Startup Hypeman: The Podcast

We are gearing up for Season 19, but in the meantime, enjoy one of our favorites from Season 15!Most conversations in B2B sales are about how you sell to the person you're speaking with.Ask them the right questions, learn their pains, needs, and goals, give them pricing, send them proposals, etc.There is A TON of content in this area.The oft-overlooked part is how to navigate a multi-stakeholder deal.Most enterprise, and many non-enterprise, sales include a main point-of-contact, influencers, the economic buyer, and the final decision-maker.In these cases, your main point-of-contact has to become your champion, and you have to coach your champion to gain buy-in at these different levels.Because there's not much content about how to do this, I'm especially excited to have had the opportunity to speak with Nikki Ivey, cofounder of SDRDefenders and sales rep at Emtrain, who sells a DEI product to a customer who often has to fight for budget internally.Nikki steps to the mic in this week's episode to share the ins and outs of weaving this tangled web to ultimately win the deal.Find Nikki online:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownikkiivey/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikki-ivey/Find SDR Defender online:https://www.sdrdefenders.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The buzzword in Silicon Valley is 'Product-Led Growth', but is PLG really the future? Lloyed Lobo doesn't think so. PLG leaves you stuck in an endless cycle of ad spend which might get your first customers, but over time means spending more to acquire less, at a lower LTV, and easier switching cost. Building COMMUNITY on the other hand is a low-cost, high-growth option that can become your ultimate moat. Lloyed would know — he built the Traction community up to over 100,000 entrepreneurs, which helped Boast bootstrap to 8-figure revenue before raising $123 million. He steps to the mic in our season finale to share how his initial exposure to community came early in life as a Gulf War refugee, what you need to build a community, and how to master CLG for your startup.Find Lloyed online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lloyedlobo/Find Boast and Traction online:Boast Website: https://boast.ai/Traction: https://www.tractionconf.io/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When we think of raising capital we usually default to VCs, Angels, Friends & Family, and maybe Family Offices. But there are a whole host of other funding instruments that can put you on the map, like alumni groups, sovereign wealth funds, and more. Randall Crowder raised over $100 million for Phunware, then took the company public via a SPAC and raised another $100 million. He's experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly behind every possible funding path. He steps to the mic in this week's episode to break it all down so that you can be more educated in your capital pursuit. He also shares how fighting in Iraq prepared him for entrepreneurship.Find Randall online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randallcrowder/Website: http://www.randallcrowder.com/Find Phunware online:Website: https://www.phunware.com/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

When we work on investor pitch decks, one of our questions to founders is, "What's your G2M / distribution strategy?" Too often we hear, "Social media", "buying ads", or "SEO". Now, it's not that these channels don't work, it's that it usually requires a ton of upfront capital to even start to figure out what's working and what's not. Capital that you don't have yet, for CAC that won't pay you back for a long time (potentially ever). On top of that, once you do have the keyword or targeting figured out, the platform could change its algorithm overnight, leaving you back at square one. Hadi Radwan's insuretech startup, Asteya, has successfully raised $15 million, processed over $20M in Premiums, and achieved $5M ARR. At the core of their success is a B2B2C distribution flywheel. This model has significantly lower CAC than the aforementioned paths, with higher LTV, and way more control over the outcome. He steps to the mic in this week's episode to share exactly how they've done it. We also learn how his experience from Lebanon, to Boston, to London has shaped his communication style.Find Hadi online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hadiradwan/Find Asteya online:Website: https://www.asteya.world/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

You've seen it in the news, in your Linkedin feeds, and from industry experts. Y-Combinator sent out their doomsday letter. All the classic characteristics have started to show themselves already. I'm talking of course about 'The R Word'. What does a potential recession mean for you as a founder, both in running your company and raising capital? Who better to ask than a VC. Navin Goyal is a physician turned entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. I've gotten to know him well over the years first through networking, and even more so as LOUD Capital invested in multiple Startup Hypeman portfolio companies. With such a broad experience and true empathy for the founder journey, I wanted to bring Navin on to share his take on a potential recession. Spoiler alert: like me, he's an optimist! He steps to the mic in this week's episode giving his assessment on the market and advice to founders.Find Navin online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/navingoyalmd/Find LOUD Capital online:Website: https://loud.vc/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm a firm believer that the majority if not all, problems that exist are ultimately a communication problem.And as your company scales, how you communicate sets the precedent for your leadership style.Aviva Rosman and her Cofounder Alex Niemczewski have scaled BallotReady to 100 employees with 300+ customers including names like Spotify, TikTok, Snapchat, and Levis.But they were on the verge of this never happening because they didn't have the right model to communicate with each other.Enter Conscious Leadership.Once they adopted this model of leadership and communication they were able to be 100% open and honest with one another, which allowed the company to grow.Aviva steps to the mic in this week's episode to share how both of their pent-up frustration led to a 3-hour conversation at a bar, which changed the face of their relationship for the better and paved the way for healthy company culture.Find Aviva online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avivarosman/Find Ballot Ready online:Website: https://www.ballotready.org/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If there's one emoji you never want to describe your product, it's the cricket emoji

