Podcasts about CRMS

Send a textWhat if the difference between a stalled dream and a thriving investing business was 92 door knocks and the courage to keep going? We open the playbook on real estate's real tradeoffs—time freedom, income control, and generational wealth—balanced against the very human hurdles of self-motivation, information overload, and patience for the first win.I walk you through the exact path from fired night-shift waitress to 2,000+ deals and even buying a small town. We start with the early days: living inside rehabs to cut costs, learning every tool at Home Depot, mapping foreclosures by hand, and using hard money to move fast. Then we break down the shift that changed everything—wholesaling—and how stacking predictable assignment fees can fund rehabs and rentals without the feast-or-famine cycle. You'll hear how a simple toolkit—Excel, a calendar, and a call list—beats fancy CRMs when the real job is talking to sellers, solving problems, and getting contracts signed.We also get honest about the cons. Staying self-driven when it rains or when your bank account looks comfy is a real test. Education can help or hurt—choose one mentor, one process, and go deep instead of chasing every new system. Busywork is a trap; measurable action is the cure. Setbacks at the closing table will happen; build buffers and backups so a busted deal doesn't break your stride. And yes, the first check might take months. That's not failure—that's the ramp. Once it clicks, you'll forecast income by deal count, not wishful thinking.If you want a roadmap to work for yourself, control your hours, and build assets your kids and grandkids can steward, this conversation is your starting line. Tap play, take notes, and then take action. If it helped, follow the show, leave a quick review, and share this with someone who needs a push to knock on door number 92. Support the showThanks again for listening. Don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a FIVE-STAR review.Head to Dwanderful right now to claim your free real estate investing kit. And follow:http://www.Dwanderful.comhttp://www.facebook.com/Dwanderfulhttp://www.Instagram.com/Dwanderful http://www.youtube.com/DwanderfulRealEstateInvestingChannelMake it a Dwanderful Day!

In this episode of The En Factor, we are thrilled to be joined by Jason Kramer, who is the Founder of Cultivize. From a young age, Jason had a strong passion for art and building things and although he was completing his education at Syracuse University, he was still unsure of the path he wanted to take professionally. After earning his degree, Jason went on to begin a career in graphic design and advertising, but when the company he was working for downsized their team, the idea of starting his own business grew more and more as he was also freelancing at the time. Fast forward after gaining over 20 years of experience in the marketing and business development, Jason is leading Cultivize to new heights by helping established businesses overcome growing pains and other business and marketing problems to effectively scale and grow. Jason has seen the marketing world evolve countless times through all of his experience, and Cultivize is continuing to lead that evolution through their consulting services for marketing and business development. The company provides their clients, which is versatile client base, the technology and systems to fully optimize CRMs in order for these client companies' sales and marketing teams to fully maximize their time, and work smarter, not harder. By providing such a service and technology system like Cultivize is able to, Jason and his team seamlessly blend technology, marketing, and art in order to address their clients' needs and provide long term, sustainable solutions to keep them moving forward. Tune in and join Jason and Dr. Rebecca White as they dive deep into a plethora of engaging topics including Jason's background and journey to marketing, consulting, and ultimately starting Cultivize, the absolute need for effective and efficient CRM systems for companies that want to evolve and expand, and the role that technology and AI have played in evolving the marketing world and creative industry. Key Words - Marketing, CRM Connect and learn more about Jason and his business, Cultivize, here: https://cultivize.com/learnmore/ Explore Dr. White's Entrepreneurial Intelligence (EI) Lab and Download Her EI Goals Worksheet, here: https://drrebeccawhite.com/entrepreneurial-intelligence-lab/ Check out Dr. White's book, “See, Do, Repeat”, and more from her website, here: https://drrebeccawhite.com/see-do-repeat/

Send a textThe shed industry is changing fast—and the smartest operators are meeting buyers where they are with clearer pricing, tighter operations, and the right payment tool for each customer. We open the doors to our real office conversations: how dealer-side financing is rising, why RTO isn't going anywhere, and where the economics break if you don't know your true cost per unit. It's a frank look at kickbacks, consolidation, and the value of building lean habits that survive any market cycle.We also get practical. Paint is more than color—it's your first impression. Programs that bundle industrial-grade coatings with local stock, training, and on-site support cut rework and boost customer pride years after delivery. Pair that with integrated systems—inventory-synced websites, fast-response CRMs, clean quoting, and delivery scheduling—and you remove friction from lead to drop-off. Convenience matters as much as rate: buy-downs and 0% offers pull qualified buyers into finance at the lot, while RTO continues to unlock access for those who need no-credit-check options.Across nearly 500 releases, we've watched the market grow up. The data says a large slice of sales still flow through RTO, a smaller share through true finance, and a meaningful chunk via private lenders—leaving room for on-lot finance to expand. The winners will educate customers on total cost of ownership, match payment paths to profiles, and run playbooks that are simple, transparent, and margin-aware. The real takeaway: do right by the buyer, and the business follows.If you care about smarter financing, better margins, and tools that actually fit how you sell, hit play. Then tell us your mix—how are you balancing finance and RTO today? Subscribe, share with a colleague, and drop a review to help more builders and dealers find these conversations.For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.Would you like to receive our weekly newsletter?  Sign up on our website: shedgeek.comFollow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.This episodes Sponsors:Studio Sponsor: Shed ProPittsburgh Paints CoCardinal ManufacturingRTO SmartVelocity 360Shed Suite

Your donor database should make it easier to build strong relationships with donors. But for many fundraisers, the CRM ends up feeling like one more thing to maintain instead of a tool that actively supports their work. In this episode of Real Talk for Real Fundraisers, Jeff Schreifels is joined by Diana Frazier, Senior Client Experience Leader at Veritus Group, for a practical conversation about how fundraisers can use their CRM to strengthen donor relationships instead of just storing data. Jeff and Diana walk through the key elements that turn a donor database into a relationship-building engine. They explore why most CRMs were built for direct-response fundraising, what that means for major gift work, and how a few simple structural changes—like clear donor status codes, thoughtful tiering, and better donor profiles—can dramatically improve how you manage your caseload. They also talk about the often-overlooked details that make a real difference, from capturing a donor's story to tracking giving vehicles and building dashboards that actually help you prioritize your work each day. If you've ever felt like your CRM is slowing you down instead of helping you connect with donors, this episode will give you a clear path forward. Show Highlights: In this episode, you'll learn about… Why most donor databases are designed for direct response fundraising—and what that means for relationship-based fundraising How a clear donor status field helps you quickly understand where each donor stands in their engagement Why tiering donors is essential for focusing your time and energy where it matters most The importance of capturing a donor's story so relationships continue seamlessly over time Veritus Group is passionate about partnering with you and your organization throughout your fundraising journey. We believe that the key to transformative fundraising is a disciplined system and structure, trusted accountability, persistence, and a bit of fun. We specialize in mid-level fundraising, major gifts, and planned giving, helping our clients to develop compelling donor offers and to focus on strategic leadership and organizational development. You can learn more about how we can partner with you at www.VeritusGroup.com.   Additional Resources:   [Blog] What Is An MGO Actually Responsible For?  [White Paper]   New and Improved: Donor Engagment Plan [Blog] What Frontline Fundraisers Actually Need [Template] Free Donor Engagement Plan 

Send a text“Believe in yourself and keep going.”-Paige WieseExclusive Insights from This Week's EpisodesMost founders think digital assets are a back office detail. Paige Wiese shows why that thinking is dangerous. In this episode, she reveals how websites, domains, CRMs, analytics, ownership rights, and vendor relationships can either strengthen your business or quietly undermine it when growth, due diligence, and exit planning matter most. You'll hear why fast growth without structure creates risk, how bad agency relationships drain money and momentum, why digital ownership must be documented long before a deal, and what investors really look for when they evaluate your company's digital foundation. If you want stronger growth, cleaner systems, and a business that is built to scale and sell, this episode delivers a hard hitting blueprint.EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS00:12:41 The hidden reason many companies waste money on websites and marketing without seeing results00:16:08 The red flags to watch for before hiring a digital agency00:18:43 Why delegation works only when trust and alignment are in place00:21:14 The AI trap: what founders are buying, what they think they are buying, and where it goes wrong00:31:17 Two simple moves founders can make right now to reduce digital risk00:33:35 What will stay the same and what will change in digital growth over the next five years00:46:31 The contract question every founder needs to ask before it is too lateFull show notes, transcript, and resources for this episode:https://podcast.deepwealth.com/523The Deep Wealth Podcast Most entrepreneurs do not fail.They just carry too much for too long. The business grows. Pressure grows faster. Profits get harder to predict. Decisions cost more energy. Over time, focus slips and health takes the hit. The Deep Wealth Podcast and Deep Wealth Mastery are built from real experience. We're the only system based on a 9-figure exit. This system exists because guessing gets expensive.

Welcome to the weekly Recruitment Podcast by The Recruitment Network (TRN) – where we share real conversations to help you build your recruiting team, level up recruiter performance, and stay ahead in an ever-changing recruitment market.TRN – Enabling recruitment businesses to maximise their performance, productivity and profitability.In this episode with James Osborne, we unpack one of the most overlooked value leaks in recruitment: how agencies repeatedly rebuild candidate value from scratch.Most recruitment businesses say candidates are their greatest asset.Very few actually operate as if that's true.Instead, the industry quietly absorbs one of its biggest hidden cost drains — re-sourcing candidates that consultants have already placed, spoken to, or shortlisted before. Every time this happens, the business effectively pays twice for the same work. The cost rarely shows up clearly on a P&L, but it appears through slower delivery, increased job board spend, inconsistent desk performance, and shrinking margins.In this session, James introduces The Ultimate Candidate Pool Playbook — a practical framework for turning candidate relationships into a genuine commercial asset, rather than something that simply sits inside your CRM.He explains how high-performing agencies build structured candidate pools that compound value over time, allowing consultants to deliver faster, reduce repeat sourcing, and dramatically increase productivity without increasing workload.If you want to stop repeatedly paying for work you've already done — and start running candidate relationships like the assets they truly are — this conversation is an essential starting point.This episode covers:• Why most recruitment businesses repeatedly rebuild candidate value from scratch• The hidden cost of re-sourcing candidates already known to your business• How high-performing agencies build candidate pools that compound value over time• Practical ways to segment and nurture talent to drive faster shortlists and stronger conversions• How structured candidate pools reduce reliance on job boards and paid advertising• Why most CRMs become “candidate graveyards” — and how to fix it• How to increase consultant productivity without increasing workload• The systems and behaviours needed to build candidate pools that actually placeWhether you're a solo recruiter or running a multi-desk agency, the principle is simple: the more value you retain and reuse from candidate relationships, the faster and more profitable your business becomes.If you want to deliver faster, reduce wasted sourcing effort, and turn your candidate relationships into a true commercial asset, this episode is a must-watch.What is TRN?The Recruitment Network is the ultimate support network for recruitment business leaders. We offer a wide range of benefits including:• An inclusive leadership club• Recruitment Trailblazers – a programme tailored for billing managers• Full back-office support and training• TRN World, our innovative online community• Access to investment insights, technology guidance, expert content, and much more

In dieser Folge #326 des Makler und Vermittler Podcasts begrüßt Benedikt Deutsch Boris Bull. Nach einem humorvollen Einstieg mit „5 schnellen Fragen“ dreht sich das Gespräch um weit mehr als nur Versicherungsberatung für Ärzte. Boris Bull berichtet von seinem spannenden Weg vom Medienunternehmer über die Allianz bis hin zur Gründung der Finanzdocs, einem spezialisierten Maklerunternehmen für Human- und Zahnmediziner. Gemeinsam sprechen Benedikt Deutsch und Boris Bull über die Bedeutung von klarer Zielgruppenausrichtung, die Herausforderungen und Chancen der Selbstständigkeit, Prozessoptimierung im Maklerbüro und den effizienten Einsatz moderner CRMs wie Zoho. Egal ob Innovation in der Ärzteberatung, Automatisierung im Vertrieb oder strategische Zusammenarbeit im Team – dieser Podcast liefert wertvolle Einblicke in die Praxis moderner Vermittler und inspirierende Tipps für alle, die im Makleralltag wirklich etwas bewegen wollen. Viel Spaß beim Zuhören!

What if your next breakthrough isn't more hustle, but ruthless focus on what actually matters?Scott Levy, Founder and CEO of ResultMaps, joins Sivana Brewer for a candid, zero-fluff conversation on why most CEOs and COOs are drowning in distraction and what separates “second in command” leaders who skyrocket growth from those stuck grinding. They pull apart why ambitious teams spiral into task overload, the critical metrics every department truly needs, and the battle-tested rituals that free up your brain for high-stakes decisions.Ready to step off the treadmill of constant fires, endless meetings, and “yet another platform” promises? This episode exposes the cost of delay and throws you a direct path out, real systems, real clarity, real results. If you wait, you risk another year of burnout and missed breakthroughs. Press play now for inside strategies unavailable anywhere else.Timestamped Highlights[00:54] – Why “good” content became too dangerous for Speaker A to binge (and what that reveals about focus)[02:09] – The real operations heartbreaks hidden behind entrepreneurial success stories[07:09] – Why small teams will devour giants in the AI revolution (the Special Forces lesson nobody teaches MBAs)[10:34] – The shockingly simple hack for bypassing bloated CRMs and running your pipeline on autopilot[12:02] – How to extract a Vivid Vision in 30 minutes—no trust falls required[16:13] – “Eff your feelings, follow the plan?” Dissecting the truth (and limits) of systemizing emotional chaos[26:52] – The fatal flaw of cascading goals—and what truly separates winners from burned-out operators[44:36] – The raw moment CEOs finally break—and why some refuse to suffer the same mistakes twice About the GuestScott Levy is the Founder and CEO of ResultMaps, a cutting-edge SaaS platform designed to help founders and leadership teams obliterate operational friction, scale clarity, and get real results. With a background spanning management consulting, software, and building systems for high-growth companies, Scott's passion is turning entrepreneurial chaos into decisive execution. He's especially known for integrating technology and coaching with powerful simplicity.

