interactive demos with Navattic have seen up to a 25% lift in website conversion rates and a 10-20% increase in inbound leads.

They just released their 2025 State of the Interactive Product Demo report, and it proves just how much more control B2B buyers want over the buying process. Buyers have more access to information than ever, and companies are finally catching up by making their product front and center.

Their report breaks down the top-performing demos, why ungated demos drive higher engagement and the best use cases and strategies for making them work.

So if you want to learn more about using product demos on your site, go check out Navattic’s State of the Interactive Product Demo report now.

***

Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.

#219: Strategy | ABM and AI for Outbound with Trinity Nguyen, CMO at UserGems

The Dave Gerhardt Show