Podcast
Business Builder's Playbook
Hosted by David Bush · EN
Welcome to the Business Builders playbook, the show that breaks down the systems and strategies behind Predictable Revenue Growth to win in business.
In each episode, we're diving into the proven strategies that separate the winners who scale from the losers who fail.
16episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Stacey Lauren—How to Break Out of Horse Mode and Build Communities That Pull People Through Comfort Circles
5d ago00:39:26Tap to summarizeWhat if the thing holding you back from your biggest impact isn't skill, money, or connections? What if it's just that you haven't found the right room yet?In this episode of the Business Builder's Playbook, hosts David Bush and Jeff Bush sits down with Stacey Lauren, founder of the Do the Thing podcast and community, former staffing company owner with a successful eight-figure exit, and creator of the Billion Dollar Impact Marketplace. Stacey has spent years mapping the patterns of what actually helps people take action, and she's built a model that turns community, commerce, and charity into a single engine for massive impact.Here's what you'll learn by watching or listening to this full episode:• How to identify which "comfort circle" you're in, and why understanding that changes how you lead, market, and grow• Why "horse mode" keeps your team, your clients, and even you from taking action you already know you should be taking• How to build community that actually moves people forward, instead of just a group cheering from the sidelines• Why community is the single most powerful marketing strategy for any business, and how "My People Parties" and challenges put it into practice• How Stacey's Billion Dollar Impact Marketplace lets entrepreneurs and companies grow their business while fueling charitable causes at the same time• Why finding your voice is something you have to do over and over at every new level of growth, and how to stop letting that slow you down• How to stop waiting for permission to be in the right room and start creating the room yourself• What stand-up comedy taught Stacey about rejection, perfectionism, and why loving to suck is the secret to doing the thing• How goal-based networking builds deeper relationships than any traditional networking event, and why it's the foundation of her upcoming bookFind all the show notes and links here: https://www.businessbuildersplaybook.com/Stacey-Lauren
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Maria Trysla—Why Companies Stall Between $5M and $50M
5d ago00:49:58Tap to summarizeWhat happens when the founder who built a business to $10 million becomes the very thing keeping it from reaching $50 million?In this episode of the Business Builder's Playbook, host David Bush sits down with Maria Trysla, a former two-time CEO and multi-year CMO of fast-growing technology companies who now works as a revenue architect and go-to-market executive advisor. Maria specializes in helping companies in the $5M to $50M range diagnose what's quietly stalling their growth and build the repeatable systems to get past it.Here's what you'll learn by watching or listening to this full episode:How to spot the early warning signs of a CEO growth plateau before it stops your momentum completelyWhy telling your sales leader to hire more people is almost never the answer to a growth problem — and where the real issue is hiding upstreamHow to shift from episodic, founder-driven activity to a system-driven revenue engine built on predictable pipelineHow to move from being "founder-led" to "founder-inspired" — and why that distinction determines whether your company can ever scale past youWhy treating customer success as a service function instead of a strategic growth driver is quietly draining your expansion revenueHow to use an inside-out, outside-in discovery process to uncover the real problems hiding underneath the surface-level symptomsWhy your acquisition, retention, and expansion conversations should be happening with equal urgency — and what it costs you when they're notHow to remove "decision friction" from your organization so pipeline creation accelerates instead of waiting on youHow AI can surface the expansion signals already sitting in your customer data, without digging through spreadsheetsWhat most companies get wrong about aligning sales, marketing, customer success, and product around shared revenue metricsFind all the show notes and links here: https://www.businessbuildersplaybook.com/Maria-Trysla
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Mark L. Vincent—Succession & Exit Planning: How to Drive Value, Referrals, and Higher Fees
