When you meet Andrew Davies, you don’t just (e)meet a C-suite title; you meet someone who once built a SaaS business from scratch, helped scale tech giants, and now channels that founder’s instinct into simpler journeys for software sellers worldwide.
“The WHAT”
Professional Journey and Role with Andrew Davies
Maria Stanciuc: Could you walk us through your journey to the top as Paddle’s CMO?
Andrew Davies: I’m not sure it’s a journey to the top! I like the process of creating something new and then scaling it, and I’ll always be on the side of the disruptor rather than the incumbent.
My primary focus when it comes to work is ensuring that I am working on complex problems, with significant impact, where my best skills are used, and alongside great people. Those aspects are much more interesting to me than being at the top or bottom.
At university, we tried several startup ideas. One of these became a SaaS business that we co-founded, and eventually found product-market-fit, raised money, and sold in 2019. I then worked at the acquirer for 2 years in a much larger and more complicated business. During that period, I also helped 15 SaaS businesses with their go-to-market strategy. It was great for pattern recognition.
One of those advisory clients was Paddle, and I loved the team, the business model, and the ambition for huge impact, so I joined as CMO!
Maria Stanciuc: What’s your vision for Paddle’s marketing, and how are you steering the ship to get there?
Andrew Davies: It’s pretty simple – Paddle is here to help digital product companies operate and grow automatically. So in the marketing team, we need to be helpful for the leaders of those companies – to challenge, educate, entertain, and inspire. We have clear objectives, which include pipeline and self-serve revenue, but that becomes easier when we are (and are known as being) helpful.
Maria: How do you keep pace and bring the latest innovations into paddle’s strategy?
Andrew: I don’t make any technical decisions. I find it super awkward when a senior leader steers in a favoured tech for their team to use. Each team leader is responsible for their tech choices (obviously alongside stakeholders in RevOps and Legal). That’s how we keep up – by those closest to the coalface making the decisions.
Maria: Tell us about a campaign you led that stands out in your memory. What made it special?
Andrew: Last year, we opened our first Launchpad, a 6-week business launch accelerator for AI founders. It included expert speakers, a Slack channel to collaborate and learn, and lots of prizes from ourselves and partners.
We had over a hundred applications, accepted 60 from over 30 different countries, and a whole bunch got live with brand new businesses, winning new customers by the end of the 6 weeks. It was special because it really helped the founders, it got us super close to the customer and their feedback, and turned into revenue for Paddle.
Maria: What makes Paddle’s approach to marketing different?
Andrew: I’m not sure if the approach is different from lots of other marketing I see and respect, but it is different in its execution because of our product uniqueness and our target customer. We serve founders. They are ambitious, creative, and have high expectations – so we need to be too.
“The HOW”
Industry insights
Maria: With all this buzz around AI, where do you see them taking tech marketing in the future?
Andrew: Marketing will always be about the fundamentals – understanding the target customer and their context, finding ways to reach them, and compellingly explaining the product/service. So anything that helps us do that better and faster is great.
Maria: What hurdles are you currently facing, and how are you jumping over them?
Andrew: That assumes we always jump over them… Sometimes we dig under them, find a route around them. Or even keep slamming our heads against them until we dislodge a brick or two.
Current challenges include finding our next best market segments, finding ways to be local in many small communities around the world, and ensuring our customers get live fast and keep growing well after they join Paddle.
Maria: What’s your take on the remote work shift and its impact on marketing?
Andrew: We love flexible working. I love being in the office (London or one of our US offices) regularly. You can’t beat the in-person debate and relationship building. But I work mostly from home, down in Devon. We want to be an employer that enables flexibility – and actually just got voted the 15th most flexible employer in the UK!
Maria: What marketing trends do you think will take center stage in tech soon?
Andrew: Let’s start with a bad one, which is loads more AI-generated spam.
And a good one would be lots of V2 marketing tech that is being built right now, some with AI at the core. These are much more cost-effective than the enterprise tools of the last decade and are built on modern marketing fundamentals. If you want data, marketing automation, customer relationship, and so on, new vendors are building the future.
Maria: Creativity is key in marketing. How do you keep the creative juices flowing in your team?
Andrew: Creativity requires time, stimulus, and, to be sustainable in a business context, a purpose. Most people focus on the purpose and forget to give the process time and stimulus.
Maria: Balancing company goals with team spirit can be tricky. How do you manage that?
Andrew: If team spirit gets disconnected from company goals, then you are a family, not a professional sports team. I already have a family – and I want my work to be like a professional sports team. If we keep losing, we need to make changes. Plus, winning is fun.
Maria: Can you discuss a time you guided your team through a big shift?
Andrew: Ha. In this world of permacrisis, every quarter is a big shift. The main thing is to talk about it and keep walking through it.
“The WHY”
Personal Insights & Reflections
Maria: What do you love doing when you’re not being Paddle’s marketing maestro?
Andrew: Spending time with my wife and kids, playing music, 7-a-side football, and every now and again learning to play golf!
Maria: Juggling between a high-stakes job and a personal life can be quite the act. How do you find your balance?
Andrew: I don’t really believe in ongoing balance. I swing from one focus to the next. I want to be fully present with my family, and fully present at work – but I can’t do both at the same time. So it’s about priorities, ongoing reflection, and putting the most important things first.
Maria: Did you have a mentor who’s really shaped your path? What was their golden advice?
Andrew: I had loads of mentors and received lots of advice. A few examples would be:
- We overestimate what we can do in a week and underestimate what we can do in a year.
- Those with no system are at the mercy of those with one.
- Find the situation and seat with the highest leverage.
- Ask ‘What’s the worst that can happen?’ It takes away the uncertainty and confusion and allows for good decision-making and planning.
Maria: Is there a book or podcast that’s been a game-changer for your professional mindset?
Andrew: No one book or podcast. But I read and listen a lot. Abundance, zero to one, and the hard thing about hard things were 3 important reads for me early on.
Maria: And just for fun, what’s something about you that might take people by surprise?
Andrew: I grew up in Papua New Guinea!
Maria: What wisdom would you pass on if you could sit down with your younger self, fresh on the marketing scene?
Andrew: Don’t be afraid!
