CEO STUDY 2022

The path to
business growth
Learn the challenges, opportunities and possible
solutions facing CEOs as they take their businesses
to the next level

By Boom, in partnership with HubSpot

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The path to business growth
Contents

Foreword 3

Results of the CEO Study Research 4

The Challenge of Hiring 7

Solutions That Worked for Hiring 9

Expert Insights About Hiring 11

The Challenge of Selling 15

The Challenge of Marketing 17

Solutions That Worked for Sales & Marketing 19

Expert Insights About Sales & Marketing 21

Corporate Culture as a Product and Growth Lever 25

Thank you, CEOs! 26

Growing Better Together 27

About Us 28

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The path to business growth
Foreword
CEOs wear a lot of hats—particularly in small and mid-sized the trend from customer-centricity to human-centricity.
companies. In addition to driving strategy and overseeing More than ever, CEOs must consider the question: What
operations, many CEOs are having to fill in the gaps that attracts people—and what pushes them away? And what
exist within their organisations. role do vision and culture play in attracting and retaining
people?
In this study, it became clear that the past few years have
presented unique challenges for CEOs—specifically when it Luckily, CEOs are innovators and problem-solvers at
comes to talent acquisition. But it’s only by getting the right heart. And, as such, many have found working solutions
people into high-level positions that CEOs can stop filling to overcome these challenges.
those gaps—and instead, reshift their focus to the core
We’re grateful that so many CEOs openly shared their
tasks of running their businesses.
insights about the challenges they’re facing in driving
Because talent is such a hot topic for CEOs, with this study, business growth—insights we hope, together with the
we want to set the focus on people. The customer on the solutions we share in this study, you can use to move
one hand, the employees on the other. This study reveals your own business forward.

Dave Hertig Ben Harmanus

Founder & CEO International Brand Strategy Lead

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The path to business growth
Results of the CEO Study Research
When it comes to business growth, Hiring, Sales, and Marketing were, by far, the biggest challenges facing CEOs. In this
diagram, you can see the percentage for each category across all CEOs that participated in the CEO study.

Hiring the right people 24.0%

Sales 18.7%

Marketing 17.3%

Execution 12.7%

Finances 7.3%

Product/service design 6.0%

Strong team performance 4.7%

Operations 2.0%

Culture 2.0%

Vision & strategy 1.3%

Mental strength 1.3%

Technology 1.3%

Innovation 0.7%

Transformation processes 0.7%

0 10 20 30

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In the category of the smallest companies, CEOs reported that sales and marketing were their biggest challenges. CEOs
in companies of this size also had challenges around issues related to execution. For mid-sized companies with between 11
and 20 employees, CEOs claimed hiring as their biggest challenge. Finances also presented a challenge for companies of
this size–as did marketing (even more so than sales). For larger companies, hiring has proved to be the biggest challenge
facing CEOs; in fact, hiring was named as a challenge by CEOs as often as the following four categories combined. Sales
and marketing round out the top three challenges facing CEOs in companies with 21 or more employees.
39.2%

40
CEOs of businesses with up to 10 staff
CEOs of businesses with 11-20 staff
CEOs of businesses with 21+ staff
30
24.2%

22.5%
18.9%

19.4%

20
16.2%
15.7%
14.5%

13.5%

13.5%
11.8%

10.8%
10.8%

10

8.2%
5.9%

5.9%
5.9%
5.9%

3.9%
4.9%

3.9%
3.2%

3.2%

2.7%

2.7%
2.7%

1.6%

1.6%
1.6%

1.6%
1.6%

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The path to business growth
Top Findings of the CEO Study Methodology of the CEO
2022 Study 2022
For the CEO Study 2022, we asked CEOs, “What’s
• When it comes to driving business growth, the 3 biggest challenges your biggest challenge when it comes to driving
facing CEO’s today are Hiring, Sales and Marketing. business growth?” 160 CEOs responded, both
online and through personal conversation – and
• Hiring is the biggest challenge for mid-sized companies (18.9% of their answers were collected using the software
companies with 11 to 20 employees named hiring as their biggest Bucket. The demographics of the study are as
challenge). But it becomes an even bigger problem as companies followed: CEOs that run companies of 21 or
grow. Nearly 40% of companies with 21 or more employees more employees (33.5 percent), CEOs that run

reported hiring as their biggest challenge—more than the next four companies of between 11 and 20 employees
(23.6 percent), CEOs that run companies of
categories of challenges combined.
between 5 and 10 employees (24.2 percent),
• While Hiring, Sales, and Marketing are the most pertinent and CEOs that run companies with fewer than 5

challenges facing CEOs, they’re certainly not the only challenges; employees (18.6 percent). Using Bucket’s ranking
system, we filtered out both low-pain responses
Execution and Finances were also named as top concerns,
and anonymous results. As such, all the data
specifically for smaller businesses.
included in the CEO Study 2022 is from CEOs

