Podcasts about Cros

This week on Revenue Rehab, Brandi Starr is joined by Jonas Woost, media entrepreneur and co-founder of Bumper. He believes that “more downloads do NOT equal more business value” and is ready to prove it. In this episode, Jonas challenges the industry's obsession with podcast download numbers, making the case that B2B revenue leaders should focus on true listener engagement and quality of audience over vanity metrics. From dismantling outdated measurement practices to revealing actionable strategies for aligning your podcast with business outcomes, Jonas urges CMOs and CROs to rethink how they evaluate and leverage audio content before wasted efforts drain ROI. Will you stick to conventional wisdom, or does Jonas have it right? Join the debate!  Episode Type: Problem Solving - Industry analysts, consultants, and founders take a bold stance on critical revenue challenges, offering insights you won't hear anywhere else. These episodes explore common industry challenges and potential solutions through expert insights and varied perspectives.   Bullet Points of Key Topics + Chapter Markers:  Topic #1: “More Downloads” Do Not Equal Business Value [02:07]  Jonas Woost directly challenges the conventional wisdom that higher download numbers automatically translate to more value for B2B podcasts. He argues, “The download is actually very, very poor way to measure podcast success because a download means basically nothing. A download is not a listen.” Brandi acknowledges how entrenched this mindset is among marketers, sparking a debate on what metrics really matter for revenue leaders.  Topic #2: Measuring Podcast Consumption, Not Just Reach [10:14]  Jonas reframes success metrics for B2B podcasts, insisting that podcasting is not a “reach medium” but an “amazing engagement medium.” He urges CMOs and CROs to focus on deep audience engagement—“how long did they stick around”—rather than chasing vanity metrics like total downloads. Brandi explores how this approach impacts real editorial decisions, making the case for aligning podcast topics more tightly with business outcomes.  Topic #3: Data-Driven Podcast Decision-Making—But Don't Forget Your Mission [19:10]  Jonas outlines a bold, data-first approach to evolving podcast strategy, advocating for constant, insight-driven pivots in content, marketing, and business objectives. However, he warns revenue leaders not to let data be the only driver: “If we only do stuff based on data and sort of chase the best number...it doesn't lead to great storytelling.” The discussion centers on how to balance hard metrics with purpose-driven episodes—even when certain topics (like climate or DE&I) don't deliver the highest completion rates.  The Wrong Approach vs. Smarter Alternative  The Wrong Approach: “The first thing that most people get wrong is that they don't actually know what they want to measure. This is the first step. What do you actually want? No one wants downloads. No one wants a number. People want business results, especially your audience, B2B podcasters. They want some sort of result. At the end of the day, we need to start there with result. What do you want? This is about reputation. This is about lead generation. This is about whatever. And then go backwards from there. As opposed to starting with like we want downloads in order to maybe have something else in the past.” – Jonas Woost  Why It Fails: Measuring podcast success by downloads alone is fundamentally flawed because downloads do not equate to real engagement or business impact. Companies often default to chasing higher download numbers rather than focusing on the outcomes that actually matter, like genuine audience consumption, influence on reputation, or contribution to lead generation. This results in misaligned investments and missed opportunities to connect with the right audience.  The Smarter Alternative: Companies should start by clarifying the real business result they want from their podcast—whether that's reputation building, lead generation, or something else—and then work backwards to design their measurement approach. Instead of defaulting to download counts, focus on actual listener engagement and platform-specific consumption metrics that align with your strategic objectives.  The Most Damaging Myth  The Myth: “More downloads always equal more business value for a B2B podcast.” – Jonas Woost  Why It's Wrong: Jonas explains that downloads are a poor way to measure podcast success because a download is not a listen, nor does it indicate actual engagement. Most downloads don't translate to real audience interaction, and chasing bigger numbers often distracts companies from connecting with their true target audience—especially for B2B marketers with niche offerings.  What Companies Should Do Instead: Focus on measuring real consumption and engagement across listening platforms like Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. Prioritize understanding who is listening, how long they engage, and whether you're reaching the right audience rather than blindly driving up download counts. Use these insights to inform editorial, marketing, and business decisions to drive meaningful business value.  The Rapid-Fire Round  Finish this sentence: If your company has this problem, the first thing you should do is _ “Start by clearly defining what business result you actually want—not just downloads or numbers, but the real goal like reputation or lead generation.” – Jonas Woost What's one red flag that signals a company has this problem—but might not realize it yet?  “If you don't know what you actually want to measure, or you're defaulting to downloads, you're already off track. Focus on desired outcomes, not vanity metrics.” What's the most common mistake people make when trying to fix this? “Trying to be perfect and capture data from every platform. With podcasts scattered across many players, obsessing over 100% accuracy becomes overwhelming. Instead, focus on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube for the bulk of your data.” What's the fastest action someone can take today to make progress? “Build a simple spreadsheet to manually track engagement stats from the major platforms. It doesn't need to be fancy—six key numbers, updated monthly, will give you the clarity to make better decisions right away.”   Links:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonaswoost/  Website: https://wearebumper.com/  Subscribe, listen, and rate/review Revenue Rehab Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts , Amazon Music, or iHeart Radio and find more episodes on our website RevenueRehab.live    

In this episode of Coach2Scale, CoachEm CEO and co-founder Colum Lundt joins host Matt Benelli to unpack a critical but often overlooked reality in sales leadership: frontline managers are the linchpin to scalable growth, yet they're routinely undertrained, overwhelmed, and underleveraged. Colum shares firsthand insights on why simply promoting great reps into management roles isn't working and how the right tools, data, and AI-powered systems can transform managers from reactive deal chasers into proactive skill builders.Listeners will walk away with a clearer understanding of how AI should act as a copilot, not a crutch; the compounding impact of consistent developmental coaching over deal coaching; and how to drive real behavior change in reps without adding more to a manager's plate. If you're a CRO thinking about enablement, productivity, and long-term performance, this episode offers a sharp, no-nonsense look at what's broken and what you can do to fix it.Key Takeaway1. Frontline Managers Are the Most Underdeveloped Yet Most Critical Role in SalesManagers get the least training and the most pressure, yet their influence has the highest ROI, up to 7–8x for every dollar invested.2. AI Should Be a Copilot, Not a ReplacementThe future of sales management lies in AI that augments human leadership by handling prep, surfacing insights, and reducing cognitive overload, not replacing empathy and accountability.3. Developmental Coaching Is What Scales, Not Deal CoachingSkills coaching “between the games” has far more long-term value than reactive deal coaching, which often reinforces short-term thinking.4. Manager Span of Control Has ExplodedThe average frontline manager is managing too many reps with too many tools and no time to coach; CoachEm helps them scale themselves without sacrificing quality.5. Change Fatigue and Tech Overload Are Crushing Sales TeamsEspecially in mid-market, reps and managers are drowning in tools and new initiatives without a clear structure or prioritization, which undermines focus and execution.6. AI-Powered Role Play Is a Breakthrough for Enablement at ScaleCoachEm's integration with Hyperbound lets companies simulate real conversations—both for reps and for managers dramatically improving readiness without needing live trainers.7. CoachEm Makes Performance Coaching Measurable and RepeatableThe platform uses CRM, call transcripts, and behavioral data to show exactly what's working and what's not, down to missed calendar invites that slow deal velocity.8. The Best Reps Still Need Coaching, They Need Different CoachingEven top performers benefit from sharpening specific skills; the right system gives managers the data to coach everyone, not just the squeaky wheels.9. Customer Success Is the Next Frontier for Coaching ExecutionAs more CSMs are pulled into revenue roles, CoachEm is expanding to support upsell, cross-sell, and relationship-building motions as rigorously as sales.10. If You Want to Fix Sales Productivity, Start by Fixing the Manager ExperienceSales cultures that prioritize manager development first see better rep retention, stronger pipelines, and more consistent execution across teams.

Alaa Assem, Managing Director for CTI in the Europe & MEA regions, joins us to discuss the evolution of clinical trials in the Middle East and Africa. With over a decade of experience in pharma and CROs, Alaa shares how CTI has built a strong regional presence, the impact of COVID-19, and why sponsors should consider the region for future trials.Topics Covered:CTI's history and expansion in the Middle East & AfricaLocal expertise and regulatory evolutionVaccine research and biotech investmentGene therapy, AI, and the future of clinical trialsClick Here for more Info about CTI in the MEA RegionTimestamps:00:00 – Meet Alaa and his background00:56 – CTI's regional roots and growth02:19 – Why local presence matters03:20 – Clinical research evolution in the region05:02 – COVID-19's transformative impact06:44 – Vaccine research and biotech hubs08:33 – Advice for sponsors entering the region10:33 – Changing perceptions and realities12:52 – CTI's readiness and expansion strategy14:06 – Future growth and innovation15:42 – Alaa's excitement for the future of research

"Bringing in a CRO too early is the death of any business. It's like bringing in Lewis Hamilton and saying drive my Fiat in a school zone."In today's episode of the Bricks & Bytes, we had Ricky from Deep Space and we got to learn about why most founders hire the wrong sales leadership at the wrong time, how to scale from zero to unicorn status, and the brutal reality of go-to-market in construction tech... and many more!Ricky took simPro from $10M to over $1B valuation as their first CRO. Now he's doing it again with Deep Space while running his own venture fund.Tune in to find out about:✅ The exact revenue stage when you should hire a CRO (hint: it's not when you think)✅ Why construction sales still requires picking up the phone in 2025✅ How to build repeatable sales processes that actually work in AEC✅ The real difference between good and bad revenue leadersListen now on Spotify and learn from someone who's actually built the playbook.Chapters00:00 Intro01:50 Introduction and Guest Background05:48 Ricky's Journey in Tech and Venture Capital09:56 The Role of a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)13:56 Sales Strategies and Market Adaptation17:51 Building Trust and Value in Sales21:46 Hiring Sales Reps and Team Dynamics25:38 Identifying the Right CRO for Your Business29:49 Metrics for Evaluating a CRO33:55 Advice for Early-Stage Founders36:01 Marketing and Content Strategy in AEC Tech37:54 Navigating Domain Expertise in Marketing41:15 Understanding the Sales Cycle Touchpoints43:49 Essential Tools for Early-Stage Businesses45:51 Deep Space: The Future of Construction Management Software52:52 Transparent Pricing in Software Solutions53:46 The Evolution of Product Management55:50 Balancing AI Adoption with Business Strategy57:52 Analyzing Ricky's LinkedIn Insights

In this episode of CRO Spotlight, Warren Zenna sits down with Bobby Morrison, Chief Revenue Officer at Shopify, to explore how the CRO role has evolved beyond traditional sales leadership. Bobby shares his approach to unifying marketing, sales, customer success, and support under a single revenue organization focused on the complete customer journey rather than siloed handoffs.Bobby reveals his philosophy of building revenue flywheels through aligned incentives and systems-first thinking, explaining how he restructured Shopify's go-to-market approach to eliminate friction. He discusses the importance of creating pods that bring together account executives, solution engineers, and customer success managers with shared objectives and territories to deliver better customer outcomes.The conversation shifts to how AI is transforming revenue operations, with Bobby predicting that traditional CRMs will be replaced by AI-enabled systems within months. He emphasizes that tomorrow's successful CROs must become more technically proficient, understanding data structures and AI capabilities to build competitive advantages through technology while maintaining the human relationships that drive trust.Warren and Bobby conclude by discussing the future of customer engagement, with Bobby sharing his belief that despite automation, human interaction remains essential in building trust. He emphasizes Shopify's commitment to helping customers navigate uncertain times through an anti-fragile platform that enables businesses to adapt quickly to changing market conditions.

Jin Kim is the founder and CEO of Miracle, a company helping biotech teams accelerate clinical trials by automating operational insights. Trials are a data problem and Miracle solves it by unifying siloed systems into one real-time dashboard. That has helped some clients finish trials 3–4 months ahead of schedule.Many trial operations still rely heavily on Excel. It's easy, familiar, and free. But once you enter Phase 2 or 3 with CROs, labs, and recruitment vendors in play, things break down fast. Different systems name fields inconsistently (think “data randomization” vs. “randomized data”), and humans can understand that but systems can't. That's where the manual labor comes in—pulling data from multiple platforms, cleaning it up, and trying to build reports.Miracle automates all of that. The system integrates with common clinical tools via API or data exports, normalizes disparate formats, and delivers insights in real time. That means no more waiting for a report on Wednesday to catch an issue from last Friday. Users can respond as problems arise.We talked about the hype around AI, especially at recent industry conferences like AWS Life Sciences. Jin's take is that AI is only as good as the data it has access to. And in clinical trials, that data is usually siloed or messy. So before deploying AI, companies need a solid data infrastructure. That's what Miracle provides: a clean, unified layer that can feed downstream AI use cases.Not subscribed? Let's fix that. No spam, just good content wherever I find it.Jin stressed that he doesn't lead with AI in conversations—he starts with the problem. What do clinical operations teams need today? Miracle's customers are typically not engineers. They're researchers, clinicians, and trial managers. That's why the platform is tailored to non-technical users, with role-specific dashboards and workflows for everyone from the CEO to a clinical operations lead checking in eight times a day. Jin has made sure the tool meets people where they are, surfacing the right metrics based on their goals—whether that's daily site activity or long-term enrollment projections. I think it's so important to get down into how is the director of clinical operations using it versus the actual people on the clinical operations team versus even, you know, calling it leadership, how the chief medical officer's using it might be different from how the CEO's using it.If you're running a biotech trial and wondering whether you have a data problem, Jin suggests starting with a simple question: “Are we going to finish our study on time?” If that answer isn't crystal clear, you've got work to do. And for most teams, enrollment is the biggest risk factor. Miracle helps teams back-calculate from their timelines using data they already have: how many patients are being screened, how many pass, how many are randomized, and how many drop out.While Miracle doesn't handle patient recruitment directly, it can track the entire recruitment funnel from ad spend on Facebook or Google, through study website visits, to completed screenings. That makes it easier to assess the ROI of digital outreach and reallocate spend based on what's actually converting.Jin started Miracle while still in grad school, building on his experience in enterprise sales and his background in computer science from MIT. He saw firsthand how data bottlenecks crippled big pharma, and he realized that smaller, resource-strapped biotechs needed a better way.It just occurred to me as I write this, weeks after I first met Jin, that some companies might run out of money in the middle of a trial, which seems a tragedy for the participants, regardless of whether a product was headed for approval or not. In any case, helping more trials get across the finish line is a worthy cause. Whatever any of us in life science can do to help that happen is a good thing.Your deepest insights are your best branding. I'd love to help you share them. Chat with me about custom content for your life science brand. Or visit my website. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cclifescience.substack.com

This week on GTM Live, Carolyn sits down with Dave Boyce, Executive Chair at Winning by Design and longtime SaaS builder, to explore why GTM systems are breaking, and what modern companies must do differently to build for predictable, customer-centered growth.They dive into what Dave calls “the layers of sediment” that have built up over time, e.g. commissions, org design, reporting structures, and outdated dashboards, and why those legacy systems are misaligned with today's buying behavior.They also talk about the real challenges CROs are facing right now: Deals are harder to win, old tactics aren't working, and most GTM teams are stuck optimizing for the wrong outcomes.You'll hear practical examples of what high-performing companies like Atlassian are doing differently, the importance of empathy in system design, and why the CEO—not just Sales or Marketing—needs to own this transformation.Together, they unpack why most GTM strategies break down. And it's not because of effort, but because they lack system design.Key topics in this episode:The broken layers of GTM measurement, and why that era is overWhy commissions often reinforce short-term, self-interested behaviorWhy visibility across the full funnel/bowtie is essential for accountability and improvementThe "Andon Cord" concept from Toyota and what GTM can learn from itWhy the CEO must own GTM system design (and why FP&A is the ideal quarterback)What Atlassian does differently to align around the customer

As global clinical trials become more competitive and data-driven, Latin America is stepping up with a new global standard in clinical trial quality. In this episode, Etienne Nichols speaks with Julio Martinez-Clark, CEO of BioAccess and a key advocate for clinical site certification in Latin America. They discuss the launch of the GCSA certification and IAOCR accreditation now available in the Americas, exploring how these standards improve site credibility, de-risk clinical trials, and offer faster pathways for medtech market access. From regulatory advantages to site selection strategies, this episode is essential listening for sponsors, CROs, and MedTech leaders navigating global trials.Key Timestamps00:02 – Introduction to Julio Martinez-Clark and episode overview02:10 – What is GCSA and IAOCR certification?06:00 – Why certification is emerging now: volume, complexity, and patient safety09:42 – Certification structure: site vs. individual requirements13:45 – The Colombian model: First mover in Latin America17:55 – Global harmonization vs. local certification pitfalls21:30 – Measuring ROI of certified vs. non-certified sites26:15 – Future of global site certification and Latin America's role30:00 – Regional differences: speed vs. patient pool in trial site selection36:15 – Final thoughts on FDA trends and LATAM's emerging positionQuotes“It's appalling that in an industry that deals with lives, there was no global standard to certify site or individual competency—until now.”– Julio Martinez-ClarkWhy it matters: This underscores the critical gap in clinical research infrastructure and the urgent need for standards like GCSA.“You can't measure quality without a shared framework. Certification levels the playing field globally.”– Julio Martinez-ClarkWhy it matters: This highlights how global certification allows consistent benchmarking across clinical sites, benefitting sponsors and patients alike.Key TakeawaysGCSA Certification Elevates Site Credibility: Clinical sites with GCSA certification are fast-tracked for sponsor consideration, leading to better trial access and more robust patient recruitment.IAOCR Accreditation Validates Individual Competency: For investigators, coordinators, and site managers, individual accreditation under the UNESCO-backed IAOCR framework offers a portable, verifiable skillset.Latin America Offers Dual Advantages: With rapid recruitment and cost-effective data generation, LATAM is uniquely positioned to lead in globally certified trials—especially Colombia, which already mandates certification.Global Harmonization is Critical: Fragmented local certifications can deter sponsors. A unified global framework like GCSA simplifies compliance, increases efficiency, and builds trust.The FDA Bottleneck May Shift Market Entry: With regulatory delays in the U.S., more medtech firms may turn to Latin America for first-in-human trials and initial commercialization.ReferencesJulio Martinez-Clark on LinkedInBioaccess LATAMIAOCR – International Accreditation Organization for Clinical ResearchEtienne Nichols on LinkedInMedTech 101: What

