Episode #60
Kathy Hopper: CMO, Jones Capital
In our first-ever remote episode, we sit down with Kathy Hopper, CMO of Jones Capital, a family-owned investment firm whose roots go back to a small lumber mill in Sandy Hook, Mississippi, in 1949. (And no, she and Paul aren't related.) Kathy grew up in Cut and Shoot, Texas. She went from community college and an accounting job she admits she was never cut out for to selling medical devices across East Texas and Louisiana. There she learned what salespeople actually need from marketing, and that shaped her whole career. She tells us what it was like to be on the inside as that company grew from $4 million to a $100 million sale, including the late nights of due diligence and what buyers want to see from a marketing department. She then walks through her years with the Jones family of companies: rebranding founder-led acquisitions, YAK's sale to private equity, getting through COVID and market downturns, and the eventual exit to United Rentals. We also talk about how a family office differs from private equity, why patient capital appeals to founders who care about their legacy, and what's in the Jones Capital portfolio today. In this episode: Why Kathy calls herself a "sales marketer first" What due diligence looks like from the marketing side Why most deals don't close when they're supposed to, or at all Family office vs. private equity, and why the difference matters to founders Why every company needs something different (sometimes it's a CRM, not SEO) Why revenue-generating marketers get the most resources