4w ago00:55:21Tap to summarizeWhat if the exit planning conversation you've been avoiding is actually the one that unlocks your next level of revenue?In this episode of the Business Builder's Playbook, host David Bush sits down with Mark L. Vincent — founding member and facilitator of the Sage Group Collective, executive advisor, and one of the most experienced guides for organizational succession and business continuity in the game. With more than 30 years of helping owner-founders, C-suite leaders, and partnership structures navigate succession events, Mark brings a rare combination of systems thinking, facilitation mastery, and unflinching honesty about what actually drives enterprise value — and what destroys it.Here's what you'll learn by watching or listening to this full episode:• How to reframe succession planning as a growth accelerator — not an end-of-career conversation that kills momentum• How to shift from vendor to peer-level trusted advisor — and why that single positioning move transforms what you're able to charge• How to introduce exit planning into existing client relationships without damaging trust or getting off into the weeds• Why most founders overestimate the value of what they've built — and how great advisors navigate that conversation productively• How to build a future value balance sheet that makes a succession event actually executable instead of a scramble• Why documenting leadership philosophy before a transition prevents massive value loss — and the simple interview method that surfaces it fast• What Mark calls the "invisible suitcases" founders leave behind — and why successors keep tripping over them• How to build a trusted advisor network where referrals flow both ways — and the one phrase that immediately reveals whether someone is a real partner or a wedge waiting to happen• Why anxiety is silently killing coaching and consulting practices — and how managing your own ecosystem is the prerequisite to being a non-anxious, client-centered presence• Which two strategic partners — capital wealth advisors and operations implementers — are the most critical additions to any advisor's trusted networkFind all the show notes and links here: https://www.businessbuildersplaybook.com/Mark-L-Vincent
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Rich Chiarello—7 Proven Sales Strategies to Avoid Stagnant Revenue Growth
Apr 800:56:41Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Business Builders Playbook, host David Bush sits down with Rich Chiarello — sales leadership strategist at Sandler Training and a nearly two-decade veteran of building high-performance sales cultures for some of the world's most competitive technology companies.Together, they tackle the number one fear of today's CEOs, CROs, and senior revenue leaders: hitting a growth plateau and not knowing how to break out of it.David draws out Rich's most battle-tested frameworks and hard-won insights, turning a complex problem into a clear, step-by-step roadmap any sales organization can act on immediately.By watching or listening to this full episode, you'll discover:How to separate a people problem from a process problem from a market problem — so you stop treating symptoms and start fixing root causesThe 7 core strategies Rich deploys inside real organizations to restart stagnant revenue growthHow to tighten qualification standards so your team stops burning time on deals that will never close — including the three questions every rep must be able to answer before moving a deal forwardThe Sandler "upfront contract" technique that virtually eliminates ghosting and gives prospects permission to give you bad news before it's too lateHow to coach reps around pain discovery — and how AI coaching tools are changing the feedback loop for sales managers who don't have enough hours in the dayWhy shortening your sales cycle starts with one simple homework assignment you give every prospectHow to prune dead pipeline without destroying morale — including the exact breakup email that gets silent prospects to resurfaceThe prospecting accountability system that keeps pipelines full regardless of what the market is doingHow to hire sales reps who can actually perform in today's environment — including what assessments reveal that role plays never willWhat separates great individual contributors from great sales leaders — and why promoting the wrong person can quietly cost you millions in lost revenueHow to create real urgency in deals without manipulation — and when to have the honest conversation that inaction is riskier than taking actionWhether you're a CEO frustrated with a team that keeps forecasting deals that never close, a CRO trying to build consistency and predictability into your pipeline, or a sales manager looking to sharpen your coaching approach — this episode delivers the frameworks, tactics, and mindset shifts you need to get back on the revenue growth curve.Find all the show notes and links here: https://www.businessbuildersplaybook.com/Rich-Chiarello
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Greg Atchison—How Christian CEOs Scale Without Compromising Their Faith
