Futureproof Founder Podcast

5 Reasons Your Cold Emails Are Getting Ignored in 2026| Mohan Muthoo | 400

This milestone 400th—and final—episode of SaaS Fuel brings clarity to what’s broken with outbound, why most companies blend into the noise, and how founders can actually futureproof their pipeline. Jeff Mains is joined by Mohan Muthoo, founder of Spring Drive—a go-to-market lab for B2B teams in fiercely competitive markets. Together, they break down why more signals, tools, and AI aren’t solving real outbound problems (and might be quietly killing your reply rates). Mohan shares a hard-hitting playbook for rethinking outbound, segmenting intelligently, and crafting messaging with genuine resonance. If you’re still spray-and-praying, this episode hands you the megaphone—with exactly what to say.Jeff Mains also announces the evolution of SaaS Fuel into Futureproof Founder, a show dedicated to helping founder-led companies build and last in a changing world.Key Takeaways00:00 Podcast journey and personal growth04:14 Understanding Sustainable Company Growth06:44 Starting the Spring Drive agency11:26 Differentiating and refining campaign strategy15:21 Thinking About AI Personalization18:07 Building trust in outbound marketing20:53 The pitfalls of personalization marketing23:12 Understanding Messaging in Sales Funnels27:07 Importance of message market fit32:18 Optimizing marketing and sales offers33:45 Email testing best practices37:38 Rethinking market segmentation40:24 Understanding Email Deliverability44:13 Conveying product simplicity48:42 Evaluating Messaging and Offers52:26 Show wrap-up and special announcement53:54 Podcast format and episode topicsTweetable Quotes“If your outbound message looks like everyone else’s, expect nothing but silence.”“Real personalization means offering what they truly want—not just what you found on LinkedIn.”“The tools don’t cook the meal, you do. Don’t skip learning the recipe.”“Your prospects don’t care about your tech—until you solve a pain they feel today.”“Message-market fit trumps product-market fit in the cold pipeline. Don’t confuse the two.”“Creativity and simplicity beat automation and volume—every time.”SaaS Leadership LessonsAdd Value or Get IgnoredThe modern buyer doesn’t want sales—they want substance. If you’re just pitching, you’re already tuned out.Be Relentlessly DifferentiatedGood isn’t good enough. If your message looks like your competitors, expect silence.Personalization without Relevance is NoiseThe best info in the world about a prospect is useless if you’re not addressing their actual desire or pain.Test Like a Scientist, Act Like a ChefYou don’t just need more tools—you need a repeatable process and creativity to refine your “recipe.”Don’t Assume What Works Inbound Will Convert OutboundCold prospects aren’t thinking the same way as warm leads or inbound demos. Tailor accordingly.Volume Matters—But So Does Smart VolumeIf you aren’t sending enough, you’ll never get statistical significance. But blind volume without segmentation and message fit is wasted effort.Guest Resourcesmohan@spring-drive.comspringdrive.cohttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mohankm1/Episode SponsorThe Futureproof Series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfkXKUPZ5xuOqMPR7_gzGybncTtavyR1NThe Captain's KeysSmall Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel’Champion Leadership Group – https://championleadership.com/SaaS Fuel ResourcesWebsite - https://championleadership.com/Jeff Mains on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkmains/Twitter - https://twitter.com/jeffkmainsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/thesaasguy/Instagram - https://instagram.com/jeffkmains

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7 Lessons On Scaling A Business Without Burning Out | Robin Sims-Allen | 400

2w ago00:44:14Tap to summarize

In this episode, Robin Sims Allen—agile consultant, founder of Phoenix Marcus, and creator of Total Her—joins the show for a direct conversation on why speed isn’t always your superpower and how building intentional, protected communities is the long-term win nobody is talking about. The episode unpacks the invisible cultural and emotional bottlenecks slowing down execution in organizations, the pitfalls leaders face when they skip listening, and why Total Her is rewriting the playbook for women-first platforms. From enterprise consulting to founder resilience, Robin challenges the default fast-growth script and lays down practical ways to build what lasts—starting with real trust and real community.Key Takeaways00:00 Slowing down to solve problems06:07 Identifying tech industry issues07:22 Challenges with company alignment12:03 Creating a supportive space for women16:59 Creating a genuine marketing space18:15 Content protection measures21:50 Rethinking AI for future needs25:38 Focus on people over profit27:48 Leadership book reveals key relationships32:46 Choosing the right investors34:45 Choosing for-profit over nonprofit40:13 Commitment to Female Empowerment42:04 Sharing and promoting the podcastTweetable QuotesWhy Slowing Down is a Superpower: "But at some point, speed stops being a superpower and starts being a blind spot. You're so busy fixing, building and pivoting that nobody's actually stopped to ask are we even solving the right problem?" — Jeff MainsSustainable Scaling Secrets: "Sustainable scaling requires discipline, not just activity." — Jeff MainsEmotional and Cultural Bottlenecks in Teams: "Robin's focus is the stuff that doesn't show up on org charts, the emotional and cultural bottlenecks that quietly kill execution and erode trust across teams." — Jeff MainsDisconnect Between Leadership and Execution: "They have a general idea because they're selling it, they're supporting it, but behind the scenes, the operation of it, getting it done, that's where a lot of C suite just doesn't have that exposure unless they did a startup and they started from the ground up." — Robin Sims AllenThe Hidden Cost of Constant Change in Tech Leadership: "And then the funny part is leadership is not alignment with the mission either because they change it every week, right? And if you're changing it every week, then how do you expect a team to deliver what you're expecting them to deliver?" — Robin Sims AllenWomen Facing Burnout in the Corporate World: "Some of them are leaving the corporate arena because they have no choice. Some of them are being pushed out because the opportunities to move up is just not that easy for women." — Robin Sims AllenEmpowering Women Through One Platform: "And also it's meant to support women in whatever stage of life they're in, whether they want to be a business owner or whether they just want to be a part of a community." — Robin Sims AllenSaaS Leadership LessonsSlow Down to Go FastDeliberate observation at the start ensures you’re solving the right problem—and not just the loudest one.Map the Power DynamicsLearn who really knows what, who’s quiet (and why), and where decisions stall—don’t assume org charts tell the true story.Hold the Line on ValuesDon’t let pressure from investors or the market erode your intent—choose partners who align with your vision.Build for Trust, Not Just TractionProtect your users’ data, privacy, and experience. Lasting brands are built on trust, not just speed to market.Be Ruthless About Your AudienceYou're not for everybody—and that’s your strength. Community thrives when it’s designed for a specific group and their real pain points.Communicate So People Get ItDitch the jargon. Use plain language and meet people where they are, inside and outside your organization.Guest Resourcesrsimsallen@phoenixmarcus.onlinewww.totalher.cohttps://www.facebook.com/rsimsallen/https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinsimsallen/https://www.instagram.com/rsimsallenEpisode SponsorThe Futureproof Series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfkXKUPZ5xuOqMPR7_gzGybncTtavyR1NThe Captain's KeysSmall Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel’Champion Leadership Group – https://championleadership.com/SaaS Fuel ResourcesWebsite - https://championleadership.com/Jeff Mains on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkmains/Twitter - https://twitter.com/jeffkmainsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/thesaasguy/Instagram - https://instagram.com/jeffkmains

