Podcasts about b2c

Businesses don't win by selling more features or even better experiences anymore. In this episode, Joe Pine explains why the real value today comes from selling outcomes and guiding customers toward meaningful transformation. We unpack the transformation economy, how it differs from the experience economy, and why charging for outcomes changes pricing, guarantees, and business models. You will learn how both B2B and B2C companies can productize transformation, align messaging with real results, and help customers become who they want to be. Today we discussed: 00:00 Why Transformation Matters Now 11:43 Productizing Transformation 14:00 Pricing and Outcome-Based Models 16:48 Messaging Around Who Customers Become 20:16 How to Start a Transformation Strategy 24:28 Connect With Joe Rate, Review, & Follow If you liked this episode, please rate and review the show. Let us know what you loved most about the episode. Struggling with strategy? Unlock your free AI-powered prompts now and start building a winning strategy today!

Turning Customer Experience into Customer Transformation  Shep interviews Joseph Pine, best-selling author of Experience Economy, speaker, and cofounder of Strategic Horizons LLP. He talks about his new book, The Transformation Economy, and how businesses can go beyond creating memorable experiences to guiding customers through meaningful transformations that help them achieve their aspirations.  This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more:    What is the transformation economy?  What is the difference between selling a product and creating a transformative customer experience?  How can businesses guide customers to achieve their personal or professional aspirations?  What are the benefits of customizing experiences to meet individual customer needs?  What elements contribute to a robust customer experience?  Top Takeaways:    The transformation economy is about how companies can help customers change. It is about how your business can help them achieve their aspirations.   Businesses create more value when they focus on selling the end rather than the means. Go beyond selling products and services to understanding why customers buy and use that knowledge to help them reach their goals and achieve their aspirations.  Transformation is not a one-size-fits-all. It must begin with truly understanding where the customer is starting (from) and where your customers aspire to end up (to). Carefully identify the customer's current situation, needs, and aspirations to tailor experiences that produce meaningful outcomes for them.  Sell transformation, not just products. For example, people don't buy a treadmill because they want the equipment. They want to be healthier, have more stamina, or feel better about themselves. Whether you're selling a physical product, a service, or something else, shift your mindset to the customer's desired result.   In both B2B and B2C, businesses should become trusted partners, not just vendors. That means understanding clients' deeper goals and helping them achieve success, even if it occasionally means recommending solutions outside what you sell. The focus is on the customer's outcome, not just the transaction.  In the transformation economy, companies should charge for what customers value most: outcomes. Companies are moving away from pricing based on time, materials, or products. It is focused on results.  Transformative change for customers doesn't come from a single transaction. It spans the entire journey, including the preparation before the event, reflection afterwards, and ongoing integration into daily life.  Plus, Shep and Joe share insights from The Transformation Economy and discuss companies that are putting customer transformations first. Tune in!  Quote:   "Transformations are built on top of experiences. We change through the experiences that we have. "    About:    Joseph Pine is a bestselling author, speaker, and cofounder of Strategic Horizons LLP, celebrated for guiding Fortune 500 companies and innovative startups alike. He is the author of The Experience Economy, Mass Customization, and Infinite Possibility.  Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In "Home Delivery World: The Future of Fulfillment", Joe Lynch and John Beasley, General Manager of Home Delivery World, discuss he critical strategies and emerging technologies redefining the high-stakes journey from the warehouse to the consumer's front door. About John Beasley John Beasley, General Manager of Home Delivery World, has been part of the HDW team since 2021. With over 8 years in the events world, his goal is to bring innovation to the event and foster a community where attendees can make meaningful connections and drive their businesses forward. His background in sales, business development, partnerships combined with a degree in Operations Management with a specialization in Supply Chain Management has come full circle and has been instrumental in building Home Delivery World into the most important last-mile event in North America. About Terrapinn Terrapinn events have been sparking ideas, innovations and relationships that transform business for over 30 years. Using our global footprint, we bring innovators, disrupters and change agents together, discussing and demonstrating the technology, strategies and personalities that are changing the way the world does business. Home Delivery World is Terrapinn's premiere event in America and HDW is the leading event redefining the future of ecommerce logistics and supply chain strategy across North America. The event continues to be the go-to platform for big-box retailers, DTC shippers, grocers, manufacturers, and ecommerce brands seeking innovation and transformation in the last-mile. Key Takeaways: Home Delivery World: The Future of Fulfillment In "Home Delivery World: The Future of Fulfillment", Joe Lynch and John Beasley, General Manager of Home Delivery World, discuss he critical strategies and emerging technologies redefining the high-stakes journey from the warehouse to the consumer's front door. Laser Focus on the "Final Mile": Unlike general supply chain events like Manifest (which Joe calls the "Super Bowl of logistics"), HDW is a niche, specialized event. It focuses specifically on the journey from the warehouse to the consumer. If your business revolves around B2C delivery, middle-mile logistics, or white-glove service, this is the dedicated "world" for those specific challenges. The Delivery Team as a Brand Extension: A critical takeaway from the interview is that the delivery person is often the only physical point of contact a customer has with a brand. Whether they are a third-party contractor or a direct employee, their behavior—from wearing shoe covers to their attitude at the doorstep—can either solidify customer loyalty or ruin a multi-thousand dollar purchase in the "last 50 feet." Rapid Evolution of Delivery Technology: The "Future of Fulfillment" isn't just a buzzword; it's actively being deployed. The podcast highlights the shift from experimental to practical use of: Drones: Solving issues like "porch pirates" by delivering to backyards. Robotics & Autonomous Vans: Navigating the transition from diesel to electric and automated fleets. Inventory AI: Managing complex stock levels across multiple social commerce channels like TikTok and Instagram. Logistics as a Competitive Business Strategy: Logistics is no longer just a back-office cost; for ecommerce companies, it can represent up to 20% of revenue. The interview emphasizes that "free shipping" is a strategic business choice, not a logistical reality. Companies must attend these events to find regional carriers that offer better rates or services than national giants like UPS or FedEx. Managing Consumer Expectations: Unlike B2B deliveries, home consumers are not industry pros; they have extreme expectations and often want products almost the moment they hit "order." This necessitates a shift from traditional bulk shipping toward highly strategic inventory placement to ensure seamless same-day or next-day delivery. The Rise of Big & Bulky White-Glove Service: Fulfillment is moving beyond small parcels. A significant portion of HDW is dedicated to "Big and Bulky" items (like Pelotons, sofas, or outdoor fireplaces). These require specialized equipment—such as pallets with handheld brakes for steep driveways—and specialized services like in-home assembly, which are becoming major revenue drivers for retailers like Wayfair. Education Through a Diverse Ecosystem: The event serves as a massive "live classroom" where 200+ industry leaders from brands like Wayfair, Ulta Beauty, and Albertsons share what worked and what failed. It bridges the gap between massive "big dogs" (JB Hunt, Maersk, Amazon) and three-year-old startups, fostering a community where the most important connections happen between the shippers and the solution providers. Learn More About Home Delivery World: The Future of Fulfillment John Beasley | Linkedin HDW | Linkedin HDW HDW: Register Here HDW Agenda OneRail's Winning Strategy for Final Mile with Bill Catania Drone Delivery is Here with Tom Walker The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: Google, Apple, Castbox, Spotify, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tunein, Podbean, Owltail, Libsyn, Overcast Check out The Logistics of Logistics on Youtube  

In this episode, we're joined by Liubomyr Pivtorak, Chief Product Officer at Hily, one of the world's fastest-growing dating apps with over 40 million users worldwide.Liubomyr has spent the last 10 years in B2C mobile, including 8 years in the hyper-competitive dating industry, leading products that scaled to 10M+ and 30M+ users globally.He'll take us behind the scenes of how Hily grew in a red ocean market, competing against giants like Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble — by running 100+ in-app experiments every quarter and obsessing over data, user behavior, and retention.You will discover:✅ The experiment-driven framework that powers Hily's growth (100+ experiments every quarter)✅ How to grow in a red ocean market like dating apps✅ What actually worked vs what failed — real growth experiment stories✅ The data-driven mindset behind scaling from millions to tens of millions of users✅ How to compete with giants like Hinge, Bumble, and Tinder using smarter experimentsLearn More:Try Hily → https://hily.com Connect with Liubomyr → https://www.linkedin.com/in/liubomyrp/You can also watch this video here: ⁠⁠https://youtube.com/live/rUiISNtS3ssGet training, coaching, and community: https://appmasters.com/academy/*********************************************SPONSORSGot tons of freemium users who won't upgrade? Encore turns free users into paying customers and reduces churn by adding smart, curated affiliate offers at key user moments. Everyone wins with Encore.Learn more at https://encorekit.com/*********************************************Still designing, resizing, and uploading screenshots manually? AppScreens lets you pick from hundreds of high-converting templates, generate for every device size and language in minutes, and upload automatically to directly to App Store Connect and Google Play Console. Trusted by more than 100K developers and ASO experts worldwide.Try it free: https://appscreens.com/?via=am*********************************************Follow us:YouTube: ⁠AppMasters.com/YouTube⁠Instagram: ⁠@App MastersTwitter: ⁠@App MastersTikTok: ⁠@stevepyoung⁠Facebook: ⁠App Masters⁠*********************************************

If you're stuck between having a startup and having something investors actually want to fund, this episode is for you. Our guest, Kevin Nesgoda—CEO of OutPaged and recent Founder Institute grad—dives into the messy middle of startup life, where great ideas often die without the right pressure, feedback, and mindset shift. After years of daydreaming and building but still feeling stuck between "interesting" and "investable," Kevin joined an accelerator to stress-test everything. Hear what broke, what shifted, and what finally clicked—plus his advice on resilience, determination, and what's needed to push through.  Topics Covered; Why most founders aren't actually fundable yet and how accelerators like Founders Institute expose the gap (and what they want in return) What surviving cancer taught Kevin about building a startup  How OutPaged went from "cool product" to investable business The mindset change that happens when you stop pitching and start pressure-testing your model Why early founders misunderstand what investors are really evaluating The B2C vs B2B framing decision that can make or break your raise What mentors and investor reviews reveal that you can't see from inside your own startup Why the solo-founder myth slows momentum and increases risk How team design becomes a signal of scale readiness What rejection teaches you when you treat it like data, not failure How accelerators prepare you for capital, not just Demo Day The difference between building something exciting and building something fundable Guest Bio Kevin Nesgoda is the CEO at OutPaged and a recent graduate of The Founders Institute. OutPaged is the platform that turns books into living, breathing worlds. It uses AI to pull apart character arcs, emotional threads, and world logic, then rebuilds them into immersive experiences through AR and XR. Kevin has talked to over 100 publishers, authors, and media founders. Everyone feels the same thing: it is time for a new chapter in storytelling. Download the app here.    About Your Host Jayla Siciliano, Shark Tank entrepreneur turned real estate investor, excels in building brands, teams, and products. CEO of a bi-coastal luxury short-term rental company, she also hosts the Seed Money Podcast, where she's on a mission to help early-stage entrepreneurs turn their ideas into reality!    Connect: Website: https://seedmoneypodcast.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaylasiciliano/ Subscribe and watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@seedmoneypodcast/    Subscribe, Rate, & Review Please rate, follow, and review the podcast on https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/seed-money/id1740815877 and https://open.spotify.com/show/0VkQECosb1spTFsUhu6uFY?si=5417351fb73a4ea1/! Hearing your comments and questions helps me come up with the best topics for the show!   Disclaimer The information in this podcast is educational and general in nature and does not take into consideration the listener's personal circumstances. Therefore, it is not intended to be a substitute for specific, individualized financial, legal, or tax advice.    

In this Health Moonshot Update, StartUp Health community member Christopher Jue of CAREgivers Insight joins Unity Stoakes to share how empowering caregivers can prevent crises and save the system money. Christopher draws on his own family experience and fresh pilot data to explain why caregivers should be treated as essential members of the care team. In this episode, they talk about: What four preventable hospitalizations taught him about the cost of underused caregiver insight How Caregiver Views turns everyday observations into clear, shareable trend lines Why pilots with Cancer Services of Midland achieved an 85% recommendation rate The strategic shift from a B2C mindset to payer and Medicare Advantage partners An AI roadmap that starts with summaries and moves toward real coaching for untrained caregivers How the Caregiving Health Moonshot is becoming a doorway into every Health Moonshot at StartUp Health This is a must listen for anyone building in value-based care, supporting an aging population, or caring for a loved one at home. Are you ready to tell YOUR story? Members of our Health Moonshot Communities are leading startups with breakthrough technology-driven solutions for the world's biggest health challenges. Exposure in StartUp Health Media to our global audience of investors and partners – including our podcast, newsletters, magazine, and YouTube channel – is a benefit of our Health Moonshot PRO Membership. To schedule a call and see if you qualify to join and increase brand awareness through our multi-media storytelling efforts, submit our three-minute application. If you're mission-driven, collaborative, and ready to contribute as much as you gain, you might be the perfect fit. » Learn more and apply today. Want more content like this? Sign up for StartUp Health Insider™ to get funding insights, news, and special updates delivered to your inbox.

Alex Tsepaev, Chief Strategy Officer at B2Prime, shares how the firm is scaling global crypto and TradFi operations under a unified compliance model. Topics include licensing in six countries, embedding DORA controls, B2C onboarding, AI automation, and launching crypto spot and perpetual products in the Bahamas.

#760 What if your favorite form of procrastination could be the key to your next million-dollar business? That's exactly what happened to Jacques Hopkins, an electrical engineer who turned his frustration with traditional piano lessons — and his love for a better, simpler way to play — into Piano in 21 Days, an online course that has generated millions in revenue. In this episode hosted by Kirsten Tyrrel, Jacques shares how he went from building circuits to building a thriving course business in a non-money-making niche. You'll learn how he found his unique value proposition, why you don't need to be the top expert to start teaching, and his three-phase method for creating not just a course — but a full-fledged course business. We also explore how to overcome imposter syndrome, build an audience the smart way, and design a business that supports the lifestyle you want! (Original Air Date - 6/1/25) What we discuss with Jacques: + Turning hobbies into businesses + Unique value proposition importance + Teaching without being an expert + Online course validation strategies + B2B vs. B2C course models + Building a course business + Avoiding the learning loop trap + Audience-first content strategy + Why focus beats many offers + Creating systems for freedom Thank you, Jacques! Check out Piano in 21 Days at ⁠Pianoin21Days.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Check out The Online Course Guy at ⁠TheOnlineCourseGuy.com⁠. Watch the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠video podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ of this episode! To get access to our FREE Business Training course go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MillionaireUniversity.com/training⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To get exclusive offers mentioned in this episode and to support the show, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠millionaireuniversity.com/sponsors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everybody talks about creativity, but very few are willing to measure it. The real advantage comes from combining imagination with obsession.That's the lesson of MrBeast, the YouTube creator who turned data-driven storytelling into one of the most powerful media brands in the world. In this episode, we explore his marketing playbook with the help of our special guest Rodrigo Fontes, VP of Marketing at QuillBot.Together, we break down what B2B marketers can learn from engineering audience retention, building repeatable content formats, and investing just a little more effort to create work people can't look away from.About our guest, Rodrigo FontesRodrigo Fonte is the VP of Marketing at Quillbot. He is a strategic marketing leader with over 15 years of experience building and scaling brands across both B2C and B2B markets. Rodrigo is currently driving growth in Generative AI and consumer tech at QuillBot (Learneo). He's also leading the global marketing organization behind one of the world's most widely used AI writing assistants, overseeing Brand, Media, Influencers, Social, SEO, ASO, Content, Product Marketing, and International Expansion.What B2B Companies Can Learn From MrBeast:Obsess over audience retention, not just reach. MrBeast doesn't just aim for views, he studies exactly where attention drops and rebuilds content accordingly. Rodrigo says, “His data-driven customer obsession on every detail to make things work, I think that's such an amazing thing for us marketers today to think [about].” B2B teams should move beyond impressions and focus on where prospects lose interest and why. Analyze content the same way you analyze funnels. Retention is the real signal of relevance.Show people something they've never seen before. Originality is MrBeast's core advantage. He doesn't just execute well, he starts with ideas audiences haven't encountered. Rodrigo reminds us, “The fight for attention is brutal today.” If your content looks like your competitors', it's already invisible. Massive budgets aren't required to execute original ideas, as MrBeast proved in his early viral videos. Novelty is a priceless strategic asset.Use culture as a creative multiplier. MrBeast often revamps formats by tapping into existing cultural moments (e.g., Squid Game, Willy Wonka). Rodrigo points out, “He can really revamp a format if he adds culture to [it].” B2B strategy doesn't have to reinvent the wheel. Tie your ideas to what your audience already cares about instead of forcing attention from scratch.Quote“ Go deeper on what really, already has the attention of your target audience, instead of starting from scratch. What are they paying attention to already?”Time Stamps[01:03] Meet Rodrigo Fontes, VP of Marketing at QuillBot[02:13] Why MrBeast?[09:07] Why His Content Works[16:58] The Power of Effort and Originality[22:05] Repeatable Formats and Serialized Content[29:20] Lessons from Branded Content and Influencers[42:45] QuillBot's Content Strategy[47:56] Advice for Marketing Leaders[51:12] Final Thoughts and TakeawaysLinksConnect with Rodrigo on LinkedInLearn more about QuillBotAbout Remarkable!Remarkable! is created by the team at Caspian Studios, the premier B2B Podcast-as-a-Service company. Caspian creates both nonfiction and fiction series for B2B companies. If you want a fiction series check out our new offering - The Business Thriller - Hollywood style storytelling for B2B. Learn more at CaspianStudios.com. In today's episode, you heard from Ian Faison (CEO of Caspian Studios) and Meredith Gooderham (Head of Production). Remarkable was produced this week by Jess Avellino, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. Create something remarkable. Rise above the noise. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Send us a textIn this episode of Navigating the Customer Experience, we sit down with Mark Fithian and Jeff Rosenberg, cofounders of WideOpen, a strategic customer experience (CX) consulting firm, and authors of the book The CX Imperatives: Five Strategic Practices for Renewal of the Customer-Centered Enterprise. With more than 30 years of experience each, Mark and Jeff bring deep insight from working across industries including healthcare, technology, automotive, consumer goods, and professional services.Mark and Jeff share their professional journeys and the “red thread” that has guided their careers: a commitment to understanding customers as humans, not just data points. From early roles in marketing, operations, and consulting, both authors describe moments when they realized organizations often make decisions without considering how customers truly experience them. That realization ultimately led to the founding of WideOpen and the development of the frameworks outlined in their book.The conversation centers on The CX Imperatives and its purpose as a practitioner's guide for CX leaders and professionals who already care about customer experience and want to embed customer centricity across the enterprise. Rather than focusing on one-off “wow moments,” the book emphasizes creating consistent, meaningful experiences across the entire customer journey that align with business strategy and drive growth and innovation. Importantly, the authors stress that the principles are industry-agnostic, applicable to both B2B and B2C organizations of all sizes.Mark outlines the book's five strategic CX practices:Insights – deeply understanding customers as emotional, human beings, not just metrics;CX Strategy – aligning customer insights with business objectives to focus effort where it matters most;Blueprinting – translating strategy into operationally actionable designs;Operating Model – enabling cross-functional collaboration through roles, processes, and shared accountability; andCulture – ensuring employees understand, believe in, and are equipped to deliver the intended experience.Through real-world examples, including healthcare, Mark and Jeff demonstrate how engaging frontline employees and embedding CX into culture can generate both tangible outcomes (cost savings, growth initiatives) and intangible benefits (employee ownership, sustainability, and trust).The discussion also explores the connection between internal culture and external customer experience, with both guests agreeing that consistently poor CX is often a symptom of internal organizational challenges. They share practical advice for CX leaders navigating varying levels of leadership support, emphasizing the importance of meeting stakeholders where they are and addressing resistance with empathy and clarity.To bring CX to life, Mark and Jeff each share standout customer experiences—from thoughtful airline journey improvements to an unexpectedly empowering healthcare onboarding experience—illustrating how intentional design can transform how customers feel.The episode wraps with personal insights into the tools, books, and mindsets that inspire them today, reflections on why this is an exciting time for the CX discipline, and where listeners can connect with them and learn more about their work, workshops, and book.This episode is a must-listen for leaders and practitioners looking to move beyond surface-level CX and build customer-centered enterprises that deliver sustainable value for both customers and the business.

