VP Marketing · Vancouver, Canada

Liam Labistour: Marketing leadership.Measurable growth.

I lead marketing, growth and revenue teams, and set the strategy that turns into results at scale.

4x
Monthly leadsVRIFY
900K+
Incremental daily active usersSplinterlands
$250M+
DTC revenue drivenFlax Labs
120
New clientsKobalt.io
Work

Over $750M in revenue driven over the past decade.

Each Playbook traces a result back to the decisions that made it: where we placed the bets, how each system was built to carry them, and the outputs they returned.

01 · May 2025 – PresentCurrent

VRIFY

VP Marketing

Running marketing as a revenue function, from forecast to board deck.

  • Lead all marketing strategy, forecasting and budgets, with a multi-seven-figure budget.
  • Lead a 10-person marketing team, and help oversee 4 sales reps and 3 external agencies.
  • Own board, VC and internal communication on revenue initiatives.
  • Grew the events program from ~15 to ~45 a year, now the company’s biggest revenue driver.
4xMonthly leads (70 → 300)
−45%Customer acquisition cost
5xLTV:CAC at peak
Playbooks
P014x the pipeline at 45% lower CACRebuilding how we found, warmed and converted accounts in a 2,400-company market, and handing hundreds of hours back to the team.

The moves

  1. Rebuilt messaging for every persona, company size and stage of exploration.
  2. Replaced “build it and they will come” with a multi-touch educational journey, converted by SDR agents, sales and events.
  3. Instrumented everything, down to email subject lines, to optimize every channel continuously.
70300
Leads per month
−45%
CAC
42.5 mo
Time to value
Read the full case study
P02Salesforce, a new commercial model and an agent layerA two-month HubSpot-to-Salesforce rebuild that connected tens of tools under one roof and put agents on the busywork.

The moves

  1. Led an internal team of 4 and an agency team of 9 through design, build, parallel run and cutover.
  2. Built agents for prospecting, call enablement, decks, billing, competitive intelligence and more.
  3. Connected Claude to Salesforce, Vitally and Slack over MCP so teams manage accounts by prompting.

Related themes

2 mo
Full migration
0
Operational blockers
4x+
Thoughtful outreach capacity
Read the full case study
P03From 15 to 45 events a yearA two-person program that became the company’s biggest revenue driver: forecast before, ABM during, automated follow-up after.

The moves

  1. Scored every event on prior-year results to decide whether and how to attend.
  2. Scraped attendee lists, forecast pipeline and ran ABM before each event.
  3. Automated lead tagging and follow-up so conversations turned into pipeline.
1545
Events per year
7x+
Single-channel ROI
Read the full case study
P04From product-led to marketing-ledBuilding a moat of distribution and trust when new AI competitors were launching every two weeks.

The moves

  1. Went direct to the customer with a multi-channel mesh instead of waiting for inbound.
  2. Designed the buying journey for trust, adapting Darius Contractor’s Psych framework.
  3. Added white-glove moments alongside inbound conversion.

Related themes

42.5 mo
Time to value
Read the full case study
P05Going global: juniors to majorsA new commercial model pointed us at major mining companies, and that meant following them into South America, Western Europe and the Middle East, and doubling down on Australia.

The moves

  1. Shifted the primary segment from junior explorers to majors, with an account plan and mapped buying committee for each.
  2. Rebuilt content and channels for majors: technical depth, executive briefings and in-person meetings.
  3. Added global conferences including FMF, Latin Rocks, IMARC and Precious Metals Summit Zurich.

Related themes

$7M+
Added prospective pipeline per quarter
Read the full case study
02 · Dec 2024 – May 2026

Flax Labs

COO & Advisor

Revenue and operations for a bootstrapped growth agency that scales eight- and nine-figure DTC brands profitably.

  • Ran revenue and business operations: marketing, sales and client success, plus strategy, expansion and the roadmap for our AI tooling.
  • Restructured the agency and doubled revenue at similar headcount, lifting blended MER from 1.8x to 5.6x within a quarter.
  • Managed $80M+ in ad spend and generated $250M+ in DTC revenue across roughly 200 ecommerce brands.
  • Helped strategize and position Gravity, an AI advertising spinoff that has raised $39M.
$250M+DTC revenue generated
5.6xBlended MER (from 1.8x)
2xRevenue at similar headcount
Playbooks
P012x revenue at the same headcountDoubling revenue without doubling headcount, by rebuilding the agency around AI tooling and a more autonomous team.

