Podcasts about ltv

Sales and marketing are supposed to work together, but in most companies, they don't. Not to the level your revenue actually needs. In this episode, I sat down with Mark Kapczynski, co-founder of Kontrol Media and author of Everyone Sells, to talk about practical, sometimes unconventional ways to get these two teams pulling in the same direction.Why Sales and Marketing Still Don't Work TogetherTraditional marketing was built around brand awareness, not revenue. That history still shapes how a lot of teams operate today.Marketing budgets are getting cut because leadership now expects marketing to prove its impact on revenue, not just visibility.Sales and marketing need to see each other as one team working toward the same goal, not two departments with separate scorecards.Give Sales and Marketing One Shared GoalMost companies still measure marketing on traffic and awareness, while sales is measured strictly on closed revenue.Mark says both teams need a shared goal tied to revenue, whether that's new logos, higher customer lifetime value, or overall revenue growth.Marketing pay structures need to change too. Straight salary with a small year end bonus doesn't give marketers the same stake in closing deals that commission gives salespeople.Meet on the Pipeline Two or Three Times a WeekSales and marketing can't just hand off leads and hope for the best.Mark recommends meeting regularly, two or three times a week, to review the pipeline together.These meetings should cover what made one lead higher quality than another, and what's holding up deals that are stuck.Track the Metrics That Actually MatterCustomer acquisition cost (CAC) and lifetime value (LTV) should be shared numbers between sales and marketing, especially for enterprise deals.Return on ad spend (ROAS) shows whether marketing's paid spend is actually working. Mark looks for four to five times return.Time to close and number of touch points are also worth tracking together.Let Marketing Support the Close, Not Own ItMarketing shouldn't be responsible for closing deals. Contracts, legal terms, and pricing sit outside their lane.But marketing can stay involved right up until the customer gives a verbal yes, supporting the salesperson the whole way.Use What Marketing Is Already Great AtMarketers are natural storytellers. Salespeople tend to be more transactional and want to close fast.Marketing can help build trust and consistency across every touch point, so a prospect hears the same story from sales, marketing, and leadership.Nurturing is another area marketing can own. Not every prospect is ready to buy today, and marketing has the tools and patience to stay engaged until they are.The Big Takeaway: Everyone SellsMark's core message ties back to his book, Everyone Sells. Every person in a company plays a role in the sales process, not just the sales team.When only one department is expected to carry the entire revenue goal, the business underperforms."Sales and marketing are peanut butter and chocolate. They have to work well together, otherwise you just have two silos going two different directions with two sets of goals." — Mark KapczynskiResourcesLearn more about Mark's company, Kontrol Media.Connect with Mark Kapczynski on LinkedIn.Check out Mark's book, Everyone Sells (Including AI): How to Influence Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime.Join our LinkedIn cohort and learn to prospect the right way.Keep track of your sales activity and boost your results with the Prospect Pro sales tool.Step up your sales game with Sales Mastermind. Get accountability, stay motivated, and tackle the blockers keeping you from hitting your goals.Visit Blue Mango Studios for help creating podcast production content.Sponsorship OffersThis episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot.With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales.This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn.Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse.This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation.Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin.CreditsAs one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We'd love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Are you tired of leaving your investment capital sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the "perfect" real estate deal to come along? In this episode of The Note Closers Show, Scott Carson delivers a massive shortcut to double-digit returns without the headaches of traditional property management, intensive due diligence, or multi-decade commitments. We are breaking down a high-yield, short-term case study on a performing Texas hard money loan located in the fast-growing market of Richardson, Texas—just north of Dallas. Discover how a seasoned, nationwide hard money lender is looking to recapitalize their growing business by selling off pieces of a $13 million performing paper portfolio. This featured asset is a true first lien secured by a vacant, four-bedroom red brick probate property undergoing a light cosmetic refresh by an experienced local rehabber. With $36,000 of the borrower's own skin in the game and a disciplined 70% loan-to-after-repair-value (ARV) cushion, this asset is built from the ground up to protect investor capital while kicking off serious cash flow. Scott walks you step-by-step through the underlying numbers, explaining how purchasing this note at par delivers a powerful 12.89% cash-on-cash ROI over a brief 11-to-12-month timeline. You will also learn about the "Rule of 72" and how securing a consistent 12% interest rate can put your retirement funds or self-directed IRA on the fast track to doubling every six years. Whether you want to step into an immediate monthly stream of $3,298, let the originating lender handle all ongoing servicing and rehab monitoring, or learn the exact steps to foreclose and capture a massive equity spread if things go sideways, this episode is your ultimate guide to truly passive real estate wealth. Key Topics Covered in This Episode:The Power of Short-Term Paper: Why a 1-year performing hard money loan is a perfect alternative to long-term 30-year notes for agile capital allocation. Richardson, TX Case Study: Detailed asset breakdown of a 4-bed, 2-bath probate property sitting in a highly desirable DFW submarket. Dissecting the Numbers: Understanding the math behind a $304,000 note balance yielding an impressive 12.89% ROI. Built-In Downside Protection: Why a 70% LTV, a strict lender escrow holdback, and $36,000 in borrower skin in the game keeps your investment secure. True Passive Investing: How the original lender retains servicing, monitors the rehab progress, and handles downside management on your behalf. The Rule of 72 Explained: How to implement a repeatable "rinse and repeat" model to double your investment capital every six years. Due Diligence and Legal Rights: Navigating first lien positions, reviewing credit/FICO profiles, and leveraging Texas's fast 30-day foreclosure process. Ready to stop waiting and start taking action? Don't let your lazy assets lose value to inflation. Tune in, learn the blueprint, and grab your tickets for our upcoming Virtual Note Buying Workshop at NoteBuyingForDummies.com to take your investing to the next level! Watch the Original VIDEO HERE!Book a Call With Scott HERE!Sign up for the next FREE One-Day Note Class HERE!Sign up for the WCN Membership HERE!Sign up for the next Note Buying For Dummies Workshop HERE!Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here's How »Join the Note Closers Show community today:WeCloseNotes.comThe Note Closers Show FacebookThe Note Closers Show TwitterScott Carson LinkedInThe Note Closers Show YouTubeThe Note Closers Show VimeoThe Note Closers Show InstagramWe Close Notes Pinterest

Are your investment dollars sitting idle in a self-directed IRA or low-yield account while inflation eats away at your buying power? In this episode of The Note Closers Show, Scott Carson sits down with members of the WCN community to reveal a massive opportunity in short-term performing paper. A seasoned, 20-year veteran of the real estate industry—and former operator of one of the largest "We Buy Ugly Houses" franchises in Dallas—is recapitalizing his $15 million hard money lending portfolio by offering investors access to double-digit performing notes across 15 states! Discover how you can step into fully originated, double-digit performing first-lien notes with loan amounts ranging from $50,000 to over $300,000. Scott breaks down why these 12-month interest-only loans offer the ultimate sweet spot for investors who want short-term capital velocity without locking up funds for 30 years or managing property rehabs. Learn how the originating lender retains all ongoing loan servicing, manages draw holdbacks, monitors photo updates, and handles any necessary downside enforcement so you can sit back and collect true passive cash flow. Scott also walks you through the power of capital arbitrage. Learn how to raise private money at 7% or 8% to fund 12% performing paper, locking in an infinite rate of return on the spread while putting lazy capital to work. From analyzing borrower experience levels and 70% LTV buffers to navigating fast-foreclosure states like Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina, this episode is your complete blueprint for high-yield, short-term note investing. Key Topics Covered in This Episode:Inside a $15M Performing Tape: Why a veteran hard money lender is selling off double-digit paper to recapitalize and expand loan originations. The Power of Short-Term Notes: Why 1-year interest-only loans provide maximum flexibility and capital velocity for self-directed IRA investors. Built-In Downside Risk Protection: How a 70% LTV threshold, strict borrower skin-in-the-game, and repair holdbacks safeguard your principal. True Passive Loan Servicing: How the originator handles interest collections, draw disbursements, photo updates, and borrower monitoring. The Spread Arbitrage Strategy: How to raise private investor capital at 7–8% to fund 12%+ notes, creating an infinite rate of return. Evaluating Borrower Risk: How to analyze borrower experience levels, loan maturities, and regional market liquidity across Texas, Ohio, and North Carolina. Fast-Track Foreclosure Protection: Leveraging non-owner-occupied business loans and fast-foreclosure legal frameworks in top target states. Ready to get your lazy assets off the bench and generating real yield? Stop waiting for the perfect deal and start putting your money to work today! Watch the full episode, examine the numbers, and register for our upcoming 2-Day Virtual Note Buying Workshop at NoteBuyingForDummies.com to master the note business from the ground up!Watch the Original VIDEO HERE!Book a Call With Scott HERE!Sign up for the next FREE One-Day Note Class HERE!Sign up for the WCN Membership HERE!Sign up for the next Note Buying For Dummies Workshop HERE!Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here's How »Join the Note Closers Show community today:WeCloseNotes.comThe Note Closers Show FacebookThe Note Closers Show TwitterScott Carson LinkedInThe Note Closers Show YouTubeThe Note Closers Show VimeoThe Note Closers Show InstagramWe Close Notes Pinterest

Andris Ušackis – ilggadējais Latvijas Televīzijas (LTV) Sporta redakcijas vadītājs šogad aprīļa sākumā paziņoja, ka atstāj amatu. Viņš ir viens no retajiem, kurš atklāti un kritiski runājis par to, kas notiek Latvijas sabiedriskā medija (LSM) iekšienē - laikā, kad arī sabiedrībā pieaugusi neapmierinātība, piemēram, par LSM vadības nostāju jautājumos, kas saistīti ar krievu valodas lietošanu. Tikmēr Latvijas Televīzijas un Latvijas Radio darbinieku iebildumi līdz šim lielākoties bijuši vērsti tikai pret vēsturisko zīmolu aizstāšanu ar burtiem "LSM".Sarunā arī par to, kāpēc LTV vairs nerāda Pasaules čempionātu futbolā un kā medijiem vajadzētu atspoguļot Olimpiskās spēles un citus sporta notikumus, ja tajos atkal tiktu pielaista Krievijas izlase.

