I was recruited to be Head of Customer Marketing at Pivotal Software, where I launched an advocacy initiative to engage customers and partners, expand the software business, and accelerate growth.
Much like the success Red Hat experienced, the Tanzu Vanguard community quickly gained momentum as Product teams recognized the value of real-time feedback on roadmaps and releases. Product leaders were eager to present new features and gather insights, echoing the same positive engagement and impact.
Tanzu Vanguard Product Feedback Loop (ECAB)
In its first year, the Vanguard community grew from zero to 300 members, including 25% CxO-level leaders from Fortune 500 companies like Wells Fargo, Mastercard, and HSBC. I led community-wide meetings and executive customer advisory boards (ECAB) that connected VMware leaders with customers to share insights and shape product strategy. The ECAB became a career-defining achievement, recognized by VMware leadership for its direct impact on product direction and key decisions.
Community Anatomy
Introducing the Pivotal Vanguard
At Pivotal, I built a world-class customer and partner advocacy community, the Pivotal Vanguard, which was rebranded the VMware Tanzu Vanguard after the acquisition. Its official debut was on stage at the Pivotal SpringOne Platform Conference 2019, generating global awareness and recognition across the industry and setting the stage for a scalable, high-impact advocacy model that continues to influence community-led growth and product strategy to this day.
VMware Customer-Centric GTM Content Examples
1. VMware Tanzu super users mull Cloud Foundry-Kubernetes meld (TechTarget)
A news article focused on Cloud Foundry-Kubernetes, featuring customer advocates.
2. What is Tanzu? A Customer’s POV
A customer technology brief on the Tanzu portfolio and its relation with Kubernetes.
3. VMware Tanzu GA gives Cloud Foundry pros a Kubernetes leg up (TechTarget)
The VMware Tanzu GA launch features customer advocates in a news article.
4. Tanzu TV Technical Podcast Webinar: Tinkering While Talking Tanzu Series: Thoughts on Uptime
Customer advocates panel session discussing tech topics while building Legos.
5. SpringOne Conference Video Panel Session: Customer Deep Dive Expedition: Pearls of Wisdom
Customer advocates discuss platform journeys at a technical conference breakout session.
6. Social Media Blog Post: Log4j CVE-2021-44228 - Mitigation Strategies for TAS Operators
A customer advocacy panel was formed to solve critical security vulnerability issues.
7. Social Media Video: VMware Multi-Cloud Briefing (January 2022)
Quarterly online cloud briefing featuring customer advocates (garnered 3.4M views).
8. SpringOne Conference: Building Gender Diversity to Deliver Award-Winning Products
A spotlight on gender diversity in IT with a VMware Tanzu customer advocates panel.
9. Social Media Video Webinar: Engage and Empower Series: Celebrating Black Voices in Tech
Video webinar series that focuses on diversity and inclusion in the tech industry.
The posts gained viral traction. The press took notice, and several contributors were soon recognized as cybersecurity heroes. To this day, I consider it one of the most impactful industry moments I've ever experienced—and it all began with a single question posed in Vanguard Slack.
Community Impact on the IT Industry
BACK TO PORTFOLIO
In November 2021, a critical vulnerability—Log4Shell—was discovered in Apache Log4j, a widely used Java logging framework. Officially tracked as CVE-2021-44228 (with a related issue under CVE-2021-45046), the flaw allowed Remote Code Execution (RCE), posing a significant security risk.
The Tanzu Vanguard community responded with a flurry of messages in Slack, which led to an emergency meeting. Executive customer leaders—including Juergen Sussner, Jonathan Regehr, Lance Brown, Simmy Xavier, Charles Lester, and Robert Kloosterhuis—formed a rapid-response task force. They tested and validated mitigation strategies. Once confident in their solutions, they drafted comprehensive guidance and disseminated it across the broader IT community.
The posts gained viral traction. The press took notice, and several community contributors were recognized as cybersecurity heroes. To this day, I consider it one of the most impactful industry moments I've ever experienced—and it all began with a single question posed to the Vanguard Community Slack.
The Tanzu Vanguard community responded with a flurry of messages in Slack, which led to an emergency meeting. Executive customer leaders—including Juergen Sussner, Jonathan Regehr, Lance Brown, Simmy Xavier, Charles Lester, and Robert Kloosterhuis—formed a rapid-response task force. They tested and validated mitigation strategies. Once confident in their solutions, they drafted comprehensive guidance and disseminated it across the broader IT community.
The posts gained viral traction. The press took notice, and several community contributors were recognized as cybersecurity heroes. To this day, I consider it one of the most impactful industry moments I've ever experienced—and it all began with a single question posed to the Vanguard Community Slack.
Log4j Security Vulnerabilities CVE-2021-44228 – Mitigation Strategies for TAS Operators (LinkedIn Post)
Log4j Security Vulnerabilities CVE-2021-44228 – Mitigation Strategies for TAS Operators (Blog Post)