In episode 104 of Venture Everywhere, Scott Hartley, co-founder and managing partner at Everywhere Ventures, talks with Kat Garcia, co-founder and co-CEO of Ground, a startup building the AI revenue system for autonomous revenue generation and retention. Kat shares how she left BCG Digital Ventures to work for free with B2C companies, uncovering that operators didn't need more productivity tools—they needed technology that could autonomously generate revenue on their behalf. She discusses how Ground's AI ontology transforms static metrics into actions that drive up to 10% more top-line revenue, moving companies from dashboards to agentic commerce.In this episode, you will hear:Unlocking unrealized revenue potential in fragmented tech stacks.Autonomous revenue generation beyond productivity tools.Real-time commerce ontology that learns and acts.Proving autonomous systems in high-churn e-commerce.Democratizing enterprise capabilities for mid-size brands.Learn more about Kat Garcia | GroundLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kat-garcia-online/Website: https://joinground.com/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4zuhbqKwF34X0wqDXa1Lsx?si=91da32c586844f1aLearn more about Scott Hartley | Everywhere VenturesLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scotthartley/Website: https://everywhere.vc

What's on your mind? Let CX Passport know...B2B customer experience is often treated like B2C with bigger contracts and longer sales cycles. That shortcut causes real problems. In this episode, Rick talks with Kári Thor Runarsson about why B2B CX needs its own thinking, its own metrics, and far more attention to relationships that quietly drift long before renewal.Kári has spent his career in B2B, including startups and non-tech industries, questioning borrowed frameworks and shallow measurements. The result is a grounded conversation about silence, contracts, commoditization, and why experience is often the only real differentiator left.Key TakeawaysB2B decisions involve multiple stakeholders with competing success metricsSilence is one of the strongest churn signals in B2B relationshipsNet Promoter Score breaks down quickly in complex B2B environmentsCustomer experience becomes decisive as industries commoditizeStartups often overestimate how well they understand customer dissatisfactionCHAPTERS00:00 Introduction and first Iceland-based CX Passport guest 02:00 Marketing and CX are more fluid than organizations admit 04:50 What B2B leaders misunderstand about customer experience 07:45 Silence, contracts, and how churn really starts 10:40 Stakeholders, misaligned objectives, and missed signals 14:20 CX maturity across regions and markets 16:00 First Class Lounge 20:30 Why CX matters most outside of tech and SaaS 24:20 Where B2C thinking hurts B2B CX efforts 27:00 CX advice for B2B startups 28:50 Where to find Kári and closing thoughtsGuest LinksKári Thor Runarsson on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/karithor/Cliezen: https://www.cliezen.comListen: https://www.cxpassport.com Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@cxpassport Newsletter: https://cxpassport.kit.com/signupI'm Rick Denton and I believe the best meals are served outside and require a passport.Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed are those of the hosts and guests and should not be taken as legal, financial, or professional advice. Always consult with a qualified attorney, financial advisor, or other professional regarding your specific situation. The opinions expressed by guests are solely theirs and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of the host(s).

How do you keep in touch with old leads and old customers in your database? Or, how do you keep in touch with your family and friends? Our guest today is CEO/Founder of Warmstart, Dave Sifry, who has created a solution to help all of us do a better job of keeping those relationships with the people we care about.TODAY'S WIN-WIN:Missionaries or Mercenaries, decide which one you are and find others that are aligned with you.LINKS FROM THE EPISODE:Schedule your free franchise consultation with Big Sky Franchise Team: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/. You can visit our guest's website at: https://warmstart.ai/Attend our Franchise Sales Training Workshop:  https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/franchisesalestraining/Connect with our guests on social:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dsifry/ABOUT OUR GUEST:Dave Sifry is the founder and CEO of Warmstart, a platform built to help founders and executives grow through reconnecting with the people who know and love them, but haven't heard from them in a while! Warmstart centers on one idea: people move faster when their network works for them, so the product makes it easy to build and surface warm paths into customers, investors, and partners. Dave is a nine-time founder. He created Technorati, the world's largest blog search engine, and was an executive at Lyft and Reddit. Based in San Francisco, he has built multiple B2C and B2B companies, and has raised multiple rounds of venture funding, scaled teams, and led products used by millions. He has also been through hypergrowth at 3 different companies, giving him a view of how organizations succeed as they grow, and how relationships shape opportunities at every stage.ABOUT BIG SKY FRANCHISE TEAM:This episode is powered by Big Sky Franchise Team. If you are ready to talk about franchising your business you can schedule your free, no-obligation, franchise consultation online at: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/.The information provided in this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered financial, legal, or professional advice. Always consult with a qualified professional before making any business decisions. The views and opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host, Big Sky Franchise Team, or our affiliates. Additionally, this podcast may feature sponsors or advertisers, but any mention of products or services does not constitute an endorsement. Please do your own research before making any purchasing or business decisions.

Send us a textWhen evaluating the CRM category, our analysis intentionally moves beyond CRM modules embedded within ERP systems and instead focuses on best-of-breed CRM platforms and the full spectrum of capabilities that define modern customer engagement. This includes not only core operational CRM functions such as sales force automation and pipeline management, but also upstream marketing automation, downstream customer experience and service workflows, contact center operations, events, search, and the increasing convergence with CMS and website capabilities that anchor the digital customer journey. While vendors may brand these pillars as Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, or reposition them around AI- and agentic-workflow narratives, the underlying architecture remains consistent, and strategic orientation matters: some platforms are designed for specific micro-verticals with tightly integrated suites, while others pursue broad horizontal coverage. These choices materially affect extensibility, process design, and long-term fit, particularly across B2B versus B2C use cases, where many CRM systems struggle with complex B2B sales cycles—driving continued demand for low-code and no-code customization and deeper integration across CRM, eCommerce, and CMS ecosystems.In this episode, our host Sam Gupta discusses the top 10 CRM systems in 2026. He also discusses several variables that influence the rankings of these CRM systems. Finally, he shares the pros and cons of each CRM system.Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBLUBdDuWQcRead: https://www.elevatiq.com/post/top-erp-systems/Questions for Panelists?