Gail Baranello joins Heart of The East End Gianna Volpe on WLIW-FM on her birthday ahead of LTV dance party fundraiser supporting A & G Dance Company and East End Special Players on July 17 and the July 18 opening reception for Adam Baranello's exhibit, “There's Art Inside” at Southampton Cultural Center.Listen to the playlist on Apple Music

Most home service companies think they're tracking marketing. They're actually tracking the wrong metrics.In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson and Jack Carr break down how to measure marketing ROI the right way. They explain why cost per lead is often a misleading metric, how to build a marketing scorecard that actually helps you make better decisions, and the attribution systems they use to understand what's driving revenue across a growing home service business.They also discuss why blended marketing ROI matters more than individual lead costs, how to separate new customer revenue from recurring customers, the importance of clean CRM data, and why every owner—not their agency—is ultimately responsible for marketing performance.In This Episode:• Why cost per lead can lead you to the wrong decisions• The marketing KPIs every home service business should track• How to measure true ROI across every marketing channel• Building an attribution system that actually works• Why clean CRM data is the foundation of good marketing• How to separate new customer revenue from repeat business• The pitfalls of using lifetime value (LTV) to justify marketing spend• Why every owner should own their company's marketing scorecard————————————————

Kate Mueth and Antoinette Lanza of LTV'S Act & Sip series supporting Neo-political Cowgirls join Heart of The East End Gianna Volpe on WLIW-FM amidst the Thursday gatherings at LTV's Blackbox Theater where folks gather to play theater with no theatrical background required. Listen to the playlist on Apple MusicWatch the interview on WLIW-FM YouTube

Wanna work with us? Schedule a call here: https://go.oncehub.com/bookacall A borrower with a 487 credit score, a partially renovated inherited property, and a limited budget walks into a hard money lender asking for a $100,000 loan. The catch? The loan would sit at just 25% of the property's after-repair value (ARV). Would you fund this deal? In this episode of the Private Lenders Podcast, we break down a real loan originated by Hard Money Bankers and walk through the numbers, borrower profile, collateral, exit strategy, and risk analysis that went into the decision. You'll learn: • Why low LTV doesn't always mean low risk • How experienced lenders evaluate borrowers beyond their credit score • The importance of equity, borrower investment, and downside protection • How private lenders think through difficult lending decisions in today's market Would you have approved this loan or passed on it? Let us know in the comments. ✅ Please like, subscribe, and share! ✅ Are you a new or experienced private lender or hard money lender? Join Jason Balin and Chris Haddon from Hard Money Bankers as they draw from their extensive experience running a successful hard money lending company since 2007. Tune in weekly with episodes related to all aspects of private lending. From discovering lucrative loan opportunities to securing private capital, effectively managing your loan portfolio, handling defaults, and much more, we've got you covered. ✔️ Tune in now and watch the full video podcast at www.privatelenderspodcast.com ✔️If you enjoyed this podcast we would appreciate a positive review... https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-lenders-podcast/id1476153070 ✔️Make sure to check out the #1 Online Community For New and Experienced Private and Hard Money Lenders.. Create your account at www.hardmoneymastermind.com   FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL Get updates or reach out to Get updates on our Social Media Profiles! ✅ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hardmoneymastermind/ ✅ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hardmoneymastermind  

How does a physician become a millionaire by age 38? In this Milestones to Millionaire episode, we talk with a physician who recently reached $1 million in net worth at a relatively young age, while also receiving more than $300,000 in student loan forgiveness through Public Service Loan Forgiveness. We discuss the financial decisions that helped build wealth early, the impact of student loan forgiveness, and advice for other physicians working toward financial independence. Building wealth as a physician is often a long journey, but smart financial decisions early in your career can make a major difference. Goodman Capital is a premier real estate credit investment firm specializing in senior-secured, low loan-to-value lending on Class A properties in prime markets across the greater New York metro area. Founded on a family legacy dating back to 1987, Goodman has closed more than $850 million+ across 95+ loans with a track record of zero principal loss. Their flagship private mortgage REIT, Liquid Credit Strategy Fund I, delivered a steady 9% net dividend yield since inception at a very conservative sub-50% LTV. Invest in tax-efficient, high-yield, risk-adjusted debt investment strategies with Goodman Capital at https://whitecoatinvestor.com/goodman Celebrating your stories of success along the journey to financial freedom! Tune in every Monday to the Milestones to Millionaire Podcast, where we celebrate the financial achievements of our listeners and share practical tips for reaching your own milestones. We want to celebrate your milestones—no matter how big or small—and help inspire others to follow your lead. Every week, these episodes feature one listener who has recently achieved a milestone they are proud of and want to celebrate, and they give any advice they have for those who want to follow their example. Make sure to listen every Monday to be inspired by your fellow white coat investors. Celebrate YOUR Milestone on the Milestones to Millionaire Podcast: https://whitecoatinvestor.com/milestones  Website: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com  YouTube: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/youtube  Student Loan Advice: https://studentloanadvice.com  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thewhitecoatinvestor  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Twitter: https://twitter.com/WCInvestor  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/whitecoatinvestor  Online Courses: https://whitecoatinvestor.teachable.com  Newsletter: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/free-monthly-newsletter 

He's your accountant by day and a 54-unit landlord by night. And he charges less than you'd spend on a Friday night out.

"You will not be happier at nine figures. I'll just tell you that right now." What does an operator do after building an 8-figure brand entirely on one dog breed? Help an Operator Out (HAOO) is a new series where real business owners join the podcast with live questions. In this episode, Garrett Yamasaki (Founder & CEO, We Love Doodles) brings his crossroads: a bootstrapped, Amazon-heavy pet brand that crossed eight figures and needs to decide whether to go deeper in its niche or wider into new dog breeds. The answer is less obvious than it sounds.The conversation covers capital allocation, the difference between product-channel fit versus product-market fit, and why consumables change the LTV math entirely. Mike makes the case that moated niche distribution builds more durable enterprise value than any paid channel. And everyone lands on the same uncomfortable truth. The business you already built is the one most worth protecting. Powered ByFulfil⁠https://9ops.co/fulfil⁠ Aftersell⁠https://9ops.co/4i3bb5⁠Richpanel⁠https://9ops.co/richpanel⁠Northbeam⁠https://www.northbeam.io/⁠Saras Analytics⁠https://bit.ly/4a3gzVv⁠Postscript⁠https://9ops.co/postscript⁠Operators Newsletter⁠https://9operators.com/⁠

Chantel Soumis, Head of Marketing and Partnerships at Franchise Empire, joins host Brendon Dennewill to challenge how brands are approaching AI, customer engagement, and content strategy in 2026. With two decades of experience as a fractional CMO and franchise marketing leader, Chantel makes the case for human-first marketing, a structured listening tour approach, and a deliberate "anti-AI policy" that protects brand trust. If you lead marketing, revenue, or operations in a franchise or multi-location brand, this episode will reshape how you think about consistency, differentiation, and the real cost of getting it wrong.What You'll LearnWhy your customers are your brandThe case for an anti-AI policyWhat the EOS framework reveals about marketing gapsHow listening tours shape content strategyThe hidden cost of AI-generated brand damageWorking Genius and right-seat leadershipCAC and LTV as the marketing "holy grail"Resources MentionedEOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System)The Six Types of Working Genius by Patrick Lencioni Who Not How by Dan Sullivan HubSpot Culver's Frozen Custard Franchise Business Review (FBR) Survey Vistage Is your business ready to scale? Take the Growth Readiness Score to find out. In 5 minutes, you'll see: Benchmark data showing how you stack up to other organizationsA clear view of your operational maturity Whether your business is ready to scale (and what to do next if it's not)Let's ConnectSubscribe to the RevOps Champions NewsletterLinkedInYouTubeExplore the show at revopschampions.com. Ready to unite your teams with RevOps strategies that eliminate costly silos and drive growth? Let's talk!

