Podcast Summary: The Dave Gerhardt Show

Episode: Should You Invest in Community?
Date: November 27, 2025
Host: Dave Gerhardt

Episode Overview

In this episode, Dave Gerhardt, founder of Exit 5 and former CMO at Drift and Privy, talks about building, scaling, and measuring the value of community in B2B marketing. The conversation explores the definition of community, when and how to invest in it, balancing business impact with authentic engagement, and how AI is shaping community and marketing right now. The episode also dives into practical aspects of running a community-based business, including key metrics, iterative product thinking, and current top topics among B2B marketers (hint: it's all about AI).

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Treating Community Like a Product (03:16–06:47)

• Origin Story: Exit 5 started as a side project (DGMG) when Dave wanted a space to connect with like-minded marketers; it evolved unintentionally from personal writing and podcasting.
• Product Mindset: The shift happened around fall 2023, when Dave “burned the boats” and decided to turn his personal project into a real business with a rebrand, a small team, and processes.
• Operations: Exit 5 is run with product-like discipline:
  • There's a dedicated product owner (community manager)
  • They use a roadmap, regular feedback, NPS, and iterative improvements.

Quote:

“We tried to treat it like a real product. We have a product owner, a roadmap, feedback, NPS...just really taking the care to treat it like a real product in the last two years, as opposed to kind of Dave's side project.” — Dave Gerhardt (05:49)

2. What Is “Community” Anyway? (07:24–11:01)

• Nuanced Definition: There isn't a single definition. Community can be:
  • A private online group (like on Slack, Circle, or WhatsApp)
  • A local group of people with shared context (e.g., town)
  • A broader, mission/interest-driven movement (e.g., HubSpot’s content marketing revolution)
• Purpose: The truest sense of community is about connecting people with shared interests and facilitating knowledge, trust, and affinity, not merely creating a place for communication.
• Lesson: Focus less on building a “walled garden” and more on being the “stewards of a conversation” that’s meaningful for your audience.

Quote:

“Community to me is one of the most powerful ingredients in marketing because basically you’re tapping into this shared interest. Forget about where it’s hosted.” — Dave Gerhardt (08:18)

3. Should Every Business Build a Community? (11:02–14:32)

• Not for Everyone: Most brands shouldn’t immediately spin up a community. It can easily become “spam and noise” without careful stewardship and authentic engagement.
• The Right Start: Start higher up the funnel:
  • Steward broad conversations relevant to your audience
  • Build credibility, trust, and engagement before constructing walled or paid spaces
• Organic Growth Example: Exit 5 added the community feature when a member requested the ability for subscribers to interact, turning it from a content stream to an interactive hub.

Quote:

“I actually probably recommend most people don’t...let’s just take a level up from where our product is...It’s not going to be about talking about the features...it’s going to be like, what do [your audience] care about?” — Dave Gerhardt (13:07)

4. Community’s Business Impact & Measurement Challenges (15:13–20:10)

• Hard to Measure: The business value of community and content isn’t easily trackable in the way paid ads are.
• The Key Indicator: Direct customer feedback, qualitative signals, and direct web traffic are the best indicators.
• Sales Attribution Parallel: At Drift, many early customers told sales reps they discovered the brand via their podcast, even though analytics couldn’t “prove it.”
• Internal Alignment: Marketers must educate their organizations on the true (and sometimes indirect) ways marketing and community drive business value.

Quotes:

“A lot of times, believe it or not, people will tell you. That’s it. That’s number one.” — Dave Gerhardt (15:58)
“The goal is, like, over time, we publish lots of great, relevant, useful, specific content...People talk about us...That's how it works.” — Dave Gerhardt (17:04)

5. Metrics and KPIs for Community-Based Businesses (25:10–27:47)

• Primary Metrics:
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS): Likelihood to recommend, customer happiness
  • Monthly Active Users: Engagement
  • New Members, Revenue, and Churn Rates
• Leading Indicators: Email list health (opens, unsubscribes), website traffic sources, user feedback.
• Feedback Loop: Community businesses have faster, more continuous feedback, making it easier to iterate and address issues.