Mar 3100:47:20Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Business Builders Playbook, host David Bush sits down with C12 Chair and organizational leadership veteran Greg Atchison for a candid and inspiring conversation about one of the most complex tensions facing faith-driven entrepreneurs today — how to scale a thriving business without abandoning the Christian values that built it.Greg brings over 40 years of military, corporate, and academic leadership experience to the table, including co-leading a $50M+ enterprise, developing global executives at Boeing, and earning a PhD in organizational management and leadership. David draws on his own entrepreneurial journey and his passion for helping business leaders build systems that scale, creating a dynamic exchange that challenges leaders at every level to think differently about growth, stewardship, and eternal impact.In this episode, you will learn:- How to move from isolation to community as a CEO and why peer advisory groups like C12 dramatically compress your learning curve and accelerate business growth- How to identify and eliminate the blind spots that are quietly limiting your ability to scale- How to practically implement a business-as-a-ministry model without forcing religion on your employees or clients- How to hire and build a leadership team that aligns with your faith-based culture while staying legally compliant- How to measure success beyond revenue using spiritual and cultural metrics like return on eternity, employee tenure, chaplain engagement, and care team activity- How to navigate difficult seasons of economic pressure without abandoning your faith principles or your people- How to delegate effectively so you can stop being the bottleneck in your own business and focus only on the work only you should be doing- How to plan for business succession in a way that honors the faith-based legacy you've worked hard to build- How to stop choosing between building a strong business and being faithful to Christ — because according to Greg, you never had to choose in the first placeWhether you are a seasoned CEO wrestling with the weight of leadership or an emerging entrepreneur trying to figure out how to integrate your faith into every corner of your business, this episode is a masterclass in what it truly looks like to lead with clarity, purpose, and kingdom impact.Find all the show notes and links here: https://www.businessbuildersplaybook.com/Greg-Atchison
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Dr. Dennis Cummins—From Applause to Revenue: How to Turn Speaking and LinkedIn Into a Predictable Business Growth Engine
Mar 2301:01:42Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Business Builders Playbook, host David Bush sits down with Dr. Dennis Cummins, founder of Pro Speaker Academy, to deliver a powerful one-two punch for business owners, consultants, and thought leaders who are ready to stop being invisible — and start converting their visibility into real revenue.Dr. Cummins draws on over a decade of experience across 14,000+ stages on six continents to break down exactly how professionals can use speaking not as a performance, but as a precision marketing tool. He introduces his signature "Connect, Convey, Convert" framework, unpacks the three types of talks most speakers give — and reveals which one is by far the most profitable. He also shares the concept of Invitational Selling, a relationship-first approach to moving audiences from interested to invested, without ever resorting to pressure or hard selling.David Bush brings his expertise in AI-powered business development to the conversation, walking listeners through the critical difference between being a content creator versus a conversation creator on LinkedIn — and why that distinction alone could transform your ROI on the platform. He shares how his platform, BDR.ai, helps professionals use AI as augmented intelligence to organize, prioritize, and engage their most valuable connections with personalization at scale.By watching or listening to this full episode, you'll learn:How to overcome the fear of public speaking and use it as your single highest-converting marketing strategyThe "Connect, Convey, Convert" method for structuring any presentation to naturally move audiences toward a buying decision — without pressureWhy most speakers generate applause but zero revenue, and the exact components they're consistently missingThe difference between promotional, educational, and motivational talks — and which type produces the highest profitHow to get paid on the back end of speaking engagements, even when you show up for freeWhy LinkedIn's most powerful use isn't content creation — and how to become a conversation creator insteadHow AI can help you engage, follow up, and build relationships with your most valuable connections at scaleThe 5 key indicators of successful digital outreach and how to measure your true ROI on LinkedInHow to build a lead magnet from content you already have — using tools you likely already ownWhether you're a speaker not yet monetizing your talks, a business owner treating LinkedIn like a billboard, or a professional trying to build genuine authority in a crowded market — this episode hands you a complete, practical playbook for turning your expertise into a predictable revenue channel.Find all the show notes and links here: https://www.businessbuildersplaybook.com/Dr-Dennis-Cummins