Ever notice how whenever you watch a sports game on TV that the name of the arena is sponsored by a brand, there are decals and signs along the field featuring additional sponsors, the pre-game show is sponsored, the highlight reel, the halftime show, the postgame show are all sponsored, I think you get the idea...What these teams, venues, and networks all realize is that there is room for added value beyond the functional use of their 'product', and that added value is worth money.You don't have to own a football stadium to have added value. In fact, whether you're an app, a SaaS, or a service, you can deliver value and generate revenue streams beyond your core offering.No one knows this better than Michael Donnelly, who has scaled companies through sponsorships and is building her own company, FWD Collective, with sponsors as a core growth strategy.She steps to the mic this week to share how you can make it a part of your core strategy.Find Michael online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeltdonnelly/Find FWD Collective online:Website: https://www.fwdcollective.io/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Imagine this: Your company accidentally prints the "C" word onto thousands of diaper packages for the largest diaper brand in the world.What do you do?Several years ago, as General Counsel of ePrize, Gabe Karp found himself in this exact situation.It taught him a valuable lesson on how to approach conflict.But not only that, as a former litigator, advisor, and active VC, Gabe has seen conflict from every angle.His new book, "Don't Get Mad At Penguins", unpacks what he's learned over the years on how to embrace healthy conflict, and rid your company of toxic conflict.I had the honor of being Gabe's coworker at ePrize, and saw firsthand how good he was at dealing with difficult situations.He steps to the mic this week to give us an inside look at why we shouldn't be getting mad at penguins.I also get him to tell the story of the time he worked literally elbow-to-elbow with Vince McMahon for 3 weeks and appeared on global television for WWE Monday Night Raw (which you know I love).Find Gabe online:Website: www.gabekarp.comLink to his book: https://www.gabekarp.com/bookLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabe-karp-1b772a1b/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Amidst all the ways you can grow a startup, there's one truth everyone can agree on: Bad hires can tank a company.So how do you position your company as attractive to a talent pool?And not just any talent pool, but the pool that's driving the future of work — young talent?At just 25 years old, Keyona Meeks has made waves in the startup world, going from Investment Strategist at Bronze Valley VC to becoming General Partner at Black Tech Capital.She's advised dozens of companies on their talent acquisition strategies and believes that posting up at a college job fair might not be the best use of your time and money.She steps to the mic in this week's episode to share the ecosystem-based approach that innovative companies use to source, hire, and retain top young talent.Find Keyona online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keyona-meeks/Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/keyona_meeksThis episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"We're looking for a CTO, so if you know anyone please let me know!"Does that sentence sound familiar?Whether it's getting the initial product built, or taking an MVP and turning it into a scalable product, "I need a CTO!" is something I hear founders say all the time.Nelly Yusupova is a seasoned CTO with 18 years of experience.As Founder of TechSpeak, she trains startups on how to effectively create and run their product development strategy.She knows exactly what to look for in a CTO, and can tell you if what you need is truly a CTO or just a developer.She steps to the mic in this week's episode to share exactly how to find the right person for the job.She also shares her powerful personal story of coming to the U.S. as a war refugee, not knowing any English, and signing up for a computer science class thinking it would teach her how to USE a computer!Find Nelly online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/digitalwoman/Find TechSpeak online:Website: https://www.techspeakforentrepreneurs.com/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What if you could not only have a great pitch but a lineup of investors eager to get time on your calendar?? It's not only possible but there's a completely practical way to make it happen. Nathan Beckord's company, FounderSuite, brings structure, speed, and efficiency to capital raising with its funding tech stack to over 2500 startups worldwide. He's personally supported hundreds of founders through the capital raise journey and knows how to line 'em up and knock 'em down. He steps to the mic in this week's episode to share how to accelerate your fundraising timeline by filling up your calendar with investor meetings. He also shares how climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and the Himalayas is just like running a startup.Find Nathan online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbeckordFind Foundersuite online: Website: https://foundersuite.com/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The podcast is officially back for Season 18! What are we talking about in this week's episode? ICP! ICP! ICP! These 3 letters are the refrain for any startup breaking into the market — find your Ideal Customer Persona/Profile. But what happens once you do find that ICP, and how do you a) know if there are enough of them to keep pursuing, and b) if yes, keep finding more of them? David Fink has grown Postie to 5 consecutive years of profitability, with customers ranging from midsize to publicly traded, across multiple industries. He's figured out firsthand the channels that make the most sense to target, segment, and expand based on where your company is today, and how you're trying to grow it. He steps to the mic in our season premiere to share his journey in scaling up Postie. He also shares how starting his career as a social worker prepared him to lead a company.Find David online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidlfink/Find Postie online:Website: https://postie.com/This episode is sponsored by Miquido - a full-service software development partner that supports companies in building their digital products. Learn more at miquido.com/hypeman See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When you think about