We recently connected with Melissa Rosenthal and have shared our conversation below.

Melissa, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

My journey to building Outlever was truly the culmination of my entire career. From being one of the earliest employees at BuzzFeed to helping launch Cheddar, my goal has always been to create compelling content that brands want to align with and that gives them a distinct voice.

Transitioning from media to B2B SaaS, I saw firsthand how challenging it is for companies to reach their core customers at scale, efficiently. Outlever was born out of a desire to solve this problem. Our mission is to help companies become authorities in their space by creating content that matters—both to them and their customers—at scale.

Given my experience, I felt uniquely positioned to tackle this challenge. There was no other path for me; this was the natural next step in my career.

Melissa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a media and tech executive known for building and scaling some of the most recognizable brands in the industry. My journey has taken me from working at media companies to leading growth in hyper-growth B2B SaaS environments, and then into consumer-facing roles. The common thread throughout my career has been a passion for building brands that stand out, create impact, and drive results. I’ve learned that to truly succeed, you need to be everywhere, all the time, engaging the right people in the right conversations. This level of omnipresence is what drives buying decisions and builds lasting relationships.

Starting my career in media, I witnessed firsthand the transformative power of storytelling and brand-building. At companies like BuzzFeed and Cheddar, I helped shape brands that didn’t just capture attention but created cultural moments. Moving into tech, I took these principles of storytelling and applied them to B2B SaaS companies like ClickUp, where the challenge was different but the goal was the same—dominate the conversation in our space.

At ClickUp, we invested heavily in a variety of marketing channels—SEO, paid ads, thought leadership, billboards, and even a Super Bowl ad. But it wasn’t just about spreading our message through traditional means. It was about being at the forefront of every relevant conversation, 24/7. That kind of brand presence is incredibly powerful but also challenging to achieve, especially at scale. It was this realization that led me to redefine how brands approach sales and marketing.

Our business today at Outlever is centered around what we call “account-based media.” We’ve taken the best elements of content marketing, SEO, thought leadership, and demand generation and created a new strategy that no one else offers. Think of it as turning your brand into the #1 news source in your industry. We create what I like to call a “dream trade publication” that lives across your sites, social channels, and downstream partners, generating hundreds of stories each week.

We focus on crafting market intelligence, industry trade news, perspectives from your channel partners, and amplifying your brand’s news, hires, and launches. The goal is to engage partners and prospects at scale, keeping the conversation going 24/7 and always circling back to your brand. This isn’t just about content creation; it’s about creating a continuous narrative that positions our clients as thought leaders and trusted authorities in their industries.

What sets us apart is our approach to redefining sales and marketing strategies. Traditional marketing can only take you so far; to truly lead, you need to own the conversation in your industry. Our account-based media strategy is designed to complement existing content and SEO strategies while adding a net-new marketing and sales channel that drives measurable ROI. We’re not just helping our clients speak to their audience; we’re enabling them to create the most impactful conversations.

Getting here wasn’t easy. Breaking away from the traditional marketing playbook to build something entirely new came with its challenges. It required a relentless focus on innovation and a deep belief in the power of conversation. But the challenges taught us a crucial lesson: if you want to stand out and lead in today’s digital landscape, you need to create and control the conversation. And that’s what we help our clients do.

We’re helping businesses redefine how they engage with their customers, partners, and prospects. Our clients are now at the forefront of their industries, driving the conversations that matter and turning that engagement into real business results.

We’re constantly innovating and refining our approach to ensure that our clients are not just participating in their industry conversations but leading them. Our focus remains on pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in marketing and sales, helping brands tell their stories in the most powerful ways possible.

Ultimately, my goal is to help more companies understand that to truly succeed, they must be more than just present—they must be the ones driving the narrative. That’s the core of what we do and what I’m passionate about sharing with the world.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

Our story is quite unique because my cofounder is also my husband. This dynamic has been one of the most valuable assets to our business journey. A lot of what we’ve built for Outlever is essentially the productization of my career, but through his eyes. It’s like having a mirror that reflects not just my achievements but also the gaps and opportunities in the market that I may not have noticed on my own.

From the start, we approached things differently. My husband, with his unique outside perspective, was always more of an observer of my career, watching how I navigated the worlds of media, SaaS, and consumer products. He saw the challenges and gaps in how companies approached sales and marketing. What many might see as the typical “work-life balance” became a seamless integration for us; our dinner table conversations often revolved around how to transform my experiences and insights into a unique value proposition.

I consider this dynamic our “secret weapon.” Many people may have supportive partners, but to have someone who deeply understands your professional landscape, challenges you, and helps shape a vision for something bigger is rare. That outside perspective allowed us to identify gaps in traditional marketing strategies and see how they could be reshaped into something completely new—what we now call “account-based media.”

Our relationship has allowed us to combine two different perspectives: mine from within the industry and his as an external observer. This has been crucial in building a product that we felt was truly missing from the market. It wasn’t just about identifying a gap; it was about having the courage to believe that we could fill it better than anyone else, together.

We’ve turned this partnership into more than just a business—it’s a shared mission. Outlever is the culmination of years of insights, conversations, and the combined strength of two perspectives that are fully aligned but uniquely informed. It’s been a powerful journey, and it’s one that continues to evolve as we grow both as partners in life and in business.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients for me has undeniably been LinkedIn. It’s not just a platform for networking; it has been the single biggest driver of growth for me personally and professionally. Over the years, I’ve leveraged LinkedIn not just to share updates but to build a founder-led brand that speaks directly to our target audience.

Being founder-led means being authentic, transparent, and present. It’s about showing up consistently and engaging in meaningful conversations that resonate with your community. On LinkedIn, I’ve been able to do this at scale—sharing insights, thought leadership, and the behind-the-scenes journey of building a business from the ground up. This approach has allowed me to connect with a diverse range of people, from prospective clients to industry peers and potential partners.

For me, what sets LinkedIn apart as a growth channel is its ability to foster genuine relationships. It’s about engaging with the right people, being a part of the conversations that matter, and positioning myself and my company as trusted voices in our space.

This founder-led approach has allowed us to build credibility and trust in a way that traditional marketing channels simply can’t replicate. By focusing on value-driven content and engaging directly with our audience, LinkedIn has become a powerful tool not only for client acquisition but also for long-term relationship building and brand advocacy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.outlever.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outleverco/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissarosenthal5/