Pros: Interesting product concept with potential in the alumni recognition space. CEO seemed engaged and ambitious about growth. Cons: The job description focused heavily on paid ads and growth execution, but in interviews it became clear the company lacks basic marketing foundations (buyer personas, messaging maps, RevOps dashboards). When asked about audience strategy, they could only point to “emails to existing contacts” as the best-performing content — which highlights how underdeveloped their strategy really is. Expectations were vague. When I asked about 90-day goals, the answer was simply “get as many demos as possible,” with no framework for defining quality vs. quantity. After multiple interviews, they withdrew the role entirely, citing “internal discussions.” Translation: they don’t actually know what they need or how to resource it. Advice to Management: If you’re going to hire senior marketing talent, get clear on whether you need a tactical ad operator or a strategic marketer to build the foundations you’re missing. Right now, you don’t have the basics in place, which will make any growth role a revolving door.