In deze aflevering is Bram van Sunder te gast, Partner Financial Services bij EY. We hebben het over zijn loopbaan – van ondernemen in China tot jong partner worden – én over zijn specialisme: risicomanagement in een wereld vol onzekerheid. Aanleiding voor het gesprek is het recente EY-rapport Risk Management's Strategic Opportunity in a Time of Turbulence. We bespreken de veranderende rol van de CRO, de groeiende druk op weerbaarheid, en de vraag of organisaties klaar zijn voor disruptie langs de assen van AI, geopolitiek en IT. Bram deelt niet alleen scherpe inzichten over het vak, maar ook over de menselijke kant van leiderschap: hoe geef je richting als risico's zich opstapelen en zekerheden verdwijnen? Luister nu!   *** De Leaders in Finance podcast wordt mede mogelijk gemaakt door Kayak, EY, MeDirect, en Roland Berger.   *** Bekijk ook: Risk Management: Strategic Opportunity in a Time of Turbulence Five ways banking CROs are increasing agility   *** Volg Leaders in Finance via Linkedin.   *** Op de hoogte blijven van Leaders in Finance? Abonneer je dan op de nieuwsbrief.   ***  Vragen, suggesties of feedback? Graag! Via e-mail: info@leadersinfinance.nl   *** Eerdere gasten bij de Leaders in Finance podcast waren onder andere: Klaas Knot (President DNB), Robert Swaak (CEO ABN AMRO), Frank Elderson (directie ECB), David Knibbe (CEO NN), Janine Vos (RvB Rabobank), Jos Baeten (CEO ASR), Nadine Klokke (CEO Knab), Gita Salden (CEO BNG Bank),  Annerie Vreugdenhil (CIO ING), Geert Lippens (CEO BNP Paribas NL), Karien van Gennip (CEO VGZ), Maarten Edixhoven (CEO Van Lanschot Kempen), Jeroen Rijpkema (CEO Triodos), Chantal Vergouw (CEO Interpolis), Simone Huis in ‘t Veld (CEO Euronext), Nout Wellink (ex DNB), Onno Ruding (ex minister van financiën), Maurice Oostendorp en Martijn Gribnau (CEOs Volksbank), Olaf Sleijpen (Director DNB), Allegra van Hövell-Patrizi (CEO Aegon NL), Yoram Schwarz (CEO Movir), Laura van Geest (Bestuursvoorzitter AFM) Katja Kok (CEO Van Lanschot CH), Ali Niknam (CEO bunq), Nick Bortot (CEO BUX), Matthijs Bierman (MD Triodos NL), Peter Paul de Vries (CEO Value8), Barbara Baarsma (CEO Rabo Carbon Bank), Jan van Rutte (Commissaris PGGM, BNG Bank, vml CFO ABN AMRO), Marguerite Soeteman-Reijnen (Chair Aon Holdings), Annemarie Jorritsma (o.a. Voorzitter NVP), Lidwin van Velden (CEO Waterschapsbank), Don Ginsel (CEO Holland Fintech), Mary Pieterse-Bloem (Professor Erasmus), Jan-Willem van der Schoot (CEO Mastercard NL), Tjeerd Bosklopper (CEO NN NL), Joanne Kellermann (Chair PFZW), Steven Maijoor (Chair ESMA), Radboud Vlaar (CEO Finch Capital), Karin van Baardwijk (CEO Robeco) en Annette Mosman (CEO APG).   

On this episode of Scrappy ABM, you'll hear Mason Cosby on Scale Your Sales with Janice B. Gordon, where he shares a brutally honest take on what causes most ABM programs to fail—and why that failure is the right place to start. From sales comp misalignment to over-engineered target lists, Mason breaks down why focusing on fewer, better-fit customers creates more momentum and less churn.Mason also offers specific, repeatable plays: how to track champions who leave your client companies, how to earn 15+ referrals per quarter with a single list, and why getting “access” in sales is a marketing problem in disguise. If you're in marketing, sales, or anywhere in a revenue team, this episode's full of real strategies and red flags—straight from the front lines of ABM.

In this episode of TECHtonic, TSIA's Executive Director and EVP Thomas Lah is joined by Chris Albro and Chad O'Connor, co-CROs at People.ai, for a frank and forward-looking conversation about how artificial intelligence is transforming modern sales organizations. With decades of sales leadership experience at companies such as Oracle, Siebel, and Outreach, Chris and Chad bring grounded, practical insight into what they call the "Four Sales Rituals": coaching, account planning, opportunity management, and forecasting. These essential processes are often still run on outdated, manual routines, leaving revenue teams inefficient and reactive. But AI is upending that status quo. From automating CRM data capture to uncovering hidden deal risks and enhancing forecast accuracy, this episode examines how forward-thinking sales teams are leveraging AI to work smarter—and win more.But this isn't just an efficiency story. It's about reimagining the role of the sales professional in a world where data and AI augment every decision. The guests explain how AI enables more meaningful customer interactions by freeing reps to focus on strategic, human-driven work, and why clinging to “gut instinct” is becoming a liability. Thomas, Chris, and Chad explore the cultural resistance to AI adoption, the leadership mindsets required to overcome it, and the career-defining opportunities salespeople have if they choose to embrace AI now. Whether you're a CRO, RevOps leader, or quota-carrying AE, this episode is a must-listen wake-up call for anyone in tech sales today.

Nick Clare is a co-founder of Succession Bio and co-host of the SalesDNA podcast. I recently spoke to Harrison Wade, the other co-founder here. Nick's journey into sales wasn't a planned career move. It was the result of "fear and desperation," as he put it.Nick was working as a scientist in the lab when his wife was 14 weeks pregnant with their third child. 20 days before Christmas, he was made redundant. Ouch. During his job search, he interviewed with a company where the CEO and CBO offered him two positions - field application scientist or lab manager. Nick, thinking about his growing family and financial needs, asked the most direct question possible: "Which one pays more?" The CBO immediately claimed him for the sales side, recognizing the money motivation that's so crucial in sales.Nick was honest about his initial resistance. He spent the first six months looking for another job because he was a scientist, not a salesperson. But eventually he realized he wasn't finding anything he wanted because he actually loved what he was doing. Now he runs a company that teaches sales, selling sales itself. Men make plans and the universe laughs…I asked about the distinction between sales and business development, something it seems everyone describes differently. Nick's definition is pretty simple: sales is about selling something that already exists - a widget, service, or software - while BD is about selling partnerships to develop something new together. CROs are kind of a hybrid. He pointed out that BD professionals often lag behind in their processes compared to traditional salespeople. They rely heavily on networking but don't utilize the same systematic lead generation and pipeline management that sales teams do.That brought us into a discussion of cold email (Yikes), but Nick and Harrison's LinkedIn posts have been helping me get over that fear. Nick's perspective is liberating (and reflects the truth): he challenged me to think of a single email from the past two weeks that annoyed me enough to actually do something about it. I couldn't. His point was we only remember emails that resonate positively with us. Everything else just gets deleted and forgotten. We're so worried about negative consequences that we miss the fact that most people won't even notice our outreach, and when they do, it's usually positive.Nick has a "10 a day" rule from when he managed sales teams - spend five minutes researching each person and reach out to 10 people daily. That's less than an hour of work that results in 200 outreaches per month. That math should be sufficient when you think about pipeline impact.We have to talk about how Nick uses Notebook LM for sales research. I'm a huge fan of this Google AI tool myself, and Nick's applications are brilliant. He uploads company websites and generates mind maps to visualize all their products and propositions, perfect for visual learners like him, preparing for discovery calls. Even better, he creates AI-generated podcasts from the research materials that he can listen to while driving or multitasking. The fact that you can now interrupt these AI podcasts to ask questions makes it even more powerful.I shared how I've been using Notebook LM with 10 years of podcast transcripts, creating a searchable knowledge base where people can ask questions about life science marketing and get specific insights from past guests. Nick's using it to help his daughters with homework, having them listen to AI-generated podcasts about complex topics before tackling assignments.If you are AI resistant, I think you have to recognize what's coming, whether you like it or not. You can be part of your own plan or part of someone else's. Quick aside: When I was a kid, my dad had a gag where he had a telephone handset (with a spiral cord pinned inside his jacket. He had a ringer in his pocket that sounded like a phone. He'd pull out the handset and say, “It's for you.” What used to be a laugh is now an indispensable reality. Fast forward and this morning I'm using advanced voice mode to have a conversation with ChatGPT about content creation while I'm on a walk. You get the picture.Nick talks to ChatGPT while driving to customer calls, essentially having a conversation with an AI teammate about strategy and approach. He even created a custom GPT called "Pocket Nick Nick" loaded with his company's public data, so he could access specific information during customer calls in real-time.What I appreciated most was his practical, no-nonsense approach to both sales and AI. He's not afraid to be direct about money (which served him well in that initial interview), he's systematic about prospecting, and he's embraced AI as a genuine productivity multiplier rather than viewing it as a threat. I'm not making or following predictions about AI making us dumber or smarter or taking our jobs. The only thing I'm sure of is that people will use it.Nick's story also highlights something I see frequently in our industry - scientists who discover they love the business side of science. There's something powerful about being able to share science broadly rather than going deep into one narrow research area. Nick used a great analogy about being on a boat viewing the horizon versus investigating the Mariana Trench.This conversation energized me around several things: being more systematic about outreach (those 10 people per day), using AI more creatively in my work, and thinking about BD versus sales more clearly. Nick's journey from reluctant scientist to sales leader shows that sometimes the best career moves come from necessity rather than planning, and that embracing change - even when it feels uncomfortable - can lead to unexpected fulfillment. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cclifescience.substack.com

In this weeks' Scale Your Sales Podcast episode, my guest is Nick Buxton.   Nick has a background in engineering, 2x CRO, and 5x VP of Sales. Over the past 20 years I've worked my way up from individual contributor at seed, Series A- C, privately held, FTSE and NYSE listed tech companies. He is now helping tech companies deliver revenue transformation projects with a range of partners.   In today's episode of Scale Your Sales podcast, Nick shares his value-led growth approach and why breaking down silos between sales, marketing, and customer success is key to building customer-centric organizations. He and Janice explore the difference between solving user problems vs. business needs, the impact on go-to-market strategy, and the evolving role of CROs as AI and sales enablement continue to reshape the future of sales.   Welcome to Scale Your Sales Podcast, Nick Buxton.     Timestamps: 00:00 Product-Led Growth Challenges Explained 05:51 Embrace Product-Led Growth Strategy 07:09 Customer-Led Growth Insights 13:29 Sales Competency Deficit Analysis 14:41 Challenges in Building Sales Relationships 20:13 Improving Sales Leadership Competencies 22:08 Sales Enablement and CROs Alignment 25:20 Understanding Product Value Basics 28:31 Silent Quitting: Mutual Interview Necessity     https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-buxton/     Janice B Gordon is the award-winning Customer Growth Expert and Scale Your Sales Framework founder. She is by LinkedIn Sales 15 Innovating Sales Influencers to Follow 2021, the Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Customer Experience Nov 2020 and 150 Women B2B Thought Leaders You Should Follow in 2021. Janice helps companies worldwide to reimagine revenue growth thought customer experience and sales.   Book Janice to speak virtually at your next event: https://janicebgordon.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/janice-b-gordon/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaniceBGordon Scale Your Sales Podcast: https://scaleyoursales.co.uk/podcast More on the blog: https://scaleyoursales.co.uk/blog Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janicebgordon Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScaleYourSales And more!   Visit our podcast website https://scaleyoursales.co.uk/podcast/ to watch or listen.

What happens when a founder-led sales strategy hits its limits? In this episode of Coach to Scale, Ken Grasso, veteran CRO, advisor, and founder of Catalyst Peak Ventures, pulls back the curtain on the messy, mission-critical transition from instinct-driven selling to structured, scalable revenue operations. With experience leading global go-to-market teams and helping companies grow from zero to IPO, Ken shares unfiltered insights on why founders often struggle to let go of sales, the costly myth of the “natural-born” sales leader, and how process, not personality, is the real growth engine.Packed with real talk for CROs, revenue leaders, and founders alike, this conversation explores the pivotal role of coaching cultures, how to hire for system-fit over resume flash, and the urgent need to professionalize sales before seeking investment or exit. You'll also hear Ken's candid reflections on career reinvention, building credibility as a fractional exec, and why planning for the next chapter before you need to is essential for long-term impact. Whether you're scaling your first team or rethinking what makes sales truly sustainable, this episode is a playbook in disguise.Top Takeaways1. Founder-led selling becomes a liability as you scaleEarly-stage founders may be the best sellers at first, but their instinctive, unstructured style can block repeatability and growth.2. Great sales reps don't automatically make great managersPromoting top performers without leadership skills or process discipline can stall team performance and create chaos.3. The sales process is the foundation, not a nice-to-haveA defined, teachable sales process enables forecastable growth, efficient onboarding, and higher valuations.4. CROs must earn trust and re-educate founders on go-to-marketTransitioning founder-led orgs to scalable operations requires a blend of credibility, patience, and strategic coaching.5. Hiring should prioritize system-fit and coachability.The best candidates align with your GTM model and are eager to operate within a defined system, not just shine as individual contributors.6. You can't outrun a broken foundation with short-term winsHeroics might save a quarter, but without an operational structure, you'll eventually burn out or break the model.7. Fractional leadership can unlock massive value for growth-stage teamsBringing in experienced operators part-time can help companies avoid costly misfires and build maturity without overextending budgets.8. Plan your career pivot before the market makes you do itKen urges seasoned leaders to proactively define their “Plan B,” emphasizing personal reinvention and long-term career resilience.9. Strong systems beat star power—ask the NFL.Drawing on sports analogies, Ken explains why team performance relies more on consistent playbooks than flashy individuals.10. Valuation depends on your GTM maturity.Investors and acquirers don't just buy your product they buy your ability to sell it repeatedly, predictably, and without founder involvement

In this episode of the Global Medical Device Podcast, Etienne Nichols sits down with seasoned MedTech founder and investor Jon Bergsteinsson to unpack a critical—but often overlooked—topic: budgeting in early-stage medical device startups. Drawing from his deep regulatory, clinical, and investment experience, Jon shares the red flags investors look for, the cost categories that founders routinely miss, and why a line item called “compliance” just doesn't cut it. Whether you're a startup founder, a regulatory lead, or a project manager, this episode offers a sharp lens into the financial planning realities that can make or break product development and commercialization in MedTech.Key Timestamps02:34 – Why QMS, regulatory, and clinical are budget afterthoughts for startups06:45 – What separates experienced vs. inexperienced MedTech founders in budgeting10:20 – Why software and compliance tools get left out of early budgets14:12 – How missing budget detail impacts product quality and time-to-market19:04 – Red flags investors look for in MedTech startup budgets23:30 – How to improve budgeting accuracy without a CFO28:10 – Critical cost categories MedTech founders often overlook35:55 – Advice for recovering from a budgeting oversight39:40 – Comprehensive checklist of overlooked line items (manual translation, UDI, ISO licenses, and more)45:00 – Final advice: why networking trumps isolation for smarter budgetingStandout Quotes"Relying on the status quo is never good. There are always ways to do things better."Jon reminds founders and compliance professionals alike that innovation doesn't stop at the product level—it also applies to budgeting, systems, and team empowerment."Getting a 510(k) through is just the starting point. Budgeting like everything ends there is a massive red flag."This quote highlights the investor's perspective on sustainability and long-term thinking—crucial traits in any fundable founder.Key TakeawaysBroad Budget Buckets Signal InexperienceLumping all compliance-related costs under one line item may look tidy but signals to investors a lack of operational depth. Break out line items for QMS, clinical, regulatory, and software tools.Software and Tools Are Not Optional ExtrasFounders must factor in essential systems—like eQMS, CAD, risk management, and clinical data tools—early in budgeting. Assuming a single hire covers everything is a critical mistake.Budgets Must Reflect Time and Scale RealisticallyFlat budgets over 2–3 years, or those that assume regulatory costs end at market clearance, raise red flags. Investors expect dynamic budgeting that reflects the realities of growth, post-market surveillance, and team evolution.Outsourcing ≠ All-InclusiveMany startups underestimate the actual costs tied to consultants and CROs, assuming “someone else is handling it.” Always clarify what's included—and what's not.Recovery Is Possible—If You Own ItIf your budget's off-track, clear communication with your board and investors, a willingness to revise, and a plan for worst-case scenarios are your best tools for regaining credibility.ReferencesJon Bergsteinsson on LinkedInEtienne Nichols on LinkedInGreenlight Guru – QMS and Clinical platform for MedTech companiesMedTech...

Today, as Go-to-Market Operating Partner at Sixth Street, Paul brings both commercial operator chops and deep empathy to help CEOs, CROs, and deal teams turn strategy into sustainable results.He doesn't do playbooks. He does pattern recognition. His approach is high-trust, high-discipline, and highly customized. Whether he's transforming revenue orgs or coaching commercial leaders, Paul shows up like an athlete: focused, gritty, and committed to continuous improvement.