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How SaaS Companies Escape the “Messy Middle” of Growth | Corinne Cavanaugh | 398

3w ago00:49:18Tap to summarize

Most SaaS founders in the messy middle are making the same expensive mistake — building first and validating never. In this episode, Jeff Mains sits down with Corinne Kavanagh, founder of CAC Media & Publishing and former Microsoft Azure Data team contributor (part of a team that drove $500M+ in revenue with 76% YoY growth), to unpack what it actually takes to scale past the growth plateau.Corinne shares why your top-of-funnel obsession may be quietly killing your growth, how to validate demand before writing a single line of code, and why a fractional CMO may be the smartest hire you're not making. She also introduces her CARE re-engagement method, her SaaS Marketing Playbook, and the SCALE framework for building an AI-first marketing department without homogenizing your brand.If your business is growing and suffocating at the same time, this episode is for you.Key Takeaways0:24 — Welcome & episode framing: Why the messy middle is where most SaaS companies stall out3:22 — Guest intro: Corinne Kavanagh, founder of CAC Media, fractional CMO firm for SaaS & tech companies4:10 — Startups vs. enterprise: What big companies do differently — and what smaller companies can learn from retail validation models5:12 — Feature prioritization trap: Why founders rush to build before validating demand, and how to use micro-testing ($5–$10 ad spend) to validate before committing resources15:30 — Pre-development checklist: ICP study → messaging tests → distribution partner conversations → pricing research → competitive analysis17:09 — Competitor vs. customer time allocation: Why founders should be "in all channels" — and how AI tools can automate competitive monitoring23:04 — AI modernization in marketing: Efficiency gains without sacrificing brand authenticity — plus the importance of an AI use policy23:49 — Early churn warning systems: The retention play most SaaS teams ignore — and how to re-engage customers before they leave24:24 — The CARE Method: Corinne's re-engagement framework for growing lifetime value and sealing the leaky bucket25:08 — Account-based marketing (ABM): Why a focused list of 100 ideal accounts beats a massive TAM for execution27:01 — Growth plateaus: How to read your revenue chart — what "bubbles" mean vs. a flat line, and what each signals about your acquisition and retention engines29:48 — Aligning marketing, product & sales: Breaking down the wall between sales and marketing through co-invention, shared messaging, and CMO-level integration40:38 — The SCALE Framework: How to build an AI-first marketing department without producing brand slop45:24 — #1 marketing shift for 2026: Stop running your company — start building systems that run it for youTweetable Quotes"You can beat everyone else to market — but if your customer is not ready and chomping at the bit to buy it, it doesn't matter." — Corinne Kavanagh"Stop thinking about top of funnel only. Retention is half the story, and most SaaS companies are ignoring it." — Corinne Kavanagh"A consultant does a drive-by. They drop strategy and leave. That's not how you actually scale." — Corinne Kavanagh"If you're in the feature rat race, step back. Ask yourself: am I creating a category, or just chasing competitors?" — Corinne Kavanagh"Your marketing team should feel responsible for the P&L — not just the pipeline." — Corinne Kavanagh"Don't give sales a playbook and say 'go sell it.' Alignment has to be co-invention, or no one buys in." — Corinne Kavanagh"The most dangerous thing you can do with your runway right now might be shipping the next great feature." — Jeff Mains"Pretend you have a $200M company. What would you stop doing that you're doing right now?" — Corinne KavanaghSaaS Leadership Lessons1. Validate demand before you build — always. Retail companies won't spin up a new product line without marketplace testing. SaaS founders should apply the same discipline. Run micro-ads ($5–$10), talk to a pre-engagement cohort, and confirm that desire is "fiery enough to click the buy button" before writing a line of code.2. Your leaky bucket is as dangerous as an empty funnel. Pouring money into top-of-funnel while ignoring churn is a losing strategy. Build early churn warning systems using platform data (login frequency, monthly active users) and re-engage customers proactively before they silently leave out the back door.3. Bring marketing into R&D — not just into launch. Marketing shouldn't receive a finished product and be told to "figure out how to message it." A CMO-level voice in early R&D conversations means better competitive analysis, more relevant feature decisions, and messaging that actually lands in the marketplace.4. Break down the wall between sales and marketing. The old grudge match — "sales can't close our leads" vs. "marketing gives us garbage" — is a systems failure. Solve it through collaborative co-invention: shared meetings, shared messaging, and shared accountability for what's working.5. Category creation beats feature competition. If you're in a feature rat race with competitors, you've already lost the game. Step back and ask: how do we position ourselves so far apart from the competition that comparison becomes irrelevant? Companies like WooCommerce and GoDaddy didn't win by having more features — they won by creating new categories.6. Systems are your most important 2026 marketing investment. The #1 shift every SaaS founder needs to make: stop running the machine manually. Build systems around what's consuming your time, project forward to what a 100X customer base would require, and install those systems now. That's what gets you out of the messy middle for good.Guest Resourcescc@cac-media.comhttps://cac-media.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnefss/https://www.instagram.com/corinnecava/https://twitter.com/Corinne_C_WAEpisode SponsorThe Futureproof Series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfkXKUPZ5xuOqMPR7_gzGybncTtavyR1NThe Captain's KeysSmall Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel’Champion Leadership Group – https://championleadership.com/SaaS Fuel ResourcesWebsite - https://championleadership.com/Jeff Mains on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkmains/Twitter - https://twitter.com/jeffkmainsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/thesaasguy/Instagram - https://instagram.com/jeffkmains

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What Founders Get Wrong About AI, Cybersecurity & Market Shifts | Mike Armistead | 397