Jason William Johnson, PhD, Founder of SoundStrategist, is driven by two lifelong passions: creating and teaching. Through SoundStrategist, Jason designs AI-powered learning experiences and intelligent coaching systems that blend music, gamification, and experiential learning to drive real skill development and engagement for enterprises and entrepreneur support organizations. We explore Jason's journey as a musician, educator, and business coach, and how he fused those disciplines into an AI-first company. Jason shares his AI for Deep Experts Framework, showing how subject-matter experts can identify an industry pain point, envision a solution, brainstorm with AI, leverage AI tools to build it, and go after high-value impact—turning deep expertise into scalable products and platforms without needing to be technical. He also explains how AI accelerates research and product design, how “vibe coding” enables rapid MVP development, and why focusing on high-value B2B impact creates faster traction with less complexity. — Turn Your Expertise Into Software with Jason W. Johnson Good day, dear listeners. Steve Preda here, the Founder of the Summit OS Group, developing the Summit OS Business Operating System. And my guest today is Jason William Johnson, PhD, the Founder of SoundStrategist. His team designs AI-powered learning experiences and deploys intelligent coaching systems for enterprises and entrepreneur support organizations blending music, gamification, and experiential learning to drive real skill development and engagement. Jason, welcome to the show.  Thanks for having me, Steve.  I’m excited to have you and to learn about how you blend music and learning and all that together. But to start with, I’d like to ask you my favorite question. What is your personal ‘Why’ and how are you manifesting it in your business?  I would say my personal ‘Why’ is creating and teaching. Those are my two passions. So when I was younger, I was always a creative. I did music, writing, and a variety of other things. So I was always been passionate about creating, but I’ve also been passionate about teaching. I've been informally a teacher for my entire adult life—coaching, training. I've also been an actual professor. So through  SoundStrategist, I’m kind of combining those two passions: the passion for teaching and imparting wisdom, along with the passion for creating through music, AI-powered experiences, gamification, and all of those different things. So I'm really in my happy place.Share on X  Yeah, sounds like it. It sounds like you're very excited talking about this. So this is quite an unusual type of business, and I wonder how do you stumbled upon this kind of combination, this portfolio of activities and put them all into a business. How did that come about? So Liam Neeson says, “I have a unique combination of skills,” like in Taken. I guess that's kind of how I came up with SoundStrategist. I've pretty much been in music forever. I've been a musician, songwriter, producer, and rapper since I was a child. My father was a musician, so it was kind of like a genetic skill that I kind of adopted and was cultivated at an early age. So I was always passionate about music. Then got older, grew up, got into business, and really became passionate about training and educating. So I pretty much started off running entrepreneurship centers. My whole career has been in small business and economic development. SoundStrategist was a happy marriage of the two when I realized, oh, I can actually use rap to teach entrepreneurship, to teach leadership skills, and now to teach AI and a variety of other things.Share on X So pretty much it was just that fusion of things. And then when we launched the company, it was around the time ChatGPT came out. So we really wanted to make sure we were building it to be AI-first. At first, we were just using AI in our business operations, but then we started experimenting  with it for client work—like integrating AI-powered coaches in some of the training programs we were running and things like that. And that really proved to be really valuable, because one of the things I learned when I was running programs throughout my career was you always wanted to have the learning side and the coaching side. Because the learning side generalizes the knowledge for everybody and kind of level-sets everybody.Share on X But everybody’s business, or everybody’s situation, is extremely unique, so you need to have that personalized support and assistance. And when we were running programs in the entrepreneurship centers I were running and things like that, we would always have human coaches. AI enabled us to kind of scale coaching for some of the programs we’re building at SoundStrategist through AI. So with me having been a business coach for over 15 years, I knew how to train the AI chatbots. It started off as simple chatbots, and now it's evolved into full agents that use voice and all those other capabilities. But it really started as, let's put some chatbots into some of our courses and some of our programs to kind of reinforce the learning, personalize it, and then it just developed from there. Okay, so there's a lot in there, and I'd like to unpack some of it. When you say use rap to teach, I’m thinking about rap is kind of a form of poetry. So how do you use poetry, or how do you use rap to teach people? Is it more catchy if it is delivered in the form of a rap song? How does it work? So you kind of want to make it catchy. Our philosophy is this: when you listen to it, it should sound like a good song.Share on X Because there’s this real risk of it sounding corny if it's done wrong, right? So we always focus on creating good music first and foremost when we’re creating a music-based lesson. So it should be a good song. It should be something you hear and think, oh, between the chorus and the music, this actually sounds good. But then, the value of music is that once you learn the song, you learn the concept, right? Because once you memorize the song, you memorize the lyrics, which means you memorize the concept. One of the things we also make sure to do is introduce concepts. The best way I could describe this is this, and this might be funny, but I grew up in the nineties, and a lot of rappers talked about selling dr*gs and things like that. I never sold dr*gs in my life. But just by listening to rap music and hearing them introduce those concepts, if I ever decided to go bad, I would have a working theory, right? So the same thing with entrepreneurship, and the same thing with business principles. You can create songs that introduce the concepts in a way where if a person's never done it, they're introduced to the vocabulary.Share on X They’re introduced to the lived experiences. They’re introduced to the core principles. And then they can take that, and then they can go apply it and have a working theory on how to execute in their business. So that’s kind of the philosophy that we took, let’s make it memorable music, but also introduce key vocabulary. Let’s introduce lived experiences. Let’s introduce key concepts so that when people are done listening to the song, they memorize it, they embody it, and they connect with it. Now they have a working theory for whatever the song is about.  And are you using AI to actually write the song?  No, we're not. That’s one of the things we haven’t really integrated on the AI front, because the AI is not good enough to take what’s exactly in my head and turn it into a song. It’s good for somebody who doesn’t have any songwriting capability or musical capability to create something that’s cool. But as a musician, as somebody who writes, you have a vision in your head on how something should sound sonically, and the AI is not good enough to take what’s in my head and put it into a song. Now, what we are using are some of the AI tools like Suno for background music. So at first, we used that to create all our background music for our courses from scratch. We are using some of the AI to help with some of the background music and everything and all of that so that we can have original stuffShare on X as opposed to having to use licensed music from places like Epidemic Sound. So we are using it for like the background music. But for the actual music-based lessons, we're still doing those old school.  Okay, that's pretty good. We are going to dive in a little bit deeper here, but before we go there, I’d like to talk about the framework that you’re bringing to the show. I think we called it the AI for Deep Experts Framework. That's the working title right now, but yeah, we're still finalizing it. But that’s the working title. Yeah.  But the idea—at least the way I'm understanding it—is that if someone has deep domain expertise, AI can be a real accelerator and amplifier of that expertise. Yep.  So people who are listening to this and they have domain expertise and they want to do AI so that they can deliver it to more people, reach more people, create more value, what is the framework? What is the five-step framework to get them there?  Number one: provided that you have deep expertise, you should be able to identify a core pain point in your respective industry that needs solving.Share on X Maybe it’s something that, throughout your career, you wanted to solve, but you weren’t able to get the resources allocated to get it done in your job. Or maybe it required some technical talent and you weren’t a developer, or whatever, right? But you should be able to identify what’s the pain point, a sticking pain point that needs to be solved—and if it's solved, it could really create value for customers. That's just old-school opportunity recognition. Number two: now, the great thing about AI is that you can leverage AI to do a lot of deep research on the problem. So obviously, you're still going to have conversations to better understand the pain point further. You're going to look at your own lived experiences and things like that. But now you can also leverage AI tools—using Perplexity or Claude—to do deep research on a market opportunity. So whether or not you have experience in market research, you can use an AI tool to help identify the total addressable market. You can brainstorm with it to uncover additional pain points, and it help you flesh out your value proposition, your concept statement, and all of those things that are critical to communicating the offering. Because before we transact in money, we always transact in language, right? So pretty much, AI can help you articulate the value proposition, understand the pain point, all of those different things. And then also if you have like deep expertise and you haven't really turned it into a framework, the AI can help you framework it and then develop a workflow to deliver value.Share on X So now you have the framework, you have the market understanding, and all of those different things. AI can even help you think through what the product would look like—the user experience, the workflow, things like that. Now you can use the AI-powered tool to help you build that. You can use something like Lovable. You can use something like Bolt. You could use something like Cursor, all different AI-powered tools. For people who are newer to development and have never done development before, I would recommend something like Lovable or maybe Bolt. But once you get more comfortable and want to make sure you're building production-ready software, then you move to something like Cursor.  Cursor has a large enough context window—the context window is basically the memory of an AI tool. It has a large enough context window to deal with complex codebases. A lot of engineers are using it to build real, production-ready platforms. But for an MVP, Bolt and Lovable are more than good enough. So one of the things I recommend when building with one of these tools is to do what's called a PRD prompt. PRD stands for Product Requirements Document.Share on X For those who aren’t familiar with software development, typically, and this is not even really happening anymore, but traditionally with software development, you would have the product manager create a Product Requirements Document. So this basically outlines the goals of the platform, target audience, core features, database, architecture, technology stack, all of the different things that engineers would need to do in order to build the platform. So you can go to something like Claude, or ChatGPT, and you can say: “Create a PRD prompt for this app idea,” and then give as much detail as possible—the features, how it works, brand colors, all of those different things. Then the AI tool—whether you're using ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini—will generate your PRD prompt. So it’s going to be like this really, really long prompt. But it’s going to have all of the things that the AI tool, web-building or app-building tool needs to know in order to build the platform. It’s going to have all the specifications. So you copy and paste.  Is this what people call vibe coding?  Yeah, this is vibe coding. But the PRD prompt helps you become more effective at vibe coding because it gives the AI the specifications it needs and the language that it understands to increase the likelihood that you build your platform correctly. Because once you build the PRD prompt, the AI is going to know, okay, this is the database structure. It's going to know whether this is a React app versus a Next.js app. It's going to know, okay, we're building a frontend with Netlify. The stuff that you may not know, the AI will know, and it will build the platform for that. So then you take that prompt, you paste it into Lovable, paste it into Cursor, and then you can kind of get into your vibe coding flow. Don't let the hype fool you, though, because a lot of people will say, “Oh, I built this app in 15 minutes using Lovable.” No—it still requires time. But if you can build a full-stack application in two weeks when it typically takes several months, that’s still like super fast. So pretty much, on average, you can build something in a couple of weeks—especially once you get familiar with the process, you can build something in a couple of weeks. But if this is your first time ever doing this, pay attention to things like when the app debugs and some of the other issues that come up.  Start paying attention because you’re going to learn certain things by doing. As you go through the process, you'll begin to understand things like, okay, this is what an edge function is, this is what a backend is. You’ll start learning these different things as you’re going through the process, right? So you get the platform built. Now the next step is you want to distribute the platform. So obviously, if you’ve been in your industry for a while and you have some expertise, you should have some distribution. You should have some folks in your space who are your ICP that you can kind of start having some customer conversations with and start trying to sell the platform. One of the things that I always recommend is going B2B and selling something for significant valueShare on X as opposed to going B2C and selling a bunch of $19.99 subscriptions. And the reason for that is a couple of different things. Number one, when you have to do a lot of volume, your business model becomes more complicated. And then you have to introduce things to manage that volume. Whereas if you’re selling a solution that’s a five-figure to six-figure offering, like 10 clients, 15 clients, the amount of money that you can get to with less complexity in your business model. So I always say go B2B, at least a five-figure annual offering, because I know most of the offerings that we offer are at least high five figures, low six figures—subscriptions, SaaS licensing, or whatever. And that way it just introduces less complexity to your business model, and it allows you to get as much revenue as possible. And then as you go to market, you’re going to learn. So the learning aspect, you’re going to learn maybe customers want this or this feature. We thought the people were going to use the platform this way, but they’re actually using it this way. So you’re always learning, always evolving, and adjusting the offering. Okay, so let's say I have deep expertise in some area—maybe investment banking or whatever. I want to use AI. I identify an industry pain point that I've addressed or maybe I personally experienced. I visualize a solution, then I brainstorm with ChatGPT or Claude or whatever, figure out what to do, and then I leverage AI tools like Cursor, Lovable, or Bolt. I set the price point. I go B2B. Is this something that, as a subject-matter expert, is efficient for me to do myself because I have the expertise and the vision? Or is it better for me to hire someone to do this?  It depends on what your bandwidth is. I mean, pretty much I’m of the firm belief that like these are skills that you probably want to unlock anyway. So it might be worth going through the process of learning the tools, leveraging them, and everything, and all of that. And that’s kind of how you future-proof yourself. Now, obviously, if you have bandwidth limitations, there are firms and organizations that you could hire, et cetera, et cetera, that can do it for you. Obviously, developers and things like that. But the funny thing about a lot of developers is, even though they're using AI, they're still charging the prices they charged before AI, right? They’re just getting it done faster, and their margins are a lot lower. So you're still going to pay, in a lot of instances, developer pricing for a platform. Those are the things that you have to consider as far as your own personal situation. But me personally, I believe these are skills worth unlocking.Share on X Because one of the things is, if you get very senior in your career—let's say you've been there 15, 16 years, 20 years—we all know there's this point where you either move up to the C-suite or you get caught in upper-middle-management purgatory, where you're kind of in that VP, senior director space, et cetera, et cetera, and you just kind of hover there. At that point, your career moves tend to be lateral—going from one VP role to another VP role, one senior director role to another senior director role, right? At that point, your income potential starts to get limited. So unlocking one of these skills and becoming more entrepreneurial is something I genuinely believe is worth developing personally. And what would you say is the time requirement for someone to get competent in vibe coding?  Three months minimal. You could be pretty solid in three months.  But three months full-time or three months part-time?  Three months part-time.  So three months. That's about 143 working hours in a regular month. So that's basically around 420–430 hours if you were full-time.  If you spend weekends working on your project, learning how to build it, taking notes, and actually going through the process, you can get pretty decent in a couple of months. Now, obviously, there are still levels as you continue and to progress and things like that, but you can get pretty solid in a couple months. Another thing you want to consider is who you're selling to. You obviously wanna make sure that your platform security is really well, is really done. So even if you build it yourself and then you have an engineer do code review, that’s cheaper than having them build it. I think if you spend three months, you can get really good at building solutions for what you need to get done. And then from there, you just get better and better and better and better.  How do I know that, let's say I hire someone in Serbia to do a code review for me? Let's say I learn the vibe coding thing and create the prototype, then I have someone to clean the code. How do I know that they did a good job or not?  You really don’t. You really don’t know until the platform’s in the wild, and it’s like, okay, it’s secure. So there are some things that you can do to check behind people. Let's say you don't have the money to do a full security audit or hire someone specifically for a security review, a developer for security review. One of the things that you can do is you can do multi-agent review. Like you take your codebase, have Claude review it, have OpenAI Codex review it, have a Cursor agent review it. You have multiple agents do a review. Then they kind of check each other’s work, if you will.  They kinda identify things that others may not have identified, so you can get the collective wisdom of those three to be able to be like, “Okay, I need to shore this up. I need to fix this. I need to address that.” That gives you more confidence. It still doesn’t replace a person who has deep expertise and making sure they build secure code, but it will catch common issues, like hard-coding API keys, which is a risk, right? It’ll catch those type of things that typically happen. But let’s say you do have a security, a code review, you could just kind of take that same approach also to check their work. Because they shouldn’t find any major vulnerabilities. The AI agents that come in after it shouldn’t really find any major vulnerabilities if it was like done securely securely. Another thing to consider is that a lot of these tools use Supabase for the backend and database. Supabase also has a built-in security advisor, including an AI security advisor, that points out security issues, performance problems, and configuration errors. So like you do have some AI-powered check and balances to check behind people.Share on X  Interesting. So basically, I can audit their applications, and the AI will check the code and tell me what needs to be improved?  Yeah. And they can make the fixes for you.  Yeah. Wow, that’s amazing. It still sounds a little bit overwhelming. It’s basically a language, a new language to learn, isn’t it?  It’s not really — it’s English. That’s the amazing thing about it—it’s English. I mean, you literally talk to AI in natural language, and it builds stuff for you, which is, if somebody is like, had a idea for a minute, because I mean, pretty much running entrepreneurship centers, I’ve known so many people who’ve had ideas that they were never able to launch or build, and then they see somebody build it later. If you learn these skills, you get to the point where anything that's in your head, you can kind of start bringing it to life in reality.Share on X And even if you've got to bring somebody in to make sure it's secure and production-ready, it's way cheaper than having them build it from scratch. And then another thing that you’ll find also is if you’re able to build something, let’s say you want to turn it into a startup or something, right? It’s a lot easier to bring in a technical co-founder when they don’t got to build the thing from scratch, and then they also see that you were able to build something, they’re able to see your product vision, et cetera, et cetera. It becomes a lot more easier to recruit people who actually have that expertise into the company because you’ve already handled the hard part. You got something and it works. And all they got to do is just come in, make it safe, and make it work better.  Yeah, that is very interesting. It feels analogous to writing a book yourself or having a ghostwriter. Because essentially, you are vibe coding with a ghostwriter, right? You tell the stories, and then the ghostwriter writes the book for you. Probably now you can use  AI to do that. Yep.  But that's a skill. Not everyone has the skill to write it themselves, and then they need to go to the ghostwriter, but still is their book, right?  Yep.  So it sounds a little bit similar. That’s fascinating. So what’s the path to launching an MVP? So let’s say I’m a subject matter expert, and I want to launch an MVP within a few weeks. Is there a path for me to go there?  Once you get good with the platform, once you get comfortable with the tools, yeah. So for example, we're launching an AI platform. It's an AI coaching platform, but it's also a data analytics platform. Basically, it's targeted to entrepreneur support organizations and municipalities supporting small businesses. So on the front end, it's an AI-powered advisor — it's a hotline that people can call 24/7. But on the back end, the municipalities and entrepreneur support organizations get access to analytics from each of those calls. We built this in two weeks. We’re already talking to customers, we’re already having conversations, and all of those things. We literally brought it to market in two weeks. So the thing is, once you kind of get caught up with the tools—and I'm not a developer, I'm not a developer by trade at all. I had a tech startup before, but I was a non-technical founder. I just know how to put together a product. But once you get good with the tools, that's very conceivable. And then you just go out there, and you go in the market, you start having conversations with your ideal customer profile.Share on X As you’re going through that process, you’re learning, okay, maybe this isn’t my ideal customer profile, this is their pain point. Or maybe instead of this being the feature they want, this is the feature they want. And the crazy thing about it is in the past you had to really get that ICP real tight and the feature set real tight because it cost so much money to go back and have to make tweaks and changes and to get it to market in the first place. Now, you can get a new feature added in the afternoon. It allows you to go to market a little bit faster. You don’t have to have the ideal feature set. You don’t have to have the ICP figured out. You get out there, you learn, and then you’re able to iterate a lot faster because the cost of development is super cheap now, and the speed in which like new features can be added or deprecated is a lot faster. So it allows you to go to market a lot faster than in the past.  Okay, I got it. You can do this, you can code. What do you recommend for someone who’s starting out? You mentioned Lovable, Bolt, and then Cursor. Is Cursor like an advanced product?  Cursor’s a little bit more advanced, but if you want to build production-ready software, it's something you're going to eventually have to use. But can you convert from Lovable to Cursor?  Yes, you can. Yep. So what you typically do — and I still do this to this day — is every time I launch a product, I build it in Bolt first. You could use Bolt or Lovable, either one's fine. I use Bolt because Bolt came out first, and that's what I started using. Then Lovable came out like a month later. But I use Bolt. I’ll spin up the idea in Bolt. And the reason I like doing it in Bolt or Lovable is that it's really good at doing two things. It's really good at quickly launching your initial feature set, and then spinning up your backend. Your database — it's really good at that. So I start off in Bolt, then I connect it to a repository.  For those who aren't familiar with GitHub, there's a button in Bolt or Lovable where you can easily connect it to a GitHub repository. So then once I kind of get the app to a point where the basic skeleton is set, then I go into Cursor. Then I pull the repository into Cursor and do the heavy work. The reason Cursor has a learning curve is because there are still some traditional developer things you need to know to spin up a project. Your initial database — it's a lot harder to spin up your initial database and backend in Cursor. It's also harder to identify your initial libraries and all of those things. If you're a developer, it's not difficult. But if you're new, it is. Bolt and Lovable abstract those things out for you. So you start it off in Bolt or Lovable. Basically, since they're limited in their context windows, when you're trying to build something complex, eventually they start making a whole bunch of errors. They basically start getting stup*d. That's when you know it's time to move to Cursor, because Cursor can handle the heavy lifting. So if you build in Bolt or Lovable until it gets stup*d, then you move to Cursor for the heavy lifting.  And then is there a point where Cursor gets stup*d as well? No. Cursor has a couple of different things that allow it to extend its context window, which is his memory. You can put documentation into Cursor. For example, whatever your PRD prompt was, you can save that as a document in Cursor. You can also set rules. One of my rules in Cursor is: I'm not technical, so explain everything in layman's terms. And then as you’re starting to build code, you can save that code or you can point it to that repository. So there's some more flexibility with Cursor as far as managing your context window.Share on X But with Bolt and Lovable, the context window is more limited right now. So I start off in those, and then once I kind of get the skeleton up, then I move to Cursor. And at that point, a lot of the complicated things like spinning up your dev environment and all those things are kind of abstracted out. Then you can just jump in and use it the same way you use Bolt and Lovable. Fantastic. Fantastic. So, Jason, super helpful information for domain experts who want to build an application that will help them promote their product or manifest their ideas in product form. I think that’s super powerful. So if someone would like to learn about SoundStrategist and what SoundStrategist can do for them in terms of learning and experiential products, incorporating music, or building curriculum, or they would just like to connect with you to learn more about what you can do for them, where should they go?  Jason William Johnson, PhD, on LinkedIn, or www.getsoundstrategies.com.  Okay. Well, Jason William Johnson, you are really ahead of the curve, especially connecting this whole idea of vibe coding to people who are subject matter experts and not technical. And you know it because you don't come from a technical background, yet you've mastered it. I’m living it. Everything I’m sharing—this is not like a theoretical framework. I'm living all of this. So everything I’m saying. Super authentic. And especially coming from you—you understand what it's like to not be technical person, learning this, applying this.  So if you'd like to do this, learn more, or maybe have Jason guide you, reach out to him. You can find him on LinkedIn at Jason William Johnson, PhD, or visit www.getsoundstrategies.com. And if you enjoyed this episode, make sure you follow us and subscribe on YouTube, follow us on LinkedIn, and on Apple Podcasts. Because every week I bring a super interesting entrepreneur, subject matter expert, or a combination of the two—like Jason—to the show, who will help you accelerate your journey with frameworks and AI frameworks in that gear. So thank you for coming, Jason, and thank you for listening. Important Links: Jason's LinkedIn Jason's website

A single email can cost millions of dollars. Not because of what it says, but because it didn't reach the right people at the right time. Most companies treat content as marketing fluff until it fails spectacularly. Then suddenly everyone realizes it's the invisible infrastructure holding together every digital experience.Join hosts Chuck Moxley and Nick Paladino as they sit down with Rafael Carranza, who's spent his career proving that content isn't just words on a page. Starting at a wire service during the dot-com boom when thousands of websites suddenly needed live content, Rafael moved to Microsoft where he helped open their content platform to publishers. He then went to Amazon building decision-making systems for thousands of sellers navigating complex rules, and now to PitchBook where data trust drives financial decisions. We explore why trust is the foundation of all content operations, why Microsoft pivoted from being a media company to becoming a platform, and when content stops being marketing and becomes integral to the product itself. Rafael argues that frictionless isn't about improving processes or deploying better technology, it's about how deeply you understand the customer on the other side.Key Actionable Takeaways:Build content governance foundations before implementing AI - Clean your content libraries, audit outdated information, establish clear tagging systems, and align terminology across departments; LLMs can't generate accurate responses from messy, ungoverned dataTreat content as product infrastructure, not just marketing - Critical information about rules, procedures, and product usage directly impacts customer success and costs real money when missing or wrong at decision-making momentsPrioritize quality gates over speed when stakes are high - Create intentional friction through approval processes and pushback mechanisms to maintain quality standards; moving fast without accuracy can trigger legal issues, government involvement, and million-dollar failuresWant more tips and strategies about creating frictionless digital experiences? Subscribe to our newsletter! https://www.thefrictionlessexperience.com/frictionless/ Download the Black Friday/Cyber Monday eBook: http://bluetriangle.com/ebook Rafael Carranza's LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/rafaelcarranza Nick Paladino's LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/npaladino Chuck Moxley's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckmoxley/Chapters:(00:00) Introduction(02:43) Journalism origins(03:15) Wire service dot-com boom(04:30) Microsoft partnership(05:30) Learning user trust(07:15) Trust across organizations(08:35) Microsoft media pivot(09:45) Platform over content(10:30) Content as product(11:15) Amazon seller information(12:30) Operationalizing at scale(13:15) Governance structures(14:30) AI hallucination risks(15:15) Content accuracy guardrails(17:15) Windows to Linux journey(18:15) Business adoption limits(20:00) Human-AI collaboration(21:30) Innovation vs trust balance(22:00) B2B vs B2C content(23:30) Right content right time(24:30) When content fails(25:30) Million-dollar mistakes(26:45) Intentional friction benefits(27:30) Quality over speed(28:45) Biggest misconception(29:30) Conclusion

Become the Brand Your Customers Feel Great About Have you ever wondered why you are fiercely loyal to certain brands while ignoring others that offer the exact same thing? It's not about the price, and it's rarely about the features. It is about brain physiology and how it interacts with our decisions when it comes to brands. Today, we are diving deep into the science of emotion with Kevin Perlmutter, the pioneering strategist and author of the groundbreaking new book, Brand Desire. Kevin is here to reveal that the secret to business growth isn’t “selling”—it’s “solving.” We are going to explore his “Limbic Sparks” approach, a method rooted in behavioral science that helps you stop chasing customers and start magnetically attracting them. Whether you are leading a Fortune 500 company or building a personal brand, you will learn how to tap into the instinctive, emotional part of the brain that drives our decision-making. In this episode of A New Direction, we are moving beyond the old-school 20th century branding like “Unique Selling Proposition.” Kevin will walk us through his proven “Focus, Connect, Evolve” framework, showing us how to align your business with what people actually care about. We will discuss why traditional marketing language is dead and how you can earn loyalty by making your customers feel seen, heard, and understood. Join us live on A New Direction as we uncover the blind spots in your current strategy. If you are ready to stop shouting into the void and start building a brand that people don’t just buy from—but truly desire—this is a conversation you cannot afford to miss. Kevin Perlmutter’s book, “Brand Desire: Spark Customer Interest Using Emotional Insights” is the absolute essential book for today’s brand leaders.  This is a book that is founded solidly on research both from the brand researchers and his own research working with different companies. For most of us we are still stuck in the 20th century branding ideas of persuasion. We are talking about all the great things about ourselves and what WE THINK we do for the future customer, but here’s the problem…how do your customers feel about your brand.  Because at the end of the day it is all about how they feel about you. This is an important, because as we know we, as humans, do not make logical purchasing decisions, not matter how big or how small.  It also does not matter if you are B2C or B2B, every human makes a decision based on emotions triggered by the limbic system and then justifies it with logic. And Kevin Perlmutter’s book, “Brand Desire” helps solve the problem. Kevin Perlmutter, helps us understand the 3 Steps to creating a brand that resonates with customers and makes them come back for more…Focus, Connect, Evolve.  That is doing the right research asking the right questions, then creating a message that emotionally is in sync with the organization and the customer, and then how you are seen how you are heard, and does the message really something the customer cares about. Amazing book, one that will change you as a brand leader whether you are on a one person show, or a corporation looking to increase profitability. Click here to get your copy of Brand Desire! Linda Craft Team, Realtors for more than 40 years they have been helping people make a life transition.  Wait! What? Think about it, every place you have ever lived has been a transition in your life.  And since 1985 they have been helping people reduce the stress and making that transition easier for thousands of people. Unaffiliated and independently owned and operated they can recommend the best real estate professional to help you sell your home or buy your next home anywhere in the world. That is because they are not attached to a national company, they are attached to what is in your best interest. So before you buy or sell start with the “Legends” at Linda Craft Team.  Just click on over to www.LindaCraft.com Here is the truth: You tune into A New Direction because you want to grow. But consuming content and executing strategy are two different things. If you are leading a company between $5M and $50M and you feel like you are hitting a ceiling, the problem isn't a lack of information. It's likely a “human” bottleneck. I am Coach Jay, a Behavioral Strategist who specializes in fixing the friction that kills profit. I don't just look at your P&L; I look at the psychology of the people driving it. I recently helped a stalled mid-market firm save $3 Million and secure new capital—not by firing people, but by realigning their behavior. Stop guessing. Let's find the millions trapped in your org chart. Reach out for a discreet conversation: 919-369-2121 or visit TheCoachJay.com.

