Funding Signals – Activity Through January 27, 2026
Highlights OpenEvidence raised $250M (Series D) led by Thrive Capital OpenEvidence is an AI-powered medical search tool used by doctors. The company says this round will fund heavy investment in R&D and the compute behind its multi-agent AI architecture. With more clinicians relying on AI at the point of care, this kind of buildout is about speed, accuracy, and trust in the answers. Agency lens: As OpenEvidence scales publisher partnerships and its ad-sup… Get Unlimited NextBigWin Access Subscribe to become a NextBigWin Pro member and get access to all our exclusive content. Turn access and intelligence into your next big client win. Already a member? Login Subscribe to NextBigWin Pro
Turning Executive Interviews Into New Business Signals
Most agencies want to be proactive with new business. In reality, that often means building a list of dream clients and starting outreach with very little context. You don’t know if a brand is in market, what they’re focused on, or whether anything is changing. Timing becomes a guessing game. When results stall, the default response is more volume: more emails, more calls, more follow-ups. The effort increases, but relevance doesn’t. That’s why traditional cold outreach feels inefficient and exhausting. There is a smarter way. It starts with using signals to guide your approach and then leading with value to build relationships over time. The Signal Brand-side marketers speak publicly more than most agencies realize. Interviews and profiles show up in places like Ad Age and Adweek. Podcasts like The CMO Podcast go deeper than most written articles. Leaders also surface real insight on webinars, panels, and in direct executive conversations, including NextBigWin’s CMO Journeys. These conversations aren’t just content. They are early signals of what leaders care about, what pressure they’re under, and what problems they’re trying to solve. Why It Matters These interviews happen without sales pressure. There’s no pitch and no vendor spin, so leaders often sound more honest and specific than they would in a sales meeting. When a marketing leader says they’re rethinking an approach, inheriting new expectations, or being asked to prove impact in new ways, that’s a signal that priorities are shifting. Those moments often show up months before an RFP or a formal agency search. This is early intelligence, not late-stage intent. The Mistake Most Teams Make Most agencies either ignore this content or misuse it. They either consume it passively and do nothing, or they pounce with a message that basically says, “I saw you say a thing, and we sell the thing.” That feels opportunistic, even if the timing is good. Signals should guide your outreach. They should not turn you into a faster cold emailer. The Smarter Move The goal isn’t to quote the interview. It’s to use it to understand what the marketer is navigating and then show up with value. AI makes this easier. You can pull transcripts from interviews and webinars, then scan for language that signals change, pressure, or uncertainty. AI doesn’t replace judgment, but it helps you find the few lines that matter without listening to 45 minutes end-to-end. Once you spot a useful signal, your next step is simple: ask, “What value can we offer that matches what they care about?” That value could be: original research you’ve already done (or can quickly pull together) a relevant case study with real outcomes a point of view or short checklist that helps them think an invite to an executive roundtable on the exact theme they raised a reason to connect at an event you both may attend What Good Outreach Looks Like Bad outreach (cringe) sounds like: “I saw your interview about attribution. We do attribution. Want to talk?” Good outreach sounds like: “I caught your point about attribution being harder with today’s channel mix. We recently pulled a short set of lessons from similar brands on what’s working and what isn’t. Happy to send it over either way. I appreciated how clearly you explained the challenge.” Notice the difference: one is a pitch. The other is help. How to Use This Track where your target accounts show up publicly. Save transcripts, not just links. Look for repeat themes across multiple leaders. If you keep hearing the same challenge, consider hosting a small Executive Roundtable and inviting a few of the people talking about it. Across ongoing executive conversations, including NextBigWin’s CMO Journeys, one pattern consistently emerges: the teams that win don’t “time the market” by increasing outreach volume. They build genuine relationships before the buying window opens, so when it does, they’re not a stranger. That’s how you trade volume for relevance and traditional cold outreach for smarter timing and better relationships.