3w ago00:48:26Tap to summarize

Mike Armistead has been in the room for almost every major technology wave of the past 30 years — from client-server computing, to the early internet at Lycos, to application security at Fortify Software (acquired by HP), to AI-driven security at Respond Software (acquired by FireEye for $186M, eventually folded into Google). Now on his sixth startup, he's CEO of Pulse Security AI, building what he calls a "system of record" for security leaders — giving CISOs the same kind of business-level visibility that CFOs get from their ERP and sales leaders get from their CRM.In this episode, Jeff and Mike dig into the weight of inertia that slows every major technology transition, why conviction is the one thing that gets founders through the rough patches, and how to stress-test your assumptions before spending a year building something people will admire but never buy. They also go deep on the evolving cybersecurity landscape — why security tools have historically grown in siloed, technical layers, why AI-driven threats (deepfakes, impersonation, prompt injection) are accelerating faster than most organizations can respond, and why scenario planning is no longer a quarterly exercise — it's a survival skill.Key Takeaways0:00 — Intro: The real obstacle to technology transitions isn't innovation — it's the weight of existing systems, habits, and inertia3:00 — Why conviction is the essential quality that gets founders through rough patches in every startup cycle7:00 — Lessons from Reed Hastings' Pure Software: culture, ethics, and values were being built even before Netflix9:00 — Risk evaluation after multiple exits: what Mike learned from walking into a high-debt company right before 9/11 — and why structural due diligence matters as much as product quality11:30 — The value of tabletop exercises: role-playing "what if" scenarios with co-founders and executives surfaces risks you'd never otherwise think about12:45 — What is Pulse Security AI? The gap between technical security data and business-level decision-making — and why CISOs are the only C-suite executives without a true system of record16:30 — How an agentic layer can connect siloed security tools and translate technical risk data into the business language boards actually need18:40 — Leading through platform shifts: understanding early vs. late adopters and why you can't force mainstream buyers before they're ready21:00 — Security's evolution from compliance checkbox to strategic business function — and why the threat landscape is always moving in multiple dimensions simultaneously24:20 — AI-driven threats, deepfakes, and the "trust and verify" world: practical security posture advice for companies of all sizes33:00 — Fundraising on your sixth startup: how the investment landscape has shifted (seed rounds now include institutional investors; A rounds now require real revenue)39:30 — Avoiding the customer feedback trap: why "that's cool" is not the same as "I'd pay for that" — and how to ask the uncomfortable pricing question early41:30 — The AI hype cycle: the one question that never changes — are you adding enough value that someone will pay for it?45:00 — The future of cybersecurity over the next five years: breaking down silos, AI-driven threat acceleration, and why humans still need to stay in the loopTweetable Quotes"Conviction is essential. It's what gets you through the rough patches — and there are always rough patches." — Mike Armistead"History doesn't repeat itself, but it certainly rhymes. You're gonna encounter certain things everywhere, and you have to learn how to break out of the bucket people want to put you in." — Mike Armistead"'That's cool' is not the same as 'I'd pay for that.' You have to listen for when they start thinking about how they can buy it." — Mike Armistead"Risk mitigation isn't a 'done' setting. Just because you're certified today doesn't mean you're protected tomorrow." — Mike Armistead"We live in a trust-and-verify world. If something is asking you to do something you wouldn't normally do, the flags have to go up." — Mike Armistead"AI doesn't scale people. It scales attacks. The infrastructure we built was designed for a different threat landscape." — Mike ArmisteadSaaS Leadership LessonsConviction is your most valuable asset in a hard growth cycle. Every startup goes through wild swings. The founders who make it through aren't the ones with the best product at every moment — they're the ones who maintained conviction that what they were building would be genuinely valuable to their customers. Momentum fades. Conviction doesn't.Do your structural due diligence before you walk in. Mike's hardest lesson came from his first CEO role: a high-debt company that collapsed not because the business was failing, but because lenders called loans after 9/11. The business itself was fine. The structure killed it. Always understand the financial architecture of what you're walking into — especially in uncertain macro environments.Run tabletop exercises with your leadership team. Don't wait for a crisis to figure out your response. Role-play "what if" scenarios regularly with your co-founders and executives. Someone always surfaces a risk you hadn't considered — and the solutions are often simpler than you'd expect. This is no longer optional; it's a survival skill.Know where you are in the adoption curve — and don't fight it. Early adopters will take a chance on you because they see competitive advantage. Mainstream buyers need proof points. Late adopters need to see their peers doing it. Pestering a mainstream buyer with an early-stage pitch isn't a winning fight. Build for the stage you're actually in.Ask the uncomfortable pricing question early and often. Founders are wired to build. We're not always wired to sell. But the market will tell you the truth faster than any advisor. Ask potential customers directly: "Would you pay X for this?" Fight through the politeness. Watch for buying signals — when someone starts thinking about procurement rather than just nodding along, you're onto something.Stop building for "cool" — build for "when can I buy it?" Customer enthusiasm and purchase intent are not the same thing. If your beta testers are telling you it's great but nobody's asking how to get it, you haven't found product-market fit. Continually test your story, move toward a bigger narrative when needed, and keep engaging the market until the signals change.Guest Resourcesmike@pulsesecurity.aipulsesecurity.aihttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-armistead-1164715/Episode SponsorThe Futureproof Series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfkXKUPZ5xuOqMPR7_gzGybncTtavyR1NThe Captain's KeysSmall Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel’Champion Leadership Group – https://championleadership.com/SaaS Fuel ResourcesWebsite - https://championleadership.com/Jeff Mains on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkmains/Twitter - https://twitter.com/jeffkmainsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/thesaasguy/Instagram - https://instagram.com/jeffkmains

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How Founders Can Use AI Without Creating More Chaos | Jenna Nelson | 396

