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.
Chapters
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
🙋🏻♂️ 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
This Episode Is Brought To You By
More Episodes You Might Like
Let's talk
Turn podcasting into pipeline
We help founders, funds and operators build trust, authority and deal flow with a show tailored to their market.
Win better deals and stay top‑of‑mind with founders.
Close more deals and build a category you own.
Reach founders and operators with a show they trust.
