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Exit Five
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Researched profile. Starter Story's AI research system compiled this page from 38 public sources — the founder didn't write it. Automated research can misread or misattribute a source, so treat figures as best-effort. How this works →
Exit Five logo

How Exit Five Grew

Community-focused platform for B2B marketers

How did Exit Five grow?

Summary of the sourced claims below

Exit Five grew primarily through building a referral or word-of-mouth loop involving in-app sharing, referral discounts, and features that encourage inviting others. They also invested in local, in-person outreach by partnering with beauty supply distributors and visiting salons with booking page mockups, which had a high conversion rate.

Channels

39 channels · grouped by how Exit Five grows

  • Organic social media

    · 6 mentions · 6 sources
    “As his LinkedIn following grew to 50,000 people, Dave noticed something interesting: people weren't just consuming his content—they wanted more [15]. "I was posting on LinkedIn, and people kept asking me, 'Do you have a newsletter? Do you have a podcast?'"”
    high
    Show 5 more quotes
    “He started writing about the things they were doing at Drift on social media — primarily LinkedIn where his following quickly grew to 70,000.”
    medium
    “FAQ videos ... you now have handy FAQ videos to send via email, share on social media platforms, or embed on your landing pages.”
    medium
    “Secondary pieces (5-8): LinkedIn posts pulling out individual insights. Email newsletter featuring key points. Thread summarizing the main framework. Infographic with the core data. Micro content (10-15): Quote graphics for social. Individual statistics as standalone posts. Questions to spark dis...”
    medium
    ““Marketing sourced” includes all SQLs and stage 3 pipeline generated from any marketing activities (paid and organic), and excludes outbound sales.  ‍Why this matters: if sales needs to source 20% of their own SQLs and pipeline, then marketing needs to source the other 80%. But if marketing isn’t...”
    medium
    “Drive targeted traffic to your landing page. Share in communities you joined, post on social media, do direct outreach to people who expressed the pain.”
    medium

  • Online Community

    · 5 mentions · 5 sources
    “This triggered the realization that the real value might lie in connecting like-minded professionals rather than just in his own content. "The first real epiphany of, oh, there's something bigger here," [25] says Dave, who then started a Facebook group for folks to connect. The Facebook group qui...”
    high
    Show 4 more quotes
    “Dave Gerhardt, founder of Exit Five, a community for B2B marketers, recently moved his 3,500 paying member community from Facebook Groups to Circle.”
    medium
    “Exit Five is a B2B marketing community started by Dave Gerhardt that grew from a small LinkedIn following to a 5000-paying member large community-led business.”
    medium
    “One community — Reddit, Slack, or niche forums. Contribute for weeks before sharing anything promotional”
    medium
    “Join 3-5 communities where your target users hang out: Reddit subreddits, Discord servers, Slack groups, Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups. Lurk first. Understand how they talk about their problems.”
    medium

  • LinkedIn

    · 5 mentions · 5 sources
    “As his LinkedIn following grew to 50,000 people, Dave noticed something interesting: people weren't just consuming his content—they wanted more [15]. "I was posting on LinkedIn, and people kept asking me, 'Do you have a newsletter? Do you have a podcast?'" Dave recalls [9]. Recognizing this deman...”
    high
    Show 4 more quotes
    “Building an audience is a long game – and the most important tactic is creating consistently high quality content that people want to engage with. ... In order for organic social to work as a lead gen channel, you need a (large enough) audience of social followers to nurture over time.”
    medium
    “He started writing about the things they were doing at Drift on social media — primarily LinkedIn where his following quickly grew to 70,000.”
    medium
    “LinkedIn for B2B — Post from personal accounts (not company pages), native content beats external links, 20 min/day is enough”
    medium
    “If B2B: LinkedIn is your primary channel. Post about the problem you're solving 3x/week. Comment on posts by people in your target industry.”
    medium