sales you typically think about generating your own leads, you and your team selling directly to the customer, and your entire sales operation being an in-house effort. Jen Dye has a different approach. She believes selling can and should be a team effort. Not just with your internal team members, but alongside external partners. The Peak Beyond's founding team has been able to reach nearly $1 million in ARR — without a single dedicated sales hire — by building a Partner-Sales ecosystem that helps ensure the majority of their leads come through warm referrals or as part of a larger sale alongside other companies' products. All season long we're talking exclusively with clients from the Startup Hypeman portfolio, and we had the honor of working alongside The Peak Beyond for their Series A round. In our season finale, Jen shows us how partnerships have helped them grow inside the budding Cannabis retail industry.Find Jen online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferldye/Find MORE online:Website: https://www.thepeakbeyond.com/This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off.Want no to NOT suck at pitching your startup? Subscribe to our Point-of-View Letter at startuphypeman.com! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Trish Stratus. Kurt Angle. Lita. Larry Zbysko. Jeff Jarrett. The Steiner Brothers. Penta El Cero Miedo. These are LEGENDARY names in pro wrestling with accomplishments like headlining stadiums around the world, performing on national television, appearing at Wrestlemania in front of 75,000 fans, and getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. So what would make them even take a phone call from a startup independent wrestling league? That's what Bambi Weavil, Founder of MORE Wrestling (Masters of Ring Entertainment), has figured out in her years in the business. Similar to trying to get on the radar of a VC, or crack into an enterprise account, pro wrestling is historically a closed-door industry where oftentimes you have to be 'born in the business' to even hold someone's sweat towel. If you think that Silicon Valley investor is hard-to-reach, try getting in touch with someone who literally has Vince McMahon on speed dial. In this week's episode, Bambi steps to the mic to share how she's not only broken into the business and gotten on people's radars but built RELATIONSHIPS with some of the hardest-to-reach people there are.Find Bambi online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bambiweavil/Find MORE online:Website: https://mastersofringentertainment.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastersofringentertainment/Twitter: https://twitter.com/mastersofring1This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off.Want no to NOT suck at pitching your startup? Subscribe to our Point-of-View Letter at startuphypeman.com! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The hardest thing to do during the capital raise journey is convince investors that your startup is a risk worth taking.It's even harder to do if you don't have any revenue behind your name but you're still saying, "Just trust me."Sustainable meat company, New Age Meats hasn't generated a dollar in revenue yet, but they've raised $32 million to date across Seed, Bridge, and Series A rounds.All season we're talking exclusively with clients from the Startup Hypeman portfolio, and we had the honor of working with New Age Meats on their pitch as they ultimately raised $25 million for their Series A.Their COO Derin Alemli steps to the mic this week to dish out what you need to know at each phase of the investment journey, and how to make bank when you're not yet making bank.Find Derin online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalemli/Find New Age Meats online:Website: https://newagemeats.com/This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The single greatest customer experience I've ever had is at Swish House. Swish House is the first-ever Basketball Fitness Class.The first time I took a Swish House class I was so in love that immediately after leaving I called 4 friends because I HAD to tell them.Whether you sell fitness classes or software, your customer experience should be so good that people can't help but talk about it in their circles.Swish House didn't get here by accident.Every component from when you walk in the doors all the way to the final whistle is intentionally designed to deliver their specific brand pillars so that the customer leaves with a smile on their face.This attention to detail has driven an 85% retention rate — in the midst of a pandemic.All season on the podcast we're interviewing clients from our portfolio (and it's worth noting that my first Swish House experience was so impactful that I walked right up to the CEO, Jonathon Dues, and said "We need to work together.") Fresh off a $500k raise, Jonathon takes us inside the Swish House customer experience playbook.Find Jonathon online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathon-dues-aa773b4/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swishhousefamily/Find Swish House online:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swishhousefit/Website: https://www.swishhouse.com/This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Everyone talks about how startup life is crazy.At any given point you're working on 5 different things.Decisions made an hour ago might change an hour later.What you thought you were doing yesterday might not be what you're doing tomorrow.In a weird way, we're kind of obsessed with the chaos, and we tend to glorify it.But operating from chaos doesn't help you grow a company.As unsexy as it might sounds, you need discipline and structure.This season of the podcast exclusively features guests from the Startup Hypeman client portfolio, and this week HonestGame CEO Kim Michelson steps to the mic to shares their EOS (Entrepreneur Operating System), and how that's helped them grow from 2 cofounders to 14 employees, over $2 million in funding, 188% YoY revenue growth, and partnerships with the likes of the Chicago Bulls and others.Find Kim online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimmichelsonFind Honest Game online:Website: https://honestgame.com/This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When you bring new technology to market or a new approach to the old way of doing things, you face a fundamental problem of trying to educate the market while also having no brand equity or credibility yet. So why should anyone listen to you? That's the fundamental problem experiential rewards platform Blueboard faced when they launched in 2013. But since launch, they've scaled from 2 cofounders all the way 200+ employees, $16 million raised, over $50 million in annual revenue, and a recognized name in their industry. This season of the podcast exclusively features guests from the Startup Hypeman client portfolio, and this week Blueboard's Cofounder and COO Kevin Yip steps to the mic to share they've built their brand from nothing to something.Find Kevin online:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kvnyp/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinyip/Find Blueboard online:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blueboardinc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/blueboard-inc/Website: https://www.blueboard.com/This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Plain and simple, one of the best ways to grow a startup is to get the people talking — literally. That's what ultra-fast growing startup Electric.ai has done incredibly well. Through telling the stories of their customers, users, and even their own employees, they've managed to create a groundswell around their product that makes new customers, new users, and new users want to become part of their ecosystem. This strategy has helped them expand from $17 million to $38 million ARR in 2021, and on pace for $80 million ARR in 2022, plus grow from 200 to 500 employees in a year, AND raise $190 million in total. This entire season of the podcast we're featuring the different companies in the Startup Hypeman client portfolio, and it is my absolute honor to have Electric's Sr. Comms Director, JoAnn Martin, step to the mic this week to share how they've used people stories as rocket fuel towards their growth.Find JoAnn online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannmmartin/Find Electric online:https://www.electric.ai/This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The key to growth for nearly every startup is the ability to unlock distribution at scale. But in this pursuit, most companies don't look beyond the assets and properties they already own. In this week's episode, I have a conversation with a different type of startup doing things a different way. The Elite Amateur Fight League (EAFL) is an MMA league that's grown a fanbase by getting on TV networks NBCSports and Marquee Sports Network (home of the Chicago Cubs), instead of building their own streaming network which many other MMA leagues have tried to do. Their Founder & CEO Jesse steps to the mic to explain the why, how, and what of their distribution strategy.P.S. - EAFL is the league that gave me my start in the professional ring announcing and the reason I've appeared on these TV networks!Find Jesse online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-nunez-37499711/Find EAFL onlineWebsite: https://eliteamateurfightleague.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eaflmma/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/elite-amateur-fight-league/This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What are the low to no-cost tactics and strategies we can come up with, that drive major long-term growth and awareness? That's what Engagedly's CEO Sri Chellappa asks his marketing team on a regular basis. As a bootstrapped startup, Engagedly has figured out creative ways to build their brand without breaking the bank. And it's worked — they've made it to $5 million ARR and counting. This week on the show Sri steps to the mic to break down some of the company's most effective guerilla marketing initiatives. He also shares how his dual life outside of CEO as a drummer and filmmaker make him a better businessperson.Find Sri online:https://www.linkedin.com/in/srikantchellappa/Find Engagedly online:https://engagedly.com/This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Science On Call isn't your typical startup. Which is why when they originally founded, they didn't even entertain the idea of investor capital. But that narrative changed when they stopped thinking of their company as a restaurant IT consultancy, and started thinking of it as an IT platform for restaurants. This shift came with a business model change and a redirected vision. A vision that could be significantly bolstered through outside investment. Startup Hypeman had the chance to work on Science's pitch in 2020 shortly after their founding and I was seriously impressed with their passion and zeal. Within a couple of months they won $1k in a pitch competition. Then they were accepted into Techstars, and 1 year later they pulled in their first institutional money from LongJump VC. To date, they've raised over $500k. Last season we had their cofounder Andy Frievogel on the show to discuss selling into the restaurant industry. This week their other co-founder Luisa Castellanos steps to the mic to detail the journey of their first $500k. (Oh and, she also recounts her first venture as a pre-teen selling hand knit iPod cases!)Luisa's contact info:https://www.linkedin.com/in/luisa-castellanos/Science On Call's contact info:Website: https://scienceoncall.com/This week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

2 times a month in the Startup Hypeman newsletter we share a list of upcoming pitch competitions taking place. Why? Because pitch competitions are a great way to fund your startup in the early days — if you can win. No one understands how to execute this better than Dapo Kolawole. He came to me a few years ago when his first startup, Citispoon, was getting off the ground. We worked on his pitch and shortly after I was receiving almost weekly updates from Dapo telling me he won another competition. Now on his second startup, Roomii, Dapo has amassed over $170,000 in total winnings across both companies. He steps to the mic in this week's episode to share his lessons learned and best advice on how to win.Dapo's contact info:Twitter :@dakola07Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dapokolawole/Instagram: dapo.kolawoleThis week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's a brand new season of Startup Hypeman: The Podcast! Can you believe we're on our 17th season now? This season we're featuring exclusively past and present clients from the Startup Hypeman portfolio. Kicking off our first episode is Searchspring's CEO Peter Messana. Within 2 months of taking over at Searchspring, the company merged with it's top competitor, Nextopia. It's not easy to show up as the new kid on the block and before you can even drop off brownies at everyone's doorstep you start remodeling. In my conversation with Peter he shares how the deal came together, what metrics they focused on to decide if it was a good move, why they chose to keep the Searchspring brand over Nextopia, and the way they messaged the change to the team.Peter's contact info:LinkedInThis week's episode is sponsored by Oribi — a marketing analytics tool that shows you what your website visitors actually do while on your site, without using any code. Start your free trial at oribi.io/today and use code HYPEMAN at checkout for 20% off. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