Plenty of Pilates studios look successful from the outside. The numbers tell a different story. In this episode, Lesley Logan sits down in person with Julian Barnes, co-founder and CEO of the BFS Network, the boutique fitness industry's market intelligence company behind the annual State of the Industry report. Julian brings the data from 500-plus studios across 46 states. Lesley brings the how. Together they break down the five numbers that separate a real business from an expensive hobby, and what it actually takes to keep clients for years instead of weeks. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:The five KPIs that profitable studios track every month.Why referrals still beat social media for new leads.How to structure an intro offer that converts.The objection scripts that turn a maybe into a yes.Why holding clients accountable is what kills churn.Episode References/Links:BFS Network – bfsnetwork.comBFS Pilates Studio Benchmarks Report - BFSreport.com or BFSpilatesreport.comFacebook https://beitpod.com/thebfsnetwork https://www.facebook.com/thebfsnetwork?mibextid=wwXIfr&mibextid=wwXIfrSubmit your wins or questions - https://beitpod.com/questionsGuest Bio:Julian Barnes is Co-Founder and CEO of the BFS Network, the premier growth accelerator and market intelligence company in the beauty, fitness, and self-care industry. He leads BFS' CEO Network — the premier peer-to-peer leadership network for multi-location, multimillion-dollar operators who are building to scale — and serves as Managing Director of the Global Leadership Council, whose members collectively operate more than 10,000 locations worldwide. He also serves as an Outside Director for a global fitness brand. Barnes created NYU's Institute in Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management and served on the US Tennis Association's Investment Committee, which managed a $200M portfolio. He holds a BA from Tufts and a JD from UNC Chapel Hill.If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Julian Barnes 0:00  You have to be confident enough, both in your own abilities and that the universe will provide for you the right way. You have to be confident enough to say no to the wrong person, so you keep space open for the right person, as you said, and you have to be confident that the universe is going to bring that right person to you.Lesley Logan 0:24  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 1:05  All right, Be It babe. This is really for my Pilates studio owners and teachers out there, people who want to open a Pilates studio. We are going to get deep in numbers, and you're hearing me talk a lot about my thoughts about the Pilates industry and how you are going to have a profitable Pilates business. So it's kind of fun. If you've never heard me talk Pilates business, and you want to hear my thoughts, you can. For those of you who are Profitable Pilates members, you're going to hear some of my favorite things to say, and I think you're going to be really impressed with how amazing your studios are doing compared to others. But also, I think it's really important to know what the stats are. What is going on in the Pilates history? It is changing. There are a lot of studios, but are these studios actually as successful as they look? Lesley Logan 1:28  So, I think this report is really fun. If you watch it on YouTube, you're gonna see the visuals of these numbers. If you're like me and need to see them, you can watch it there. We'll also have everything in the show notes and in the blog as well. You guys are awesome. Here is Julian from the BFS Network. Lesley Logan 1:43  All right, loves, this is gonna be fun. You guys get to hear me in my own element, probably a little more behind the scenes of what we do with other businesses, but we have an incredible guest here. We'll talk a lot of numbers, so if you're a visual person, you might want to watch this on our YouTube channel. Julian from the BFS Network, you are here. Hello, tell everyone who you are and what you rock at, because they're going to want to know.Julian Barnes 2:18  Lesley, I am here in your home studio in Las Vegas. This is not Zoom. This is.. I could touch your high five. Here we go. There we go. Awesome. Hello, everyone. My name is Julian Barnes. I am the co-founder and CEO of the BFS Network. I am based in New York City, here in Vegas to hang out with my good friend Lesley and Brad. We are the BFS Network. For today's conversation, the most important thing I'm going to share is we are known as the premier market intelligence company in the boutique fitness industry. We publish the State of the Industry report, which is the annual report, which is the most comprehensive report in our industry. A lot of data, a lot of KPIs, a lot of metrics, all focused on showing what profitable studios do. So I'm here today with Lesley, and I'm going to share some of the numbers, and she's going to tell us how to achieve those numbers.Lesley Logan 3:13  Yeah, I'm excited. Let's go, let's do it. I'm a visual person, so I'm glad you got a visual for us.Julian Barnes 3:18  So the first thing I want to just talk about is who participated in the survey. In addition to the Profitable Pilates community, this survey has been conducted over the last 18 months, 500-plus studios worldwide. Most importantly, it is the overwhelming majority, 89% of the studios that participated in the survey have three or fewer locations, and most of them have one location, individually owned, self-financed, no private equity, no investor. So we're talking about just the regular studio owner who bootstrapped and saved, and maybe borrowed from the bank to open, that's who's in here. There's no Solidcore in here, there's no Barry's, there's no SoulCycle. And if there are some independent Club Pilates franchisees, they're individually owned, they're not big corporate, so that's.Lesley Logan 4:17  Not one of those people who owns 75 or 100 sharing. Yeah, yeah.Julian Barnes 4:21  Exactly. All right, so that's who's in it. Also, there's broad geographical distribution of the survey, meaning 45% of the responses came from cities with a population of half a million or more, 45% came from cities 50,000 to half a million, another 10% are rural areas less than 50,000, 46 out of 50 states, so we have geographic representation, we have market size representation, one, two, and three locations, no PE, no investors, so we're talking about the average mom-and-pop small studio everywhere in this country.Lesley Logan 4:57  Okay, you know I'm gonna want to have dinner where the four states are, so we got a find studio close to. Julian Barnes 5:01  It's like three S's. No, three N's. So it's North Dakota, Nebraska, and I forget the other two.Lesley Logan 5:08  Okay, I have a really great city for you, Nebraska solo owner, really pretty incredible, open for over 20 years. Julian Barnes 5:13  That's what we need. Okay. So that's who we're talking about. The way we're going to rock today is talk about the BFS scorecard, which is six KPIs. I'm going to share with the listeners, all of you, the six KPIs that profitable studios track, and I'm going to tell you what those KPIs are. And then we're going to come back, and I'm going to ask Lesley how and what a studio should do to achieve those KPIs. So, I am the "what" today; Lesley is going to be the "how."Lesley Logan 5:49  Yeah. So, for those of you, this is how it was explained to me, and I think this is a lot of fun for my peeps to listen. He's gonna be that Steve Kornacki at the big board, and I'm gonna come in as Rachel Maddow or Chris Hayes. I mean, obviously I watch a news channel, so there we go. So I'm gonna come in with my opinion and my punditry.Julian Barnes 6:07  You don't have blonde hair, so you're not that other channel.Lesley Logan 6:09  I'm not. Also, these are still my cheeks, my lips, my eyes.Julian Barnes 6:18  All real, keeping it real. Okay, so KPI number one is number of leads per month, and Profitable Pilates studios generally are generating somewhere between 10 to 50 leads per month. The number one response is more than 50 leads, so 30% of the respondents generated more than 50 leads, and then the tie for second was less than 10 leads per month and 10 to 25. Less than 10 was 20%, 10 to 25 is 21%, so that's basically a tie. I don't know for sure, but if I had to guess, the studios that are generating more than 50 leads a month are probably mat Pilates with larger class sizes, and yeah, they need more leads.Lesley Logan 7:09  I think anytime you need more leads, it's probably better having more class-based classes. Yeah.Julian Barnes 7:13  Exactly. And so the studios with less than 10 or 10 to 25 are probably more of the Reformer.Lesley Logan 7:19  Yeah.Julian Barnes 7:19  So number of leads per month is the first metric to track. I'm going to run through these quickly, and then we're going to come back. Okay, so the first KPI is number of leads per month, and the highest response was more than 50 leads per month. 30% of the Profitable Pilates studios that we surveyed generate more than 50 leads per month, and I would imagine that the majority of those are Pilates mat classes, where they have more people in seats and bigger studios, and they need to fill classes. Tied for second was less than 10 leads per month and 10 to 25 leads per month, and that is between 20 and 21% of the people who completed this assessment selected less than 10 and 10 to 25. So number of leads per month is the first KPI that we're going to talk about. Second KPI is the conversion rate, and let's see if I can do this, because I'm not an idiot, is what I told you, right?Lesley Logan 8:19  You're doing great. So there we go.Julian Barnes 8:22  Conversion rate of leads to first-time visitors. I can't wait for Lesley to break this down, but it's one thing for someone to email you, to DM you, to IM you to say, "I'm interested, send me more information about your studio." It's another thing for that person to actually walk in the door, and so conversion rate of lead to first-time visitor, Profitable Pilates studios are converting at more than 30%. 54% of the Profitable Pilates studios are converting at more than 30%. So think about that: for every 10 leads, the best studios are getting three of those 10 emails to walk in the door, right? So, conversion rate of leads to first-time visitors. Now they came, they took a class, they bought the intro offer. The question is, what percentage of those people made a second, bigger purchase? They already purchased the intro offer. I like to think about it like this: you go to a restaurant the first time and you have a nice meal. My question is always, am I going to come back? And especially if you bring a friend with you, maybe it's your favorite restaurant, and you bring a friend with you to your favorite restaurant, and you pay for the dinner. The question for your friend is, did you enjoy your dinner, and did you enjoy your dinner enough that you would come back and pay for it? That second purchase, same thing applies with studios, so they bought the intro offer. Did they come back? And Profitable studios, 55% of Profitable Pilates studios convert to a second, bigger purchase more than 30% of the time. So see how small these numbers get: for every 10 leads, three walk in the door, and of those three that walk in the door, only one is making a next purchase. So Lesley's gonna break that down. She is chomping up the bits, waiting for me. Lesley Logan 10:13  I can't wait. Julian Barnes 10:13  All right, so those are the first three KPIs. Okay, so the last two KPIs we'll talk about are average member lifetime value, which is how long they stay, and so the largest category for Profitable Pilates studios, 28% of Profitable Pilates studios have a lifetime value greater than two years. The good news is, hence the name of Profitable Pilates, that 71% of the Profitable Pilates studios that completed this assessment have an LTV of more than two years, and that's really important. I'll let Lesley weigh in on why that's important, but the number is more than two years. You want to be an LTV more than two years. Julian Barnes 10:56  And finally, the last KPI we're going to talk about today is churn, and churn means how often your members leave and you have to go refill that spot. You can't grow if you're constantly replacing someone in your studio. So Profitable Pilates studios, 43% of profitable Pilates studios minimize churn to less than 5%, but here again, the Profitable Pilates community that Lesley runs, 71% of the people who completed this assessment have a churn less than 5%.Julian Barnes 11:31  So let's recap. The five KPIs are number of leads per month, converting those leads from lead to first visit, converting the first visit to a second purchase, assuming the first visit is an intro offer, second purchase, then how long do they stay, and do you retain them by minimizing churn? Those are the five KPIs. That's what Profitable studios do in the Pilates sector. Lesley, now tell the people.Lesley Logan 12:02  Oh my gosh.Julian Barnes 12:03  Tell the people, Lesley, what they're supposed to do to achieve these numbers. How do they get these number of leads per month?Lesley Logan 12:11  Okay, so here's a really great... I just want to say I'm really proud of the people who filled this out, because my goal has always been for the people we coach for the long term. I'm like, your business should get really boring, like it should get really predictable. My goal is that some of our people need one lead a month because they actually don't have room, and they're actually referring out to other businesses in the area. That obviously is more of a smaller studio that doesn't have large group classes, but that is the absolute goal, because it's better to be entertained in your life, your business should not be so entertaining. Lesley Logan 12:39  So what I would say is, for studios to have a really great conversion, if you don't know how many leads you're getting a month, that's important. You got to start there, and you want to know where they're coming from, because that really does help you understand where you're spending your time marketing. Everyone tries to sell you to the moon and back that you should be on social media. You might not need to be, depends on your community, right? Depends on how many people are there, and depends on how many leads you need. I know that sounds crazy in 2026 that I would tell someone that it's not about social media, but it's not, more and more people are not necessarily trusting what they're seeing on socials because of AI and things like that. So, you really want to have an amazing network of clients who love you, who refer people out, so you're getting strong, solid leads, because those are gonna be the ones that actually come in over just reaching out to see what's going on.Julian Barnes 13:22  You just said something I want to jump on. I didn't mention it, but we also asked studio owners what was their most effective lead gen tactic. You want to guess what that answer is, Lesley?Lesley Logan 13:33  Referral.Julian Barnes 13:34  By far, in every modality.Lesley Logan 13:39  Yes. And here's what people.Julian Barnes 13:40  It's two to one, like it wasn't close. And again, these are profit, not just Pilates, all modalities. The number one lead gen tactic is referrals. So when you said people don't trust what's on the social and socials, what do people trust?Lesley Logan 13:56  They trust their friends.Julian Barnes 13:57  They trust people they know, people who they know, like, and trust.Lesley Logan 14:00  So here's the thing: if you are a new business right now, or you need people right now, if you're spending all of your time marketing yourself through stuff online and buying ads, that's one way to do it. And you will get people. I'm not saying that doesn't work, but you will get more people quicker if you actually tell the people who know, like, and trust you, whether they're clients or not, "Here's what my studio does, here's who we help, here's how we help them. Who do you know?" If you say, "Who do you know?" it opens a loop. You open a loop, people aren't likely to say, "I don't know anyone," because they'd have to think about that. But if you say, "Who do you know?" it opens this loop, and they start being aware of it. And if their friend's like, "Oh, my shoulder hurts," they go, "Oh, I just heard about the studio down the street." People will refer you people, and those are the people who actually come in, more likely than not, than someone who's just cruising the internet and filling out the contact form. Whoever fills out the contact form, honestly, it's whoever gets to them first and doesn't bug them.Julian Barnes 14:49  Let's take the people behind the scenes for a second. Before this call, we were chilling out in your backyard, and is it safe to say that we have some fundamental disagreements about how studios actually operate some things, right?Lesley Logan 15:27  I think that's okay, though.Julian Barnes 15:36  I wanted them to know that the things you and I agree on are the most important fundamental aspects of running a business. The things we disagree on, I say they're on the fringe, they're just a matter of choice. But this, having referrals, know, like, and trust that, it is tested over time.Lesley Logan 15:26  Yeah, I mean, it's so true. And also, it just makes it a lot easier on you if you need clients today. You opened the studio recently, or you hired a new teacher, or you opened some new classes, you need people to fill those seats today, you will always have a faster rate of transitioning them into clients if you're going to your community and the people who trust you, because they will talk about you, they will have a trust transference. If you are waiting for people to fill out your contact form, then it's like, well, they wanted you at 11:00 PM last night while they were watching someone on some TV show doing what they thought was Pilates, so they reached out, but now it's 8:00 AM or 9:00 AM in the morning and they're at work. Then it's like, "Well, I'm too busy this weekend," so you got to get people when they're excited. Lesley Logan 16:07  If you have a 30% conversion rate from the lead into coming in, that's great. I actually don't think that that's a terrible... I think if you have higher than that, you are doing great, but if you have lower than that, that's where I have concern. I feel like 30% feels very fair. Where I want you to really look at is from that, when they come in, if you have a lower than 30% conversion rate, you really do have an issue, because the numbers just get so small, and you're actually just wasting a lot of time. You're working really hard. And so I think this is where you, as an owner, need to look at what your onboarding experience is. How are you setting people up? Are you getting them with the right teacher? Are you the only person who's teaching them? Then it really is on you, what's going on?Lesley Logan 16:47  And this is where I think a lot of people make mistakes, because they try to sell Pilates, or whatever the modality is. People actually don't want to buy process; they want to buy the transformation, they want to buy the passion from you. And so this is where, if you're a studio owner and you're not the one who's doing these intro offers, they're going into a class, or they're going into another teacher's experience. You need someone who's got passion and actually can read the person, because you have to take what their goal is and what you offer and show how they get there. Nobody wants to hear, "Oh, you're going to buy the four-session-a-week package," because