• Marketing is the only challenge that made it into the top 3 CEO that shared their contact information, including
names and email addresses. Nearly 60 percent
challenges across all segments.
of CEOs also left their phone number, which by
• For some companies, sales and marketing are so intertwined that the design of the study, was their way of inviting

many of the CEOs we interviewed had challenges separating the us to follow up with additional questions, which
allowed us to gather further data to include in
two—which is why, for the purposes of this study, we’ve combined
the study. Geographically, the CEO Study 2022
them into a single section.
focuses mainly on CEOs who live in the European

• Interesting fact: Not one of the CEOs of a business with more than regions/countries D/A/CH (Germany, Austria,
Switzerland), France, and the United Kingdom.
100 employees named sales as their biggest challenge.

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The path to business growth
The Challenge of Hiring
Hiring is a major challenge facing CEOs in 2022. But how that challenge manifests varies from
company to company.

For example, when asked about hiring challenges, one CEO of a company with 30 employees
said, “The biggest challenge is to find the right people who have the skills we need.”

Another CEO, who runs a company in the Consumer Finance industry and manages a staff
of 10, echoed that sentiment – specifically when it comes to technical skills. “We often spend
way too much time looking for good engineers, while we ignore important things like personal
qualities, drive and motivation when hiring, and while overpaying for inexperienced talent.”

Another leader, a top manager of a business with hundreds of employees that, until recently,
acted as CEO of a startup, said their hiring challenges are more about finding someone who fits
into—and elevates—the current team: “The biggest challenge is to find the best person for a job
who matches the existing team and also complements it”.

This challenge is particularly pertinent to growing companies. One CEO, who is looking to
double her business from five to 10 employees, said their biggest concern is maintaining their
culture as they scale. How do you make sure that your new hires are a match for your company
culture—particularly when you grow quickly?

Another CEO (who runs a company of eight employees) said finding and hiring employees with
vision and drive was a major challenge. “The biggest challenge is to find people that have a
vision for the company and the ability to actively help shape it.”

While all of these issues fall under the umbrella of “hiring challenges,” they come in different
shades–whether that’s finding employees that have the right skillset to successfully do the job,
finding someone who can seamlessly fit into the existing team dynamic, or finding the perfect
hire to help shape and drive the company’s mission and values.

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The path to business growth
CEOs may be facing different challenges with hiring. But one thing the CEOs we spoke to did have in common is an
understanding that the labor market is changing. In today’s world of work, it takes more than a competitive offer to attract top
talent. Today’s employees aren’t just asking, “what can I get out of this job?” They’re also asking, “What will my impact be if I
work for this company—and how will this job support my personal and professional growth?”

In response, CEOs are having to put more thought into how to shape their companies, cultures, and job structures to be more
appealing to candidates. We found that even many of the CEOs that prioritize vision, purpose, and culture are still unclear on
how to better position their companies to the kind of candidates they want to attract during the hiring process.

Other hiring-related pain points for CEOs include:

• A lack of in-house resources, particularly for tasks that are less frequent
• Simultaneously investing in talent and driving revenue growth
• Finding, hiring, and retaining talent that can drive results—and supporting that talent’s growth—while also satisfying investors

HR BUSINESS PARTNER EMEA

Clemence de Saint Aubin

“Regardless of the company's size, employees expect top
leaders, including CEOs, to constantly give sense and explain
where we are today, where we shall be tomorrow, and how
we'll make the journey together. It’s crucial that a constant ‘all
together storytelling’ communication plan is implemented.”

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Solutions That Worked for Hiring

Noémie Duschletta, CEO Young Enterprise Switzerland

“We recruit new employees almost exclusively from our circle of former
programme participants. This means that we have already worked together on
entrepreneurial projects and know each other well. It is particularly important
for us that new team members are committed to our mission and values—and
that we feel their passion for making a difference.”