Send us a textWhen there's no handbook for building a career, you rely on tenacity, positivity, and education. David Gavin learned retail marketing the hard way: by watching, asking questions, and looking for the white space everyone else ignored.In this episode, Danny sits down with his uncle, David Gavin, a worldwide sales and merchandising consultant who went from navigating apartheid-era South Africa to becoming a strategic force in North American jewelry retail. David shares how focusing on what competitors aren't doing beats racing to the bottom of price, how mentors who throw you in the deep end can change your career trajectory forever, and how the true mark of a salesperson isn't the sum of a set of soft skills, it's how you connect with people.Episode Highlights: Success comes from identifying white space, the opportunities competitors overlook, rather than fighting over what everyone else is already doing.PowerPoint presentations aren't just sales tools; they're strategic frameworks that help clients see concepts they couldn't articulate themselves.Calculated risk-taking means being willing to leave comfort behind when you see a bigger opportunity, even if the path isn't clear.Mentorship often looks like being thrown into the deep end with people who believe you'll figure out how to swim.Retail success requires understanding both the corporate and independent sides of the business, and being willing to walk into stores and observe what's actually happening.Episode Links: David Gavin on LinkedInDavid Greg WebsiteRapaport Magazine: The Rise of Desert DiamondsFollow The Digital Marketing Mentor: Website and Blog: thedmmentor.com Instagram: @thedmmentor Linkedin: @thedmmentor YouTube: @thedmmentor Interested in Digital Marketing Services, Careers, or Courses? Check out more from the TDMM Family: Optidge.com - Full Service Digital Marketing Agency specializing in SEO, PPC, Paid Social, and Lead Generation efforts for established B2C and B2B businesses and organizations. ODEOacademy.com - Digital Marketing online education and course platform. ODEO gives you solid digital marketing knowledge to launch/boost your career or understand your business's digital marketing strategy.

In this episode of Mastering eCommerce Marketing, host Eitan Koter sits down with Jason Greenwood, founder of Greenwood Consulting and host of the eCommerce Edge podcast.Jason has spent over 25 years working across eCommerce, with a sharp focus on B2B. The conversation centers on why B2B commerce has followed a very different path than DTC, and why many manufacturers and distributors are only now taking digital seriously.They talk about how COVID accelerated change, why marketplaces are one of the fastest-growing B2B channels, and what modern B2B buyers actually expect from suppliers today. Jason also explains why traditional KPIs like AOV and conversion rate don't tell the full story in B2B, and what metrics matter more.The episode also covers change management, sales team resistance, and how technology should support people instead of replacing them. Toward the end, Jason shares his take on when DTC brands should start thinking about wholesale and distribution, and what happens when they wait too long.Website: https://www.vimmi.netEmail us: info@vimmi.netPodcast website: https://vimmi.net/mastering-ecommerce-marketing/Talk to us on Social:Eitan Koter's LinkedIn | Vimmi LinkedIn | YouTubeGuest: Jason Greenwood, Founder & Lead Consultant at Greenwood ConsultingJason Greenwood's LinkedIn | Greenwood ConsultingWatch the full Youtube video here:https://youtu.be/luahzCh6-fATakeaways:• B2B e-commerce is significantly behind B2C but is catching up rapidly.• The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the need for digital transformation in B2B.• Sales teams often resist digital changes due to traditional practices.• Change management is crucial for successful digital adoption in B2B.• B2B relationships are long-term and require a human touch.• Digital channels are essential for B2B growth and efficiency.• AI can enhance B2B operations but should not replace human interaction.• D2C brands should consider B2B as a growth channel once stable.• Understanding KPIs in B2B is different from B2C due to higher AOVs.• Technology plays a vital role in the future of B2B e-commerce.Chapters:00:00 Introduction and Background01:00 Understanding B2B E-commerce08:58 Digital Channels in B2B13:48 Change Management in B2B Transformation17:49 Key Performance Indicators in B2B22:13 Technology Building Blocks for B2B25:21 D2C Brands and B2B Opportunities31:18 Personal Values and Closing Thoughts

Every company wants better market insights, but up until AI's entrance, results have been highly speculative.   How is AI upending tried-and-true market research methodology?  Kate O'Keefe, CEO and founder of Heatseeker, joins SaaS Half Full to explain why traditional surveys and customer-led insights are no longer cutting it, and how behavioral data and AI-driven experimentation are providing marketers with data they can actually trust. In this episode, Kate outlines how brands can move beyond speculative research by leveraging live market experiments, first-party data, and synthetic personas to uncover real customer signals in real time. She also shares how leading B2B and B2C brands are using these methods to test ideas before launch, build stronger campaigns, and give marketers the confidence to push bolder creative decisions backed by quant-driven insights.  

Most brands do not grow. Despite the industry's obsession with "growth porn," relative market share remains remarkably stable over decades. In this episode, Dale Harrison—physicist, former CFO, and consultant—joins Marc and V to dismantle the illusion of marketing-driven growth. He argues that most "hockey stick" curves are the result of external technological innovations or massive capital injections, not tactical marketing genius.For the mid-to-senior marketer, the reality is stark: your Reach is largely "locked" by your current market share and budget. This leaves you with a singular, high-stakes variable to manipulate: Creative Effectiveness. We explore why 90% of a campaign's success relies on reach you often can't control, and why your only move is to ensure your creative isn't "pissing away" the precious budget you do have.Key TakeawaysThe Reach Limiter: 90% of effectiveness is driven by Reach (IPA data), but reach is a function of cash. Unless you have $700M in venture capital (like Warby Parker), your reach is capped by your existing revenue.The Price-to-Value Ratio: Real growth happens when technology drops the cost of a solution by 10x–100x (e.g., the iPod or Electronic Spreadsheets). Marketing merely rides the "rising lake" of these disruptions.The Zero Choice Rule: There is no statistical correlation between what a consumer bought last time and what they will buy next. Loyalty is a probability distribution, not a behavior to be "built."Creative as the "Last Resort": Because you cannot outspend the incumbent, you must out-think them. Creative is the only lever that can multiply your limited reach.Timestamps & Chapters02:00 – Why growth is the exception, not the rule.03:15 – Revenue Growth vs. Market Share Growth: Knowing the difference.08:30 – The "Rising Lake" Effect: How external factors mask marketing performance.13:45 – Case Study: How the iPod changed the price-to-value ratio of music.22:50 – Warby Parker and the $700M "Share of Voice" shortcut.31:10 – Creative: The only lever marketers actually control.38:55 – Deconstructing the Loyalty Myth and the "Zero Choice Rule."46:20 – The "Shape of Loyalty": Why market share is so stable over decades.51:30 – Practical Application: How to stop "pissing away" your limited budget.About the GuestDale Harrison is a strategy consultant and former CFO with a background in physics. He is known for "slaying marketing's sacred cows" by applying mathematical rigor and evidence-based principles to B2B and B2C strategy. His work focuses on market dynamics, the limits of loyalty, and the mathematical reality of brand growth.Reference Links Ehrenberg, A. S. C. (1988). Repeat-buying: Facts, theory and applications (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.Harrison, D. (2024). The shape of loyalty: Why market share remains stable. LinkedIn Strategy Series.Sharp, B. (2010). How brands grow: What marketers don't know. Oxford University Press.Tellis, G. J. (2004). Effective advertising: Understanding when, how, and why advertising works. SAGE Publications.

Ep. 194 features Noah Fulk, Founder and CEO of EWagers, for a deep dive into building compliant, skill-based wagering infrastructure and the hard lessons learned from pivoting a gaming startup from B2C to B2B. Hear him discuss: Noah's background as a lifelong gamer and the early inspiration behind Ewagers The original B2C vision for peer-to-peer wagering and why the model ultimately failed The pivotal decision to pivot from consumer-facing product to B2B infrastructure What Ewagers does today, including payments, KYC, geofencing, and compliance tooling The underestimated complexity of building regulated gaming infrastructure Fundraising lessons, early structural mistakes, and navigating tougher capital markets Why profitability doesn't necessarily make scaling easier The importance of advisors and experienced operators in avoiding costly errors Key signals that confirmed the pivot to B2B was the right move What's next for Ewagers and the long-term vision for the platform   Catch the video version of this episode here.   Learn more

This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong sits down with Julian Legazpi, founder and chief venture officer of Infi Group, to trace his journey from growing up Filipino-Canadian to becoming a global operator, angel investor, and venture builder across Southeast Asia. Julian shares hard-earned lessons on grit, diaspora identity, and what it really takes to build, fund, and scale companies in emerging markets—beyond the hype and into the real work.Ep Timeline:[00:02:30] – Julian's hustle: venture building, investing, and scaling across Emerging Asia[00:04:17] – Origin story: Growing up Filipino-Canadian in Vancouver[00:06:56] – Mr. Worldwide era: Austria, Taiwan, Indonesia, and everywhere in between[00:08:48] – First influences: Rich Dad Poor Dad and Tito Ray's real estate seminar[00:14:05] – Skill stack: What traveling the world taught him about confidence[00:18:18] – Building confidence vs. competence: embracing failure as fuel[00:22:32] – The Philippine diaspora: Why most Phil-Ams see home as "back there"[00:29:20] – Jumping into entrepreneurship during COVID (worst timing ever)[00:32:47] – From angel investor to VC: putting money where your mouth is[00:37:09] – What Julian looks for in founders: "You're a cockroach, bro"[00:40:45] – Why Southeast Asia is always one cycle behind[00:44:48] – The vintage problem: Fund One exits and the recycling capital game[00:52:22] – Why most startups shouldn't take VC money (and what to do instead)[00:59:02] – The B2C trap: Why product businesses struggle with VC math[01:05:18] – The hybrid model: How InfiGroup blends VC, PE, and venture building[01:11:14] – InfiCommerce: Rolling up boring logistics businesses across the region[01:18:14] – Bridging the diaspora: Julian's mission to bring talent home"I cannot stress enough that we all have to find our own superpower. And everyone is different. Everyone has something that is not categorized in math, science, social sciences, economics, like we learned in school, right? There are these gray area fringe type of personality skillsets that you only get by working and constantly analyzing yourself."Resources:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlegazpiWebsite: https://infigroup.co/Links/Sponsors:OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/PLDT Enterprise: https://pldtenterprise.com- MSME Fiberbiz - https://bit.ly/pldtenterprise-ROId-nbsi-fiberbiz - 5G SIM Only - https://bit.ly/pldtenterprise-ROId-nbsi-smart-postpaidHustleshare is powered by PodmachineHustleshare is powered by PodmachineListen to our brand new podcast: Founders Only HEREDiamond Supporters: Sarisuki, PayMongo, SeekCap, Shoppable Business, Qapita, GoTyme Bank, Sprout Solutions, UNO Digital Bank. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chef Robotics has produced 80 million meals—more than all other food robotics companies combined. The company has cracked what dozens of well-funded startups couldn't: profitable deployment of AI-enabled robots in food manufacturing. In this episode of BUILDERS, Rajat Bhageria, Founder and CEO of Chef Robotics, reveals why he focused on manufacturing before restaurants, how a single contract term change accelerated his sales cycle, and why the food assembly problem requires intelligence that traditional automation can't provide. This is category creation in real-time, with expansion to Germany and the UK planned for 2026. Topics Discussed: Why 60-70% of commercial food labor is in assembly, not cooking or prep The systematic failures of B2C robotics companies (Zume) versus B2B approaches (Miso Robotics) Chef's manufacturing-first strategy to build training data and field operations scale Why six-axis robots with vision outperform gravity-fed dispensers for food variability Reframing contract structure from "site acceptance test" to "trial" for faster closes Trade show strategy: multiple robots across partner booths, not just your own The economics of robotics-as-a-service in traditionally capex-driven industries GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Validate unit economics before building in hardware: Rajat secured early contracts before engineering anything. This wasn't just customer validation—it was economic validation. He identified that robotics companies fail when "they're trying to charge a human salary, but they're not able to provide the full set of tasks that a human is able to do in an eight hour shift." By selling first, Chef confirmed customers would pay for assembly automation specifically, not a general-purpose kitchen robot. For hard tech founders: pre-selling de-risks both product-market fit AND your business model assumptions. Target the labor concentration point, not the obvious automation opportunity: While competitors automated cooking (low labor intensity), Chef mapped the entire food production workflow and discovered assembly consumed 60-70% of labor hours. Rajat's insight: "One person can cook for 100 people or a thousand people. So even though the cooking process can take a while, you're amortizing it over a lot of people." This workflow analysis revealed where ROI actually existed. Founders should map labor distribution across their customer's entire operation, not just automate the most visible or technically interesting task. Build your moat through training data and field operations density: Chef's manufacturing focus isn't just about easier sales—it's strategic infrastructure. Rajat explained: "Today, Chef has done 80 million meals...If we can be really good at food manipulation, we have the biggest data set of training data...as we build more robots, our bill of material gets lower...We have people all over the country servicing these robots, which obviously those same people can service robots in restaurants." For AI-enabled hardware, your moat compounds through deployment volume, not just product features. Reframe risk through contract structure, not just pricing: Chef's breakthrough wasn't discounting—it was renaming their "site acceptance test" to a "trial." Rajat described the impact: "Literally exactly the same thing. It's kind of like you go to your Google Doc and you replace all SAT into trial. That has an immense impact on the sales velocity." The cognitive reframing transformed how buyers perceived commitment risk. For founders selling novel technology: audit your contract language for terms that trigger buyer risk aversion, even when the underlying mechanics protect them. Trade show ROI multiplies through partner booth placement: Rather than maximizing their own booth presence, Chef places robots in partner booths across the trade show floor. Rajat noted this approach yields more deal closures because "the champions saw the thing at the trade show." This isn't about lead volume—it's about removing skepticism. Manufacturing buyers don't believe flexible automation exists until they see it operating. For hard tech companies: distribute proof points across the physical spaces where your skeptical buyers already congregate. Customer success IS your market education strategy: In a nascent category with a "graveyard" of failed predecessors, Chef's market education relies entirely on reference customers. Cafe Spice scaled from 4 to 16 robots and now hosts prospective customer visits. Rajat's approach: give exceptional pricing to customers willing to become advocates. The conversion rate from a skeptical prospect visiting a working deployment far exceeds any other marketing channel. For category creators: your unit economics on early lighthouse customers should account for their sales force value, not just their revenue. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

Welcome to the first Sharp Cut from The Sleeping Barber Podcast — a tighter, opinion-led format designed to challenge marketing's most persistent assumptions. In this episode, Vassilis and Marc take on one of the industry's most widely accepted beliefs: one-to-one personalization.Despite overwhelming surveys claiming consumers want personalization and businesses need it, the evidence tells a very different story. Drawing on peer-reviewed research from Ehrenberg-Bass, MIT, Melbourne Business School, Nielsen, and the Journal of Advertising Research, this Sharp Cut separates belief from evidence.They unpack why personalization systems are built on inaccurate data, why targeting errors compound rather than optimize, why click-through rates are meaningless, and how narrow targeting actively undermines growth by excluding future buyers.Most importantly, they outline what actually works: reach, creative quality, mental availability, contextual relevance, and proper experimentation.If you care about effectiveness over mythology, this episode is for you.Chapters:00:00 - Introduction04:13 - Beliefs vs. Evidence07:48 - The Targeting Effectiveness Evidence11:07 - The Compound Problem12:54 - The Measurement Illusion14:47 - The Hidden cost of Narrow Targeting17:21 - What Actually Works20:00 - Our Final TakeKeyKey TakeawaysPersonalization is widely believed, not well proven. Most supporting stats come from surveys and vendor case studies, not controlled experiments.Data accuracy is poor. Identity and attribute targeting accuracy often ranges between 32–69%, with many segments no better than a coin flip.Targeting errors compound. Stacking multiple “precise” attributes multiplies mistakes, not accuracy—often reaching less than 15% of the intended audience.Third-party targeting performs no better than random. This holds true in both B2C and B2B contexts, even for senior decision-makers.CTR is a vanity metric.Studies show click-through rates have near-zero correlation with brand outcomes or ROI.Narrow targeting hurts growth. It focuses spend on the ~5% in-market while excluding the 95% who drive future demand.What works instead:Reach over precisionContext over profileFirst-party data for retention, not acquisitionCreative as the real targeting leverMeasurement tied to business outcomesControlled testing with holdouts

How do you move from shipping features to building a product vision that actually drives growth? In this podcast hosted by Huntress Director of Product Nisarg Desai, American Express Vice President of Product Management Jose Quesada shares how he approaches product vision and strategy for one of the world's most scaled B2C platforms. Jose breaks down the difference between vision and strategy, how to ground ambitious north stars in execution, and what it takes to turn product thinking into a durable growth engine.