700 customers, including Hubspot, Linkedin, and PayPal. $68.1 million in funding. 200+ employees. Next-level brand awareness. Category leader.Do you think all that happens just from direct selling? Think again.Gong has produced, in my opinion, the BEST content in the game. And it's reflecting in those numbers you see above (and oh yeah, nearly all of their content itself gets hundreds and thousands of views, likes, and comments). I've been a huge fan of Gong for the last year so I was really excited to get their Content Strategy Manager, Devin Reed, on for this episode. Devin started as Gong's second sales hire and achieved $1 million in sales before transitioning to content. How have they dominated with their content? Devin lets us inside the Gong war room and shares their creative process.We also talk hip hop, can you guess Devin's favorite rapper of all time?Find Gong online:IG @Gong.ioTwitter @Gong_ioFind Devin @thereedercoAnd head to https://www.startuphypeman.com/articles/devin-reed-podcast for a blog post where Devin expands further on the topic. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Most conversations in B2B sales are about how you sell to the person you're speaking with.Ask them the right questions, learn their pains, needs, and goals, give them pricing, send them proposals, etc.There is A TON of content in this area.The oft-overlooked part is how to navigate a multi-stakeholder deal.Most enterprise, and many non-enterprise, sales include a main point-of-contact, influencers, the economic buyer, and the final decision-maker.In these cases, your main point-of-contact has to become your champion, and you have to coach your champion to gain buy-in at these different levels.Because there's not much content about how to do this, I'm especially excited to have had the opportunity to speak with Nikki Ivey, cofounder of SDRDefenders and sales rep at Emtrain, who sells a DEI product to a customer who often has to fight for budget internally.Nikki steps to the mic in this week's episode to share the ins and outs of weaving this tangled web to ultimately win the deal.Find Nikki online:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knownikkiivey/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikki-ivey/Find SDR Defender online:https://www.sdrdefenders.com/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We are gearing up for Season 17, but in the meantime, enjoy one of our favorites from Season 15!Every leader has a job to not only make decisions for the company, but enable employees to make decisions for themselves.To pave the way but avoid getting in the way.To handhold but not handcuffed.Many leaders struggle with this, especially as more and more responsibilities get delegated.So how do you empower your team to perform their best every single day?Teamworks Sales Director Larry Long steps to the mic this week, bringing his infectious energy with him to talk through his experience and advice, in what I can only describe as like being part of a TEDTalk.Find Larry online:Twitter: https://twitter.com/larrylongjrLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/longjr7/Find Teamworks online:Website: https://www.teamworks.com/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

3 words: Fill. The. Gap.Traditionally you think of massive companies like AT&T or ADT Security having resellers.But what about for a company on the come-up?At only 5 years young, less than 10 employees, and 200+ customers (including United Airlines and Chic-Fil-A), PeopleVine stumbled into a situation where a customer opportunity led to a partnership, and that partnership evolved into a full-on channel reseller relationship.In this week's episode I welcome their VP of Marketing, Sales, & Success and my friend Mobolaji (Mo) Akintunde to give the lowdown on how it came together, how they've since operationalized it to grow, and how they plan to expand it in the coming months.Mo says you have to fill the gap.Listen in to see what he means.Find Mo online at:Socials:@mobillionaireWebsite: http://mobolaji.co.uk/Find PeopleVine online at:www.peoplevine.comToday's episode is brought to you by Sales Hacker. The world's smartest community of forward-thinking B2B professionals. Grab their latest expert-created articles, webinars, and podcast episodes at www.saleshacker.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We are gearing up for Season 17, but in the meantime, enjoy one of our favorites from Season 14!You know to ask about budget.You know to ask about timeline.You know to ask about what they are looking for in a solution.But when you're selling your product, do you know how to go beyond these surface area "100-level" questions?If you can, you've opened the door to learning about your prospect's true thoughts and opinions, and most importantly their emotions.This is where your 400-level questions live.What are these questions, and how do they influence your sales process?Anita Nielsen, Author of the bestseller "Beat The Bots: How Your Humanity Can Future-Proof Your Tech Sales Career", and Owner of LDK Advisory Services, steps to the mic this week and takes us to school on the topic.Find LDK Advisory online:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ldkadvisoryWebsite: www.ldkadvisory.comToday's episode is brought to you by Sales Hacker. The world's smartest community of forward-thinking B2B professionals. Grab their latest expert-created articles, webinars, and podcast episodes at www.saleshacker.comPLUS -- hear from me and 40+ other leading sales professionals this summer in the Blissful Prospecting Think Outside The Script summer virtual tour! All talks are live and interactive, sign up at tour.blissfulprospecting.com. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We are gearing up for Season 17, but in the meantime, enjoy one of our favorites from Season 12!As marketplace startups become more and more popular, the strategy to capture the market becomes increasingly important, AND nuanced.After raising a $400k angel round to begin 2019, Melbourne-based wellbeing marketplace Avaana focused the year on owning the B2B side first -- to the tune of over 1,200 practitioners now onboard.Avaana is a Startup Hypeman client and in my conversation with Rohan, we talk through how they've successfully formed their footprint on one side of the market. It's a great conversation exploring how and why they underpromise, how their mission dictates who they target, and why Rohan believes the most overlooked but impactful element is TRUST.Find Rohan and Avaana online:IG@avaanawellbeingwww.avaana.com.auPlus, this week on Startup Open Mic: Goodfynd.Today's episode is brought to you by Sales Hacker. The world's smartest community of forward-thinking B2B professionals. Grab their latest expert-created articles, webinars, and podcast episodes at www.saleshacker.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