Welcome back to the show! Today we're diving into something that has the power to completely transform your business, and honestly, your life too. We're talking about network expansion and why consistently meeting new people is one of the most important habits you can build, especially as a mom running a real estate business.Over the years, I've talked to countless agents, week after week, year after year, and I've noticed a pattern. I've seen women who once had thriving businesses suddenly feel like everything slowed down. The leads dried up. The deals stopped flowing. And when we start unpacking why that happened, the answer almost always comes back to one simple question:How are you consistently meeting new people?And a lot of the time… there isn't a clear answer.Show Notes: The two critical questions every agent should ask: How am I consistently meeting new people? and How am I staying relevant after the connection?Creative and traditional networking strategies including open houses, community events, social media, and podcasting as a relationship-building tool.Why focusing on authentic relationships instead of sales tactics leads to long-term business growth.The importance of systems—CRMs, follow-ups, newsletters, and intentional social media engagement—to stay top-of-mind.How moms in real estate can build a successful business by focusing on one or two consistent lead-generation pillars instead of trying to do everything.Resources & Links:Join the Facebook Community: Moms in Real EstateMoms in Real Estate Referral Network: Find referral partners across the U.S.Apply to Be on the PodcastFollow along on Instagram @heykristencantrell & @momsinrealestateWatch on YouTubeSubscribe to our NewsletterBecome a SponsorCheck out our amazing sponsors: Your Tax Coach // Professional Tax Accountants. We're not just saving you money, we're changing lives! @‌yourtaxcoach‌The Real Time App // Simplifies real estate transactions for Realtors and their clients. Effortlessly manage documents, timelines, tasks, and vendors all in one seamless platform. Check it our HEREGet a free week on content from Coffee & Contracts!Coffeecontracts.com use code MIRE for $20 off

Struggling to launch your physician side hustle because you're stuck building "infrastructure" first? It's a common trap.  In this episode of Bootstrap MD, host Dr. Mike Woo-Ming shares his confession about procrastinating on a business idea by focusing on websites, branding, and CRMs instead of revenue. He introduces the "infrastructure trap" a mindset from medical training that delays action in entrepreneurship. Dr. Woo-Ming explains why $10,000 is the ideal first milestone for validation, funding tools, and shifting your identity from "idea" to "business." He outlines the Minimum Viable Offer (MVO) framework with the "three Ps": Specific Problem, Measurable Promise, and Appropriate Price.   He explores three revenue paths:   Consulting and advisory work (proactive outreach to health tech companies), Pre-selling programs and services (validate before building),   Leveraging credentials (expert witness, medical writing, surveys).    With a 30-60 day action plan from identifying your unfair advantage to outreach and delivery this episode empowers physicians to prioritize revenue over setup, using simple tools like Zoom and Stripe. Turn your expertise into cash flow without perfectionism, and start executing today.   Three Actionable Takeaways:   Craft Your Minimum Viable Offer (MVO): In one paragraph, define your target, the specific problem, promise, timeframe, and price. Test it with 5-10 people for feedback; aim for 3-7 clients to hit $10,000 without any infrastructure.  Pursue Consulting Outreach: Identify 10-20 health tech or pharma companies in your niche; send personalized messages with a value observation and offer to connect. Charge $200-$500 per hour for advisory roles like protocol reviews or strategy input, closing deals proactively to generate quick revenue. Follow the 30-60 Day Plan: Days 1-3: Pinpoint your unfair advantage. Days 3-7: Listen in LinkedIn and Facebook groups for pain points. Week 2: Write and test your offer. Weeks 3-4: Send 20-30 targeted messages for conversations. Weeks 4-8: Collect payments via Stripe or PayPal and deliver manually via Zoom or email to learn and validate.   About the Show:   Bootstrap MD is the ultimate podcast for physician entrepreneurs looking to escape traditional healthcare and control their financial futures. Hosted by Dr. Mike Woo-Ming, a successful physician, entrepreneur, and investor, the show delivers actionable insights on starting businesses, creating passive income, and navigating healthcare entrepreneurship. Featuring interviews with industry leaders, physicians, and experts in telemedicine and digital health, it's your guide to building a profitable, fulfilling career.  Tune in weekly at  http://bootstrapmd.com     About the Host: Dr. Mike Woo-Ming has over 20 years of experience as a physician entrepreneur. He's built and sold multiple seven-figure companies and now leads Executive Medical, a group of clinics specializing in age management and aesthetics. Through BootstrapMD, he mentors physicians in business, content creation, and autonomy. Let's Connect: www.https://www.bootstrapmd.com   Want to start a podcast? Check out the Doctor Podcast Network!  

Send a textMost marketing reports tell a neat story that isn't true. We peel back the layers with Jeff from Provalytics to show how real customers actually find and choose a contractor—and why single-source attribution keeps leading teams astray. Think of it as a tour through the “dash” between first touch and last touch, where attention becomes awareness, awareness becomes preference, and preference shows up as revenue when the system fails on a 102-degree day.We start with the mess: platforms that overcount conversions, privacy updates that stripped away hyper-targeting, and CRMs that force a one-source label on multi-touch journeys. Jeff breaks down a simple fix with outsized impact—track impressions alongside clicks, calls, and bookings. When you watch impressions daily, you'll see how demand builds before it converts, and you'll finally know whether that Meta video, CTV spot, or direct mail drop did the heavy lifting while Google just closed the loop.From there, we get practical. Billboards don't need QR codes to work; trucks are mobile billboards that make you familiar before the emergency; magnets can produce for years with a single tracking number. We map sprints and marathons across channels, separate aggregator leads so they don't sink your averages, and reframe success around revenue per lead and booking rates instead of raw volume. Expect different timelines by channel, embrace the carryover or “drag” effect, and accept that some value is real even when it isn't perfectly measurable.The mindset shift is simple: be less wrong this month than last month. Weather changes, rates move, teams evolve, and platforms rewrite rules. When you track impressions, clicks, bookings, and revenue together, you get the confidence to pivot fast or ride out campaigns with patience. That's how you build a durable brand, control your demand, and own your market. If this hit home, follow the show, share it with a fellow contractor, and leave a quick review so more pros can measure what truly matters.If you enjoyed this chat From the Yellow Chair, consider joining our newsletter, "Let's Sip Some Lemonade," where you can receive exclusive interviews, our bank of helpful downloadables, and updates on upcoming content. Please consider following and drop a review below if you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to check out our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram. From the Yellow Chair is powered by Lemon Seed, a marketing strategy and branding company for the trades. Lemon Seed specializes in rebrands, creating unique, comprehensive, organized marketing plans, social media, and graphic design. Learn more at www.LemonSeedMarketing.com Interested in being a guest on our show? Fill out this form! We'll see you next time, Lemon Heads!

Is SaaS dead — or just getting repriced? We break down the viral “SaaS apocalypse” thesis, the 2028 AI doom scenario, and Block's 40% layoffs. Are AI agents about to replace CRMs, workflows, and entire jobs?Join the premium Skippy and Doogles fan club. You can also get more details about the show at skippydoogles.com, show notes on our Substack, and send comments or questions to skippydoogles@gmail.com.

Send a textAI is changing how buyers discover, evaluate, and choose new homes, and it's happening faster than most teams realize. In this month's AI Brief: Homebuilding Edition, Anya Chrisanthon and Anewgo CEO John Lee break down what's shifting right now: ads inside AI chat experiences, agentic commerce (discovery → checkout), personal AI “intelligence,” and how all of it will reshape portals, CRMs, and SaaS pricing.We cover:What “AI ads” will look like inside chat-based interfacesWhy agentic commerce is the next “smart grid” for buyingPersonal AI: convenience vs. privacy (and what it means for builders)The difference between AI assistants vs. AI agentsWhat happens when AI buyers negotiate and shop at scaleWhy CRM can't stay at the end of the journey anymore, and what changes nextSubscribe for monthly AI updates built specifically for homebuilders, sales leaders, and marketing teams.

Most real estate agents plateau at 25–30 transactions because their CRM isn't built to run a business — it's built to manage contacts. If your CRM can't handle lifecycle automation, custom pipelines, and post-closing relationship continuity, you will eventually hit a ceiling.In this episode, I break down:Why high-producing agents outgrow brokerage CRMsThe hidden cost of tech stacking multiple platformsThe 5 pillars every scaling CRM must haveHow to protect your 6-figure repeat and referral businessWhat an all-in-one real estate operating system should look likeIf you're doing 20–40 deals per year and want to scale without chaos, this is for you.0:00 CRM overload at 20–30 deals 0:40 Intro: Jeremy Kane + why CRM is the cornerstone 1:12 My journey (no CRM → bouncing CRMs) 2:30 The tag problem + brokerage CRM limitations 3:20 Why you're losing money after the transaction 4:35 Meeting Adam Gillespie 5:05 Building Carbon Collective by Lofty 6:57 Customizing for top producers (30–100+ homes/year) 9:23 Buyer vs seller automations (smart plans) 11:10 Past client system + relationship continuity 12:42 How to get Carbon Collective by Lofty / next steps 15:58 Final CTA (comment “CRM” / DM / call)

Send a textA shed sale isn't won with pressure—it's won with details, trust, and a clear path from need to solution. We sit down with veteran seller and mentor Hal Hatcher to unpack 15 years of practical wisdom you can put to work today. From the moment a buyer steps onto the lot, Hal shows why first impressions and layout matter: sweep the floors, square the buildings, and don't let a great unit die in a bad spot. Move it, reframe it, and watch attention return. Then, turn the office into a “war room” where buyers sketch placement, doors, and colors. That small act creates ownership before the first signature.We explore the full sales cycle with concrete tactics: prospect beyond walk-ins, build a steady presence on social media, and open every interaction with a name and a face people remember. The process thrives on documentation and follow-up—old-school notebooks, time stamps, and plant verification now pair with CRMs and 3D configurators. When a buyer says “It's expensive,” shift the lens to value and use their benchmark—protecting a Harley, a boat, or holiday keepsakes—to craft a fit that lasts. Smart upgrades like roll-up doors and reinforced floors prevent pain later, turning “price” debates into practical choices that feel right.Hal's playbook is people-first. Read body language, invite the skeptical partner into the design, and give couples room to decide. A simple lunch sign with a return time—and a small courtesy discount—can convert missed moments into loyal customers. That habit of listening and following through builds referrals, which become your best marketing. Along the way, we draw clear lines between mentorship and leadership: invest in your team, match roles to strengths, and never let promises slip. If you sell sheds, haul them, or manufacture them, these lessons lift your close rates and your reputation.If this conversation helps you sell with more confidence and less friction, share it with a teammate, subscribe for more practical episodes, and leave a quick review so others can find us.For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.Would you like to receive our weekly newsletter?  Sign up on our website.Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.This episodes Sponsors:Studio Sponsor: Shed ProIfabIdentigrowSolar BlasterCardinal Manufacturing

There are a lot of different CRMs on the market today, but there are very few that listen to what their users need and want and there are even fewer that are specific for one industry. Earthapro is all of these things. Today I talk with Courtney from Earthapro about the new and coming soon features of her CRM and why Courtney and Peter (her husband) decided to start a CRM for the Green Industry.  **Backed by EARTHAPRO** Visit www.earthapro.com Use CODE mowinginthedark25 at checkout to get 25% off your first year! Helcim Credit Card Processing: https://link.helcim.com/tNJop5Ll WaveApps: https://www.waveapps.com/   **Please give the podcast a 5 star rating and review in Apple Podcasts.** If you would like to be interviewed on the pod please send me an email and let me know. I would love to have you on. sutterbrotherslawn@gmail.com Support the Pod: http://www.buymeacoffee.com/mowinginthedark     Check out my business websites:  www.gravelblasters.com , www.sutterbrotherslawncare.com

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms have long been at the heart of sales organizations, promising improved insights and streamlined processes. Yet, as businesses evolved, so did their CRMs, sometimes for better, sometimes not. In this episode of the Sales Reinvented podcast, I was joined by Tim Gale, European new business sales leader at Sugar CRM, to discuss what CRM 3.0 means in an age where information overload is the new normal.  You'll hear why having too much data can actually hurt sales teams, and learn Tim's top strategies for turning CRM insights into meaningful actions. The conversation gets into the power, and limitations, of AI and automation in CRM, emphasizing where human judgment still makes the difference. Tim also shares his top dos and don'ts for organizations moving toward CRM 3.0, and tells a compelling real-world story of how smart CRM clarity boosted sales performance and revenue. Outline of This Episode 00:00 CRM 3.0: From data to clarity. 03:05 Data overload and inefficiency. 06:10 Leveraging data for sales insights. 09:59 AI as enabler, not a replacement. 15:38 Insights through real-world practice. 18:28 Custom CRMs boost adoption. CRM: From Data Dump to Decision Engine CRM used to function like a digital Rolodex, a static data repository. Then they evolved to offer improved connectivity between sales, marketing, and service, but they still largely functioned as a record of "what happened." The real shift has come with CRM 3.0. It's not about gathering as much data as possible, but about capturing intelligence and clarity through the ABCs: Artificial, Business, and Contextual Intelligence. CRM 3.0 focuses on providing actionable insights, using AI and automation to help sellers know exactly where to spend their time for the most impact.  Signs Your CRM Is Creating Complexity (And How to Fix It) A common pitfall in sales organizations is data overload. Tim warns that when sales reps spend more time building reports or wading through endless, irrelevant fields, dashboards, and admin tasks, their CRM is failing them. The litmus test is if your teams can't answer simple, strategic questions such as "Which deals are most likely to close this week?" or "Which accounts need attention?" in seconds. If not, your CRM has become noise instead of guidance. If data doesn't drive action within 30 seconds, it's probably just noise. Practical Steps to Transform Data Into Action Empowering sales reps, not overwhelming them, is the mark of an effective CRM. Tim suggests three practical strategies: Focus on Next Best Actions: Use AI-driven prompts to guide reps toward hot opportunities, alert them when proposals are engaged with, and ensure they're not missing out on key prospects. Integrate ERP Insights: Link CRM with ERP systems to surface valuable trends, giving sellers visibility into buying patterns and upsell opportunities they might otherwise miss. Visualize Outcomes, Not Just Activities: Track KPIs and account health, but connect them directly to actionable insights such as pipeline movement and client retention risks. Action beats analytics, it's not about what happened, but what to do next. Choosing Clarity Over Complexity For sales leaders, the challenge isn't just managing data, but distilling it down to what matters. If data doesn't change a decision or behavior, it shouldn't be on the dashboard. Metrics should be meaningful, drive clear next steps, and support precision selling. Leaders must aim for executive sponsorship, clear business outcomes, and simplification at every turn. Many CRM initiatives fail due to noisy systems and poor change management, a reminder that technology alone isn't enough. AI is Human Judgment's Partner, Not Its Replacement Even as AI and automation transform CRM, the human element remains irreplaceable. AI can predict "what," but only humans can interpret "why", understanding emotion, tone, and true intent. CRM 3.0 should empower sales professionals, not replace their expertise. AI is an enabler, not just a technology. It's there to take away human admin and let us spend more time building relationships and serving clients. Tim shares a great case study of a manufacturing client whose previous CRM was so complex that sales teams reverted to Excel, losing critical insights. By designing a CRM tailored to user groups and focusing on clarity, engagement soared. Adoption hit 100%, pipeline increased 42%, and sales targets were exceeded by 44%. The lesson is that clarity drives action, and action drives performance. CRM 3.0 isn't just a technological upgrade, it's a philosophy shift. By prioritizing simplicity, actionable insights, and human intelligence, sales teams can transform data overload into real, measurable success. Resources & People Mentioned SugarCRM  Connect with Tim Gale Tim Gale on LinkedIn Tim Gale on X Connect With Paul Watts  LinkedIn Twitter  Subscribe to SALES REINVENTED Audio Production and Show Notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com

Episode 133: This week, Kyle Van Pelt talks with Jennifer Goldman, Founder and Strategic Operations Transformer and Integrator at My Virtual COO. Jen is an operations expert with 30 years of experience helping 1,000+ service businesses to thrive.  Jen talks with Kyle about what it really takes to run a profitable, scalable advisory firm. From defining what makes a truly great operator to navigating the messy middle of firm growth, Jen shares practical insights on constellation thinking, building operational leaders, and making hard profitability decisions. She also dives into the emotional and structural crossroads firms face as they scale, the evolving role of technology and AI in operations, and why clean data and strong systems still require human ownership. In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (03:33) - Jen's money moment (06:39) - What it takes to be a great operator (08:55) - How "constellation thinking" works (12:19) - Balancing SOPs with creativity in operations (14:42) - The profitability challenges in the growth process (16:57) - What determines whether you should build or join a platform (21:42) - How Jen utilizes AI in her work  (23:01) - Why AI can't replace CRMs (27:27) - Why it's important to have clean CRM data (32:36) - What it takes to build a process for advisors and investors (37:35) - What Jen looks for when engaging with advisors (39:53) - Jen's outlook on the future of the financial services industry (42:51) - Jen's Milemarker Minute Key Takeaways Think like an operator. Great operators don't work in silos. They practice "constellation thinking"—understanding how a change in one area (people, process, technology, profitability) impacts the rest of the organization. Sustainable growth comes from seeing those connections before making decisions. Progress beats perfection when scaling a business. Operators must act with imperfect information and accept small failures along the way. Waiting for perfect data or perfect conditions slows growth. Progress, iteration, and course correction are what move firms forward. Your growth path depends on how well you've built your team. When firms hit major crossroads, whether to scale into a platform or join one, the deciding factor is often people. Leaders who develop decision-makers and future executives create optionality—those who don't often feel stuck or fatigued. Systems create stability, but creativity keeps operations moving. SOPs and structured processes are essential for consistency, but operators must also stay flexible and creative when reality doesn't follow the playbook. Balancing structure with adaptability is key to running a resilient firm. Quotes "Your data is so important. It's telling you stories. If you don't keep it clean, it's not going to tell you what you need to do next with the business." ~ Jennifer Goldman "Businesses cannot scale unless they're constantly and continuously improving. It doesn't have to be a heavy lift. Just shine a light, make a small change, and keep going." ~ Jennifer Goldman "This clarity around data and understanding, pulling it together, and using it effectively is so important. It allows you to have more touch with the people around you, whether it's clients or the advisor teams." ~ Jennifer Goldman Links  Jennifer Goldman on LinkedIn My Virtual COO The Let Them Theory Connect with our hosts Milemarker.co Kyle on LinkedIn Jud on LinkedIn Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Produce game-changing content with Turncast Turncast helps your company grow by producing top-quality content and fostering transformative conversations. We specialize in content generation, podcasting, digital strategy, and audience growth for fintech and financial services companies. Learn more at Turncast.com.