Send us a textIn this episode, AMEC's CEO Johna Burke joins host Jason Mudd to discuss the Barcelona Principles 4.0 and PR measurement best practices.Tune in to learn more!Meet Our Guest:Our episode guest is Johna Burke, CEO and Global Managing Director at the International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC). With more than 30 years of experience in marketing, PR, communications, and strategy for B2B and B2C organizations, Johna is a global leader in communication measurement and evaluation and a sought-after speaker on PR, media relations, and metrics.Five things you'll learn from this episode:1. The 7 Barcelona Principles Explained2. How to apply the Barcelona Principles 4.0 to measure and evaluate PR effectiveness across channels3. How AMEC's Integrated Evaluation Framework can guide planning, measurement, and reporting in your organization4. Practical ways to use data ethically to build credibility, trust, and impact in communications5. How professional development and resources from AMEC can strengthen measurement skills and PR strategy Quotables“When we looked at the Barcelona Principles, because they were rooted in best practice, a lot of them are just making them clearer statements.” — Johna Burke"Supporting the Barcelona Principles, being compliant, helps communicators make a greater value to their organization and gives credibility and reliability to their data." — Johna Burke“It gives you the planning elements, and it is a fill in the text box for what you are doing, starting with your objective and going through to put your activities, your outputs, the outcome, so that when you use this with your team and you put everything in the framework, it also helps you understand which efforts are paid, earned, shared, and owned.” — Johna Burke“Use it as the planning tool as much as you use it as a measurement tool, which arguably, if you're doing measurement effectively, you need to have good concrete planning in place to have those well-defined objectives to know and understand what's working and what's not working.” — Johna BurkeIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.More About Johna BurkeJohna Burke, CEO and Global Managing Director at the International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC), has more than 30 years of experience driving results in marketing, public relations, investor relations, general management, communications, strategy, and operations for B2B and B2C organizations. She is an expert in strategic planning, analytics, research, business growth, and operational efficiency and is a national and international speaker on PR, media relations, measurement, social media, and metrics. With over 20 years of focused experience in B2B and B2C marketing and public relations, Johna is recognized globally for her leadership in communication measuSupport the show On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America's Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands. On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

Christian Reed, CEO of Reekon Tools, shares how he bootstrapped a hardware company from a side project to a multi-million dollar (8 figure) business without any VC funding. Learn how a $1.2M Kickstarter campaign validated his digital tape measure, the manufacturing lessons from his time at Formlabs, and how 30 minutes of daily social media posting built a 3 million-follower audience.Key Topics:Turning a side project into a viable business through Kickstarter validationWhy bootstrapping forces better discipline than VC fundingFinding and vetting contract manufacturers as a startupBuilding 3M+ social media followers with consistency and raw contentOvercoming user adoption challenges in traditional construction industryHardware horror story: When your chip supplier's factory literally burns downWhy engineers need to think like entrepreneurs, not just inventorsWhat You'll Learn:How to scale hardware manufacturing without VC backingProven social media strategies for B2C hardware productsThe importance of focusing on product benefits over featuresWhy marketing is often harder than engineering in hardwareHow to build authentic brand presence in traditional industriesConnect & Learn More:Follow the show's Substack for hardware tools, frameworks, and tips: https://substack.com/@thebuildercircleReach out to our LinkedIn Page if you have any topics you'd like for us to do a deep dive in!Music by: Tom StokeDISCLAIMER Creators of this show are independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by any other company. All views expressed are solely those of the guests. Content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or any professional advice. Listeners are responsible for their own decisions and should consult qualified professionals. By listening, you agree we are not liable for any outcomes.

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Chris Earley discuss:Treating consistency as the real competitive edgeBuilding trust through authenticity over achievementMatching platforms to where your audience already livesPlaying the long game of value before promotion Key Takeaways:Showing up every day with content is not a tactic but the game itself. One post a day over time compounds into trust, visibility, and separation. Most lawyers will not endure the discipline, which is precisely why it works.Audiences respond more to struggle, growth, and honesty than polished wins. Sharing mistakes, personal history, and lessons humanizes the professional brand. Credibility grows faster when vulnerability comes before accomplishment.Effective content starts by knowing who you serve and where they spend their attention. B2B audiences tend to gather on LinkedIn, while B2C clients live elsewhere. Posting everywhere is fine, but focus belongs where attention already flows.Education, insight, and generosity must outweigh direct selling over time. Promotion works only after value has been delivered consistently and visibly. Your brand strengthens when service leads and asks follow. “I think the practitioner should be posting, if you really want to get serious, once a day on LinkedIn… One post. Can you do that for a year and stick with that? I've done that for like four or five years, and the flywheel just expands." —  Chris Earley Check out my new show, Be That Lawyer Coaches Corner, and get the strategies I use with my clients to win more business and love your career again. Ready to go from good to GOAT in your legal marketing game? Don't miss PIMCON—where the brightest minds in professional services gather to share what really works. Lock in your spot now: https://www.pimcon.org/ Thank you to our Sponsor!Rankings.io: https://rankings.io/ Ready to grow your law practice without selling or chasing? Book your free 30-minute strategy session now—let's make this your breakout year: https://fretzin.com/ About Chris Earley: Christopher Earley is a Boston-based personal injury attorney and founder of Earley Law Group Injury Lawyers, where he has devoted nearly two decades to advocating for injury victims and standing up to powerful insurance companies. He holds a J.D. from New England Law (2004) and is admitted to practice in Massachusetts. Chris is also an accomplished author of multiple consumer guides, a legal columnist for the American Bar Association and Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, and a frequent speaker on law firm business topics. His work has earned recognition, including multiple Massachusetts Super Lawyer honors. Beyond law, he serves his community through youth sports coaching and local partnerships, all while emphasizing clear communication, client education, and relentless advocacy. Connect with Chris Earley:   Website: https://www.chrisearley.com/Justia Lawyers: https://lawyers.justia.com/lawyer/christopher-earley-1335943YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ChrisEarleyLawTwitter: https://twitter.com/chrisearleylawFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Law-Offices-of-Christopher-Earley-104980886333/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earleylawgroupinjurylawyers/ Connect with Steve Fretzin:LinkedIn: Steve FretzinTwitter: @stevefretzinInstagram: @fretzinsteveFacebook: Fretzin, Inc.Website: Fretzin.comEmail: Steve@Fretzin.comBook: Legal Business Development Isn't Rocket Science and more!YouTube: Steve FretzinCall Steve directly at 847-602-6911 Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