that's, no, that's a process. They want to buy in on the belief that you have that you can get them to where they want to go.Julian Barnes 17:24  You just said the magic word, and I don't know if people really heard you or want to go back. You said they want to buy the what, starting with the letter T?Lesley Logan 17:34  Oh, the transformation.Julian Barnes 17:35  Say that again.Lesley Logan 17:36  The transformation. They want the transformation, they want the end result.Julian Barnes 17:38  I like to say that there is no transformation without the transaction. There is no transformation without the transaction. So you have to ask the question, why are you here, and you have to actively listen to what they say, and then be prescriptive in your answer to the question. Okay, so you want X, Y, or Z. Great. Here's how you're going to get that: two times a week, three times a week. You're going to take this class, that class, this class, etc. You're going to give them a prescription, just like a doctor would give you a prescription, and tell them when they ask what does it cost, you reframe it. The investment for you to achieve your desired goal is going to be one of time and money. The time is twice a week or three times a week, and the monthly investment for that is going to be X.Lesley Logan 18:29  I agree so much, because if you can actually get them to understand that this is a tool to the transformation, and they can make that transaction, and you break it down, you can also be honest with them, and this is where trust is really built. Some people are going to come to you with goals that are not in alignment with what you do. If you actually tell them... for example, in Pilates in LA, every single person wants to lose five pounds, and it's like, "Well, here's what we know about science. Science would say, if you want to lose weight, it's a few different factors, and any fitness is part of the journey, but it's not the tool." The actual tool, especially if you're serving women, is: what are your hormones like? What are you eating? And then you can go from there. But if all you do is work out to lose weight, you might lose a couple pounds, you might change the metabolism you've got, but it's actually not going to get you to the goal. Lesley Logan 19:20  And so this is where it's really cool for people, and this is what I coach people on their first-time sessions, is find out what they're there for, and then tell them you can or can't help them. So I would always say, "Here's how Pilates is going to be part of your journey, here's what we can't do, but here's what we can do." First of all, most people are lied to so much, or sold a bunch of smoke and mirrors, that they actually will like that you told them that. They might not buy from you, they might go to someone else, or they might try something else and come back, because they actually believe and trust you. I really do believe in being authentic here. And then when you're teaching the sessions, you need to actually tell them, "Here's why I've chosen this exercise for you, here's why this exercise is going to hit your goals." That's what people don't do, they just keep talking about Pilates this, Pilates that. Pilates is now on every corner, so maybe that worked in the 1990s or might have worked in the early 2000s, but it doesn't work today. You actually have to say, "With my eye, I'm seeing your shoulder is doing this, and you have back pain, and so what I'm seeing is because of this imbalance, you're gonna have back pain until we get this balanced. So, here's these three exercises we're going to do, and they're going to help you with this." You have to actually tell them, take them behind the scenes. I like to say that their first sessions, their intro sessions, are like going to a buffet. They get to see all the different options, and you're going to talk about all the different options, and then you're going to prescribe them, like Julian said, like, "Hey, okay." First of all, I never say, "Did you like that?" You got to just go with confidence. You're like, "Thank you for letting me teach you," because that gives gratitude, it lets them know the session's over, and then you go into, "You said you wanted this. Here's how we're going to get there. Here's the process." Julian Barnes 19:20  Here's the roadmap.Lesley Logan 19:20  Yes. And then if they're like, "Whoa, that's too much for me." If you go through all the investment and all the time, and they're like, "That's more than I can spend right now," you can say, "I understand. We can take a little longer; instead of coming three times a week, we can do two times a week, or we can do this and this," but you have to actually help them find a way. I get it, some people don't work out, so that's not even the money, it's the actual going from zero times at the gym to coming three times. You're asking a lot, so this is where you have to be honest, and this is where I think our industry really needs a little kick in the pants, and a nice one. People that are with me a long time have heard me say this: if you aren't going to hold people accountable to their goals, you're going to become a to-do that they move around all the time.Julian Barnes 21:28  1,000%. And remember, they came to you. You didn't go find them.Lesley Logan 21:34  Yeah.Julian Barnes 21:35  Even if you did, even if you went to the local farmers market, you didn't force them to give you their email. Lesley Logan 21:40  Yeah.Julian Barnes 21:40  They gave you their email. They walked into the door. You have to ask them why they walked in, and you have to actually listen, so you can connect what they said with what you're going to say. You know what you're going to say, you know what your packages are. The question is, can you connect your packages to the goal they told you they want to achieve? It is not about giving permission, you are the person in the position of authority.Lesley Logan 22:09  Well, that's the thing. You just said you are the person in the position of authority, and that's where people don't see themselves.Julian Barnes 22:15  Retain your power.Lesley Logan 22:16  And so when people come to us, I have to constantly remind them that you're so worthy. If you have people who are late canceling and you're not charging them, I promise you, you're losing that client. That's not a client you want, by the way, but it's also you're losing that client because when push comes to shove. Julian Barnes 22:31  They're not committed. Lesley Logan 22:33  Right. When their budget has an issue, when something comes up, they're like, "Oh, I'm going to cancel my Pilates," because they're not actually seeing results, because you didn't hold them accountable to get results. I think this is where people really have to actually remember there is such a thing as you being in relation to them, and there is a camaraderie, but you're also the expert. They came to you, and the only way that they can exchange the energy is to pay you that worth, but you have to hold them accountable so that they get those results. And when you get them the results, that's why you don't have churn, that's why your churn is so low, and that's why you'll have clients for life. And by the way.Julian Barnes 23:05  We're gonna come back to that. Lesley Logan 23:05  Okay I just want to say, I think a lot of people go, "Oh, this person came to me, I hope they like me." You can't be like that if you want a business that actually works and doesn't stress you out at the end of the day. You have to actually have the authority, because you are the expert. They don't know.Julian Barnes 23:21  You have to be a little bit like Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs said you don't ask the customer what they want; you tell the customer what they need. None of us raised our hand and said we want a phone, remember the Blackberries and the Treos, and we want a contact management thing, we want to surf the web. No one said, "I want that." He presented it to us and said, "Here, isn't this cool?"Lesley Logan 23:45  Yeah, right. I think that's where, I understand some people's first-time sessions are in a group class. I would argue that that's a harder way to sell things. I would absolutely say, if you are a class-based studio and you want to have clients for life, you should have some sort of onboarding that allows them to be either on their own or in a very small group of other people who are also on an intro, so that you can actually find out why they're there and actually tell them how these exercises on whatever equipment you're teaching them actually help them reach their goal. Because if you just put them in a class with a bunch of other people, first of all, they get lost, and the experienced people get annoyed if the teacher keeps teaching to the newbie. You're going to lose people; they're going to start going, "I'm not getting challenged here, I'm going to this studio over here." So, I really do believe in an onboarding journey. And, of course, people are going to say, "Oh, this studio over here will let me in." Great, you should go to that studio that doesn't have any worries about you getting hurt and doesn't want your sessions to be personalized. No problem. I understand you want to get started. I actually believe in villainizing a little bit of the thing that you are not doing, so that you can actually tell people, "Here's why you wanted to work with me. Here's why you want to trust me, because I actually care about why you're here, and you're not just a number on my Reformer, you're actually a person whose impact I want. I want you to have the transformation you wanted." But I also think when they're in that first session, whatever it is, a week or a session, I really do think if you don't tell them what you're seeing in their body that's keeping them from the goal they want to have, you are missing out on an opportunity for them to understand how smart you are and how much of an expert you are. If you tell me that you want to have better posture and I'm seeing that your hip is up to one side, you have to tell people, "Oh, I noticed this, no wonder your posture is having problems. So here we're going to do these exercises." I always said this, but I think it's really where people miss out. This is where teachers keep it to themselves and they actually don't tell the client what they're seeing; they just pick exercises, but the person doesn't know why you're picking that. So, you have to peel back the curtain, so that they can see that you're in there with them, you're a partner in this journey, and you're gonna hold them accountable to hitting the goals they want, and then when they hit those, you're gonna set new ones.Julian Barnes 25:40  Right. All right, so let's talk about KPI number three: percentage of new visitors who purchase a membership or a bigger package. So we're talking specifically about people who purchase the intro offer, they finish the one week or the two week or the one month, whatever the intro offer is, they finished that. Did they pull out their credit card and make a second purchase? What should studios do, owners, and instructors do to increase the probability of a yes?Lesley Logan 26:11  I love this question so much. I'm going to take us back a little bit. So I want to go back to the intro offer. You need to pick an intro offer that actually fits the goals you need. If you need a lot of clients, the intro offer needs to be very simple, very easy. I wouldn't even give people two weeks, I think that is crazy nonsense. I also don't like free; I think you have to charge. It's very hard to go from zero to whatever you're charging. So, I would say if you need clients yesterday, you're doing a single-session intro offer with a very much hands-on experience, where someone is told, you find out what they need in an interview style, and then a concierge style at the end about what's going on. That's what you need. If you don't need a ton of clients, then your intro offer can be a little longer, and can actually be a higher need to say yes, meaning instead of doing a private session and the intro offer is $60 for one session, it might be $180 for three. That obviously is going to get rejected more, because it's a bit more. "I don't know if I want to spend $180 on you, I just met you, I don't even know you." But you don't need a lot of people, so you're like, "I only want the best to come through," right? So you really want to make sure you're picking that. Now, obviously, the higher the intro offer's time and money commitment is, the more likely you're actually going to have a second purchase if they do it in a condensed form of time. That's why I disagree with two weeks or one month, I really do, especially for in-person. I think you want to keep things quick, because when that dopamine high is happening, that's when they're more likely to buy. If it's three sessions that they can take over three weeks, good luck, because they only felt the high in the moment when they drove their car home, they actually didn't get the benefits. But if it's three sessions in one week, you're more likely to get that second purchase. You want people to feel the benefits, because let's be really honest: Joe Pilates has a quote that everyone likes to use, but they don't finish the sentence. "In 10 Pilates sessions, you feel different. In 20 sessions, you look different. In 30 sessions, you have a whole new body." But they don't finish it: "If you come three to four times a week, or your money back." That's what Joe said, that's what his ad said. If you're just coming to Pilates once a week, it'd be like trying to study Spanish once a week. I can recognize words, but I'm not going to be able to understand Bad Bunny, that's not happening. I have to do it multiple times a week, and science is there, no matter the modality. Unless you're doing something three or four times a week, you're actually not making a change.Julian Barnes 26:58  Well, that's the key, right? Earlier you said you're here for the transformation. The first step, I would argue, in the transformation is transforming your daily routine. What you just said is people need to adopt a new routine that says, "I'm coming on Tuesday morning, Thursday after work, Saturday morning." I'm committed to that change. See, hear these terms: commitment, investment, transformation. They need to commit. You need to present them with a prescription. You are more likely to be successful if you present a prescription that gives them the opportunity to adopt a new routine from day one.Lesley Logan 28:10  Here's the thing: you will sound more confident when you're talking with them if you're making them rise up to the occasion. It is understanding their intake forms.Julian Barnes 29:12  You're leading them to rise to the occasion.Lesley Logan 29:18  Yes. Here's the thing: are you more likely to come to the person who says, "When do you want to come in?" If you're someone who's listening who says, "When do you want to come in? Do you want to come in next week?" I'm going to tell you right now, your business is a hobby, and eventually the IRS is going to audit you, so that's not going to be good for you. You're not gonna be profitable. If you're telling people, "Hey, you should come, you're gonna come two times a week. I have 10:00 AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays, does that work for you?" That is me telling you. You're going, "Hmm, does it work for me?" But you're not, you're more likely to look at your calendar like, "When do I want to come in? Oh, next week actually feels really full. Now I can't come in," right? You want to actually tell people and prescribe people and have the confidence in what you're doing, and this is where I think a lot of people have a lot of fear. "Oh my god, they'll think I'm being rude." No, they won't. They're going to think that you're in control. This is a business. It's a business. Lesley Logan 30:06  And also, I don't want to waste people's money, so you can even say that. Look, here's the deal: if you're only going to come once every other week, this is kind of a waste of money. You shouldn't really do this; you could probably do something at home on YouTube. If you really want the transformation, you have to commit to it, and the commitment looks like this. That's where I would say, whether you do memberships or packages, I don't like unlimited, because that is craziness, you also can't prescribe people the times to come in. "If you want to hit this goal in the next three months, I recommend our three-time-a-week commitment. If that's too much for you, there's a two-time..." You have these things that people can choose, a journey, a path. If you're only gonna have one time a week, here's the deal: you can never miss, and I'm gonna need you to do homework, because the reality is, one time a week, if that's all you can afford time or money-wise, I get that something is better than nothing, but you gotta do something at home. Otherwise, it is a waste of your time and money, and I don't wanna waste your money. And when you talk like that with people, they're like, "Oh, this person really knows what they're talking about." When you ask them, "When do you want to come in?" a broken clock is right two times a day. You're going to get some people, but those are the type-A people who happen to be near you or close to you, and they kind of like you. You're not going to have a business where it's easy to predict how much money you're going to make month after month.Julian Barnes 31:15  Would you say that transformation requires the three C's? You need to change your routine, you need to be consistent about the changes you're making in routine, and you have to be willing to get rid of your comfort zone, get out of your comfort zone. Very little change occurs when you're comfortable.Lesley Logan 31:37  Oh, you know what happens: if you don't change, the world does, and you just actually get further behind. So I do think that... I love all those three C's, and I think that's really helpful for people. Here's the thing, the objections you're going to get are three. There might be some other ones, but these are the three I've heard teaching for a really long time, and I used to run nine studios for a high-end fitness company, so I have heard them all, which are: "I don't have the money." Guess what, everyone says that when they actually don't really want to tell you why they can't do it, or they didn't like it. It's an easier thing. You're not going to go show me your wallet, right? So, "I don't have the money," and "I don't have the time." This is one for people who want change, but they're afraid of leaving their comfort zone. So, this is where you actually have to have a speech ready in hand. "I get that. I'm a very busy person. Here's what we're going to do: we are going to pre-schedule your sessions for the next month, so you can schedule your whole life around it. How about we start two weeks out, because it's a little easier? Two weeks out, it's not overwhelming. We're going to schedule your whole life around it, and because of our cancellation policy, you're going to cancel your friends over this, and you're actually going to get the transformation." Or they have to "think about it." If they have to think about it, there's a couple things going on. You weren't good enough at making sure they understood how what you're doing is going to help them with their transformation. You didn't get an honest goal out of them, or you actually didn't tell them how you're going to get there, so they're kind of in, but they're not sure. Or you have way too many offers. If you have too many offers, "I don't know what to do. If I see we