4w ago00:47:37Tap to summarize

Most founders are on one of two extremes when it comes to AI: either completely overwhelmed and frozen, or trying to bolt AI onto everything at once. Neither works. In this episode, Jeff Mains sits down with Jenna Nelson, nationally recognized AI strategist and founder of Her AI Agency, to explore what intentional AI adoption actually looks like — and why getting it right starts long before you ever open a single tool.Jenna introduces her Align, Automate, Appear framework, a practical three-step system for implementing AI in a way that actually creates leverage instead of chaos. She breaks down why broken processes shouldn't be handed to AI (they'll just break faster), why tool-hopping is costing founders more than they realize, and why the businesses that implement AI strategically right now will leave everyone else behind in the next two years.If you're trying to figure out where AI actually fits inside your business without wasting money, time, or your sanity, this episode delivers a grounded, practical roadmap.Key Takeaways4:23 — **Most founders are at one of two extremes:** Completely afraid to start, or trying to AI-everything at once. The real strategy lives in between — choosing specific, appropriate use cases rather than avoiding AI or using it indiscriminately.5:33 — **A broken process is not the right fit for AI.** AI is great for repeatable, well-ironed-out tasks. If your process is already broken, AI will just accelerate how quickly it breaks. Fix the process first, then automate it. 11:19 — **There's a two-sided responsibility model with AI.** The AI is responsible for execution — but you are responsible for giving it context, parameters, guardrails, and training. Garbage in, garbage out. The quality of your inputs determines the quality of your outcomes. 6:53 — **The barriers facing female founders in AI:** Three compounding factors — cultural isolation from the "tech bro" ecosystem, less discretionary time per week, and only ~5% of funding going to women-led businesses — create a meaningful gap in AI adoption that Jenna is working to close. 14:13 — **One well-trained tool beats eight half-used ones.** Shiny object syndrome — jumping from ChatGPT to Claude to Gemini when results disappoint — almost always means the problem isn't the tool. It's the lack of training, context, and consistency. Pick your workhorse and go deep. 20:17 — **Voice AI for small law firms: a real-world example.** Small law firms were getting destroyed on social media for not calling people back — not because they didn't care, but because case volume was overwhelming. Voice AI now handles intake, lead filtering, and appointment setting, freeing attorneys to do attorney work. 39:21 — **Start with one workflow.** Don't try to automate everything at once. Find the one repetitive task — especially anything you're doing yourself at 2 AM — and start there. Once you see the improvement, compound it to the next step and the next department. 41:12 — **Jenna's Align, Automate, Appear framework:** Align first — get your brand, SOPs, and processes documented before touching any AI tool. Then automate the repeatable tasks. Then use the time you've freed up to Appear: show up as the face of your brand, network, be on stages, talk to customers. 42:35 — **The "Appear" stage is about visibility in a changed world.** Ranking on Google is no longer enough. Your audience is now searching Perplexity, TikTok, YouTube, and AI assistants. Content needs to be built in a query-and-answer format to stay discoverable as the search landscape shifts away from keyword dominance. 43:54 — **Google's dominance is ending.** Search behavior is fragmenting across AI platforms and social media. Founders who align their content strategy now for this new reality will maintain visibility; those who don't will quietly disappear from discoverability.Tweetable Quotes"A broken process is not the right fit for AI. AI is great for a repeatable, well-ironed-out process — something boring that you're doing repetitively. If it's already broken, AI will just make it a more broken process, faster." — Jenna Nelson"There's a two-sided responsibility model with AI. There's what the AI is responsible for, and there's what YOU are responsible for. Those pieces are just as important as what the AI is doing." — Jenna Nelson"One tool that you train really well — even if it's not the most powerful tool — will serve you far better than eight different tools you're hopping between without carrying over context." — Jenna Nelson"It may feel okay right now to not have AI in your business. But think about two years from now. Your competitors are going to leave you behind if you don't start adapting." — Jenna Nelson"The goal of Align, Automate, Appear is to move you through a process that creates space and creates time — so you can go be the face of your brand and do the things only humans can do." — Jenna Nelson"Everything lives in the founder's brain, which is great. But I need it on paper and documented to train AI to do what you do." — Jenna Nelson"AI is going to help us develop better human relationships in some cases — purely because we're removing the places where it just doesn't need a human touch." — Jenna NelsonSaaS Leadership Lessons1. Strategy first, tools second. The most common AI mistake isn't choosing the wrong tool — it's skipping strategy altogether. Before you implement anything, document your brand, your processes, and your SOPs. AI can only be as good as the context you give it. Alignment must come before automation.2. Fix before you automate. Handing a broken process to AI doesn't fix it — it amplifies the dysfunction at scale. The work of identifying where leads fall through the cracks, where workflows are undefined, and where knowledge lives only in someone's head is not busywork. It is the prerequisite to any meaningful AI adoption.3. Depth beats breadth with AI tools. Switching platforms every time results disappoint is one of the costliest habits founders have. The context, training, and institutional knowledge built inside a well-used AI tool is genuinely hard to replicate. Commit to your workhorse, go deep, and resist the urge to chase the next release.4. Human judgment isn't optional — it's the product. AI handles volume; humans handle nuance. The leaders who win with AI aren't the ones who automate everything — they're the ones who identify precisely where human judgment, relationship, and trust are irreplaceable, and then protect that space fiercely while letting AI handle everything else.5. Your incentive structures must evolve with AI. If your team's performance metrics reward call volume and AI is handling the simple calls, your best people will look like they're underperforming. AI adoption requires a review of how you measure success. Metrics built for a manual world will misrepresent and demotivate a team working in an AI-enabled one.6. Visibility has new rules. Google-first content strategy is no longer sufficient. Your customers are searching Perplexity, asking ChatGPT, browsing TikTok, and watching YouTube. Build your content in a query-and-answer format, show up across the platforms where your audience actually spends time, and treat discoverability as a multi-channel leadership responsibility — not just an SEO checkbox.Guest Resourcesjenna@heraigency.comheraigency.comhttps://www.facebook.com/herAIgencyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jennalnelson/Episode SponsorThe Futureproof Series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfkXKUPZ5xuOqMPR7_gzGybncTtavyR1NThe Captain's KeysSmall Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel’Champion Leadership Group – https://championleadership.com/SaaS Fuel ResourcesWebsite - https://championleadership.com/Jeff Mains on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkmains/Twitter - https://twitter.com/jeffkmainsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/thesaasguy/Instagram - https://instagram.com/jeffkmains

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Why the Best Financial Advisors Focus on Trust, Timing & Data | Rylan Folts | 395

Jun 900:47:08Tap to summarize

Rylan Foltz went from JP Morgan analyst to independent wealth advisor to co-founding WealthFeed — a marketing and prospecting platform helping financial advisors find better clients faster using predictive analytics and behavioral data. In this episode, Rylan walks through the full arc of that journey and unpacks the strategic decisions that took WealthFeed from zero to thousands of advisors in just two years.Jeff and Rylan dig into why the wealth management industry is so underserved by marketing technology, the power of building bottom-up before going enterprise, how to make a SaaS product genuinely sticky in a regulated industry, and why your distribution moat matters more than your product moat in an era where anyone can spin up a competing product overnight.Whether you're a first-time founder trying to crack product-market fit, or a scaling SaaS leader thinking through enterprise sales cycles, pricing strategy, and team-building, this episode delivers actionable insight on all fronts.Key Takeaways3:47 — The Origin of WealthFeed Rylan realized as a practicing advisor that organic growth was the hardest part of the job — and that the wealth management industry had almost no structured approach to marketing. That gap became the business.6:15 — Why Finance Is Marketing's Last Frontier Advisors can name the big firms but not their local competitors. The industry is dominated by aging, lifestyle-mode advisors who stopped teaching growth tactics — leaving a giant opportunity for a niche marketing platform.10:39 — What's Old Is New Again WealthFeed offers machine-written handwritten notes that look like wedding invitations. In a world saturated with digital communication, old-school physical outreach is standing out again.11:22 — Stop Thinking Leads, Start Building Assets Advisors shouldn't buy leads — they should build a database audience the way Budweiser buys Super Bowl ads: consistent, compounding, ROI over time.13:01 — Niche Marketing Builds Trust Generic messaging ("I help with retirement planning") signals you don't know your prospect. Hyper-specific messaging ("I work exclusively with SaaS co-founders on RSUs and equity comp") creates immediate trust and relevance.14:12 — The All-in-One Platform Advantage WealthFeed layers CRM, outbound marketing (LinkedIn, email, direct mail, handwritten notes), and proprietary data into one workflow — so advisors don't stitch together five point solutions.17:41 — Simplicity Over Power at Launch Early on, feature overload slowed adoption. The lesson: launch with one compelling use case (for WealthFeed, inheritance lead data), get users in the door, then upsell from there.20:55 — Your Moat Is Your Distribution AI lets anyone copy a product in a weekend. What can't be copied overnight is your relationships, your user base, and the custom integrations you've built into a customer's workflow.25:03 — Bottom-Up Enterprise Strategy WealthFeed got traction by signing individual advisors first, letting the grassroots demand bubble up to management — which created enterprise deals without having to wait in long procurement queues.27:09 — Don't Hunt Elephants Until You Can Afford To Enterprise deals can drag for three years. Without revenue from individual and SMB customers, a startup can starve waiting for that one big contract to close.29:28 — Hybrid Pricing: Access Fee + Usage Credits Flat subscriptions don't work when one advisor sends 20,000 handwritten notes and another logs in once a month. A hybrid model lets you charge for scale without penalizing light users.31:28 — Price High, Discount Down Starting low and raising prices creates churn and resentment. Starting at a premium and offering a promotional discount sets expectations — customers know the real value from day one.33:19 — Balancing Founder Vision vs. Customer Feedback A 50/50 split: take customer input seriously, but don't become a yes-man. The most successful founders — especially those who've lived the problem — trust their forward vision even when customers can't yet see it.35:59 — Build Infrastructure Before You're Drowning WealthFeed hired sales, dev, and customer success earlier than felt necessary. That foundation is now why their customer success "outperforms anyone else in the industry."38:30 — Flatten the Org to Connect Dev and Customer Tech teams that never see how the product is used build the wrong things. WealthFeed has engineers sit in on sales calls so they understand why features matter, not just what to build.39:45 — Let Compliance Work With You, Not Against You Instead of pitching firms on new compliance workflows, WealthFeed integrates into whatever compliance process already exists — dramatically speeding up enterprise approvals.Tweetable Quotes"Your moat is your distribution. Go-to-market has gotten extremely valuable because you could almost create the product overnight." — Rylan Foltz"Stop thinking about leads. Start thinking about building an audience, a database, an asset for life." — Rylan Foltz"No one wants a generalist. Everyone wants the best knee surgeon in the country. As an advisor, you've got to become really niche-focused." — Rylan Foltz"Start your pricing high. You can always discount down. It's really hard to raise prices." — Rylan Foltz"It's easier to sell one flavor of ice cream and say it's the best than to offer 32 flavors and create option overload." — Rylan Foltz"What's old is new. Everything shifted to digital, so old-school processes are how you stand out now." — Rylan Foltz"You'll be most successful solving a problem you personally went through. It comes across in your sales, your fundraising, everything." — Rylan Foltz"Don't get too caught up in enterprise until you build up the user base. Get revenue first, then you can afford to chase the elephants." — Rylan FoltzSaaS Leadership Lessons1. Niche down relentlessly — and mean it. Rylan didn't just say "we focus on financial advisors." WealthFeed built every feature, every data layer, and every compliance workflow around that single ICP. The more specific your niche, the stronger your trust signal, the better your retention, and the harder you are to displace. Generalist products get commoditized. Specialists get embedded.2. Distribution is the real product. In a world where a working SaaS product can be replicated in a weekend, your go-to-market is your most defensible asset. Relationships, user base saturation within target firms, custom integrations, and compliance workflow ownership are what prevent a competitor from walking in and saying "we do the same thing." Build distribution as intentionally as you build product.3. Start simple — layer complexity after adoption. Feature-rich doesn't mean better. WealthFeed launched with one use case (inheritance lead data) and expanded from there. Getting a user in the door on one powerful idea is vastly easier than selling a full platform. Upselling to an existing user is far more efficient than converting a prospect who's overwhelmed at first glance.4. Build your team infrastructure earlier than you think you need it. Founders often hire only when they're already underwater. Rylan and his team built out sales, dev, and customer success before they felt the pressure — and that head start compounded into top-tier customer outcomes. Infrastructure built under stress tends to crack. Infrastructure built with intention scales.5. Price to your value, then offer strategic discounts. Starting low might feel like a growth hack, but it sets a price anchor that's almost impossible to raise without friction. Starting at a premium gives you room to discount strategically, run promos, and still maintain perceived value. Customers who came in knowing the "real" price won't balk at renewal the way customers who got a surprise price hike will.6. Close the gap between your builders and your buyers. One of WealthFeed's most impactful structural choices: having engineers sit in on sales calls. When the people building the product understand how it's actually used — and why it matters — they build better, faster, and with more empathy. Kill the wall between tech and go-to-market. Your roadmap will thank you.Guest Resourcesrylan@wealthfeed.comhttps://www.wealthfeed.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/rylanfolts/Episode SponsorThe Futureproof Series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfkXKUPZ5xuOqMPR7_gzGybncTtavyR1NThe Captain's KeysSmall Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel’Champion Leadership Group – https://championleadershi...

