Pi-Shaped Marketer

Hire marketers with two areas of expertise plus working knowledge across all marketing functions

Emily Kramer
How to build a powerful marketing machine

Pi-Shaped Marketer

"You want to hire pie shaped marketers, not pie like dessert, but pie like 3.14 where the pie symbol has two vertical lines. So like a T but it has an extra line." - Emily Kramer

What It Is

A framework for hiring early-stage marketing talent that goes beyond the common "T-shaped" model. While T-shaped people have one area of deep expertise plus broad working knowledge, Pi-shaped marketers have TWO areas of expertise—represented by the two vertical lines of the π symbol—plus broad working knowledge across the top.

This matters because early-stage marketing requires someone who can own multiple functions without support. A single-spike specialist can't handle the breadth required; a pure generalist lacks the depth to execute at quality.

How It Works

The Three Marketing Pillars

Emily identifies three core marketing archetypes:

  1. Product Marketing - Positioning, messaging, launches, understanding product and audience
  2. Content Marketing - Writing, storytelling, community, thought leadership
  3. Growth/Demand Gen Marketing - Channels, data, optimization, paid, SEO, email

Pi-Shaped Combinations

Your first marketer should be expert in one pillar, proficient in a second, and have working knowledge of the third:

Combination Expert In Proficient In Working Knowledge
Product-Growth Product Marketing Growth Marketing Content
Product-Content Product Marketing Content Marketing Growth
Growth-Content Growth Marketing Content Marketing Product

The Rare Combination

Content + Growth pi-shaped marketers are rare. Content is "one side of the brain" (creative, narrative) while Growth is "a whole other side" (data, optimization). These skillsets rarely combine naturally. The exception: someone who is exceptional at content distribution or SEO-focused content.

How to Apply It

  1. Assess your current gaps: Use the Fuel and Engine framework to identify what your team lacks most. This determines which pillar should be your "expert" spike.

  2. Evaluate candidates against three pillars: For each candidate, score their expertise level:

    • Expert: Can own this function independently and make strategic decisions
    • Proficient: Can execute well and hire/manage contractors in this area
    • Working knowledge: Understands how it works and can collaborate effectively

  3. Prioritize the right combination:

    • Sales-driven companies: Often need Product-Growth (product marketing expertise + demand gen proficiency)
    • Product-led companies: May need Product-Content (product marketing + content to fuel PLG)
    • Avoid pure specialists: Early stage requires too much breadth for single-spike hires

  4. Test for writing ability: All first marketers need to write well. Product marketers become the copywriter for a long time. Test both short-form (headlines, emails) and long-form (blog posts, positioning docs).

When to Use It

  • Hiring your first marketer: Define the pi-shape you need before starting the search
  • Evaluating marketing candidates: Score candidates against the three pillars
  • Planning marketing team growth: Identify which pillar gaps to fill with subsequent hires
  • Promoting or developing marketers: Help them identify which second spike to develop

Source

  • Guest: Emily Kramer
  • Episode: "How to build a powerful marketing machine"
  • Key Discussion: (00:18:16) - Introduction of pi-shaped marketer concept; (00:19:45) - Explanation of why content-growth combination is rare
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

Related Frameworks

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