have these packages, and we have these packages, we have this class over here, we have this class over here..." It's too confusing for me, and I have to think about it. You want things to be very easy for people to make a yes. And so, if they have to say, "Oh, I have to talk to my husband," that is also a way of saying, "I don't have the money," or "I'm not sure," because most women have the ability to spend the money on what they want. The first time I ever heard this as a brand new teacher, I said, "No problem. If your husband has any questions, here is my number. Remember, these are the goals we talked about, here's how we're going to get there." And if you want me to chat with him about how this is going to work out, I'm happy to do that. Guess what? He came up to my studio the next day and he said, "My wife can come as much as she wants, whatever she wants, she can come as much as she wants. I just want her to be happy," right? Most of the time it's not the husband; it's that she was not sure if she was worthy of the commitment, and we have to hold space for that. But if you can actually think of the objections you have, and then come up with your responses ahead of time, you're gonna come off more confident when they have those. And then guess what, they can go think about it. Okay, great. "I'm gonna reach out next week, I'm gonna reach out tomorrow, I'm gonna call back on the follow-up. Is that okay with you?" You'd be surprised how many people come in if you follow up.Julian Barnes 34:04  Now, here's one of the areas where we may disagree. I agree with everything you just said. Sometimes it's okay to say, "We may not be for you."Lesley Logan 34:13  Oh, we're not going to disagree on that. I love that.Julian Barnes 34:17  I hear you. The three objections: don't have time, can't afford it, not sure. Okay, I hear you. We may not be the right place for you. We are the place for people who are willing to make a commitment to the transformation they seek. We work with people who are committed. We work with... and then whatever's in your community, you know, describe them. They might be business owners, executives, presidents of corporations, whatever is in your tribe, in your community. We work with the best of the best. If you want to be part of that, we'd love to have you, but I get it, we may not be for you, and that's okay. Lesley Logan 34:56  That's okay. Julian, I love this, because I just coached someone today, and she was talking about, "Oh, they got sick and they couldn't do this, and now they're good there." I said, "You should fire them as clients, they're not good clients." In fact, I would call that dirty money. Every single teacher out there who's taking clients who just come in willy-nilly, that is dirty money. It's actually never going to get you good referrals. There's certainly not gonna be a walking billboard. The best advice I ever got when I first started teaching Pilates, best advice, a teacher took me aside on my first day, and he goes, "Get one client and make them obsessed with you. You focus every energy and everything you have on that one client, and you will have clients for life." And he's not wrong. I was gifted a duet session from a teacher who was moving, and I took that to heart. They're like, "We can't come next week." I'm like, "Oh, well, I'll see you... let's go with an extra one this week. Gotta make it up."Julian Barnes 35:43  Exactly right.Lesley Logan 35:44  And they're like, "What? We don't do two in a week." I'm like, "Well, you're missing next week. I'm not gonna wait two weeks to see you. What change are we gonna have? We gotta do this." They never miss a session. Guess what? Within two weeks, I had two of their friends from their building, right? Because I was like, "If you want to work with me, this is how often you have to do this." And here's the thing: when you tell people, "We might not be for you," one, some people will rise to the occasion because they don't like to be rejected, and two, you're leaving space for someone who's going to actually add to the community and make your business successful. And, by the way, more importantly, you're going to make an impact on them, because it's not fun to teach people who are not committed it's, actually exhausting.Julian Barnes 36:18  I know you believe in karma.Lesley Logan 36:19  I do. Julian Barnes 36:20  Right, as we sit in a room full of crystals everywhere.Lesley Logan 36:24  Some people, I'm wondering when their karma is coming. I'm just gonna say.Julian Barnes 36:28  So you have to be confident enough that the universe will present you what you need when you need it, and that confidence is really tested when you have some financial needs and the wrong client walks in. You have to be confident enough, both in your own abilities and that the universe will provide for you the right way. You have to be confident enough to say no to the wrong person, so you keep space open for the right person, as you said, and you have to be confident that the universe is going to bring that right person to you.Lesley Logan 37:12  Yes. Well, and.Julian Barnes 37:13  But it's not going to always be on your schedule.Lesley Logan 37:15  No. And that... well, that's here's the thing, we've been talking about these different leads, you actually don't get to decide when people are going to finally come in the door. So you have to make sure that whatever you're doing is making sure it's put in front of them and reminded in front of them, and they're reminded again until they're like, "Oh, I'm finally ready." We actually don't get to decide when they come in the door, but once they're there, we absolutely can say, "You're in my house, and in my house, this is how we do things," right? Like my house, you can leave your shoes on, we got a dog, he goes in and out, this is a desert, we're fine, but some people's houses, the shoes go off. I was just at a friend's house who's in the Pilates industry, and he's like, "Yeah, you take your shoes off," and we went upstairs, and he's like, "Oh, there's a deck, put these slippers on," and I'm like, "Oh my god, there's so many rules!" But guess what, it's his house. Those are the rules of participating in his world, and so I would just say it's okay to have these rules. It really helps people understand the boundaries, and it will make for better clients who are more consistent, and guess what, they will go back to the best way to get clients: refer you better clients.Julian Barnes 38:15  Great. So now, how do we keep them? How do you recommend that your clients act in such a way as to increase lifetime value? First of all, what is lifetime value? Second, why is it important? Third, how do you increase it? What is it? Why is it important? How do you increase it?Lesley Logan 38:34  So you can correct me. I'm going to do a simple lifetime value with clients: like if you have clients for two years, how much money do you often make off them? And getting an average of a lifetime value really helps you understand how many clients you really kind of need for your business to predict or project what you want to make. You want to make a million dollars for your studio, and your average lifetime client is X. Then you need 25 of those clients to get there, right? So it really helps you understand the business you're going to have. And our businesses, we have a really amazing lifetime value of a lot of our clients. It's kind of insane for our membership bases that are online, what they are, and so once we know those, it really helps us understand how much money are we going to spend marketing, right? Especially if you're an on-demand business or membership basis.Julian Barnes 39:12  How much you're willing to invest in marketing.Lesley Logan 39:14  Yes.Julian Barnes 39:14  If you know that your member is paying you 100 bucks a month, which is 1,200 bucks a year, and they have an average tenure of two years, then you know that you have about $2,400 for every client.Lesley Logan 39:27  Yeah.Julian Barnes 39:28  So now you back, that's not even that's before profit.Lesley Logan 39:30  Yep. Okay. Yep.Julian Barnes 39:32  Now you back that down and back that out and say, "Well, how much am I willing to invest by an acquisition cost? Am I willing to invest $100 to make $2,400? Sure. Am I willing to invest $2,000 to make $2,400? Not so much."Lesley Logan 39:32  There are people who will do that, and I think they're crazy.Julian Barnes 39:33  So you know that number because you want to know how much you want to invest.Lesley Logan 39:37  Yes, and it's really important, and it really does take time to get that value if you're a brand new studio. This is going to be something. Julian Barnes 40:00  6 to 18 months, minimum. Lesley Logan 40:02  So it's really important. What was the second two questions?Julian Barnes 40:06  That's what it is. How do you keep your members with you for two, three, four years? How?Lesley Logan 40:14  Okay, so first of all, this is going to sound crazy. If your value system doesn't include commitment and consistency, you've already started your business off on the wrong foot for a long-term lifetime value of a client. You have to actually have in your value of your business, "We want committed or consistent clients." What are we going to do? It's part of our value system to make sure that happens. Maybe that comes from communication, maybe that comes from transparency, maybe that comes from responsibility, maybe that comes from community, but you have to decide in your value system how you're going to get there from the get-go. Because everything in your value system dictates how you make decisions on who you hire, what services you offer, what days you're open, all that stuff, right? Second thing is, if you're not making sure your clients are consistent, if you're just letting them cancel and there's no fees, they're not committed. Guess what, they're going to eventually go somewhere else, because no one's making sure they show up.Julian Barnes 41:11  The word there you're looking for, I think, is accountable.Lesley Logan 41:14  Yes.Julian Barnes 41:15  Accountable. You have to hold your clients accountable to the prescription for the transformation that they said they want. You didn't tell them what they wanted; they told you what they wanted. You told them how to get it.Lesley Logan 41:29  Yeah, exactly. So, I think this is where people are afraid they'll lose clients if they uphold a cancellation policy. Nope, you'll lose them because you didn't. Now, you might lose them in the beginning, like, "This is too harsh." Great, this is not the studio for you. That studio on the street is in charge, go there. I don't know if you'll get your goals, but you won't be charged for not showing up here. You said you wanted to do this; I held a space for you, right? It's really important. And you'll say it in your own words, but I promise you, I promise you, I had clients when I was in LA... I taught in LA for 12 years. I was there for 14, taught 12 years in LA, and when COVID hit, I still had more than half of my clients from the first year I started teaching.Julian Barnes 42:08  How? What did you do to maintain that LTV?Lesley Logan 42:12  Aside from my boundaries, if I traveled, there was a teacher coming into their space at their exact same time, so their schedule didn't change just because my schedule changed. I think this is really important: no matter the size of your space, you've got to have backups or a backup policy in place, so that you can get sick, have to travel, or have a baby, and make sure that they're taken care of at the schedule that they committed to, because it's really hard for them to move their schedule, right? Second thing, if you're not reinstating what they're getting from you, you think that they're mind readers, they're not, right? So, you have to remind them how far they've come, how close they are to their goal. "Oh, you've hit this goal, where are we at now?" You also need to actually... they talk so much, they are nonstop, they think you're their therapist. If you're not listening to the things they're saying they're going to go do with their family, "Oh, you're going to go hike such and such volcano in Europe? Okay, we're going to add some exercises in to make sure you can do that. Oh, you want to start running a marathon? Okay, we got to do these things to help keep your hips open, otherwise your back's going to hurt." You need to hear the things that they're saying they want to do with their kids, their family. You have to insert yourself. Julian Barnes 43:15  You have to listen. I'm hearing you say, 'Listen, listen.'Lesley Logan 43:17  And what do most teachers do? This is the thing, I say this, the industry is having an amazing moment right now, but I promise you, right now, because all the teachers are focused on cues, and all the students are focused on how many people are in the class, you are going to see the pendulum swing the other way. Because people are not there for your cues; they're there for the transformation. And if you're not looking with your eyes at what their body is doing, you don't know what cue you need. You have to see what they're doing, and then give them the correction that they need in that moment. And because we have different learning styles and things like that, you can't... I'm sorry, you can't have memorized cues. You have to learn how to be present, and be present to listen to what they're saying when they're leaving. What are they saying? "Oh, you know, my sister's coming to town next week." Guess what I'm saying: "Oh, is your sister coming with you to class? Do we need to reschedule your sessions?" Because if you can start to train them, then they're never missing, they're getting the consistency. But you have to know that their goals are going to change with their life. My clients, 12 years long, I mean, it's amazing what height we got out of them, and they're older. So I think it's really important for people to actually remember that the impact you want to make is there if you listen, and they'll stay because you keep reminding them how Pilates is part of their life.Julian Barnes 44:32  And so churn, to wrap it up, LTV and churn are related. You want your LTV to be high so they stay with you for many years, and you want to reduce your churn, which is the percentage of clients or members who leave your studio. What are some of the best practices that studio owners can implement to minimize churn?Lesley Logan 44:53  So, I think this is where, if your business is based off waitlists and 12-hour things, and hoping people cancel so they will get off the waitlist, you're actually going to have churn. I actually think this is where we have to really think about who we're trying to serve and how we're serving them. And I would really make sure that your clients are able to be part of the journey of the growth of your business. They should be part of it, celebrated, reminded that they're there. They always need to have a name. Every single person, whoever you hire, no matter how big you get, if they are not saying people's first names, and also following up, "Oh, you've been gone for two weeks because of X surgery. How are you doing? Yes, we paused your membership, but..." actually check on them. "Oh, I don't want to bother them." Oh my god, they won't respond if you're bothering them! We have to actually stick around and be in people's lives, and follow up and remind them that they matter and that they're missed. And if you have any teachers who are not remembering people's names and not remembering that they've been gone, you're going to have a churn problem. I think the reason why my businesses have grown, even in coaching people, and that we have people who've been with us since day one, is because we constantly remind everybody who the OG people were. These people are here; they've been with us for the long haul. They remembered us when it was small, but they're being introduced to the new people when it's bigger, and they're feeling that they're part of a community. I think people forget that people, at the base of everything, just want to belong. And if you're not able to look them in the eye and remember their name and introduce them to somebody else, they're going to feel unseen at some point. So I really do think that churn is reduced when you see people as a human being.Julian Barnes 46:27  So, I have a bonus question for you which is, right in your wheelhouse as a veteran instructor, more like a comment for you to reply to, from the very beginning of this conversation, you haven't used this word, but it's my takeaway of what you've been saying: impact. We talk about how people want transformation. Talk about how do you convert from lead to first-time visitor? How do you convert from first-time visitor to second purchase? How do you keep them a long time? How do you minimize churn? To me, the answer is impact, and what we, at BFS, don't focus on front of house, we're not Pilates instructors, but you obviously are. And so what I like to remind people, and I'm going to ask you to elaborate, I like to remind people none of the processes, none of the systems, none of the messaging, none of the stuff matters if you're not delivering fire classes each and every time. Agree, disagree, assess?Lesley Logan 47:29  Oh, I agree. I also think it's really interesting because I come from this as a classical Pilates instructor, but I coach a lot of contemporary-based Pilates. So my fire classes on the Reformer always start with footwork and probably end with the same exercise. So, when you say fire classes, I think it's really important that I say.Julian Barnes 47:47  I want to say impact. The classes have to deliver impact.Lesley Logan 47:50  Yeah, they have to. Well, I'm saying I'm agreeing with you. I'm also saying you don't have to be someone who's recreating the wheel every time, but people have to feel so different than when they walked in the door, because if they feel the same, then they're not coming back. This is a nice hobby that they have, you fit the thing, but as soon as road construction's up or their job goes across town, you're out of it. Here's what I know about being a teacher for so long in LA: people would drive across freeways to stay with the same teacher because of the impact. Why would they do that when there's a studio... it's LA! There are, and by the way, it's LA, like New York, the best Pilates instructors in the world are in these places, and they're going across town. Why? It is because of the impact. And I think this is where people lose their confidence: they see other people doing things and go, "Oh, I should do that, too. Everyone's Reformers are beige now; I should do beige. Everything is this." No. What is it that you said you would give people, and what is it that they want? And if you can stay clear on that and keep understanding what their new wants are, you will have them for life.Julian Barnes 48:59  This goes back to something you said earlier today: take one client and give everything to, say that again, you said?Lesley Logan 49:07  Take one client and you make them obsessed with you, and then you'll have clients for life.Julian Barnes 49:11  Okay, so unpack that, because I think you're talking about how do you make them obsessed. To me, that sounds like you're saying give them 110%, teach the best class every time, you are the best.Lesley Logan 49:38  It goes back to accountability. I'm going to give 110% in every session, but you have to show up for the sessions, and it's a two-way street, I'm not in your body, right? So you got to make sure that they feel like they can trust you to tell you what's going on, but they have to show up