You've heard it before: A Founder talks about the great idea they are building, and then when you ask them how it will work they reply with zeal, "MARKETPLACE!" Now, I'm not saying that's inherently a bad idea, but many companies are inherently misguided in their building of a marketplace. We're seeing the long-term business model viability of companies like ClassPass, DoorDash, and others get tested after years where it seemed like these companies were invincible. Shelly Patel has spent her career in strategy and operations roles building up marketplaces for companies like Uber, ChefHero, Groupon, and her newest role as Director of Operations at Alkeme Health, a SaaS content marketplace for mental health. She joins me in our season finale to drop a healthy dose of reality on what it really takes to build a successful marketplace.Find Shelly online:https://www.linkedin.com/in/shellyaggarwal/Find Alkeme online:https://alkemehealth.com/Plus hear the elevator pitch of Startup Hypeman portfolio client Avaana using the Que PASA Elevator Pitch Formula!™ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There's a distinct difference between selling a product that everyone and their mother has heard of (think SEO or payroll software) versus selling a product that virtually no one has heard of. The former starts with a baseline understanding of what the product offers, how it typically behaves, what the pricing guardrails are, etc. The latter there is no baseline understanding — of anything. So what do you do? StoryFit CEO Monica Landers is working to bring Artificial Intelligence to the scrip writing process in movies and television. Not only has A.I. never been heard of in this scenario, but the industry overall has a history of producing shows and movies that demonize A.I.'s very existence (think of any robot takeover film). She steps to the mic in this week's episode to share how StoryFit is overcoming this and introducing their technology to a market that is very hesitant.Find Monica online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/molanders/Find StoryFit online:https://www.storyfit.com/Plus hear the elevator pitch of Startup Hypeman portfolio client Avaana using the Que PASA Elevator Pitch Formula!™ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Most people believe deals are won or lost at the proposal stage. But that's only true if you've done a poor job managing your sales process. In reality, deals are confirmed or revised at the proposal stage. This is something I fundamentally didn't understand when I was a rookie salesperson. Then I hired Joe Micallef, President of GrowUp Sales, as my first sales coach to teach me how it should be done. When he broke down the why, how, and what I was a brand new salesperson my close rates increased, and so did my deal sizes. Many of the startups I work with now are a lot like I was when I was a rookie. That's why I'm so excited to welcome Joe onto this week's podcast to share with you the makeup of a winning proposal.Find Joe online:https://www.linkedin.com/in/growupsales/Find Grow Up Sales online:https://growupsales.com/Plus hear the elevator pitch of Startup Hypeman portfolio client Avaana using the Que PASA Elevator Pitch Formula! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After you win a customer, do you let them run wild with your product and never speak to them again? If you actually care about your customer's success, then you not only don't let them run wild, but you also make their success a part of your overall business strategy. Part of helping ensure success is to have a CSM team that knows how to spot the right opportunities for expansion revenue, because they realize that's the best way to be in service to the customer. Appen's Global CS Director Shali Reed joins me in this week's episode for a conversation on how she leads her team, and makes CS a central part of Appen's overall revenue strategy.Find Shali online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaishali-rana-reed/Find Appen Global online:Website: https://appen.com/Plus hear the elevator pitch of Startup Hypeman portfolio client Avaana using the Que PASA Elevator Pitch Formula! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Pop quiz - if you heard that someone started a business when the pandemic hit, and the customers of said business were RESTAURANTS, would you say that business would still be around a year later? We've all heard before that you shouldn't enter certain markets because they don't have budget. Or maybe even in your own 1-on-1 selling, you've chalked up a lost deal to 'no budget'. But are we letting 'no budget' become an excuse for not trying? Science is that company from the pop quiz. Not only did they enter a market that traditionally will tell you they don't have budget, but they did it at the start of the pandemic, AND they've consistently grown revenue over the year. Their CEO Andy is here to tell you 'no budget' isn't a given, and with the right approach you can find your best customers in places no one else would even give the time of day.Find Andy online:https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-freivogel/Find Science online:www.scienceoncall.comPlus: Hear the elevator pitch of Startup Hypeman portfolio client Engagedly, using the Que PASA Elevator Pitch(TM) Formula! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Yes, you read that right. lemlist had a $30 million investment offer waiting to be signed, and they turned it down. There isn't much else to say other than listen in as their CEO G. Mobeche explains how it all went down, why they said no, and what advice he has for companies raising capital.Find G online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/-g-/Find lemlist online:https://www.lemlist.com/Plus: Hear the elevator pitch of Startup Hypeman portfolio client Engagedly, using the Que PASA Elevator Pitch(TM) Formula! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Most companies fight to win on product. The best companies win on brand. Sure, your product has to be good, but to become a truly successful company, there must be more you bring to the table than an interchangeable piece of technology. Your brand is the image you portray, the value system you project, the community you build, and more. And when you have a solid brand, you don't just get customers — you get raving fans who become your CHAMPIONS. Few companies know this better than Lessonly. With over $30 million raised and 200+ employees, they've experienced 20x revenue growth largely by making their brand their competitive advantage. Their CMO Kyle steps to the mic in this week's episode to share their approach, guidelines, and strategy for making it happen.Find Kyle online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylelacy/Find Lessonly online:https://www.lessonly.com/Plus: Hear the elevator pitch of Startup Hypeman portfolio client Engagedly, using the Que PASA Elevator Pitch(TM) Formula! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The generally accepted practice in revenue department at scaling organizations is a career roadmap of SDR > Account Executive > Senior Account Executive, etc. But why then do so many SDRs fail to succeed when they become AEs? And what role do companies play in setting them up for success? Christina Brady has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly as a former Head of Sales at Groupon and Glassdoor. In her role of President at Sales Assembly, one of her focuses is making sure companies successfully execute this aspect of scale. She steps to the mic in this week's episode to discuss how to find the right people, what companies should be doing for their employee roadmap, and what makes the transition to AE smooth and successful for everyone.Find Christina online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinapbrady/Find Sales Assemby online:https://www.salesassembly.com/Plus: Hear the elevator pitch of Startup Hypeman portfolio client Engagedly, using the Que PASA Elevator Pitch(TM) Formula! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Everyone wants to grow and scale, but not everyone is necessarily ready or prepared to do so. Growth tends to happen before you realize it, and before you've had a chance to put real processes or structure in place. It requires vision, direction, and buy-in. The collateral damage? Losing team members along the way. Jackie Hermes has grown the SaaS growth marketing agency Accelity from her taking clients as a solo consultant, to having a freelance team, all the way to a full-time team of nearly 20. She's definitely experienced the 'growth just happened' ride and has the scars to prove it, but she also used those scrapes and bruises to get ahead of their next phase of growth. She steps to the mic this week to share what she's learned, what she wishes she would have done differently, and what she's doing next.Find Jackie online:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thejackiehermesTwitter: www.twitter.com/thejackiehermes Instagram: www.instagram.com/thejackiehermesFind Accelity online:www.linkedin.com/company/accelitymarketingwww.twitter.com/accelitymktgwww.facebook.com/accelitymarketing www.instagram.com/accelitymktg Plus: Hear the elevator pitch of Startup Hypeman portfolio client Swish House, using the Que PASA Elevator Pitch(TM) Formula! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

One of the best things your company can do to grow is hedge your growth levers against one another. Otherwise known as "Don't put all your eggs in one basket". That's why you never see successful companies rely on just one marketing channel. But what about on the sales side? Sure, you can have a team of salespeople, and even divide teams by region or account type, but isn't it still ultimately a one-prong effort? Enter: Channel partners. Companies like Dell and Microsoft make literally billions through channel partner sales, but you don't have to be at their scale to execute for your startup. Dina Moskowitz is the CEO of SaaSMAX, whose Partner Optimizer tool identifies the best possible channel partners for any company. She knows exactly who this strategy is good for, what conditions need to be satisfied, and how to execute and operate at scale. She steps to the mic in this week's episode to share the inside story.Follow Dina online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinamoskowitz/Twitter: https://twitter.com/DinaDinaDinaFollow SaaSMAX online:https://saasmax.com/Plus: Hear the elevator pitch of Startup Hypeman portfolio client Swish House, using the Que PASA Elevator Pitch(TM) Formula! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There's this weird obsession with hustle culture, where you're made to feel that if you're not working 70 hour weeks, putting in time on weekends, and skipping holidays that you must be doing something wrong. But that lifestyle simply isn't sustainable and you either end up burning out or making really bad personal decisions. What if there was another way? And not just from a mindset perspective, but from an operations perspective? Jim Vaselopulos, host of The Leadership Podcast, has been in the game for a long time, building his name as a sales leader, C-suite advisor, and investor. You'd think with so much experience he must have done this through hustling hard day in and day out. But not so much — in fact Jim describes himself as lazy. Jim's been a mentor of mine for several years and he steps to the mic to share his strategies on how can get more by doing less.Find Jim online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimvaselopulos/Find Rafti advisors:https://www.raftiadvisors.com/Plus: Hear the elevator pitch of Startup Hypeman portfolio client Swish House, using the Que PASA Elevator Pitch(TM) Formula! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The journey to product-market fit is just that — a journey. Many companies think they have it, when in fact they don't. Others struggle to really break through. Naveed Iqbal's startup Dolr helps people to get $0 student loan debt faster. They operate as both a B2C and B2B model, targeting organizations to offer Dolr as an employee benefit. With multiple target audiences they've had to make sure they have PM-fit at both the end user and the economic buyer levels. And on their path towards owning it at this stage, they've learned a lot of tough lessons around looking at the data, recognizing confirmation bias, and making hard decisions related to growth. Naveed steps to the mic in our season premiere to share these lessons and advice for scaling up.Find Naveed online:https://www.linkedin.com/in/naveed-h-iqbal/Find Dolr online:https://www.getdolr.com/https://www.instagram.com/getdolrhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/dolr/Plus: Hear the elevator pitch of Startup Hypeman portfolio client Swish House, using the Que PASA Elevator Pitch(TM) Formula! