Case Study
Zero North
A custom approach for cyber security startups recruiting Product Marketers.
Overview
ZeroNorth relies on technology professionals to develop, market, sell, and implement the security industry’s first DevOps security automation platform. As the company expanded its Boston-based footprint, it encountered a familiar problem in the cybersecurity industry: intense competition for top talent.
About Zero North
ZeroNorth is a provider of a platform to enable DevOps security
automation. Since being established in 2015, ZeroNorth’s seed,
Series-A and Series A+ VC funding amounts to $27.6M (as of 8/2020). It’s platform is deployed in enterprise environments.
The Challenge
Articulating its platform’s value to prospective buyers and the analyst community was critical for ZeroNorth’s GTM execution. It needed a Director Of Product Marketing.
While content creation and sales enablement form the base of the Product Marketing skill-set, the requirements don’t stop there. Start-up PMMs must be able to communicate outward viewpoints from customers to Product Management and have enough industry clout to develop analyst community relationships. Because mature companies have several Product Marketers that focus on these functions individually, the talent pool for PMMs that can contribute to all the tasks is limited.
Strategy
Based on the discovery call conducted by Pinpoint, a recruitment strategy was designed to focus on two types of professional profiles:
Profile 1
Sr. Product Marketing Manager
A Sr. PMM working at an established Cyber Security company has presumably been exposed to the various functions required to establish the Product Marketing program. This could present the PMM with career growth.
Profile 2
Director of Product Marketing
With a career history of working at early stage startups, a Director would have experience working through rapid change while establishing a Product Marketing program. The transition to another start-up would be relatively smooth.
Profile 1
Sr. Product Marketing Manager
A Sr. PMM working at an established Cyber Security company has presumably been exposed to the various functions required to establish the Product Marketing program. This could present the PMM with career growth.
Profile 2
Director of Product Marketing
With a career history of working at early stage startups, a Director would have experience working through rapid change while establishing a Product Marketing program. The transition to another start-up would be relatively smooth.
Solution
Pinpoint presented the Custom Search FormTM ZeroNorth’s VP of Marketing. By collaborating with clients on this process we are able to achieve three main objectives:
1. Effectively identify required skills.
2. Create a custom company value proposition for candidate consumption.
3. Identify the employment value proposition.
QUALIFYING QUESTIONS
TARGET COMPANIES
ASSESS BUDGET
INTERVIEW PROCESS
COMPANY INFORMATION
VALUE PROPOSITION
Results
With the completed Custom Search Form, Pinpoints’ recruiters qualified candidates and communicated ZeroNorth’s value proposition with messaging created by Pinpoint and ZeroNorth’s VP of Marketing.
“Pinpoint Search Group was a terrific partner as we tried to fill a critical marketing hire. They listened closely to our priorities and delivered top-notch candidates. I was thrilled with the quality of the project and the final candidate, we closed for the role.”
-David Howell, VP Marketing
The Difference
Pinpoint understood ZeroNorth’s challenge and needs. Instead of recruiting off a job description and wasting time presenting PMMs that did not meet ZeroNorth’s specific requirements, Pinpoint knew what questions to ask based on experience filling similar searches for early stage startup clients.
With ZeroNorth’s VP fully entrenched as a partner in the creation of Pinpoint’s Custom Search Form, Pinpoint was positioned to conduct the search efficiently. In turn, a select number of qualified candidates were presented for interviews. This resulted in countless hours saved as the VP only interviewed relevant candidates. Relevancy is based on skills, budget, location, motivation for change and a fit based on the candidate’s desired career progression.
The position was filled and both the new hire and VP are very pleased with the result.