When James Reinhart walked into a Cambridge consignment store with a bag of business school clothes in 2008 – a J.Crew cashmere sweater, a Brooks Brothers coat – and was told they had no resale value, he didn't accept the answer. "I can't believe this cashmere sweater is worth zero," Reinhart tells Ken. That moment became Thredup. Sixteen years later, the company he co-founded as a broke ex-teacher earning $24K a year is a public marketplace approaching $400M in annual revenue, with 25M+ items sold this year across 35,000 brands.In this episode of The Retail Pilot, Ken sits down with James Reinhart – Co-Founder and CEO of Thredup – to unpack how a former 8th grade teacher built one of the most operationally complex companies in fashion. They explore the founding story, the "Netflix of shirts" pitch, the unit economics driving 80% gross margins, the Resale-as-a-Service partnerships with J.Crew, Athleta, Steve Madden, and Cotopaxi, the peer-to-peer launch competing with Poshmark and Depop, and the 4-day work week that became permanent.In this episode you'll learn:How a Cambridge consignment rejection and a J.Crew cashmere sweater became the genesis of ThredupWhy the first year ran on $70K with 7 employees – and why Boston VCs passed before Silicon Valley said yesThe "Netflix of shirts" original pitch – and why it was a "terrible business" that taught them everythingHow Thredup hit ~$400M in annual revenue and a 25% YoY increase in active buyersThe KPIs James actually tracks: contribution margins, LTV to CAC, and units per hour throughputThe supply-side strategy: why dominating sellers is the playbook (and what Airbnb, OpenTable, and Spotify taught him)Resale-as-a-Service: how J.Crew, Athleta, Steve Madden, and Cotopaxi power resale with ThredupThe direct listings launch: how Thredup is competing with Poshmark and DepopInside Thredup's distribution centers: hundreds of thousands of items processed daily, 1M+ photos a dayThe Dallas warehouse: 4 football fields, 4 stories high, 10M items, $600–700M in throughputHow AI is powering search, discovery, and Pinterest-board-to-shop curationThe 4-day work week experiment that never ended – and the sabbatical and maker day policies before itWhy Thredup went public – and why James thinks it made the company "so much better"This episode is for you if: you're a founder building operational moats, a retail operator exploring Resale-as-a-Service, an investor tracking unit economics, a brand leader weighing circularity, or an HR leader curious about the 4-day work week.Subscribe to The Retail Pilot for more conversations with retail leaders shaping the future of commerce.If you missed our last episode, where Denise Incandela unpacks Walmart's fashion transformation, be sure to tune in.Connect with Ken:-Follow Ken Pilot Ventures on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In this episode of the Ecomm Breakthrough podcast, host Josh Hadley shares his strategic framework for approaching major sales events like Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. Rather than chasing short-term profits, Josh advocates using these events for customer acquisition through aggressive discounts on front-end products. Using Athletic Greens (AG1) as a prime example, he illustrates how maintaining a cohesive brand promise drives long-term success. Josh also emphasizes the importance of the 3:1 lifetime value to customer acquisition cost ratio as the key metric for sustainable e-commerce growth.Bullet Points:Strategic approach to major sales events (Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday)Importance of customer acquisition over short-term profitsUse of aggressive discounts on front-end products to attract new customersCase study of Athletic Greens (AG1) as a successful brand exampleFocus on maintaining a cohesive brand identity and promiseEmphasis on understanding and optimizing customer lifetime value (LTV)Recommended LTV to customer acquisition cost (CAC) ratio for scalable growthImportance of thoughtful product packaging and messaging for customer engagementCaution against short-term gimmicks that can damage brand trustStrategies for using sales events to clear excess inventory and enhance brand equityTimestamps:00:00:00 Approaching Major Sales EventsThe host discusses different strategies for sales events like Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday for e-commerce brands.00:00:52 Introduction to the HostJosh Hadley introduces himself, his e-commerce experience, and the focus of the podcast on building a true brand.00:01:48 Defining a Real BrandA real brand sells a promise to a customer, not just products. The host uses Athletic Greens (AG1) as an example.00:02:52 AG1's Brand Promise StrategyHow AG1 uses a starter kit to introduce customers to their brand promise of convenient health and wellness.00:03:54 Prime Day as Customer AcquisitionThe primary goal of Prime Day should be front-end customer acquisition, not short-term profitability, to build an ecosystem.00:05:57 The Importance of Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)Focusing on the long-term LTV of a customer and the 3-to-1 CAC to LTV ratio for sustainable scaling.00:07:51 AG1's Customer OnboardingAG1's starter kit includes materials to onboard customers into their ecosystem and encourage repeat purchases, building long-term trust.00:09:04 Long-Term Brand Building vs. Short-Term TacticsThe best brands focus on a 3-5 year time horizon, building trust through repetition and delivering on their promise.00:11:06 Creating a Cohesive Brand EcosystemBrands should have a lead offer that introduces customers to an entire ecosystem of products delivering on a single promise.00:13:22 The Two-Pronged Strategy for Sales EventsUse aggressive discounts on acquisition products to attract new customers and use the event for liquidating excess inventory.Links and Mentions:Tools and Websites"AG1 (Athletic Greens)": "00:01:48""Expandify": "00:07:00"General Concepts"Lifetime Value (LTV) Ratio": "00:05:57"Recommendations"Front End Acquisition Offers": "00:13:22""Liquidation Offers": "00:13:22"Transcript:Josh Hadley 00:00:00  One of the biggest topics that's always up for debate this time of year is, hey, how should I approach Prime Day? Should I be aggressive giving out a bunch of discounts? Should I turn off my PPC campaigns and just maximize profitability? Should I actually increase my prices and not decrease them? So I just ride the high of all the traffic that's going to Amazon? Well, today I'm going to be diving into how I'm going to be approaching Prime Day moving forward. And this also includes Black Friday, Cyber Monday as well. Welcome to the Econ Breakthrough podcast I'm Josh Hadley. I've scaled my own ecommerce brand from 0 to 8 figures, and I'm actively building towards nine figures in sales. This podcast is where I document that journey and share the systems, the strategies, and the lessons learned in real time so that you can learn what actually matters and scale your own business. Who am I? My name is Josh Hadley. First and foremost, I'm a man of faith. I'm a husband to a beautiful wife and the father of four children.Josh Hadley 00:00:52  I've been selling in the e-commerce space for over a decade, doing over $20 million in annual revenue, doing multi-millionaire on other sales channels such as Amazon, TikTok, Shop and Shopify, and also the host of the number one e-commerce podcast for business strategy. And that is Ecomm breakthrough. Today, I want to share with you our mindset of how we're approaching Prime Days moving forward. This also includes how we're going to be approaching, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and what some of the best brands out there in the e-commerce space are doing. I think that this is game changing because this kind of piggybacks off of what I've talked about in the past, which is, are you actually building a true brand, or are you just trying to sell products on Amazon, or are you just a product brand that's just slapping their brand name on a bunch of different random products that don't have a whole lot of cohesion? If that's the case, you probably don't want to listen to the rest of this podcast episode because it's not going to be relevant for you.Josh Hadley 00:01:48  This is going to be for those sellers that are actually trying to build a real brand. And what does a real brand mean? It means you're not just selling products, it means you're selling a promise to a customer, and then you're actually able to deliver on that promise to a customer. Now, one of the best examples that I want to dive into is aji one. And aji one does an excellent job of this on Amazon because they know exactly who they are as a brand. You don't just see Aegon all of a sudden coming out with, hey, now they're selling socks. Aegon supplements is not coming out with, you know, iPad covers or cell phone cases or anything like that. They're not an opportunistic, you know, product business. Instead, they are actually a brand trying to serve a very specific target market and customer delivering on the promise of, hey, if you come to us, we will provide you with the fastest, easiest way to get all of your vitamins and minerals in a very efficient way so that you are living your best life, that you are living, you know, in an optimal health environment.Josh Hadley 00:02:52  Okay. That's their brand promise. Now, are they actually able to deliver on this promise. And so ultimately, I share with you this example because this is what's going to be kind of set the foundation for why you're going to execute prime days and all of the big deal days like Black Friday, Cyber Monday in a new framework. So with AG one, one of the things that they do knowing their brand promise is how do I introduce people to our products to let them know, hey, they're tasty, they're easy, they're convenient, and hopefully you feel better while you use these. That's their brand promise. Okay, so how do they do that? Well, they have a seven day starter kit that they sell on Amazon. Now. They also sell some of their other SKUs on Amazon as well. But one of their key things and I just pulled it up. They're doing over 2000 units a month just on their one supplement, ...

