Sundar Swaminathan

ExperiMENTAL Marketing | Playbooks to measure and scale Marketing ROI

Business EN ↓ 17 episodes

For B2C marketers, founders, and analysts who are tired of surface-level advice and ready to cut through the noise with smarter, data-informed decisions. Host Sundar Swaminathan, former Head of Brand Data Science at Uber and creator of the ExperiMENTAL newsletter, shares real-world insights, ROI breakdowns, and growth strategies from leaders at companies like Uber, Google, and Faire. Each episode helps you move from guesswork to grounded strategy so you can drive impact, prove marketing value, and lead with confidence. If you're ready to think critically, test boldly, and grow with clarity, Ex...

Author

Sundar Swaminathan

Category

Business

Podcast website

experimental.beehiiv.com

Latest episode

Feb 26, 2026

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Episodes

The AI Marketing Playbook top CMOs are using right now | Nuno Leal (EY Studio +) 26.02.2026

Nuno Leal is the EY Studio+ CMO Practice Leader where he gets to work with the world's biggest CMOs on implementing their AI vision. In this conversation, we discuss the challenges organizations face in integrating AI into their marketing strategies, the importance of experimentation, and the need for a balance between brand and performance marketing. Takeaways Many companies are struggling to bec...

How to 30x ad spend by fixing the pipes | Barbara Galiza (dBT, Substack, Fix My Tracking) 19.02.2026

Barbara Galiza is the founder of Fixmytracking.com where she helps companies fix their tracking and measurement. In this conversation, we discuss the evolution of marketing measurement and tracking from 2015 to 2025, emphasizing the importance of adapting to new ad platform capabilities and strategies. Takeaways Conversion tracking is crucial for optimizing performance Choosing the right conversio...

The engineer turned CMO fixing Marketing Measurement | Pranav Piyush (Reforge, Adobe, Dropbox) 29.01.2026

Pranav Piyush is the CEO of Paramark , where he's devoting the next 15 years of his life to solving Marketing Measurement. In our conversation, he shares his journey from engineering to marketing at companies like Adobe, Dropbox, and Reforge emphasizing the importance of measurement and experimentation in marketing. He also discusses the challenges faced by CMOs, the need for a culture of experime...

How to grow users by fixing conversion not traffic | Adam Miller (Uber, Turo, Postmates) 08.01.2026

In this conversation, Adam Miller shares his extensive experience in user acquisition across various marketplaces, including Turo, Postmates, and Uber. We discuss the evolution of user acquisition strategies, the importance of creative processes, and the collaboration between marketing and product teams. Adam also highlights common mistakes founders make in user acquisition and his contrarian view...

How marketing teams mistake motion for progress | Mattia Santin (ContentSquare, Hotjar, Uber) 27.11.2025

What if your biggest growth unlock wasn’t more speed, but better structure? In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, host Sundar Swaminathan sits down with Mattia Santin, SVP of Brand, Growth & Operations at ContentSquare, former CMO at Hotjar, and former marketing leader at Uber. They dive deep into the B2B vs. B2C debate, why product marketing is the missing engine in many orgs, and what Mattia lear...

How to build 0 → impactful Marketing Science teams | Sebastian Hewing (Zalando, Rocket, eBay) 13.11.2025

How do you build a data team that actually drives business outcomes?  In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, host Sundar Swaminathan sits down with Sebastian Hewing, Data & AI Advisor to C-Level leaders in VC and PE-backed companies, and ex-Rocket Internet, to uncover what most companies get wrong about building and scaling data teams. From startup chaos to structured experimentation, Sebastian shar...

How to pick KPIs that aren't too shallow | Russell Tischler (Fundrise, Uber, MLB) 30.10.2025

🎯 Is your marketing KPI lying to you? In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, host Sundar Swaminathan sits down with Russell Tischler, VP of Marketing at Fundrise, to dismantle the myth of “good enough” metrics. From building predictive models that forecast investor behavior to questioning the ROI of lift tests, Russell shares hard-earned lessons from his time at Uber and Fundrise. If you're a B2C marke...

How PMMs should adopt a product manager’s mindset to drive impact | Damian Valdes (Spotify, Meta) 16.10.2025

What if product marketing was the secret weapon your growth strategy is missing? In this episode of ExperiMENTAL , Sundar sits down with Damian Valdes , Associate Director of Product Marketing at Spotify , to reveal why product marketers are often the most underutilized force in tech. From launching features like Spotify Jam to designing internal growth experiments, Damian breaks down how PMMs sha...

