Interview with David Baum from Relato
Expert Interview | David Baum, Relato
1. Tell me more about yourself and your journey into creating Relato. And when can we expect to see Relato go live?
It was 2008, and HubSpot had just coined the term “Inbound Marketing”. I had thrown myself into my 30/60/90 as Head of Strategy at one of the largest agencies in the Nordics.
Content marketing was in high demand, and we ran content programs for international brands in 12 languages.
I learned a ton in that position but one thing stood out and has stayed with me for years: quality content is really hard to scale.
I’ve been founding and scaling tech companies for as long as I can remember. I’ve been a co-founder in fintech, martech, security, and software companies. When you keep at it for long enough, the chances of success start to accumulate, and after a handful of exits in 2020, I changed course and focused on investing and advising B2B SaaS.
For every GTM team I got to know, content was both incredibly important and, at the same time, very difficult to scale with quality.
The idea for Relato grew out of a problem that I have been critically aware of for more than a decade but that still hadn’t been solved.
Relato is the Content Ops platform for distributed B2B teams. We help content professionals manage all your content projects in one place.
2. What is the best way for small content teams to get organized and produce content that's high quality and competitive (especially when competing with brands that have more money and team members)?
Being small can actually be an advantage in 2025.
Many three-person teams create a bigger impact with their content than some billion-dollar companies.
Getting organized and delivering quality are two sides of the same coin. They both follow from being intentional human beings. Here’s my 10 steps to getting organized to create high-quality content:
Develop a strong, unique point of view about your industry and the problems you solve.
Source content from every business activity in your organization, from customer calls to product development and internal discussions. Build in public.
Select a few channels and get good at them. Own at least one—email’s an obvious choice.
Experiment with messaging and channels. Focus on what works; discard what doesn’t. Build-measure-learn.
Prioritize quality over quantity. It’s better to produce less content that truly hits the mark.
Get the fundamentals of content operations right, including roles, responsibilities, editorial workflows, and project and task management.
Create a system of record for your process and choose a platform for it all.
Establish a single source of truth for your content to manage the lifecycle and enable repurposing and distribution.
Scale efficiently with fractionals and freelancers.
Align your team with strategy, and treat your people well.
What we think
David Baum’s insights offer a practical roadmap for content teams navigating the challenges of scaling high-quality content. His background—spanning strategy, tech startups, and B2B SaaS investment—provides a solid foundation for understanding both the strategic and operational sides of content marketing.
Baum emphasizes that being a small team isn't a disadvantage. In fact, agility and intentionality can become superpowers. Small teams can often pivot faster, experiment more freely, and maintain a consistent voice, all of which contribute to content that resonates deeply with audiences.
His 10-step framework is particularly valuable, balancing strategic vision (like developing a unique point of view) with operational efficiency (like establishing a system of record). Notably, Baum highlights the importance of building content from within the organization’s daily activities, fostering authenticity and relevance. This ‘build in public’ approach not only generates content but also builds trust and transparency with audiences.
Another standout point is Baum’s focus on the human element—aligning teams with strategy and treating people well. This underscores a key principle: content isn’t just about processes and platforms; it’s about people. A motivated, aligned team will consistently produce better content.
Relato’s promise as a Content Ops platform directly addresses the operational pain points Baum outlines. By streamlining workflows and centralizing content management, platforms like Relato empower teams to maintain quality while scaling efforts.
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