Ledn Co-Founder Mauricio Di Bartolomeo joins Natalie Brunell for a first-time announcement: Tether's tokenized gold (XAUt) is coming to Ledn — the first step toward gold-backed loans later this year. He answers the Bitcoin purists on adding gold, breaks down Ledn's first S&P investment-grade bond backed by Bitcoin loans, and gives a firsthand account of Venezuela after Maduro's capture.  Topics we cover: XAUt tokenized gold (real bars in Tether's Swiss vaults) coming to Ledn, with gold-backed loans later this year Inside Ledn's first S&P investment-grade bond backed by Bitcoin loans — and how the ABS market could scale Bitcoin credit toward $1 trillion Mauricio's answer to Bitcoiners who don't like credit products or investing in other assets Natalie's experience taking her first Ledn loan: https://youtu.be/xD3ZoZ2woPk?si=ix0HKnD85hqMTokU Why Ledn caps loans at 50% LTV, and how auto top-off protects borrowers from liquidation His read on "seller exhaustion" and why he expects a summer price come-back Venezuela after Maduro's capture — and the crackdown on its illegal gold mines Follow Mauricio Di Bartolomeo on X https://x.com/cryptonomista and sign up for Ledn at ledn.io/natalie to get .25% off your first loan. ---- Order Natalie's new book "Bitcoin is For Everyone," a simple introduction to Bitcoin and what's broken in our current financial system: https://amzn.to/3WzFzfU  ---- Have you downloaded SPEED WALLET yet? It's my go-to Lightning wallet — send, receive, and swap Bitcoin, stablecoins, and digital gold in one app. Run a business? Speed powers Bitcoin payments for Steak 'n Shake, and it can do the same for you. Download at www.speed.app/natalie and use code COINSTORIES10 for 5,000 free sats after your first transaction. ---- Ledn is the global leader in Bitcoin-backed loans, issuing over $10 billion in loans since 2018, and they were the first to offer proof of reserves. With Ledn, you get custody loans, no credit checks, no monthly payments, and more. Get .25% off your first loan, learn more at https://www.Ledn.io/natalie  ---- Abundant Mines is a fully-managed Bitcoin mining in the U.S. You own the miners. You keep 100% of the Bitcoin. Voted #1 mining company by peers. Get 1 month of free hosting: AbundantMines.com/Natalie ---- Natalie's Bitcoin Product Partners: Block's Bitkey Cold Storage Wallet was named to TIME's prestigious Best Inventions of 2024 in the category of Privacy & Security. Get 10% off using code STORIES at https://bitkey.world/STORIES Master your Bitcoin self-custody with 1-on-1 help and gain peace of mind with the help of The Bitcoin Way: https://www.thebitcoinway.com/natalie  With BitcoinIRA, you can invest in bitcoin 24/7 inside a tax-advantaged IRA. Choose a Traditional IRA to defer taxes, or a Roth IRA for tax-free withdrawals later. Take control of your future with BitcoinIRA: https://www.bitcoinira.com/natalie  ---- Natalie's Upcoming Events: Join us for the biggest Bitcoin conference in Europe at BTC Prague this June 10-13 with a keynote from Michael Saylor, Code HODL for discounted passes: https://btcprague.com/  The best time to plan for Bitcoin 2027 is right now. Early bird tickets are live — grab the lowest pricing available and use code HODL for 10% off: https://tickets.b.tc/event/bitcoin-2027?promoCodeTask=apply&promoCodeInput=HODL  ---- Extra Services to Consider: Protect yourself from SIM Swaps that can hack your accounts and steal your Bitcoin. Join America's most secure mobile service, trusted by CEOs, VIPs and top corporations: https://www.efani.com/natalie   Ditch your fiat health insurance like I did four years ago! Join me at CrowdHealth: www.joincrowdhealth.com/natalie  ---- This podcast is for educational purposes and should not be construed as official investment advice. Ads in this episode are baked-in and may reference promotions or offers that are no longer available at the time of listening. ---- VALUE FOR VALUE — SUPPORT NATALIE'S SHOWS Strike ID https://strike.me/coinstoriesnat/ Cash App $CoinStories #money #Bitcoin #investing