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How Modern Companies Scale Through Operational Automation | Garrett Fritz | 394

Jun 400:46:01Tap to summarize

Most growing companies are held together by spreadsheets that nobody fully understands — built by someone who left three jobs ago, maintained by someone who doesn't know why it exists, and quietly critical to daily operations. In this episode, Jeff Mains sits down with Garrett Fritz, co-founder of MetaCTO, a fractional CTO firm that helps mid-market companies transform outdated operational processes into custom, scalable software.Garrett breaks down why so many organizations are trapped in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mindset, how AI has lowered the barrier to custom software without eliminating the need for expertise, and when it actually makes sense to build your own tool versus buying off-the-shelf SaaS. He also shares how internal tools can evolve into white-labeled revenue generators — and the most common mistake founders make when they try to take that leap too fast.Whether you're drowning in manual processes, questioning your SaaS spend, or wondering how to implement AI responsibly, this episode delivers a practical, no-hype roadmap.Key Takeaways4:37 — **The #1 operational inefficiency Garrett sees:** Hundreds or thousands of employees running mission-critical operations on a spreadsheet built a decade ago by someone who's since been promoted — and nobody knows why it has the formulas it has. 6:15 — **What "turning spreadsheets into apps" actually means:** MetaCTO embeds in the business, decodes the spreadsheets, understands the workflows, and builds working software that can replace the internal process — or be taken to market as a SaaS product. 7:54 — **Profitable from day one:** Because Garrett and his partner came with a thick Rolodex from 15–20 years in tech leadership, MetaCTO launched with clients already lined up — no burning cash to find product-market fit. 13:27 — **70% of AI POCs never see the light of day:** The excitement dies when teams realize how much effort is involved. MetaCTO's focus is getting those 90%-done prototypes all the way to the finish line. 18:34 — **Build custom vs. buy SaaS — the real decision framework:** After 2–4 weeks embedded in a business, MetaCTO looks at licensing costs, actual feature utilization (often just 2% of the SaaS product), man-hours wasted, and growth trajectory to determine the ROI break-even point. 28:25 — **Niches win:** SaaS isn't dead — it's narrowing. The companies gaining ground are building hyper-specific tools for specific industries (think: Procore, but only for commercial plumbers) where the UI, reports, and workflows are built around exactly how that niche operates. 31:33 — **The #1 mistake when productizing internal software:** Not talking to the second customer. Your problems aren't always everyone else's problems. Validate outside your organization before building for market, or you risk six months of rework when the deltas turn out to be core to the platform. 33:40 — **How to actually quantify the ROI of custom software:** Bake usage analytics into every product from day one. Track utilization, time on platform, transactions processed, and revenue generated — then compare to the man-hour cost baseline captured during discovery. 39:14 — **Responsible AI implementation starts with one rule: Resist "Accept All."** Don't grant admin tokens to AI agents for convenience. Suffer through permissions early so you don't face irreparable reputation or business damage when a bad actor exploits an over-permissioned agent. 41:22 — **The smartest first step for any leader feeling stuck:** Use AI tools like Replit to build a prototype with fake data. Don't try to connect it to real systems — just use it to force yourself through the problem-solving process. Come to the conversation with a working wireframe and you'll skip weeks of expensive discovery.Tweetable QuotesAt the heart of it is some Excel spreadsheet that some employee made 10 years ago — and it is critical to the operation." — Garrett Fritz"70% of AI proof of concept projects have never seen the light of day. It's pretty common to get excited about something and then realize, oh, this is a lot more effort than we thought." — Garrett Fritz"You can't just give a layman a chainsaw and expect to be a carpenter. A little bit of finesse and experience goes a long way." — Garrett Fritz"The niches win. The companies gaining ground are building hyper-specific tools for specific industries — where the UI, reports, and workflows are built around exactly how that niche operates." — Garrett Fritz"We never build it and run away. And as you can imagine, anyone who's created a piece of software has never said 'I'm done' either." — Garrett Fritz"Resist 'Accept All.' Give the AI admin access for convenience, and you're one bad actor away from irreparable damage to your business." — Garrett Fritz"AI is most valuable when it's applied to real business friction — not just trendy experiments or chatbots. Nobody needs another one of those." — Jeff MainsSaaS Leadership Lessons1. Familiarity is the enemy of efficiency. The "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality keeps organizations locked in spreadsheet-driven operations for years — sometimes decades. The pain point has to get big enough to justify change, but by then the cost of switching is enormous. Don't wait for a crisis to modernize.2. The barrier to custom software has dropped — but expertise still matters. AI tools like Replit and Lovable have made it possible for non-developers to prototype software. But there's a massive gap between a 90%-done prototype and a production-ready, secure, maintainable application. Knowing what you're doing still matters.3. Don't buy features you'll never use. Most enterprise SaaS customers use 2% of the product's functionality — but pay for 100% of the license. When your team is only using 2% of the product and only 50% of the people who should be using it actually are, you're compounding inefficiency at every layer.4. Build for the second customer before you build for the market. If you think your internal tool has market potential, validate it with people outside your organization before investing further. Your problems are not automatically everyone else's problems. The cost of discovering core delta requirements after six months of development is enormous.5. Measure everything from day one. Custom software that doesn't have baked-in usage analytics is a black box. You can't demonstrate ROI, you can't justify ongoing investment, and you can't make intelligent roadmap decisions. Instrument every product with utilization metrics, transaction data, and performance monitoring from the start.6. AI governance isn't optional — it's the first conversation. The most dangerous thing you can do is grant your AI agents broad permissions during development and never revisit it. Treat AI like a junior employee: define its scope, limit its access, and require human approval for anything with downstream consequences. Someone always has to be the final buck.Guest Resourcesgarrett@metacto.comhttps://metacto.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/grfritz/https://www.linkedin.com/in/grfritz/Episode SponsorThe Futureproof Series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfkXKUPZ5xuOqMPR7_gzGybncTtavyR1NThe Captain's KeysSmall Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel’Champion Leadership Group – https://championleadership.com/SaaS Fuel ResourcesWebsite - https://championleadership.com/Jeff Mains on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkmains/Twitter - https://twitter.com/jeffkmainsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/thesaasguy/Instagram - https://instagram.com/jeffkmains