Jean Felix Clauteaux, CEO URIJI, France/UK/World, former CEO

L'Oréal Venezuela
“By applying conventional HR rituals, you’ll never end up working with the people
you thought you had hired. This way, though, hiring is impossible to do well.
Instead, the hiring process should go on for a longer period of time. It makes
sense to meet every 6 months over the course of 3 years, for instance. Ideally,
you already start collaborating in a different arrangement before both sides
commit for the long term. Engage the person as a freelancer or an advisor first,
for instance. The long term hiring process, that’s how we do it.”

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The path to business growth
 Charlie Mack, CEO Cranstoun, United Kingdom - 450 staff
"The most important thing for me is getting somebody who connects directly
with the values and the vision and the mission of the organisation. Recruiting on
that basis has been one of the many secrets to business growth for me over the
last years. Skills are important, yes, but people with the right values and who are
aligned to your vision and your mission can also grow with the organisation."

Pero Mićić, CEO FutureManagementGroup, Germany

"Not long ago, even Tesla was a start-up with 5 employees. They are not
innovative because they are big, but big because they are innovative. We are
20 people and in terms of spirit, I do a lot of the same things as Tesla does. We
can learn from companies like that. The crucial thing in hiring is to offer people a
positive image of the future. By doing work that is good for the environment…for
instance, for the advancement of mankind. Always have an exciting vision."

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The path to business growth
Expert Insights About Hiring
When asked about how she conducts business, Elke Rottmann defines her
strategy as sustainable headhunting. In her eyes, the old ways of hiring no
longer work in today’s employment market. An unparalleled networker with
a deep understanding of matching companies and employees, we asked
for her insights on the hiring challenges facing CEOs—and how they can
overcome those challenges to find and hire the right people.

“Never hire for skills, always hire for attitude.”

THERE IS NO PERFECT PROFILE, BUT A PERFECT MATCH

Elke, what do you want CEOs to know about hiring?

There is no perfect profile, no perfect candidate. Instead, look for the perfect
match between your company and that person.

Is hiring being done wrong?

Most people still hire for achievements of the past – certificates,

qualifications and experience. But it’s way more important to make sure that
this new person fits with the company, the team, the role and what they’re
capable of achieving in the future. It’s not about certificates but about
personality, talents and skills.

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Many modern CEOs would agree. Problem solved?

Unfortunately not, in most cases. Finding the right person requires that
a company knows their own culture in-depth. Based on my experience, it
seems to be hard for most businesses to figure that out. But you need to
know who you are before you can define what kind of person you look for in
a new employee.

In summary, how should hiring be done differently?

First, a company usually says something like “we need an HR manager”.

They pull out a job description that has been used in the market for a few
decades, dust it off a bit and think it will work in today’s environment. But
the world is changing and a lot of it has to do with what people want today.
Which leads to the second challenge: Who are we, what’s our culture? What
are the values that we actually live in our every day? Does all of this match
with the kind of people we want to hire? And can we offer an environment
for these kinds of people to perform and to grow?

Do you have a mantra for hiring?

Never hire for skill, always hire for attitude. You can always, always, always
teach skills.

Elke Rottmann
Expert, CEO, Boom Partner

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The path to business growth
Expert Insights About Hiring
Oliver Damm is the author of the Limbic Personality assessment, which
tells businesses how people react and respond when things get difficult and
which candidates match with the company’s culture and the requirements
of their specific role. Oliver has been studying human personalities for
decades; here, he shares his insights into how CEOs can improve their hiring
activities.

“People are not looking for a job. They are

looking for a family.”

THE SOIL AND THE SEED NEED TO MATCH

Oliver, why is hiring the right people difficult?

Almost everyone who hires overestimates the technicalities of a CV and a

straight path in life so far.

How should it be done instead?

CEOs need to understand that the soil and the seed need to match. You
can put an apple seed in European soil and an apple tree will grow. Do the
same in the sand of a city in the desert and the seed will die quickly. Same
with hiring.

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The path to business growth
So the company culture (the soil) and the employee's personality (the
seed) need to match.

There are several layers of culture and everyone in an outstanding

business is a match for the overall company culture plus any other
layer that is relevant to their position. For example, some sales teams
have a super tough culture. Most people could never thrive in such an
environment, but the right people do.