Many micro-SaaS founders build their SaaS tech stack like they're running a large, VC-backed startup. They implement CRMs, advanced analytics, and marketing automation because VC blogs say that's what “serious”...

In this episode of FinTech Impact, host Jason Pereira interviews Mike Wilson, CEO and co-founder of Hamachi, an AI governance layer for financial advisors that unifies data from systems like CRMs and portfolio platforms to power workflow “bots” such as a daily dossier and household brief. Wilson explains Hamachi's origin, its compliance-first guardrails, and its strategy to embed via integrations and API rather than compete for the advisor desktop. They also discuss roadmap integrations and partners, including TaxStatus, FP Pathfinder, Financial's client portal distribution, and potential research data sources like Morningstar and Zacks.Episode Highlights:00:00 Welcome to FinTech Impact + Meet Mike Wilson (Hamachi)00:30 What Hamachi Does: An AI ‘Governing Intelligence Layer' for Advisors01:09 Origin Story: From Orion Alumni to Compliant Advisor AI02:52 From Email Add‑On to Guardrailed Chat: Early Product Evolution04:38 Real Advisor Workflows: Daily Dossier & Household Brief in Action08:58 Integration Roadmap: CRM, Portfolio Platforms, and Tax Data (TaxStatus)10:52 Where Hamachi Fits: Embedded AI, API Strategy, and Bot Marketplace14:25 What's Next: Pathfinder Workflows, Client Portals, and Research Feeds23:28 Why Governance Matters: PII Redaction, Audit Trails, SEC/FINRA Compliance27:21 Rapid‑Fire Wrap‑Up: Industry Wish, Biggest Challenge, and What Excites Mike33:01 Closing Remarks, Call to Action, and Sponsor MessageResources:Facebook – Jason Pereira's FacebookLinkedIn – Jason Pereira's LinkedInWoodgate.com – SponsorHamachi.aiLinkedIn - Mike Wilson's LinkedIn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you feel overwhelmed every time you open your laptop… this episode is for you. Today we're diving into digital clutter — the hidden stressor slowing down your productivity, content creation, client follow-up, and overall business growth. From too many browser tabs to unused subscriptions, scattered content ideas, messy CRMs, and incomplete workflows… digital overwhelm is costing you time, money, and momentum. As a travel agency owner building streamlined onboarding systems (and migrating platforms myself), I'm breaking down how to simplify your tools, clean up your systems, and scale smarter — without adding complexity. ✨ In This Episode, We Cover: What digital clutter actually is (and why it's killing your momentum)Signs your systems are overwhelming youHow tool overload creates decision fatigueWhy successful travel advisors use fewer, clearer systemsHow to audit your subscriptions and softwareSimplifying your content planning workflowOrganizing your content hub (Google Drive, Trello, ClickUp, Notion, etc.)Streamlining your CRM and client inquiry processTravel Joy vs. Tern (and why choosing one system matters)Building automated workflows for client follow-upCreating repeatable systems that support scalingWhy simplicity leads to more bookingsHow decluttering supports profitability and mental clarity

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Sarah Persich discuss: Investing time instead of just spending it Fixing systems before layering on automation Building a connected tech stack that talks to itself Using AI strategically while managing risk   Key Takeaways: High-performing firms focus on building systems that multiply their time rather than endlessly grinding through tasks. Automation, documented workflows, and thoughtful process design “buy back” hours every week. The goal is long-term leverage, not short-term busyness. Most lawyers do not have an automation problem first; they have a clarity problem around roles, processes, and workflows. Undefined responsibilities and undocumented systems cause time leaks long before software can solve anything. Strong foundations make automation effective instead of chaotic. A solid CRM, practice management system, and an integration layer like Zapier allow firms to eliminate repetitive manual work. Open APIs and thoughtful integrations turn scattered tools into a coordinated system. When payments, contracts, intake, and follow-ups connect seamlessly, administrative drag disappears. AI becomes powerful when prompts are specific, voice is clearly defined, and systems are documented with tools like Loom and structured SOPs. Custom prompts or GPT setups help maintain brand consistency and save substantial time on drafting and research. At the same time, firms must weigh confidentiality, compliance, and ethical considerations before deploying AI at scale.   "I still stayed in my comfort zone for a little while, and I finally allowed myself to accept being uncomfortable… the big mistake was not going out on my own sooner, and staying in that safety zone and accepting the uncomfortability. And it's been really, really great ever since." —  Sarah Persich   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/ Lawyer.com: https://www.lawyer.com/   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 Sarah Persich: Sarah Persich is a law firm automation strategist and operations expert known as “The Automation Lady.” With nearly a decade of experience inside a small law firm, she began her career as a legal assistant. She grew into the integrator role, serving as the operational second-in-command responsible for systems, technology, and process design. Her hands-on experience managing IT, workflows, and firm infrastructure gave her a front-row seat to the inefficiencies that quietly drain time and profitability from growing practices. Over time, she transitioned from internal operations leadership into marketing and automation strategy, helping firms move beyond reactive task management and toward intentional system design. Today, Sarah works with law firms to implement CRMs, streamline practice management systems, build automations, and document scalable processes. She helps attorneys distinguish between high-value strategic work and repetitive administrative tasks, enabling them to reclaim time, improve client experience, and build firms that operate with clarity instead of chaos.   Connect with Sarah Persich:  Website: https://www.automationlady.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahpersich/   Connect with Steve Fretzin: LinkedIn: Steve Fretzin Twitter: @stevefretzin Instagram: @fretzinsteve Facebook: Fretzin, Inc. Website: Fretzin.com Email: Steve@Fretzin.com Book: Legal Business Development Isn't Rocket Science and more! YouTube: Steve Fretzin Call Steve directly at 847-602-6911   Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Scaling a recruiting firm in year one isn't theory; Camp Jennings breaks down what it actually takes to build momentum fast. 1. Episode Hook Scaling a recruiting firm in year one sounds sexy. Camp Jennings reveals what it really takes behind the scenes. 2. Why This Episode Matters In this episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast, Benjamin Mena sits down with Camp Jennings to unpack the real playbook for scaling a recruiting firm in year one. This is raw, honest insight into recruiter training, business development, delivery pressure, and founder grit. If you want to win more clients, close more deals, and sharpen your recruiting strategies without hiding behind busywork or AI recruiting tools, this conversation will recalibrate how you build. 3. What You'll Learn The cold-calling approach Camp used on day one to land his first clientsWhy “just be normal” is a surprisingly powerful business development strategyThe exact moment they knew it was time to hire (and why most founders wait too long)The brutal delivery season that tested their team—and what it taught about closing candidatesHow launching an industry podcast unlocked executive-level conversationsThe hidden risk of overcomplicating recruiting strategies with systems and theoryWhy emotional intelligence and sales skills matter more than recruiter experience 4. About the Guest Camp Jennings is co-founder of Henry North, a search firm serving the material handling and industrial automation space. After years in sales leadership, he launched a recruiting firm from scratch and aggressively scaled it through niche credibility, relentless outreach, and disciplined execution. 5. Extended Value Tease Imagine looking at your desk differently. Less obsessing over CRMs. More conversations that convert. Hiring before you feel ready. Delivering at a level that makes clients say, “That felt different.” This episode isn't hype—it's a blueprint for scaling a recruiting firm while protecting your edge in a fast-changing talent acquisition landscape. 6. Listen Now CTA If you're serious about growing your desk or building a firm, hit play. This is year-one energy you can apply immediately. 7. Timestamp Highlights 00:03 – The $500 launch move that made their niche take notice 00:12 – Why recruiting wasn't even on their “entrepreneur bingo card” 00:22 – When they hired their first recruiter—and why it was terrifying 00:31 – The delivery grind: 7am–midnight during peak season 00:36 – The traits they look for: grit, EQ, and organization 00:40 – Why competitors shouldn't be your enemies 00:47 – How an industry podcast became a business development weapon 00:50 – Their personalized outreach strategy (and why automation fails) 00:58 – The founder question that keeps Camp up at night 8. Sponsors Section

Samay Kohli spent 12 years at GreyOrange, scaling it to over $100 million in revenue and a $3 billion valuation at its peak, making it one of the world's largest warehouse robotics companies. Two years ago, he started again with Budy, this time in the US senior care industry.In this industry, decisions are emotional, sales cycles can run for years, and multiple stakeholders are involved. While the market sits at the intersection of real estate, healthcare, and hospitality, most sales still depend on manual follow-ups and scattered tools.Budy builds digital workers for sales teams: AI teammates that handle follow-ups, scheduling, and lead management across CRMs, calendars, and inboxes. Instead of adding another layer of software, Budy went zero UI-UX and focused on enabling sales teams in an industry with 99% inbound leads to manage their cold leads better.Today, Samay joins Siddhartha (Partner at Neon Fund, and a proud investor in Budy) and shares his journey from building robots to building digital teammates for a very non-traditional industry.00:00 – Trailer01:00 – What Budy is building for senior care05:15 – Real Estate × Healthcare × Hospitality06:25 – Zero UI UX technology10:09 – AI teammates not assistants12:03 – How sales teams operated before Budy12:51 – A ninety nine percent inbound industry13:45 – The real cost of senior care homes15:35 – Can a CRM alone solve this17:55 – Direct benefits of a digital worker20:49 – Two founder archetypes22:06 – Can lights out operations become real24:49 – What Samay underestimated about the market25:58 – The largest players in the industry29:07 – Treat your customer's company like your own30:52 – Entrepreneurship as a profession35:36 – Unlearnings as a second time founder37:30 – What digital workers actually are39:47 – The original promise of SaaS42:04 – The next decade of digital workers45:25 – Digital workers that read best selling books47:26 – Will Claude build CRMs49:38 – Business etiquette across the world55:18 – How a second time founder chooses investors01:01:00 – Why every team member should track the P and L01:02:14 – How Samay's view on growth evolved-------------India's talent has built the world's tech—now it's time to lead it.This mission goes beyond startups. It's about shifting the center of gravity in global tech to include the brilliance rising from India.What is Neon Fund?We invest in seed and early-stage founders from India and the diaspora building world-class Enterprise AI companies. We bring capital, conviction, and a community that's done it before.Subscribe for real founder stories, investor perspectives, economist breakdowns, and a behind-the-scenes look at how we're doing it all at Neon.-------------Check us out on:Website: https://neon.fund/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneonshoww/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beneon/Twitter: https://x.com/TheNeonShowwConnect with Siddhartha on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharthaahluwalia/Twitter: https://x.com/siddharthaa7-------------This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice.Send a text

In a world flooded with automation and digital noise, business success comes down to something simple: human connection. That's the core belief of Jon Ferrara, founder of GoldMine and Nimble. In this exclusive interview, Jon shares how building multi-million-dollar companies without VC funding—and surviving a life-changing health scare—reshaped his view of CRM. It's not about tracking sales; it's about nurturing relationships. He explains why traditional CRMs fail modern entrepreneurs, what to look for in your first tech stack, and why you must move from managing customers to managing your entire constituency. If you're a founder, coach, or entrepreneur struggling to stand out, this conversation will reframe how you think about growth—and why CRM matters now more than ever.Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here's How »Join Your First Thousand Clients Community today:mitchrusso.comMitch Russo LinkedIn

Most restoration companies are sitting on thousands of past customers and doing absolutely nothing with them.In this episode, Clinton sits down with Alex Nghiem, Chief Revenue Officer at Epic180, to break down a simple but powerful idea:Your CRM is either a gold mine or a graveyard.If you've been in business for 5+ years, you already have a built-in revenue source. Past water losses. Mold jobs. Fire cleanups. Carpet cleaning. Duct cleaning. Crawlspace work. These customers already trust you.So why aren't you marketing to them?Alex explains:Why most restoration CRMs are full of untapped revenueHow to turn non-emergency services into consistent cash flowThe real cost of responding 10 minutes too late to a new leadThe difference between speed-to-lead and speed-to-conversationHow AI can handle follow-up without adding staffHow some companies are generating 5–6 figures from their existing databaseIf you're tired of feast-or-famine revenue…If you want more predictable cash flow…If you'd rather monetize relationships you've already built instead of constantly chasing new leads…This episode will change how you look at your customer database forever.Listen in and learn how to turn your existing contacts into your own internal revenue engine.-----Want to see how Epic180 can help your restoration company grow?Get a free gift here:https://epic180.com/giftLooking to generate more high-quality leads that turn into onsite visits and jobs?Book a discovery call with the Water Restoration Marketing team:https://waterrestorationmarketing.com/discovery-call/

Starting a new role as a nonprofit's fundraiser can feel like stepping onto the field mid-game—high expectations, limited time, and a lot of “what happened before I got here?” On this Fundraisers Friday, cohosts Julia C. Patrick and Tony Beall offer a practical, confidence-building roadmap for what a new development officer should focus on in the first 30 days—with the business realities of nonprofit revenue, relationships, and systems front and center.Julia sets the tone with honesty and heart, and Tony brings the steady reassurance every new fundraiser needs: “It's all about listening, learning, and building trust in your first 30 days.” From there, they lay out the early priorities that protect both results and stamina. First: get anchored in the mission. Tony makes the point that mission alignment isn't sentimental—it's operational. If you don't truly connect with the purpose, the work becomes an uphill climb.Next, they move into relationship strategy: creating a thoughtful internal and external “relationship tour” so you can meet leadership, board members, and key stakeholders the right way. The emphasis isn't speed—it's sequence, context, and smart preparation so those early conversations build momentum instead of misunderstanding.Then comes the systems side: CRMs, reporting, access issues, and the real-world obstacles that appear when prior staff have departed. Tony offers a realistic view of getting up to speed quickly, and Julia adds the on-the-ground reminder that you'll be meeting people immediately—so you'll need to document interactions in the CRM from day one.Finally, they elevate culture as a performance driver. Julia notes how pressure often lands on the development officer as “the savior,” and Tony reframes it: fundraising works best as a team effort, not a solo canoe trip. As Julia puts it, “It's the nucleus of the whole organization.” If you're new in the seat, this episode gives you both direction and permission: respect the past, build trust first, and then earn the right to recommend change. 00:00:00 Welcome to Fundraisers Friday 00:01:00 First 30 days focus for a new development officer 00:02:40 Mission alignment why it matters on day one 00:06:40 Relationship tour CEO board and key stakeholders 00:11:50 Systems and CRM access reporting and ramp up 00:15:40 Visibility scan marketing segmentation and social presence 00:18:00 Respect history build trust then recommend change 00:19:40 Fundraising pressure and why it must be a team sport 00:21:20 Culture shifts and board leadership impact 00:24:00 How to learn culture by asking better questions 00:26:10 Tony offers a 30 60 90 plan for development roles 00:28:10 How to request the PDF and episode close Find us Live daily on YouTube!Find us Live daily on LinkedIn!Find us Live daily on X: @Nonprofit_ShowOur national co-hosts and amazing guests discuss management, money and missions of nonprofits! 12:30pm ET 11:30am CT 10:30am MT 9:30am PTSend us your ideas for Show Guests or Topics: HelpDesk@AmericanNonprofitAcademy.comVisit us on the web:The Nonprofit Show

