Joshua Oakes spent years consulting with organizations on product marketing and customer acquisition challenges—repairing broken processes, connecting disjointed systems, removing roadblocks, building measurement strategies. But every engagement revealed the same underlying problem: Companies simply did not understand who their customers were, what they wanted, or how they felt. This pattern led to a profound conclusion that became the Who First Framework: Without documented, validated, actionable customer understanding, it doesn't matter what else you get right—systems, processes, hiring, unit economics, pricing. Companies that don't know their customers are living on borrowed time or borrowed money.

Professional Background

The Pattern That Changed Everything

Joshua's career included head of client services at a Nashville consultancy, founding Measurable Advantage consultancy (2014-2017), and digital marketing analytics across multiple industries: SaaS, higher ed, healthcare, music licensing, non-profit, entertainment, telecom. He worked with companies at every stage—100-year-old organizations, enterprise firms, 2-person startups, pre-seed ventures.

Regardless of company size, industry, or maturity, the same problem appeared: The company did not understand who their customers were. At best, every executive and employee had their own uncommunicated assumptions. At worst, they thought demographics explained everything.

Traditional personas weren't helping. They were made-up, unvalidated assumptions that sat unused in folders. Teams couldn't apply them. They didn't reflect actual customer behavior or needs. And critically—they weren't validated against reality.

This realization became Joshua's life's work: creating frameworks for documented, validated, actionable, measurable customer understanding that organizations can actually use.

Who First Framework: Beyond Demographic Assumptions

The Who First Framework provides an alternative to traditional personas and ICPs (Ideal Customer Profiles):

Audience Profiles™ - Not personas based on demographics and assumptions, but validated profiles based on documented customer understanding:

Documented - Written down, not in people's heads
Validated - Tested against actual customer behavior
Actionable - Teams can actually apply them to decisions
Measurable - Connected to business outcomes

This isn't customer research for the sake of research. It's strategic understanding that drives every business function from product development through customer success.

The Who First principle: If you don't have a strategic, disciplined understanding of your customers that you can apply from signal recognition through partnership advocacy, then no level of process, tools, or talent will bring sustainable growth.

FranDev Lab: HubSpot for Franchise Growth

In November 2024, Joshua launched FranDev Lab—specialized HubSpot consulting for franchisors using the platform for franchise sales and development. The positioning is clear: "Turn HubSpot from a source of stress to a source of truth for Franchisors."

Franchising presents unique challenges:

Non-transactional, high-friction acquisition process
Multiple stakeholders (franchisee candidates, franchisors, existing franchisees)
Long sales cycles with complex evaluation
Need for both sales tracking and relationship management

FranDev Lab provides:

Franchisor-specific HubSpot configuration and setup
Custom object strategies for assessments and diagnostics
Deal tracking optimized for franchise development stages
Reporting that shows what's actually working
Training and enablement for franchise development teams

The FranDev Lab Report newsletter delivers twice-monthly guidance for franchisors, with paid tier offering deep-dive playbooks, templates, frameworks, and executive-level strategic content.

Value-First Contributions: Path to Value Co-Development

Joshua's collaboration with Chris Carolan produced one of the Value-First Team's core frameworks: The Value Path—an 8-stage customer journey model that recognizes natural human decision patterns rather than artificial funnel stages.

The Value Path Stages:

Audience - Aware a category exists
Researcher - Actively exploring options and approaches
Hand Raiser - Signaling specific interest and readiness
HERO - Navigating organizational complexity and buy-in
Value Creator - Building new value together
Adopter - Using and validating value
Advocate - Amplifying and defending value
Champion - Amplifying and creating value together

The breakthrough insight: People don't move through linear funnels based on marketing's arbitrary stages. They follow natural patterns of discovery, evaluation, implementation, and advocacy based on their own readiness, not your process.

Shows Hosted:

The Value Path (Co-host with Chris Carolan) - Multi-part series exploring all 8 stages of customer journey
Let's Build Your Audience in HubSpot (Co-host with Chris Carolan) - Customer-centric HubSpot strategy

Guest Appearances:

HubSpot Setup Secrets (with Casey Hawkins)
SprocketPod
HubSpot Community sessions on custom objects, deal tags, assessments

Areas of Expertise

Customer Understanding Frameworks Creating documented, validated, actionable customer knowledge that drives business decisions—not assumptions or demographic guesses

Franchise HubSpot Specialization Unique expertise in configuring HubSpot for franchisor sales, development, and franchisee relationship management

Who First Framework & Audience Profiles Alternative to personas/ICPs that are actually usable, validated against customer behavior, and connected to business outcomes

Path to Value Methodology Customer journey framework recognizing natural human decision patterns and readiness stages over artificial funnel progression

HubSpot Architecture for Complex Sales Sales Hub and Marketing Hub configuration for non-transactional, high-friction, multi-stakeholder acquisition processes

