Kacie Jenkins is the Head of Marketing for Claude Code at Anthropic. Prior to joining Anthropic, Kacie led marketing at Sendoso as SVP of Marketing, Sourcegraph as VP of Marketing, and Fastly as VP of Marketing, to name a few.

Kacie joins co-hosts Craig Rosenberg and Matt Amundson to unpack what B2B brands need to learn from B2C companies in order to build bold, unforgettable brands that increase revenue and redefine markets.

Plus, Kacie outlines why B2B startups need to see building a founder brand as a pipeline engine, how to move beyond broken marketing attribution systems, and why brand marketing is making a massive comeback.

Also, Kacie shares the outcome of all her speakers getting food poisoning before an event, Craig explains why he’s bringing his son to Vegas, and Matt states his stance on the existence of ghosts.

Critical Takeaways

Founder-led brand and content works because buyers want conviction from the people shaping the company, not just polished messaging from the brand account.
The key to building a strong founder brand is finding the intersection of three things: 1. What is the founder an expert at? 2. What makes the founder utterly unique? 3. What does the target audience want and need?
A bold brand doesn't mean punching competitors; it means being so weird, human, and mission-driven that people can't stop thinking about you. At Fastly, this meant leaning into engineer culture with quirky campaigns (literal messenger pigeons), bright red branding mirroring the founder's personality, and taking public stands on internet ethics. Find what makes your company authentically different and lean all the way into it.
Your founder is the person with the most conviction on your team, and that conviction is what cuts through noise in crowded categories. Marketing should treat building and amplifying the founder's narrative as a top priority, not a side project. Invest time sitting with the founder to uncover what they stand for, what they hate, and what future they're building — then help them show up consistently.
Sales leaders should map executive posts, thought leadership clips, and campaign creative to relevant strategic accounts, then use that content to multi-thread and re-engage deals. When a founder or visible executive has market credibility, reps get warmer entry points and stronger follow-up moments.
Values only count when customers can feel them. If the brand story stops at messaging, buyers will eventually spot the gap. For example, Fastly’s brand worked because their stance showed up in customer selection, customer success, and even how they defined who they wanted to win with in the market.

Chapters

00:00 - Episode Preview

00:51 - Spooky Baseball

02:20 - Introducing Kacie Jenkins, Head of Marketing for Claude Code at Anthropic

05:46 - Accidentally Hosting a Spooky Customer Advisory Board Retreat

12:53 - What Happens When All Your event Speakers get Food Poisoning

19:03 - How Founders Can Seize the Story of Their Category and Own The Narrative

35:48 - How to Build Bold Brands for B2B SaaS

41:22 - Why brand fails without founder buy-in

47:23 - Marketing Attribution is Broken. Now what?

Join our Newsletter to never miss an episode & get bonus content: https://thetransaction.substack.com/

Epic Quotes

“The key to winning is real, true, authentic differentiation.” - Kacie Jenkins

Connect with Kacie

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaciejenkins/
Anthropic Website: https://www.anthropic.com/
Claude Code Website: https://claude.com/product/claude-code

Shoutouts

Love the show? Give us a shoutout on LinkedIn and tell us what you loved!

Building a Movement Through B2B Marketing with Kacie Jenkins, Head of Marketing for Claude Code at Anthropic - Ep 76

The Transaction

Building a Movement Through B2B Marketing with Kacie Jenkins, Head of Marketing for Claude Code at Anthropic - Ep 76