Do you feel that this is best practice today?

The opposite is true. I’ve never met someone for the first time and found
out that they’re already making use of this knowledge. Franchising
companies like McDonald’s are quite good at it for some of their roles, of
course. They know exactly what personalities thrive in those specific roles.
It’s time that businesses that desire to stand out start to do this with all of
their hires.

What else should CEOs know about hiring?

People are not looking for a job. They’re looking for a family. Humans
want to be part of something bigger. Every company should feel like a
great tribe.

Oliver Damm
Expert, CEO, Boom Partner

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The Challenge of Selling
Often, CEOs have to fill in the gaps that exist within their company, particularly when they’re
growing fast—and that includes sales.

But just because a CEO is equipped to run a company doesn’t mean they have the background,
skills, or experience to drive sales strategy and execution—and having to fill in that gap and lead
sales operations is one of the most common, persistent challenges facing CEOs in 2022.

Take the case of one CEO founder, who heads a B2B company headquartered in Switzerland. “I
was a developer all my work life, and I was very good at that. At the moment, though, I work as
the only salesperson in our business and my skills are at the level of a sales junior. I need to learn
everything from scratch.”

This CEO may consider themselves a “sales junior,” but despite their perceived lack of experience,
they were able to grow their company to 20 employees in just two years and to maintain
profitability through that growth—even though they were the only person managing sales
throughout that process.

But even though the CEO was successful at sales, they still didn’t feel like it was their true area of
expertise. “I’m becoming better at it but it doesn’t feel great today,” they said.

The CEO has considered finding a more seasoned sales professional to take over the sales portion
of the business—but because hiring is also a significant challenge, the process has proven difficult.

“We are thinking about hiring a Head Of Sales,”, they said, “but hiring the wrong person is a EUR
60,000 problem at least.”

And this CEO’s sales challenge (“Do I keep trying to run sales on my own, even though it’s not my
area of expertise—or do I risk hiring the wrong person and lose my company serious money?”) is
far from unique. Many CEOs are currently trying to run their company’s entire sales operation—
even without a background in or a talent for sales.

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The path to business growth
And while many would benefit from hiring talent with a strong background in sales, the potential loss of making the wrong hire often
acts as a deterrent. Between the long hiring process and the potential impact of an unideal hire (including damage to the company’s
reputation, risk to client relationships, and decreased morale with the remaining team), many CEOs ranked hiring the wrong
salesperson as an even more expensive mistake than the CEO referenced above (between 100,000 to 150,000 CHF/EUR).

Other sales-related pain points for CEOs include:

• Long sales cycles across a variety of industries, particularly for businesses that operate in the B2B space

• Qualifying leads at the beginning of a sales cycle—and ensuring that they’re putting their time and energy into the leads
that are most likely to convert into clients
• Difficulty setting up clearly structured, metrics-driven sales and marketing processes that drive results

EMEA SALES RECRUITING LEADER

Supriya Panje
“The challenges brought by the pandemic invoked a sense of purpose
amongst people wanting to do meaningful work. Companies now
have to reconsider their employer brand, culture, and employee value
proposition to help attract and retain talent. Hiring for potential is
key! Avoid looking for culture fit, instead look for talent who can add
to your culture and elevate it. Refrain from overselling the job, though,
as it might seem tempting for a short-term win, but will make it
challenging to retain talent in the long-term, which can impact your
baseline and employer brand.”

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The path to business growth
The Challenge of Marketing
When it came to their biggest marketing challenge in 2022,
many of the CEOs we spoke to said different versions of the
same thing.

“Generate new leads.”

“Gain contact with potential clients.”

“Increasing the number of qualified sales leads that the sales

team can work with.”

“Focus on the pipeline for new customers.”

Or, in other words, CEOs are struggling to generate and connect

with qualified leads.

So why are CEOs struggling to connect with their target customers?

Based on our data, there are a few reasons CEOs may find it
challenging to get the leads they need to drive sales and take their
businesses to the next level, including:

• Market oversaturation. One of the major challenges in generating

and connecting with new leads is the sheer number of competitors
also vying for those customers. Many companies are struggling to
break through the clutter, connect with their ideal customer, and
make a lasting impact. As one CEO described the challenge, “The
customer is flooded with thousands of options every day—and the big
corporations are so loud on social media that they shut up any other
voice in the sphere.”