Custom Object Strategy Using HubSpot custom objects for assessments, diagnostics, configuration tools, and unique business data models

Traps, Gates, and Signposts Understanding barriers customers face (traps), qualification points (gates), and progression indicators (signposts) in their journey

Product Marketing & Positioning "Oh Sh!t products"—when customers are so excited they say "Oh shit!"—understanding what creates that reaction

Bullseye Content Strategy Content actually tailored to specific customer understanding rather than generic audience assumptions

Measurement Strategy Making performance visible with actionable data—reporting that drives decisions rather than dashboards nobody uses

Fractional Product Leadership Translating vision into executable product strategy for early-stage organizations not prepared for full-time product roles

Know Who Reporting™ Measurement approach for customer understanding—tracking whether your knowledge of customers is improving

Recognition-First Positioning: What Joshua Sees That Others Miss

Customer Understanding as Foundation

Organizations obsess over systems, processes, tools, hiring, pricing, and unit economics. Joshua recognizes the futile pattern: None of that matters if you don't understand your customer. Everything else fails without this foundation. It's not that customer understanding is important—it's that it's prerequisite to everything else working.

Personas Are Fiction, Audience Profiles Are Reality

Most organizations use personas created in workshops based on assumptions. Joshua recognizes the uncomfortable truth: Traditional personas are made-up, unvalidated assumptions that teams can't actually apply to decisions. Audience Profiles are documented, validated against actual customer behavior, and actionable—fundamentally different tools despite appearing similar.

Path vs Funnel: Natural Patterns vs Manufactured Stages

Marketing loves funnels with stages (awareness, consideration, decision). Joshua recognizes the flaw: People don't move through linear funnels based on your stages—they follow natural patterns of discovery, evaluation, implementation, and advocacy based on their own readiness. This isn't semantic difference; it changes everything about how you serve customers.

Traps vs Objections

Sales teams handle "objections"—things prospects say that prevent closing. Joshua reframes completely: Customers face "traps"—barriers in their decision journey that have nothing to do with your sales process. This reframing shifts focus from overcoming resistance to removing genuine obstacles customers experience.

Most Data Is Useless Noise

Organizations drown in data and struggle with "what to measure." Joshua recognizes the real problem: Most organizations have more data than they can use; the challenge is getting actionable data in the hands of the right people at the right time. Useful measurement is a curation problem, not a collection problem.

Implementation Reality: The Gap Between Framework and Execution

Consultants love frameworks. Joshua recognizes what clients actually face: Understanding a framework and implementing it are separated by a massive execution gap. That's why he provides 30-day roadmaps, progressive approaches, and practical templates—not just conceptual models.

Teaching Style

Joshua brings unique characteristics to his educational approach:

Brutally Honest and Direct Self-described as "unflinching" or even "mean"—but caring. "I criticize because I care. I'm not doing this for the money." This directness cuts through politeness to address actual problems.

Framework-Driven Thinking Systematic approaches (Who First, Path to Value, Audience Profiles) that provide structure for complex problems

Live HubSpot Demonstrations Shows actual implementation in HubSpot portals—custom objects, deal tags, assessments, reporting—not just theory

Strategic Vision AND Implementation Specifics Bridges the gap between conceptual frameworks and "how do I actually build this in HubSpot on Monday morning"

Question-Led Exploration Socratic method revealing what people don't know about their customers through targeted questions

Validation Over Assumption Relentless emphasis on testing customer understanding against actual behavior rather than accepting assumptions

Progressive Implementation Approach "Evolution, not revolution"—rolling out changes in 2-4 week sprints based on team bandwidth to avoid overwhelming organizations

Value-First Shows Hosted

The Value Path (Co-Host with Chris Carolan)

Format: Multi-part series exploring customer journey Focus: Deep dives on each stage from Audience through Champion

Why This Show Matters: Most customer journey discussions remain abstract. The Value Path series makes natural progression concrete by:

Explaining how each stage differs in customer mindset and needs
Identifying traps customers face at each stage
Recognizing signposts that indicate readiness progression
Building HubSpot systems that support natural movement through stages

The co-development of this framework with Chris represents one of the Value-First Team's foundational contributions—creating shared language for customer-centric approaches that replace traditional funnel thinking.

