Bryce Hein

The modern CMO has to be as much data scientist as brand ambassador and business analyst these days. Which is just perfect for Bryce Hein, who brings a masters in computer science and an MBA to the table as chief marketing officer at ExtraHop. It’s not the traditional route to a career in marketing, perhaps, but that background gives Bryce a distinct advantage in the age of modern tech marketing.

Bryce and I collaborated years ago when he was head of marketing Quantum, then later Rocana, and I have come to appreciate his marketing smarts, business acumen, and thoughtful way with everyone. He’s a great person, and it was terrific catching up one morning recently at Cypress Coffee in Bellevue. I was curious about Bryce’s take on things and hear what he’s up to these days.

Turns out, it’s a lot. ExtraHop was recently acquired by Bain Capital Private Equity and Crosspoint Capital Partners, so Bryce and his team are working with a new board of directors. We talked about some of the differences between venture capital and private equity, each supporting companies at different stages. Bryce mused over how corporate marketing is a good litmus test for product marketing, making sure product strategies and tactics stay mapped to the corporate brand. And we chatted about the value of outside agencies, where Bryce called out Sandwich for stretching ExtraHop’s thinking and adding creative value.

Like most CMOs, Bryce is extremely busy and could have easily let my emails go or not worked through several scheduling conflicts to make our coffee meeting (thanks also to Lindsey Hughes for her persistence and deft scheduling). I’ve learned through this career transition that some people make the effort to stay connected, and when they do it means a lot. So thank you Bryce for all that and for being part of the reconnect roadshow.

#cmoinsights #techmarketing #creativeadvertising #coffee #thankyou