Growth Newsletter: https://levelingup.beehiiv.com/subscribe Need marketing help? Visit: https://www.singlegrain.com/ and https://npdigital.com/ Want to recruit great marketers? Find them here: https://marketingschool.io/hire The full session: Silicon Valley's two forgotten lessons and why OpenAI is replaying Dropbox's pivot, China's million-account AI model of American voters, the LinkedIn AI/DEI profile shift, outspend vs outteach, the hairy truth about agency M&A, what to do when business gets really tough, the 6,400-ads reveal, and a masterclass massage-studio case study. Key takeaways ◾Consumers won't pay — ads are the consumer software endgame ◾Nation-state audience modeling is a marketing system pointed at you ◾Outteaching, referrals and stability beat spend, reach and hype Chapters 00:00 The 2 lessons Silicon Valley relearns 03:32 SaaS isn't dying, it's going B2B 05:55 Bubble or buildout? 11:32 Marketing in smart moments 15:08 China's AI models of American voters 17:12 Privacy and platform rules 19:14 The LinkedIn graph: AI in, DEI out 22:20 Think for yourself 26:10 Outspend vs outteach: DHH 27:22 Bezos and Basecamp 28:31 Pressure makes winners 31:58 The agency M&A trap 36:05 Managing mistakes 38:19 A tale of two agencies 44:43 Revenue over views 47:17 When things get really tough 56:31 Stability vs growth 1:03:13 The 6,400-ads reveal 1:04:27 The massage-studio case study Welcome to Marketing School, one of the top business podcasts with over 61 million downloads. Each episode delivers actionable marketing tips and strategies from two entrepreneurs who truly practice what they preach. The show is hosted by Eric Siu, founder of Leveling Up and Single Grain, and Neil Patel, co-founder of Neil Patel Digital and recognized by Forbes as a Top 10 Marketer. ️ Learn More About the Hosts Eric Siu – Leveling Up: https://www.youtube.com/@LevelingUpOfficial Neil Patel: https://www.youtube.com/@neilpatel Free Resources Ubersuggest: https://www.ubersuggest.com/ Answer The Public: https://www.answerthepublic.com/ Subscribe for Daily Marketing Insights!