What happens when AI agents inherit access to enterprise systems but nobody governs their identities? Ido Shlomo, Co-Founder and CTO of Token Security, joins the conversation to unpack a rapidly growing challenge that many organizations face but few have addressed. As businesses accelerate AI adoption, agents are being deployed to fetch data from CRMs, process emails, and execute actions across platforms. The problem is that these agents often operate with persistent access, no clear ownership, and little visibility into what they can reach.How should security teams approach AI agent identity governance? Shlomo explains that the first step is discovery. Most companies do not know what their AI agent inventory looks like, and without that baseline, effective governance is impossible. The good news, he notes, is that agents do not suffer from politics. They do exactly what they are told and operate within the boundaries they are given. That predictability makes the challenge more manageable if the right tooling is in place.What makes an effective access policy for AI agents? Rather than relying on prompt filtering or output controls that add latency and friction, Shlomo advocates for intent-based permission models that scope each agent to access only what it needs, when it needs it. He frames the prioritization process as a matrix of access and autonomy, where the agents with the highest levels of both deserve immediate attention. For business leaders, the visibility that comes from this approach also reveals waste and inefficiency, highlighting departments and services that are not delivering on their intended value. To learn more about how to identify, govern, and secure AI agent identities, connect with the Token Security team and follow Ido Shlomo for practical guidance.This is a Brand Highlight. A Brand Highlight is a ~5 minute introductory conversation designed to put a spotlight on the guest and their company. Learn more: https://www.studioc60.com/creation#highlightGUESTIdo Shlomo, Co-Founder & CTO of Token SecurityOn LinkedIn: https://il.linkedin.com/in/ido--shlomoRESOURCESToken Security (Website): https://www.token.security/Are you interested in telling your story?▶︎ Full Length Brand Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#full▶︎ Brand Spotlight Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#spotlight▶︎ Brand Highlight Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#highlightKEYWORDSIdo Shlomo, Token Security, Sean Martin, brand story, brand marketing, marketing podcast, brand highlight, AI agent identity, non-human identity, identity governance, AI agent security, identity risk, least privilege, AI agent access, machine identity, NHI security, AI agent inventory, intent-based access Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What happens when AI agents inherit access to enterprise systems but nobody governs their identities? Ido Shlomo, Co-Founder and CTO of Token Security, joins the conversation to unpack a rapidly growing challenge that many organizations face but few have addressed. As businesses accelerate AI adoption, agents are being deployed to fetch data from CRMs, process emails, and execute actions across platforms. The problem is that these agents often operate with persistent access, no clear ownership, and little visibility into what they can reach.How should security teams approach AI agent identity governance? Shlomo explains that the first step is discovery. Most companies do not know what their AI agent inventory looks like, and without that baseline, effective governance is impossible. The good news, he notes, is that agents do not suffer from politics. They do exactly what they are told and operate within the boundaries they are given. That predictability makes the challenge more manageable if the right tooling is in place.What makes an effective access policy for AI agents? Rather than relying on prompt filtering or output controls that add latency and friction, Shlomo advocates for intent-based permission models that scope each agent to access only what it needs, when it needs it. He frames the prioritization process as a matrix of access and autonomy, where the agents with the highest levels of both deserve immediate attention. For business leaders, the visibility that comes from this approach also reveals waste and inefficiency, highlighting departments and services that are not delivering on their intended value. To learn more about how to identify, govern, and secure AI agent identities, connect with the Token Security team and follow Ido Shlomo for practical guidance.This is a Brand Highlight. A Brand Highlight is a ~5 minute introductory conversation designed to put a spotlight on the guest and their company. Learn more: https://www.studioc60.com/creation#highlightGUESTIdo Shlomo, Co-Founder & CTO of Token SecurityOn LinkedIn: https://il.linkedin.com/in/ido--shlomoRESOURCESToken Security (Website): https://www.token.security/Are you interested in telling your story?▶︎ Full Length Brand Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#full▶︎ Brand Spotlight Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#spotlight▶︎ Brand Highlight Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#highlightKEYWORDSIdo Shlomo, Token Security, Sean Martin, brand story, brand marketing, marketing podcast, brand highlight, AI agent identity, non-human identity, identity governance, AI agent security, identity risk, least privilege, AI agent access, machine identity, NHI security, AI agent inventory, intent-based access Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Send a textSome sales advice hits like a fresh breeze on a hot lot. Meet Jerri Hayes—82 years young, razor-sharp, and the kind of pro who sells with heart, product knowledge, and a closer's calm. We're at Iguana Sheds in Florida with Peter Miller, unpacking how a relationship-first approach outperforms scripts, how rent-to-own opens doors for everyday buyers, and why knowing trusses, floor systems, and wind ratings turns skepticism into trust.Jerri walks us through her simple, strong process: greet with warmth, ask what they'll store, show more than they requested, and teach without jargon. We dig into the details that matter in Florida—southern yellow pine framing, 3/4-inch tongue-and-groove floors, hurricane strapping, and permitting that keeps getting tougher. Delivery is its own craft, so site checks, fence policies, and avoiding septic fields keep haulers happy and installs smooth. And when it's time to close, Jerri's line is clean and confident: “Cash, check, or card?” Then she lets silence work.We also explore the tension between CRMs and real human memory. Jerri's “original CRM” is names, stories, and consistent follow-up—“till they buy or die.” It's not bravado; it's service. For buyers who need a practical path to ownership, RTO offers flexibility and dignity, while sales teams who explain terms and limits clearly avoid headaches later. Add smart lot signage—RTO, financing, free delivery and setup—and keep inventory fresh and colors neutral to lower friction. Respect competitors, sell your strengths, and focus on fit.If you want actionable shed sales strategies, this conversation is packed: qualifying questions that reveal true needs, product specs that build credibility, clean delivery planning, and a fearless but friendly close. Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a review with your favorite Jerri-ism—what line will you use on your next lot walk?For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.Would you like to receive our weekly newsletter?  Sign up on our website.Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.This episodes Sponsors:Studio Sponsor: Shed ProThree Oaks Trading Co.Shed ChallengerLuxGuardMaking Sales Simple

We're thrilled to bring you another insightful episode recorded live from NADA, featuring Brian Pasch, automotive marketing expert and founder of Pasch Group! Brian recently released a report evaluating the current landscape for CRMs in the dealership world. It's titled: Dealership CRMs Must Evolve or Get Left Behind. He joined us at NADA to discuss the transformative trends shaping the automotive industry. In this episode, he and Greg cover essential topics like: • The evolution of CRM to customer engagement platforms. • How CDPs are revolutionizing dealership marketing strategies. • The significance of data hygiene and identity resolution in enhancing sales opportunities.

Organization is not just about what your clients see… it's also about how your business feels to you.In this episode, we dive deeper on our organization theme by looking at internal systems… the behind the scenes structure that keeps everything running smoothly.I'm joined by Stacey Rolfe of Tog Hub, who helps photographers build streamlined, sustainable systems inside their CRMs. Stacey shares why burnout isn't usually about talent or motivation; instead, it's about capacity. When your schedule, pricing, and workflows are built around someone else's life instead of your own, things start to crack.We talk aboutsetting boundaries around your real life first, then building your business around thatquarterly CEO planning so you are not drifting off coursecreating one single source of truth for inquiries, bookings, and client communicationusing templates and simple pricing structures to dramatically reduce mental loadIf your business feels reactive… like you are constantly paddling under the surface just to keep up… this conversation will help you see how a few intentional systems can create more calm, more confidence, and a lot more sustainability.LINKS:Grab the FREE DIY Trap Masterclass and learn what's really holding your business back.Streamline everything behind the scenesResources: New to the podcast? Go to thiscantbethathard.com/welcome to get access to 3 of Annemie's best free resources. Join our community! We'd love to welcome you into our supportive, business-focused private Facebook group. Go to facebook.com/groups/thiscantbethathard to request access. Long-time listener? Leave a review!

Imagine that you’re so angry about a business deal gone wrong that you grab a chisel, find a slab of stone, and spend hours carving your complaint. That’s exactly what a Mesopotamian merchant did in 1750 and made sales history.  The merchant was furious because he’d been promised high-grade copper, but the final product was subpar. That angry customer complaint is now sitting in the British Museum, 4,000 years later. The tablet reads: “What do you take me for? That you treat someone like me with such contempt?” If you think dealing with issues in the sales process is a modern problem, you’re off by about four millennia. Sales Hustle Is Ancient We talk about sales like it’s a modern corporate invention. CRMs and automated sequences are new, but the art of the deal and dealing with angry customers? That's been around since humans started trading. The copper merchant in 1750 BCE wasn’t just selling copper. He was managing client expectations, handling logistics, and clearly failing at quality control. The core practices of B2B sales—promise, delivery, and relationship management—haven’t changed. 1600s: Sales Becomes a Profession Fast forward to 1600, and you see the founding of the East India Trading Companies. They were some of the first corporations that allowed people to buy shares in a business. One of the East India Trading Companies was owned by “the 17 gentlemen”—a group of wealthy investors who funded global trade expeditions. They kept spices like nutmeg, pepper, and cinnamon flowing across continents. The spices were so valuable that they were practically currency. This was B2B sales at scale. Shareholders’ expected returns. Merchants negotiated deals across continents. The stakes were massive, and so were the profits. This era established something critical to modern sellers: the separation between ownership and operation. The 17 gentlemen didn’t sail the ships or negotiate every spice deal. They hired people to do it. Sales stopped being a personal trade and became a repeatable profession with accountability structures built in. 1851: Visibility and Competition Arrive The Great Exhibition in London in 1851 was the world’s first massive B2B trade show in sales history. Thousands of exhibitors. Hundreds of thousands of attendees. A giant glass building called the Crystal Palace. Nearly 200 years later, sales pros still pack convention centers, set up booths, and fight to stand out in a sea of competitors. This is where B2B sales became visible. You weren’t just competing against one or two local merchants anymore. You were standing next to dozens of alternatives, all promising similar value. Differentiation became mandatory. Following up meant writing a letter and waiting weeks for a response. Today, if you’re not following up within 24 hours, you’re losing to competitors who are. 1957: Reach and Leverage Scale Up The first inside sales team was formed at a company called Dial America in 1957. Before that, if you wanted to sell, you hit the road. Door-to-door, city-to-city, face-to-face. Every single deal required physical presence. The telephone changed everything. Suddenly, salespeople could work virtually, reach more prospects, and close deals without leaving the office. One seller could now have 20 conversations in a day instead of three. The math of sales productivity fundamentally shifted. Fast forward to today, and inside sales is the dominant model. The tools have evolved—Zoom calls, screen shares, digital demos—but the core principle remains: you don’t need to be in the same room to build trust and close deals. From Stone Tablets to Instant Messages: Why Speed Matters Now Think about the effort that the merchant put into carving his complaint into stone. He didn’t fire off a quick email. He didn’t leave a one-star Google review. He created a permanent record that would outlive both him and the seller by thousands of years. Today, complaints are easy. Maybe too easy. A customer can blast you on LinkedIn, tank your review scores, or CC your entire executive team on an email thread—all before lunch.  Every major shift in B2B sales increased speed. Trade shows multiplied visibility. Telephones let sellers reach 20 prospects a day instead of three. Email collapsed follow-up from weeks to hours. Social media made reputation instant and permanent. In 1750 BCE, you had time to respond. Now, you have hours—maybe minutes. Each acceleration rewarded the sellers who could execute fast without sacrificing quality. The ones who couldn’t keep up disappeared. Why This Timeline Matters More Than You Think We're in another massive shift in sales history. AI, automation, predictive analytics—the pace is relentless. It's easy to think everything has changed. Zoom out 4,000 years, and the pattern emerges: speed accelerates, but the core practices stay the same. So the next time you get a harsh email from a customer, remember that stone tablet. You don't have to worry about your failure being displayed in a museum 4,000 years from now. But you do have to worry about your reputation spreading across the internet in hours. The tools change, the pace accelerates, but the rule is simple: earn trust, deliver value, and handle problems before they handle you. You just saw how history teaches that speed and execution have always mattered — and now AI is the biggest shift we've seen yet. If you want to turn the disruption into an advantage, download The FREE AI Edge Book Club Guide. 

Imagine that you're so angry about a business deal gone wrong that you grab a chisel, find a slab of stone, and spend hours carving your complaint. That's exactly what a Mesopotamian merchant did in 1750 and made sales history.  The merchant was furious because he'd been promised high-grade copper, but the final product was subpar. That angry customer complaint is now sitting in the British Museum, 4,000 years later. The tablet reads: "What do you take me for? That you treat someone like me with such contempt?" If you think dealing with issues in the sales process is a modern problem, you're off by about four millennia. Sales Hustle Is Ancient We talk about sales like it's a modern corporate invention. CRMs and automated sequences are new, but the art of the deal and dealing with angry customers? That's been around since humans started trading. The copper merchant in 1750 BCE wasn't just selling copper. He was managing client expectations, handling logistics, and clearly failing at quality control. The core practices of B2B sales—promise, delivery, and relationship management—haven't changed. 1600s: Sales Becomes a Profession Fast forward to 1600, and you see the founding of the East India Trading Companies. They were some of the first corporations that allowed people to buy shares in a business. One of the East India Trading Companies was owned by "the 17 gentlemen"—a group of wealthy investors who funded global trade expeditions. They kept spices like nutmeg, pepper, and cinnamon flowing across continents. The spices were so valuable that they were practically currency. This was B2B sales at scale. Shareholders' expected returns. Merchants negotiated deals across continents. The stakes were massive, and so were the profits. This era established something critical to modern sellers: the separation between ownership and operation. The 17 gentlemen didn't sail the ships or negotiate every spice deal. They hired people to do it. Sales stopped being a personal trade and became a repeatable profession with accountability structures built in. 1851: Visibility and Competition Arrive The Great Exhibition in London in 1851 was the world's first massive B2B trade show in sales history. Thousands of exhibitors. Hundreds of thousands of attendees. A giant glass building called the Crystal Palace. Nearly 200 years later, sales pros still pack convention centers, set up booths, and fight to stand out in a sea of competitors. This is where B2B sales became visible. You weren't just competing against one or two local merchants anymore. You were standing next to dozens of alternatives, all promising similar value. Differentiation became mandatory. Following up meant writing a letter and waiting weeks for a response. Today, if you're not following up within 24 hours, you're losing to competitors who are. 1957: Reach and Leverage Scale Up The first inside sales team was formed at a company called Dial America in 1957. Before that, if you wanted to sell, you hit the road. Door-to-door, city-to-city, face-to-face. Every single deal required physical presence. The telephone changed everything. Suddenly, salespeople could work virtually, reach more prospects, and close deals without leaving the office. One seller could now have 20 conversations in a day instead of three. The math of sales productivity fundamentally shifted. Fast forward to today, and inside sales is the dominant model. The tools have evolved—Zoom calls, screen shares, digital demos—but the core principle remains: you don't need to be in the same room to build trust and close deals. From Stone Tablets to Instant Messages: Why Speed Matters Now Think about the effort that the merchant put into carving his complaint into stone. He didn't fire off a quick email. He didn't leave a one-star Google review. He created a permanent record that would outlive both him and the seller by thousands of years. Today, complaints are easy. Maybe too easy. A customer can blast you on LinkedIn, tank your review scores, or CC your entire executive team on an email thread—all before lunch.  Every major shift in B2B sales increased speed. Trade shows multiplied visibility. Telephones let sellers reach 20 prospects a day instead of three. Email collapsed follow-up from weeks to hours. Social media made reputation instant and permanent. In 1750 BCE, you had time to respond. Now, you have hours—maybe minutes. Each acceleration rewarded the sellers who could execute fast without sacrificing quality. The ones who couldn't keep up disappeared. Why This Timeline Matters More Than You Think We're in another massive shift in sales history. AI, automation, predictive analytics—the pace is relentless. It's easy to think everything has changed. Zoom out 4,000 years, and the pattern emerges: speed accelerates, but the core practices stay the same. So the next time you get a harsh email from a customer, remember that stone tablet. You don't have to worry about your failure being displayed in a museum 4,000 years from now. But you do have to worry about your reputation spreading across the internet in hours. The tools change, the pace accelerates, but the rule is simple: earn trust, deliver value, and handle problems before they handle you. You just saw how history teaches that speed and execution have always mattered — and now AI is the biggest shift we've seen yet. If you want to turn the disruption into an advantage, download The FREE AI Edge Book Club Guide.