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The Hyperscaler Playbook: Co-Selling, AI & Ecosystem Growth | Chaitra Vedullapalli | 393

Jun 200:46:47Tap to summarize

What does it actually take to partner with Microsoft, Google, or Amazon — and turn that relationship into real revenue? In this episode, Jeff Mains sits down with Chaitra Vedullapalli, co-founder of Women in Cloud and pioneer of the Co-Launch 4P Framework. Chaitra spent nearly 27 years inside corporate giants like Oracle and Microsoft before stepping out to build a global economic access movement that has unlocked over $600 million for founders across 120 countries.She breaks down exactly why most SaaS founders get ignored by hyperscalers (hint: it's a mindset problem), how to align your go-to-market to their priorities instead of your own, and the practical framework she uses to drive visibility, demand, and partnerships at scale. You'll also learn the critical difference between a gateway offer and a core revenue offer — and why confusing the two is silently killing your pipeline.If you're building a SaaS or AI product and want to stop feeling invisible to enterprise giants, this episode is your roadmap.Key Takeaways4:17 — **The brutal truth about hyperscaler ecosystems.** Billions in multi-year cloud commitments are happening inside the Big Three, and most founders don't even know these opportunities exist. Hyperscalers aren't waiting for you — they're waiting for founders who want to co-launch with them.5:24 — **Why founders get ignored.** Founders enter hyperscaler ecosystems with a founder-led, "me-first" sales mindset — but hyperscalers want partners who can attract customers, build unique IP on their platforms, and co-own go-to-market.8:22 — **Origin of Women in Cloud.** Written on a napkin with a goal to democratize $1 billion in economic access, Women in Cloud has grown into a 150,000-member distribution engine across 120 countries, with $600M already unlocked.19:14 — **What being "in the hyperscaler channel" actually looks like.** It's not just listing your product on a marketplace. True channel presence means co-presenting at events, appearing in joint press releases, getting amplified through their marketing, and executing inside *their* rhythm — not yours.22:29 — **The Co-Launch 4P Framework explained.** Product offer, Promotion, Publicity, and Partnership — and how the EmpowerHer 50 campaign used all four to generate 10 million impressions and unlock $1M in AI scholarships through Microsoft.27:21 — **How to access the hyperscaler calendar.** Join their ISV or founder partner program — the full calendar of AI tours, product launches, and summits is available. Use it to architect your campaign around their priorities, not yours.28:07 — **Gateway offer vs. core offer.** Every founder needs two offers: a gateway offer (free, educational, easy to join — builds visibility and trust) and a core revenue offer (paid transformation — what hyperscalers ultimately care about).33:32 — **How leadership evolves from corporate to founder.** In corporate, someone sets the paradigm shift for you. As a founder, you *are* the paradigm shift. Chaitra shares how she learned to set direction, communicate vision, and lead through ambiguity.37:03 — **Why you have more leverage than you think.** You're not a small fish asking a favor. Your SaaS product drives cloud consumption revenue for hyperscalers. You bring them customers, solutions for their field sellers, and ecosystem diversity — all at once.41:55 — **The one thing to do today.** Learn the language before you knock the door. Replace "sponsorship ask" with "co-investment." Say co-build, co-sell, co-launch — and build something so indispensable they come to *you*.Tweetable Quotes"Hyperscalers are not waiting for founders. They are waiting for founders who want to co-launch their go-to-market with them." — Chaitra Vedullapalli"Being in the hyperscaler channel is not a status. It's an activity. It requires you showing up, staying aligned, and executing inside their rhythm — not your rhythm." — Chaitra Vedullapalli"You don't want to ask them to dance. You have to build something worth dancing with — and make it impossible for them to refuse." — Chaitra Vedullapalli"Stop thinking of yourself as a small fish asking a big fish to help. You are a revenue opportunity, a solution asset, and an ecosystem story — all at once." — Chaitra Vedullapalli"Before you try to dance with the giant, learn the steps they already know." — Chaitra Vedullapalli"If you don't have the 'co' in front of your language, you usually won't survive in the hyperscaler ecosystem." — Chaitra Vedullapalli"Community is underrated — but even in community, you need micro cohorts doing the same thing together." — Chaitra VedullapalliSaaS Leadership Lessons1. Shift from "Me" to "We" — or Stay Invisible Most founders enter hyperscaler ecosystems with a solo founder mindset. Hyperscalers require a "we" mindset: collaboration with their teams, alignment to their goals, and co-ownership of outcomes. The shift isn't optional — it's the price of entry.2. You Have More Leverage Than You Think Your SaaS product drives cloud consumption revenue for Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud. Your vertical solution fills gaps their field sellers can't. You're not asking for a favor — you're bringing them customers, solutions, and ecosystem narrative. Negotiate accordingly.3. Every Go-to-Market Needs Two Offers Build a gateway offer (free, educational, easy to join) that creates demand and visibility, and a separate core revenue offer (paid transformation) that closes. Confusing the two — or having only one — will stall your pipeline before it starts.4. Execute Inside Their Rhythm, Not Yours Join the partner program. Study the hyperscaler's quarterly calendar. Align your campaign architecture to their AI tours, announcements, and field priorities. The companies that win aren't shouting louder — they're speaking through the megaphones the hyperscalers already control.5. Use the ODA Loop When Things Break Down Observe what's actually happening in the market. Orient your team to the new reality. Decide with clarity. Act with precision. When geopolitical shifts, funding droughts, or market pivots hit, this framework prevents panic and keeps momentum.6. Founders Must Set the Paradigm Shift In corporate, leadership defines the vision for you. As a founder, you are the vision. Developing the ability to articulate a compelling paradigm shift — and galvanize collective action around it — is the single most critical leadership skill to build.Guest Resourcescvedulla@womenincloud.comhttps://womenincloud.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaitrav/Episode SponsorThe Futureproof Series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfkXKUPZ5xuOqMPR7_gzGybncTtavyR1NThe Captain's KeysSmall Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel’Champion Leadership Group – https://championleadership.com/SaaS Fuel ResourcesWebsite - https://championleadership.com/Jeff Mains on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkmains/Twitter - https://twitter.com/jeffkmainsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/thesaasguy/Instagram - https://instagram.com/jeffkmains

