How Domitille de Saint-Exupéry (CMO at Lemlist) Turned $1.2M into $31M in New ARR

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Feb 23, 2026

Domitille de Saint-Exupéry, CMO at Lemlist and Clap, is a growth leader who scaled marketing to drive massive ARR gains. She breaks down paid ads ramping, a micro-influencer playbook, why partnerships earned huge ROI, and which AI use cases actually work. Short, tactical stories about creative, channel tests that failed, and how to compound influencer and paid efforts.

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ADVICE

Outsource Ad Execution But Keep Strategy In-House

Outsource technical paid-ad execution if you lack internal expertise but keep positioning, messaging, and GTM alignment in-house.
Have an internal manager link ad campaigns to product launches and strategic momentum.

INSIGHT

Start Paid With Search Then Expand To LinkedIn

Search (Google/Bing) is easier to master for B2B mid-market because you can target intent and bid on competitors.
Move to LinkedIn feed ads and sponsored content only after search proves unit economics in one geo.

ADVICE

Make LinkedIn Ads Visually Interruptive

Design LinkedIn ads to interrupt the feed with bold, fun creative rather than safe brand-first visuals.
Keep an internal library of benchmark ads and test AI-generated visuals alongside brand designers.

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#332 | Dave is joined by Domi de Saint-Exupéry, CMO at Lemlist, a bootstrapped $40M ARR sales engagement platform, to break down exactly how she turned $1.2M in marketing spend into $31M in new ARR in 2025. Domi shares the full breakdown of every channel, agency, influencer strategy, and partnership play that drove results. This includes how they went from $0 to $500K in paid ads, why partnerships are the most underrated B2B growth channel, how they built a micro-influencer program, and what AI use cases are actually working (and which are overrated). If you want real numbers and real playbooks, this one's for you.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Introduction: $1.2M in spend, $31M in new ARR
(03:33) - What Lemlist does and how the company got to $40M ARR
(06:48) - Going from $0 to $500K in paid ads: what triggered the shift
(11:03) - How to execute paid ads well: outsourcing vs. in-house, and scaling by channel
(17:18) - LinkedIn ads creative: why "on-brand and safe" was the wrong approach
(21:48) - Mistakes made in paid: Snapchat, Spotify, and channels that didn't work
(25:18) - The micro-influencer playbook: how to find, brief, and measure creators
(36:44) - How influencer content compounds with paid ads and outbound (the Julio story)
(42:14) - Partnerships: why $450K went here and why it's the most underrated B2B channel
(50:44) - AI in marketing: what's overrated (content generation) and what's actually working

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