In a podcast recorded at ITEXPO / MSP EXPO, Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, spoke with Mike Wehrs, CTO of TieTechnology, about the upcoming launch of Genie 1.1 and the company's broader mission to reposition voice as a fully integrated component of modern IT infrastructure. TieTechnology focuses on making voice a “first-tier partner” within business systems rather than a disconnected afterthought. Genie, the company's SMB product family, provides a backend softphone capability for PCs along with applications that connect voice into tools such as Slack, CRMs, and EMRs. With Genie 1.1, the company is deepening its ability to capture, transcribe, summarize, and structure voice interactions so that the most valuable customer data—what was actually said—flows directly into business systems. “AI is not magic,” Wehrs noted. “If you don't have good data going into the system, you're not going to get the results out of it that you want.” He emphasized that many organizations layer AI on top of incomplete infrastructure, resulting in underperformance. Genie addresses that gap by cleaning audio streams, identifying speakers, summarizing conversations, and delivering structured data—often in JSON format—into CRM environments. The result, according to Wehrs, can represent as much as a 40 percent increase in high-quality CRM data, driving better customer support, marketing automation, and operational insight. For MSPs, the opportunity is twofold. First, Genie simplifies voice integration through straightforward APIs, eliminating the need to understand complex SIP stacks or telecom architecture. Second, it opens new revenue potential by allowing MSPs to modernize dated phone systems and embed voice-driven intelligence directly into client workflows. As Wehrs framed it, voice should become as native to the PC environment as networking did in the Windows 95 era—fully integrated, flexible, and foundational to digital operations. Visit https://tietechnology.com/

Welcome our guest, Rick Elmore, Founder of SimplyNoted.com | In this episode, Rick Elmore discusses the enduring power of handwritten notes in a digital world saturated with automated messages. He explains how his company, Simply Noted, leverages technology to automate the process of sending genuine, personalized handwritten notes, helping businesses cut through the noise and build meaningful connections with their customers.Rick emphasizes that while technology has evolved, the personal touch of a handwritten note remains a powerful tool for customer retention, marketing, and building lasting relationships. He shares insights on how to integrate this strategy into existing marketing workflows and leverage it to increase customer lifetime value and generate referrals.Start your 3-Day Fast Delivery with SimplyNoted.com here >>Rick Elmore's Top Key PointsThe Lost Art of Personal Connection: In an era of digital overload, a handwritten note stands out and makes a lasting impression.High Open Rates: Handwritten mail has a 99% open rate, significantly higher than any other form of direct mail or email marketing.Automation and Scalability: Simply Noted uses robotic technology to produce real pen-written notes that are scalable and can be integrated with CRMs and other marketing automation platforms.Hyper-Personalization with AI: By leveraging AI, the messages in the handwritten notes can be hyper-personalized based on customer data, making them even more impactful.Trackable and Actionable: With features like QR code tracking and delivery notifications, the impact of handwritten notes can be measured, and follow-up actions can be triggered for a multi-touch marketing approach.Podcast Episode Timestamps[02:48] Introduction to Simply Noted and the concept of automated handwritten mail.[07:07] The marketing power of handwritten notes and their high open rates.[10:31] The importance of systems and timing in a handwritten note strategy.[16:19] How to integrate handwritten notes into your marketing stack, including platforms like GoHighLevel.[22:00] How to get in touch with Rick Elmore and get a free sample kit from Simply Noted.Podcast Episode FAQsQ: What is Simply Noted?A: Simply Noted is a service that uses custom-built robots to write personalized, handwritten notes on behalf of businesses. This allows companies to send authentic-feeling mail at scale, fostering a personal connection with customers.Q: How does this integrate with my current marketing?A: Simply Noted can be integrated with most CRMs and marketing automation platforms. You can trigger the sending of a handwritten note based on specific customer actions, such as a purchase, an anniversary, or a birthday.Q: What are the benefits of sending handwritten notes?A: The primary benefits are increased customer engagement and loyalty. Handwritten notes have a near-perfect open rate and help your brand stand out. They are a powerful tool for building relationships, which can lead to higher customer lifetime value and more referrals.Next Steps with Rick ElmoreReady to add the personal touch of handwritten notes to your marketing strategy? Visit simplynoted.com to learn more and request a free sample kit. You can also connect with Rick Elmore directly via email at rick.elmore@simplynoted.com or on LinkedIn.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Joe Killinger is a real estate entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience across nearly every corner of the industry. Throughout his career, he has worn many hats—Agent, Investor, Syndicator, Founder, and Operator—often simultaneously. Joe has been personally responsible for the sale and/or marketing of more than 6,500 real estate assets, contributing to over $950 million in closed transactions across the United States. Beyond transactions, Joe invests his time and capital into multiple real estate brands, helping them stay at the forefront through the strategic use of content, community, and business innovation. As an entrepreneur, investor, and real estate content creator, Joe shares real-world insights from his own experience and interviews with top brokers, investors, developers, marketing professionals, and economic experts. His content focuses on brokerage, investing, and entrepreneurship. Connect with Joe on Instagram @joekillinger or on YouTube at Joe Killinger. During the show we discuss: What inspired Joe to create joekillinger.co as a hub for real estate professionals Lessons from over 30 years in real estate that shaped how he operates today How he scaled multiple real estate companies to significant revenue quickly The traits and strategies that separate top-performing agents and investors from the rest Why content, community, and personal branding are critical in modern real estate businesses How to leverage systems like CRMs and focus on relationships for sustainable growth Common mistakes agents make in growing their business—and how to avoid them Insights on balancing roles as an operator, investor, and content creator while staying ahead of industry trends Resources: https://www.joekillinger.co/

Send us a textWhile most modern CRMs offer basic marketing automation, those native modules are typically optimized for simple campaign execution and lead nurturing and often lack the depth, specialization, and innovation velocity of dedicated platforms. This list therefore prioritizes best-of-breed systems that function as a true operational hub for marketing teams and demonstrate meaningful ecosystem penetration across data platforms, content systems, ad-tech tools, and analytics layers. Because integration complexity in this category is generally lower than in core transactional systems, a best-of-breed strategy is structurally viable, ensuring the platforms included are tightly aligned with the real-world needs of modern marketing organizations rather than serving as secondary feature sets within sales- or service-centric suites.In this episode, our host Sam Gupta discusses the top marketing automation systems in 2026. He also discusses several variables that influence the rankings of these marketing automation systems. Finally, he shares the pros and cons of each marketing automation system.Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88hYJ_rw3v4Read: https://www.elevatiq.com/post/top-marketing-automation-systems/Questions for Panelists?

In this episode, Pat Damer, SVP of Revenue at Arcis Golf (70 properties, $1B portfolio), shares with Ed Heil how his company transformed from managing 3 clubs to 70 by prioritizing revenue operations, smart technology adoption, and member-first service. From sticky note CRMs to enterprise automation, Pat walks through the practical evolution of club operations and why revenue growth creates better member experiences. This conversation cuts through the usual tech-versus-tradition debate with clear examples of how automation enhances, not replaces, exceptional service. If you're managing one club or scaling multiple properties, Pat's perspective on starting small, getting quick wins, and choosing the right tools will give you a practical path forward. Episode Highlights: 01:23 – The rocket ship years: Growing from 3 clubs to 70 properties 04:18 – Investment philosophy: Why deferred maintenance and member experience both matter 06:19 – The "declare your major" conversation that shaped Pat's revenue-first approach 08:39 – Why revenue fixes more problems than cost-cutting 09:18 – Operational software vs. experience software: Understanding the distinction 14:42 – The HubSpot pivot: Moving from Salesforce to an integrated CRM platform 22:30 – Lead generation reality check: Why most clubs don't need traditional pipeline management 26:04 – Member journey automation: Pre-arrival, birthdays, and personalized communication 31:40 – The integration challenge: Why siloed systems create operational friction 37:46 – Technology and exceptional service aren't mutually exclusive 40:34 – First steps for club leaders: Start small, get quick wins, build buy-in

Welcome to The SaaS CFO Podcast! In this episode, host Ben Murray sits down with Vadim Rogovskiy, CEO and co-founder of Eve, an AI-powered sales enablement tool designed specifically for founders and small business owners. Vadim Rogovskiy shares his unique journey as a serial entrepreneur—from selling and exiting previous startups to launching Eve after discovering the challenges small businesses face managing leads without traditional CRMs. Together, Ben Murray and Vadim Rogovskiy dive into Eve's early days, its customer-first approach, the founding story, and how AI is transforming sales for SMBs. You'll hear insights on fundraising in today's fast-moving AI market, lessons learned across multiple ventures, and how grassroots, founder-led marketing is key in cutting through industry noise. Whether you're scaling your SaaS startup or curious about AI's impact on modern sales and revenue models, this episode is packed with real-world advice and thoughtful analysis on building and growing a successful tech company. Let's jump into the conversation! Show Notes: 00:00 "Building EVE from Event Insights" 03:09 "Startup CRM Challenges and Demand" 08:59 "Sustainable Growth Over Hype" 10:46 "Prioritize IRL and Founder-Led Growth" 14:27 "Founder Discusses Early Fundraising Journey" 18:10 "Qualitative KPIs and User Growth" 20:53 "Achieving Product Market Fit" Links: SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/eve-raises-2-million-in-pre-seed-round Vadim Rogovskiy's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vadim-rogovskiy/ Eve AI's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/joineveai/ Eve AI's Website: https://joineve.ai/ To learn more about Ben check out the links below: Subscribe to Ben's daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben's SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/ Join Ben's SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