In this episode of Sales SOS, Hunters & Unicorns co-founders Ollie and Simon go head-to-head on one of the most misunderstood, yet business-critical skills in sales leadership: how to consistently hire A-players. Drawing from two decades of experience working with the world's most elite sales teams, we break down the true mindset, mechanics, and strategy behind world-class recruitment — and why most leaders are getting it completely wrong. What we cover: Why the super-rep mindset is killing your team-building potential The 3 stages of a winning recruitment process: Pipeline. Discovery. Close. The 3 WHYs vs the 3 WHY NOTs — the ultimate framework to avoid dropouts Feedback loops, debrief sessions, and how to control the narrative between interviews Why you should never make an offer unless you know they'll say yes Backchanneling: how the best CROs use it to recruit like assassins — and how to avoid blowing it up Whether you're a first-time hiring manager or a seasoned VP, this is your playbook for hiring without luck or guesswork.

Learn how flexibility, real-time control, and localized trial expertise are reshaping the future of CRO's from the man redefining it. Listen in as Ardian Latifi breaks down why Southern CDC's sponsor-first model is more than an experiment; it's the new path forward.In this episode of Spark Time!, we sit down with Dr. Ardian Latifi, founder and CEO of Southern Clinical Development Consulting (Southern CDC). Ardian shares how his frustration with big, bureaucratic CROs inspired a bold, leaner model. One built for biotech sponsors, not shareholders.Forget the one-size-fits-all, multi-billion-dollar corporate CROs. Ardian's approach puts sponsors back in the driver's seat, with modular teams, consultants limited to just 2–3 projects at a time, and radically transparent pricing and timelines. No hidden handoffs or surprise delays. Just direct access, expert-driven trials built for speed and clarity.

In this episode I sit down with Mike Denzer, a mechanical engineer, inventor, and trusted leader in the combination product space. We talk about the power of networking not just as a tool for finding your next job, but as a foundation for building a meaningful and resilient career in pharma and medtech.Mike shares what it's like to develop life-changing devices like Amgen's Auto Click autoinjector, how he built credibility across R&D and regulatory teams, and why asking good questions and being generous with your time pays off more than any formal title. If you've ever struggled to balance technical depth with approachability or you're trying to navigate CROs, design controls, or cross-functional chaos, I hope you enjoy this conversation! ⏱️ Timestamps00:00 Welcome and introduction00:56 Why networking matters01:57 Life-changing moments in engineering09:45 Challenges and innovations in autoinjectors14:47 CROs, sponsors, and collaboration18:22 Mike's favorite projects and final thoughtsAbout Mike Denzer:Mike Denzer is a mechanical engineer, inventor, and combination product leader with over 20 years of experience in drug delivery system development. He's held leadership roles at companies like Amgen, Teva, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Kymanox, and is credited as an inventor on five U.S. patents related to autoinjector platforms and delivery technology.He's the founder of Combo Products LLC, where he now consults on combination product design, human factors strategy, and technical development. Mike is widely respected for his collaborative style and clear communication across engineering, clinical, regulatory, and quality functions.Contact Mike: mdenzer@comboproductsllc.comSubhi Saadeh is a Quality Professional and host of Let's Combinate. With a background in Quality, Manufacturing Operations, and R&D, he has worked in large Medical Device and Pharma organizations to support the development and launch of hardware devices, disposable devices, and combination products for vaccines, generics, and biologics.Subhi currently serves as the International Committee Chair for the Combination Products Coalition (CPC), is a member of ASTM Committee E55, and has served on AAMI's Combination Products Committee.

What happens when your top-performing rep becomes a struggling front-line manager? In this episode, Dan Freund, Chief Sales Officer at Invoice Cloud and former Oracle sales leader, unpacks the leadership gap plaguing high-growth sales orgs. From rethinking territory design to balancing equity with accountability, Dan shares how he transformed underperforming teams into consistent winners, without clinging to sales superstars or status quo assumptions.This episode offers a candid look at the hard decisions CROs and sales leaders must make to scale performance without sacrificing culture. You'll hear why conviction matters more than consensus, how to spot reps ready for more than just promotion, and why internal networks can fast-track productivity. If you're tired of recycling the same top 10% and ready to build a coaching culture where every position matters, this conversation will shift how you lead.Top Takeaways1. Don't fear reassigning key accounts. Even top performers can adapt; keeping all the best accounts with senior reps creates a revolving door for new hires and stalls team growth.2. Break the “greenfield trap” for new reps. Reps in undeveloped territories often fail not from lack of talent, but from poor territory design and lack of enablement.3. Promotion isn't leadership readiness. Great reps often struggle as managers unless they're taught how to coach, hold people accountable, and operate strategically.4. Coaching must go beyond deal reviews. Most managers default to pipeline triage; real coaching means developing skills that affect every deal, not just the current quarter.5. Internal networks matter as much as external ones. High-performing reps build relationships across legal, finance, and other internal teams early, compressing ramp time and increasing deal velocity.6. The best leaders make ideas that help the business, not themselves. Dan's biggest promotions came from pitching business-first ideas with no personal gain attached; conviction creates opportunity.7. Equitable territories create stronger teams. Giving everyone a real shot at success, rather than over-rewarding tenure, builds momentum and reduces attrition.8. Friendship and accountability can coexist. Strong relationships within the team don't weaken performance; they create the trust needed for tough conversations and high standards.9. Ask: Are you making the news or reporting it? Reps who lead the sales process proactively outperform those who simply react to buyer-driven next steps.10. You can build momentum and hit the number. It's not either-or; with the right structure, you can build long-term capability while executing in the short term.

After 200+ episodes and thousands of hours with the world's top SaaS sales leaders, Hunters & Unicorns presents Sales SOS raw, practical conversations that dive deep into the mindset, strategies, and frameworks behind elite career growth in tech sales. In this episode, Hunters and Unicorns very own Simon and Ollie answer four critical questions every ambitious sales professional should be asking: 1. What's the common thread among top-tier CROs? Discover the power of “Career Champions” and why no one gets to the top alone. 2. Why are you being overlooked for promotions? It's not always about performance. We unpack how alignment, visibility, and internal champions dictate career momentum. 3. How do you position yourself as the irresistible first pick? We share hard-earned insights into how the best salespeople get fast-tracked for leadership roles. 4. How do you break the glass ceiling — and stay there? From skill mastery to the right strategic choices, we talk about what it really takes to go all the way. This episode is for ambitious AEs, aspiring leaders, and current managers ready to level up with clarity, intent, and strategy. If this episode hit home, don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe. We drop practical gold every week. #SaaSSales #CROCareer #TechSalesLeadership #SalesSOS #HuntersAndUnicorns

In this short segment of the Revenue Builders Podcast, we revisit the discussion with Matt Maloney, SVP of Global Sales at Fireblocks, to dissect a critical lesson in sales leadership: the unwavering focus on hitting the number. Maloney recounts a pivotal mentoring moment at CloudLock that reshaped his approach to sales strategy, team structure, and market calibration. The episode also explores common missteps in early-stage startups—like trying to pursue too many use cases or building teams misaligned with the product's true market fit. It's a candid and practical masterclass for CROs, sales leaders, and founders navigating go-to-market chaos.KEY TAKEAWAYS[00:01:52] The #1 job of a sales leader isn't building teams—it's figuring out how to hit the number.[00:02:41] Calibration of resources is critical: Balance dominance in core markets with smart expansion into emerging ones.[00:03:41] A hard lesson: Building the wrong sales team for the product's actual market fit can derail everything.[00:04:24] Why focusing on 3-4 key use cases is more effective than spreading thin across many[00:05:50] Avoid copying old playbooks—be objective about your current product and ICP[00:06:35] Collaborate with technical founders: Align sales goals, use data, and define outlier strategies together.[00:07:24] Operating without a clear ICP is dangerous—know how to scale, train, and forecast from it.QUOTES[00:02:15] "Your job is not to build an enterprise sales team or an SMB team—it's to build the right team to hit the number.[00:03:41] "I was convinced our guiding light was to build an enterprise team. What I didn't realize was that our product was really suited for mid-market."[00:05:08] "You can't build world-class products, marketing, or sales training for 13 use cases. Focus is everything.[00:07:00] "Outliers are okay, but you need a plan for them. Don't pretend they're your core ICP."[00:07:47] "If you can't identify your ICP and scale from it, you're operating in dangerous water."Listen to the full conversation through the link below.https://revenue-builders.simplecast.com/episodes/blockchain-the-future-of-finance-with-matt-maloney-loysynttEnjoying the podcast? Sign up to receive new episodes straight to your inbox:https://hubs.li/Q02R10xN0Check out John McMahon's book here:Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/1K7DDC4Check out Force Management's Ascender platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you'll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Jeanne Taylor Hecht, Chief Executive Officer and Chairwoman at Lexitas. Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Jeanne, covering: How Jeanne's various roles have equipped her to become a more rounded CEO and board member. How a stint in Asia led Jeanne to develop her strategy playbook, including the importance of the client's voice. Jeanne's journey, taking on eight different boards and becoming a serial investor and advisor... and how that did not happen by accident. She said that having a strong relationship with a PE firm and missing the hands-on, day-to-day role of being a CEO led her back to the hot seat. Understanding why has being a specialist ophthalmology CRO given Lexitas traction with small to medium biotechs, and what is the future in store for CROS? Jeanne's industry career spanned over twenty-five years as a Board member and Chief Executive Officer of multiple companies, including CEO at Ora and Senior Executive at Median Technologies, IQVIA, Decision Biomarkers, and the UNC Oncology Protocol Office. Jeanne also launched and expanded a Life Sciences consulting practice that supported companies with sales, marketing, and market growth strategies and advisory and board work. She is primarily motivated by helping to bring relief to patients.  Jeanne is an active Advisory Board Member for the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler's Business School and Lecturer at the business school. She contributed to the creation of Wake Forest University's master's in clinical research program and remains an active industry advisor to the school. She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Michigan and a Master of Business Administration from the university's Ross School of Business. Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We'd also appreciate a positive rating!  Molecule to Market is also sponsored and funded by ramarketing, an international marketing, design, digital and content agency helping companies differentiate, get noticed and grow in life sciences.

Send us a textAI promises to revolutionize clinical trials and reshape regulatory oversight. But is the pharma industry ready? And can the FDA keep pace with the technology? In this episode of the HealthBiz Podcast, host David Williams is joined by Tom Doyle, Chief Technology Officer of Medidata, to discuss the promises and potential pitfalls of AI in clinical trials.

On this episode of CRO Spotlight, host Warren Zenna sits down with lighting-rod revenue leader Jessica Robertson, Chief Revenue Officer at Orbb. After first connecting at a lively CRO roundtable, they unpack a conversation that could have lasted hours—touching on business philosophy, sales innovation, and the evolving role of relationships in growth. Tune in to discover why Jessica's intelligence and empathy make her a standout leader in today's noisy market.Jessica traces her rise from a teenage sales development representative to spearheading revenue as Orbb's CRO, reflecting on a decade spent mastering sales leadership across multiple industries. From navigating complex enterprise cycles to running thousands of monthly transactions, she explains how a puzzle-shaped mind fueled her creativity before sharpening it with data-driven rigor. Learn how empathetic listening, agile experimentation, and strategic analytics blended in her approach to drive authentic growth.They dive into the nuts and bolts of designing scalable revenue operations: defining an ideal customer profile, segmenting ICP tiers, mapping clear funnel stages, and choosing a flexible CRM that grows with you. Jessica emphasizes starting with precise targeting over mass outreach, building functional pipelines grounded in relationship intelligence, and iterating relentlessly by capturing first-party email and calendar data to combat peak noise, maintain data hygiene, and prioritize real connections.In the final segment, they explore the future of outbound outreach: leveraging email and calendar metadata to surface genuine champions and establish a relationship funnel that complements traditional channels. Jessica unpacks Orbb's smart career overlap technology—how it uncovers verified networks to fuel warm introductions, reduce wasted touches, and unlock untapped pipelines. Host Warren Zenna closes with actionable insights to help current and aspiring CROs stay ahead in revenue intelligence.

In this episode, Bryan unpacks what makes a truly effective sales playbook - and why now is the time for sales leaders to get serious about it. He shares the key components every playbook must include: a foundational philosophy, planning elements, defined processes, contingency plans, and accountability mechanisms. Bryan spotlights the Blind Zebra Sales Operating System (BZSOS), a comprehensive set of procedures, tasks and scoreboards, with 10 guiding principles that help sales teams achieve clarity, consistency, and success. He also invites sales leaders to two powerful opportunities: certification classes designed to help teams master BZSOS (ahead of Q4), and Huddle, a sales leader-only event on October 30 in Indianapolis where VPs of Sales and CROs from across the country will gather for a day of learning, motivation, and inspiration. Don't let Q4 sneak up on you. Tune in and get your playbook in order! Advanced Selling Podcast Listeners save $200 on Huddle tickets purchased in July 2025 with discount code SANTA: https://wl.seetickets.us/event/Huddle-Sales-Leadership-Summit-Connect-25/628954?afflky=HuddleSalesSummit Curious about certification in the Blind Zebra Sales Operating System? Learn more here. And if you haven't already, make sure you join the Advanced Selling Podcast LinkedIn group: http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin.

This week on Revenue Rehab, Brandi Starr is joined by Sherry Grote, creator of the Harmony Hero framework and a B2B marketing leader with 25+ years transforming brands and driving revenue. Sherry believes marketing and HR hold untapped power as revenue accelerators—but only if their voices are amplified beyond traditional roles and given real influence in the boardroom. Challenging the status quo that sidelines these functions, Sherry argues that true revenue growth hinges on aligning people, brand, and culture—not just products and pipelines. If you're ready to rethink where brand power really drives the bottom line, tune in—and decide if Sherry's perspective changes your mind.  Episode Type: Problem Solving - Industry analysts, consultants, and founders take a bold stance on critical revenue challenges, offering insights you won't hear anywhere else. These episodes explore common industry challenges and potential solutions through expert insights and varied perspectives.  Bullet Points of Key Topics + Chapter Markers: Topic #1: Marketing & HR—The Undervalued Revenue Drivers [04:44]  Sherry Grote boldly argues that marketing and HR are essential drivers of revenue and brand but are consistently marginalized in executive decision-making. She challenges the conventional belief that marketing is a “faucet you can just turn on” and spotlights how HR's influence on culture is chronically overlooked—particularly damaging “in an artificial everything world.” Brandi Starr echoes the misalignment, noting most companies pigeonhole this partnership as “marketing giving HR tchotchkes,” prompting a debate on the true strategic potential of these functions when united.  Topic #2: Boardroom Influence—Turning Up the Volume on Brand Voices [07:14]  Sherry argues that the boardroom routinely sidelines marketing and HR, relegating them to after-thought status in favor of sales, finance, and product updates. “HR, we really don't have time for you to talk, so just put your slide in there and we'll just make sure that the board has that.” She proposes a radical change: marketing and HR should proactively demonstrate their impact on revenue, culture, and pipeline to win advocates among CFOs, CROs, and CPOs—shifting from self-promotion to integrated business influence.  Topic #3: Rethinking Compensation and Collaboration for Revenue Alignment [17:50]  Sherry challenges revenue leaders to recognize compensation misalignment as a core driver of inefficiency and discord between marketing, sales, and HR. She critiques the “rip and replace” approach to CMOs, tying it to systemic incentive problems: “It's often the head of marketing that really sees this breakdown and challenge and having that real relationship with HR could be an opportunity to help to influence that.” Brandi pushes for actionable solutions, leading to a discussion about moving BDRs into marketing and partnering with HR to overhaul incentive structures for true revenue team alignment.  The Wrong Approach vs. Smarter Alternative  The Wrong Approach: “A leader before they've had a time to actually make an impact in the business.” – Sherry Grote  Why It Fails: Swapping out marketing or HR leaders too quickly disrupts momentum and undermines strategic initiatives before they can take hold. This short-sighted turnover prevents teams from making the incremental changes necessary for lasting impact and damages organizational culture and continuity.  The Smarter Alternative: Instead of jumping to leadership changes, companies should focus on building strong alignment and rapport between sales, marketing, and HR, giving leaders the space and support needed to drive meaningful, long-term business results.  The Most Damaging Myth  The Myth: “Marketing is a faucet that you can just turn on and you will get instant results.” – Sherry Grote  Why It's Wrong: This belief leads organizations to expect immediate impact from marketing efforts, creating unrealistic timelines and frustration when quick results don't materialize. As Sherry explains, marketing is actually more like a well that requires consistent pumping—building effective campaigns takes time, ongoing effort, and a systems approach. When companies operate under the “faucet” myth, they make disruptive changes or swap out talent prematurely, undermining long-term progress and ROI.  What Companies Should Do Instead: Treat marketing as an engine that needs sustained investment and incremental improvement. Allow marketing leaders time to build momentum, focus on developing processes, and foster strong cross-departmental relationships—especially with HR—to build a people-first culture that supports brand and revenue growth.  The Rapid-Fire Round  Finish this sentence: If your company has this problem, the first thing you should do is _ “Ensure that you have built rapport with sales, marketing and HR to be in total alignment.” – Sherry Grote  What's one red flag that signals a company has this problem—but might not realize it yet? “If your employees don't have psychological safety, then you do not have a culture that is going to have a positive brand influence.”  What's the most common mistake people make when trying to fix this? “Changing out a leader before they've had time to actually make an impact in the business.”  What's the fastest action someone can take today to make progress? “Know what your 5% is—be clear on what makes you different from everyone else doing your type of job, whether you're in HR, marketing, finance, or sales.”  Buzzword Banishment: Sherry's buzzword to banish is "amplify." She dislikes this term because in today's environment—where it's applied to everything—the word has been overused and lost its impact and meaning. Sherry notes that while "amplify" once described increasing awareness or engagement in a meaningful way, its ubiquity now renders it ineffective and even frustrating to encounter.  Links:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherrygrote/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theharmonyhero  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Harmony-Hero/61568386591394  Website: https://www.theharmonyhero.com  Subscribe, listen, and rate/review Revenue Rehab Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts , Amazon Music, or iHeart Radio and find more episodes on our website RevenueRehab.live  