How Performance-First B2B Marketing Drives Better Results Traditional B2B marketing and advertising are undergoing a major transformation in the age of AI and rapid technological advancement. With shifting market dynamics and budget cuts across B2B organizations, marketing teams are under pressure to do more with less and prove their impact on business performance and revenue growth. How can B2B marketers quickly adapt, demonstrate ROI, and establish a strategic role within their organizations? That's why we're talking to Keith Turco (CEO, Madison Logic), who shares insights and proven strategies on how performance-first B2B marketing drives better results. During our conversation, Keith explored the evolving B2B marketing landscape and explained why performance-first strategies are crucial in times of market changes and budget cuts. He emphasized the importance of data-driven insights to measure ROI, optimize media plans, and tailor messages to specific target audiences. Keith also highlighted the need for a full-funnel approach that leverages AI-powered personalization at scale, and integrating new channels like audio and video. Additionally, he elaborated on why understanding both personal and professional interests of buyers to shorten sales cycles and build brand affinity are essential. Keith stressed the value of creativity in performance marketing to maintain loyalty and differentiate top marketers. Tune in as he also shared some key findings of research conducted by Madison Logic and The Harris Poll on the future of advertising and the impact of AI on B2B marketing. https://youtu.be/DAYcJf7AlIs Topics discussed in episode: [2:09] How macroeconomic shifts and budget cuts are creating a “performance-first” approach. [6:12] Embracing AI: Moving from a reactive to a proactive stance in advertising.  [9:50] The consumerization of B2B: Why your next lead might come from a podcast or TikTok.  [13:15] The full-funnel advantage: Moving beyond fragmented tactics to a more unified data strategy.  [17:34] Communicating with the C-Suite vs. managers: Tailoring content for different “states of mind”. [22:27] Research insights: Why 73% of leaders see AI as the future of creative production. [32:12] Why abandoning brand for “just the facts” performance marketing is a mistake. Companies and links mentioned: Keith Turco on LinkedIn Madison Logic Transcript Keith Turco, Christian Klepp Christian Klepp  00:01 In the age of rapid technological developments in AI, traditional B2B, marketing and advertising are witnessing monumental changes with shifting market dynamics and budget cuts across B2B organizations, marketing teams will have to do more with less. So how can they achieve this and still be instrumental to organizational success? Welcome to this episode of the B2B Marketers on a Mission podcast, and I’m your host, Christian Klepp, today I’ll be talking to Keith Turco, who will be answering this question. He’s the CEO of Madison Logic, which leads global account based marketing initiatives to help revenue driven marketers accelerate buying journeys with targeted, measurable strategies. Tune in to find out more about what this B2B marketer’s mission is. Okay, and here we are. Mr. Keith Turco, welcome to the show. Keith Turco  00:50 Thank you, Christian. Good to see you. Christian Klepp  00:53 Likewise, likewise. We had a great pre-interview conversation, and I’m really looking forward to this conversation. We got to buckle up a little bit, because there’s a lot to cover. There’s a lot to cover, but I think it’s going to be really interesting, relevant and pertinent to all those B2B marketers out there. So let’s, let’s dive right in. Keith Turco  01:11 Great. Excited to be here. Christian Klepp  01:12 All right, so Keith, you’re on a mission to help B2B companies succeed by delivering performance-first strategies across the full marketing funnel and performance-first, I think, is going to be a word or a term that we’re going to hear throughout this conversation, but for this conversation, let’s focus on a topic and unpack it from there, so it’s how B2B marketing teams can rapidly adapt to market changes and contribute to organizational success. So let me set this up a little bit, because that sounds like. that sounds a little bit generic. But you know, after after the description, I think people will understand what I’m talking about. So your company, Madison Logic, helps clients own the buying journey by creating lasting impact at every interaction with high value buying groups through data driven ABM. So let’s start off with this question, how have shifting macroeconomic conditions and budget cuts forced B2B marketing teams to do more with less? Keith Turco  02:09 Well inherent in the conversation, or the question is you’ve got less budget. You’ve seen lots of cuts come through either from a staff cutting perspective, you’ve got less people to help you execute against things, as well as less budget to spend on marketing. So what does that mean, and what are the implications? And how does our technology and our approach to market help. Everything from a performance first perspective allows things to be measured, and because you can measure, you can quickly calculate ROI, you can quickly optimize your your media plans, and you can also take a look at what your creative is and isn’t working and what’s working through from a content based perspective. So when you take a performance-first approach to your marketing initiatives, you have all the data at your fingertips to give you the insights and intelligence you need in order to hit the right targets and the right buying groups with the right message at the right time, and give you what you need to actually, really measure the impact and optimize on a regular basis to to prove the ROI that you’re trying to prove for the organization and support sales. Christian Klepp  03:19 Yeah, no, absolutely. And you touched on a lot of things there, which I think are going to be a to be things that are going to come up throughout this conversation. So things like calculating ROI, being able to measure. I mean, who doesn’t want to do that in the world of B2B, right? But how do you see a performance based approach? And I suppose that’s the next question. How does a performance based approach help companies to adapt to, well, a lot of these market changes, and I know that’s a bit of an understatement, because market changes, it’s so broad and multifaceted, but how does it help to address these changes? Keith Turco  03:51 First and foremost, I think access to data allows you to test and learn, what’s working, what’s not, against what buying groups. I kind of mentioned it a couple of minutes ago. But if you’re looking at what’s working against which target segment, what messages make the most sense, what content are they looking for? And then on top of that, you have a buying group. Each of those groups contain multiple levels of executives and employees. So are they all consuming the same message. Can you sub segment that buying group into different categories that consume different content, that allow them to actually understand the full picture that you’re trying to communicate? And then obviously prove out ROI? I think the other thing prove out ROI is a big statement. What does that mean? What are the KPIs? They’re different for each customer that’s out there, right? So what does ROI mean to one organization versus the other? And by allowing yourself to test and learn and gain the insights that you you’re looking for, you can prove out ROI in different ways. Ultimately, the ultimate ROI is reflected in sales, right? But. Some clients will work with us on visits to website. Other clients will work with us on appointment setting. Other clients will look at, you know, number of interactions. And then lastly, of course, looking at ROI from a sale based perspective and what they’re selling, Christian Klepp  05:18 Absolutely, absolutely. And we’re certainly going to talk about the buying committee a little bit later on in this conversation. The time of this recording is at the end of 2025 and you know, I have to ask you the question about AI, and I know you your company has done some research about that, and we will look into that a little bit further on. But because you’re talking about accessing data and analyzing and aggregating data, and how does, how has technological advancements, also in the form of artificial intelligence, perhaps help that process, but also threatened B2B marketing in a way? Keith Turco  05:56 I don’t think I ever view it as threatening. I’ll always look at AI as a form of enhancement and allowance to optimize and go to market. I think probably a future question you’re going to ask, I might actually jump to it as well from an AI perspective. Keith Turco  06:12 But the impact of AI on advertising and marketing, and how is it playing a role in performance marketing? AI allows itself and lends itself to really impact performance marketing, having been and being been at, and being a fan of and student of advertising. To me, I think that AI allows us to lean in a bit more. I think we should continue to ask ourselves those questions. But the core approach from the creative side of things will still be there. What AI will allow us to do in the performance marketing world is lean into what I was referring to earlier, which is test and learn. What messages based on which audience. How do I sub segment, buying groups? How do I sub segment, even some of those additional segments, and in an effort to not spend so much time adapting creative to those sub segments or geographies or different business units inside an organization, right so each of those things allows, or would benefit from having a much more tailored approach to communications and AI should be leveraged from that perspective to lean into those kinds of things, helping you with testing and learning, helping you with sub segmenting, helping you with geographical segmentation, business unit segmentation, those kinds of things, you know, there’s multiple BU’s that are buying groups inside of a large technology organization, right? So to message them all the same would kind of be silly. Christian Klepp  06:12 Please, please. Christian Klepp  07:48 Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, perhaps the better. But the better term, as opposed to saying threatening, is, how is it impacted B2B marketing might be a might be a better way of looking at it. Keith Turco  07:57 Yeah, I think, I think exactly that point, right? It’s impacting everything. But what I challenge everybody, when they say, oh, AI is going to threaten or kill or do, is like, Well, how do you embrace it, and how do you give it a hug, and how do you leverage it to evolve your approach from a marketing perspective, versus to get nervous about it and be more proactive instead of reactive in your approach to AI? Christian Klepp  08:23 Absolutely, absolutely so based on what you’ve said, like, what would you say are some of the key pitfalls that B2B marketing teams should avoid, and what should they be doing instead? Keith Turco  08:32 Really understanding what their ROI is, who the buying groups are? I know we keep coming back to that, right? But I think B2B marketers are also really focused on what their BDRs are up to and what kind of lead generation they can they can provide to their sales organizations. And I’d say go a bit further than that, right? It’s not just lead generation from a content syndication perspective, it’s a full funnel multimedia approach. We talk about this also, I think, in upcoming questions Christian because we prepped for the meeting, but the buying group is 7 to 10 people, and are you hitting the right people at the right time with the right message? So I think it’s important to take a look back at certain aspects of how you’re approaching your your marketing initiatives as you really unpack the strategy and look at things I don’t know if I answered the question though. Christian Klepp  09:38 Yeah. I mean, it’s basically about like, you know, these are the things that B2B marketers should be paying attention to. These are some of the things that they should be avoiding, right? And keeping the conversation constructive, as it were. Keith Turco  09:50 Yeah, and I think it’s important to set the KPIs for campaigns, optimize your media plans, and then multimedia, when I talk about that, specifically, multi-format. We’ve talked about what channels in the B2B space that might not have been tapped in the past, should be tapped, right? Some of the research we’ve done with with Harris poll also talked about the consumerization of the B2B space. So what mediums working in the B2C space that we can move over to the B2B space, which is why you’ll see that we launched audio earlier this year in our platform. But video is obviously a big play as well. So the B2B space is leaning into the TikToks and YouTubes of the world as well as audio. So video and audio are also mediums. I think it’s important for the B2B landscape to take a look at. I guess we’ve dubbed it B2B2C. Right at the end of the day, we’re all people that are consuming media, making business decision. Christian Klepp  10:54 Absolutely, absolutely. And I’m sure you’ve come across this camp, because I certainly have that basically, really want to draw that line in the sand and say, No, you know, that’s not transferable. You can’t use those same tactics in B2C, I tend to disagree, because it, like you said, like, it really, it really depends. It really depends also on the vertical you’re talking about. And going back again to who are we targeting with this, right? And that might be also you brought it up, one of the pitfalls is, like, you know, the lack of understanding of who you’re targeting. Because in B2B, it tends to be people in that buying group, right? Keith Turco  11:30 I think it’s important to recognize, you talked about tactics. Which tactics are people consuming and in a previous life, in a previous world, we called it the at work state of mind. And I think in the post covid era, you don’t work nine to five anymore, right? So when we talk about tactics and understanding your target and bringing those two things together, I might be on the treadmill in the morning listening to a podcast, still thinking about work, right? It’s not because I’m not at a desk or in the office anymore. Where should I hit them and why? And I think it’s important as we look at firmographics, we should also look at personal demographics of the buyers and the business decision makers. And, you know, marrying both demographics and firmographics will help figure out what the optimal media mix is. So on the drive to work, on the treadmill or the elliptical right, watching a video, listening to a podcast, you know, multi screen. So obviously, I’m sitting here with you with my phone in one hand, a big screen to the right on the other, and looking at my laptop. So, you know, people that multitask and/or consume different ways on different screens at different day parts. So it’s a combination of consumer and B2B, and the melding of the two come together, understanding that it’s not just a tactic B2B tactic play, but it’s a it’s a personal demographic in that decision maker and where they are. Christian Klepp  13:01 Yeah, yeah. No, that’s absolutely right. In our previous conversation, Keith, you talked about how the full funnel approach is critical in the B2B space. So please share with us what you would like more people to understand about this approach. Keith Turco  13:15 Yeah, I think I’ll talk about it from a Madison Logic perspective in particular. So from an activity based perspective, full funnel activity allows us to measure holistically and easier. You can absolutely measure it in a… there could be full funnel, but fragmented full funnel versus one system full funnel, which is Madison Logic’s full funnel, we partner with agencies and clients alike, to do some tactics in our funnel and some tactics outside of our funnel. Either way, full funnel is critical, because you need to hit 7 to 10 times to 7 to 10 buyers. So that’s a minimum of 50 communications that go out there, whether it’s inside a single platform, like Madison Logic or in combination with other platforms outside. So we can do both, and we work with both. The reason why we like full funnel in in our platform is that, again, it comes down to insights, intelligence and data. We’re not saying that your entire media spend should be spent in our funnel, but showing a full funnel activity of audio, display, CTV, content syndication allows us to gather the insights that you’re looking for, the data that you’re looking for, that then allows you to optimize your media mix, either inside of our funnel or next to our funnel in conjunction with it. Some of our clients will, you know, leverage our content syndication only. Others will do content syndication and display, but still by audio and video outside of it, and then others will do all for what we’re being leveraged for specifically is inside of a smaller subset, which is a test and learn, we can show which media mix works optimally against which segments and which targets by client, and then our agency partners, or our clients in particular, will take that media mix and then apply it to their entire media spend. So that’s what when we talk about full funnel, it’s also guaranteeing overlap at the account level and the individual level inside of our funnel. So it’s important that data is collected and then leveraged in a larger way. Christian Klepp  15:31 I hope I’m not trying to oversimplify what you just explained. But the way that I understand also like full funnel approach, the reason why you recommend that approach is also because of the way that people consume content differently and meeting them where they’re at, and also because we know that the buying committee, and we’ve all seen the diagrams, right? Like the diagrams of how the B2B sales envision, the target audience to assume to consume the content and the way they really do. And it’s really a haphazard diagram, isn’t it? Keith Turco  16:00 It’s no longer linear, right? Christian Klepp  16:04 No. Keith Turco  16:04 I think we approached it that way, but we’re finally admitting that it’s not. And I think your point’s really great in so much as you know, full funnel and buying groups, and again, there are groups, but each each group consists of 7 to 10 people that have different media consumption habits, so it’s important to hit them where where they are, and understanding that, and allowing, if you do a multi channel approach with us and we collect the data, we can say these sub segments of your buying group are consuming media on video, display and email. This sub segment is consuming on display video and content syndication, right? So it allows us to really provide the insights and intelligence needed to optimize the reduced spend that you have to better garner the ROI that you’re looking for.   Christian Klepp  17:02 Yeah, yeah. No, exactly, exactly. You’ve talked about it a little bit already, but like we know that in B2B, we’re mostly dealing with, as you said, a buying committee consisting of anywhere between 7 to 10 people. They all have different roles and responsibilities, different motivations for either using or not using said service provider or said approach. So how can teams implement, I would say B2B marketing initiatives that strategically address the buying committee’s concerns and questions. Keith Turco  17:34 It’s really gaining… I keep on going back to the same two words, and I apologize if I sound repetitive, right? But the insights and intelligence are critical to understand the buying groups, what they’re looking for. Let’s dissect it a little bit, right? So if you were to look at the top of the buying group chain, you’ve got C suite executives. Those C suite executives consume media in very different ways because they have very different schedules and are on the road quite a lot, so they’ll be listening to podcasts more than they’ll be watching a CTV kind of application that most will probably want to watch on a bigger screen versus a smaller screen, right? So it’s understanding which businesses decision makers are interested in what categories, right? So you’ve got C suite that sit across multiple views. You’ve got manager levels that are really focused on one specific business unit that will play very differently than, and the messaging to them will play very differently than a C suite person that is across multiple and then they tend to consume media in very different ways, both as individual people as well as from a professional standpoint. The more busy road runner type consumes media and snippets. And you know, we also talk about thumb stopping creative and thumb stopping messaging, because we know that they’re on their phones more than they are on an iPad or a laptop. So the insights that you get from that and the intelligence that you get from that data collection will help you be that much more effective when targeting different individuals inside of a buying group. Christian Klepp  19:16 And it’s also, I would say, about trying to close that trust cap, right? Because there is especially B2B, there’s this whole notion of like, people tend to trust slower, for lack of a better description. So there’s that effort, through that approach, to try to like, build that trust, build that credibility. Because it does take time. This isn’t something where you know they have to make a decision in 48 hours, right? It takes, it takes much longer. Keith Turco  19:42 And I think important, when you close the trust gap, you shorten the sales cycle. So when you shorten the sales cycle, it’s much quicker route, quicker route to ROI, that’s proven by both the marketing and sales team. So the quicker the trust gap is closed, the quicker the cycle happens. Christian Klepp  19:59 Exactly, exactly so. And based on that, like, what role does a performance based approach play in winning over the different members of the buying committee? And you’ve touched on some of these aspects already. Keith Turco  20:13 Again, that the knowledge that you gain from performance based approaches. Everything is measurable, right? Let’s pause for half a second there when we talk about performance marketing, which is obviously next gen of… it started as database marketing and then went into one to one marketing, and then it went into digital marketing, and now it’s performance marketing, because everything is measurable, the insights you collect from that absolutely make a difference, whereas traditional old school advertising of the 70s, 80s and even somewhat 90s was, let’s just hit them with a big message, right? I think it’s important to talk about performance marketing being branded response. Everything you do should both build a brand and elicit a response. So we’re not saying performance marketing at the risk of neglecting branding. We’re saying performance marketing inclusive of branding in the marketplace, so the loyalty and familiarity come to play. Christian Klepp  21:17 Yes, yes, exactly. I was going to say, if you were going to throw a brand out the window like Don Draper would come back and say, Hey, man… Keith Turco  21:25 Absolutely not. Brand is critical, because you are obviously to your point play on the loyalty side, right? And you know, affinity plays a big role in previous experience with existing brands, and people are loyal to certain brands, so we’re not throwing all of the traditional advertising metrics out the window either, but everything that, everything that we put in the marketplace, should play a dual role of building a brand and eliciting a measurable response. Christian Klepp  21:54 Yeah, that’s it. That’s it. So for this next question, not trying to scare anybody, but you guys did conduct a lot of research together with Harris Poll, and you came back with some really interesting figures, right? So one of them that you did together with Harris poll was shows that nearly 73% of marketing decision makers believe AI generated creative will define the future of advertising. So how will that fact alone replace traditional advertising as we know it? Keith Turco  22:27 I don’t think it replaces. I’ll go back to the same answer that we started at. I think it enhances, right? So 73% of the respondents absolutely see AI playing a role in their marketing and advertising, and it allows them to learn from the data that they collect, adapt and make changes quickly. It allows them to take into consideration geographical differences and business unit focused differences. It also allows you to take on the demographic insights, not just the firmographic insights, right? So if I know that Christian is living in Europe and is focused on certain business functions, but in his personal life, also likes to ski or golf, I’m oversimplifying it, right? But AI allows you to say, Oh, well, this visual will appeal to Christian. This cultural nuance and difference will appeal to Christian, and it allows you to hyper target in a much different way. That is we’ve advanced to that, had advanced to that pre AI, but it was a bit more manually intensive than it will be and is today from an AI based perspective. Christian Klepp  23:40 Now that you’ve explained it that way, that hopefully puts some of these doubts or fears a little bit to rest, because it’s an it’s an enhancement, or it should be viewed and treated as an enhancement mechanism, rather than a complete like disruption. Keith Turco  23:53 Absolutely, and that’s where, when I started, there is still a world where creativity is paramount, and that’s at the original conceptual stages, right? But what would take us months to make international adaptations and/or having three or four different pivot tables come together to say this creative with this copy block against this target audience with this message, so it’s the confluence of data that allows for easier output, from an AI perspective, to make it much more tailored to the desired consumer of that content. Christian Klepp  24:34 This same report that I mentioned previously, it also mentions that about 90% of companies are exploring new ways to reach audiences, and you did talk about that so but again, what are some of these channels and how will they impact the B2B marketing moving forward? Keith Turco  24:48 Yeah, first and foremost, you’re looking at social as a new avenue beyond the B2B LinkedIn social perspective, which plays a significant role in the B2B campaigns, but it’s also figuring out where Christian or Keith are consuming in their personal lives. So it’s not shocking that if you’re on Tiktok or Instagram or on our YouTube channel, that you’ll see some B2B messages that are out there. Early on, we knew from an event based perspective, that lots of business decision makers were watching golf, watching tennis. So sports has always and will continue to play a role, even in the B2B space. But it’s a good example of finding your consumer interests and where they overlap with your business interests. And it’s the same kind of thing from from that perspective, as well as understanding. I keep going back to the same message of Right place, right time, right audience, right segment. But so when you look at the new mediums, or the consumer based mediums, you know it’s understanding that where the personal interests come together with professional interests, and are they on Facebook? Are they on Instagram? Are they on YouTube? Are they on X and where are they playing, and how are they playing in those spaces, and where can I get the overlap? And, you know, from a business and personal perspective, also going back to day parts, right? Are they exercising on the treadmill at 5am, 6am, seven, 7am? Are they doing it in the PM? Are you catching them on their drive to and from the office? Maybe not five days a week anymore, but three days a week, right? Understanding, it’s funny, but you know, even dissecting the day of the week and how you you you buy media and how you serve it, right? So we know that if people are hybrid, they’re most of the time, they’re in the office Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and not necessarily in the office on Mondays and Fridays. So you might catch them in different aspects of different parts of the week as well, day parts days of the week. Christian Klepp  26:56 It’s really interesting that you bring that up, because I had a gentleman on a little bit earlier this year that spoke about what he called Time of Day Marketing, and what he meant by that is like, is Keith the same person, or does he consume the same content, as an example, right at lunchtime, in the afternoon or or in the evening, before it goes to bed? And knowing that, and it’s going back to your ability to analyze and aggregate that data and spot these trends, right? That will help people to determine, Okay, so based on this time of the day when this person is consuming that content, what would be the best and most effective channel to use to reach out to said person? Because it could be a different channel. Keith Turco  27:35 Yeah, definitely. And I think looking at, we called it day parts, right? It’s what day part makes the most sense against which target audience. And it’s it is especially now, because we can gather that information and see when they’re consuming so going back to your earlier questions around performance marketing. Used to be, let’s just run it and see. You know that you would, we would always buy media in day part, and you could even buy it, obviously, from a program based perspective, so you’re but really dissecting and understanding which day parts individuals from the buying group consume media to your point, am I during lunchtime? Am I toggling off of my business channels and onto my personal channels. And that’s where I think to the point you made, and the point I made, that’s where it comes together, is personal demographics associated with firmographics and business decision makers, and where we can find them in their personal lives, not just their professional lives. You don’t just work between the hours of nine and five anymore, and you don’t just think about work between the hours of nine and five. Christian Klepp  28:44 That’s it. That’s it. Yeah, Keith, I had one follow up question for you, and I know that this isn’t really social media, per se, but what’s your take on Reddit, and how significant Do you think that is to B2B? Keith Turco  28:52 I think it’s it’s making, it’s making a play in the B2B space, absolutely. And I think we’d be remiss not to understand the impact it has on the B2B space. Finally, I have just asked the team to double click on Reddit, literally in the last couple of business days, to see what you know, what the impact of Reddit can be, and can it be measured in the B2B space. So I definitely think. Man, I don’t know if I would classify it as a social channel, but it’s kind of a publishing social. It’s kind of a little bit both. Christian Klepp  29:29 It straddles that those worlds, as I like to call it, right, like, it’s a little bit. Yeah, it’s hybrid. There you go. There you go. Absolutely. Okay. So again, in our previous conversation, you mentioned that the most effective B2B campaigns will be ones that combine AI driven insights with creativity and multi channel orchestration to deliver personalization at scale. So that’s a slightly different take to what you said earlier. So could you. Please elaborate on that a bit. Keith Turco  30:01 The personalization at scale, I don’t know that I view it as different. I kind of view it same, right? Christian Klepp  30:08 Same, okay. Keith Turco  30:09 Because it allows you to personalize based on the different data points that you collect and information that you collect from performance marketing, right? So personalization at scale allows me to say, okay, Christian is different than Keith, who’s different than Joe, who all work in the same organization might make might overlap with 80% of their business decisions, and 20% will be standalone. So performance marketing is, if done properly, is personalization at scale. It allows you to scale on a much bigger level, to ensure that you can have the sub segments be personalized, and have the information that you serve up to them resonate based on their personal interests and business interests. Christian Klepp  30:56 Yeah, absolutely, I guess the trick. And you’ve probably seen this happen to this, there’s companies out there that are using the personalization at scale, or they’re approaching it the wrong way. I would say they try to go in under the guise of personalization, but what actually is a bit more of a veiled sales pitch. Keith Turco  31:13 I agree, and I think that if you, if you can really tap into where the world comes together, of personal and professional interests and apply that to the individual customer or consumer. You can truly personalize on what makes it tick, and I think personalization at scale isn’t just a creative comment, it’s a media comment, right? It’s I can personalize the media journey based on how I know Christian is consuming media throughout the day, so it’s where content and creativity match media consumption. Christian Klepp  31:49 Absolutely, absolutely okay. I’m going to ask you a soapbox question, if that’s okay with you. So let’s zero in on the topic of performance marketing, because that is your area. What is the status quo in performance marketing that you passionately disagree with, and why? Keith Turco  32:12 From a B2B performance marketing perspective, I think we talk about right place, right time, right message. And I think the status quo is that creative doesn’t matter, because if you serve the right message to the right person at the right time, creative won’t make an impact. And I’ll go back to branded response. I think the status quo is creative doesn’t play as big of role as it used to, and I would disagree, I talked about thumb stopping. You have to get people to stop, right? Because people are constantly scrolling and they’re being barraged with message after message after message. So what will resonate? And I do think that, you know, building a brand that has integrity, that creates loyalty. So to me, it’s the proper balance of brand and demand, or branded response that should be looked at again. I think we’ve probably taken a 10 year hiatus from that, and it was just about right message, right time. And it worked because it was thumb stopping at the time. But given the overload of messages, and exactly what we’re talking about, Christian of hitting people in their personal lives with professional messages, there’s an overload of messages that happen. So it’s kind of bringing all of your the soapbox questions, bringing all of your questions together, right? Which is what it’s intended to do. So it’s funny, because you you know you can absolutely understand that you can shorten the sales cycle by creating brand affinity. You talked about, is AI a threat to advertising. Actually, it’s an enhancement, because brand, to me, in my mind, still plays a significant role. And it’s bringing the two worlds together that will differentiate the top notch marketers of tomorrow. Christian Klepp  34:08 Absolutely, absolutely. And it goes back to something that you said earlier. I mean, this whole ecosystem is in a constant state of evolution, so marketers better learn to quote what you said, to embrace it, rather than to push back at it, right, or to push back on it, right? Keith Turco  34:24 I think the key is evolution. It’s not abandonment, right? And net new activities, right? So email was an evolution of direct mail. This display was an evolution of, you know, the 15 second video kind of thing, right? It’s how do we evolve, leverage what we’ve, what we know and what worked, and evolve it to make it better? It’s not necessarily, in my mind, a replacement of, sure, will it take the place of certain aspects of things, absolutely, but how can you use it to enhance and add versus feel threatened by it? Christian Klepp  35:03 Absolutely, absolutely. Keith, this conversation was dynamite. Thank you so much for coming on and for sharing your experience and expertise with the listeners. Quick introduction to yourself and how folks out there can get in touch with you. Keith Turco  35:15 Sure. Keith Turco, CEO of Madison Logic, you can find me on LinkedIn. Would love to talk to you about your business needs and how we can help you from ABM perspective. Christian Klepp  35:27 Fantastic, fantastic. Once again, Keith, thanks so much for coming on the show. It was a pleasure. Keith Turco  35:33 Thank you, Christian. You have a great day. Christian Klepp  35:34 Thanks. Bye bye.

Send us a textWhat if every dollar spent on ads could be traced to a signed contract, a booked meeting, or a new client? The disconnect between ad spend and revenue isn't a mystery businesses have to live with. This problem, the attribution gap, can be solved through methodical thinking, technical capability, and a willingness to build the infrastructure that connects marketing activities to real business outcomes. In this episode, we pull back the curtain on two concrete case studies using two real companies who faced the maddening reality: their CRM systems and ad platforms weren't talking to each other. Tune in to see how Optidge built the data bridges that transformed guesswork to strategic growth and implemented deliberate optimization tactics across their ad campaigns to drive further success.  An Optidge "Office Hours" Episode:Our Office Hours episodes are your go-to for details, how-to's, and advice on specific marketing topics. Join our fellow Optidge team members, partners, and sometimes even 1:1 teachings from Danny himself, in these shorter, marketing-focused episodes. Get ready to get marketing!Episode Highlights: Marketing attribution requires connecting ad platforms to revenue data, not just lead counts.Building a feedback loop between CRM and advertising platforms transforms how you optimize campaigns.Data silos prevent businesses from understanding which marketing efforts drive actual revenue.Custom attribution pipelines can reveal sales cycles, funnel speed, and high-value customer sources.Fragmented tech stacks create blind spots that make it impossible to track leads to final conversions.Episode Links: OptidgeOptidge Services: Hubspot for Paid MediaPaid Search Association Webinar: Hubspot and Google Ads - Everything You Wanted to KnowThe DM Mentor on InstagramFollow The Digital Marketing Mentor: Website and Blog: thedmmentor.com Instagram: @thedmmentor Linkedin: @thedmmentor YouTube: @thedmmentor Interested in Digital Marketing Services, Careers, or Courses? Check out more from the TDMM Family: Optidge.com - Full Service Digital Marketing Agency specializing in SEO, PPC, Paid Social, and Lead Generation efforts for established B2C and B2B businesses and organizations. ODEOacademy.com - Digital Marketing online education and course platform. ODEO gives you solid digital marketing knowledge to launch/boost your career or understand your business's digital marketing strategy.