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How Great Leaders Build Trust, Loyalty & Accountability | William Davis | 392

May 2800:47:31Tap to summarize

In this episode, Jeff Mains sits down with William Davis — leadership expert, speaker, mentor, and author with four decades of senior leadership experience across corporate, academic, military, and government environments. William unpacks the growing leadership crisis facing organizations today (78% of Americans say corporate America has a leadership problem), and why the $500+ billion spent annually on leadership development isn't moving the needle.The conversation explores the critical difference between being a boss, a manager, and a true leader — and why the companies winning the talent war are the ones investing in growth, trust, and human connection. William shares practical frameworks for explaining the "why" behind the work, building genuine relationships with your team, and making the mindset shift from doer to leader. If you're a SaaS founder trying to reduce turnover, increase engagement, and build a company people actually want to stay at, this episode is essential listening.Key Takeaways[0:24] — Jeff sets the stage: the difference between a boss and a leader is whether your team is quietly updating their LinkedIn profiles.[3:16] — William explains what drove him to dedicate his final career chapter to teaching leadership: a 2023 World Economic Forum report declaring a global leadership crisis, followed by a US News/Harris Poll showing 78% of Americans believe corporate America has a leadership problem.[5:53] — The clearest signal leadership is broken? Retention. People aren't leaving companies — they're leaving their managers.[7:07] — William's antidote to the job-hopping generation: explain the why behind every project. When people understand the purpose, they invest themselves creatively — and feel pride in the outcome.[9:20] — The boss vs. manager vs. leader distinction: managers get work from A to Z; leaders transcend self-interest and focus on building the next generation.[11:54] — True leadership in practice means giving your team the skeletal outline of where they want to go, then helping fill in the framework — even when that means redirecting them toward a better path.[14:45] — How to balance people development with number pressure: structure work so people can learn and deliver simultaneously. When you can't, give them space to re-energize — don't just drive them into the ground.[17:54] — Replacing a person costs ~50% more than their salary by the time you cover lost productivity, recruiting, and the new hire's learning curve.[22:26] — The biggest mindset shift for new leaders: your team is not your competition. Their success is your success. Stop micromanaging; start guiding.[27:25] — Why leaders who empower their teams often get questioned by executives above them: "What are YOU doing?" William's answer: "I'm leading my team. That IS my full-time job."[28:13] — "Leadership is deceptively simple. But simple doesn't mean easy — because you're dealing with people, and people are complex."[23:52] — The why is multi-tiered: it makes people feel trusted, invested, creative, and ultimately proud of their contribution.[33:58] — Why $566 billion in leadership training isn't fixing the crisis: programs focus on task management, not relationship-building. Leadership will always be about humans first.[38:15] — Building camaraderie remotely: William's team traveled 75% of the time and had dinner together every night — talking about family, kids, and vacations, not work. The result was next-level team cohesion.[40:35] — The Harvard adult development study data: having a best friend at work doesn't just help you — it boosts productivity across the people around you.[46:38] — What to do right now if you realize you've been managing instead of leading: find someone you trust and ask them to give you an honest outside perspective — then actually listen without getting defensive.[42:49] — Story of empathy in action: a high-performing team member started coming in late. Instead of disciplining her, William took her for coffee and discovered her mother was on hospice. He sent her home to work remotely until the situation resolved. Retention, loyalty, and culture all strengthened.[47:53] — The one leadership principle never to compromise on: always tell the truth. The first time you fudge it, you lose credibility — and credibility, once lost, is nearly impossible to recover.Tweetable Quotes"People don't leave companies. They leave their bosses, their managers, their leaders. That's a true statement." — William Davis"Leadership is deceptively simple. But simple doesn't mean easy — because you're dealing with people, and people are complex." — William Davis"When your team has success, that is a reflection on you. And in my opinion, it's a greater reflection than when you were doing the work yourself." — William Davis"Your team is not your competition. They are the greatest complement to your abilities as a leader." — William Davis"The why is a multi-tiered tool that helps people feel trusted, feel invested, feel creative — and at the end of the day, feel like they contributed to the success." — William Davis"Hire fast, fire fast — that's not leadership. That's ignorance and an inhuman way of dealing with people." — William Davis"I'm leading my team. That's my full-time job." — William Davis"The first time you're caught fudging the truth, you're going to lose credibility with your team. And once you lose it, the ability to get it back is almost impossible." — William DavisSaaS Leadership Lessons1. Explain the Why — Every Time Task-driven teams execute. Purpose-driven teams innovate. When your engineers, sales reps, and CS leads understand why a project matters — not just what they're building — they invest creativity, take ownership, and feel pride in the outcome. Make "here's why we're doing this" a non-negotiable part of every sprint kickoff and all-hands.2. Stop Micromanaging; Start Guiding The hardest shift for technical founders is letting go of the doing. When you moved from IC to founder/leader, your job changed — even if no one told you. Your team reads your micromanagement as a trust deficit, and it drives your best people out the door. Replace "let me show you" with "what are you thinking?" and give them the space to surprise you.3. Your Team's Success Is Your Score Card As a leader, the scoreboard isn't your personal output — it's your team's growth trajectory. If your A-players are getting better, shipping more, and staying longer, you're winning. Reframe your identity: you're not the best engineer or the best seller anymore. You're the coach. Tom Landry said it best: "The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don't want to do, in order to become what they've always wanted to be."4. Retention Is a Leadership KPI Replacing an employee costs roughly 50% more than their annual salary when you factor in lost productivity, recruitment, and ramp time. Every resignation is a data point about your leadership culture, not just the job market. Track retention with the same rigor you track ARR and churn — because they're connected.5. Relationships Are Not Soft — They're Strategic The Harvard adult development study shows that having a best friend at work correlates directly with engagement and productivity — not just for that person, but for the people around them. Building genuine relationships with your team (knowing their families, caring about their lives outside work) isn't a distraction from results. It is the result. It's what creates the psychological safety that allows people to raise problems early, collaborate honestly, and stay through hard stretches.6. Honesty Is the Foundation Everything Else Rests On You can be empathetic, visionary, and brilliant at developing people — but if your team catches you spinning the truth, even once, you've triggered a credibility collapse that's nearly impossible to reverse. Some will leave. Some will disengage. All of them will trust you less. Be transparent even when the news is bad. Frame it with a path forward. That's what leaders do.Guest Resourceswilliamcharlesdavis64@gmail.comhttps://www.williamcdavis.net/https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573023334183https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamcharlesdavis/https://www.instagram.com/williamcharlesdavis64/Episode SponsorThe Futureproof Series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfkXKUPZ5xuOqMPR7_gzGybncTtavyR1NThe Captain's KeysSmall Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel’Champion Lead...

