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Billy Beane said it best: “No matter how successful you are, change is always good.”
Translation: adapt or get benched.
The marketing world is having its own Moneyball moment. Just like Beane’s Oakland A’s couldn’t outspend the Yankees, today’s CMOs can’t outbid big tech for top talent. So what do you do?
You flip the script.
Instead of chasing titles, you chase outcomes.
Instead of headcount, you look for heat.
There’s No Business Like Show Business
Dror Poleg nailed it. The Predictable career path is dead
What’s replacing it?
Something that looks suspiciously like Hollywood.
Though it is worth a listen in full.
You’re not hiring employees. You’re casting roles.
Top performers today aren’t job seekers. They’re operators with leverage. Think Nikita Bier jumping to X. Think Brett from DesignJoy. These people aren’t applying through your careers page—they’re building their own damn stage.
CMOs need to adapt to this new talent market where individuals hold the leverage—bringing gravity, flexibility, and immediate impact.
Who Are These Free Agents
They don’t want to sit in meetings. They want to move the needle.
Here’s how they think:
Self-selecting: They choose you. Not the other way around. And when they do, they bring strategy, execution, and budgets with them. Think power-law impact..
Portfolio-driven: They’re not loyal to your brand.They’re loyal to impact..
Orchestrators: They don’t only do the work. They build the teams. They orchestrate groups. They gather resources, scale muscle, and direct narratives in ways traditional hires don’t even know exist.
Hiring one of these is like bringing in Michael Jordan for a game of H-O-R-S-E. It’s just unfair.
They don’t want to sit in meetings. They want to move the needle.
X Marks the Spot: Real Voices, Real Shifts
Some of the clearest signals are coming from social platforms:
Is Your Org Built to Attract a Marketing Jordan?
Ask yourself:
Do you have a bold mission? Or just a JD?
Can you move fast and flex around short-term sprints?
Are your decisions made by humans? Or by nine layers of bureaucracy?
Do you reward impact over hours on a time sheet?
Here’s the truth. You don’t recruit free agents. You attract them.
How to Win the Talent Game
Stop thinking about hiring as filling seats. Start thinking like a producer casting a blockbuster.
Here’s how:
Sell the mission, not the org chart.
Offer access and autonomy, not micromanagement
.Design for agility. Short sprints. High trust.
Frame it like a legacy project—not just “help us grow by 10%.”
Adapt or Fade
Marketing used to be about campaigns. Now it’s about orchestration. Attention is the asset. Talent is the leverage.
If you’re a CMO and you’re not thinking like Billy Beane, you’re already getting outplayed.
Your move.
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