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Axel Kirstetter

AMA: Guidewire Software VP Product Marketing, Axel Kirstetter on Product Marketing Skills

May 28, 2025 @ 10:00AM PT

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  1. Can you share examples of successful messaging that has effectively communicated the unique benefits of your product?

    Axel Kirstetter
    Axel Kirstetter

    Guidewire Software VP Product Marketing | Formerly EIS Group, Datasite, Software AG, Microstrategy • 1y

    Lately I have really enjoyed the marketing of slate.auto. Their promise it to deliver an affordable electric vehicle. their way of delivering it is through customization. The communication is:

    • category clarity (SUV / Truck)

    • differentiation (smaller sized vs larger cars in same category)

    • variety of choice (build your own model)

    check it out. only costs $50 for your deposit which - FYI - is refundable!!

    827 Views
    1 request

  2. How do I clearly define my role at a startup organization that uses me as a catch all?

    To be successful, do I need to sit within leadership to hear all the information firsthand and decide what’s most important?

    Axel Kirstetter
    Axel Kirstetter

    Guidewire Software VP Product Marketing | Formerly EIS Group, Datasite, Software AG, Microstrategy • 1y

    This is a bit of a tricky one, as in a startup, by definition, you have to do more than just one single thing. And instead of fighting it, I would try to lean into it. It is super interesting to be a person with more responsibilities than in a larger organization with a single responsibility. However, you should be able to understand what you will be judged on at the end of the year Specific goals that you have / specific targets that you're supposed to achieve what you need to do to meet make y ...Read More

    1,395 Views
    1 request

  3. What tactics do you employ to enhance customer retention and reduce churn?

    Axel Kirstetter
    Axel Kirstetter

    Guidewire Software VP Product Marketing | Formerly EIS Group, Datasite, Software AG, Microstrategy • 1y

    At project kick-off, two workstreams need to be established

    • an implementation stream

    • and a customer success stream

    Latter is all about starting the journey of usage, adoption and successful outcomes on day 1 so that by the time you get to day 365 you can prove all success milestones where met and achieved

    408 Views
    1 request

  4. What criteria do you use for segmenting the market, and how does it influence your marketing strategy?

    Axel Kirstetter
    Axel Kirstetter

    Guidewire Software VP Product Marketing | Formerly EIS Group, Datasite, Software AG, Microstrategy • 1y

    Classical definitions include geo, size, vertical, public / private. And all these are good. however I prefer to build up a segmentation on propensity to buy based on a score with multiple factors. things like: existing customer cash rich new head of department needing to make an impact etc. Its more ICP at scale. where you rank probability of purchase based on some agreed upon criteria. just because a company is big does not mean they might buy from you if your offering is aimed at large compan ...Read More

    420 Views
    2 requests

  5. Talk about your experience with PLG versus SLG and how that decision was made at the company level to focus for growth

    Axel Kirstetter
    Axel Kirstetter

    Guidewire Software VP Product Marketing | Formerly EIS Group, Datasite, Software AG, Microstrategy • 1y

    All the various growth methodologies or go-to-market methodologies, whether product-led or sales-led, do share some commonalities. In the case of PLG, you utilize the product to sell more and achieve incremental consumption over time. That being said, there's still effort required to get people to find the product. That can be done through word of mouth, it can be done through SEO and online advertising, or it can be done through a type of a customer engagement team or prospect engagement team t ...Read More

    752 Views
    1 request

  6. What are some unnecessary/irrelevant skills that you often find entry level product marketers spend too much time on?

    Axel Kirstetter
    Axel Kirstetter

    Guidewire Software VP Product Marketing | Formerly EIS Group, Datasite, Software AG, Microstrategy • 1y

    I don't think it is so much about unnecessary or irrelevant skills as much as it is about not being experienced enough to understand what truly matters. What matters is to make sure that a project is delivered on time and to quality standard / expectation. A lot of early on product marketers will spend a lot of time worrying about the quality of the project, ignoring the fact that there are time frames and deadlines around the deliverable. TO meet those deadlines they also need to help themselve ...Read More

    764 Views
    3 requests

  7. What should a growth marketer focus on highlighting when pivoting to PMM?

    Axel Kirstetter
    Axel Kirstetter

    Guidewire Software VP Product Marketing | Formerly EIS Group, Datasite, Software AG, Microstrategy • 1y

    Growth marketers bring rigor in analytics, decision-based insight, experimentation and digital marketing to the table. Those are very useful skills in product marketing. If you drop the analysis paralysis and tool obsession commonly found with 'growthers' and replace those with customer / market lingo you should have a winning package

    399 Views
    2 requests

  8. Can you share your approach to launching new B2B software products, including pre-launch and post-launch activities?

    Axel Kirstetter
    Axel Kirstetter

    Guidewire Software VP Product Marketing | Formerly EIS Group, Datasite, Software AG, Microstrategy • 1y

    Pre:

    1. Understand launch budgets

    2. Identify launch goals / metrics

    3. Create a launch team

    4. Agree on what is being launched

    5. Align team around budgets, goals and functionality

    6. Establish your bill of material

    Post:

    • Track signals (website visits, emails OR/CTR, share, likes etc.)

    • Track over various time periods. Day of, +30, +90

    • Keep focused on what matters: revenue. adjust your plan not based on hand raisers but based on converted revenue pipeline.

    • Provide regular progress reports to stakeholders

    400 Views
    1 request

  9. How can PMMs be strategic partners instead of task takers from their stakeholders - especially Sales and Product?

    Axel Kirstetter
    Axel Kirstetter

    Guidewire Software VP Product Marketing | Formerly EIS Group, Datasite, Software AG, Microstrategy • 1y

    Quite simply, instead of waiting to be told what to do, have a plan in place, present it back to your stakeholders in Sales and in Product and in Marketing, and tell them what you're going to deliver. It gives them the option to change the direction that you're going on, to provide you with feedback. However, ultimately, you are master of your own destiny.

    416 Views
    2 requests

  10. How can I transition from marketing/brand management to product marketing?

    My background is in advertising agencies and marketing on the client side. I have a lot of transferrable skills for a PMM - distilling complexity, leading cross-functional teams, launching creative campaigns - but without product owner or product manager experience what type of roles should I target?

    Axel Kirstetter
    Axel Kirstetter

    Guidewire Software VP Product Marketing | Formerly EIS Group, Datasite, Software AG, Microstrategy • 1y

    It's all about finding the career overlap or the functional overlap between brand management and product marketing. Some of the things you do in brand management are research to find out what a voice of customer is all about develop value propositions positioning statements Similarly, in product marketing, you also have inbound product marketing, which is all about research listening to the market voice of customers win-loss analysis and, you also do positioning Its more product-based, less so c ...Read More

    412 Views
    1 request