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The path to business growth
• Lack of brand recognition. Another lead generation challenge facing CEOs—particularly CEOs of newer companies—
has to do with brand recognition. When a product or service is brand new, many CEOs struggle to get the word
out, get their company in front of the right customers, and generate high-quality leads. As one CEO put it, “How do
you generate leads for a product that people don't search for, as they don't know it exists?”

Other marketing-related pain points for CEOs in 2022 include:

• Inconsistency. Many CEOs find the process of keeping their lead generation steady and consistent to be a challenge..
“When I've previously allowed our business development pipeline to take a backseat, I learned some strong lessons
on not resting on one's laurels,” said one CEO. “Always make sure you nurture the pipelines.”

• Fostering and maintaining relationships over time. Businesses are seeing unprecedented employee turnover. That
means that, even if CEOs are establishing relationships through marketing, their contact may change—putting them
back at square one. “Changing roles of the people I work with at my clients’ companies are my biggest challenge,” one
CEO reported.

HEAD OF MARKETING, UK

Julie Lock
“Your marketing strategy needs to align with your business
objectives. Resources and budget must be focused on those areas,
depending on whether you are looking to attract new customers
or grow existing customer revenue. This will determine your go-to-
market strategy. Planning and focus are key.”

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The path to business growth
Solutions That Worked for Sales & Marketing

Helen Roberts, CEO at CPG Executive Consulting - 15 staff in the United Kingdom,
87 worldwide.
“Don't focus on always bringing in new customers. The first strategy in business growth is to
sell more to the existing customers. Those who like you already. You get the least resistance
from them. They already know they can trust you. That’s a big plus because, while you
might be trustworthy, a potential customer first needs to figure that out by getting on the
trust ladder and slowly climbing it."

Sandro Schmid, former CEO at AAAccell - 15 staff in Switzerland/Germany. Sold

the business to LPA Group (450 staff) and is now an LPA Partner.
“With the startup, we never spent one Franc on Marketing. Instead, we did social
media and found clients on 3 continents. In the financial industry, a lot of marketing
is still done the conventional way: buy ½ a page in a newspaper and advertise. Social
media is also being done, but usually half-heartedly. My advice, instead: Focus on 1 or
2 social channels, go all in and do it with passion."

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The path to business growth
 Astrid Von Liechtenstein, CEO at Th. Kohl Group, France/Italy/Liechtenstein/
Germany - 500 staff
“Be especially close to your salespeople. They hold your business in their hands and you
can experience wild things if you hire even just one bad apple. Therefore, be very careful
in picking the right team member. Do a psychological profile, take time to get valuable
referrals and see the person at least 3 or 4 times. It’s worth it because, in the end, they will
become a part of your family."

Martijn Atell, CEO at VoteBash, Switzerland - Preparing to grow from 100 to 500
staff, and fast.
“Doing sales means telling the story that builds the bridge to the person that needs your
solution because it enables them to get from their current state to their desired state.
The most important skill is to listen, to deeply understand the pain points. We call our
salespeople client success managers and their job is to always seek to provide value
regardless of the outcome of the sales deal or the sales call."

Karoline Gross, CEO at Smartzer, United Kingdom - The only salesperson in her
business.
“Systems are most important to our sales success. I can only reach out to dozens or
hundreds of people in person but there are thousands of potential clients in our market. We
built systems that combine automation software and work done by virtual assistants. At
first, I found automation embarrassing, but it makes sense. Sometimes the tool reaches out
15 times to a person and, suddenly, the right time has come for them and you’re in a real
conversation."

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The path to business growth
Expert Insights About Sales & Marketing
Kamales Lardi is the author of “Digital Transformation,” published in
2022 by Wiley (a leader in publishing, education, and research), and one
of Female One Zero’s “40 Over 40 – The World's Most Inspiring Women”.
Kamales helps leadership teams understand the levers of transformation.
Here, she shares her insights into the challenges facing CEOs in today’s
business environment.

“Success never starts with a tactic or a tool.”

A LOT OF THE REAL PROBLEMS ARE RELATED TO THE KIND OF

ORGANIZATION THAT YOU ARE

Kamales, what do you think about the results of the CEO Study?