How to not f*ck up CRM onboarding | Karan Tibdewal (Blinkist, MyFitnessPal, HelloFresh) 02.10.2025

Mastering CRM: From Paper Notes to Lifecycle Growth In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, host Sundar sits down with Karan Tibdewal, The CRM Guy™️ and trusted CRM advisor to top subscription apps. Together, they trace CRM's journey from Rolodex-era notes to today’s role as a strategic lever for growth. Whether you’re leading lifecycle marketing or wondering if CRM is still relevant, this episode reveal...

How to transition from short to long term ROI | Lauren Sutkowski (Insurify, Chewy, Wayfair) 17.09.2025

Why Brand Building Isn’t Just for CPG: Lessons From Wayfair and Chewy In this episode of ExperiMENTAL , host Sundar dives into the overlooked pivot from hypergrowth to brand building with Lauren Sutkowski , Head of Brand Marketing at Insurify and former marketing leader at Chewy and Wayfair. This isn't a fluffy chat. It’s a real, practical breakdown of what happens when the growth engine starts sp...

How to map assumptions that could sink your campaign | Oliver Raskin (Miro, Meta, Uber) 04.09.2025

Assumption Audit: The Step Most Marketers Skip Most marketing failures don’t stem from bad creative, poor media buys, or weak strategy. They start earlier, at the assumption level. In this episode of ExperiMENTAL , Sundar sits down with Oliver Raskin, Head of Research at Miro and former insights lead at Meta and Uber, to break down why assumptions kill great ideas and how marketers can audit them...

How to build Marketing for Gen Z that actually converts | Claudia Whyte (Howbout) 21.08.2025

Gen Z Marketing Strategy That Actually Converts In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, Sundar sits down with Claudia from Howbout, the fast-growing social calendar app that's cracked the Gen Z code. With a mix of irreverent humor and sharp strategy, Claudia reveals how Howbout builds product and marketing with Gen Z in mind, why authenticity trumps polish, and why TikTok is more than just a channel. It’...

How to define marketing efficiency and build trust with Finance | Gopal Nath (Faire, Uber) 07.08.2025

Building Marketplaces with Data: What We Learned at Uber and Faire On this episode of ExperiMENTAL , Sundar is joined by Gopal Nath, Director of Strategy and Analytics at Faire and former Marketing Analytics Lead at Uber. Together, they explore the data-backed decisions that shaped two of the world’s most dynamic marketplaces. From measuring efficiency to testing branded search strategy, this epis...

How to merge Brand and Performance on a budget | Nikhil Kant (Uber, FlixBus, Coca Cola) 24.07.2025

In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, Sundar Swaminathan sits down with Nikhil Kant (Uber, FlixBus, Even Health) to break down why modern marketing has lost its magic and how over-relying on performance marketing is silently killing long-term brand value. You’ll learn: ✔ Why performance marketing is losing its creative edge ✔ How brand creates the only sustainable moat in saturated markets ✔ Tactical f...

How to balance optimization vs discovery Marketing | Libby Weissman (DoorDash, Square, Caviar) 10.07.2025

Discovery vs. Optimization Marketing: Why Most Startups Get It Wrong | Libby Weissman (Caviar, DoorDash) In this episode of ExperiMENTAL, Sundar Swaminathan sits down with Libby Weissman (Caviar, Square, DoorDash) to unpack why so many startups fail to tell the difference between discovery and optimization marketing, and what it costs them. You’ll learn: ✔ How to tell if you're in discovery or opt...

How to build the modern Growth Marketing team | Sunil Subhedar (Anthropic, Uber, Canva) 10.07.2025

The Future of Growth Marketing Is Cross-Disciplinary | Sunil Subhedar (Uber, Canva, Anthropic) Welcome to the very first episode of ExperiMENTAL, the podcast for marketers and data scientists who are done with fluff and ready to go deep. In this debut episode, host Sundar Swaminathan sits down with Sunil Subhedar, Growth Marketing Lead at Anthropic, and former head of growth at Canva and Uber, to...

Trailer 03.07.2025

Welcome to ExperiMENTAL , the podcast for B2C marketers, founders, and analysts who are done with surface-level advice and ready to make smarter, data-informed decisions. Hosted by Sundar Swaminathan, former Head of Brand Data Science at Uber and creator of the ExperiMENTAL newsletter, this show is your go-to space for cutting through noise and building high-impact marketing strategies that actual...

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