Problematic stakeholders could be convinced if they... just got data. Right? Nope. Sometimes it's deeper than that. You gotta understand what makes them tick. Is it data? Is it optics? Maybe you should be running heuristic audits on your stakeholders instead of your website...In the second time EVER, someone else has changed my mind on something. Leave it to "Kingpin" Finn McKenty, who's apparently gone from Punk Rock MBA to Finn McKenty PhD, to change my mind.We got into:- How YouTubers are more data driven than your own CEO (lol)- Why you should be running heuristic audits not JUST on your website, but on the stakeholders you interact with (and tips to do so effectively)- Finn gives some general life advice on learning to let go (important when many product and CROs don't have autonomy to actually impact anything)Timestamps:00:00 Episode Start2:46  The analogy of CRO and "Gym" goes so deep6:25 Even YouTubers are data driven11:20 People who don't buy into “experimentation” just optimize for different metrics than you14:28 Psychology of UXers vs. Product/CRO (Finn low key is a psychologist now)20:01 Running heuristic audits on… stakeholders? (yes - it's a good idea)25:07 Optimization sometimes means optimizing for ‘helping people' (not metrics)30:16 Sometimes, CROs gotta play the politics game35:13 Finn offers sage advice in learning how to let go (CROs need to hear this)49:06 Preach: Samuele MazzantiGo follow Finn McKenty on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnmckenty/ And go subscribe to his newsletter:https://finnmckenty.beehiiv.com/ Go check out Samuele Mazzanti's post too: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoB-SamueleAlso go follow Shiva Manjunath on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-manjunath/⁠Subscribe to our newsletter for more memes, clips, and awesome content! https://fromatob.beehiiv.com/And go get your free ticket for the Women in Experimentation - you might even be entered to win some From A to B merch! : https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoB-WIE

When sales targets are missed, most leaders look at the pipeline, process, or personnel. But what if the real issue is a lack of psychological safety? In this episode of Coach to Scale, host Matt Benelli sits down with John Walston, author, entrepreneur, and founder of the Keep On Movement, to explore how vulnerability, empathy, and consistency in leadership can transform sales outcomes. Walston shares how personal adversity reshaped his leadership style, making him a more effective coach and culture builder.This episode is a must-listen for CROs, VPs of Sales, and frontline managers navigating burnout, underperformance, or high turnover. You'll walk away with tactical ways to shift from transactional management to human-centered leadership, without sacrificing accountability. Topics include managing anxiety in high-pressure environments, turning 1:1s into developmental moments, and why “get over it” is the fastest way to lose trust and performance. If you lead teams, this conversation will challenge how you measure success and show how culture is a quota strategy.Takeaways 1. “Just stop it” doesn't work, especially in sales leadership.Telling someone to push through stress or anxiety without support not only fails, but it also damages trust and culture.2. You can't lead people effectively if you don't understand what they're carrying.Empathy isn't a soft skill; it's a leadership multiplier that directly impacts motivation and consistency.3. Physical movement drives mental clarity and performance.Exercise helped Walston recover from a personal crisis, and research shows it's as effective as medication for many mental health issues.4. Positivity isn't the same as being happy.Leaders can model resilience by moving forward with optimism, even while acknowledging discomfort or hardship.5. Your team won't grow if your 1:1s are just pipeline inspections.Coaching conversations should go beyond deal reviews to include skill development and personal connection.6. Culture is built in the moments between numbers.Asking your reps about their weekend and remembering what they said builds trust that translates into accountability.7. Positive self-talk is a skill leaders must model and teach.Verbalizing functional thoughts (especially out loud) has a 10x psychological effect compared to internal dialogue.8. Gratitude changes how you lead and how people follow.Being grateful for struggle, not just outcomes, shifts the mindset and allows leaders to better support their teams.9. Even one moment of connection can shift someone's trajectory.Whether it's a smile, a T-shirt slogan, or a question at the right time, leaders have the power to influence more than they realize.10. “Easy is not best,” and your reps need to hear that.High standards, not hand-holding, are what help people rise. But they must be delivered with belief and support.

Chris Degnan is one of the most legendary CROs of this generation. He joined Snowflake as employee #13 and the 1st sales hire. He scaled the sales org from 0 to over $3B in ARR, spanned four CEOs, and retired as CRO after 11 years. In his first podcast post-retirement, Chris opened his CRO playbook, from early enablement to hiring rigor and fending off threats from competitors. He also reflects on lessons from working with leaders like Frank Slootman, John McMahon, and Sridhar Ramaswamy. If you're a founder or running sales at a startup, this one is for you. (00:00) Introduction to Chris's Journey at Snowflake (01:47) Navigating Leadership Changes (04:39) The Importance of Sales Methodology and Enablement (10:22) Near-Death Experiences and Company Resilience (13:39) Building a Strong Sales Organization (27:25) Hiring and Scaling the Sales Team (34:52) Board Dynamics and Mentorship (44:29) The Influence of John McMahon (46:22) Leadership Styles and Intuition (46:56) Launching Snowflake Japan (49:39) Learning from Leaders (55:10) The Importance of Competitive Moats (59:12) Snowflake vs. Databricks (01:07:45) Public vs. Private Markets (01:14:03) Sales and Marketing Synergy (01:26:17) Final Thoughts and Future Plans Executive Producer: Rashad Assir Producer: Leah Clapper Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA

Maria Artunduaga is the founder & CEO of Samay, the winner of the 2024 MedTech Innovator accelerator, as well as a groundbreaking physician, scientist, and inventor. Maria discusses her inspiring journey from a small town in Columbia to leading a top MedTech company in the US. After pivoting away from plastic surgery training, she channeled her efforts into creating Sylvee, an AI wearable sensor for COPD patients. Maria shares her relentless determination, innovative problem-solving strategies, and the creation of a company culture that emphasizes learning and diversity.    Guest links: https://www.samayhealth.com/home | https://www.linkedin.com/in/drartunduaga/  Charity supported: ASPCA Interested in being a guest on the show or have feedback to share? Email us at theleadingdifference@velentium.com.  PRODUCTION CREDITS Host: Lindsey Dinneen Editing: Marketing Wise Producer: Velentium   EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Episode 057 - Maria Artunduaga [00:00:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Hi, I'm Lindsey and I'm talking with MedTech industry leaders on how they change lives for a better world. [00:00:09] Diane Bouis: The inventions and technologies are fascinating and so are the people who work with them. [00:00:15] Frank Jaskulke: There was a period of time where I realized, fundamentally, my job was to go hang out with really smart people that are saving lives and then do work that would help them save more lives. [00:00:28] Diane Bouis: I got into the business to save lives and it is incredibly motivating to work with people who are in that same business, saving or improving lives. [00:00:38] Duane Mancini: What better industry than where I get to wake up every day and just save people's lives. [00:00:42] Lindsey Dinneen: These are extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, and this is The Leading Difference. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of The Leading Difference podcast. I'm your host Lindsey, and I am delighted to welcome as my guest today, Maria Artunduaga. Maria is a physician, scientist, and inventor with 60 plus prizes, including becoming the first woman to lead a US LATAM company to win MedTech Innovator, the world's most competitive accelerator for medical technology surpassing over 1300 global companies. A top 1% student in Columbia, her country of birth, she relocated to the US to pursue plastic surgery training, but abandoned it to dedicate herself to solve the problem that killed her grandmother-- a lack of home technologies that can detect COPD exasperations early. Maria has raised 5.2 million, almost 60% in non-dilutive capital from NSF and NIH to build Sylvee, an AI wearable sensor that can provide COPD patients with continuous data on pulmonary functions similar to what continuous glucose monitoring sensors do for diabetic patients. Her invention has been featured by a hundred plus media outlets, including Forbes, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, Fierce Healthcare, and more. Before Samay, Maria completed postdoctoral studies in human genetics at Harvard Medical School, started a plastic surgery residency at the University of Chicago, and completed two master's degrees, one in global public health at the University of Washington, and another in translational medicine at the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco. She lives in Mountain View, California with her husband, 2-year-old daughter, and four pets. In her free time, she enjoys flamenco dancing, bolero singing, traveling the world, and fostering diversity in and outside the workplace by mentoring underrepresented scientists and entrepreneurs. All right. Well, thank you so much for being here, Maria. I'm so excited to finally get a chance to speak with you. I'd love if you would share a little bit about your background and your career trajectory. What led you to MedTech? [00:02:40] Maria Artunduaga: Sure. So it's gonna be a little long and I'm gonna tell you everything about my life because the personal history is very important to me and for my company too. So, as you have noticed, I have an accent. So, I grew up in Columbia in a very small town in the southern part of the country. My parents were both doctors and I'm the oldest of four kids and two of us followed their lead. So my life in my city was pretty chill. Everyone knew everyone. I spent most of my days at a Catholic school studying very hard on weekends where I usually spent tagging along my parents to doctor events. One of the things that I really like to tell, it's how my parents work as entrepreneurs really shaped my life. They were real pioneers. They built in my hometown the first big clinic back in the eighties and the nineties. And my mom was the only woman in that group, and she actually was the CEO for a while, which was a big deal. She was the only woman in a partnership of 10 people. And watching them build that clinic, that hospital really taught me a lot about dealing with uncertainty and finding solutions. Every day we'll have supper or lunch and I'll just hear all of these challenges and stories, their struggles and how they solve things. Something that was, that is definitely super helpful in what I do now, right? So, and then I was 16 and after high school I moved to Bogota, the capital, which is up in the mountains, it's very cold. I got a scholarship 'cause I was always a very good student. You know, career I spent my last year, I spent nine months in the US. Honestly, coming to the US blew my mind. The technology that I got to see, the speed, effects on science, it was nothing like I've ever seen before, and that was true inspiration for me. So I knew that I had to come to the US. I needed to come back to learn from the best, of course. And it's interesting because my parents didn't want me to relocate to the US. I was the oldest. I was supposed to follow into their footsteps and obviously, like inherited that clinic, right? That hospital, we call it clinic, it's actually a hospital. And I was a very contrarian. I didn't listen to them. I told them, you know, I really wanna be where the best people are. And what I did was that I, it took me three years to save the money to come to the US, to get Harvard to actually sponsor me my visa because they wouldn't pay me for the first year. So I remember I had to save $30,000, which in pesos is significant. So back in 2007, so many years ago, I made it to Boston, and the original idea was that I wanted to become a pediatric plastic surgeon and bring that level of care back to Columbia. I spent four years of researching a genetic ear condition that's called microtia. And with that work, I was able to land a plastic surgery residency spot or position at the University of Chicago. And I shared this with a lot of people. I actually had a really negative experience. Things didn't go as planned. I actually faced discrimination. I eventually, you know, had to leave and I made the top choice to never ever go back into clinical practice. And I changed paths. I was 32 years old and yeah I decided to switch gears. I retrained into public health and tech. And then in 2016, I moved to the Bay Area where I am right now. And I got another scholarship to finish master's in translational medicine at UC Berkeley and UCSF. And during the courses that I took, some of them with business class etc., etc., I decided to found Samay in 2018. I really wanted to build something that would really make a difference in respiratory medicine. And this is where my grandmother comes. So my, the grandmother, my abuela, her name was Sylvia and she had Chronic Obstruct Pulmonary Disease or COPD and she's the reason behind my company. So, she often couldn't tell when her symptoms were getting worse. That's a huge problem. Catching the respiratory attacks, exacerbations is definitely key to keeping people outside of the hospitals, and obviously feeling their best to have a better quality of life. So, that's what we are trying to solve with a company, right? If we are able to catch those exacerbations even with a day or two notice in advance, right, that we can all make a difference. And so by missing these exacerbations, we are having really high expenses in hospitalizations and ER visits and the problem we trying to solve is that today technologies that are adequate enough to be used outside of the hospital because the ones that are considered to be the gold standard, they are very expensive. They are confined to their hospitals and they are very difficult to complete for the patient, especially when they're exacerbating. They need to blow out forcefully for about 10 seconds, 21 times. So what we are doing is, we are developing a sensor that makes it super simple for people to use it at home to track their lung function without doing those forceful maneuvers and ideally in the future to warm them, right? Like to let them know when things are starting to go south or obviously, you know, not going very well, and that's what it's all about. I mean, that's what we do with Sylvee right here. And it's wearable sensor and we have done significantly well over the past couple of years. We actually just won MedTech Innovator. [00:08:04] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Significantly well over the last few years. Yes. So congratulations on that, and I want to dive into all of those exciting milestones in just a second. But I am, first of all, so inspired by your story. Thank you for just sharing that your resilience and your grit and your determination are really admirable. So thank you for sticking with something that was not easy, not an easy path. [00:08:29] Maria Artunduaga: I know. I know. [00:08:31] Lindsey Dinneen: It continues not to be, ironically, as we've kind of touched on before, but just going backward a little bit in your story. So I, it sounds to me like getting the opportunity to watch your parents have this incredible impact on their community and the healthcare and the opportunity is just so valuable for you. And even just learning about how your mom was the CEO and those kinds of things, did that help shape the idea for you that not only is entrepreneurship possible, is innovation and healthcare possible, but you can also be this in incredible leader as a woman in whatever capacity? I would just love to dive into that. [00:09:13] Maria Artunduaga: Yeah, it's super interesting, right? My mom really taught me a lot about leadership. She's a surgeon, so you can imagine how good of a leader she is in the operating room at home, everywhere, right? I mean, she's definitely the general, that's how I call her. And I honestly, I try to replicate, so my leadership and styles pretty much shaped by her. So I always call her my best role model whenever somebody asks me about the question, right? So I'm just like her. I lead from the front. I like setting the pace by working the hardest. So I really like to lead by example and I also, just like she did, and obviously because of her surgical training, I hold myself to a really high standard, and I expect everyone on my team to do the same. So people in my company know that I'm very strict, I'm very disciplined, and they know that from the beginning. It's so funny because when I interview all of them, at the final interviews with me, and I actually do the anti sale to join Samay. It's like, this is, these are all the reasons why you shouldn't join. I start describing myself as a very intense, obsessed CEO with insomnia, which I still have, because I really wanna make this work, right? So, yeah, I, ask them, and most of them say yes. I really like, I attract people that like challenges, especially intellectual challenges. So, yeah, to this point, most of them say yes. Some of them have obviously, you know, because probably too much. But at the same time, I tell them, "Look, this is going to be very hard in terms of the deliverables, the things that we're expecting from you." But at the same time, my goal is to not only help people with respiratory problems, I try to sell the company as a company where everyone that gets hired can be themselves and thrive. So, so for example, I tell them," Look, I'm trying to be the boss that I never had." And this goes obviously very tied to the very negative experience that I had during my surgical residency and even before, right? So, I never had a boss that really supported me, who recognize my true self and those characteristics as good things, right? So they always try to tone me down. I'm very energetic, as you can notice, and I'm also super ambitious. I'm really ambitious. I wanna do all of these great things. And they always thought that I was aiming for too much, especially for a woman. It's like, " You need to lean in, Maria. You need to behave." So I remember my residency, they were criticizing like, "Why are you behaving like this, Maria? Why are you asking so many questions? You're asking too many questions. You look more as an internal medicine doctor. Why are you always smiling, Maria? Why are you so happy?" So now, with everyone that I hire, what I try to do is that I focus on understanding their dreams and I try to figure out how this job is gonna help them get there. So if they wanna become a top engineer, maybe they wanna learn managerial skills, or they wanna run operations, or they eventually wanna become a founder themselves. So I try to create a partnership with them where they obviously help me succeed with the company, build Samay, but at the same time they get to do this personal growth. So it's extremely important that they get to place where they wanna be. [00:12:32] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, that's wonderful. And such a gift to your employees. And I also honestly, that sort of anti interview or whatever technique is brilliant because you do want it to be a fit for everyone, and it's so much better to have aligned expectations from the start. So, oh my goodness, that's so interesting. So, okay, so then. Speaking into that, how do you develop a company culture for yourself? You've learned from some pretty negative experiences, so obviously that's what not to do, but you know, as you're crafting your own company culture now, what kinds of things are sort of your core values, other than of course, your hard work and your excellence and holding yourself and others to high standards, but what kinds of things do have you developed that make it special to be where you are? [00:13:19] Maria Artunduaga: Yeah, I mean, that's a really good question. I'm very true to myself, and one of the things that I wanna do with Samay, it's I wanna create legacy. If you go to my WhatsApp, that's exactly the little logo or the slogan that's below my name: I'm creating or building my life's legacy. That's how I pitch myself. So I really wanna be remembered as someone that made healthcare more accessible, especially for the people that get left behind. So growing up in Columbia, I saw firsthand how unfair things will be and I wanted to change that. So that's how the values of Samay go, people first. I think legacy, it's extremely important, right? It's about getting those life changing tools and opportunities into the hands of people who really need them. And again, it's not necessarily, the group that we're building. It's the own experience of building a company with me, learning from the company, from the people that are working with. I really wanna make it accessible for people. And I wanna also be obviously a source of inspiration. You don't necessarily need to be this perfect person to be a CEO. You know, life is a struggle and that's totally fine. Just be very passionate about building legacy, right, your work and how you're impacting other people. And especially for me, I do a lot of work with women and minorities. I really wanna empower them to chase their dreams in science and technology. I really care about people. I don't know, I'm selfless about me. It's all about the others and creating legacy and being remembered. So, yeah, that's how I, that's how I roll. [00:14:59] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that. I love that. So speaking of you embracing the CEO role, when you first started your company, did you feel ready to step into this kind of position? Or was it something where you just were like, "You know what? I see the need. I know I can make a difference in this field. I'm gonna do it and I'll learn along the way." [00:15:19] Maria Artunduaga: No, not at all. And let, so there's a very good anecdote that I'm sharing. Again, back to all of these life changing experiences. I got into medtech because of, I don't know, somehow the planets got aligned, right? So I was doing a master's in public health because I thought that was going to be my real call, working for Gates in Seattle, because that's where I actually lived for about two years. Then I came to realize that it was very bureaucratic. It's very, was very slow. I have a type A personality. I really like to fix things very quick. I like to implement stuff. So I decided to do a second master's degree, and as I mentioned, here in Berkeley, I decided to join one of Atma METs minority programs for students, right? It's called SMDP. And I remember that was back in 2016, and they sent me to Minneapolis for the big conference. And that's where I got my first real taste of MedTech. And I remember watching the MedTech Innovator finals with Paul Grand. He was introducing the program, the finalist. I remember clearly seeing all of his pitches and how Green Sun Medical CEO won, and it was a game changer to me because when I saw them pitch, it was very exciting. You know, all these technologies, the many millions of people they could definitely impact, I saw that, and it clicked. I could turn the scientific ideas into something that helps millions in a way, the way how I would practice medicine, but in a more impactful way. So interesting story though. So the other thing that was very inspiring or at least that motivated me, I was the only person in the room who looked like me and spoke with an accent from South America, from Latin America. So it was like two reasons behind it. For me, it was I wanna be a medtech entrepreneur, but at the same time I wanna be able to break the glass ceiling, right? The first Latina physician CEO building a company that has hardware, software, and AI, this is what we actually do. And yeah, so it, it's mainly that. I really like challenges and I'm very motivated to show people that I can do things that might seem impossible or too difficult. So I really like showing people that anything is possible with a lot of hard work and determination. So yeah, that's mainly it. [00:17:47] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that. Embracing those challenges, running full steam at them and having that, I don't know, that gumption is fantastic too. And the desire, like... [00:17:57] Maria Artunduaga: Thank you. [00:17:57] Lindsey Dinneen: ...you said, to break through those ceilings and to represent and say, "No, it is possible." It is, and I love that. So, excellent. Okay, so can you share a little bit about the journey that the company has gone under recently and some of the really exciting milestones? I know there have been bumps and whatnot, but maybe some of the exciting things that have been developing and what you're looking forward to as you continue down the road. [00:18:24] Maria Artunduaga: Sure. I mean, whew. There are so many things that have been happening for the last couple of months. So it's been a long journey. It's been six years so far. Initially, you know, I wanted to build a company with an idea that was inspired, obviously, by the fact that I lost my grandmother to exacerbation and also because, at the time, I didn't know what I wanted to build. When I was doing an interview with a pulmonologist, what I realized was that I could actually build a technology that could be inspired by consumer devices, so hearing aids for example. And funny story is that my husband who is also Columbian, and went to MIT, he's been working at Google for over a decade and he's an auto engineer. He does a lot of things. He's very smart and he's one of the main architects. What I decided to do back then was, let's repurpose hearing aid technology by sending signals through the chest, and let's use the physical principle of acoustic resonance to understand what's going on inside of the lungs. And that's exactly what we are doing. We have 10 granted patents so far. We have 20 more pending on pulmonary so far. So we've done a lot of things. So we've tested that device on 450 people almost. All of our numbers of accuracy are over 90. Sensitivities and specificities are also between 82 to 98. Right now we are starting to see changes a few days before an exacerbation is actually diagnosed by a physician, which is extremely exciting. We have data from two people. Obviously it's a small sample size. We are following eight of them, and we're aiming to finish at 60 to hundred people in the next year or so. So that's our main goal. We've raised 5.2 million, 60% of that money is coming from grants, federal grants, and we just submitted a breakthrough designation to the FDA about a week ago, so fingers crossed, though, we get it right? There are a lot of things in the pipeline, things that are very exciting. Right now I'm super excited 'cause those six years were very hard. I was running a science project with my nails, getting money from grants, help from people who have known me forever. It was very hard for me to recruit a full-time CTO. So my husband has been helping me with some hours here and there. And we have right now 12 people in Columbia. So for developers, designers, clinical researchers, we are running most of our operations in Latin America because it's extremely, well, obviously cost efficient, and more importantly, we have access to people that are patients especially that are, that exacerbate more often. So we are to leverage all the different angles that we can get. [00:21:04] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Wow. So lots of exciting things in the works and in the future, and oh my goodness, I'm so excited, can't wait to continue to celebrate all those wonderful accomplishments. So I'm curious, as you've taken this journey and even before with your other health experiences and finding this path, are there any moments all along the journey that really stand out to you as affirming, "Yes, I am in the right place at the right time, in the right industry." [00:21:31] Maria Artunduaga: Yeah, beyond the MedTech Innovator, the experience eight years ago, I mean, every day I find that this is the perfect fit for me. I always tell people, "Look, entrepreneurship is not for everyone. It really needs to be a fit of personality." So when I talked to my parents, because at the beginning they weren't very agreeable with the idea of me becoming an entrepreneur 'cause physicians don't do this, right? I was sort of like a black sheep of a family, 'cause my sister, she's successful and she's a pediatric radiologist as she's working for an academic center in, in Dallas. So, my personality, I'm Type A. I'm very anxious. I really like doing things super fast. I really like to get things done, right? So, I dunno if I picked the wrong career, probably could have done a better job as an engineer, as a scientist myself. So at heart, I'm a true scientist. That's what I really enjoy. I like practicing medicine, sort of miss it a little bit, but I'm more in the quest of solving questions and discovering, right? That's what really excites me. And then, every day is a new day when you're building a company. And the challenges that I have every day, all of the problems I have to solve, I really enjoy the process of solving them. And this is a little crazy. Who gets excited with problems, right? So, I don't know, that's probably me. So I guess every day, the moment I go home or that I go to sleep, I say, "This is perfect. I don't think I'll be as happy as I am right now if I had stayed medicine. I don't think so." [00:23:10] Lindsey Dinneen: Wow. And that says a lot. And that just affirms to you on a daily basis, "Yeah. I am doing what I'm supposed to be doing. That's wonderful. [00:23:17] Maria Artunduaga: Exactly. Right. It's like, yeah, I'm good at this thing. You know? I like solving problems. I got, I really enjoy the fires. I really like them. I's like, I don't know. I'm, yeah. I'm addicted to them. [00:23:30] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that. Well, and that is unusual, and I'm curious, do you? But it's a great thing. No, it's a wonderful thing. Yeah, no, absolutely. I love that. So, so when you're at finding yourself up against a problem, do you start with any particular kind of established framework? Do you like to just brainstorm solutions? How do you approach problem solving? [00:23:53] Maria Artunduaga: Gosh, this is a really good question. It's like, you know, if I had to teach something, right? So I'm very good at solving problems, at connecting different disciplines, right, to solve those issues. So for example, the way how I go about them, first of all, I don't get frustrated or too anxious about it. I always try to think first, right? And then, yeah, I start brainstorming. I'm very quick at thinking, my mind goes super quick. I have a whiteboard right behind me. I do a lot brainstorming on my own. I ask a lot of questions too. So I rely on a lot of people, and I get a lot of feedback on the way, how I think a problem needs to be solved. And obviously with time and experience, the older that you get, the better you become, right? So yeah, honestly, every problem is different. I just like seeing it from different angles, right? I'm very good with social stuff. I'm very good with arts too. I really like doing science, learning a about engineering. I really like different ways of solving problems. For example, I remember that I we had this NIH grant and we were working collaboration with a big, famous academic center right here. And things weren't working very well. That was through during a pandemic and I was getting charged things that we actually didn't approve. So things were getting a little awkward. I decided to finalize that agreement. But then I got through this situation that I had no access to patients here in the States, and at the time, I didn't have my clinical site in Columbia opened up. So what I did was the craziest thing, which is what I did, was that I bought an $80,000 machine and I came into an agreement with a friend from medical school who has a pulmonary practice in South Florida, one of the largest pulmonary practices. He's a partner with nine other guys, and they see probably a hundred patients every day. Can you imagine that? So respiratory patients, and I told him, "Look, I don't have any money to pay your rent, but I'm gonna give you equity for that rent, and you're gonna use this machine from Monday through Thursday, and I'm going to test your patients from Friday to Saturday. And I'm going to bring people, I'm going to become my own CRO, right? So I'm gonna bring people, doctors, from Columbia on a J1 visa as a research scholar visa. I'm gonna train them and I'm gonna get them to do the recruitment, review everything, test the patients. We are going to become our own CROs, and we are going to do as many people as we can every single week." So we were able to do 430 people in a span of a probably a year and a half. Something that usually would cost us thousands of dollars. I dunno how much money I spend, probably just 300,000 to do everything. Can you imagine? I mean, that's significantly cheap compared to any other quote that I've been getting from an academic center. So, I sometimes go for the crazy idea, right? Like, what's the craziest thing that I could think of? I literally, I write it down, right? And then I just try to double check with my lawyer. "Am I doing something illegal here?" And I, yeah, I cross reference with other founders. " I'm thinking of doing this, how that's that sound?" And they're like, "This is pretty non-traditional, Maria, but I mean, if you can get it done..." I'm like, "Yeah, of course I can get it done." And I just get it done. I just don't take a no for an answer. I'm very good at also finding, convincing people to jump on board with the vision, the mission. This excitement, this energy, people really get very engaged with Samay and with me as a founder, and they love it. Most of these people either have invested in the company, they are helping me many more hours, pro bono, literally free, and we are building together. [00:27:43] Lindsey Dinneen: Wow, that is so cool. And what a fantastic story. Thank you for sharing that one as well. Oh my word. [00:27:50] Maria Artunduaga: I have way too many stories to share. This is the one I really like to, to tell people. [00:27:55] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that, and I love the willingness to come up with those crazy ideas. And it might be just so crazy that it works. So, hey, you never know until you try, and that's fantastic. Oh my gosh, I love that approach. Alright, so pivoting the conversation a little bit just for fun. Imagine you are to be offered a million dollars to teach a masterclass... I know! ...to teach a masterclass on anything you want. What would you choose to teach? [00:28:22] Maria Artunduaga: Yeah. So, good question. So, gosh, I, I tackle problem. So my, my brain again is very good at figuring stuff out. That plus the fact that I'm very stubborn. So if I'm into something, I don't give up easily. And now I'm gonna tell the story about our winning MedTech Innovator. We beat 65 companies globally, right? And I still like, sort of, I cannot process that we won. So the story goes like this, but a year ago, I tried to raise five millions, my very first institutional round, and I totally flopped. [00:28:55] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh. [00:28:56] Maria Artunduaga: I only got $200,000 because multiple funds that I was talking to, they wanted me to feel half of the round before weighing any money or signing anything. So you can imagine. So do I got, you know, chicken or the egg problem? I failed. And instead of crying or mopping, I thought, "Okay, wait. I got into Medtech Innovator. You know what? I'm just gonna win that competition, still $350,000." And why not? So obviously people, my advisors, my best friend, "Like, you're crazy. It's the most competitive thing ever. You're not established in the field. People know who you are, but it's not like you have exited a company or anything, right? You're not even an engineer, Maria." So what I did was, again I went back to my whiteboard. Again, I probably should have become an engineer before, I dunno. I'm really good at solving problems. So I was like, "You know, this is a problem. These are the different ways how I can tackle this." And more importantly, I'm very good at the studying stuff. I really like, again, knowing, wisdom, information. I just love that. I really love that. So what I did was, I treat it like a big project, and I talked to the past winners, anyone who had done or won any sort of like prize with MedTech Innovator, and I figure out their secret sauce. So I either talk to them, I studied every single video, every single pitch. I spend many hours studying everyone who had one or had done significantly well throughout the accelerator. So what I discovered was the accelerator was kind of a school, like a school. So the harder you work, the better you do. And one of the things that I realized was that mentors and reviewers were key players. So I focused on building those connections. I met with many of them. I probably spent about, I don't know, probably four to five hours meeting with mentors, anyone who I thought could help me somehow, obviously, for free, because a lot of the help that they give used for free. And I also spent a lot of time doing homework, the webinars, et cetera, et cetera. I ask a lot of people for advice. I really got people excited about Samay. I recruited my mentors and they got on board from day one. Because of that, I started building those relationships and it was authentic. I mean, don't get me wrong, this wasn't like, you know, I'm trying to play anybody. I really care about what they had to say, and I incorporate all that feedback into my company to this day. So the other thing is, I make sure to go to everywhere, every webinar, every event, everything. My camera was always on, because most people, when they do their webinars, they don't even turn on their cameras, right? So I was very engaged. I was asking questions, I was getting involved with everything. Same thing with the Slack channel that we have for MedTech Innovator. I was helping people, I was sharing stuff. I was even offering to make introductions. I really made sure that people knew who I was. And I obviously also asked the MedTech Innovator people, the staff, for help, feedback, right? Am I doing this right? What do you think I should do? Anything that you can share with me that you think. I was very clear with them. I wanna go to the, I wanna get to the finals. I told them, and I remember they telling me, "Oh, Maria, about getting to the finals, it's so hard. It depends on the strategics and the sponsors." And I was like, " I'm gonna get there. What do you think I should do?" So I literally ask a lot of people how I needed to get there. And with the finals, the way how they pick the finalist, it's actually the mentors who go in front of the strategics, and they sort of champion your company. And they really went to bat for us. They told them how committed I was, the many people that from my team were actually going for participating to the winner because I brought people from my team... [00:32:45] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. [00:32:46] Maria Artunduaga: You know, very few founders did that. I brought people from Colombia, obviously online, people who barely could understand English. But, I made them prepare questions. "You need to do this and that we need to be super engaged. We need to help other people." And they saw it was hard work. And at the end, we got into the finals and what I realized was, okay, so after the finals, I understood that the game was, obviously it changed. The way how the winner is chosen is that the audience votes, right, during The MedTech Conference. So what I did was, I went all in on social media. We made an awesome video for the best video competition. I remember that that was the first thing that I did back in June. I scheduled two weeks. I flew to Columbia. I hired right people. I made sure that I was perfect, so I was part of the creative team. I designed everything. Again, I really like arts, right? That's why, one of the reasons why I didn't, I was in pleasantry and that's why I really like dancing too, right? So I'm obsessive with everything that we do. I really am into the details and I supervise everything. And we also got into the finals for the best video competition. So I was going to this problem from every single angle. I didn't let anything up to chance. I, yeah, I'm a freak. I'm a control freak. That's what I did. I remember that even for the pitch, the four and a half minute pitch, I practiced, I don't know how many hours, but every single thing that I say that was obviously memorized, needed to be perfect. The way how I, let's go back to dancing since you're a dancer yourself, the way how I moved my hands, right? The way, how I walked on that stage, everything was rehearsed. So, yeah, I mean, I just I worked my ass off. I mean, everything was the way it needed to be and that's how we won. [00:34:39] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Wow. That's great. What a fantastic story. Yeah. Amazing. Yes. I love how it's so choreographed. Yeah, that's [00:34:48] Maria Artunduaga: great. It was choreographed, [00:34:50] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that. Excellent. Well, I know you have touched on the importance of legacy and how much that means to you, but how do you wish to be remembered after you leave this world? [00:35:03] Maria Artunduaga: Oh gosh. Yeah. I mean, so I have a little daughter, I want to some somehow replicate the same experience that I had with my mom. Maybe she doesn't even realize how much of the inspiration and the impact that she had on me. And again, leading by example, I don't spend a lot of hours with my daughter, right? I have a nanny for 12 hours. So my salary goes to her payment, right? Yeah, I wanna be remembered as somebody who tried very hard, who literally, instead of saying things, I walked the talk. The things that I said I was going to say. For example, I'm very opinionated with anything diversity and inclusion because, as I've said, I've experienced discrimination myself. So I walk the talk, I build a product, I build the change. I worked really hard. I impacted a lot of people. And more importantly, the world has changed somehow because I existed. So that's that. It's as simple as that. I wanna help other people get to fulfillment of their lives and their dreams. And yeah, and I obviously wanna be happy while I do all of these things. And more importantly, I wanna feel that I learned a lot. I really like learning. The process of learning every single day, learning a new thing makes me super happy. So if I don't learn something new, I consider day as, you know, as like a flop or something. So yeah, it's very simple. I'm actually a very simple person, I'm not that complicated. [00:36:30] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Okay. And then final question. What is one thing that makes you smile every time you see or think about it? [00:36:39] Maria Artunduaga: Oh, cute. I mean, obviously my daughter. So I'm a mom. I'm 44, well, almost 45, and I had her at 42. So just thinking about her makes me smile every single time. She's a miracle baby. She's, you know, after four years of IVF, eight retrievals, it finally happened. I finally had her, and having her in my life has turned my world upside down in the best way. She's determined, and she's only three. She's diving into doing all sorts of things. She's doing gymnastics, she's building Legos, she's doing engineering stuff. I really like that "I can do anything attitude" and obviously I'm sort of like reinforcing her to do anything she wants to try. So seeing her try all these new things, all this confidence that I, that she has. It's like, I don't know. I mean, that inspires me. That motivates me to be a better mom, a better CEO, and to do exactly the same thing with the people that I work with. So everyone in my company, I I tell them I'm a mom, right? So, remember that, and I try to do the same with them. It's like I tell them, what do you wanna do? What do you wanna learn this month? What do you need? Right? My work as a CEO is getting the resources and put out the fires. Just tell me, and this is your playground, so I'm trying to do exactly the same with my daughter too. But yeah, I'm very happy with her. [00:38:07] Lindsey Dinneen: Aw, that's wonderful. I'm so glad. Well, oh my goodness, this conversation has been amazing. I kind of wish it didn't have to end, but I also wanna respect your time 'cause obviously you have so much going on. But thank you so much for sharing about your story, your advice. You're so inspiring, and I know this is gonna inspire so many people to go for it, and not to have the fear, to have that problem solving mentality, and growth mindset and learning and, hey, look where curiosity got you. [00:38:37] Maria Artunduaga: Yeah, exactly. That's a perfect slogan. It's all about that curiosity and it gets you places. Look at me. [00:38:43] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And this is just the start. [00:38:47] Maria Artunduaga: Yes, of course. [00:38:48] Lindsey Dinneen: Indeed. So I just wanna say thank you again for your time today, and we just wish you the most continued success as you work to change lives for a better world. [00:38:58] Maria Artunduaga: Thank you so much and thank you again for invitation. I really enjoyed it. [00:39:02] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. Me too. And we are honored to be making a donation on your behalf as a thank you for your time today to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is dedicated to preventing animal cruelty in the United States. We really appreciate you choosing that organization to support and thank you just again, so very much for your time here today. Yeah, and holy cannoli, thank you so much to our listeners for tuning in, and if you're feeling as inspired as I am right now, I'd love it if you'd share this episode with a colleague or two, and we'll catch you next time. [00:39:44] Ben Trombold: The Leading Difference is brought to you by Velentium. Velentium is a full-service CDMO with 100% in-house capability to design, develop, and manufacture medical devices from class two wearables to class three active implantable medical devices. Velentium specializes in active implantables, leads, programmers, and accessories across a wide range of indications, such as neuromodulation, deep brain stimulation, cardiac management, and diabetes management. Velentium's core competencies include electrical, firmware, and mechanical design, mobile apps, embedded cybersecurity, human factors and usability, automated test systems, systems engineering, and contract manufacturing. Velentium works with clients worldwide, from startups seeking funding to established Fortune 100 companies. Visit velentium.com to explore your next step in medical device development.