CEOs say that their biggest challenges are hiring, sales and marketing. These
may be more symptoms of the underlying issues that need to be addressed.

What should CEOs focus on instead?

In my experience, people definitely make or break any strategic business

initiative and, therefore, great people are crucial. But why it is difficult to hire
the right people? What are the underlying issues preventing growth through
marketing and sales initiatives? I believe this relates to the company’s values and
culture. Purpose-driven organisations will clearly reflect their values in marketing
and sales and attract people with shared values and the required capabilities.

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The path to business growth
What kind of marketing works?

Marketing should include communication that reflects purpose, values

and the type of organisation you are to attract prospects and potential
employees. What does it exist for—and why? That’s the basis for
attracting the people you need in any area of doing business.

You’re an expert on digital business transformation. Why don’t you

speak first about today’s digital marketing tactics?

One might think that the problem with their current marketing is that
it’s not digital enough. Therefore, a digital transformation project will
solve it. But success never starts with a tactic or a tool. Technology is
an enabler and it can only enable success if the fundament is built well.
We first need to understand what the customers want and how our
organisation can deliver value for customers. That then boils down to a
strategic plan which links to the purpose of the company.

Kamales Lardi
Expert, CEO, Boom Partner

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The path to business growth
Expert Insights About Sales & Marketing
Oliver Damm (right, in a chat with Elke Rottmann) authored the Limbic
Personality assessment, which tells businesses how people react and respond
when things get difficult and which candidates match with the company’s
culture and the requirements of their specific role. Oliver has been studying
human personalities for decades; here, he shares his insights into marketing’s
impact on a business—and how CEOs can improve marketing within their
organisation.

“People don’t buy features. People buy feelings.”

GOOD MARKETING CAN REDUCE

THE SALES EFFORTS DRASTICALLY

Marketing is a big word and what I’m referring to here is the marketing that
serves as an appetizer for potential clients and customers. It’s a form of
communication that makes them want to buy or become part of your big idea. If
you have that kind of marketing, the right people find you. Good marketing can
reduce sales efforts drastically. In Sales, you then basically just open the doors
for those clients and customers that match your business.

If a CEO wants their business to create this kind of marketing, they might need to
drop any communication that is based on features of their products or services.

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The path to business growth
The most important thing for outstanding marketing is to understand
the basic needs of people, such as status, safety, connectedness,
or autonomy. These are pillars of the programs that run in the
background of all humans. Personalities are defined by the fact that
some of those needs are more pronounced in one type of person than
another one is. Great marketing starts by understanding that.

Your products and services and your marketing need to position

yourself as the extraordinary choice for a specific kind of customer. If
you can’t do that, you’re in trouble.

Doing business successfully is about the relationship with the people

who make you successful. Marketing is about the relationship with
the audience you want to enthuse about your products. Relationships
start by being clear about exactly what kind of audience your
business exists for. Don’t think that people buy features. People buy
feelings.

Oliver Damm
Expert, CEO, Boom Partner

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The path to business growth
Corporate Culture as a Product and Growth Lever
While the world of business (and life!) is becoming increasingly digitized, it’s also becoming
more human. And while that may sound like a contradiction, on closer observation, it actually
makes perfect sense.

Customers are more conscious than ever about the companies they choose to do business
with. It’s not just about the product or service; customers are paying more and more attention
to how and why a company conducts business—and they’re increasingly choosing to do
business with companies that align with their personal values and vision.

The same goes for employees. Like customers, employees are no longer interested in working Ben Harmanus
for any company; today’s talent wants to work in a place where they feel inspired by the
International Brand
organisation’s goals, values, and direction.
Strategy Lead
If CEOs want to thrive in today’s market, they need to create a corporate culture that inspires
and connects with both their customers and their employees. At HubSpot, we not only
consider our corporate culture a top priority, but we consider it an actual product—a product
that serves to help attract top talent in across disciplines and backgrounds to help us achieve
our goals.
Useful links:
And because we consider culture a product, we measure its success just like any other
product—with a clear set of metrics to evaluate and optimize culture within the organisation. HubSpot 2022
Our co-founder and CTO Dharmesh Shah is so convinced of culture as a lever for sustainable Diversity, Inclusion, &
growth that he crafted HubSpot’s Culture Code into a publicly available 128-page Belonging Report
manifesto—a manifesto which, to date, has been viewed over 5 million times.
HubSpot 2022
If you’re a CEO that’s looking to drive growth within your organisation, taking a different
Hybrid Work Report
approach to corporate culture—and redefining it as a product and growth lever—can be a
great jumping off point to building a culture that not only attracts top talent, but also drives
long-term, sustainable growth for your organisation.

