My First 100 Days as a CMO — Part 1
— By Roi “Rio” Mit, Excel 2014
This is an attempt to sum up my first 100+ days as a first-time startup CMO as a part of Regulus Cyber into a short article. Actually, much more than 100 days have passed so this is long overdue, however, the extra time allows me to add some later insights as well.
This post is relevant for all aspiring marketing professionals, entrepreneurs, CEOs curious to know the current marketing climate, salespeople who work in tandem with marketing, and really anyone who’s about to start a new job, especially at a startup. Combined with the list, I’ve also included several photos of different experiences during these first few months.
*In case you are unfamiliar with the term, CMO or Chief Marketing Officer, sometimes called VP of Marketing, is the person responsible for activities that have to do with creating, communicating and delivering offerings that have value for customers, clients or business partners. *
When I left ParaZero (Check out the goodbye letter) I had a pretty good idea of what marketing does, and had TONS of ideas about what I was going to try to do in my next marketing role. I was eager to start working and implementing these ideas at Regulus and now looking back over my first few months, I made short lists of 5 things I did before, during, and after these 100 days that I think are worth sharing.
In this post, I’ll cover what I did *before* I started. Stay tuned for the rest of what I’ve done so far!
So here is a list of 5 top activities BEFORE joining:
1. CONSULT any person related to your field or profession
First; I decided to contact other valued marketing professionals to learn from them. This is crucial if you want to save yourself some pitfalls. Always assume you don’t know.
I sat down at dinners, long phone calls, early breakfasts, endless email correspondences with marketers or cyber professionals I appreciate and look up to. You know who you are, and I thank you dearly. A special thank you to Nathan Burke , as he scheduled a training video call with me sharing his experiences, tracking files, expertise, and still today offers priceless tips and is always there for me. You rock.
I’ve also created a WhatsApp group gathering IL automotive startup marketing people so we can get to know each other and learn together, thank you everyone who are there and offer advice. (Contact me if you want to join)
2. READ every research paper, article or analysis on your market
There is a plethora of reading materials you can go over before starting a CMO job. I divided my reading into three categories: Regulus Cyber, Regulus’ Target Market, and General Marketing.
First, I just googled Regulus Cyber and read every single article on the company, every quote, every social media post on all channels, and also researched the company’s founders and their investors. Furthermore, I had early access to the company’s drive folders and I went back to the very first presentations and plans to understand everything that was done and tried before.
Second, was learning the market, reading about autonomous driving, drones, ships and airplanes. Learning about sensors, what sensor spoofing and jamming means, learning about navigation satellites, GNSS and GPS and the industries utilizing sensors.
Third, I started reading articles written by other CMOs, along with podcasts and YouTube videos done by marketers that managed to get an exit or worked in my space of either cyber or automotive.
3. PARTICIPATE in the company, even before you join
If you think it’s suitable, and you get the chance, take part. I joined a field experiment testing satellite navigation spoofing on a car. It was incredible and taught me a lot about the risk, the easiness by which one can hack a car’s GPS and the way Regulus protects against it. Plus, it was a great opportunity to meet some of the team members and ask technical questions.
I was also invited to join the company’s WhatsApp about a month before I officially started, giving me some time to engage in discussions. The CEO also made sure to share with me the team meetings summaries and kept me in the loop regarding any major occurrences and decisions. By the time the first day arrived I felt I was up to speed and ready to go.
4. WRITE down your goals before you get into the mess
The clean slate mode will never come back. When you start, you have a ‘clean’ mindset without any misconceptions or curse of knowledge about the company, the product or the market. Use that oblivious consumer outlook to your advantage by writing down different ideas about what you think would work. To be honest, I scrapped 80% of those ideas shortly after I joined as I imagined things differently. But still those remaining 20% were definitely worth the effort and affected my first actions. (For example, changing the product names)
5. MENTALLY prepare for your new chapter
This point is for everyone: you never know what to expect when starting a new role or joining a new company. One thing I knew for sure is that a startup is a roller-coaster. So I recommend just relaxing and taking it all in at the beginning. The beginning is crucial to your success down the road and so is the way you are perceived by your superiors and peers. Make sure you come with a positive and energetic attitude on your first day.
Up next… my first 100 days as CMO! In the meanwhile, contact me at roi@regulus.com if you have any questions. I also welcome any criticism\advice.
P.S. If you scroll down our Career page you’ll find a neat surprise (And you’ll find an even bigger surprise if you click on the picture at the bottom of the about page)
Roi “Rio” Mit is a 2014 Birthright Israel Excel Fellow. He is the Chief Marketing Officer at Regulus Cyber, the first company focusing on cyber defense for sensors. Sensors are key components of vehicles on the ground, in the air, and at sea, and Regulus provides cutting-edge technology to protect these sensors that are present in critical infrastructure across all industries and applications.
Roi, a sales and marketing expert, has a background in supporting both corporate and startup companies. He brings years of marketing experience and has held various leadership roles, including Director of Marketing & Sales for ParaZero Drone Safety Systems, as well as Digital Marketing Specialist at WalkMe.
Roi previously worked as a debate instructor, pitch consultant and a tech journalist. He also served as an officer in Israel Defense Forces foreign relations unit, including serving abroad as military attaché assistant. And still serves in the reserve force as a UN peacekeeping operations coordinator.
Roi volunteers as a startup founders mentor in WeWork Labs and InVent Haifa Accelerator, as a speaker for SpaceIL, and as a financial consultant for families in need. In his free time, he is snowboarding the alps, scuba diving the red sea and gaming on his PC (wow,sc2,lol,tf2).