Guest: Google's NotebookLMIn this special episode of SaaS Backwards, we handed the mic to AI.We took our newest ebook on reviving inbound marketing—coming soon for download—and ran it through Google's NotebookLM to see what kind of podcast it could generate. The result? A surprisingly sharp—if occasionally cheesy—take on how B2B SaaS companies can reimagine their go-to-market strategies for today's buyer. You be the judge.The episode explores why the traditional inbound playbook is falling short and what CROs and CMOs must do to adapt. From the collapse of predictable revenue models to the rise of buyer-centric marketing, we break down how to align sales and marketing, test messaging organically, and coordinate campaigns across email, ads, and outreach.Key Takeaways:The old predictable revenue model no longer works in today's B2B SaaS landscapeBuyers now do deep independent research before ever talking to salesMarketing and sales alignment must happen before the formal buying process beginsJobs to Be Done and qualitative ICPs help create relevance and resonanceOrganic testing (especially on LinkedIn) is essential before scaling paid campaignsEmail, ads, and SDR outreach must be tightly coordinated around buyer triggersIf you're a SaaS leader looking to modernize your inbound strategy and connect with today's buyer, this episode offers a bold, practical roadmap—created by AI, guided by strategy.---Not Getting Enough Demos? Your messaging could be turning buyers away before you even get a chance to pitch.

Rachel Roberts is Chief Revenue Officer at Level Access, bringing deep leadership experience from global firms like Cisco, Adobe and high growth SaaS scaleups. With a proven record guiding organisations from tens of millions to enterprise scale, Rachel stands out for helping teams adapt and thrive through periods of major change. Her work covers industries from marketing technology to cybersecurity and always puts people at the centre of transformation.In this episode, Rachel explains how to bring teams with you when changing strategy, go to market or ways of working. She shares honest stories about what works and what fails and why process alone is never enough. You will learn why most teams resist change, how to unlock informal leaders and why trust is your most important asset in a transformation. Rachel reveals her approach for building buy in, using FOMO to drive new habits and setting a vision that stretches people but keeps them united. The conversation covers compensation mistakes, keeping teams productive through uncertainty and what to do when your first attempt does not land. There is advice for new CROs taking over in times of upheaval and guidance on setting a bold vision without losing clarity.00:00:00 Welcome and Rachel's journey from Cisco to Level Access00:02:10 Lessons learned leading change at Adobe and cybersecurity firms00:05:30 How to win hearts and minds before rolling out new ways of working00:09:15 The role of informal leaders and McKinsey research on successful transformations00:13:00 Building trust by owning mistakes and fixing compensation models00:17:30 Creating regular listening forums and why small cohorts beat big town halls00:21:00 Setting vision as an ongoing process and making sure it passes the 30-second test00:25:10 Helping high performers rise to a challenge while supporting those who struggle00:28:30 Advice for new CROs on balancing board demands and team needs00:31:50 Navigating constant change in growth companies and timing transformation work00:36:00 Final tips for resilient leadership and keeping teams together during turbulence

In this episode of “Moving Medicine Forward,” host Jeremy Strand sits down with Brian Lawrence, Chief Financial Officer at CTI, to explore how strategic financial planning is critical to advancing clinical trials, particularly in rare disease research. Brian shares insights on balancing profitability with purpose in one of the world's most highly regulated industries, reflecting on early career decisions, global expansion, trial funding challenges, and the growing influence of AI in finance. 00:36 Brian shares how early interests in math and accounting, along with a few great mentors, led him into finance and the clinical research space. 02:17 Why Brian opted for a smaller accounting firm over a Big Four company and how that decision shaped his career. 03:16 How his love for process improvement and early experiences with digital transformation prepared him for the dynamic contract research organization (CRO) environment. 04:03 Brian discusses CTI's evolution: growing four times in size, expanding globally, and staying true to its rare disease focus. 05:00 The challenge of maintaining profitability while upholding the highest standards in research and compliance. 06:00 Brian explains the hidden costs of operating globally, including banking, compliance, and cybersecurity.  07:10 Why financial planning is critical in biotech, where projects can be halted suddenly due to safety or funding concerns. 09:00How investment trends and economic shifts post-COVID have tightened budgets and forced CROs and sponsors to adapt. 10:00 Brian breaks down the financial implications of trial diversity, especially in rare diseases with complex study designs. 11:12 The role of AI and digital tools in modern CRO operations, and why CTI is taking a deliberate approach to adoption. 13:00 Brian sees technology as a way to eliminate low-value tasks and empower finance teams to focus on strategic insights. 14:00 Through initiatives like CTI Cares and “Mission Moments,” Brian explains how CTI connects internal teams to the bigger picture of patient impact. 

"Des dauphins, des puffins, des mérous... C'est une bulle de nature et pourtant on est entre Saint-Tropez et Marseille. Les gens disent que c'est un miracle", s'enthousiasme Sophie-Dorothée Duron, directrice du parc national de Port-Cros. Ici, navigation, pêche et autres activités humaines sont soit interdites soit strictement réglementées. Un modèle que de nombreux experts, à l'occasion de la Conférence des Nations unies sur l'océan à Nice du 9 au 13 juin, aimeraient voir étendu à toutes les aires marines protégées (AMP), souvent fustigées comme étant seulement "de papier". Créée en 1963 au large de Hyères en Méditerranée, Port-Cros est la plus ancienne aire marine protégée d'Europe. D'abord centrée sur l'île éponyme, elle englobe depuis 2012 sa voisine Porquerolles et s'étend sur 1.700 hectares terrestres et 2.900 hectares marins. Sur le Fil part à sa découverte, avec sur le terrain Viken Kantarci, journaliste à l'AFPRVRéalisation : Michaëla Cancela-KiefferInvitée : Sandrine Ruitton, enseignante-chercheuse en océanologie à l'université d'Aix-Marseille et plongeusePour en savoir plus sur les enjeux de la Conférence des Nations Unies sur les grands enjeux océaniques de Nice: écoutez l'épisode d'Emmanuelle Baillon Sur le Fil est le podcast quotidien de l'AFP. Vous avez des commentaires ? Ecrivez-nous à podcast@afp.com. Vous pouvez aussi nous envoyer une note vocale par Whatsapp au + 33 6 79 77 38 45. Si vous aimez, abonnez-vous, parlez de nous autour de vous et laissez-nous plein d'étoiles sur votre plateforme de podcasts préférée pour mieux faire connaître notre programme Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin interviews James Lam about the evolving role of the CRO since the pandemic, vital competencies for today's CROs, risk appetite frameworks, and a case study of E*Trade and how they succeeded with a strong risk appetite framework. They continue the discussion with an examination of James's upcoming six-module virtual course, the RIMS-CRO Certificate in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management. James concludes with his vision of the future of ERM using AI as an enabling tool. Listen to learn more about successful strategies CROs can apply to their ERM programs.   Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:17] About this episode of RIMScast. Our guest is one of the great thought leaders in risk management, James Lam. He returns to RIMScast today to talk about ERM and a new bi-weekly virtual course he'll be teaching for RIMS that begins in July. [:48] RIMS-CRMP Workshops! Register by July 1st for the next RIMS-CRMP Virtual Workshop, which will be co-led by Parima. That course will be held on July 8th and 9th. [1:04] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED virtual workshop will be led by Joseph Mayo on July 17th and 18th. Register by July 16th. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and through this episode's show notes. [1:23] RIMS Webinars! The next RIMS Webinar will be held on June 17th. It will be presented by Origami Risk. It's titled “Strategic Risk Financing in an Unstable Economy: Leveraging Technology for Efficiency and Cost Reduction”. Register today through RIMS.org/Webinars [1:43] RIMS Virtual Workshops! On June 12th, Pat Saporito will host “Managing Data for ERM”, and she will return on June 26th to present the very popular new course, “Generative AI for Risk Management”. [2:00] A link to the full schedule of virtual workshops can be found on the RIMS.org/education and RIMS.org/education/online-learning pages. A link is also in this episode's show notes. [2:12] Mark your calendars for November 17th and 18th for the RIMS ERM Conference 2025 in Seattle, Washington. The agenda is being built. Soon, we will distribute a Call for Nominations for the ERM Award of Distinction. I'll update this episode's show notes when that link is ready. [2:35] Think about your organization's ERM program or one that you know of, and how it has generated value. We will have more on that in the coming weeks. [2:43] On with the show! Our guest today is a risk management trailblazer who is widely considered the world's first Chief Risk Officer. I'm talking about James Lam. [2:54] Starting on July 16th, James will host a six-module course for RIMS, The RIMS-CRO Certificate in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management. It's a bi-weekly course that will run through Wednesday, September 24th. Registration closes on July 9th. [3:14] James is here to discuss and share his ERM philosophies, how the practice has changed in the past five years since he was last on the show, and to give us a preview of what the upcoming course will be like and how it could boost your risk career. [3:31] Interview! James Lam, welcome back to RIMScast! [3:37] James was a guest on RIMScast in the Fall of 2020. We've gone through a lot in the last five years! We've lived through a pandemic, and companies realized the importance of operational resilience and strategic risk management. [4:14] James says today we are facing unprecedented geopolitical risk. We are also facing AI risks and opportunities. Some Chief Risk Officers have stayed relevant and elevated their careers and skills, while others have failed in their organization's ERM programs. [5:01] James tells what may cause a CRO to fail. Applying a “check the box” approach or a compliance approach, without staying relevant with the evolving risk landscape. [5:29] Speaking of successful CROs, James said one CRO he worked with went from being a treasurer reporting to the CFO, to becoming the CRO, then the CFO, and eventually the CEO, all within eight years. [5:58] He and other successful CROs had learned how to add strategic value and be relevant to key decision-makers at the board level and the executive level. [6:15] A key competence is applying risk analytics to quantify and minimize unexpected earnings, helping companies maintain sustainable, predictable profitability. [6:40] Then, evolving that to understanding capital management to optimize capital allocation, dividend policies, and risk transfer strategies, ultimately, applying the same risk analytics to support corporate and business decisions. [7:05] Being able to add strategic value is the most important competence for a Chief Risk Officer today. [7:26] Management and corporate directors are concerned about the unexpected. As CROs, how do we connect our work with things that are the most meaningful to the decision-makers and key internal stakeholders? All boards, CEOs, and CFOs are concerned about earnings. [7:53] Unexpected earnings variance and guidance are things that they are concerned about. CROs can help them with predictable profitability, long-term capital management, and value creation. [8:10] How does a CRO support the leaders' decision-making at the corporate level, where there's M&A or new products, and at the business level, in terms of risk-based pricing and risk transfer decisions? [8:43] James thinks the risk appetite framework is one of the most important processes and capabilities for advanced enterprise risk management. [9:01] Frameworks that don't do well tend to be mostly or entirely qualitative. They tend to be static, maybe updated once a year, with very little change. [9:15] The frameworks that are more strategic and add more value to companies tend to be a combination of quantitative and qualitative. [9:42] Successful risk appetite frameworks also consider risk capacity in terms of capital resources, earnings, and liquidity, relative to our risk management capability and track record. [10:01] Successful risk appetite frameworks look at opportunities. What is the opportunity for profitability, growth, and innovation, relative to risk? If the opportunity is high, then we should be willing to take on more risk. [10:19] Successful risk appetite frameworks tend to be more dynamic in a way that allows the company to reduce risk when it is appropriate but also to take more risk when it is appropriate. [10:31] James says a good risk appetite framework would guide organizations to take more risk, on a selective basis. [10:57] James uses E*Trade as a case study. James was on the board of E*Trade and chaired its risk committee. This case study is in the RIMS CRO Certificate Program in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management. [11:28] James will invite E*Trade's CRO, the head of ERM, and one of the regulators, to provide first-hand experiences and lessons learned. [11:41] James gives examples of how ERM improved E*Trade's business outcomes and profitability. Based on a robust risk appetite framework, E*Trade thought it needed to take more risk in new product innovation and shorten the time to market dramatically. [12:21] Because of that, E*Trade was the first company to offer retail investors the capability to trade stocks and mutual funds on their Apple Watch. It was a very important business opportunity as the Apple Watch was hugely popular. [12:49] This tied into E*Trade's founding as the first internet company to allow retail investors to trade on the internet. It was a proud moment for E*Trade. It shows how a robust ERM program and risk appetite framework can support innovation and business growth. [13:16] In the eight years James was on E*Trade's board until it was sold, its stock went from $8 to $59 a share. It went from B to BBB, from losing money to making money, and from a weak capital position to buying back over $1 billion in stock and offering its first-ever dividend. [13:52] In addition to the E*Trade case study, the course will look into other case studies, good and bad. We will learn from organizations that didn't manage risks effectively and what we could learn from them to prevent that for our organizations. [14:13] We will learn from best-practice companies in the energy and healthcare space. [14:30] Plug Time! The very first RIMS Texas Regional Conference will be held from August 4th through the 6th in San Antonio at the Henry B. González Convention Center. Public Registration is open here. [14:43] Hotel cut-off for the discounted rate is available through July 7th. The full Conference Agenda is now live, so you can start planning your experience. Don't miss the post-conference workshop, the RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Course, available onsite. [14:59] Any chapter member can attend. Links are in this episode's show notes. [15:14] You can also visit the Events Page of RIMS.org for more information. We look forward to seeing you in Texas! [15:21 Just a month later, we will be up North for the RIMS Canada Conference 2025, from September 14th through 17th in Calgary. Registration opened today. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.CA and lock in favorable rates. We look forward to seeing you there! [15:42] Let's Return to My Interview with James Lam!  [16:00] Starting on July 16th, there will be a new course that James is leading. It's the RIMS CRO Certificate Program in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management. If you're listening to this on the week of publication, you've got about a month to register. Registration closes on July 9th. [16:22] James is one of our favorite collaborators! [16:27] James tells what led to the launch of this program. He's very excited to be partnering with RIMS! His motivation for doing this program is that he has worked in risk management for over 40 years. He has been a management consultant working with over 100 companies. [17:10] James has been an eight-time board member, chairing the risk committee, chairing the audit committee, and overseeing risk management, not day-to-day but from a board perspective. [17:22] What James wants to do in this program is to share the lessons he has learned and some of the best practices in a very practical way. He also wants to invite other risk experts to share from their different domains. James has had this idea for over three years. [17:56] He met with the RIMS board members and the Professional Development Team to talk about this. They got an agreement in place, and within a few weeks, they got the outline and the website up. James tells of the team that helped him put it together in bi-weekly meetings. [18:31] The program came together within weeks. The early registrations are above expectations. The market reception has been strong. James says this course will provide an amazing learning experience for the participants. [18:54] It's a six-module, bi-weekly course with four-hour live virtual sessions, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern Time, starting July 16th and running through September 24th. There will also be self-study with James's book, other articles, and research papers. [19:24] We've got the link in this episode's show notes. A brief description of each of the six modules is on the website. Module 4 is The Role of the Chief Risk Officer and Risk Appetite Statement. That's the James Lam wheelhouse! [19:44] The CRO, the risk appetite statement, and ERM will be critical topics. Other important topics are the role of the board, how risk professionals should not only serve the board but also leverage the board, and strategic decision-making. [20:13] Before the pandemic, teaching virtually was not James's favorite method. He enjoys interacting with participants. Since the pandemic, we've all learned how to learn and to teach in a virtual environment. James says we can make it dynamic and interactive, with a lot of sharing.  [22:53] James thinks they will get into individualized problem-solving. Participants can highlight challenges or opportunities they're facing. Collectively, the group will help with individualized problem-solving. [21:12] James will bring in guest speakers. He has a strong network of excellent board directors and experts with backgrounds in AI, cybersecurity, and ERM. These include former or current CROs with stories to share. He believes all that will make the program relevant and dynamic. [21:45] Plug Time! Let me tell you about the Spencer Educational Foundation. Spencer's goal to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals is achieved, in part, by its collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the U.S. and Canada. [22:05] Since 2010, Spencer has awarded over $3.3 million in General Grants to support over 130 student-centered experiential learning initiatives at universities and RMI non-profits. Spencer's 2026 application process is now open through July 30th, 2025. [22:27] General Grant awardees are typically notified at the end of October. Learn more about Spencer's General Grants through the Programs tab of SpencerEd.org. Be sure to check out Spencer's Monthly Virtual Campus.  [22:41] On Thursday, June 12th, we will have Reinsurance 101, hosted by Lee Vuu, Founder and President of the MRIA. A link is in this episode's show notes. Register today! [22:53] Let's Conclude Our Interview with James Lam! [23:22] James says the future is bright. AI and risk analytics are going to change our careers and our lives. In the next five years, we're going to see some interesting dynamics with AI and we're going to have some unintended consequences. There will be risks and opportunities. [23:54] For risk professionals, being able to help our organizations and address the risks, whether it's privacy, model risks such as hallucination, or data governance, all those are going to be in our wheelhouse, and we could add a lot of value.  [24:11] James thinks AI could create opportunities to enhance enterprise risk management by tapping into structured and unstructured data and help us minimize unexpected earnings variance, optimize capital structure, and support corporate and business-level decisions. [24:47] A basic question that any AI model asks is, “What would an expert do?” What would an expert driver do in terms of an autonomous car? What would an expert doctor do in this specific situation? In risk management, the senior risk professionals and CROs are the experts. [25:12] James says the CROs have an opportunity to design the training data that would train these AI agents. They would have an impact on training these AI agents directly in terms of being part of the feedback loop. [25:32] James is very excited about where ERM is going to be in the next three to five years. AI will become a very important tool. He doesn't think it will replace risk practitioners. [25:49] The expertise, judgment, governance, and perspective that risk practitioners bring to the table will be valuable. AI will be a huge enabler. [26:11] Looking forward 10 years, James asks, using AI, how do we help with scenario planning and scenario analysis? Regarding many of the emerging and disruptive risks that we face today, we don't have a lot of data or models, so scenario analysis is going to be a critical tool. [26:48] The ultimate level of enterprise risk management would be to create a digital twin of our organization's overall risk profile, including our strategic, financial, operational, compliance, and reputational risks, and run scenarios to stress-test that system with AI. That's not far off. [27:25] James, it has been such a pleasure to reconnect with you. I have a great feeling about the RIMS CRO Certificate Program in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management. Remember, everyone, you have until July 9th, 2025, to register. Virtual seats are filling up! Check out the link! [27:43] I have a good feeling that we're going to be hearing more and seeing more from James in 2025 and beyond, here at RIMS. James, we value you very much. That's why you're here! [28:11] Special thanks again to James Lam. Register now for the RIMS CRO Certificate Program in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management. It is a bi-weekly course that starts on July 16th. Virtual seats are filling up fast, so register by July 7th. The link is in this episode's show notes. [28:32] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes. [29:00] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact pd@rims.org for more information. [29:18] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email membershipdept@RIMS.org for more information. [29:35] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more. [29:52] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management. [30:06] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. You can email Justin at Content@RIMS.org. [30:14] Thank you all for your continued support and engagement on social media channels! We appreciate all your kind words. Listen every week! Stay safe!   Links: RIMS-CRO Certificate in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management — Featuring Instructor James Lam! Register by July 7. | Bi-weekly course begins July 16. RIMS Texas Regional 2025 — August 3‒5 | Registration now open. RIMS Canada 2025 — Sept. 14‒17 | Registration now open! RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy RIMS Risk Management magazine RIMS Now The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center Spencer Education Foundation — General Grants 2026 — Application Deadline July 30, 2025 Spencer Virtual Campus — Next Course on June 12 RIMS ERM Conference 2025 — Nov 17‒18 in Seattle! [Save the Date!] James Lam & Associates RIMS Webinars: RIMS.org/Webinars “Strategic Risk Financing in an Unstable Economy: Leveraging Technology for Efficiency and Cost Reduction” | Sponsored by Origami Risk | June 17, 2025   Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops: RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Virtual Workshop — July 8‒9, 2025 | Presented by RIMS and PARIMA RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep Virtual Workshop — July 17‒18 Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule “Managing Data for ERM” | June 12 | Instructor: Pat Saporito  “Generative AI for Risk Management” | June 26 | Instructor: Pat Saporito See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops RIMS-CRMP Prep Workshops   Related RIMScast Episodes: “AI Risks and Compliance with Chris Maguire” “RIMS 2025 Risk Manager of the Year, Jennifer Pack” “ERM, Retail, and Risk with Jeff Strege” “Collateral Benefits Of Pre-Mortem Analysis” “ERMotivation with Carrie Frandsen, RIMS-CRMP” “Live from the ERM Conference 2024 in Boston!”   Sponsored RIMScast Episodes: “The New Reality of Risk Engineering: From Code Compliance to Resilience” | Sponsored by AXA XL (New!) “Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company “Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs” | Sponsored by Zurich “Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding” | Sponsored by Zurich “What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings” | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog “Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping” | Sponsored by Medcor “Risk Management in a Changing World: A Deep Dive into AXA's 2024 Future Risks Report” | Sponsored by AXA XL “How Insurance Builds Resilience Against An Active Assailant Attack” | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog “Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips” | Sponsored by Alliant “RMIS Innovation with Archer” | Sponsored by Archer “Navigating Commercial Property Risks with Captives” | Sponsored by Zurich “Breaking Down Silos: AXA XL's New Approach to Casualty Insurance” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Weathering Today's Property Claims Management Challenges” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Storm Prep 2024: The Growing Impact of Convective Storms and Hail” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company “Partnering Against Cyberrisk” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Harnessing the Power of Data and Analytics for Effective Risk Management” | Sponsored by Marsh “Accident Prevention — The Winning Formula For Construction and Insurance” | Sponsored by Otoos “Platinum Protection: Underwriting and Risk Engineering's Role in Protecting Commercial Properties” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Elevating RMIS — The Archer Way” | Sponsored by Archer   RIMS Publications, Content, and Links: RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community! RIMS Virtual Workshops On-Demand Webinars RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Kristen Peed!   RIMS Events, Education, and Services: RIMS Risk Maturity Model®   Sponsor RIMScast: Contact sales@rims.org or pd@rims.org for more information.   Want to Learn More? Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org, and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.   Have a question or suggestion? Email: Content@rims.org.   Join the Conversation! Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.   About our guest: James Lam, Founder, James Lam & Associates   Production and engineering provided by Podfly.  