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The path to business growth
Thank You, CEOs!
Typically, there are between 8 and 14 C-level
responsibilities within an organisation. And many
of the CEOs we connected with for this study are
juggling many—or all—of those responsibilities for
their businesses.

And with so much on their plates, they still found

the time to share their insights and challenges with
us—and for that, we wanted to say thank you.

By participating in this study, you’re supporting

a better understanding of the challenges facing
CEOs in driving business growth in 2022. Your
insights into the challenges you’re facing in your
businesses—and how you’re overcoming those
challenges—will help to guide other CEOs as they
attempt to grow their businesses in 2022 (and
beyond).

So again, thank you. The CEO Study 2022 is a direct

result of your support, efforts, and contributions.
We couldn’t have done it without you.

Dave Hertig Founder & CEO of Boom

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The path to business growth
Growing Better
Together
HubSpot for Startups

Whether you’re targeting customer #1 or customer #100,000,

increasing leads, accelerating sales, and streamlining your
customer service has never been easier thanks to HubSpot
for Startups. With a huge library of education and training
Take your next step with Boom
resources, access to the HubSpot Growth Platform, over 500
Boom is committed to empowering software integrations, and 24/7 support, HubSpot for Startup
the progressive CEO to drive simplifies the process of growing your start-up—and all at a
business growth. The CEO Study start-up friendly price.
2022 is the first-ever edition of this
publication. A milestone, and just
Learn more
the beginning of the conversation.
As a progressive CEO, leverage your
influence to move the world forward
and improve your game. Try HubSpot for free
Want to explore how the HubSpot CRM platform can help you
grow your business? Get started with HubSpot tools—including
Join the Journey
Marketing Hub™, Sales Hub™, Service Hub™, CMS Hub®, and
Operations Hub™—for free today:

Get Started

27
The path to business growth
About HubSpot The CEO Study 2022 team
HUBSPOT
HubSpot (NYSE: HUBS) is a leading customer relationship Project Management
management (CRM) platform that provides software and
support to help companies grow better. The platform • Ben Harmanus, International Brand Strategy Lead,
Project Lead and Strategy
includes marketing, sales, service, operations, and website
management products with both free and premium options • Michelle Navarro, International Brand Strategy
that scale to meet customers' needs at any stage of growth. Manager, Project Lead
Today, more than 135,000 customers across more than 120 • Tricia Reinken, HubSpot for StartUps,
countries use HubSpot's powerful and easy-to-use tools and Audience Segmentation
integrations to attract, engage, and delight customers.
Localization
Named Glassdoor's #2 Best Place to Work in 2022, HubSpot
• Laura Moyano, Localization Project Manager
has been recognized for its award-winning culture by Great
Place to Work, Comparably, Fortune, Entrepreneur, Inc., and
more. HubSpot was founded in 2006 and is headquartered BOOM
in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company's thousands of
• Christina Deravedisian, Brand Strategist
employees work across the globe in HubSpot offices and
remotely. • Nici Jost, Photographer
• Houston & Ko (Paula Kokare & Claire Houston),

About Boom Project Partner

• Kamales Lardi, Expert & Partner

Boom brings forward-motion to the world by empowering • Elke Rottmann, Expert & Partner
the progressive CEO to drive business growth. The CEO • Rebecca Diamond, Webmaster
has leverage—and if it’s used to bring the world forward,
• Sandro Rupp, Project Manager
everyone benefits. To support that mission, we connect the
progressive CEO with next-level solutions and can’t wait to • Oliver Damm, Expert & Partner
see more change happen. • Dave Hertig, Executive Producer

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The path to business growth
 THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN OUR
CEO STUDY 2022.
We would like to learn more about how helpful the data and
insights are for you. Your feedback helps us measure the
quality of our content and optimise it for you. The survey
takes only 2 minutes and your answers will be anonymous.
Thank you!
Julie Lock
Head of Marketing
Quick survey
UK, HubSpot

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The path to business growth