Nikhil Balaraman

AMA: Instacart Former Director, Retailer Product Marketing, Nikhil Balaraman on Analyst Relationships

March 22 @ 9:00AM PT
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👋 Nikhil Balaraman
Hi all, I'm Nikhil Balaraman, Head of Marketing @ Pomerium:

• 👋 Based in: Oakland, CA
• 🧠 Top of mind: Is less truly more?
• 💬 Ask me about: Whether startups are worth it ;)
• 🍦 Fun fact: I've started a wine label with a few of the sales leaders I've worked with in the past. Who says sales and marketing can't be friends?!
Nikhil Balaraman
Pomerium Head of Marketing | Formerly Roofstock, Instacart, Uber, Algolia, Google4y
I think the mistake here is making it too long. I’d suggest an inverse triangle approach, and keep it short depending on the length and purpose of your briefing, probably...
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2954 Views
1 request
Can you share your tips on making a great analyst briefing deck?
I'm about to make my companies first analyst briefing deck. I've made them in the past but want to make a really kick ass one this time around.
Nikhil Balaraman
Pomerium Head of Marketing | Formerly Roofstock, Instacart, Uber, Algolia, Google4y
I think the mistake here is making it too long. I’d suggest an inverse triangle approach, and keep it short depending on the length and purpose of your briefing, probably...
...Read More
1487 Views
1 request
Nikhil Balaraman
Pomerium Head of Marketing | Formerly Roofstock, Instacart, Uber, Algolia, Google4y
Analyst relations programs are best run as a partnership between PR/Comms teams and PMM. The PR and Comms teams will be helpful in driving longer term thinking and time h...
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1294 Views
1 request
Nikhil Balaraman
Pomerium Head of Marketing | Formerly Roofstock, Instacart, Uber, Algolia, Google4y
Honestly, this is a GREAT problem to have. If there’s no Wave or MQ for your category, then all the more reason for you to be in the top right quadrant once one comes out...
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941 Views
1 request
Nikhil Balaraman
Pomerium Head of Marketing | Formerly Roofstock, Instacart, Uber, Algolia, Google4y
Well first of all, it’s always tough to be a team of one. You are definitely going to have to ruthlessly prioritize and as a team of one, it can be easy to get stuck as t...
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2262 Views
3 requests
Nikhil Balaraman
Pomerium Head of Marketing | Formerly Roofstock, Instacart, Uber, Algolia, Google4y
At a B2B company PMM and Product cannot function without each other. There’s simply not enough time in the day for either team to do the other team’s job. I think the bes...
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1316 Views
1 request
What role should a customer advisory board have in influencing your product roadmap, and why?
Product marketing owns the customer advisory board but product management owns the roadmap.
Nikhil Balaraman
Pomerium Head of Marketing | Formerly Roofstock, Instacart, Uber, Algolia, Google4y
Customer advisory boards are great ways to bring product, leadership, and your customers face-to-face to really help everyone understand if what is being built will reall...
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853 Views
2 requests
Nikhil Balaraman
Pomerium Head of Marketing | Formerly Roofstock, Instacart, Uber, Algolia, Google4y
I think the easiest thing to miss when setting up Voice of Customer programs is alignment cross-functionally on the purpose of these programs. As product marketers, it’s ...
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1038 Views
3 requests
How do you drive culture change with market research?
I'm hoping to influence Product and Design to talk to users more and build a clear picture of our user. The team will often refer to themselves as "the consumer" when they're not in our target demographic?
Nikhil Balaraman
Pomerium Head of Marketing | Formerly Roofstock, Instacart, Uber, Algolia, Google4y
It is important for all functions across the company to build empathy for users. Regardless of your segment, small advisory boards are helpful for this, and can be set up...
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961 Views
2 requests
Nikhil Balaraman
Pomerium Head of Marketing | Formerly Roofstock, Instacart, Uber, Algolia, Google4y
Starting with the customer insight is always the #1 job of a product marketer. Ideal customer profile, target verticals, buyer personas, etc these are things that aren’t ...
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1506 Views
2 requests
Nikhil Balaraman
Pomerium Head of Marketing | Formerly Roofstock, Instacart, Uber, Algolia, Google4y
Depending on your target marketing and how active they are on these type of review sites, you may end up finding that G2 and TrustRadius are actually more effective than ...
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1921 Views
1 request
Nikhil Balaraman
Pomerium Head of Marketing | Formerly Roofstock, Instacart, Uber, Algolia, Google4y
These things are bound to happen, but the good news in today’s world is that customers are likely getting their information from multiple sources. If I were in rapid resp...
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1819 Views
1 request