In this special episode (#34) of BioTalk Unzipped, recorded live at the AAPS NBC conference in Boston, Gregory Austin and Dr. Chad Briscoe sit down with AAPS President Dr. Russ Weiner for an unfiltered look inside AAPS NBC, at the state of rare disease research, the evolution of therapeutic modalities, and the human stories that drive scientific innovation.From navigating the emotional weight of personal loss to watching his son experience the field firsthand, Russ shares not only his scientific insights but the heart behind his leadership. The conversation spans topics like the rising promise of AI diagnostics, challenges with biomarker sampling logistics, the role of CROs in rare disease trials, and the future of autologous vs. allogeneic therapies.Dr. Weiner also offers an inspiring vision of industry collaboration, sharing how organizations like AAPS are becoming conduits for progress across low- and middle-income countries, underrepresented diseases, and emerging biotechnologies. Whether you're in the lab, the boardroom, or on the frontlines of clinical trials, this episode will reignite your sense of purpose in this field.00:00 Preview & Intro01:22 What is conference life like as AAPS President02:27 Mentoring & Fatherhood at AAPS03:54 Setting up the Meeting Season for AAPS05:43 Life back in the Rare Disease Space - a Passion10:58 The different costs of pharmaceutical & biotech research12:59 The generosity of Rare Disease Patients14:41 Dr. Chad Briscoe asks Russ what can we do to help advance Rare Disease efforts19:57 Rare Disease conversations happening at AAPS and global reach22:37 Broad use of new technologies, including Olink24:10 Biggest change expected in Pharma in 10 yearsDr. Russ Weinerhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/russellweiner/ AAPS - https://www.aaps.org/home Dr. Chad Briscoehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/chadbriscoe/ Celerion - https://www.celerion.com/ Gregory Austinhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/gregoryaustin1/ Celerion - https://www.celerion.com/ Takeaways:Treating rare diseases early is not only life-saving—it's economically sound. Gene and cell therapies may carry high price tags, but they dramatically reduce long-term costs.The diagnostic delay for rare diseases—often 4 to 7 years—remains one of the biggest barriers to treatment. AI-powered diagnostics and data integration could change that.Dr. Russ Weiner shares how personal loss fueled his career in science and how mentoring the next generation, including his son, brings it full circle.The shift toward allogeneic cell therapies and in vivo CAR-T treatments will be key to driving down costs and increasing global accessibility.CROs must evolve: future-ready organizations will localize biomarker analysis and forge relationships with rare disease investigators to improve site performance.Technologies like Olink are revolutionizing biomarker discovery, enabling cost-effective, high-resolution multiplexing that was previously out of...

Why are so many SaaS executives struggling to get hired?In this episode, Raul and Toni dive deep into the surprising stat that 25% of Pavilion members—many of them seasoned SaaS execs—are currently “on the bench.” We explore what's really going on in the market, how layoffs and short stints are damaging even top-tier CVs, and why CROs are applying for AE roles just to stay in the game. We also talk mental health, the rise of “consulting” as a placeholder, and whether now might be the time to walk away from SaaS altogether. If you're a founder, CRO, or GTM leader, this one's for you. Never miss a new episode! join our newsletter at revenueformula.substack.com (00:00) - Introduction (02:18) - 25% of Pavilion execs "on the bench" (03:41) - The SaaS recession (09:08) - Job hunting and mental health issues (13:48) - Going into consulting (18:26) - Leave tech behind? (22:01) - Private equity and VC roles (24:48) - Rethinking CV evaluations (28:09) - Conclusion (29:31) - Up next: Jacco's new playbook

In the latest collaboration between ACRO and TransCelerate BioPharma, Cris McDavid (Senior Director, Global Clinical Operations, Parexel) and Tashan Mistree (Senior Director, Business Operations, Office of Chief Medical Officer, GSK) join this week's episode to discuss the impact of ICH E6(R3) from their different vantage points in the clinical research industry. They dive deeper into their experiences implementing the new guidance at their respective companies, the new opportunities that R3 has created in the partnership between CROs and sponsors, and how they envision the future state of R3 once industry has fully embraced the guidance. FIND ACRO & TRANSCELERATE'S ICH E6(R3) TOOLS & RESOURCES HERE: https://www.acrohealth.org/initiatives-hub/interpreting-ich-e6r3/ 

Show Notes: Alex Lugosch and Ilya Druzhnikov, founders of True PMF, explain that True PMF is a rapid prototyping and discovery service for startups and established companies who are releasing a new product or testing a new market and don't have the tools or six to eight months to try new experiments for product market fit. The firm uses cold calling tools to test out different ideas and pitches to potential clients, focusing on understanding the reactions of potential buyers. Ilya explains how their tool saves time and money by improving the cold call process. First Steps in a Cold Call Strategy Alex and Ilya work with a founder to identify their target audience and use tools like ZoomInfo to gather a list of people that fit that profile. They then use cold calling tool to test out different ideas and iterate different pitches to potential clients. They also train the founder to do cold calls, helping them understand the process and find what resonates with potential buyers. The firm often stacks rank lists of 20 audiences to test in the next 20 days, with each experiment taking about two sessions of an hour each. At a certain point, they do turnover, where the founder takes over to learn how to do the process. They use several list building services, data validation services, and dialers to build tight lists, accessing many people at the C-suite that most founders can only dream of contacting. Within one or two calls, they find that those people are picking up on their pitches and talking to them, which is a significant improvement from the traditional six-month process of trying to determine if something is a product market fit. The Cold Call Conversation and Analysis Ilya explains the process, beginning from when they contact the founder, building the initial list, finding direct phone numbers for 80-100 people, and loading them into their enterprise-grade tech stack that few startups can afford.  He goes on to explain how they start the conversation.  They try to make the pitch relevant to the founder and explain that their solution could save time and money while having a positive impact on the bottom line. After the call, the transcript goes directly into the AI model, which produces an analysis of the conversation and offers recommendations on how to proceed. The next step is to determine the outcome of the call. In a typical calling session, there are sometimes upwards of 14 or 15 connects. As the conversation gets closer to the target, the conversations become more rich, with more follow-up emails, scheduled demos, and referrals. It's an iterative process until discovering the audience is interested in the topic and/or the call can be referred to the right person. Cold Calling Techniques The conversation turns to the importance of effective cold pitching techniques. They mention the importance of recognizing what's currently relevant to the client. They also discuss the concept of partnering one person to take a pitch and then alternate to the other person without giving feedback. The key to getting better at cold pitching is focusing on the elements that work in the previous pitch. This technique can be applied to other situations as well, such as listening to each other's tone of voice and understanding their preferences. Alex emphasizes that these techniques are not meant to scale sales but to provide relevant information about messaging and product features that can be used in outbound campaigns that are scalable, such as emails, LinkedIn messages, or conferences. Ilya and Alex give an impromptu example of an opening conversation with mid-market private equity owned portfolio companies. Ilya explains that their informs more effective marketing strategies. This approach helps clients narrow down their ideas about the persona, develop stronger content that connects with their target market(s),  and ensures that their marketing efforts are highly effective. Cost of SDRs Cold Calling The discussion revolves around the cost of cold calling sales development representatives (SDRs) and their effectiveness in B2B product spaces. Emphasis is placed on understanding the messaging and the potential for managing costs. They mention a company with 400 clients across Europe that raised over $50 million and had six SDRs, but none of them were effective. They also mention that a multinational tech startup with a large B2B sales team cannot afford six CROs to run their sales team. They advise against giving cold calls to unskilled SDRs, as they may not be adaptable enough to handle complex situations. However, cold calling is a good prototyping tool, as it allows companies to reach a wider audience, gain insights and understanding of their market, and potentially increase their revenue. Examples of How TruePMF Serves Clients Alex and Ilya initially focused on high-growth e-commerce brands, but later discovered that they needed to target established e-commerce brands looking for margin expansion. They created a new list of these brands and tested it with CTOs, which proved more relevant. Then, they called private equity partners, specifically tech stack operating partners, to expand their reach. This allowed them to sell their solution across multiple brands. Another example is a smaller company with 20 clients, all big enterprise clients, looking to sell to private equity firms. Ilya also discusses the process of selling a product before building it, and emphasizes the importance of honesty and transparency in the sales process.   About the Founders of TruePMF.com Alex Lugosch, a FinTech founder and executive at a wholesale, e-commerce company, and the B2B credit space, and Ilya Druzhnikov, a serial entrepreneur and angel investor, have both been working with founders and CEOs to help them understand Product Market Fit. They have worked in various industries, including B2B wholesale, e-commerce, and angel investing. The website, Pmf.com, is by referral only, and they have a bias for working with serious people who are serious about their business. They require founders to attend every call, including the CEO, Chief Revenue Officer, and Head of Sales. The company has sold their product to 400 companies across Europe and is coming to the United States. Timestamps: 00:02: Introduction to True PMF and Their Unique Approach 03:28: Explaining the True PMF Service  06:35: Detailed Walkthrough of the Process 10:47: Iterative Improvement and Audience Targeting  16:29: The Role of Cold Calling in Business Development  34:04: Client Examples and Success Stories  40:23: Background of Alex and Ilya  Links:  Website: https://truepmf.com/ Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Saudi Arabia's modern healthcare system, diverse patient population, and research-savvy healthcare professionals make it a great place to conduct clinical trials. To learn more about the clinical trial requirements in Saudi Arabia, I invited Professor Majed Al Jeraisy on the show.   Dr. Al Jeraisy is an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, King Saud Ben Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences and Pediatric Clinical Pharmacy Consultant in King Abdullah Specialized Children Hospital. He was appointed as the chairman of the research office at King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC) in 2007 and was appointed as the Director of Clinical Trial Services in 2018.  Please join me in welcoming Professor Majed Al Jeraisy on the Clinical Trial Podcast. This podcast is brought to you by Slope. Slope drives operational excellence for highly complex, sample-intensive, early-phase clinical trials. The platform transforms chaotic clinical trial supply chains into protocol-specific operational workflows for sponsors, CROs, clinical research sites and labs. Learn more at https://www.slopeclinical.com/ This podcast is brought to you by Florence Healthcare. Florence eliminates chaotic workflows in clinical research operations with remote access and digital workflow platforms. More than 12,000 study sites, sponsors, and CROs in 45 countries trust them to accelerate their operations. To learn more, visit https://florencehc.com 