Welcome to a new year of the I Do Wedding Marketing Podcast! We've had so much fun over the years talking all things wedding marketing - but today's episode is a fresh side of marketing that feels perfectly aligned with New Year energy: speaking opportunities.If you've been a longtime listener, you know I started adding in-person speaking to my business last year. Building my business during the COVID years meant everything was virtual, so stepping onto live stages for the first time felt intimidating - and I know I'm not alone in that.For me, the secret sauce was taking Meghan Ely's Wedding Industry Speakers course - the roadmap I didn't know I needed. It put me on an incredible trajectory, and it's exactly why I wanted Meghan on the show to kick off 2026. Because when it comes to speaking, PR, and positioning yourself as an industry authority, there are few people more qualified to lead that conversation than Meghan.You probably already know OFD Consulting, where owner Meghan Ely combines in-the-trenches event experience with a deep love of wedding PR to help her clients take their businesses to new heights. As a result, she's become one of the industry's most trusted voices, earning press for her clients in outlets including The New York Times, Brides, Martha Stewart Weddings, People, Bridal Guide, Architectural Digest, and Style Me Pretty. She is also a longtime columnist for Special Events and Catersource.Meghan is a past national president of WIPA, a member of the Allied Council for the National Society of Black Wedding & Event Professionals, and a National Speaker of the Year honoree by NACE. Most recently, RSVP Club named her the 2025 Favorite Educator  - and honestly? I have a feeling she's about to be one of our favorite guests of 2026.What we cover in this episode:Why speaking is one of the most effective ways to build authority and trust in the wedding industryWho speaking is actually for (B2B, B2C, educators, and tech brands alike)How speaking can open doors beyond the stage, including new revenue streamsHow to know if you're ready to speak - even without prior experienceWhere to start if you've never taken the stage beforeWhat Meghan wishes she knew before her first speaking gigsWhy speaker fees aren't the full ROI (and what really matters)How to choose a signature talk that aligns with your goals and expertiseHow to start small, build confidence, and grow into speaking sustainablyWhere to find Meghan + her courseYou can learn more about Meghan, her work, and the Wedding Industry Speakers course at:weddingindustryspeakers.comofdconsulting.comRegistration is open through January 21. It runs for eight weeks, is live and recorded, and yes - those office hours are as fun (and helpful!) as they sound.Onward and upward to 2026!Follow I Do Wedding Marketing InstagramFacebookLinkedInThreadsI Do Wedding Marketing podcast listeners can receive 15% off a 6-month subscription as a new Aisle Planner user! Use code IDWMxAP

B2B pricing is still way harder than it should be, even in 2026. In this conversation, Tina Kung, Founder and CTO at Nue.ai, breaks down why quote to revenue can take weeks, and how a flexible pricing engine can turn it into something closer to one click.You will hear how fast changing pricing models, AI driven products, and new selling motions are forcing revenue teams to rethink the entire system, not just one tool in the stack.Key takeaways• B2B quoting is basically a shopping cart, but the real complexity is cross team workflow, accounting controls, and downstream revenue rules.• Fragmented systems break the moment pricing changes, and in fast markets that can mean you only get one real pricing change per year.• AI companies often evolve from simple subscriptions to usage, services, and even physical goods, which creates billing chaos without a unified backbone.• Commit based models can make revenue more predictable while staying flexible for customers, but only if you can track entitlement, burn down, overspend, and approvals cleanly.• The most useful AI in revenue ops is not just insight, it is action, meaning it can generate the right transaction safely inside a system of record.Timestamped highlights00:43 What Nue.ai actually does, one platform for billing, usage, and revenue ops with intelligence on top02:43 Why a one minute checkout in B2C turns into weeks or months in B2B05:28 The real reason quote to revenue stays broken, fragmentation and brittle integrations08:03 How AI era pricing evolves, subscriptions to consumption, services, and physical goods12:51 Why Tina designed for flexibility from day one, and what 70 plus customer calls revealed19:42 Transactional intelligence, AI that can create the quote, route approvals, and move revenue work forwardA line worth keeping“It should be as easy as one click.”Practical moves you can steal• Map every pricing change to the downstream work it triggers, quoting, billing, revenue recognition, and approvals, then measure how many handoffs exist today.• If you sell both self serve and enterprise, design for multiple selling motions early, because the same objects can have totally different context and risk.• Treat pricing as a product surface, if your systems make changes slow, you are giving up speed in the market.Call to actionIf you want more conversations like this on how modern tech companies actually operate, follow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and connect with me on LinkedIn for clips and episode takeaways.

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dr. Cameka Smith. Founder of The BOSS Network, from Money Making Conversations Masterclass: Purpose of the Interview The interview aimed to: Highlight The BOSS Network’s mission to empower women of color through entrepreneurship, career development, and community support. Share Dr. Smith’s personal journey from layoff to leadership, inspiring others to embrace entrepreneurship. Discuss strategies for business success, funding opportunities, and mentorship for Black female founders. Key Takeaways Origin of The BOSS Network Founded in 2009 during the recession after Dr. Smith was laid off from Chicago Public Schools. Initially started as local events in Chicago; now a digital community reaching 200,000 women nationwide. Mission: Bringing Out Successful Sisters (BOSS)—promoting small business spirit and career growth. Impact & Achievements Invested in 100 Black female founders through grants. Trained 50,000 women on business strategies. Coached 10,000 women on starting businesses. Created Boss Business University, offering mentorship and digital programs. Pivot During COVID Shifted from 35% event-based revenue to 75% digital. Launched Boss Impact Fund and Invest in Progress Grant: $10,000 grants + 4-year scholarships for recipients. Combined funding, mentorship, and marketing support for sustainability. Challenges & Mindset Entrepreneurship requires planning, resilience, and community support. Dr. Smith saved money before leaving her job and leveraged relationships for growth. Quote: “Entrepreneurs will work 80 hours for themselves but don’t want to work 40 hours for someone else.” Top 3 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make Lack of research: Understand your industry, competitors, and market. No revenue model: If you’re not making money, it’s a hobby, not a business. Ignoring relationships: Networking and partnerships are key to success. Unique Marketing & Partnerships Dr. Smith built direct relationships with brands, bypassing agencies that offered “pennies on the dollar.” Created a dual revenue model: B2B (corporate partnerships) + B2C (community engagement). Core Philosophy Motto: Believe, Plan, Win. Quote: “Those that show up, go up.” Success is rooted in faith, persistence, and leveraging community. Notable Quotes “I was born to be an entrepreneur. My mother told me, until you become your own boss, you have to follow the rules.” “Less than 1% of Black women get VC funding—so we created our own fund.” “Relationships are your key to success. When social media goes away, your audience remains.” “If you have a business and you don’t have money, you’ve got a hobby.” “God will not birth anything inside of you that He will not give you the tools to deliver.” #SHMS #STRAW #BESTSupport the show: https://www.steveharveyfm.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dr. Cameka Smith. Founder of The BOSS Network, from Money Making Conversations Masterclass: Purpose of the Interview The interview aimed to: Highlight The BOSS Network’s mission to empower women of color through entrepreneurship, career development, and community support. Share Dr. Smith’s personal journey from layoff to leadership, inspiring others to embrace entrepreneurship. Discuss strategies for business success, funding opportunities, and mentorship for Black female founders. Key Takeaways Origin of The BOSS Network Founded in 2009 during the recession after Dr. Smith was laid off from Chicago Public Schools. Initially started as local events in Chicago; now a digital community reaching 200,000 women nationwide. Mission: Bringing Out Successful Sisters (BOSS)—promoting small business spirit and career growth. Impact & Achievements Invested in 100 Black female founders through grants. Trained 50,000 women on business strategies. Coached 10,000 women on starting businesses. Created Boss Business University, offering mentorship and digital programs. Pivot During COVID Shifted from 35% event-based revenue to 75% digital. Launched Boss Impact Fund and Invest in Progress Grant: $10,000 grants + 4-year scholarships for recipients. Combined funding, mentorship, and marketing support for sustainability. Challenges & Mindset Entrepreneurship requires planning, resilience, and community support. Dr. Smith saved money before leaving her job and leveraged relationships for growth. Quote: “Entrepreneurs will work 80 hours for themselves but don’t want to work 40 hours for someone else.” Top 3 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make Lack of research: Understand your industry, competitors, and market. No revenue model: If you’re not making money, it’s a hobby, not a business. Ignoring relationships: Networking and partnerships are key to success. Unique Marketing & Partnerships Dr. Smith built direct relationships with brands, bypassing agencies that offered “pennies on the dollar.” Created a dual revenue model: B2B (corporate partnerships) + B2C (community engagement). Core Philosophy Motto: Believe, Plan, Win. Quote: “Those that show up, go up.” Success is rooted in faith, persistence, and leveraging community. Notable Quotes “I was born to be an entrepreneur. My mother told me, until you become your own boss, you have to follow the rules.” “Less than 1% of Black women get VC funding—so we created our own fund.” “Relationships are your key to success. When social media goes away, your audience remains.” “If you have a business and you don’t have money, you’ve got a hobby.” “God will not birth anything inside of you that He will not give you the tools to deliver.” #SHMS #STRAW #BESTSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dr. Cameka Smith. Founder of The BOSS Network, from Money Making Conversations Masterclass: Purpose of the Interview The interview aimed to: Highlight The BOSS Network’s mission to empower women of color through entrepreneurship, career development, and community support. Share Dr. Smith’s personal journey from layoff to leadership, inspiring others to embrace entrepreneurship. Discuss strategies for business success, funding opportunities, and mentorship for Black female founders. Key Takeaways Origin of The BOSS Network Founded in 2009 during the recession after Dr. Smith was laid off from Chicago Public Schools. Initially started as local events in Chicago; now a digital community reaching 200,000 women nationwide. Mission: Bringing Out Successful Sisters (BOSS)—promoting small business spirit and career growth. Impact & Achievements Invested in 100 Black female founders through grants. Trained 50,000 women on business strategies. Coached 10,000 women on starting businesses. Created Boss Business University, offering mentorship and digital programs. Pivot During COVID Shifted from 35% event-based revenue to 75% digital. Launched Boss Impact Fund and Invest in Progress Grant: $10,000 grants + 4-year scholarships for recipients. Combined funding, mentorship, and marketing support for sustainability. Challenges & Mindset Entrepreneurship requires planning, resilience, and community support. Dr. Smith saved money before leaving her job and leveraged relationships for growth. Quote: “Entrepreneurs will work 80 hours for themselves but don’t want to work 40 hours for someone else.” Top 3 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make Lack of research: Understand your industry, competitors, and market. No revenue model: If you’re not making money, it’s a hobby, not a business. Ignoring relationships: Networking and partnerships are key to success. Unique Marketing & Partnerships Dr. Smith built direct relationships with brands, bypassing agencies that offered “pennies on the dollar.” Created a dual revenue model: B2B (corporate partnerships) + B2C (community engagement). Core Philosophy Motto: Believe, Plan, Win. Quote: “Those that show up, go up.” Success is rooted in faith, persistence, and leveraging community. Notable Quotes “I was born to be an entrepreneur. My mother told me, until you become your own boss, you have to follow the rules.” “Less than 1% of Black women get VC funding—so we created our own fund.” “Relationships are your key to success. When social media goes away, your audience remains.” “If you have a business and you don’t have money, you’ve got a hobby.” “God will not birth anything inside of you that He will not give you the tools to deliver.” #SHMS #STRAW #BESTSteve Harvey Morning Show Online: http://www.steveharveyfm.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this conversation, Jason Cochran speaks with Tanya and Tony Thorson about the evolving landscape of marketing psychology, particularly in the context of B2B and B2C interactions. They discuss their book, 'Get Off Your Mask', which emphasizes the importance of personalization, authenticity, and the human connection in marketing. The Thorsons introduce their POISE framework, which focuses on personalization, omnichannel strategies, and emotional intelligence. They also share real-world examples of effective marketing strategies and predict future trends in the industry. Additional Resources: Connect with Tanya on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanyathorson/ Connect with Tony on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-thorson-96878b10/ Join the PFN Community! Watch the Working Forward Podcast on YouTube! Connect with Jason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-d-cochran/ Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/peopleforward-network/posts/?feedView=all Learn more about PeopleForward Network: https://peopleforwardnetwork.com/ Key Takeaways: Marketing is evolving with the integration of AI. The human connection is paramount in B2B and B2C. Personalization goes beyond just addressing the consumer by name. Authenticity in marketing builds trust and loyalty. Curiosity drives effective marketing strategies.  

James Gurd and Rupert Cross explore the current landscape for B2B ecommerce, exploring trends that are reshaping the industry as we enter 2026. With Rupert's extensive experience as CEO of 5874 Commerce, the discussion offers a deep dive into the complexities and innovations influencing B2B commerce.Key discussion points:B2B vs. B2C expectations: The lines between B2B and B2C are blurring, with B2B buyers now expecting the same seamless online experiences as B2C consumers. Technological Advancements: The democratisation of AI and the rise of advanced search and personalisation tools are making commerce more accessible and efficient.Data integrity: Emphasising the importance of high-quality data, the conversation highlights how accurate data can streamline operations and enhance decision-making. Self-service and personalisation: The demand for digital self-service tools is growing, with businesses seeking to offer personalised experiences that cater to individual customer needs.Reasons to listen:Gain insights into the future of B2B ecommerce and the trends that will shape the industry in 2026. Learn from industry experts about the challenges and opportunities in adopting new technologies. Understand the critical role of data integrity in driving ecommerce success.Chapters:[02:15] Key Trends in B2B Commerce[05:15] The Role of Data and Technology in B2B[08:00] Personalisation in B2B User Experience[11:30] Demand Forecasting and Inventory Optimisation[13:50] Digital Self-Service in B2B[17:00] The Impact of AI on B2B Processes[19:40] The Evolution of B2B Platforms[22:25] Future Trends in B2B Technology[24:35] Closing Thoughts on Data IntegritySubscribe now: stay updated with the latest trends and insights by subscribing to our podcast series.

Write. Tinker. Win.From Hip Hop to EntrepreneurshipRoss Simmonds grew up learning lessons from hip hop that would later shape his entire career. From Jay-Z and Lupe Fiasco to Kendrick Lamar, the messages of hunger, excellence, and humility built the foundation for how he approaches business. In this episode of Just Keep Learning, Ross explains how those same principles helped him turn curiosity and writing into a multi-business empire.Building Businesses From CuriosityRoss didn't start with a blueprint,he started with experiments. From selling jerseys and durags out of his locker to creating blogs and digital guides, he learned that curiosity compounds into skills. Each project taught him something new about sales, storytelling, and community,skills he now uses to run his B2B marketing agency and e-commerce brand.Personal Branding and the “CEO of You”Ross breaks down his framework for personal branding: think of yourself as a company. Be your own CEO, marketing director, finance officer, and HR department. Decide what you want to be known for, and act accordingly. A personal brand isn't about pretending; it's about doing real things, then sharing them.Hip Hop, Hustle, and Staying HumbleHip hop taught Ross that ambition and gratitude can coexist. At his agency, Foundation, the mantra “Stand up. Be humble.” serves as a daily reminder to celebrate wins without getting complacent. Like a great verse, every project deserves your best performance,treat your first like your last and your last like your first.B2B vs. B2C and Making Money OnlineRoss demystifies the world of business models. Whether it's selling to consumers or companies, he says the key is finding what excites you. For some, that's making merch or art; for others, it's helping organizations grow. Both can work if you stay focused and learn to sell. He explains how digital skills,writing, design, communication,can turn into income fast through freelancing, affiliate marketing, or online products.Lessons For Aspiring CreatorsTreat every project like your firstLearn from hip hop: stay hungry, stay humbleThink like a CEO,build your personal brand with intentionUse the internet as your equalizer; the opportunities are endlessBuild skills before income; curiosity compounds into cash flowExperiment. Tinker. Keep learning.Memorable Quotes“Treat your first like your last, and your last like your first.”“The internet is the greatest equalizer.”“Be the CEO of you.”“There's no one too unskilled to make money online.”“Find joy in tinkering,the play is the path.”Final Advice For CreatorsBe willing to experiment. Don't chase perfection,chase curiosity. Build something, learn from it, and keep evolving. That's how you win in business and in life.Guest BioRoss Simmonds is an entrepreneur, speaker, and the founder of Foundation, a B2B content marketing agency helping global brands scale through strategy and storytelling. He's also behind Hustle & Grind, a lifestyle brand for creators. Known for blending hip hop culture with business insight, Ross teaches creators and marketers how to turn ideas into impact.CHECK OUT THE JKL STORE FOR HELP MAKING YOUR BOOK, PODCAST AND BUSINESS DREAMS COME TRUE!FOLLOW JustinInstagram – @JustKeepLearning.CaYouTube –@justkeeplearningpodcastTwitter – @JustinNolan_JKLTiktok – @justkeeplearning.caPinterest – JustKeepLearningcaFacebook – JustKeepLearningLinkedIn – Justin I'm so happy you found this podcast. I am here to serve you, the creative solopreneur & aspiring content creator to get clarity on building your publishing business. Write a book, create a podcast, share content, and build a business, design the life of your dreams.Let's make it happen. You got this! See how we can work together. https://stan.store/justkeeplearning

This week, we take another look back at the conversations we've had over the past year, highlighting some of our happiest, smartest, funniest, and most difficult exchanges, including Laura Zander on how she got the price she wanted to sell Jimmy Beans Wool, Liz Picarazzi on her confrontation with a grizzly bear, Jay Goltz on why he just might be a good candidate to turn his business into a worker cooperative, Mel Gravely on why he sold his facilities-management business as soon as it became profitable, and Jaci Russo on how she figured out how to train a series of AI agents to deliver 10 client leads first thing every morning.