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Not all customers are created equal.Not all revenue is created equal.This fundamental understanding determines whether you’re chasing distractions or chasing growth.Indifit CEO Cheryl Kemp realized as the company gained traction that even though its customers could all be categorized within the fitness industry, they needed deeper segmentation to improve their offering, focusing on a specific sub-niche in order to turn these customers into raving fans.She steps to the mic in our season finale to share their findings, process, and journey to product-market fit.Find Cheryl online:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cherylplease/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheryl-kemp/Find Indifit online:Website: https://www.indifit.co/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Every leader has a job to not only make decisions for the company, but enable employees to make decisions for themselves. To pave the way but avoid getting in the way. To handhold but not handcuffed. Many leaders struggle with this, especially as more and more responsibilities get delegated. So how do you empower your team to perform their best every single day? Teamworks Sales Director Larry Long steps to the mic this week, bringing his infectious energy with him to talk through his experience and advice, in what I can only describe as like being part of a TEDTalk.Find Larry online:Twitter: https://twitter.com/larrylongjrLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/longjr7/Find Teamworks online:Website: https://www.teamworks.com/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After almost a year of doing seemingly everything virtually, I think it's safe to say that many of us have Zoom Fatigue. Zoom and other video conferencing went from a tool to hold business meetings to how we celebrate birthdays, holidays, happy hours, and hangouts with friends. For me personally, I feel like my eyeballs are about to fall out. That's why I was excited to speak with Volley CEO Josh Little in this week's episode. If Starbucks is the 3rd space between work and home, Volley is the 3rd space between Slack and Zoom. And Josh has some good ideas on how to fight back against the Zoom Fatigue.Find Josh online:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/littlejosh/Find Volley online:Website: https://www.volleyapp.com/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Nearly every company faces a critical moment early on where they realize what they originally came up with isn't exactly what's best for the market or for their own growth, and as a result, they pivot. Usually, this is a slight product change. In Jellyvision's case, it was an entire overhaul of an already-successful business model. After years of doing well as an agency, they realized if they really wanted to fulfill their mission they had to pivot from agency to a SaaS company. Their CEO Amanda Lannert steps to the mic in this week's episode to share what kind of conversations they were having, and what they did to successfully pivot to an award-winning SaaS company with hundreds of employees.Find Amanda online:Twitter: @AmandaLannertFind Jellyvision online:Website See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

You know that part of the conversation asks, "What kind of results should I expect?" How do you respond? Especially if what you sell doesn't have a clear ROI. Tom Pisello has dedicated most of his career to cracking the value equation in modern selling, to the extent that he's known as 'The ROI Guy'. He also might actually be The Most Interesting Man In The World. Not just because he looks like the Dos XX character, but because his past includes radio, playing in a wedding band, and being a Porsche Racing instructor.Tom steps to the mic this week and drives laps around the concept of delivering value throughout the sales process.Find Tom online:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thomaspisello/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tompiselloFind Mediafly online:Website: https://www.mediafly.com/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

2020 certainly rocked all of us, and as we begin 2021 we're still in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic. And whether your business closed, lost revenue, or experienced growth, I think we can all agree as entrepreneurs that the pandemic forced changes in our respective companies. If you're a company that's been through Alex Batdorf's women-only Get Shit Done! accelerator, then you didn't fall victim to change, you actually made the change happen yourself in the form of traction. Alex steps to the mic this week to share examples from 5 different companies that went through the GSD accelerator in 2020, in the pandemic and gained traction across people, users, and revenue.Find Alex online:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/getshitdonequeen/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-batdorf-88a64512Find Get Sh!t Done online:Website - https://www.shegetsshitdone.com/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

One of the most naive mistakes entrepreneurs make is thinking that they can just 'go live' and all of a sudden people will know their product exists and start using it. That strategy works 0% of the time. Just like when going out to party, first you 'pre-game', when putting a product in market you have to drive interest during pre-launch. Buddhi Founder Kathleen Brown figured out a way, in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic, to pivot to the moment, drive interest, and build community all before anyone ever saw Buddhi's cancer support platform. She steps to the mic this week to share the company's story.Find Kathleen online:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mskathleenbrown/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaybee3/Find Buddhi online:Website: https://hibuddhi.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hibuddhi/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We all wish we could just charge more, don't we? Well, turns out we can. You just need to have the right strategy to pull it off. That means understanding your industry, your customer, your product, and how the three all relate to one another. Startupsales.io founder Adam Springer has helped a number of startups refine their sales processes and raise their pricing. This week he steps to the mic to unpack his best practices for doubling down your dollars.Find Startupsales.io online:https://www.linkedin.com/in/b2b-startup-sales-expert/www.startupsales.io See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.