In an era where B2B buyers are increasingly self-directed in their purchasing journey, the traditional playbook of cold outreach and generic marketing is showing its age. Enter Manny Jassal, founder of Extra Sauce Agency, who's pioneering a different approach: founder-led marketing that transforms technical expertise into binge-worthy content. We sat down with Manny to discuss how B2B companies can build authentic connections in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
How Extra Sauce Agency is Transforming B2B SaaS Marketing Through Authentic Leadership
Q: The digital space is flooded with content. What makes founder-led marketing different from traditional approaches?
Most B2B marketing looks the same: generic, corporate, and forgettable. Founder-led marketing cuts through the noise by showcasing the unique perspectives of the people behind the company—their expertise, experiences, and vision.
In 2024, buyers have more options than ever. There are 94 times more marketing technology tools today than in 2011—and that’s just one category. The brands that win aren’t the loudest; they’re the most distinct.
Founder-led marketing injects personality, storytelling, and a clear POV into your content. It borrows lessons from DTC marketing to make technical expertise binge-worthy, build brand affinity, and ensure your company is top-of-mind when the buyer is ready to purchase.
Q: You've mentioned that modern buyers do extensive research before making purchases. How should founders adapt to this reality?
Over 75% of the B2B buying journey happens before a conversation with sales. Decision-makers aren’t waiting for outreach—they’re doing their own research, evaluating the top 1-2 options before ever booking a call.
If your founder’s unique insights are showing up in their LinkedIn feed—hitting the pain points that matter—there’s a good chance someone in their buying committee is dropping that post in Slack with: “Check this out.”
Instead, B2B companies skip to turning on cold outbound or paid ads expecting deals to flow in, without first proving their messaging and offer organically. What’s going to happen when the prospect sees your cold email and goes to do their vetting test on LinkedIn. What impression are you leaving them with?
Founder-led allows you to:
- Prove messaging & build distinction — You will begin to get a pulse on what messaging resonates with your ICP and showcase why you’re different.
- Stay top of mind —Be a part of your buyer’s research phase, so when they’re ready, you’re already the top choice because you kept showing up on their social feed.
- Scale lean & profitably —Once you have traction, then amplify with paid ads or outbound. The answer off the bat isn’t hiring a bunch of SDRs.
B2B buying isn’t a linear funnel—it’s more like a playground. Buyers jump from post to podcast, from Slack to LinkedIn. The companies that win? They show up where the research happens.
Q: Can you break down what’s working in founder-led content?
The founders successfully using content to generate pipeline have a few things in common:
Deep market expertise—They know their industry inside out.
Unique POVs—They say something different, not just what’s already Googleable.
Big Bets - They are able to predict educated future trends in their industry.
Community engagement—They’re active in conversations, not just broadcasting content.
Personality—They bring their authentic self, making content more relatable.
The sweet spot? The intersection of expertise and personality. When founders infuse technical insights with storytelling, people don’t just consume the content—they share it.
Q: Many founders worry about the time investment required for content creation. How do you help them through this hump?
Systems are everything. You need to have a workflow for ideating, producing, editing, and distributing. We’ve created our SAUCE Recipe that helps founders devote ~1hr/week to create a founder-led content engine.
We extract their unique thought leadership and related experiences on a weekly call with myself as the content strategist. Then, our AI agent and dedicated copywriter analyzes the transcripts to create personalized content for every founder we work with. This is how we create content with our clients that you can’t just find on the first page of Google. Lastly, we align the content efforts with the company’s social selling and LinkedIn outbound.
Q: What kind of results can founders expect from this approach?
Typically, our clients start seeing traction within 2-3 months. Unlike paid ads, organic content requires time to build trust and establish a realm of influence on social platforms. It’s about creating multiple touchpoints with your ICP (ideal customer profile) to nurture familiarity and credibility.
Our data shows that this approach generates 10-16 highly qualified meetings per month for our clients once the content engine gains momentum.
For example, we recently worked with Sharlene, CEO of True Ally, a DEI professional services company. We guided her through a complete go-to-market rebrand and helped her execute a consistent LinkedIn content strategy.
Here’s what Sharlene said about the impact of our work:
“Manny's expertise and dedication have been instrumental in packaging our service offerings with clarity, crafting a compelling strategic narrative, and generating insightful content on LinkedIn that drives leads.”
Q: What's your advice for founders who want to start building their content presence?
- Create content that’s better than what’s already on Google.
If your post sounds like a repackaged HubSpot article, it won’t stand out. Bring your insights, hot takes, and real-world experience.
- Treat social platforms like a town hall.
Content isn’t just about posting—it’s about starting conversations. The best results come when you engage with your audience, not just broadcast to them.
- Be patient with organic growth.
Founder-led marketing isn’t paid ads. It takes time to refine your voice, understand what resonates, and build momentum.
- Recognize that attribution is messy.
Much of organic content’s impact happens in dark social—DMs, Slack shares, and word-of-mouth. If someone screenshots your post and sends it to their CFO, you won’t see it in Google Analytics. Use self-reported attribution to get a clearer picture of how pipeline is actually being generated.