Original Release Date: November 13, 2025Live from Morgan Stanley's European Tech, Media and Telecom Conference in Barcelona, our roundtable of analysts discusses tech disruptions and datacenter growth, and how Europe factors in.Read more insights from Morgan Stanley.----- Transcript -----Paul Walsh: Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Paul Walsh, Morgan Stanley's European Head of Research Product. Today we return to my conversation with Adam Wood. Head of European Technology and Payments, Emmet Kelly, Head of European Telco and Data Centers, and Lee Simpson, Head of European Technology. We were live on stage at Morgan Stanley's 25th TMT Europe conference. We had so much to discuss around the themes of AI enablers, semiconductors, and telcos. So, we are back with a concluding episode on tech disruption and data center investments. It's Thursday the 13th of November at 8am in Barcelona. After speaking with the panel about the U.S. being overweight AI enablers, and the pockets of opportunity in Europe, I wanted to ask them about AI disruption, which has been a key theme here in Europe. I started by asking Adam how he was thinking about this theme. Adam Wood: It's fascinating to see this year how we've gone in most of those sectors to how positive can GenAI be for these companies? How well are they going to monetize the opportunities? How much are they going to take advantage internally to take their own margins up? To flipping in the second half of the year, mainly to, how disruptive are they going to be? And how on earth are they going to fend off these challenges? Paul Walsh: And I think that speaks to the extent to which, as a theme, this has really, you know, built momentum. Adam Wood: Absolutely. And I mean, look, I think the first point, you know, that you made is absolutely correct – that it's very difficult to disprove this. It's going to take time for that to happen. It's impossible to do in the short term. I think the other issue is that what we've seen is – if we look at the revenues of some of the companies, you know, and huge investments going in there. And investors can clearly see the benefit of GenAI. And so investors are right to ask the question, well, where's the revenue for these businesses? You know, where are we seeing it in info services or in IT services, or in enterprise software. And the reality is today, you know, we're not seeing it. And it's hard for analysts to point to evidence that – well, no, here's the revenue base, here's the benefit that's coming through. And so, investors naturally flip to, well, if there's no benefit, then surely, we should focus on the risk. So, I think we totally understand, you know, why people are focused on the negative side of things today. I think there are differences between the sub-sectors. I mean, I think if we look, you know, at IT services, first of all, from an investor point of view, I think that's been pretty well placed in the losers' buckets and people are most concerned about that sub-sector… Paul Walsh: Something you and the global team have written a lot about. Adam Wood: Yeah, we've written about, you know, the risk of disruption in that space, the need for those companies to invest, and then the challenges they face. But I mean, if we just keep it very, very simplistic. If Gen AI is a technology that, you know, displaces labor to any extent – companies that have played labor arbitrage and provide labor for the last 20 - 25 years, you know, they're going to have to make changes to their business model. So, I think that's understandable. And they're going to have to demonstrate how they can change and invest and produce a business model that addresses those concerns. I'd probably put info services in the middle. But the challenge in that space is you have real identifiable companies that have emerged, that have a revenue base and that are challenging a subset of the products of those businesses. So again, it's perfectly understandable that investors would worry. In that context, it's not a potential threat on the horizon. It's a real threat that exists today against certainly their businesses. I think software is probably the most interesting. I'd put it in the kind of final bucket where I actually believe… Well, I think first of all, we certainly wouldn't take the view that there's no risk of disruption and things aren't going to change. Clearly that is going to be the case. I think what we'd want to do though is we'd want to continue to use frameworks that we've used historically to think about how software companies differentiate themselves, what the barriers to entry are. We don't think we need to throw all of those things away just because we have GenAI, this new set of capabilities. And I think investors will come back most easily to that space. Paul Walsh: Emmet, you talked a little bit there before about the fact that you haven't seen a huge amount of progress or additional insight from the telco space around AI; how AI is diffusing across the space. Do you get any discussions around disruption as it relates to telco space? Emmet Kelly: Very, very little. I think the biggest threat that telcos do see is – it is from the hyperscalers. So, if I look at and separate the B2C market out from the B2B, the telcos are still extremely dominant in the B2C space, clearly. But on the B2B space, the hyperscalers have come in on the cloud side, and if you look at their market share, they're very, very dominant in cloud – certainly from a wholesale perspective. So, if you look at the cloud market shares of the big three hyperscalers in Europe, this number is courtesy of my colleague George Webb. He said it's roughly 85 percent; that's how much they have of the cloud space today. The telcos, what they're doing is they're actually reselling the hyperscale service under the telco brand name. But we don't see much really in terms of the pure kind of AI disruption, but there are concerns definitely within the telco space that the hyperscalers might try and move from the B2B space into the B2C space at some stage. And whether it's through virtual networks, cloudified networks, to try and get into the B2C space that way. Paul Walsh: Understood. And Lee maybe less about disruption, but certainly adoption, some insights from your side around adoption across the tech hardware space? Lee Simpson: Sure. I think, you know, it's always seen that are enabling the AI move, but, but there is adoption inside semis companies as well, and I think I'd point to design flow. So, if you look at the design guys, they're embracing the agentic system thing really quickly and they're putting forward this capability of an agent engineer, so like a digital engineer. And it – I guess we've got to get this right. It is going to enable a faster time to market for the design flow on a chip. So, if you have that design flow time, that time to market. So, you're creating double the value there for the client. Do you share that 50-50 with them? So, the challenge is going to be exactly as Adam was saying, how do you monetize this stuff? So, this is kind of the struggle that we're seeing in adoption. Paul Walsh: And Emmet, let's move to you on data centers. I mean, there are just some incredible numbers that we've seen emerging, as it relates to the hyperscaler investment that we're seeing in building out the infrastructure. I know data centers is something that you have focused tremendously on in your research, bringing our global perspectives together. Obviously, Europe sits within that. And there is a market here in Europe that might be more challenged. But I'm interested to understand how you're thinking about framing the whole data center story? Implications for Europe. Do European companies feed off some of that U.S. hyperscaler CapEx? How should we be thinking about that through the European lens? Emmet Kelly: Yeah, absolutely. So, big question, Paul. What… Paul Walsh: We've got a few minutes! Emmet Kelly: We've got a few minutes. What I would say is there was a great paper that came out from Harvard just two weeks ago, and they were looking at the scale of data center investments in the United States. And clearly the U.S. economy is ticking along very, very nicely at the moment. But this Harvard paper concluded that if you take out data center investments, U.S. economic growth today is actually zero. Paul Walsh: Wow. Emmet Kelly: That is how big the data center investments are. And what we've said in our research very clearly is if you want to build a megawatt of data center capacity that's going to cost you roughly $35 million today. Let's put that number out there. 35 million. Roughly, I'd say 25… Well, 20 to 25 million of that goes into the chips. But what's really interesting is the other remaining $10 million per megawatt, and I like to call that the picks and shovels of data centers; and I'm very convinced there is no bubble in that area whatsoever.So, what's in that area? Firstly, the first building block of a data center is finding a powered land bank. And this is a big thing that private equity is doing at the moment. So, find some real estate that's close to a mass population that's got a good fiber connection. Probably needs a little bit of water, but most importantly needs some power. And the demand for that is still infinite at the moment. Then beyond that, you've got the construction angle and there's a very big shortage of labor today to build the shells of these data centers. Then the third layer is the likes of capital goods, and there are serious supply bottlenecks there as well.And I could go on and on, but roughly that first $10 million, there's no bubble there. I'm very, very sure of that. Paul Walsh: And we conducted some extensive survey work recently as part of your analysis into the global data center market. You've sort of touched on a few of the gating factors that the industry has to contend with. That survey work was done on the operators and the supply chain, as it relates to data center build out. What were the key conclusions from that? Emmet Kelly: Well, the key conclusion was there is a shortage of power for these data centers, and… Paul Walsh: Which I think… Which is a sort of known-known, to some extent. Emmet Kelly: it is a known-known, but it's not just about the availability of power, it's the availability of green power. And it's also the price of power is a very big factor as well because energy is roughly 40 to 45 percent of the operating cost of running a data center. So, it's very, very important. And of course, that's another area where Europe doesn't screen very well.I was looking at statistics just last week on the countries that have got the highest power prices in the world. And unsurprisingly, it came out as UK, Ireland, Germany, and that's three of our big five data center markets. But when I looked at our data center stats at the beginning of the year, to put a bit of context into where we are…Paul Walsh: In Europe… Emmet Kelly: In Europe versus the rest. So, at the end of [20]24, the U.S. data center market had 35 gigawatts of data center capacity. But that grew last year at a clip of 30 percent. China had a data center bank of roughly 22 gigawatts, but that had grown at a rate of just 10 percent. And that was because of the chip issue. And then Europe has capacity, or had capacity at the end of last year, roughly 7 to 8 gigawatts, and that had grown at a rate of 10 percent. Now, the reason for that is because the three big data center markets in Europe are called FLAP-D. So, it's Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin. We had to put an acronym on it. So, Flap-D. Good news. I'm sitting with the tech guys. They've got even more acronyms than I do, in their sector, so well done them. Lee Simpson: Nothing beats FLAP-D. Paul Walsh: Yes. Emmet Kelly: It's quite an achievement. But what is interesting is three of the big five markets in Europe are constrained. So, Frankfurt, post the Ukraine conflict. Ireland, because in Ireland, an incredible statistic is data centers are using 25 percent of the Irish power grid. Compared to a global average of 3 percent.Now I'm from Dublin, and data centers are running into conflict with industry, with housing estates. Data centers are using 45 percent of the Dublin grid, 45. So, there's a moratorium in building data centers there. And then Amsterdam has the classic semi moratorium space because it's a small country with a very high population. So, three of our five markets are constrained in Europe. What is interesting is it started with the former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The UK has made great strides at attracting data center money and AI capital into the UK and the current Prime Minister continues to do that. So, the UK has definitely gone; moved from the middle lane into the fast lane. And then Macron in France. He hosted an AI summit back in February and he attracted over a 100 billion euros of AI and data center commitments. Paul Walsh: And I think if we added up, as per the research that we published a few months ago, Europe's announced over 350 billion euros, in proposed investments around AI. Emmet Kelly: Yeah, absolutely. It's a good stat. Now where people can get a little bit cynical is they can say a couple of things. Firstly, it's now over a year since the Mario Draghi report came out. And what's changed since? Absolutely nothing, unfortunately. And secondly, when I look at powering AI, I like to compare Europe to what's happening in the United States. I mean, the U.S. is giving access to nuclear power to AI. It started with the three Mile Island… Paul Walsh: Yeah. The nuclear renaissance is… Emmet Kelly: Nuclear Renaissance is absolutely huge. Now, what's underappreciated is actually Europe has got a massive nuclear power bank. It's right up there. But unfortunately, we're decommissioning some of our nuclear power around Europe, so we're going the wrong way from that perspective. Whereas President Trump is opening up the nuclear power to AI tech companies and data centers. Then over in the States we also have gas and turbines. That's a very, very big growth area and we're not quite on top of that here in Europe. So, looking at this year, I have a feeling that the Americans will probably increase their data center capacity somewhere between – it's incredible – somewhere between 35 and 50 percent. And I think in Europe we're probably looking at something like 10 percent again. Paul Walsh: Okay. Understood. Emmet Kelly: So, we're growing in Europe, but we're way, way behind as a starting point. And it feels like the others are pulling away. The other big change I'd highlight is the Chinese are really going to accelerate their data center growth this year as well. They've got their act together and you'll see them heading probably towards 30 gigs of capacity by the end of next year. Paul Walsh: Alright, we're out of time. The TMT Edge is alive and kicking in Europe. I want to thank Emmett, Lee and Adam for their time and I just want to wish everybody a great day today. Thank you.(Applause) That was my conversation with Adam, Emmett and Lee. Many thanks again to them. Many thanks again to them for telling us about the latest in their areas of research and to the live audience for hearing us out. And a thanks to you as well for listening. Let us know what you think about this and other episodes by living us a review wherever you get your podcasts. And if you enjoy listening to Thoughts on the Market, please tell a friend or colleague about the podcast today.

In this conversation, Tommy Mello interviews Johnny Conklin, founder and managing partner of 16 South Capital Partners. They discuss the importance of partnerships in business, the evolving landscape of private equity, and the role of founders in driving success. Johnny shares insights from his journey in private equity, emphasizing the need for authenticity, transparency, and a focus on non-economic goals. He explains the unique approach of 16 South Capital, which prioritizes legacy preservation and team culture over traditional leverage strategies. The conversation also touches on the misconceptions surrounding private equity and the importance of preparing for life after a sale. 00:00 The Importance of Partnerships 06:11 Navigating the Changing Landscape of B2B and B2C 09:03 The Role of Founders in Business Success 11:54 Understanding the Value of Non-Economic Goals 14:45 The Unique Approach of 16 South Capital 20:54 The Importance of Team and Culture 26:47 The Misconceptions of Private Equity 29:45 Preparing for Life After a Sale 32:50 Advice for Aspiring Business Owners 35:51 The Future of Private Equity and Business Growth

B2B social isn't broken…most brands are just playing it wrong. Daniel sits down with Chris Cunningham, founding member of ClickUp and the brain behind one of the most recognizable B2B social strategies today. Chris breaks down how ClickUp went from a scrappy pivot to a content powerhouse by betting early on creators, comedy, and consistency, even when everyone said B2B social wouldn't work. From building an internal creator team to launching multiple niche media pages, Chris shares the exact operating system ClickUp uses to generate millions of organic impressions every month. You'll also learn: Why B2B brands should copy B2C trends before they're “acceptable” How ClickUp runs its weekly content machine from ideation to publishing Why creator-led pages and employee-generated content are the future of B2B marketing If you're trying to build a brand people actually talk about (not just ads people scroll past), this episode is for you. CallRail is the lead engagement platform built for marketers who need clean attribution, smarter insights, and zero missed leads. From AI-powered call tracking and conversation intelligence to a 24/7 AI voice agent, CallRail helps teams maximize every inbound touchpoint and convert more leads into customers. https://www.callrail.com/proveit?utm_campaign=q4_2025_marketing_millennials_podcast&utm_medium=thirdparty_advertising&utm_source=marketingmillennials   Follow Chris: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisclickup/ Follow Daniel: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-murray-marketing/ Sign up for The Marketing Millennials newsletter: https://themarketingmillennials.com/ Daniel is a Workweek friend, working to produce amazing podcasts. To find out more, visit: https://workweek.com/

This week—and next week—we take a look back at the conversations we've had over the past year, highlighting some of our happiest, smartest, funniest, and most difficult exchanges, including Paul Downs on how he diced which employees to lay off, Jennifer Kerhin on asking ChatGPT to review her performance as CEO, Kate Morgan on why she's been reluctant to raise her prices, Liz Picarazzi on her search for a domestic manufacturer for her trash enclosures, Ari Weinzweig on why Zingerman's charges so much for a hamburger, and David C. Barnett on why your business is probably worth more to you owning it than selling it.

Fred and Sherrod were top-tier corporate sales performers pulling in six-figure salaries before they realized that the local "dirty" businesses—like junk haulers and carpet cleaners—were actually out-earning them while enjoying significantly more freedom. Tired of the "gilded cage" of corporate America, this US Army veteran duo walked away from their Fortune 500 careers to build Accelerated Waste Solutions. Today, they've turned a borrowed pickup truck into a national system that generates $1 million a month with a staggering 60% gross profit margin.In this episode, Fred and Sherrod join Ryan Atkinson to break down their recession-proof playbook for building a high-margin service business. They dive deep into why they prioritize B2B contracts over B2C, explaining the strategic shift from "renting" customers to "owning" them through recurring revenue. You'll learn the mathematical secrets behind their "Bigger Trucks, Better Pricing" competitive advantage and how they used a patented junk removal app to bring transparency and technology to the waste management industry.From leveraging relationships at the local Chamber of Commerce to the conviction required to turn down a $5 million acquisition offer, Fred and Sherrod share the grit and systems needed to scale a successful franchise. Whether you're interested in business acquisition, startup advice for service-based businesses, or transitioning from sales to CEO, this interview provides the roadmap to financial independence. Stay tuned for their "fan blitz" where they reveal the essential tools—like the humble dolly and scoop shovel—that save their teams hours of labor every single weekTakeaways:- The realization that local service providers often out-earn six-figure corporate employees can be the ultimate catalyst for leaving the corporate ladder.- Focusing on B2B contracts with apartment complexes allows a business to "own" a customer through recurring revenue rather than "renting" them for one-time residential events.- Successful business opportunities often stem from solving personal daily frustrations, such as the inconvenience of transporting trash across a large residential property.- Maintaining a 60% gross profit margin is achievable by using larger trucks and precise mathematical volume calculations to offer the most competitive price per cubic yard.- Integrating patented technology like photo-based reporting creates a transparency "trust factor" that differentiates a service business from competitors who use bait-and-switch pricing.- Prioritizing community relationships and joining local chambers of commerce is often more effective for long-term growth than immediate, unguided prospecting.- Entrepreneurs must identify their "Achilles' heels" early on and utilize resources like AI or specialized sales training to offset their personal skill gaps.- Investing in simple but essential equipment like heavy-duty dollies and scoop shovels prevents unprofessionalism and saves hours of physical labor on the job site.- Maximizing daily efficiency requires a purposeful routing plan for both service calls and prospecting before even leaving the house in the morning.- Having a clear vision and a "why" beyond just money provides the conviction necessary to turn down premature multi-million dollar acquisition offers in favor of long-term scaling.Tags: Side Hustle, Entrepreneurship, B2B, Business Mindset, Startup, Customer Retention, Junk Hauling Resources:Grow your business today:  https://links.upflip.com/the-business-startup-and-growth-blueprint-podcast Connect with Fred and Sherrod:https://www.instagram.com/awsfranchise/?hl=en

In this conversation, Stan Suchkov CEO and Co-founder of Evolve discusses his entrepreneurial journey, emphasizing the importance of building diverse teams, navigating the challenges of startup funding, and the significance of hiring strategies. He shares insights on sales for both B2B and B2C markets, the impact of AI on learning, and the mindset required for long-term success in entrepreneurship. The discussion also touches on the value of connecting with influential entrepreneurs for guidance and inspiration.TakeawaysHire the person you don't like to balance your weaknesses.Building relationships with investors is crucial before fundraising.Actions speak louder than words when it comes to showing traction.Surround yourself with supportive people who can help you.Seek feedback from others to improve your product.Establish a clear company culture from the start.Start selling by yourself to gain valuable insights.Understand your market and budget for B2C products.Focus on one idea to avoid spreading yourself too thin.Connecting with experienced entrepreneurs can provide valuable insights.Interesting Topics00:00 The Importance of Diverse Teams02:54 Navigating the Startup Journey05:36 Building Relationships for Funding08:40 Hiring Strategies for Startups11:28 Sales Insights for B2B and B2C14:11 The Entrepreneurial Mindset17:20 Connecting with Influential EntrepreneursWhether you're launching your first startup, raising capital, or building a team around emerging AI technologies, this episode delivers real-world lessons you won't hear in a pitch deck.

Send us a textIn this episode, we unpack how a sales recruiting business scaled from $100K per month to $7M in cash collected and why the growth ultimately wasn't worth the stress. We explore rapid offer pivots during the pandemic, launching B2B and B2C divisions simultaneously, equity partnerships gone wrong, and the critical mistake of scaling faster than leadership and systems could handle. A candid look at why more revenue doesn't always mean more freedom.Learn how to invest in real estate with the Cashflow 2.0 System! Your business in a box with 1:1 coaching, motivated seller leads, & softwares. https://www.wealthyinvestor.com/Want to work 1:1 with Ryan Pineda? Apply at ryanpineda.comJoin our FREE community, weekly calls, and bible studies for Christian entrepreneurs and business people. https://tentmakers.us/Want to grow your business and network with elite entrepreneurs on world-class golf courses? Apply now to join Mastermind19 – Ryan Pineda's private golf mastermind for high-level founders and dealmakers. www.mastermind19.com--- About Ryan Pineda: Ryan Pineda has been in the real estate industry since 2010 and has invested in over $100,000,000 of real estate. He has completed over 700 flips and wholesales, and he owns over 650 rental units. As an entrepreneur, he has founded seven different businesses that have generated 7-8 figures of revenue. Ryan has amassed over 2 million followers on social media and has generated over 1 billion views online. Starting as a minor league baseball player making less than $2,000 a month, Ryan is now worth over $100 million. He shares his experiences in building wealth and believes that anyone can change their life with real estate investing. ...