Quotes:

“Number one is NPS...all the stats and everything doesn’t matter if people don’t want to be there.” — Dave Gerhardt (25:22)
“What’s amazing about a community-based business is the feedback loop is kind of always going.” — Dave Gerhardt (26:51)

6. The Everyday Chatter: What’s Hot in B2B Marketing? (28:21–32:26)

• AI Dominates: The #1 topic is artificial intelligence—its applications, implications, and how it’s reshaping marketing teams.
• Two Threads:
  • Ongoing, “timeless” topics—strategy, hiring/firing, goal-setting
  • Existential AI discussions—how to use tools, but more importantly, what AI means for marketers’ future and job roles
• Sentiment Split: The community is split between optimism and pessimism, with Gerhardt favoring a proactive, entrepreneurial, optimistic view.

Quote:

“I would say I kind of bucket things in my head right now...there's the stuff marketing leaders are always talking about...and then all of the other stuff is very much AI related. And it's not just AI tool related...It's kind of this existential: Where is marketing going?” — Dave Gerhardt (28:47)

7. On AI: Mindset, Tools, and Productivity (32:13–38:26)

• Rapid Change, Imperfect Tools: AI is quickly advancing, but still requires human creativity, editing, and oversight.
• Optimist's View: Those who use AI to level up will have a competitive advantage.
• Practical Advice: Use AI as a brainstorming partner; design your prompts to challenge your thinking, not just confirm it.
• Future Unknown: Gerhardt doesn’t make strong predictions but urges adaptability and curiosity rather than fear.

Quote:

“I like the challenge...Go ahead, replace Exit 5...I promise you, I'm not going to be out on the street. I’m going to freaking find a way to create something of value.” — Dave Gerhardt (31:05)

8. Final Thoughts and Takeaways (35:45–38:26)

• Long-form Conversations Win: There’s more nuance and reality in long-form discussions versus snappy social posts.
• On Learning: Even thought leaders are “figuring it out every day.”

Quote:

“I don’t have all the answers. I’m figuring everything out every day.” — Dave Gerhardt (35:45)

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On the Power and Peril of Community:
  “My biggest fear with Exit 5...every community goes to zero at some point because it just becomes spam, it just becomes noise.” (12:50)

• On Measuring Brand:
  “One of the simplest ways to think about brand is...how many people showed up to your website directly...if they don’t know you, how are they typing in your brand?” (20:11)

• On Feedback:
  “The feedback loop is always there...if somebody churns, hopefully they leave a note...those get fed into your Slack and we can see the churn reason.” (26:49)

• On AI Paranoia:
  “It’s a Forbes article: ‘Five ChatGPT prompts to completely replace your marketing team in 30 days.’ Well, who reads Forbes? It was probably written by a bot anyway.” (35:25)

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:16 – Treating Community Like a Product
• 07:24 – Defining Community (and Humor)
• 11:02 – Should Every Company Build a Community?
• 15:13 – Business Impact & Measuring Community
• 25:22 – Key Community Metrics & KPIs
• 28:21 – What Are B2B Marketers Talking About Right Now? (AI)
• 32:13 – AI: Opportunity, Fear, Adaptation
• 35:45 – Final Thoughts & Long-form Value

Tone and Style

Dave Gerhardt’s style is conversational, self-aware, and humorous. He’s unafraid to poke fun at “thought leadership,” acknowledges nuance, and shares practical, battle-tested advice without hype or jargon. The conversation is candid and grounded in real-world experience, making complex topics like community and brand measurement feel accessible and actionable.

Useful for Listeners

This summary covers all the major points from the episode and distills Gerhardt’s honest, practical insights on building community, measuring impact, and navigating the future—with humor and humanity. If you work in B2B marketing, are considering building a community, or are pondering AI’s place in your career, this episode—and summary—delivers both inspiration and realistic, actionable advice.