---
title: "Marketing Teams as Hedge Funds"
description: "Learn how successful marketing teams operate like hedge funds, diversifying lead generation across content, paid, and events to compound growth from 100 to 15k+ views."
categories: ["marketing","SaaS"]
keywords: ["marketing teams","hedge funds","lead generation","content marketing","paid advertising","Tomasz Tunguz","SaaS marketing","event marketing","portfolio strategies"]
ai_summary: "Explore how marketing teams can optimize lead generation by diversifying strategies like hedge funds for consistent growth."
date: 2023-06-21
lastmod: 2026-07-30
canonical_url: https://www.tomtunguz.com/surfing-the-marketing-surges/
author: "Tomasz Tunguz"
---

I think of marketing teams as hedge funds. Marketing teams develop a portfolio of different strategies to acquire leads. 

Some days, content marketing works. A [post challenging](https://tomtunguz.com/challenger-sales-process/) like [this one](https://motherduck.com/blog/big-data-is-dead/) hits HackerNews or a journalist covers the company. 

Other days when content strategies struggle, a witty paid ad campaign entices some clicks & form fills. On some rainy Tuesday, the weekly webinar attracts an unusually promising audience.

Like an investment portfolio, any individual strategy may thrive one day & suffer the next. But as the effort broadens, leads compound at a steadier & steadier rate. 

When I first started to write this blog, I was thrilled with 100 page views. One day, a post hit the front page of Hacker News. 

Page views surged to more than 15k, then the readership settled into a higher baseline. I saw this effect a few times for tomtunguz.com & then I saw the phenomenon replicated within startups. 

It's easy to deride the latest buzzword or trend. Big Data, DevOps, microservices, AI, data contracts. But buzzwords imbue curiosity, stripping the verdigris from a jaded buyer base. 

*What are LLMs? How do they differ from classic machine learning? How can I use them?*

As these waves form, buyers seek insight & vendors have an opportunity to [build trust & develop a brand educating the market](https://tomtunguz.com/trust-core-marketing/). 

By developing a portfolio of strategies, marketing teams can leap from one surge to the next, all the while establishing greater lead generation volumes.