This week on Revenue Rehab, Brandi Starr is joined by Maddie Bell, CEO and Co-founder of Scheduler AI, who believes “the real risk isn't in the dark funnel—it's failing to deliver when the buyer finally raises their hand.” In this episode, Maddie challenges the industry's obsession with “speed to lead,” urging revenue leaders to prioritize “speed to first conversation” with AI-driven, buyer-centric engagement. She warns that outdated playbooks and one-way automation are leaving revenue on the table, while today's buyers self-educate and expect immediate, meaningful interaction. Will Maddie's call for rethinking the moment of engagement change your strategy—or change your mind?  Episode Type: Problem Solving  Industry analysts, consultants, and founders take a bold stance on critical revenue challenges, offering insights you won't hear anywhere else. These episodes explore common industry challenges and potential solutions through expert insights and varied perspectives.  Bullet Points of Key Topics + Chapter Markers:  Topic #1: Dark Funnel Obsession—Are Revenue Teams Focusing on the Wrong Problem? [01:10]  Maddie Bell argues that while the industry is fixated on the challenges of the dark funnel and invisible buyer research, the true risk lies elsewhere: "The real risk isn't what you can't see, it's what you fail to act on when the buyer finally makes themselves known." She challenges CMOs and CROs to shift resources away from just uncovering hidden intent and instead ensure their processes and tech are ready for the critical moment buyers raise their hand. Brandi aligns with this shift, probing what readiness really entails and how companies can retrain their focus accordingly.  Topic #2: Personalization at Scale—Why Automation Isn't Enough [13:36]  Maddie claims that traditional personalization methods—triggered email sequences and static nurture paths—have reached their limits due to the sheer number of signals and permutations needed. She challenges the industry to move beyond guessing with automation: "It's just really hard to personalize for a person without asking them about themselves again, without starting a two-way conversation." The discussion centers on the need for AI-driven, dynamic conversations to achieve true personalization, not just more sophisticated drip campaigns.  Topic #3: AI as the Connector—Transforming Handoffs and Sales Structure [28:38]  Maddie boldly asserts that AI agents are poised to revolutionize not just engagement, but the very structure of sales teams and revenue processes. She explains, "If you have the AI routing, you can create intelligent loops that essentially solve the leak across the pipeline..." prompting leaders to rethink their approach to sales specialization, handoff rigor, and marketing-sales alignment. Brandi challenges the scalability and organizational implications, sparking discussion on how revenue leaders should sequence process improvement before layering on AI.  The Wrong Approach vs. Smarter Alternative  The Wrong Approach: “I think they look for solutions to new things rather than solving problems that again, they already have. Right. Because at the end of the day, if we're already making buyers wait hours, days, if we follow up at all, just solving that in the near term is going to get you a measurable pipeline win now without having to re redo and try all this new stuff that you don't really know where it's going to go.” – Maddie Bell  Why It Fails: Chasing after new, untested solutions distracts teams from addressing the core issues already affecting buyer engagement. If companies ignore existing process gaps—like long response times—they miss out on immediate revenue gains and risk investing in initiatives that may not address their current challenges.  The Smarter Alternative: Focus first on quantifying and solving existing friction points in the buyer journey, such as reducing wait times and ensuring prompt follow-up. By tackling these proven problems, organizations can unlock measurable wins and lay a stronger foundation before experimenting with new tools or strategies.  The Most Damaging Myth  The Myth: “The moment they raise their hand visibly is the start of the process.” – Maddie Bell  Why It's Wrong: Many go-to-market teams treat the buyer's visible hand-raise—like filling out a form—as the beginning of engagement. But as Maddie points out, buyers actually start their process much earlier, often spending significant time researching and self-educating long before giving up their information. This myth leads companies to ignore the vast majority of prospects who never fill out a form (97%), missing opportunities to start conversations earlier and losing out on pipeline growth.  What Companies Should Do Instead: Recognize that the buying journey begins well before formal hand-raising. Invest in strategies and technologies that identify and engage buyers earlier—well before they submit a form—by leveraging intent signals, enabling frictionless conversations, and reducing reliance on traditional gates. This proactive approach captures more of the market and improves the probability of converting ready buyers.  The Rapid-Fire Round  Finish this sentence: If your company has this problem, the first thing you should do is _ “Measure it. Find out how many balls are getting dropped. Quantify the problem so you can actually solve it and measure success.” — Maddie Bell What's one red flag that signals a company has this problem—but might not realize it yet? “You're pushing out a lot of one-way communication, and buyers aren't converting—or when they finally respond, you're too slow to engage. If buyers ignore your outreach or you fail to respond within 1–2 minutes, that's a big sign.”  What's the most common mistake people make when trying to fix this? “Chasing new cool solutions instead of fixing today's problems—like slow or missing follow-up. Start by solving existing gaps to create quick pipeline wins before adding new tools.”  What's the fastest action someone can take today to make progress? “Start more conversations—and use AI for fair, objective, helpful buyer interactions that move them to the next step, ideally a team meeting. But don't rush the process; let AI qualify and route effectively.”   Buzzword Banishment  Buzzword Banishment: Maddie's buzzword to banish is "speed to lead." She dislikes this term because, in her view, it has become disconnected from what buyers actually want. Maddie argues that organizations have reduced "speed to lead" to a KPI or automated process—like quickly assigning a lead to a rep or sending out email sequences—rather than prioritizing a meaningful, timely first conversation that aligns with the buyer's needs and expectations. She advocates replacing it with "speed to first conversation" to ensure engagement is genuinely valuable to the buyer.  Links:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddiebell/  Podcast: https://www.scheduler.ai/nextgen-gtm-podcast  Business: https://www.scheduler.ai  Subscribe, listen, and rate/review Revenue Rehab Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts , Amazon Music, or iHeart Radio and find more episodes on our website RevenueRehab.live  

Jeff Keplar, former sales executive at Oracle, MapR, and Google, joins Coach2Scale to challenge one of today's loudest narratives in SaaS: that product-led growth has made traditional selling obsolete. In this candid, no-nonsense conversation with Matt Benelli, Jeff lays out why complex, high-stakes enterprise deals still demand skilled sellers, strong managers, and real leadership in the field, not just slick UX and freemium funnels. He explains why sales-led growth is often poorly executed, not outdated, and how the caricature of the “golf-playing rep” is holding companies back from serious revenue performance.This episode is a must-listen for CROs, VPs, and FLMs navigating the blurred lines between coaching, leadership, and execution. Jeff unpacks what makes a sales leader worth following, why frontline managers often fail (and how to fix it), and how real coaching, not just pipeline reviews, builds resilient teams. From scaling at Oracle to advising modern startups, Jeff shares lessons that cut through the noise and help leaders build teams that win the right way.Key Takeaways 1. Leadership isn't granted by title, it's earned in the fieldSales managers gain real influence by showing up with their team, facing the same pressure, and modeling accountability, not by hiding behind their job title.2. Sales-led growth isn't outdated, it's just misunderstood.Many critics confuse poor execution with obsolescence; in reality, complex sales still require human insight, coaching, and influence that product-led strategies alone can't deliver.3. Stop promoting 'super reps' and expecting them to be great managersThe skill set that drives individual performance often lacks what's needed to coach, develop, and retain a team, especially in high-growth or enterprise contexts.4. Great sales leaders don't kiss up and kick down, they build teams that follow them anywhereThe mark of strong leadership is not upward politics but whether former team members would choose to work with you again.5. Salespeople need coaching beyond the deal.Too many 1:1s are just pipeline checks; true coaching focuses on skills, behaviors, and long-term development that compound over time.6. In enterprise sales, the product doesn't close the deal; people doUnlike self-serve SaaS tools, enterprise software buyers need trust, consultation, and risk mitigation that only a well-prepared rep can deliver.7. When reps are treated like resources, they leaveHigh attrition often traces back to poor or absent development; reps stay when they feel seen, supported, and challenged.8. Managers must be the rep's advocate, even when it costs political capitalDefending your team when it's hard is the kind of leadership people remember and rally around, especially in performance management decisions.9. Friendship and leadership aren't mutually exclusive.While being “one of the crew” can backfire, relationships built on trust and mutual respect lead to better coaching conversations and loyalty.10. Coaching is influence, not control.The goal is to shape behavior through insight and conversation, not compliance, which is also what great selling looks like.

In this episode of Culture & Quota, we get brutally honest about what happens when psychological safety issues fester inside your sales and product orgs. We walk you through a practical, no-BS process: how to first admit the problem, measure the financial and productivity drag it causes, and finally—how to decide when and how leadership will address it.We'll break down:Early warning signs from your AE floor and product sprintsHow to quantify the hidden cost of fear-based silenceInternal audit strategies to surface what's not being saidTiming and frameworks for executive interventionProven tactics to rebuild safety without fluff—think trust contracts, fail-forward systems, and leadership modeling vulnerabilityThis one's for CROs, CPOs, Heads of People, and founders who know culture isn't just vibes—it's velocity.

What do you do when the market crashes and your team starts to panic? ZoomInfo's CRO James Roth has one rule: don't lower the bar.In this episode, James opens the playbook on what it really takes to lead a high-performing sales org through chaos. No buzzwords. No theory. Just the hard truths, decisions, and systems that keep ZoomInfo's revenue engine running—even when headlines scream panic.▶ From stock market volatility to sales team psychology, from discipline under pressure to the revolutionary impact of AI—this episode goes deep.James shares:Why most sales leaders get downturns completely wrong.The exact moment leaders lose control of their team's culture—and how to prevent it.What a real CRO's morning routine looks like (and why it starts at 4:30 a.m.).How ZoomInfo's AI instantly surfaces insights, empowering every rep to sell like a top performer.Why lowering quotas in tough times is never the answer.The precise leadership mindset that turns pressure into your strongest advantage.This is the episode to share with your VP, your board, or your top performers who are questioning how to navigate market uncertainty.It's a candid, behind-the-scenes conversation with one of the most respected go-to-market leaders in SaaS.Watch until the end—James reveals the single most damaging mistake sales leaders make when markets tank (and it's not what you think).About the ShowWhat does it really take to grow a B2B business today? We ask the people doing it.The Belkins Podcast dives deep into the strategies, decisions, and behind-the-scenes insights driving real growth at top B2B companies. Each episode features candid conversations with industry heavyweights—CROs, CMOs, founders, and seasoned operators—who've navigated market downturns, scaled teams, and mastered the realities of revenue growth.You'll hear hard truths, unfiltered insights, and actionable tactics directly from leaders who've actually done the work.

How Can Fearless GTM Strategy Unite Sales and Marketing for Scalable Growth?In this episode of The Hard Corps Marketing Show, I sat down with Nicole Burns, Go-To-Market Strategic Advisor at SpringDB. Nicole brings decades of experience across sales, marketing, and go-to-market leadership, and she shares why true growth starts with aligning people, processes, and data.Nicole breaks down the long-standing tension between sales and marketing and how better alignment, especially between CMOs and CROs, is changing that dynamic for the better. She explores the role of Revenue Operations (RevOps) in creating cohesive strategies and how today's tech stack, powered by tools like AI and customer data platforms, can enhance collaboration and lead quality.In this episode, we cover:Why sales and marketing tension still exists, and how to fix itHow RevOps bridges the gap between teams for better executionThe role of data, AI, and tech platforms in GTM successIf you're looking to align your teams, optimize your tech stack, and build a fearless, forward-thinking go-to-market strategy, this episode is packed with practical insights you don't want to miss!

durée : 00:55:56 - Les Nuits de France Culture - par : Philippe Garbit - Par Serge Jouhet - Réalisation Georges Gravier - réalisation : Virginie Mourthé

Matt Benelli sits down with sales veteran and Calm Ocean Sales founder Mike Muhlfelder for a no-BS conversation every CRO and sales leader needs to hear. With three decades of experience at companies like Oracle, IBM, and Jitterbit, Mike shares his unfiltered perspective on what's gone wrong in modern B2B sales from bloated pipelines and broken qualification processes to tech stacks that mask, rather than solve, performance problems. If you're relying on BANT and 4x pipeline math to hit your number, Mike says it's time to wake up.Listeners will learn why great reps don't always make great leaders, how to use the “Four W's” to qualify real opportunities, and why many teams are scaling mediocrity with automation. Mike also offers hard-won advice for CROs under boardroom pressure, and a stark reminder to protect your health and values as you chase performance. It's part strategy, part therapy, and all signal, no noise.Top Takeaways 1. Great salespeople don't always make great sales leaders.Mike challenges the myth that success as a rep naturally translates to leadership, emphasizing that leading a team requires a completely different skillset.2. Stop promoting outsiders into sales leadership roles.Bringing in non-sales professionals to run sales teams often fails because they lack the experiential knowledge and empathy to lead sellers effectively.3. Sales is a profession and must be treated like one.Like finance or engineering, sales requires continuous training, discipline, and a commitment to mastery, not just charisma or improvisation.4. Outdated qualification methods like BANT hurt your deals.BANT is adversarial and obsolete; it leads to mistrust and surface-level qualification instead of real discovery.5. Use the ‘Four W's' to qualify deals more accurately.Mike's framework: What happened? Why now? Who owns the project? When do they need to be live? Creates human-centered, business-grounded qualification.6. The pipeline problem is systemic, not just executional.Teams rely on inflated pipelines and 4–5x coverage ratios because poor qualification and forecasting have become normalized.7. Most sales tech stacks enable mediocrity at scale.Without sound fundamentals, even the best tools just help teams do the wrong things faster.8. Sales math still matters: maximize yield, minimize waste.Effective revenue leaders think like manufacturers, optimizing the fewest inputs (leads) for the highest output (closed deals).9. Salespeople must take ownership of their own development.With unlimited learning resources available, Mike urges reps to stop waiting for enablement and start taking personal accountability.10. CROs must prioritize clarity, courage, and communication.From cleansing the pipeline to resetting board expectations, Mike says leadership means telling hard truths and doing the right thing even when it's unpopular.11. Burnout is real, and it's not worth it.He ends with a human message: no job is worth sacrificing your health, family, or identity, no matter how big the number.

In this episode of the Revenue Builders Podcast, hosts John McMahon and John Kaplan are joined by George Mogannam, CRO at Celigo. George shares insights from his extensive experience in scaling high-growth businesses and leading world-class sales organizations. The discussion delves into the common challenges startups face as they grow, highlighting the importance of establishing the right hiring profiles, formal onboarding and training, key performance indicators (KPIs), and an operating rhythm to drive sustainable growth. The episode offers practical advice for CROs on building high-performing revenue teams, ensuring effective communication, and integrating sales processes across various departments to maintain a competitive edge in today's market. George emphasizes the need for continuous enablement, cultural cohesion, and the pivotal role of the CRO in fostering an accountable and disciplined sales environment.ADDITIONAL RESOURCESLearn more about George Mogannam:https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgemogannam/Read Force Management's Guide to Embedding AI In Your B2B Sales Organization: https://hubs.li/Q03ldrzD0Download the CRO Strategy Checklist: https://hubs.li/Q03f8LmX0Enjoying the podcast? Sign up to receive new episodes straight to your inbox: https://hubs.li/Q02R10xN0HERE ARE SOME KEY SECTIONS TO CHECK OUT[00:02:05] The Importance of Process in Scaling Startups[00:02:40] Common Challenges in Sales Organizations[00:03:43] Hiring the Right Salespeople[00:04:46] The Role of Sales Enablement[00:06:53] Defining Sales Terminology[00:09:11] Adapting Hiring Profiles for Growth[00:23:44] Onboarding and Training New Hires[00:32:03] Leveraging Tools and Metrics for Success[00:37:59] Understanding the Five Quarter Report[00:40:06] Implementing Sales Disciplines Across Departments[00:44:15] The Role of the CRO in Organizational Growth[00:48:26] The Importance of Operating Rhythms[00:52:44] Challenges in Sales Processes and Technology[00:57:02] The Impact of Remote Work on Sales Teams[01:00:00] The Criticality of Efficient Hiring ProcessesHIGHLIGHT QUOTES"When you implement these disciplines, it helps pull the rest of the company along.""You must have the right people on the bus executing in the direction we need to go.""A common language and definitions become critical as part of the enablement.""Everybody loves to be in an environment where they can be led to a place they couldn't get to on their own.""Creating a hiring profile that evolves with the company is essential; what works at one stage may not work at another.""It's critical to have the tools and metrics in place to provide direction and identify gaps in the sales process."

Revenue is the result—but what drives it? That's the question Aj Vaughan, host of The E1B2 Collective Podcast, dares to explore in this powerful new series built specifically for sales leaders, sales teams, and the people who enable them.Culture Over Quota goes beyond the tactics of prospecting, closing, and pipeline management. It's a deep dive into the human systems that make sales organizations sustainable, resilient, and built to scale. Aj brings his workforce strategy roots to the high-stakes world of sales, unpacking what most ignore: the leadership gaps, cultural blind spots, and team dynamics that quietly shape performance.Through unscripted conversations with CROs, enablement leaders, sales managers, and people-first operators, this series explores:How to recruit and onboard in ways that build belonging, not burnoutHow team dynamics and internal communication shape execution more than any scriptHow trust, feedback, and psychological safety become true competitive advantagesHow leaders can build cultures that hold both people and performance accountableWhy the best sales orgs treat enablement, coaching, and leadership development as revenue drivers—not HR's side projectIf you believe sales is more than numbers on a dashboard—if you believe real success is built in the conversations inside your team long before they ever reach a prospect—this series is for you.Welcome to Culture Over Quota. Where human-centered leadership meets high-performance sales.