  • Newsletter

    · 4 mentions · 4 sources
    “So like, let's say everybody has an email newsletter that's out there. One of the best things you could do in an email newsletter is you put it in the pre-header, or you put it at the end of every content block in your newsletter.”
    high
    Show 3 more quotes
    “Email shows results fastest—you'll know within weeks if your newsletters are engaging your list.”
    medium
    “Dave’s insight was that the newsletter itself was the growth lever, not the funnels around it. ... He built the kind of newsletter B2B marketers actually look forward to opening.”
    medium
    “Email marketing through their newsletter reaches over 50,000 subscribers (up from 18k in early 2024) and serves as both a content distribution channel and community recruitment tool.”
    medium

  • SEO

    · 3 mentions · 3 sources
    “We call this the Brand Growth Index, and it answers two questions: Are you reaching and influencing future buyers while they sit out-market (branded search traffic, direct traffic, product name search traffic, and homepage organic traffic)? And do people who discovered you through those channels ...”
    medium
    Show 2 more quotes
    “SEO is absolutely a distribution channel, but it's covered separately because it's ongoing and operates differently than active distribution. Strong SEO compounds over time and eventually becomes your most efficient distribution—but it takes 6-12 months to show meaningful results.”
    medium
    “Write meta titles, descriptions, and OG images for every page Every public page needs SEO metadata and social sharing cards. When someone shares your link on Twitter or LinkedIn, the preview card should look compelling.”
    medium

  • Email marketing

    · 3 mentions · 3 sources
    “They dig into the psychology behind when people actually open and engage with email, why shorter almost always wins, and the habits that quietly keep you out of the spam folder. Jay also shares the specific email and send-day habits he swears by, a few of his go-to tricks for getting people to ac...”
    high
    Show 2 more quotes
    “Email is king — $36-42 ROI per $1 spent, you own the relationship, it compounds over time”
    medium
    “Create a landing page to capture interest... describing the solution with an email signup form. This is your first real demand test.”
    medium

  • Webinars

    · 3 mentions · 3 sources
    “So I have a media business called Guru Media Hub, and some of the things that we do is we put on really large-scale, completely bonkers, very different virtual events, ones that you actually might wanna go to. We do them at scale. So we have one that's about events called Eventastic. That's about...”
    high
    Show 2 more quotes
    “Webinar announcement? Email your list.”
    medium
    “There are regular events including virtual sessions and webinars (which get around 500-1,000 signups [24] and around 1/3 of those turn up [26]), and increasingly, in-person meetups [6, 19]. These range from tactical deep-dives on specific marketing topics to broader strategic discussions with ind...”
    medium

  • Email List Growth

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “Create a landing page to capture interest...with an email signup form... Email signups show interest. Pre-sales (even $1) prove willingness to pay. Offer early-bird lifetime pricing at a deep discount. ... aim for 150+ email signups instead.”
    medium
    Show 1 more quote
    “You own the relationship. Unlike social platforms, your email list doesn't depend on algorithmic changes, platform policies, or feed competition. When you send an email, it arrives.”
    medium

  • Testimonials

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “Gather authentic testimonials from your most enthusiastic customers and turn these into engaging videos that build trust. ...Instead of self-promoting, let happy customers sing your praises by sharing why they chose your product or service and how it benefited them. This social proof validates yo...”
    medium
    Show 1 more quote
    “Mine competitor reviews for unmet needs. Read 1-star and 2-star reviews on G2, Capterra, and Product Hunt. These are people who paid money, tried the product, and were disappointed - that's your opportunity. Pay attention to the exact language patterns...”
    medium

  • Reddit

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “Reddit: Find 2-3 subreddits where your audience discusses relevant problems. For B2B SaaS, consider r/SaaS, r/startups, r/entrepreneur, and industry-specific subreddits. Reddit is increasingly important for SEO as Google prioritizes authentic community content.”
    medium
    Show 1 more quote
    “Pick 1-2 primary discovery channels (Reddit + cold email, or LinkedIn + niche Slack groups). Set weekly outreach targets: 5 cold DMs, 3 Reddit comments, 1 post per week.”
    medium