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The Future of Sales: Intent Data, AI & Smarter Outreach | Tal Peretz | 391

May 2600:46:07Tap to summarize

Most sales teams are reactive — waiting for buyers to fill out a form, book a demo, or respond to an email. Tal Peretz, co-founder and CEO of OnFire AI, is building the infrastructure to change that. OnFire monitors millions of public signals across Reddit, Stack Overflow, LinkedIn, Slack, and technical forums to identify high-intent buyers before they ever contact your sales team.In this episode, Tal breaks down how AI is transforming go-to-market for companies selling to technical buyers — CTOs, CISOs, and engineers — who notoriously resist generic outreach and respond only to context-rich, well-timed conversations. Tal shares his journey from engineer to CEO, how he and his co-founder interviewed 275 revenue leaders before writing a line of code, what it's really like to raise a $20M seed round, and the hard-won lessons of learning to sell as a first-time founder. From ICP discovery and outcome-based pricing to the future of AI in sales, this is a masterclass in signal-driven, intent-based revenue growth.Key Takeaways0:00 — Why most sales teams miss buyers who are already signaling intent publicly2:07 — Intro to Tal Peretz: Co-founder & CEO of OnFire AI3:56 — The origin story: 275 revenue leader interviews before building the product4:36 — How OnFire works: Capturing public web signals, de-anonymizing prospects, and delivering real-time context to sales teams6:25 — Why selling to CTOs, CISOs, and engineers is uniquely difficult — and uniquely valuable7:36 — The 50-million-engineer insight: Turning public technical conversations into revenue intelligence10:04 — What true AI ROI looks like: efficiency gains + directly attributed pipeline11:15 — The 4X pipeline result: What customers see in their first quarter with OnFire11:52 — Speed + personalization + human touch: Why all three are required for signal-based outreach13:03 — Raising a $20M seed round and what hypergrowth pressure really means13:47 — What makes a great investor: shared values, chemistry, and true partnership in hard moments15:59 — Managing pressure: Working backwards from a 24-month North Star to break goals into milestones17:07 — Building vs. selling: What was harder in the early days17:59 — An engineer who learned to love sales: How Tal found his passion for closing deals19:21 — The ICP trap: Why selling to everyone early is the most costly mistake a founder makes20:51 — The outbound playbook: Cold calling, LinkedIn, and the "stealth company" message that landed their biggest customers22:10 — The consulting approach: Why leading with curiosity instead of a pitch built their enterprise pipeline24:41 — The three-layer go-to-market machine: Brand, field/events, and outbound working together26:45 — Selling six-figure enterprise deals: Going on-site, acting as a partner, not a vendor28:51 — Staying focused in a crowded AI market: The "build on top of the platform" rule30:02 — Building go-to-market teams as a technical founder: The hardest challenge32:14 — The biggest AI pricing mistake: Why outcome-based pricing is the future35:03 — Sales-led vs. product-led growth: How Tal thinks about when and how to make the shift38:09 — The future of go-to-market: How AI eliminates the 80% of busy work reps do today40:53 — The one thing founders must nail to break through from product to real revenue41:38 — Where to find Tal and OnFire AITweetable Quotes"We monitor the public web for signals — competitors, pain points, product mentions — and surface them to your sales team in real time. Your buyers are already talking. You just have to listen." — Tal Peretz"It's not about quantity. It's about the quality of the data. Act fast, personalize based on the pain point, and always keep the human touch in the loop." — Tal Peretz"We take your existing team and infrastructure and make the pipeline 4X better — not by adding headcount, but by giving them the right signal at the right moment." — Tal Peretz"Every revenue is not good revenue. Nail your ICP first — where you see the biggest pain, the best retention, and the growth potential — then press the pedal." — Tal Peretz"The best investors aren't just writing checks. When something breaks — and something always breaks — that's where you find out if you have a true partner." — Tal Peretz"AI will eat the 80% of the sales rep's day that is busy work. The reps who win will be the ones who know how to leverage those tools and still build real relationships." — Tal Peretz"Outcome-based pricing is the future. Align what your customer pays with the value they actually receive — then you're never fighting about ROI again." — Tal Peretz"We started with outbound and a simple message: 'I'm a stealth founder. I want to learn from your experience.' No pitch. Just curiosity. Our biggest customers today came from that exact message." — Tal PeretzSaaS Leadership Lessons1. Validate the market before you build the product. Tal and his co-founders interviewed 275 revenue leaders before writing a single line of code. They didn't fall in love with a solution — they found the problem first. For early-stage founders, this discipline separates products that get traction from ones that get ignored.2. Your ICP is not a marketing decision — it's a survival decision. Selling to every prospect early feels like progress, but it's a trap. Tal's hard-won insight: identify the customers with the biggest pain, the highest retention potential, and the best growth trajectory early, then build everything around them. Chasing the wrong customers burns runway and muddies your product roadmap.3. Great investors are chosen for the downside, not the upside. When everything is working, any investor looks great. The real test comes when something breaks. Tal defines great investors by shared core values, authentic chemistry, and willingness to engage as a true partner — not just a capital source — when the hard moments arrive.4. Act like a consultant before you act like a vendor. OnFire's biggest enterprise wins came from going on-site, meeting the full revenue team, mapping the customer's strategic goals, and co-designing a plan — before ever talking contract. For founders selling complex, high-ACV solutions, acting as a partner rather than a vendor changes the entire sales dynamic.5. Outcome-based pricing aligns your success with your customer's success. Charging by seat or token puts you in constant translation mode — always proving value. Pricing tied to outcomes (pipeline generated, conversations resolved, deals influenced) makes the value self-evident and creates a partnership, not a vendor relationship. The companies doing this best in AI are winning stickier, larger contracts.6. The future sales rep is an AI orchestrator, not a data processor. Today's reps spend ~80% of their time on research, sourcing, and admin — not selling. AI will progressively eliminate that 80%. The reps who thrive won't be those who resist the change, but those who master AI tooling and redirect all of their energy to the irreplaceable human skill: building trust and closing deals.Guest Resourcestal@onfire.aihttps://onfire.aihttps://www.linkedin.com/in/tal-peretz/instagram.com/peretztalx.com/TalPeretz13Episode SponsorThe Futureproof Series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfkXKUPZ5xuOqMPR7_gzGybncTtavyR1NThe Captain's KeysSmall Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel’Champion Leadership Group – https://championleadership.com/SaaS Fuel ResourcesWebsite - https://championleadership.com/Jeff Mains on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkmains/Twitter - https://twitter.com/jeffkmainsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/thesaasguy/Instagram - https://instagram.com/jeffkmains

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