The Messy Middle

Marketing Execution with Mark Donnigan · Dec 18, 2025 · 19m

Startup founders often romanticize the launch and dream about the exit, but 80% fail in the messy years between. Scott Belsky, founder of Behance and early investor in Uber and Pinterest, reveals why the middle phase of building a company is where success is actually determined. The problem? You're navigating without a map while organizational debt piles up, your team loses focus on critical priorities, and traditional metrics like quarterly profits don't validate the progress you're making toward a goal that's years away.

This episode of the Marketing Execution Podcast breaks down Belsky's…