Case Studies

Exit Five

Exit Five, created by Dave Gerhardt, is the community for B2B marketing professionals who want to build a successful career.

What We Did:
Growth Strategy
Design
Development
Lead Generation

Lean Labs was brought in to design and build the first iteration of the Exit Five website.

From the initial 1-page MVP website to the full website, we worked with Dave to craft content, flush out design aesthetic, and give Exit Five it’s first digital home.

Client Story

Exit Five partnered with Lean Labs to fast-track a major rebrand. With our help, they were able to launch a new digital presence without slowing down an online community that was already thriving.

The challenge? Exit Five was mid-pivot. The community, originally called DGMG, was growing fast, but the brand, website, and infrastructure behind it weren’t keeping up.

Our mission: Launch a new brand and online experience that preserved the momentum of DGMG, while creating a clear path forward for Exit Five.

Here’s how it all came together.

Introduction

Exit Five is the go-to community for B2B marketing professionals who want to build better careers and sharpen their craft.

Created by former startup CMO Dave Gerhardt, it started as a personal project and quickly grew into something much bigger.

The only problem? The brand (DGMG) didn’t reflect the full scope of what it had become. The name wasn’t memorable, and the site was dated. Behind the scenes, Dave was ready to build a media company, not just a membership community.

He needed a rebrand, a new website, marketing automation, and content support. That’s when he called Lean Labs.

The Problem

DGMG had outgrown its name.

The community was strong. The podcast had an audience. New members were joining every day. Still, the brand felt like it was still built around one person’s newsletter, not a scalable platform designed to serve the broader B2B marketing world.

Founder, Dave Gerhart, wanted to transition the brand to “Exit Five.” This new brand would be the new front door for everything — the community, the podcast, the content, and eventually, events.

Most importantly, Dave didn’t want to drag his feet. He wanted to launch the new brand and site as soon as possible.

The Solution

Lean Labs jumped in as a fast-moving extension of the Exit Five team, helping Dave build and launch the rebrand without any wasted time.

Together, we:

Rebranded DGMG to Exit Five, creating a stronger, more memorable brand with room to grow
Launched a new landing page as the immediate home for Exit Five while the full site was being built
Implemented HubSpot across sites for smarter automation, email segmentation, and lead capture
Created supporting content and automation that helped streamline onboarding, engagement, and backend workflows

What made it work? Speed, collaboration, and shared understanding.

At Lean Labs, we’re not simple order-takers; we’re strategic partners. We understood Dave’s mission and took initiative to help him achieve it.

The Results

The results were incredible. ExitFive.com is now the clear home for the B2B marketing community Dave built. He had a site he could be proud of and a podcast, newsletter, and membership funnel all now condensed under one unified brand.

Some other highlights:

The rebrand happened without disrupting the existing member experience
HubSpot is now driving more efficient onboarding and audience segmentation
A full media and content strategy is now supported by the right tools and structure

"I've become a big fan of Lean Labs. They are super easy to work with. They totally get the world I'm in, as it relates to marketing, B2B and SaaS. I couldn't recommend them enough..."