Jeff and Christina are out of pocket this week, so Erin Dawson heroically steps in to keep the show afloat during trying times. Life, religion, dating, blogging… an everything bagel of a show. Sponsor Copilot Money can help you take control of your finances. Get a fresh start with your money for 2026 with 2 months free when you visit try.copilot.money/overtired. Chapters 00:00 Erin 00:04 Introduction and Guest Introduction 00:44 Siri Mishap and Water Troubles 05:20 Mental Health and Daily Struggles 11:00 Physical Health and Exercise Challenges 18:45 Productivity Tools and Sponsor Message 21:57 Sponsor Break: Copilot Money 23:59 On Aging 24:53 Vision and Aging 26:55 Intelligent Design and Evolution Debate 28:58 Blogging and Social Media Verification 29:13 The Cost of Verification 30:18 Embracing the Content Game 33:12 Exploring Blogging Platforms 48:10 The Decline of Blogging 50:54 Navigating Employment and Content Creation 55:54 The Art of Dating and Bits 58:30 Wrapping Up and Final Thoughts Show Links Gestimer In Your Face Ghost Join the Conversation Merch Come chat on Discord! Twitter/ovrtrd Instagram/ovrtrd Youtube Get the Newsletter Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at overtiredpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Find Brett as @ttscoff, Christina as @film_girl, Jeff as @jsguntzel, and follow Overtired at @ovrtrd on Twitter. Transcript Erin [00:00:00] Introduction and Guest Introduction Brett: Hey, welcome to Overtired. It’s me, Brett Terpstra. Um, Christina and Jeff are both out this week, but I have Erin Dawson here to fill the void. Hi, Erin. How you doing? Erin: Hi Brett. I’m well. How are you? Brett: I’m, I’m, I’m okay. So before, like, for people that haven’t tuned in with an episode with you before, give your, give yourself a brief introduction. Erin: Hey folks, my name is Erin. I, uh, make art under the name Genital Shame. I’m based in Los Angeles, California, and I used to work with Brett Terpstra. Siri Mishap and Water Troubles Erin: I’m doing, I’m doing, uh, you know, that broadcast voice, but I’ve started to. When I’m using CarPlay, I’ve started to speak to Siri in my own Siri kind of as a bit, but I really enjoy doing it.[00:01:00] Hey Siri, play REM. Oh shit. It just, I shouldn’t have done that. I’m so sorry. That activated mine. Um, oh no. And now my home pods are doing it. Can you hear that? Brett: I can Erin: I literally have to turn that off now. I really apologize. Ready? Brett: we’ll wait. Erin: Anyways, that’s, this is a shit show. Okay. I’m turning it off. Uh, that’s who I am. I’m someone who activates, um, the, the dingus. Brett: activates digital assistance. That’s amazing. Um, so update on me. I got water back after four and a half days with no running water. Um, but now I’m showering and washing dishes like a pro. Erin: Oh my God, I’m so that, that truly sounds horrific. Brett: It was, you don’t realize exactly how much of your life [00:02:00] revolves around just running water. Um, it’s true of like anything, when your power goes out, when your internet goes out, when your water goes out. We’ve had all of those things happen frequently over the last year. Um, and you, you realize exactly like how handicapped you are without these kind of. The modern conveniences we take for granted? Erin: Did your pipes break? Brett: No, uh, they did freeze. Uh, the solution to the water problem was heat lamps on the well pump. On the on the pipe, the underground pipe that goes from the well pump into the house is about a foot underground, and that’s where the freeze happened. So we had heat lamps on the ground for two days while we were waiting for a plumber to show up. We just decided to try heating things up and after two days it finally creaked [00:03:00] into life, and then we ran a bunch of water and got it all cleared out. And then you Erin: have a TLC show. Now you’re Brett: you know, Erin: solving Pioneer Living. Uh, Brett: You know what happened because of that, to flush the toilet while that was happening, we were melting snow on the stove and on the fireplace and dumping it into the toilet. But when I first started, I didn’t know you could just dump like a gallon and a half of water into the bowl and it would flush. So I was filling the tank up, which takes about twice as much water. And because I was doing that, I was putting a bunch of silt from the snow. Into the tank. So the little, the rim holes around the inside of the rim of the toilet where the water swirls in those filled up with silt. So once we got running water again, the toilet wouldn’t flush all the way. And I had to go in with a coat hanger and try to clean out all of those holes in the toilet. And I got it [00:04:00] clean and it flushed all the way twice and now it’s. Stuck again because I’m just pushing shit in with the coat hanger. And the silt Erin: by shit you mean you mean silt. Brett: silt? Yes. The, the, the silt is still there and as the water runs it just fills the holes again. And I don’t yet know how to fix that, so that’s gonna be a thing. That’s what I’m doing after this. ’cause, uh, the toilet. It sounds like it flushes all the way, but then you leave and the next person comes in and says, oh my God, why didn’t you flush? Because you know there’s floaters in the toilet. Erin: I. Just watched a Todd Salons movie and, and there is a scene in which, um, a character is, is being sort of abused by her family and the abusive family says, we’re laughing with you, not at you. And she [00:05:00] says, but I’m not laughing. You know, and I apologize. I don’t mean to laugh, but that, that sounds truly horrific. Brett: Yeah, that, Erin: I mean, the shower alone, I, I don’t know about you. I use showers to process, Brett: sure. Erin: you know, showers and walks. That’s where I do it most. Mental Health and Daily Struggles Erin: And like I, yeah, I need it to, this is a very 2019 way to frame mental health, which we can pivot to. Um, but I use it to regulate. Do you remember when we used to say, I feel unregulated? We don’t say that anymore. Brett: I do remember. That was a while ago. Erin: Yeah, it’s 2019 to me, but it maybe had a shelf life beyond that. I don’t know. Brett: Yeah. Erin: but yeah, I use showers to regulate. So even if you’re kind of like me, I, my heart goes out to you that that is really not just inconvenient, but like bad for your mental health. Brett: Your quote reminded me [00:06:00] of an and or quote that’s been going around where it, it’s so, uh, I can’t remember who, but someone says, uh, if you’re doing nothing wrong, what do you have to fear? And the response is, I fear your definition of wrong. Erin: Mm. Brett: I’m like, yeah, nope, that, uh, that’s very apropos to the current situation in Minnesota. Um, but yeah, let’s do mental health. Tell me about your mental health. Erin: Yeah. Uh, I’ve seen better days have been the star of many plays. Do you remember that song, Brett? Brett: No, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Erin: All right, cool. Um, I don’t believe in resolutions because I, I went to college, but, but I do believe in the power of January as a moment of. [00:07:00] Intentional reflection and yeah, goal setting, which can be different than resolutions. And for this January, January, 2026, I put a lot of pressure on myself to sort of remake my physical life, which I hoped would have knock on effects for my mental life. So what’s that mean for me? Every year for the last three or four years, I have done dry January dj, and in the past, the keto diet has worked well for me. So I thought in January that I would, with, with these powers combined, I would become, you know, a superhuman. I’m like 20, 26. I’m getting really, I’m gonna get really hot. And I’m going to [00:08:00] be very critical about the role that alcohol plays in my life. And what had happened was, without getting too much into it, I had a bad first week and it kind of snowballed, reverse snowballs. How does a snowball, what is it? I don’t know. It just got a lot of your, your, your toilet silt in it. Yeah. And, um, and I had no release valves for dopamine. Um, because on keto you’re not eating bread. You are not having sugar. I wasn’t having any alcohol. Um, also, and, and I’ll, I’ll shut up about this in a second. I have a foot injury. A right foot injury, something called turf toe, not TERF, but TURF. [00:09:00] Um, it’s basically what happens if you kind of stove your big toe. There’s a in the ball of your foot that’s like a repetitive stress injury. I’m not a p uh, podiatrist, but that’s, that’s my beat. Very basic understanding. And so what does all this mean? That mean this means that it was like a perfect storm of like. I can’t exercise and I exercise is really, plays a really huge role in my mental health. I am in two different basketball leagues, you know, uh, I take a lot of walks. I’m a runner. Couldn’t do any of that. And I couldn’t have Alfredo and I couldn’t have fornet. And so no wonder. And in hindsight with therapy, I’m like, yeah, no wonder I, I just didn’t have any release valves, um, for joy. So in the third week I’m like, fuck [00:10:00] it, I am gonna have fries and I’m going to have a tiki drink. And I don’t regret doing that, but I fear. That, and I think, I think you have this too, Brett, the like, puritan guilt, complex guilt for just like not organizing a particular corner of your fridge correctly, just like that level will give me, be like, oh man, I, I really do suck. Huh. Um, so that scales, you know, that feeling and that complex scales and so it’s easy for me to be like, man, I have no integrity. Huh? I really just. When I got tough, I just, uh, which is also an unhealthy way to think about things, but, um, but I’m, I’m kind of over it now. Uh, but uh, I was pretty disappointed in myself for a while there. I still kind of am. That’s how I’m doing. Brett: Wow, that sounds, that sounds pretty rough. [00:11:00] Physical Health and Exercise Challenges Brett: I, uh, I don’t, I, so I haven’t had a drink in as long as I can remember. Um, because I have a very short memory. It’s only been a matter of months, but, um, I do, I don’t miss drinking. I miss having that release. Um, and I, my only substitute has been CBD. Which is, you know, doesn’t do jack shit. Uh, it’s like a mental game for me. Um, have a, I I I’ve switched to drinking CBDT ’cause it’s way cheaper than like CBD carbonated beverages. Um, so for like 50 cents I can have a mug of five milligrams of CBD and pretend I feel okay. Um, that’s. It’s alright. Um, I do, so my release has been consuming [00:12:00] these outshine coconut bars, which. I find a perfect blend of fatty and salty and sweet and, um, they, as of like two weeks ago, outshine has discontinued them, which had an outsized effect on my mental health. Erin: Yeah. Brett: I bought the last three boxes that were at the grocery store, and those lasted a little bit, and then I was down to two bars and I decided, I, I I would ration them. And night after night, I just looked at those bars, but I wouldn’t, ’cause if I ate one of them, that would mean I only had one left. So it’s easier for me to have two left. So I had two sitting in the fridge, and then yesterday l went to a different grocery store and I said, just on the off chance would you check. And she came home with seven [00:13:00] boxes, six to a box. So yeah, I, I got, I hugged her. They were not expecting it. I like jumped up, just effusively, Erin: What do you, I have never had even this affinity for like my favorite meal. What do you like about these bars? Brett: Oh my God. They just like, I don’t know my, they like dopamine rush, pupil, dilate. Um, Erin: D filled? Brett: no, they’re just sugar. It’s sugar and coconut. Sugar and coconut. Dairy free. Gluten-free. Like it’s a, it’s a sugary snack and. Uh, so I’ve been like my, I don’t know what happened. Uh, it somewhat coincided with my last weight gain, but not exactly. But now I can’t stand up for more than about five minutes. [00:14:00] Um, just like if I empty the dishwasher, the, the act of bending over a few times, I have to sit down and I have to recover for 10 minutes. My back just freezes up and I’ve gone through physical therapy and I have, I like push myself every time it happens. I like, without injuring myself, I try to push it and try to strengthen and nothing helps, like nothing changes at all. That combined with my dizziness, which is still a thing, means the only exercise I’m getting is like half an hour a day on a recumbent bicycle, um, which gives me leg exercise and a little bit of cardio and not much else, and it doesn’t seem to strengthen my back at all, and it doesn’t seem to help me sleep and I keep doing it because I have that guilt thing. If I don’t do anything then. I’m a piece of shit. Um, but [00:15:00] man, I, yeah, the coconut bars are like the only, the only way out. Erin: The Brett: all I’ve got. I’m working, I’m working on finding something new because seven boxes will last a while, but not forever. It’s still a finite amount. Um, Erin: of spring, maybe you Brett: yeah, no way. I eat, I eat a couple a day. Erin: Oh, okay. Brett: a once a week treat for me. Um, so, so I, I’m trying to like ration and I’m trying to find an alternative that is more healthy, not less healthy. Um, we’ll see. I’ll keep you posted. Erin: The guilt thing. I’m gonna, I’m gonna be thinking about the, uh, digital device dingus thing later, there are people for whom, you know, but wait back to the, the treats and living a treat based [00:16:00] lifestyle, which I’m really trying not to do. I’m really trying not to Brett: reinforcement. Erin: I think I, this is the second time I’m, I’m bringing up therapy, but I think I, I brought up that I live a treat based lifestyle up to my therapist and she didn’t, doesn’t love that paradigm of thinking. Um, but it’s kind of all I know. And for me, you know, given this month the treat that I have had before breaking. And now I’m in this habit, and now I’ve, I’m in a trap. I have taken two using, having heavy whipping cream in my coffee each morning. Um, and it’s like adding ice cream to coffee. And so I make my coffee and I have my heavy weapon cream, and I get my little frother that [00:17:00] looks like a vibrator. A very small vibrator, and I do vibrate heavy whipping cream with my coffee in a deli container. And that, unfortunately, I, I’ve tried going back to black coffee, which is my norm. Can’t do it now. I, I really, I’m trapped and unfortunately that is the height, that is the best part of my day. Brett: Do, do Erin: coffee. Brett: I have a suggestion? Um, have you ever tried barista blend oat milk? Erin: I don’t do oat milk. I’ll just say it. Brett: Okay. Erin: Yeah. Brett: It’s all I do. I, I like for me, whatever milk I’m used to is the milk. That’s good. Um, and like I got used to soy milk and everything else tasted crappy. And I got used to almond milk and then I finally like switched to oat milk, got used to that. And [00:18:00] now every other milk tastes terrible. But once Erin: Yeah. Brett: I switched to oat milk, I no longer could like make a good, um, like latte. And I like, it didn’t, uh, it didn’t foam at all. But then I found Barista Blend from C Calisa Farms, and it’s like a full fat oat Erin: Oh Brett: for as much fat as you can get out of oats. And it, it, it fros. You can put it in a steamer and get a nice big frothy latte out of it. Um, but just a suggestion. I can’t do the heavy cream, or I probably would just by lactose intolerance and Erin: Yeah. Brett: lactose allergy. Productivity Tools and Sponsor Message Erin: We talked about, I’m gonna try to combine two topics right now. We talked about Gude and you also suggested before we started recording that I stop you at a half hour [00:19:00] for the A read. We’re not quite there, but as soon as you said that, I pulled down on my. Menu bar, a little app called Just Timer. Brett: I love that app. Erin: Do you Brett: yes. Erin: I, I have, I do have not upgraded to the sequel. Just Timer two, I think it’s Brett: I haven’t tried that. Erin: I think I, I think I tr I did a trial Brett: It’s just such a good idea. Erin: it’s great. And so. have about nine minutes before you’re requested, but I, I just wanted to, I guess, shout out Jess Heimer because it rules. Brett: Yeah. No, it’s such, it’s so for anyone who hasn’t used it, it’s just a way to like, it’s almost like pulling a cord. To set a timer, and it’s just this simple, like you reach up to your menu bar and you just pull down and you pull down the amount you want and you let go and you’ve got a [00:20:00] timer running and it’ll remind you in that amount of time Erin: The main use case I had for that when we worked for the Borg together on the Borg team, was using text expander to, you know, if we had a meeting at three o’clock, I would pull it down for 2 55 and type. MTNG, and that would create a, a string that just says meeting in five exclamation mark. Um, it’s just, it’s just a great time saver and, and keeps you honest and yeah, it’s a great app. Brett: I, uh, I’ve written a lot of command line utilities, so I can like, just on the command line, I can just type, remind me five minutes and then a string, whatever to do, and it runs in the background and it uses like terminal notifier, whatever’s handy at the time to like pop up a reminder. But I kind of gave that up. So now I use just timer. And have you seen in your face. Erin: I don’t know in your [00:21:00] face. Brett: In your face ties into your calendar. You tell it to go off, say five minutes or one minute, or on the time, and anytime an event happens, it blocks out your screen. Pops up a little dialogue telling you what you’re supposed to be doing at that minute and you have to like say, join call or dismiss. And, um, ’cause I, I miss notifications all the time. And when we were working for the board, I would just completely miss meetings because I’d get into coding. I wouldn’t notice the little. Things in the corner, I’d be focused on code and I’d look up two hours later and be like, oh God, I gotta text someone. Sorry I missed the meeting. So in your face stops me from working and like, takes over the screen. Erin: That Brett: So those are, that was our gratitude. I’m gonna do a, a quick sponsor read. Sponsor Break: Copilot Money Brett: This episode is brought to you by [00:22:00] copilot money. Copi copilot money is not just another finance app. It’s your personal finance partner designed to help you feel clear, calm, and in control of your money. Whether it’s tracking your spending, saving for specific goals, or simply getting a handle on your investments. Copilot money has you covered as we enter the New year. Clarity and control over our finances have never been more important with the recent shutdown of mint and rising financial stress for many. Consumers are looking for a modern, trustworthy tool to help navigate their financial journeys. 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Download copilot money on your devices or visit, try. Do copilot domo slash Overtired today to claim your two free months and embrace a more organized, stress-free approach to your finances. Try that’s, try copilot money slash Overtired. On Aging Brett: Ugh. [00:24:00] people are, people aren’t gonna know how many edits I put in that. had a rough time with that one. Erin: Reading’s hard. Brett: I’m, I’m, I’m working on my two big displays. I have two, like 27 inch high def displays, but I, I’m used, I’ve been working on my couch on my laptop for months now. Um. Like Mark II was written entirely on my couch, not, not at this fancy desk I have. Um, and on this desk everything is about three feet away from my face, and I don’t have the resolution set to deal with the fact that my eyes are slowly turning to shit, so I can barely read what’s on my screen anymore. I have to like squint and lean in, and. Vision and Aging Brett: It is so weird that I, I’m told this is just a normal thing that happens at my age, but when I try [00:25:00] to read small print on something, I can’t see it. But if I lift my glasses up and remove my glasses, everything within a foot of my face is clear as day, and that never used to be the case. But now I can see way better without my glasses than with my glasses at very close range. Which means when I wear contacts I really can’t see either. They gave me a, a special kind of contact that the eyes are interchangeable. I have different prescriptions in each eye, but it doesn’t matter which. So the contacts are kinda like universal. I don’t know how it works, but they’re supposed to give you pretty good distance and pretty good closeup while not being especially good at either. And they’re okay. Um, I can’t really, I have to squint to read street signs and I have to squint to read medication bottles and I just spend a lot more time in glasses. Now. Erin: This is one of those [00:26:00] moments where I cannot relate, but I am here Brett: Do you have 2020 vision? Erin: I believe I do. Brett: Wow. Must be nice. Erin: It is nice and I’m gonna own that. Yes, I’m privileged. Ocularly, get off my back about it. Brett: I, I wasn’t giving a shit. I’m, I’m happy for you. I had 2020 vision up until I was about Erin: 2020. Brett: 10. Erin: Oh Brett: I got glasses when I was 10. I. Erin: mm. I bet you Brett: I guess no, I did not have 2020 vision. ’cause I remember at the age of 10 when I got glasses and realized that from a distance, trees had leaves, um, I was like, oh my God, I’ve been missing out on Erin: God is real, bro. Intelligent Design and Evolution Debate Erin: You know, Christians usually, I don’t know about you, but sometimes I, I grew up [00:27:00] with this idea that like. Intelligence, intelligent design is a thing because take something as incredibly complex as the human eye. Tell me that there wasn’t a designer for that, but also like if you’re over 30, like take something as complex as like the human back. it’s not that they’re not that they’re saying that eyes don’t have quality issued degradation over time. It’s a different argument, but it’s just like also like not everything’s that intelligent. I mean, Brett: but the other part that I grew up with was that our, we aged and our eyes went bad, and our back went bad because of sin. It was all like a result of the original sin, and according to like Young Earth creationists, like every generations of humans that get farther away from Adam and Eve. Get [00:28:00] are, are in worse health. They’re, they’re genetically deteriorating, uh, Erin: they’re genetically sinful. Brett: Yeah. And it, it is. I don’t know. It took a long time to unlearn a lot of that stuff, but my dad brings Erin: evil. Brett: it’s called the watchmaker argument. Um, and my dad brings it up anytime we start talking about evolution, which I generally avoid these days, but he brings up the idea of the, the eye, the human eye. Erin: They love the human eye. Brett: I explain to him the, the process of like light sensing cells on amoebas. Erin: Our skin Brett: how, and how they developed into maybe a light sensing cell with a water sack, and then that developed into over time a retina. And like it’s not designed. Um, dad, it, Erin: Oh dad. Brett: yeah. Erin: Anyways. Blogging and Social Media Verification Erin: Can I talk to you about [00:29:00] blogging? Brett: Could you please? Erin: Well, here’s, let me set the table so I not to brag. Became Instagram verified recently. Why? Brett: Must be nice. The Cost of Verification Erin: