David Jacobs is a marketing leader with more than 15 years of experience driving growth and innovation across some of the world’s most recognized brands, including Meta, DoorDash, Intuit, Pandora, and top creative agencies. As Vice President and Head of Marketing & Communications at Farther, Jacobs leads a team focused on scaling the brand, driving product adoption, and supporting wealth advisors in an industry ripe for change. Farther is building intelligent wealth management by pairing premier financial advisors with predictive technology to help clients and advisors reach financial freedom.
Known for his strategic vision and ability to blend technology with human connection, Jacobs has been named to our Marketers to Watch list in partnership with The Wall Street Journal. He shared with us his insights on leadership, innovation, and the future of personalized marketing.
What book or podcast do you recommend to marketing leaders?
I gravitate to business content since it gives me a better holistic sense of what’s happening, what to keep an eye on, and a broader view within and outside of Marketing. Scott Galloway’s The Prof G Show and Pivot, and any of his books, are always at the top of my list – even with his sometimes-controversial jokes and opinions. His take on marketing and branding, tech, and business is equal parts sharp, honest, and entertaining – great for any leader looking to think more critically about where the industry is headed. Otherwise, I consume a ton of news content and try to stay up-to-date on Marketing specifically with the traditional industry publications.
How are you and your team currently using AI?
What makes Farther unique is that we’re building our own technology in-house – giving our wealth advisors an edge by using AI and machine learning to streamline back-office tasks like extracting data from account statements and client communications, and super-charge our advisors to serve their clients better. On the marketing side, AI has become a powerful tool for deepening client engagement. We’re beginning to experiment using it for automation on the paid/growth side for better messaging and targeting, creative asset creation, and already heavily using it with personal productivity and ideation. In the future, we’ll use AI to unlock insights from our own data – identifying client connections, mapping referral paths, and powering more targeted, personalized marketing. This will help us shift from broad outreach to intelligent, relationship-driven growth.
What’s a prediction you have for the marketing industry over the next few years?
We’re heading toward an era where personalization at scale becomes not just possible, but expected. AI will play a key role in helping marketers deliver hyper-relevant content and experiences in real-time, especially in industries like wealth management, where trust and timing are everything. At the same time, as digital noise grows, in-person experiences are becoming even more valuable. At Farther, we’ve seen this firsthand through our Discovery Days – events hosted across the country that allow advisors to engage with our brand, team, and platform face-to-face. That human connection and in-person engagement, layered with our intelligent tech, is a powerful combination.
What’s the most innovative or exciting project you’ve worked on recently?
I’ve been at Farther for about seven months, so there’s still a lot of exciting things ahead, but one of the most exciting projects so far has been the early work to refresh and evolve the Farther brand, as well as expanding the amount of growth driven from the Marketing team. As the company grows, so does the opportunity to speak not just to financial advisors, but to the clients they serve. We’re working to ensure the brand reflects where Farther is today – and where it’s going – while building marketing strategies that resonate more deeply with a broader audience.
What’s the most pressing business challenge you’ve faced in the last year and what have you done to solve it?
Farther has grown 5x year-over-year, now managing nearly $6 billion in AUM and recently closing a $72 million Series C round – valuing the company at over half a billion dollars. That kind of growth is exciting, but it also brings challenges. For Marketing, the most pressing issue has been scaling fast enough to support the business – building a team, a brand, and campaigns that can keep pace with a rapidly evolving company, while leveraging tools and AI to help that scale. I don’t know that we have found the perfect solution, and it’s an ongoing problem, but we’ve focused on ensuring we’re not just reacting to growth but fueling it with intention, tech, and ruthlessly prioritizing.
What leadership muscle is the most important for marketers to exercise?
Curiosity. The landscape is constantly shifting with new tools, platforms, and expectations. The best marketing leaders I know are curious, resilient, and open to rewriting the playbook; they don’t assume what they’ve done or are doing is the best – they ask questions and seek to understand. It’s about staying grounded in your strategy while being flexible enough to evolve. Sometimes the most powerful learning is from something that didn’t work and being curious enough to understand why, memorialize it, share, and grow.
What’s the most game-changing piece of career advice you’ve ever received?
Two broader ways to lead come to mind from various leaders I worked for and people I look to for inspiration: Always celebrate the work and listen to the hum.
Celebrate, because whether it was a win or a failure, you never know how much it means to someone to be recognized, give them the energy to share what they are working on, and rally a team. I’ve had a few leaders who were amazing at team culture and celebration, and you can really feel the difference. It’s transformative.
“Listen to the hum” was something I remember hearing during my time at Facebook/Meta, and rings true to who I am personally (or so my mom says). It’s knowing when to jump in or when to step back, see and listen to how things work, and insert yourself in the most productive way. It’s how I onboard at a company, it’s how I approach a lot of situations, and it’s a helpful reminder that your first instincts or how you might jump in might not always be the best approach, especially right away.
What gives you energy and inspiration outside of work?
Potentially two things at odds, but a consistent routine and a healthy amount of travel. A consistent routine because when I get in a rhythm, I feel my best – my morning runs or workouts, a busy (but not too busy) social schedule, time with my partner, family, and friends, and exploring San Francisco. I also try to mix in one to two bigger trips a year; recently having been in Europe and Japan on two separate occasions. Both push me outside my routine, shake up my perspective, and allow me to take a “brain break.” Some of the best inspiration and ideas come from taking a step back and moving, exploring, and understanding people and a culture that thinks differently and can teach me something.
Marketers to Watch is a recognition series to spotlight highly innovative and forward-thinking marketing leaders in the community. If you have someone you’d like to nominate for the series, apply here.
