Podcast Summary: Making It with Jon Davids

Episode 247 – Taking a business from $200K to $1M in 53 minutes
Date: March 3, 2026
Host: Jon Davids
Guest: Craig Rosen (Founder, Interview Focus)

Episode Overview

In this episode, Jon Davids sits down with Craig Rosen, founder of Interview Focus—a company offering AI-powered interview prep software. The conversation is framed as a hands-on strategy session to help Craig scale Interview Focus from its current $200,000 in annual revenue to $1 million, focusing on tightening positioning, pricing, and sales processes. The episode is packed with actionable insights for entrepreneurs seeking to grow B2B SaaS businesses, especially in niche or competitive markets.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Business Overview & Positioning

• Craig’s Product & Customer:

  • Interview Focus offers mock interview software to organizations (career centers, staffing companies, military transition programs) ([01:26]).
  • Pivoted from B2C to B2B after discovering that selling to individual job seekers (often unemployed) was unprofitable ([01:50]-[02:17]).

• Current Revenue Streams:

  • ~75% of current customers come from organic/LinkedIn strategies, 25% from cold outreach ([02:52]).
  • Annual contracts typically in the $3,000–$4,000 range per organization ([03:07]).

• Craig’s Role:

  • Still delivers personal coaching sessions ($250/session), making up ~25% of annual revenue ([05:29]).
  • Long-term goal: $5 million/year revenue with scalable software solution ([04:28], [05:44]).

2. Focusing the Offer & Target Market

• Too Many Verticals:

  • Craig discussed targeting 20 different market verticals.
  • Jon:

    "Please tell me you don’t actually think about 20 different kinds of customers. What a nightmare. You want to have one customer that you sell to, one single product and one way to get them." ([06:27])

• Narrowing Down:

  • Agreed to focus primarily on college/university career centers (the "Ohio State" type customer) ([09:44], [26:16]).
  • Jon emphasized the importance of finding product-market fit and entrepreneurial fit:

    "The entrepreneur has to be aligned with the goal... it's not about what I want or what I think is best, it's what do you want?" ([08:23])

3. Understanding the Competition & Positioning for Change

• Entrenched Competitors:

  • Craig cited existing players with outdated but widespread solutions, often with multi-year contracts ([09:44]-[10:21]).
  • Most orgs stick with "good enough" products unless they face clear pain points.

• Counter Positioning:

  • Jon:

    "The only positioning is counter-positioning for a new player. We have to throw stones at the current method and say our method works because it’s different." ([10:27])

  • Acknowledged that “better” alone is not enough; it must feel different and solve critical pain (the “bleeding from the neck” problem, not just “nice to have”) ([17:44], [18:12]).

• Craig’s Unique Selling Points:

  • Comprehensiveness: 10 soft-skill assessments (vs. competitors’ 3-4).
  • Fast, reliable onboarding and performance/outage transparency ([11:18], [12:05], [14:19]).
  • Transparent, client-facing uptime stats; historically 99.6% uptime ([14:49]).

4. Website and Proof (“Social Proof Sells”):

• Critical Gaps:

  • Website lacks compelling video testimonials, logos, and clear social proof ([23:24], [24:39]).
  • Confusingly displays B2B and B2C options, diluting message ([09:13], [25:55]).

• Key Recommendations:

  • Place university client logos prominently above the fold.
  • Collect and showcase raw, authentic testimonial videos from users.
  • Create a “wall” of testimonial videos and highlight compelling case studies ([24:39]-[25:38], [32:25]).
  • Send this proof to prospects between demo scheduling and meetings to “microwave” them before the call ([34:53], [51:31]).

    "By the time you get onto the meeting, not only would they be familiar with you, they'd know you, 'hey, you're the guy from the video.'" ([34:56])

5. Pricing Strategy

• Current Pricing Too Low:

  • Charging $300–$400/month, where competitors charge $4k–$40k/year ([19:59]–[21:08]).
  • Clients often perceive low price as a negative signal (the “$49 Four Seasons room” analogy) ([35:38]).

• Jon’s Advice:

  • Raise prices significantly—consider "anchor high, discount early for new customers" approach.
  • Use tiered or time-sensitive pricing to drive urgency and future ARPU ([30:49]).
  • Don't position on being cheapest; instead, emphasize value and outcomes.
  • Replicate the premium pricing found in legal, consulting, and executive coaching sectors ([36:19], [38:09]).

6. Sales Process & Funnel Optimization

• Current Funnel:

  • Mostly manual LinkedIn/email outreach, slow follow-up, limited lead nurturing.
  • Demos are classic feature walkthroughs; little pre-meeting priming ([31:28]–[32:09]).