Let's Build Your Audience in HubSpot (Co-Host with Chris Carolan)

Format: Multi-part series on customer-centric HubSpot strategy Focus: Practical implementation of audience understanding in HubSpot

Topics Covered:

Custom objects for assessments and self-diagnostics
Deal tags for better sales-marketing handoff
Tracking unstructured data to understand Path to Value progression
Creating HubSpot systems that reflect business logic rather than impose rigid processes

Notable Content & Contributions

The FranDev Lab Report (Newsletter) Twice-monthly guidance for franchisors using HubSpot, with deep-dive playbooks for paid subscribers

Who First Framework Resources Comprehensive documentation, templates, bootcamps, and tools for creating Audience Profiles and implementing customer understanding

HubSpot Community Content:

"Enable Your Customer's Path to Value in HubSpot" (series with Chris Carolan)
"Track Your Customer's Path to Value in HubSpot Part 2" (operationalizing unstructured data)
"HubSpot Custom Objects for Assessments and Self Diagnostics" (deep dive)
"HubSpot Deal Tags for Better Sales & Marketing Handoff" (with Chris Carolan)
"Path to Value vs Customer Journey" (conceptual frameworks comparison)

FranDev Lab Content:

"6 Quick Tests—Is Your CRM Doing What You Need Right Now?"
"Highlight Deals with Active Prospects" (spotting inactivity before ghosting)
"3 Custom Properties for Attributing FranDev Leads"
"Better Discovery Calls with HubSpot Playbooks"
"Your First 4 Breeze Assistants" (custom AI tools for franchise teams)
"Meetings Are Not A KPI" (measuring what actually matters)

Podcast Appearances:

Half Geek Half Human Podcast - "Understand Your Customer with the Who First Framework"
HubSpot Setup Secrets (with Casey Hawkins)

Who Benefits from Joshua's Expertise

Franchisors Using HubSpot Primary audience for FranDev Lab—franchise systems needing HubSpot configured for non-transactional, multi-stakeholder franchise development

Organizations with High-Friction Acquisition Companies where customer decisions involve long evaluation, multiple stakeholders, complex implementation—not transactional purchases

Product Teams Struggling with Customer Understanding Development teams building products based on assumptions rather than validated customer needs

Marketing/Sales Teams with Disjointed Understanding Organizations where different team members have conflicting assumptions about customers—no shared, validated understanding

Companies Beyond Demographic Segmentation Organizations recognizing that age, company size, and industry don't explain why customers buy or what they actually need

Businesses Seeking Progressive Implementation Teams wanting evolution rather than revolution—rolling out changes without overwhelming existing operations

Early-Stage Ventures Needing Product Discipline Startups and founder-led organizations requiring fractional product leadership without full-time commitment

Anyone Wanting Honest Assessment Leaders seeking brutal honesty and unflinching analysis rather than polite consulting that avoids hard truths

Collaboration & Contact

Professional Presence:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joshuaoakes
Who First: who-first.co
FranDev Lab: frandevlab.co
Personal Site: joshoakes.com
Newsletter: frandevlabreport.com
HubSpot Community: Active contributor
Sprocketeers: Active member

Value-First Shows:

The Value Path (Co-host with Chris Carolan) - Customer journey framework exploration
Let's Build Your Audience in HubSpot (Co-host with Chris Carolan) - Practical implementation series

FranDev Lab Services:

Franchisor-specific HubSpot configuration and optimization
Custom object implementation for franchise development
Deal tracking and reporting for franchise sales
Team training and enablement
Ongoing support and system evolution

Who First Services:

Audience Profile development workshops
Customer understanding framework implementation
Fractional product leadership engagements
Product marketing and positioning strategy
Advisory engagements on specific customer understanding challenges

Collaboration Interests:

Expanding Who First framework adoption
Teaching organizations to move from demographic assumptions to validated understanding
Building HubSpot systems that reflect business logic rather than impose rigid processes
Creating measurement frameworks that drive decisions
Mentoring teams on progressive implementation approaches
Developing Path to Value applications across industries

Why Joshua Contributes to Value-First

Joshua's Who First Framework already embodied Value-First principles before the formal framework existed. When he discovered that every consulting engagement revealed the same underlying problem—companies don't understand their customers—he recognized this wasn't a marketing problem or a product problem. It was a foundational business problem that invalidated everything else.

His co-development of the Path to Value with Chris represents the culmination of years watching traditional "funnel" thinking fail organizations. The 8-stage framework recognizes that people follow natural patterns of discovery, evaluation, implementation, and advocacy based on their own readiness—not arbitrary marketing stages.

Through Who First, FranDev Lab, and Value-First Team collaboration, Joshua proves that moving from assumption-based personas to validated Audience Profiles isn't just theoretically better—it's practically achievable and demonstrably more effective.

His participation in the Data Summit and ongoing Value-First work demonstrates his commitment to helping organizations build systems that serve natural human progression rather than artificial marketing quotas.

The brutal honesty he brings—"I criticize because I care"—challenges organizations to confront uncomfortable truths about their customer understanding. Because companies that don't know their customers are living on borrowed time or borrowed money.

Understanding Your Customer Creating documented, validated, actionable customer knowledge that drives business decisions

The Value Path Co-developing customer journey frameworks with Chris Carolan

FranDev Lab Turning HubSpot from source of stress to source of truth for franchisors

Who First Because without customer understanding, everything else fails

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