What happens when product marketers are expected to drive impact — without an army, a massive budget, or even a dedicated tech stack?

Sofia Sulikowski has answers.

In this episode of Product Marketing Genius, I sat down with Sofia at Atlan to unpack how she creates outsize results in a resource-constrained environment. From working cross-functionally with internal data experts to co-developing AI-powered messaging tools, her approach is both pragmatic and bold.

This conversation is part of Wisdom From Wizards, brought to you by Caribou Strategic — where we help tech scaleups stand out and succeed.

From Customer Advocacy to Product Marketing

Unlike many in the PMM world, Sofia didn’t stumble into the field — she sought it out. Even as a college student, she was already networking with marketers to understand their day-to-day realities. That curiosity led her to a generalist marketing role at a startup and eventually into customer advocacy, where she regularly interviewed customers and understood what success looked like in the field.

“It’s one thing to say talk to customers. It’s another to build your PMM foundation from it.”

That customer-obsessed start gave her an edge when transitioning into full-fledged product marketing roles. She brought with her a clear sense of voice-of-customer, grounded messaging, and internal visibility — all skills CEOs wish their entire go-to-market org had.

“Product Marketing Is Just Basic Marketing”

One of Sofia’s standout perspectives? Strip away the noise.

“Product marketing is basic marketing. It’s about knowing who your product is for, what they care about, and how to resonate — regardless of channel.”

Many startups obsess over channel tactics while skipping the fundamentals. Sofia argues the reverse is more powerful. Get your narrative right first, and everything else compounds faster.

For scaleup CEOs, that’s a wake-up call: before investing in demand gen or ABM, ask if your PMM has nailed positioning and messaging first.

Leveraging Internal Teams as Force Multipliers

Sofia shared how she scaled customer reference operations — without expensive tools. Her secret? Internal partnerships.

Example 1: Partnering with the internal data team, Sofia created a self-serve table in Notion that synced with Salesforce via Hightouch.
Result: 20% of her time was reclaimed for higher-value work. No budget needed.

Example 2: Collaborating with Atlan’s AI lead, she co-built a persona-specific GPT trained on real customer transcripts and battlecards.
Result: Faster, more tailored messaging output. Sales enablement went from reactive to proactive.

Her lesson to founders: Your best resources might already be on the payroll. Unlocking cross-functional collaboration — especially with data and AI teams — can be a strategic advantage when scaling without spend.

What CEOs Should Know About Product Marketing

Sofia makes a compelling case for why every CEO should take product marketing seriously.

“We’re the ones figuring out who needs your product and why. That work makes everything else — sales, content, growth — far more effective.”

CEOs who view PMM as just another marketing function are missing the bigger picture. PMM is a strategic function that shapes company narrative, drives alignment, and builds momentum across go-to-market.

Career Advice for Aspiring PMMs? Focus on Influence.

For any junior PMM (or founder hiring one), Sofia emphasized the one skill that makes or breaks careers:

“Cross-functional communication. You need to sell your vision internally. That means getting reps, asking for commitment, and getting people aligned.”

In a role where direct authority is rare, the ability to inspire, influence, and align teams is what separates the good from the great.

Scaling Isn’t Just Headcount — It’s Leverage

Whether it’s AI, data tooling, or peer collaboration, Sofia’s mindset is consistent: optimize for leverage.

As tech CEOs, you might be tempted to solve every problem with more budget or hires. Sofia’s playbook is a reminder that smart scaling comes from resourcefulness, not just resources.

📈 If you’re a CEO who refuses to plateau, join a Caribou Strategic Mastermind.