The moves

  1. Restructured roles so each person owned more accounts, with AI tooling absorbing the repetitive work.
  2. Proved new software on smaller clients before deploying it to the largest.
  3. Measured with holdouts and geo-lift instead of platform attribution.
2x
Revenue
5.6x
Blended MER
Read the full case study
P02150+ brands through a guarantee and a referral loopA 3x ROAS guarantee made saying yes easy, and delivered results turned clients into our best sales channel.

The moves

  1. Guaranteed 3x ROAS after month one, or the month was free.
  2. Rebuilt the pitch with executives on every major discovery call.
  3. Priced low on base and high on scale, so our incentives matched the client’s.
+40%
Close rate
Read the full case study
P03Gravity: from internal prototype to a $39M spinoffAn AI ad engine built for our own clients spun out as its own company. I helped shape its strategy and positioning.

The moves

  1. Proved the tool on client accounts first, averaging 4x+ ROAS.
  2. Helped position the spinoff, which secured $9M in private equity.

Related themes

$39M
Raised to date
Read the full case study
03 · Oct 2021 – Dec 2024

Splinterlands

Sr. Director, Growth Marketing

Taking a blockchain trading card game from 25,000 to 900,000+ daily players.

  • Reported to the CEO and led marketing and analytics, later sales too, growing the team from 4 to 23.
  • Grew daily active users from 25,000 to 900,000+, peaking at 3.5M on content drops, at a $13 CAC and $170 ARPU.
  • Sourced and negotiated game IP deals with Warner Music Group and the MLS Players Association; signed Paramount for the rights to Avatar: The Last Airbender.
  • Hosted a 1,500-person esports tournament and expo in Las Vegas, and was featured in an HBO and Vice documentary series on crypto.
  • Negotiated 7+ exchange listings, including Binance, Coinbase and Kraken.
900K+Incremental daily active users
$13Customer acquisition cost
423Marketing team
Playbooks
P01900,000+ incremental daily active usersOne north star, a channel mix built around where players already were, and growth loops inside the game.

The moves

  1. Set daily active users as the single north star.
  2. Led with creators and streaming, and worked through Meta’s crypto ad restrictions to run paid social.
  3. Built referrals, guilds, tournaments and creator programs into the game.

Related themes

900K+
Daily active users
$13
CAC
Read the full case study
P02Setting strategy with the communityWeekly town halls let players choose what we did next, through the 2022 downturn and beyond.

The moves

  1. Hosted weekly town halls with options for players to choose between.
  2. Ran a 1,500-person esports tournament and expo in Las Vegas.
  3. Launched a 200+ billboard takeover in Southeast Asia that brought in 40,000+ players.

Related themes

$15M
Sold out in 21 seconds
Read the full case study
P03Partnerships with Warner Music, the MLSPA and ParamountBorrowed audiences from music and sports, then cross-promoted across our games.

The moves

  1. Sourced and negotiated the Warner Music Group and MLS Players Association deals.
  2. Cross-pollinated promotions and rewards across every game in the ecosystem.

Related themes

$50M+
Added to the economy in a week
Read the full case study
04 · Mar 2021 – Oct 2021

Kobalt.io

Head of Growth

Building the go-to-market engine from zero as a founding team member.

  • Reported to the CEO and built marketing and the SDR team from the ground up.
  • Rebranded and repositioned the company, redesigned the website, and set up the CRM, email platform, analytics and tracking.
  • Launched ads, events, summits, partnerships and a value-first outbound program.
  • Grew the team from founding member to 8.
6xMonthly leads (20 → 120)
120New clients
7-figAdded to the funnel
Playbooks
P01A growth engine built from zeroBrand, positioning, website, stack, channels and team, built in that order. Monthly leads grew 6x.

The moves

  1. Repositioned the company and rebuilt the brand and website.
  2. Set up the CRM, email platform and analytics before turning on channels.
  3. Cast a wide net, cut losing campaigns fast and refined the ICP from new clients.

Related themes

6x
Monthly leads
120
New clients
Read the full case study
P02Outbound that led with valueA useful website assessment as the first touch primed every SDR call in a market that does not want to think about security.