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Roderick Jefferson—How to Integrate AI, Eliminate Leadership Bottlenecks, and Build a Business That Survives Even When You Don't
Mar 1900:43:22Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Business Builder's Playbook, host David Bush sits down with Roderick Jefferson — the man who literally coined the term "sales enablement" — to unpack what it truly takes to build scalable, predictable revenue in an AI-driven world... and what it costs when you build success at the expense of everything else that matters.Roderick doesn't just bring two decades of enterprise sales and enablement expertise to the table. He brings something far more rare — the perspective of a man who flat-lined in a hospital, was brought back to life, and used that second chance to completely rebuild the way he leads, communicates, and operates.Host David Bush guides the conversation with precision, drawing out the frameworks, philosophies, and hard-won lessons that have made Roderick one of the most sought-after voices in modern go-to-market strategy.Here's what you'll learn by watching or listening to this full episode:How to integrate AI into your business as a true growth partner — not just a research tool — using Roderick's three-pillar framework of Communication, Collaboration, and OrchestrationHow to stop being the bottleneck in your own company and build the kind of trust that actually empowers your team to execute without you hoveringWhy leading with "I think" and "I feel" is silently killing your credibility — and how to let data and insights speak on your behalf insteadThe one question most salespeople and executives never think to ask their prospects — and how asking it immediately accelerates trust and closes more dealsHow to identify when your professional network has quietly turned into an echo chamber — and what to do about itThe daily whiteboard habit and weekly reflection practice Roderick uses to stay productive, grounded, and clear on what actually mattersHow to stop chasing shiny AI tools and instead find the two or three that actually fit your company's maturity level — and master themWhy "good enough" is often the enemy of analysis paralysis — and how letting go of perfection actually accelerates growthThe personal transformation behind Roderick's new book Stroke of Success — including the raw story of his near-death experience, the corporate mask he wore for years, and the four F's framework (Faith, Family, Friends, and Fun) that gave him a completely new definition of winningDavid also breaks down how BDR.ai is helping owner-founders and executive sales leaders automate the grind of outbound prospecting — so they can stop being their company's highest-paid prospector and start spending their time where it actually moves the needle.If you're an owner, founder, or C-suite leader who's tired of grinding harder without getting further — this episode will challenge how you think about leadership, technology, success, and what you're actually building it all for.Find all the show notes and links here: https://www.businessbuildersplaybook.com/Roderick-Jefferson
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Derek Morgan—Stop Relying on Word-of-Mouth: How to Build a Referral System That Generates Predictable Revenue
Mar 1000:53:25Tap to summarizeTry ReferU2 here: https://www.referu2.com/s/user_38as1DVADuKfWccL26yttOt9yVMIn this episode of Business Builders Playbook, host David Bush sits down with referral marketing strategist Derek Morgan — founder of Referral Marketing Ideas and the Referral Marketing Formula — to expose why most professionals are quietly bleeding referral opportunities without ever knowing it, and exactly what to do about it.Drawing from over 30 years of business development experience across financial services, startups, and enterprise technology, Derek lays out a systematic, repeatable approach to turning professional relationships into a scalable referral engine. Meanwhile, David brings the operator's perspective, sharing hard-won lessons from building BDR.ai and his own journey from treating referrals as an afterthought to building them as a core growth strategy.Here is what viewers and listeners will learn by watching or listening to the full episode:How to identify your ideal referral partner — and why targeting the wrong ones is quietly wasting your most valuable resource: timeThe critical difference between referral marketing and word-of-mouth, and why only one of them can be systemized, measured, and scaledHow to use