  • Paid social ads

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “If most signups came from Facebook groups, invest there. Create a "salon business tips" content series, partner with beauty supply distributors for referrals, and walk into salons with a tablet showing their own booking page mockup. Local, in-person outreach has the highest conversion rate for SM...”
    medium
    Show 1 more quote
    “Paid ads are highly targeted, and can get your content in front of the bucket of ICP contacts who don’t already follow you – it’s a short-cut when you don’t have an owned audience built yet.”
    medium

  • Events

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “There are regular events including virtual sessions and webinars (which get around 500-1,000 signups [24] and around 1/3 of those turn up [26]), and increasingly, in-person meetups [6, 19]. These range from tactical deep-dives on specific marketing topics to broader strategic discussions with ind...”
    medium
    Show 1 more quote
    “Funnel Leasing builds trend-based booth concepts, like a haunted-house maze at Apartmentalize (the industry’s largest event) and, another year, a World Cup–themed booth with a soccer simulator and an AI goalie. The goal isn’t lead count at the booth — it’s that people remember the brand long afte...”
    medium

  • Facebook Community

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “This triggered the realization that the real value might lie in connecting like-minded professionals rather than just in his own content. "The first real epiphany of, oh, there's something bigger here," [25] says Dave, who then started a Facebook group for folks to connect. The Facebook group qui...”
    high
    Show 1 more quote
    “Dave Gerhardt, founder of Exit Five, a community for B2B marketers, recently moved his 3,500 paying member community from Facebook Groups to Circle.”
    medium

  • Direct Mail Campaign

    · 1 mention
    “Visit 10 salons in person. Ask: 'How do clients book with you today?...'”
    medium

  • Product Page

    · 1 mention
    “Build a landing page that converts Clear value proposition above the fold, feature/benefit sections, pricing, social proof, and multiple CTAs.”
    medium

  • Welcome Email

    · 1 mention
    “Set up all email sequences Transactional emails (welcome, password reset, receipts) plus a waitlist nurture sequence: Day 0 welcome, Day 2 your story, Day 5 behind-the-scenes preview, Day 7-10 launch announcement with early-bird offer.”
    medium

  • Word of mouth

    · 1 mention
    “making existing members so happy that they naturally become advocates for the community ... sharing them widely as social proof, which encourages referrals. Member referrals contribute around 20% to growth.”
    high

  • Create Demand

    · 1 mention
    “Build a referral or word-of-mouth loopIn-app sharing, "powered by" badges, referral discounts, or features that naturally involve inviting others.”
    medium

  • Brand Videos

    · 1 mention
    “Behind-the-scenes videos give your audience a slice of life—a little peek into your company culture and processes. ... Creating these brand videos will strengthen your image and demonstrate that there’s more to your small business than transactions.”
    medium

  • Podcasting

    · 1 mention
    “There’s a podcast, too. Now called The Exit Five CMO Podcast... It serves as a top-of-funnel content channel, although, podcast guests often become community members or refer their networks, too.”
    medium

  • Earned media

    · 1 mention
    “Reply to every comment, email, and social mention Within 1 hour. Launch day engagement builds momentum. Every reply is a chance to convert a curious visitor into a paying user.”
    medium

  • Product Hunt

    · 1 mention
    “Prepare launch content for all platforms Product Hunt (tagline, maker comment, screenshots, demo GIF), Hacker News (Show HN), Reddit, Indie Hackers, and your email list. Tailor each post to the platform's culture.”
    medium

  • Weekly newsletter

    · 1 mention
    “Weekly newsletter (30-45 minutes):One valuable insight, framework, or perspective Links to your recent content (blog posts, resources) Personal voice, not corporate polish Consistent send time (train your audience when to expect it)”
    medium