The moves

  1. Opened with specific findings about each prospect’s own website.
  2. Coached the team from fear-based pitches to value and low effort.
  3. Used summits and training sessions to educate before sales closed.
7-fig
Added to the funnel
Read the full case study
05 · Dec 2019 – Nov 2022

Lumen5

Sr. Growth Marketing Manager & Advisor

Every acquisition channel, plus the lifecycle work that kept users.

  • Grew monthly recurring revenue from $80K to $455K, beating a +$300K goal.
  • Led all acquisition channels; 7-figure ARR growth in year one.
  • Cut CAC 60%+ while monthly spend rose by six figures.
  • Promoted from Growth Marketing Manager to Sr. Growth Marketing Manager, leading marketing and reporting to the CEO; grew the team from 3 to 11.
$80K$455KMonthly recurring revenue
−60%+Customer acquisition cost
86%Churn reduction for activated users
Playbooks
P015D7: the activation metric that cut churnWe worked backwards from retention to find the moment that made customers stay. Users who reached it churned 86% less.

Context

Five video downloads within the first seven days of buying a plan.

The moves

  1. Mapped activation into setup, aha and habit states.
  2. Compared retained and churned cohorts to find the early actions that predicted staying.
  3. Built onboarding and lifecycle programs around reaching 5D7.

Related themes

86%
Churn reduction among users who hit 5D7
Read the full case study
P02Lowering CAC 60% while spend went upProgrammatic search pages and schema took organic from 80K to 750K+ monthly sessions in 12 months, which changed the math on paid.

The moves

  1. Generated pages for every term over 1,000 monthly searches, plus localized long-tail pages.
  2. Used schema to win rich and thumbnail results.
  3. Layered paid across Google, Meta and native once organic carried the base.

Related themes

−60%+
CAC
750K+
Monthly search sessions
Read the full case study
06 · Mar 2016 – Dec 2019

BuildDirect

Digital Marketing Analyst

From analyst to running paid marketing and analytics for an online building-products marketplace.

  • Stepped up when 10 of 11 marketers left, taking over a $3.5M ad program within two weeks.
  • Grew annual paid spend to nearly $9M while lifting ROAS 230%.
  • Built 500+ affiliate partnerships; grew email subscriptions 452%.
  • Owned marketplace reporting that shaped strategy and monetization.
+230%ROAS
$9M+Annual budget
+452%Email subscriptions
Playbooks
P01ROAS up 230% on a budget that grew 2.5xTook over a $3.5M program in two weeks, grew it to nearly $9M, and found that selling rooms beat selling categories.

The moves

  1. Split spend 60% prospecting, 10% ring-fenced testing, 30% retargeting.
  2. Tested messaging continuously and rolled winners back into prospecting.
  3. Shifted ads from product categories to rooms, use cases and features.
+230%
ROAS
Read the full case study
P02Owned and partner channelsA personalized email program and a 500+ partner affiliate network reduced dependence on paid.

The moves

  1. Grew the list with interstitials, persona-specific promotions and refer-a-friend credit.
  2. Managed an external agency that onboarded 500+ affiliates, tracked on a partner management platform.

Related themes

+452%
Email subscriptions
Read the full case study
07 · Dec 2012 – May 2020

YouTube

Brand Manager

Building creator brands across gaming and music through my own business, from the content itself to merch and the convention floor.

  • Helped manage a roster of creators with more than 15 million combined subscribers across gaming and music.
  • Built and ran two channels of my own, growing them to 1.3 million combined subscribers.
  • Owned all of our marketing: paid ads, merchandise, speaking engagements, and conference and convention appearances.
15M+Subscribers across managed creators
1.3MSubscribers on my own channels
Playbooks
P01Growing creator brands to 15M+ subscribersTurning gaming and music channels into businesses with an audience, a product line and a presence on the convention floor.

Context

I started as a pro gamer turning my streams into YouTube videos, then built community channels and helped other creators grow.

The moves

  1. Grew two channels of my own to 1.3 million combined subscribers, and used them to test what worked before rolling it out to the roster.
  2. Ran marketing for the whole group: paid ads, merchandise, speaking engagements, and conference and convention appearances.
  3. Tested collaborations, formats, cadence, thumbnails and titles on my own channels first, then tailored the winners to each creator.
  4. Took creators beyond the platform with merch, speaking and conventions, led by PAX.

Related themes

15M+
Subscribers across managed creators
1.3M
Subscribers on my own channels
Read the full case study