Cognism: 20x MRR Growth in 12 Months

As the first marketing hire at Cognism, I built the entire demand generation engine from scratch — during the most disruptive regulatory period B2B data had ever seen.

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The Challenge

Cognism was a Series A B2B data and intelligence platform entering a market about to be fundamentally reshaped by GDPR. They had:

• No marketing function — zero campaigns, no CRM structure, no attribution
• A product selling data in a market where data regulation was about to change everything
• $10K MRR and aggressive growth targets from investors

The brief was simple: build the machine that turns spend into pipeline. Fast.

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What I Built

Demand Generation Engine

Created the full demand gen stack from zero: paid search, paid social, content marketing, event strategy, and outbound support infrastructure.

CRM & Attribution Infrastructure

Designed and implemented the CRM architecture in HubSpot — lifecycle stages, lead scoring, campaign attribution, and closed-loop reporting so every pound of spend could be traced to revenue.

Content & Thought Leadership

Developed a proprietary Case Study Framework and Hero Content Strategy that positioned Cognism as a thought leader during the GDPR transition. This included public speaking at industry events on data regulation and market adaptation.

International Events

Managed $100K+ event budgets across international trade shows, coordinating logistics, lead capture, and post-event nurture sequences.

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The Results

• 20x MRR growth — $10K to $200K in 12 months (32% MoM average)
• 6.8x ROI on $104K total marketing spend
• 239% increase in SQLs while scaling budget 293%
• Full attribution — first time the business could see which channels produced revenue
• GDPR-compliant marketing infrastructure built before the regulation landed

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Why It Worked

Most marketers at a Series A would have focused on quick-win tactics. I built the infrastructure first: CRM, attribution, lifecycle stages. That foundation meant every campaign from day one was measurable, and every optimisation was data-driven rather than gut-driven.

The GDPR timing was critical — while competitors were scrambling to comply, we'd already built compliant processes into the foundation.

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Ready to Build Your Growth Engine?

Book a free consultation → and let's talk about scaling your pipeline.

Or email directly: tim@hiretimothysolomon.com