Connor J. Laughlin
VP of Marketing & GTM (acting CMO). Chicago, IL.
Marketing executive. GTM systems engineer.
I build the revenue systems that make GTM strategy real. First digital marketing hire to VP across 11 years and 4 promotions at a PE-backed enterprise, running marketing and GTM across 5 regulated verticals, 8 brands, 3 properties.
What I run
- Revenue operations and GTM systems. Funnel definitions, lifecycle stages, routing, attribution, SLA logic, and the pipeline inspection layer leaders run the business from.
- Marketing leadership. Positioning, demand, proof governance, org design, and the quarterly reporting a PE sponsor reads.
- GTM engineering. Self-taught coding, then governed AI workflows with human approval gates and audit trails.
By the numbers
- Years building GTM systems
- 11. First digital marketing hire in 2015 through VP of Marketing and GTM, 2026.
- Regulated verticals
- 5. Regulated business lines run as one GTM operating system, with an international footprint.
- promotions
- 4 promotions. First digital marketing hire to VP of Marketing and GTM, counting the initial title.
Selected proof
- Built the GTM infrastructure behind a nine-figure influenced pipeline.
- Designed the full-funnel KPI framework, from awareness through revenue and unit economics.
- Built tiered signal-to-touch SLAs, including a two-hour high-priority response rule.
- Built a governed LLM wiki that people and AI agents read together: 157 articles with provenance, an owner, and an approval tier on every page.
- Built a multi-business-unit messaging architecture with proof governance and outcome-first positioning.
- Led marketing integration across multiple acquisitions, acquired brands, web properties, and Canadian regulatory jurisdictions.
- Material organic growth from SEO and content infrastructure.
- Near-$0 to board-backed marketing function built from scratch. 2 offshore contributors at the start, 4 direct reports inside a 16-person international model across the U.S., Canada, Guatemala, India, and the Philippines at the end.
Experience
- Feb 2022 to present
VP of Marketing & GTM (acting CMO)
Full marketing and GTM ownership across 5 regulated verticals at a PE-backed enterprise.
- Aug 2017 to Jan 2022
Director of Marketing
Built the first structured inbound demand program and led marketing integration for the first wave of acquisitions. Oversaw the creation and 2018 launch of Rocket Receivables, TSI's first direct-to-buyer e-commerce product and the first of its kind in the ARM industry.
- Jun 2017 to Aug 2017
Senior Marketing Manager
Marketing - May 2015 to Jun 2017
Digital Marketing Manager
The company's first dedicated digital marketing hire. No analytics, SEO, paid, email, or attribution existed before this.
- 2013 to 2015
Writer and content creator, consumer deals platform
Editorial - 2012 to 2013
Executive search associate, retained search firm
Executive search - 2009 to 2012
Business development and marketing intern, arts patrons nonprofit
Business development
Education
- Santa Clara University, Leavey School of Business. B.S. Finance.
- Northwestern University, journalism coursework.
Contact
Open to VP of Marketing & GTM, Head of GTM, VP Revenue Operations, and GTM engineering roles at AI-native B2B SaaS and PE-backed growth companies that build the tools of change. Chicago, hybrid or remote.