  • Content marketing

    · 1 mention
    “Alex Howe grew Funnel Leasing from $3 million to $50 million in revenue with no paid ads and almost no outbound. The approach: lead with a distinct brand instead of claiming to be better, build memorable in-person event experiences, and make pricing and product info public instead of gated.”
    medium

  • Conferences

    · 1 mention
    “Similarly, events serve as both member value and acquisition channels. Virtual sessions often attract non-members who experience Exit Five's quality firsthand. In-person events create stronger connections and generate content for social media amplification.”
    medium

  • Inbound

    · 1 mention
    “This report used HockeyStack’s machine learning attribution modeling to measure funnel health for each marketing channel. Dave uses this report to identify which channels have the most impact on pipeline and revenue and which channels have leaks in the sales funnel.”
    medium

  • Promotions

    · 1 mention
    “Define your early-adopter offer First 100 users get 30% lifetime discount, founding member pricing, or a one-time lifetime deal. Give early users a compelling reason to commit now instead of later.”
    medium

  • Waitlist

    · 1 mention
    “Start marketing weeks before launch. Build anticipation, collect a waitlist, and line up distribution channels.”
    medium

  • Flea market sales

    · 1 mention
    “Post in local business Facebook groups with the story of why you built it.”
    medium

  • Notion Template for Freelancers Launch

    · 1 mention
    “P.S. Dave runs Exit Five, the best community and newsletter for B2B marketers. If you’re in the B2B space, it’s worth subscribing.”
    medium

  • Serious question

    · 1 mention
    “The 90/10 rule: 90% of posts provide value (insights, tips, behind-the-scenes). 10% mention your product. Use Hypefury to schedule threads and auto-retweet your best posts.”
    medium

  • Video content

    · 1 mention
    “Short-form content showing the product in action outperforms text posts.”
    medium

  • Dedicated (Stand Alone) Emails

    · 1 mention
    “The other big real estate that nobody's really using in B2B is weekends. Sundays, big time. Sending out long-form emails on Sundays around 11:00 or so is incredible... And what we have seen, this was a media post as well- That click-through rates for business to business emails on Sundays is up, ...”
    high

  • Pay Per Click Advertising

    · 1 mention
    “Using a pie chart, he can visualize cost per SQL and ad CAC by all three channels he invests in: Google search ads, Facebook ads, and Linkedin ads.”
    medium

  • Referral Program

    · 1 mention
    “Build a referral or word-of-mouth loopIn-app sharing, "powered by" badges, referral discounts, or features that naturally involve inviting others. The best growth comes from users bringing in users.”
    medium

  • Product expansion

    · 1 mention
    “It's part of a wider evolution of their strategy to move beyond a discussion board focus, to supporting peer connections and professional development. This also means more roundtables, therapy sessions, and member-led training sessions, too.”
    medium

  • Affiliate program

    · 1 mention
    “Build a referral or word-of-mouth loopIn-app sharing, "powered by" badges, referral discounts, or features that naturally involve inviting others.”
    medium

  • Product Demo Video

    · 1 mention
    “Consider using explainer and product demo videos to accomplish this. ... Explainer and demo videos bridge that gap, making your product’s benefits clear and compelling.”
    medium

  • Direct sales

    · 1 mention
    “Post in communities offering a $10-20 gift card for a 20-minute call. B2C users need more incentive but give more candid feedback.”
    medium

How 2,678 businesses grow

Of businesses with mapped growth channels, the share using each — Exit Five’s highlighted.
  • Referral/Word-of-mouth
    68% ◀
  • Social media
    58% ◀
  • Search/SEO
    57% ◀
  • Email
    47% ◀
  • Community
    33% ◀
  • Content/Inbound
    31% ◀
  • Partnerships
    30% ◀
  • Paid ads
    24% ◀
  • Events
    24% ◀
  • Press/PR
    17% ◀
  • Outbound/Sales
    16% ◀
  • Marketplaces/App stores
    8%
  • Brand Authenticity
    2%
  • Product expansion
    2% ◀
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