Derek's LASER Framework — Leads, Acceleration, Sales, Expansion, Retention, and Re-engagement — to craft a value proposition that makes referral partners eager to work with youWhy commissions and reciprocal lead-swapping are actually the weakest foundation for a referral partnership, and what to offer instead that makes your program infinitely scalableThe biggest mistake professionals make when asking for referrals, and the simple language shift that removes awkwardness, lowers resistance, and dramatically increases responseHow David and Derek break down the concept of a referability score, what internally needs to be fixed before asking for a single referral, and what it truly means to create a wow moment for clients and partnersThe one-to-many referral partnership strategy that outperforms the traditional one-to-one word-of-mouth approach every single timeThe real story of how one unsystematized referral sitting untouched in a CRM cost a company an estimated forty-four million dollars in missed revenue over two yearsDerek's nine-step Referral Marketing Formula, a complete roadmap for building a referral program that is consistent, measurable, and fully duplicatable across an entire sales teamHow two or three complementary professionals can combine resources, share audiences, and run collaborative events as a joint lead generation strategy that benefits everyoneThe role AI plays in accelerating referral systems, and why human consistency and follow-through remain the single biggest make-or-break factor in the entire processWhether you're a business owner, sales professional, or service provider ready to stop leaving referrals on the table, this episode delivers a clear, actionable blueprint for turning relationships into a reliable and growing revenue stream.Find all the show notes and links here: https://www.businessbuildersplaybook.com/Derek-Morgan
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Cruz Gamboa—The Hidden $150K in Your Business (And Why Your Financials Are Lying to You)
Mar 200:42:08Tap to summarizeIn this eye-opening episode of Business Builder's Playbook, host David Bush sits down with ex-GE executive turned scaling expert Cruz Gamboa to expose the financial blind spots quietly killing your profits...And the simple shifts that unlock $50K-$150K in hidden cash.Cruz breaks down his "Profit Leak Process" – showing you exactly which numbers actually matter (hint: it's NOT the 50 metrics you're tracking now)...How to build a CEO dashboard that gives you clarity in under 10 minutes a week...And why "not being a numbers person" is costing you millions in enterprise value.You'll learn:• The 10-15 metrics world-class CEOs obsess over (and which ones are just noise) • How 2% tweaks in pricing and costs can boost profits by 18% • Why messy financials destroy your valuation – even if you're profitable • The "Operator to CEO" identity shift that separates stuck businesses from scalable ones • How AI is changing the game for financial clarity and decision-makingWhether you're grinding toward your first million or stuck between $3-10M... this episode gives you the playbook to stop leaving money on the table.David and Cruz don't hold back – this is raw, actionable insight from two builders who've been in the trenches.Hit play. Take notes. Then go find YOUR hidden $150K.Find all the show notes and links here: https://www.businessbuildersplaybook.com/Cruz-Gamboa
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2026 Virtual Planning Workshop Session 3
Feb 2401:54:03Tap to summarizeIn part three of their 2026 Planning Workshop series, co-owner David Bush and Director of Client Success Jenelle Friday walk entrepreneurs through building a complete sales, leadership, and operations plan from scratch.This is where everything comes together.Learn how to master the sales fundamentals that actually move the needle…Develop leadership habits that compound over time...And create operational systems that scale without adding headcount.David breaks down his proven ROPE method for lead management (Reply, Organize, Prioritize, Engage)...Shares the real success formula behind consistent revenue growth (motivation + mindset + skill sets + action)...And reveals how AI-powered outreach can 10X your prospecting without burning out.Jenelle keeps it practical with neuroscience-backed micro habits, Elon Musk's 90/10 time allocation rule, and tactical tips for entrepreneurs wearing every hat in their business.Whether you're a one-person show or building a team, this episode gives you the exact roadmap to turn your 2026 goals into executable 90-day sprints.You'll walk away knowing what to prioritize first, which systems to automate, and how to stay consistent when motivation fades.Stop spinning your wheels. Start building the business you actually want.Find all the show notes and links here: https://www.businessbuildersplaybook.com/Planning-Session-3
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