• Improvements:

  • Deploy automated email sequences after demo is scheduled—share proof, outcomes, and pre-sell benefits ([32:25], [34:53]).
  • Use a VSL (video sales letter) from the founder to articulate pain points, vision, expertise ([32:25]).
  • Warm prospects up with testimonials, case studies, and outcome-driven narratives.

7. Sales Call Structure & Objection Handling

• Scripted Calls:

  • Craig opens sales calls with discovery questions on student numbers, current solutions, and pain points ([46:28]-[47:04]).

• Jon’s Framework:

  • Start with, “Why did you take this call now?” to surface pain.
  • Cycle through and elevate prospects’ specific frustrations (“What else?”) ([47:21]-[50:12]).
  • Only pitch to their exact pain, not generic features.

• Jon:

  "You want to elevate the pain... and then come in and pitch your solution based on the problems they've just outlined." ([49:37])

8. The Executive Coaching Opportunity

• Hybrid Model:

  • Craig enjoys one-on-one coaching and gets superior results—Jon suggests a high-ticket executive placement/coaching tier ($2,000–$10,000+) ([36:19]-[40:18]).

• Craig:

  "I get off on it. I love it. I enjoy helping other people." ([40:28])

• Jon:

  "I think you could have a very similar model where you say, 'We charge $10,000 and I'll give you my cutting-edge Interview Focus software... and the outcome will be you get your dream job.'" ([38:09])

Actionable Takeaways & Recommendations

Jon’s “Three Moves” for 5X Growth ([51:31])

1. Raise Prices:

   • Ditch the “bargain basement” optics. Move toward premium, value-based pricing—even if gradually via anchor-discount models.

2. Focus on One Avatar:

   • Go all-in on the university career center market. Excise B2C and extra verticals from site and messaging.

3. Proof-Driven Funnel & Primed Meetings:

   • Collect and showcase testimonial/case study videos.
   • Build an automated “priming” sequence between meeting booking and demo—testimonials, VSL, and outcome stories.
   • Optimize the sales script to uncover, elevate, and solve real prospect pain.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the danger of being too cheap:

  "If I tried to sell you a Rolex for $38, you'd say, 'what's wrong with the Rolex?' And that's the problem you encounter when you try to sell something and be the cheapest guy on the block." — Jon Davids ([28:13])

• On founder fit and entrepreneurial alignment:

  "There’s also the entrepreneur here. And so there’s a chance that you actually enjoy doing the in-person coaching and that’s what you really want to do. But you have this software on the side..." — Jon Davids ([06:47])

• On sales process structure:

  “You want to show them the dream outcome... That’s the first thing.” ([34:53])

• On elevating prospect pain:

  "You want them to be in that moment, feeling how frustrating it is using the current product... and you’ve got to get some type of pain." — Jon Davids ([47:21])

• On narrowing focus:

  "The faster you pick one [avatar], the faster you’ll scale." ([26:16])

Key Timestamps for Major Segments

• [01:09] – Craig introduces Interview Focus, business overview
• [01:50] – Pivot from B2C to B2B (why B2C failed)
• [05:29] – Breakdown of revenue streams; coaching vs platform
• [06:27] – Jon’s warning against 20 avatars/verticals
• [09:44] – Discussion of scaling within the college/university vertical
• [10:27] – Counter-positioning strategy against entrenched competitors
• [14:19] – Digging into reliability/uptime as a differentiator
• [19:59] – Deep dive on current and competitor pricing
• [23:24] – Critique of site—need for testimonial videos/social proof
• [25:55] – Clarity on ideal customer: college career center
• [28:13] – Pricing optics and value perception
• [30:49] – Building urgency and value into pricing ("anchor high, discount early")
• [32:25] – Pre-demo lead nurturing and use of proof/testimonials
• [34:53] – Details on VSL and automated email priming
• [46:28] – Outline of Craig’s current sales script/discovery questions
• [47:21] – How to structure sales calls to surface and pitch to real pain
• [51:31] – Jon’s three-part prescription for 5x business growth

Conclusion

Jon Davids gives Craig—and all listening founders—a master class in B2B SaaS growth strategy. By focusing sharply on a single customer type, massively increasing pricing confidence, and leveraging the power of proof, Interview Focus has a clear, actionable path from a $200K business to $1M+ in sales, without needing more leads or major pivots. The strategies here are universally actionable for SaaS or service entrepreneurs looking to break out of stagnation and drive rapid, profitable growth.