Hi, I’m Samuel Cahoon.

My own path wasn't a straight line either. I did nine internships in undergrad, then started my career at HubSpot in product marketing. I moved through sales and customer success there too, and I ran HubSpot's global customer case studies program. That's where I learned that the best marketing is usually a customer's real story, told well.

Then I went deeper into PMM at Pontera, a fintech that helps financial advisors do right by the people trusting them with their retirement. The whole time I was doing the same three things on repeat: learning, listening, and building.

In August 2026 I started my MBA at Berkeley Haas. I'll be going through the recruiting funnel myself and writing about it in public, including the parts that don't go well.

Outside of work I'm a poet, a photographer, and a writer. I'm queer, I'm sober, I live in New York, and I write a lot of this on the F train.

The Way In exists because there's plenty of advice out there and almost no access. You don't need more definitions. You need work you can show, people who will actually talk to you, and roles that would genuinely consider you.

If you're trying to get in right now, come say hi.