Yeah, Brett: More privilege. Erin: the first, the eyes are now $13 a month. I don’t know, I don’t know how the bank’s, you know, letting me spend all this, but, um, I did it because, as I said at the top, when the REM may have been drowning me out, I don’t know. Um, I make music under the name Genital Shame and. Over time, as my account has grown on that particular platform, I have had other people alert. I’ve had followers alert me that there’s a new genital shame that just popped up in their feed asking for, Hey, my account was just hacked. [00:30:00] Like, can you help? You know? And I just thought that like for $13 a month, you know Brett: That’s how they get you. Erin: That’s fine. Yeah, get me. I’ve, they already, they already got me. Um, unfortunately, Brett: Zuckerberg that cloned your account. Erin: I got sucked. Embracing the Content Game Erin: So I, so now that I’m verified, I’m, I’m kind of leaning into playing the stupid content game, which is this, which is how, here’s how I think about it. I believe in my art. I believe in what general shame is and I want the maximum amount of people to experience it. The maximum amount of people are in the primary world, which is to say the digital world and the folks with who would resonate with general shame the most are on a platform called Instagram. So it makes sense [00:31:00] for me to play the game, which is like get the. Aforementioned eyeballs on my stuff. ’cause again, I believe in it. So I’ll do whatever it takes. Inc. Like we live in the world of Caesar. We own to Caesar. What a Caesar, in this case, Zuckerberg is Caesar, whatever. So one of my January projects, you know the, the Capital G. Capital M, good month that I was supposed to have was to block out some ugh content. To record some videos, right? Some reels of me playing Bach, of me playing, um, my favorite carcass riff or whatever. And so I found myself writing little essays about each of these things. You know, for the Bach one, there’s, I started writing about how, you know, I don’t believe in God anymore really, but [00:32:00] if I was to cite one thing that gets me. Close to it, it would be Bach like. I’m not predictable like it is. It resonates with me so fundamentally and so deeply that like that is the one thing. And I ended up writing way more than can probably fit within an Instagram comment. And then I got bit by the bug, which is like, do I, should I? Extend this to a platform that is more appropriate for long form writing. So then I’m like, okay, Erin, be realistic about starting projects that you don’t finish or won’t be consistent with. So for me, I’m defining that as one blog per month seems reasonable enough. I don’t know, but I really, I’m a writer. When we were part of the [00:33:00] Borg, you know, we were writers partially, and I found that writing alongside these stupid reels was really satisfying. Exploring Blogging Platforms Erin: So then I’m like, okay, what in 2026, what levers do I have to pull? For this type of platform. We got Ghost, we got Tumblr kind of making it a comeback. We’ve got Substack, which has shitty politics. Um, I could do something on my GitHub pages or something if I wanted to, but I. Don’t know. I don’t know how to make this decision. This is, I, I’m just bringing this up as a topic. I don’t have anything further than that. I think you may have mentioned a platform that you like, but I just thought it might be interesting to talk about. Probably Brett: No, there are, there are a lot of options. I personally. Have gone the way of static site [00:34:00] generators like GitHub pages would be, um, and will probably never go back to anything that’s based on a database or requires an online subscription. Um, I just pay a few bucks a month for a shared host and our sync, my blog to it, um, which is a super nerdy way to blog. Um, but ultimately you get. A, a folder full of markdown files that you can do anything you want with, and you can turn it into a book. You could turn it into a searchable database in obsidian. Um, you could load it up in NB ultra and have full text, rapid search, and all these things that you can’t really do with something like WordPress or Ghost. Um, WordPress is still the heavyweight. as much as it’s kind of a beast and I don’t enjoy using it, um, but ghost, [00:35:00] I just, so I’ll tell you why I bring this up in a second. But, um, ghost seems like maybe the best intermediate option. Um, I, I don’t like blogger. I don’t like Google. Um, I don’t have a lot of faith in Tumblr. be, uh, to have longevity. That’s the other thing about a static site is. I am in full control, and if I want to sunset it at any point, I just cancel the domain. But as long as I have a web server, I have a website, and I’m not dependent on any service that, you know, showed up and failed to make a profit and then terminated, as we’ve seen multiple platforms do, um, or, or turn into like a heavily paywall system that is geared like medium. Substack where [00:36:00] ultimately it’s supposed to be a moneymaking endeavor for the writers and like I use my blog as a marketing tool, but I don’t expect a lot of people to pay to read my blog. That said, I am pay walling some content these days, um, just to get people to pitch in a few bucks a month because. I never got into Patreon or anything, but I’m building this tool. This is a side note. Um, I showed you the icon for it the other day, but I didn’t show you the tool. Um, it’s called blog book. And right now it works perfectly with WordPress, but I, this morning I’ve been working on adding Micro blog, which is another good option. Um, and it might, micro blog might actually be kind of, no, it’s not, it’s got like a 300 character limit for most posts. But, um, anyway, uh, [00:37:00] micro Blog and Ghost. I’m adding so that if you’ve had a blog for a couple years and you want some kind of hard copy. This app will pull in all of those posts, let you Filch them by author or by tag or category or a date range, and it’ll generate a markdown book for you. And you can load that up in Mark three, and you can create an eub that you could go sell if you Erin: Oh wow. Brett: Um, you could turn it into like a PDF for distribution or just for your own archiving. Um. I may add more platforms to it over time. Medium killed their API. Um, so I can’t, as much as I would love to have it work for Medium, I think it would be really useful for medium authors. Um, medium made that impossible, but, um, but yeah, I actually, I built that app in about a week and I’m gonna sell [00:38:00] it on the app store as kind of a companion to Mark three. Um, as like a one-time purchase, not a subscription. Um, but yeah, I, I love blogging and I love blogs. I’ve been blogging for 30 years and I, I don’t know what I would do for expression, ’cause I’m not, I, I, I use Mastodon and that’s about it for social media. Um, I still have, uh, uh. Instagram account and I log on and I, I love seeing your, your older reels where you would just like, just fuck around with a cord or a simple progression and the face you would make when you messed up. I love that. Erin: I’ve never messed up. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Brett: I would watch just to see you make that like grossed out face. Like, what the fuck sound was that? Um, um, [00:39:00] but. Yeah, I, social media is so ephemeral though. It’s, there’s no guarantee of your post being anything other than AI fodder and like, I left x, I left Twitter. Erin: Everything app. Brett: Yes. Um, completely deleted myself there. Um, deleted myself on threads. I still have a Facebook account. Um, Facebook and Blue Sky are actually surprisingly my political activity accounts. Um, Facebook is where I complain about billionaire. Um, about Zuckerberg’s and the what not. Um, and it’s where I share with my activist friends in the area, like it’s mostly for local people. And then Blue Sky is where I get like all my anarchists. News and all of the news right now from like the [00:40:00] front in Minneapolis, the people that are out there doing direct action and, and uh, mutual aid and seeing things live as they happen. And I never appreciated blue sky until the federal occupation of Minnesota and then suddenly it became my primary news source. Um, so Erin: pretty good for that. There’s a, there’s a journalist I follow there. I think she’s pretty, like the, the, the trans beat is her beat. Erin Reed. Um, she’s really great. Um, but you’re, you’re all, all that to say, I think blue sky functions really well. Yeah. As like a, a new, like, I canceled, I canceled my New York Times subscription, um, because god damn, Brett: Yeah. Erin: just their opinion section alone is just trash. Also, yesterday, um, you know, the time of this recording was, there was a protest in March yesterday, which very cool. I also. Canceled. The, [00:41:00] another, another dimension of that day was about, you know, anti consumption, not spending anything, not buying anything, and canceling subscriptions if you can. And yesterday I did cancel my prime subscription, which was hard to do. But, you know, I did, I and I, I was thinking about this a couple months ago before moving, but I was like, you know, I’m gonna move. I’m only human. Like the two day shipping thing is going to come in handy for real. Like ordering things to the new apartment knowing that it’ll get there. You know, I’m glad I did that. That’s cool. But like, now’s the time where I’m a little more settled and I can do that. And so I did that yesterday. Um, but anyways, blue sky’s cool for political stuff. Brett: I. I have been trying to cut Amazon out. I removed Alexa from my life entirely. Um, I had it, Alexa is a good [00:42:00] cheap solution for like whole home automation. Um, so, but I replaced that with home pods and, um, I only buy from Amazon if I absolutely can’t find something somewhere else. Um, because these days, because of competition with Amazon, almost every vendor will offer free shipping. Not always two day shipping ’cause they don’t have the infrastructure for that. Um, but, uh, but I’ll get free shipping and I’ll get comparable prices. And Prime doesn’t really save me anything anymore, and I never use Prime video and I’m Erin: terrible streamer. It’s a terrible streamer. Brett: I’m on the verge of canceling that as well, and once I do that, I will be mostly free of Amazon. Erin: That rocks do. I think that’s really cool. I, I was thinking about this the other day too, that like canceling Amazon [00:43:00] has knock-on effects that I think are really positive as well. For example, you know, I’m lucky to live in a city where, you know, I have within walking distance to me a lot of options. So if I needed packing tape or I needed. I don’t know, some pilot G twos or whatever, like instead of for let’s say, let’s say it’s a project specific thing, like I need a certain type of pen or whatever. Instead of being like, I will order these, do the two two day shipping and put off that project for when I have that tool. Instead, which shifts the nature of the project. Like on a project level, you’re thinking about differently already. And so instead, by not having the affordance to do that, I can get out of my house. That’s a good get sun. That’s another capital G. Good. See human beings interact with human beings, you [00:44:00] know, and then also do the project the same day and not give money. To AWS, which is the backend for a bunch of evil shit. Like, it just like, you know, it stacks. Brett: Yeah. Erin: So, I don’t know. Brett: Yeah. I don’t have options Erin: It’s a lot. It’s a privilege at see above, like I’m very ocularly privileged. Brett: Yeah, no, I, I mean, there are, there are some good. Stores in my little town. Um, we are, we are fortunate to have a community that will support some more esoteric type of stores. And I don’t shop at Target and I don’t shop at Walmart, so, um. I have to depend on the limited selection in small town stores, and a lot of times I can make due with what I can find locally. Um, but I do have to [00:45:00] order. Online a lot, which is why it’s been a slow process to wean off of Amazon. But Amazon is shit now too. Like you, it seems like you have selection, but you really don’t. It’s just a bunch of vendors selling the same knockoff thing and, uh, you don’t save any money if you’re buying like an original version of a product that Amazon didn’t already like bastardize and undersell, um, or undercut the seller on. Um, and it’s so much low quality and they tell you every time you buy Prime tells you you’ve saved $5 with Prime, but if you went to the actual vendor website, you would’ve saved that $5 anyway. Um, it’s shit. Amazon is shit, but yeah. So anyway, about, about, yeah. Erin: Um, uh, go ahead. Brett: I was gonna ask that we, we kind of trailed off on the blog discussion, but I just wanted to say [00:46:00] like, if you have questions about any platform or you do wanna do like a static site, I’m more than happy to help. Erin: Thanks Brett. I think I was gonna, I might take you up on that I, another direction I was going to go with this is like, I could also see someone saying like, systems order thinking. Like, what is your goal? Like, who is this for? And that’s also where I have some internal resistance because I’m on the precipice of being a douchey content creator or something in which this fits in. being cute about it, but like this fits into an ecosystem of like maybe a new career pivot for me. ’cause we’re not part, part of the Borg. So like I’ve started teaching guitar, like I went to school for music. I used to teach guitar a lot, classical and jazz guitar, and I haven’t done it for like 15 years. I just started doing that again and I can’t believe. [00:47:00] A couple things. How good I am at it. I’m a natural, like I, it sucks to be good at something, but you know, it, it doesn’t pay at all. So it’s like, um, so a couple things like do I want to start teaching again and do I want a blog to sort of be part of a funnel into a Patreon? And do I want the Patreon and. All these questions, you know, start forming around this. Like, well, I just want a blog. It’s like, why, why do I wanna blog? And I, I don’t think I have to have the answers to those questions right now. I don’t. But it seems like the choices you make, the very, like the zero width choice you make for a tool like this is really important. So that’s, that’s the other kind of. I’m having [00:48:00] internally about it, who cares? Like all the stakes. Ultimately, who, who gives a shit? Like, there are no stakes here. But I, I do think about it as a sort of like, you know, The Decline of Blogging Brett: I, I will say that everything about my career is due to blogging. Like since, since like the year 2000, um, every job I’ve gotten has been because people found me via my blog. Um, and when I have like applied for a job, they’ve used my, they’ve been like, oh, we went and read your blog and we think you’re a great candidate. Erin: But don’t you think the excuse my use of this term, the meta around blogging has changed? Or do you think it’s like that stalwart Brett: it, it, it really has like tremendously. Um, Erin: like just to be crude about it. Okay. Brett: Yeah. So like in, uh, maybe. [00:49:00] 2015, I was doing about a hundred thousand page views a week. Um, right now I’m down to more like, I think last time I checked I was doing like 8,000 page views a week. And if I look at the charts, it’s just been a steady downward trend. Um, people are not you, pe so, okay. That said, I still get about 30,000. Hits a week from RSS, which means there’s, for a nerd, for a tech site, for a tech blog. Like there’s still an audience that uses the ancient technology, RSS, um, and I get a lot of traffic from that. But in general, like social media has eaten my lunch as far as blogging. But that said, like, the only reason anyone knows who I am, and I’m not saying I’m famous, but like I, I Erin: I’ve been to Max. [00:50:00] You you have an aura? Yeah. Brett: and uh, it’s all because of 30 years of blogging. And I think, honestly think it takes like 10 years just to build up a name. So it’s not like a, oh, I’m gonna start a blog for my shop and everything’s gonna take off, Erin: Yeah, I think, I think if you, for, for the employment alone, it might, it might be worth it, I think. I think that’s huge. Like, you know, the Borg or Pre Borg, a OL where, you know, like if, if, if they were like, oh my God, yeah, you’re Brett Terpstra from Brett TURPs. Uh, like that’s worth it even if you’re getting zero clicks and they found, you know, Brett: What do you Nell from the movie Nell? Um, did you Did what? Oh. Did you give up on finding, uh, gainful employment? Navigating Employment and Content Creation Erin: no. But I give I [00:51:00] gainful employment. Um, no, but I’m taking it a little sleazy and I’m taking it a little easy. Um, unfortunately, it is a truth universally acknowledged. My version of every gainful employment that I’ve, that I’ve enjoyed is through blogging. My version of that is any. Job at that level that I’ve enjoyed has started with a dm. It’s never started with a, a shot in the dark application through Workday. Like it’s just, and I’m convinced that that’s true for everyone. Like I suspect that’s maybe the dark truth that. The it, it’s not what you are or what you can do, it’s who you know, unfortunately is an organizing principle for anything in life basically. And [00:52:00] being under someone’s employee is probably no different. So on one hand, the Puritan. Really creeps up on me here. On one hand, I’m like, oh, I’m not really spending a lot of time crafting my portfolio. I’m not really spending a lot of time crafting my resume and tailoring it to this position. I should really be doing that. I, the economy is be, my bank accounts are really behooving me to do that. But on the other hand, I’m balancing it with that truth, which is. waiting for the dm. I’m sending dms. I can play that game if I want, and I’m kind of trying to, but only to get the guilt monkey off my back, not because I have good. It’s a good faith bid for the universe, for some HR hiring manager, whatever, to be like, okay, I’m gonna Filch by this. I’m Filch by this. This is a cool candidate. It won. I’m convinced it won’t [00:53:00] happen like that. I could be wrong, and maybe that’s the case for you too, but like it’s more of a personal connection off of CRMs, know? Brett: I, uh, I stopped panicking. My, my app income is sufficient right now to survive, and I’m working to make it more than just survival. And like over the, over the course of a few months, I sent out prob, probably 150 resumes, like shots, shots in the dark. But I had, I had referrals, multiple referrals from. AWS Google, apple, like meta, like I had people at all of these places and I still, I could barely get a response. Um, I would apply for jobs I was wholly qualified for. I would, Erin: Probably overqualified Brett: I would craft the resume. I would take my time, and I wrote a different resume for each, at least [00:54:00] for the big ones. And, yeah. Yeah, I did it all. I had a whole, I had a whole workflow, an automated workflow where I could just write like in markdown and then hit a button. It would generate like a nice PDF that I could Erin: God damn right. Yeah. Brett: Um, and none of it, it didn’t do any good. And eventually I just stopped wanting it. Um, I would much rather just make my own way at this point. I couldn’t. I can’t wrap my head around being in a corporate environment anymore. I just don’t, I don’t wanna play that game. I want the money, I want the steady paycheck, but I just, I can’t play the game. Erin: Is the game to you doing the like, um, dom sub theater of like, I must respect my manager. My manager knows the way, even if they’re wrong, I ch raise my, you know, objections lest I Brett: know me, you know, I objected all the time. [00:55:00] I, I was full of objections and I, I don’t like, I don’t like the, I don’t like sitting in meetings. I don’t like pretending to care about someone else’s project. Erin: That’s it. That feels wrong to you, I feel like. Is that right? Yeah. Brett: Yeah. Erin: Yeah. I’m happy to do that for Brett: I’m not an employee. I can’t. Erin: Yeah. I don’t identify as an employee. I heard someone say, I think around. Last year’s pride as a bit, um, that we need to add con a content creator, stripe and color to the L-G-B-T-Q-I-A flag. And when I said that, I repeated that as I just said to you, to someone, and they didn’t laugh. I was like, oh no. Why have I surrounded myself with your life? Go away from me anyways. The Art of Dating and Bits Erin: I was on a date the other day. Brett: Yeah. Erin: And, um, Brett: Must be nice.[00:56:00] Erin: date privilege. Yeah. Being single. Mm. Love it. And, um, you know, I’m very sensitive to people who don’t do bits. Uh, I have an allergy to like selfer people. And, and this woman who was in like so attractive, like so attractive did a power move where she was like, we, we met at a coffee shop. And she was like, whatcha gonna get? I was like, oh, I’m gonna get a nice espresso. And when she went to order and I thought we were gonna do Dutch or whatever, she ordered her thing and then she was like, and a nice espresso as well. And I was like, oh, hot, cute. You harvested me for information and then used that as a power thing anyways, so that it was going well. But then we started talking and I was like, oh, she’s not really picking, I’m giving her, it’s like some like B [00:57:00] plus material and she’s not really responding at all. And we were talking about, I find it helpful on dates to acknowledge that we’re on a date and that we met on a dating app. So one way that I did this on this date was to say like, I saw someone with this word in their profile. What do you think it means? And the word was, or the phrase was, the desire was that they like to be corded, which I. I, I didn’t, I got into a sort of like debate with my other friend about what that means, what that means when someone puts that and they’re pan like, is that gendered, is that like a power thing? Is that like a noble abl thing? Like what is that? So we started talking about what it means to be courted on a date and she said something like, you know, a part of it too is probably that they like to be whined and dined. And I was like, in 69. She gave me nothing. I was like, [00:58:00] oh no, I forget why I brought this up. Um, Brett: I forgot too. Um, I like, I like that you associated corded with noble abl just. Erin: uh, Brett: As like a matter of course there, um, maybe they wanna gesture. Erin: oh, I think I brought it up because. I said that content creators deserve Brett: Mm, right, right, right. The bits we’re talking about Erin: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, Wrapping Up and Final Thoughts Brett: All right. Well, you gotta get going. I know we have like eight minutes. Erin: ooh, Brett: So we should give you some time to prep for whatever it is you’re cutting us short for. I’m not kidding. I’m just kidding. It’s like fif. We’re 58 minutes in. This is good. This was a good episode. Thank you so much for coming. Erin: I just did it ’cause I wanted to catch up with you to be Brett: Yeah. I feel like this was good. This was good for that. Erin: Yeah. Brett: Yeah. Erin: Thanks Brett. Brett: Well, good luck with everything. [00:59:00] been fun. Erin: Say the line. Brett: Get some sleep. Erin: Get some sleep. Brett, I.

