))
Hiring in 27 Seconds: Luke Marshall on Growth, Gen Z & Video-First Recruitment with UseVerb
Manage episode 492007324 series 3657955
Content provided by DayOne.FM. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by DayOne.FM or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ppacc.player.fm/legal.
Episode Summary
Can a 27-second video replace a cover letter?
In this episode, Alan sits down with Luke Marshall, Head of Growth at UseVerb, a startup reinventing the way frontline teams hire with short-form video job applications. Luke shares his journey from big-budget media agencies to lean startup teams, the lessons learned from building and rebuilding UseVerb, and why Gen Z is redefining how we think about recruitment, content, and connection.
You’ll hear why UseVerb is doubling down on portrait video, how they’re targeting multi-location retailers and hospitality groups, and what their experiments in landing pages, email outreach, and TikTok-style branding have revealed so far.
If you’ve ever tried hiring at scale or building a startup in a noisy market, Luke’s insights on growth, product-market fit, and trust-based hiring will hit home.
Time Stamps
02:02 – Childhood dreams, Jurassic Park, and marine dinosaurs
03:12 – From media agency life to the startup world
04:34 – The origin story of UseVerb and what went wrong the first time
07:41 – Rebooting the startup: What’s different now
08:40 – The power of a 27-second video job application
10:57 – Why Gen Z gets video — and how that’s a hiring advantage
12:07 – Who UseVerb is built for (and how to reach them)
14:37 – Why TikTok changed everything for startup marketing
16:46 – UseVerb’s omnichannel growth strategy
18:18 – Creating content for portrait video vs landscape: Lessons from Gen Z
22:43 – Personalised landing pages: Too creepy or just right?
24:39 – How UseVerb uses AI to write emails that don’t sound like AI
29:25 – Why diversity in case studies matters for conversion
31:34 – The heartbreak of bounce rates and browser tab 76
33:26 – Final thoughts + a callout for user research participants
Resources Mentioned
🙋🏻♂️ Luke’s Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marshwah/
🗣️ UseVerb – https://www.useverb.com/
🧊 SmartLead – https://smartlead.ai/ – tool for cold outbound
🕸️ Make.com – https://www.make.com/ – no-code automation for landing page generation
📋 Microsoft Clarity – https://clarity.microsoft.com/ – session replay for landing page behaviour
Sponsors:
Pick My Brain is supported by our wonderful sponsors:
Vanta automates up to 90% compliance, getting you audit-ready quickly and saving you up to 85% of associated costs. Join 10,000 global companies like Cipherstash, Handle and Indebted that use Vanta to build trust and prove security in real-time.
Get 10% off - http://dayone.fm/vanta/brain
The Day One Network
Pick My Brain is part of Day One, the podcast network dedicated to founders, operators & investors.
To learn more, join our newsletter to be notified of new and upcoming shows. The only content we create is content that will help Australian founders.
Mentioned in this episode:
Vanta PMB May 2025_01
8 episodes
Share
