Chris Walker and Refine Labs fundamentally changed how B2B marketers think about demand generation. That’s not hype. The concept of dark social, demand creation vs. demand capture, and the critique of MQL-driven marketing all came from (or were amplified by) Refine Labs.
Refine Labs is still an agency, and today it runs paid media and creative for its clients. Here is how it compares with Growigami.
The Refine Labs Story
Refine Labs launched in 2019 as a demand gen consultancy built on Chris Walker’s thesis. Most B2B marketing, he argued, chases lead capture through gated content and MQLs. It should create demand first, through brand and ungated content. The company grew rapidly through Walker’s LinkedIn presence and podcast, becoming one of the most influential voices in B2B marketing.
Megan Bowen became CEO in 2024. In July 2025 Walker stepped away and Bowen became majority owner. Today Refine Labs sells paid media, ad creative and a six-week review. It says it has worked with 300+ B2B tech companies since 2019. Passetto, a software company often linked with Walker, is a separate business.
Company Comparison
| Factor | Growigami | Refine Labs |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2024 | 2019 |
| Model | AI revenue operations, six modules | Demand gen agency: paid media and creative |
| Core strength | Processes proven first, then run by agents | Paid media and creative on a demand creation playbook |
| Pricing | Each process from $1,999/mo, first process built on us | Paid Media from $14,000/mo; Full Demand & Media from $26,000/mo; six-month minimum |
| Approach | Channel-agnostic, pragmatic | Demand creation first |
| Best for | Teams that want processes running alongside them | Companies with budget for senior paid media and creative |
How the Work Differs
Refine Labs runs your paid media and creative with a senior demand gen lead. Its Full Demand & Media plan pairs strategy with media buying, and its assessment ends with a 12-month demand plan.
Growigami builds AI revenue operations. Our growth leaders have led marketing and sales teams as CROs. They learn your business and get each process working first, from SEO to outbound. Then each process becomes an AI-run process that keeps running on your stack, alongside your team.
The two overlap on paid media and creative. Beyond that, they cover different ground.
Where Refine Labs Changed the Game
Credit where it’s due:
- Killing the MQL obsession. Refine Labs made it okay to say “MQLs are a terrible metric” out loud. This shift toward pipeline and revenue metrics was overdue.
- Dark social awareness. The concept that most B2B word-of-mouth happens in untraceable channels changed how companies think about attribution.
- Ungated content. The argument that removing forms creates more demand (even if it’s harder to measure) was revolutionary for companies drowning in low-quality leads.
- Self-reported attribution. Asking buyers “how did you hear about us?” as a complement to digital attribution added a crucial data point most companies were missing.
Where the Philosophy Has Limits
But every philosophy has boundaries:
- Not every company has a founder-brand. Demand creation through social and podcasts works brilliantly when you have a charismatic founder driving content. Not every CEO wants to (or should) be a LinkedIn thought leader.
- You still need demand capture. If someone Googles your product category, you need to show up. SEO, paid search, and review sites still matter enormously. Pure demand creation without demand capture leaves money on the table.
- Measurement challenges persist. “Just trust that brand investment works” is difficult when you’re reporting to a board that wants attribution. Self-reported attribution helps, but it’s not a panacea.
- Paid media carries the load. Refine Labs’ published plans center on paid media and creative. If you want SEO or outbound running too, you’ll need another partner for those.
Services Comparison
| Service | Growigami | Refine Labs |
|---|---|---|
| Demand gen strategy | Yes (Strategy module) | Yes (core strength) |
| Paid social and paid search | Yes (Paid & creative module) | Yes (core service) |
| Ad creative and video | Yes (Paid & creative module) | Yes (Creative Only plan) |
| SEO & organic content | Yes (Search module) | Not listed on its site |
| ABM & outbound | Yes (Pipeline module) | Not listed on its site |
| Attribution & reporting | Yes, in your CRM | Yes |
| Founder content on LinkedIn | Yes (Social module) | Not listed on its site |
When to Choose Refine Labs
- You already have a marketing team but need to transform how they think about demand gen
- Your current approach is failing: you’re generating MQLs but pipeline is flat
- Paid media is your main channel and you want senior people running it on a demand creation playbook
- Your budget supports $14,000+ a month with a six-month commitment
- You want a deep diagnostic first. The Revenue Performance Assessment runs six weeks and starts at $35,000
When to Choose Growigami
- You need more than paid media, from SEO to outbound and founder content
- Your team is small and has no time to do the work, though it knows what needs doing
- You want demand creation and demand capture running together
- You want to start small. Each process starts at $1,999 a month, and your first process is built on us
- You want proof first. Give us read access to your CRM, and within a week we show you the first process we would build
Our Take on Demand Creation
We’ve internalized the best parts of the Refine Labs philosophy:
- We produce ungated content. Our blog posts, guides, and tools are all freely accessible.
- We track self-reported attribution alongside digital attribution.
- We optimize for pipeline and revenue over MQLs.
- We help clients build founder brands on LinkedIn when it makes sense.
But we also do the stuff demand creation purists sometimes dismiss:
- Aggressive SEO programs that capture existing search demand
- Outbound ABM campaigns targeting specific accounts
- Paid search campaigns for high-intent keywords
- Gated content when the value exchange makes sense (calculators, custom reports)
- Email nurture sequences that move prospects through the funnel
Pragmatism beats philosophy every time.
The Bottom Line
Refine Labs changed how an entire generation of B2B marketers thinks. That’s a massive contribution to the industry.
If paid media and creative are your engine and you have the budget, Refine Labs is a strong choice. If you want SEO, outbound and paid running together, built by former CROs and kept running by AI, that’s where Growigami fits.
The best outcome for most companies: take the demand creation ideas to heart (read Chris Walker’s content, it’s genuinely good), then build processes that carry them every week. That’s what we do. We checked Refine Labs’ prices on refinelabs.com/pricing on 8 October 2026.
Frequently asked
Is Refine Labs now called Passetto?
No. Refine Labs is still a B2B demand gen agency. Passetto is a separate company that sells measurement software. Megan Bowen has led Refine Labs since 2024. She became its majority owner in July 2025, when founder Chris Walker stepped away.
What is dark social in B2B marketing?
Dark social means the channels where content gets shared but is hard to track: Slack groups, private posts, DMs, podcasts and word of mouth. Chris Walker made the idea popular. His point was that most B2B buying starts in these places, so marketers need to create demand there as well as capture it.
Does Growigami follow the Refine Labs / demand creation philosophy?
We agree with the core premise. Creating demand matters as much as capturing it, and gating every piece of content behind a form backfires. We use it as one approach among several. We pair demand creation with demand capture, such as SEO and outbound. We keep whatever works for your business.
How much does Refine Labs cost?
Refine Labs publishes its prices. Paid Media Management starts at $14,000 a month and Full Demand & Media starts at $26,000 a month, both with a six-month minimum. Creative Only starts at $5,000 a month, and its six-week Revenue Performance Assessment starts at $35,000. At Growigami each process starts at $1,999 a month, and your first process is built on us.
Is the demand creation approach right for my SaaS company?
Demand creation works best for companies with a strong founder brand, some good content already, and the patience to invest in brand before it shows up in attribution. If you need leads tomorrow, start elsewhere. If you're building for 6-12 month returns, it can change your pipeline.