#763 What happens when your business is working… but suddenly feels harder than ever? In this episode, host Kirsten Tyrrel sits down again with Hope Trory of HopeWorksDesign.com to unpack the messy middle of entrepreneurship — when leads are coming in, clients are paying, and you're suddenly balancing delivery and marketing at the same time. Hope shares how to use client feedback (and their exact language) to sharpen your messaging, improve onboarding/offers, and increase retention — plus why memberships can be co-created without overbuilding. They also dig into the power of simple, reliable systems (not just “shiny” AI tools) to lighten the load, and how to avoid time-sucking distractions like endlessly switching CRMs. Hope wraps by sharing her freebies, including the Accessibility Checklist (a win for accessibility and SEO) and her ACE Marketing Assessment to pinpoint what to focus on next! What we discuss with Hope: + The “messy middle” phase + Balancing leads and delivery + Using client language in marketing + Feedback-driven offer improvements + Memberships without overbuilding + Simple, reliable systems + Avoiding shiny-tool distractions + Automations that save time + Retention before new leads Thank you, Hope! Check out HopeWorksDesign at HopeWorksDesign.com. Get the free Accessibility Checklist. Take the free ACE Marketing Assessment. Follow Hope on LinkedIn. 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

We like to believe we remember more than we actually do. In this episode of The FutureProof Advisor, I explore the uncomfortable reality of the forgetting curve—and why it quietly undermines even the best client relationships. Within hours, much of what we hear fades. Within days, most of it is gone. For advisors, that gap isn't just a productivity issue—it's a trust issue, especially when clients assume the details they shared still live clearly in our minds.The real challenge isn't collecting information; it's making sense of it. CRMs are great at storing data, but they weren't designed to help us connect ideas, patterns, and insights across time. I talk about the difference between managing data and managing knowledge, and how tools like AI note‑taking and structured systems can reduce cognitive load without distancing us from the relationship. When information is organized around action—not just compliance—it becomes easier to spot what matters and respond with intention.Future‑proofing a firm doesn't mean remembering everything. It means building systems that surface the right insights at the right moment. By accepting our human limits and pairing them with thoughtful processes and technology, we can stay present in conversations without constantly relearning our clients from scratch. The goal isn't more information—it's better continuity, deeper trust, and advice that feels personal because it actually is.

Recorded live at Cloud Connections, Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, spoke with Kevin Nethercott, CEO, and Robert Galop, Chief Product Officer at Tresic, following the company's first public debut after operating in stealth mode. Nethercott and Galop described Cloud Connections as the ideal venue for Tresic's introduction to the market, noting strong engagement from CSPs, MSPs, and channel partners eager to understand how AI can be applied practically to communications. Drawing on decades of industry experience, the Tresic team positioned its mission at the intersection of communications, AI, and monetization—helping partners unlock new revenue using assets they already own. At the core of Tresic's offering is the Tresic Intelligence Cloud, a platform designed to treat conversations—across voice, messaging, chat, and social channels—as first-class business data. Rather than delivering generic AI summaries or call detail records, Tresic focuses on transforming unstructured conversational data into actionable intelligence that directly drives business outcomes. Galop explained that recent advances around “beacons” enable conversations to be analyzed in real time and after the interaction concludes. Tresic's After Call Co-Pilot and First Alert Co-Pilot address two critical business questions: what actually happened in a conversation, and what commitments or signals now require action. The platform automatically surfaces follow-ups, obligations, sentiment, and key moments that would otherwise be lost—routing that intelligence directly to the right people inside an organization. By doing so, Tresic effectively closes the gap between communications and systems of record such as CRMs. Every conversation becomes a source of structured actions, alerts, and insights without relying on manual data entry or post-call administration. This gives businesses a 360-degree view of customer interactions while accelerating revenue-generating workflows. Both executives emphasized that Tresic's AI is not generic. Models are trained using partner and customer data, enabling vertical-specific insights that reflect how each business actually operates. This approach allows CSPs and MSPs to differentiate their offerings with intelligence tailored to their customers' industries, rather than one-size-fits-all analytics. In closing, Nethercott and Galop underscored Tresic's partner-first strategy. The company goes to market exclusively through CSPs, MSPs, and channel partners—organizations that already own the customer relationship. Tresic's goal is to help those partners add a new intelligence layer on top of existing services, enabling them to double or even triple revenue without replacing their current platforms. More information about Tresic and its partner-driven AI communications platform is available at https://www.tresic.cloud/.

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Quo - http://quo.com/TWiSTLemon IO - https://lemon.io/twistNorthwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twistToday's show: Jason is back from Davos and Tokyo! We are jumping right back in with a group of Clawdbot power users: Alex Finn, Matt Von Horn, and Dan Penguine.Clawdbot is a hot open source AI project that lets users automate… everything! Dan helped his automate his aging parent's tea shop, Matt built news sourcing bots, and Alex runs his one-man SAAS startup with Clawdbot as an AI employee!But with all of that power comes the responsibility of making sure you are not giving your AI too many authorizations that could come under fire! Whether fisching emails, “injections”, or bad decision making from incorrect information online.Check out how these 3 experts, Jason and Alex are thinking about the bleeding edge of AI!Timestamps:(00:00) Introducing today's Clawdbot experts!(04:09) How Matt Von Horn makes “Skills” with Clawdbot(10:53) Quo (formerly OpenPhone) gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at http://quo.com/TWiST.(13:25) Dan Penguine's “Normy” use case: automating his parent's tea shop(19:50) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://lemon.io/twist(22:23) Alex Finn breaks down how Clawdbot lets him run a one man startup(24:28) Alex Finn on Clawdbot autonomously building apps within his business(28:33) Security concerns with Clawdbot, can your AI get hacked?(32:46) Northwest Registered Agent. Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity —  Learn more at https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist(35:07) Why is everyone buying Mac Minis?(37:39) How to think about LLM Token usage(46:02) Clawdbot will build CRMs, project management software, etc without being asked. Is this the end of SAAS?(46:58) Matt live uploads his new Clawdbot skill on aire!(48:22) Why was Clawdbot able to move so much quicker than Anthropic and OpenAI?(50:17) What is Clawdbot's business model as an open source AI?(53:27) Matt's recursive AI prompt loop and how AI prompts layer*Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com/Check out the TWIST500: https://twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp*Follow Lon:X: https://x.com/lons*Follow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm/*Follow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis/*Thank you to our partners:(10:53) Quo (formerly OpenPhone) gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at http://quo.com/TWiST(19:50) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://lemon.io/twist(32:46) Northwest Registered Agent. Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity —  Learn more at www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twistCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

In a recent sit-down with Senior Editor Moshe Beauford for the Technology Reseller News podcast, Brandon Thomas, RingCentral vice president of channels, outlined what he sees as a massive opportunity for partners to evolve from resellers into strategic trusted advisors. According to RingCentral's forthcoming 2026 Agentic AI Trends Report, 97% of organizations have adopted AI, yet many are stalled by integration complexity. Thomas noted this creates a high-value opening for partners to deploy RingCentral's AI Conversation Expert (ACE) as the connective tissue to bridge organizational silos. RingCentral's report also found that by unblocking the 80% of business intelligence currently trapped in voice and video, partners can help clients realize a 61% increase in productivity and a 49% improvement in customer experience. Thomas emphasized that the real value lies in moving beyond basic automation toward full workflow orchestration. In a market projected to reach $305 billion by 2031, Thomas further maintains that partners should leverage AI that maintains human oversight for high-stakes decisions while automating the manual data entry that plagues traditional CRMs. This shift enables partners to offer richer consulting services, using AI to predict elements like churn and employee turnover. RingCentral’s report will go live at the end of February. Visit www.ringcentral.com

From a Craigslist ad to a 1,000-unit-a-year powerhouse, The Hogan Group's journey is anything but ordinary. In this episode, James and Keith sit down with Mike Hogan (Founder) and Alicia Pittman (Principal Broker & President) to unpack how they've scaled their Virginia-based team to 80 agents across multiple markets without sacrificing culture, accountability, or profitability. They break down: Why micro-teams are the secret to mentorship, retention, and scale The onboarding expectations that instantly filter out the wrong hires Their unconventional "counter-recruiting" pitch that builds long-term loyalty How they use AI and CRMs to support, not replace, human connection Why clarity is kindness when it comes to letting agents go This is a blueprint for building something real—with systems that support people, not replace them. Give your clients the competitive edge with Zillow's Showcase. Discover how this exclusive, immersive media experience featuring stunning photography, video, virtual staging, and SkyTour helps agents drive more views, saves, and shares. Agents using Showcase on the majority of their listings on Zillow list 30% more homes than similar non-Showcase agents. Learn how to stand out and become the agent sellers choose.   https://www.zillow.com/agents/showcase/   Links mentioned during the episode: https://owldoor.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTj69Gv3ZaU   Connect with Mike on LinkedIn.   Connect with Alicia on LinkedIn. Learn more about The Hogan Group on Facebook - Instagram or online at hogangrp.com.   Subscribe to Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/@RealEstateInsidersUnfiltered?sub_confirmation=1   To learn more about becoming a sponsor of the show, send us an email: jessica@inman.com You asked for it. We delivered. Check out our new merch! https://merch.realestateinsidersunfiltered.com/   Follow Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered Podcast on Instagram - YouTube, Facebook - TikTok. Visit us online at realestateinsidersunfiltered.com.   Link to Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/RealEstateInsidersUnfiltered Link to Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/realestateinsiderspod/ Link to YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/@RealEstateInsidersUnfiltered Link to TikTok Page: https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateinsiderspod Link to website: https://realestateinsidersunfiltered.com This podcast is produced by Two Brothers Creative. https://twobrotherscreative.com/contact/  

What does it actually take to build trust with developers when your product sits quietly inside thousands of other products, often invisible to the people using it every day? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sat down with Ondřej Chrastina, Developer Relations at CKEditor, to unpack a career shaped by hands-on experience, curiosity, and a deep respect for developer time. Ondřej's story starts in QA and software testing, moves through development and platform work, and eventually lands in developer relations. What makes his perspective compelling is that none of these roles felt disconnected. Each one sharpened his understanding of real developer friction, the kind you only notice when you have lived with a product day in and day out. We talked about what changes when you move from monolithic platforms to API-first services, and why developer relations looks very different depending on whether your audience is an application developer, a data engineer, or an integrator working under tight delivery pressure. Ondřej shared how his time at Kentico, Kontent.ai, and Ataccama shaped his approach to tooling, documentation, and examples. For him, theory rarely lands. Showing something that works, even in a small or imperfect way, tends to earn attention and respect far faster. At CKEditor, that thinking becomes even more interesting. The editor is everywhere, yet rarely recognized. It lives inside SaaS platforms, internal tools, CRMs, and content systems, quietly doing its job. We explored how developer experience matters even more when the product itself fades into the background, and why long-term maintenance, support, and predictability often outweigh short-term feature excitement. Ondřej also explained why building instead of buying an editor is rarely as simple as teams expect, especially when standards, security, and future updates enter the picture. We also got into the human side of developer relations. Balancing credibility with business goals, staying useful rather than loud, and acting as a bridge between engineering, product, marketing, and the outside world. Ondřej was refreshingly honest about the role ego can play, and why staying close to real usage is the fastest way to keep yourself grounded. If you care about developer experience, internal tooling, or how invisible infrastructure shapes modern software, this conversation offers plenty to reflect on. What have you seen work, or fail, when it comes to earning developer trust, and where do you think developer relations still get misunderstood? Useful Links Connect with Ondrej Chrastina Learn more about CK Editor Thanks to our sponsors, Alcor, for supporting the show.