What happens when affiliate marketing is no longer just SEO, and media buying becomes a core part of user acquisition strategy?Lee-Ann Johnstone sits down with Kamila Łuksza-Szpyt, Managing Director and Marcin Kumięga, Director of Business Development at Voluum to discuss how iGaming and affiliate programs are shifting away from single-channel dependency and into a multi-layered acquisition model driven by affiliate media buying strategy, AI, and real-time optimisation.For years, SEO affiliates and review sites dominated acquisition strategies. But that model is breaking down under pressure from AI search, rising traffic costs, and changing user behaviour. The result is a major shift: brands are now forced to rethink what “affiliates” actually mean, and expand into broader user acquisition strategies.Kamila and Marcin break down what is really changing inside the industry; traffic diversification and testing budgets to tracking, attribution, and why many programs fail in their first 30–60 days of media buying.Affiliate Media Buying Strategy: Key Talking Points Why SEO-only affiliate strategies are losing visibility in iGamingHow AI search and Google AI Overviews are changing traffic distributionWhy media buying is becoming a core user acquisition channelWhy data tracking and technical setup are critical for successHow AI is changing optimisation and reporting workflowsWhy affiliates and media buying should not be treated as competing channelsThe role of attribution in connecting campaigns across the funnelWhy iGaming Is Moving From SEO to Multi-Channel AcquisitionThe traditional iGaming model relied heavily on SEO affiliates, comparison sites, and review pages to drive traffic. That model worked because search behaviour was stable and predictable.Kamila and Marcin explain that this is no longer the case. AI-driven search, Google AI Overviews, and shifting consumer behaviour are reducing organic visibility and pushing brands to rethink their dependency on SEO.At the same time, media buying channels such as push, pop, native, programmatic, and paid social are opening up at scale. This creates a wider, more competitive acquisition environment but also a much larger opportunity pool.Instead of relying on one predictable funnel, brands now operate across multiple fragmented touchpoints, making diversification not optional, but necessary.The First 60 Days: Where Most Media Buying Strategies FailOne of the strongest insights from the episode is how many programs fail early due to poor setup and expectations.Kamila highlights two consistent issues:Brands expect fast ROI without proper testing phasesBudgets are either too small or too widely spread across traffic sourcesMarcin adds that another major issue is mindset: many operators still treat media buying as a replacement for affiliates rather than a complementary user acquisition channel.The reality is that successful campaigns rely on structured testing, proper tracking setup (UTMs, postbacks, attribution), and a clear understanding of what success actually means before scaling begins.Without this foundation, optimisation becomes guesswork rather than strategy.Listen to Learn More About Affiliate Media Buying and AI Why SEO alone is no longer a sustainable acquisition strategyHow AI is reshaping both traffic and optimisation workflowsWhat brands consistently get wrong in the first 30–60 days of media buyingWhy tracking infrastructure is critical for performance marketing successHow to properly structure testing budgets across multiple traffic sourcesTimestamps to Go Direct[03:22] Why AI search is reducing organic traffic[06:55] Biggest mistakes brands make when starting media buying[08:55] Why tracking and technical setup determine success[10:58] Funnel differences between SEO and paid media[15:00] Budget allocation and traffic source strategy[25:50] How AI is changing media buying workflows[32:15] Real-world success case: +30% conversion rate uplift[36:54] Rapid fire: AI, LTV, and scaling mistakesCall to ActionMedia buying is no longer treated as a side experiment by many affiliate programs. It is becoming part of a broader user acquisition strategy, sitting alongside SEO, partnerships and other performance channels.Kamila and Marcin from Voluum break down exactly how brands can approach this shift with structure, testing discipline, and the right tracking infrastructure to avoid costly early mistakes.If you're working in affiliate marketing, user acquisition, or performance media, this episode shows what is changing right now — and what you need to fix before scaling.Sign up for the Affiverse Newsletter at affiversemedia.comAlready subscribed? Share this episode with any affiliate, operator, or affiliate manager working to build trust in online gaming.Subscribe to the Affiliate Marketing Podcast on Apple PodcastsSubscribe to gain insights into scaling campaigns with accountability, sensitivity, and trust, even in the era of AI and automation.Click here to rate and review, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review."Send me a text with your questions

Tori Spelling (Beverly Hills 90210, Saved by the Bell) joins us this week for a warm, sarcastic, surprisingly vulnerable conversation about growing up as Aaron Spelling's daughter and the lifelong instinct to overcompensate to prove she belongs. Tori opens up about sneaking into the 90210 audition under an alias, being paid less than a guest star while being a series regular, the bittersweet timing of conceiving her oldest a month after her dad passed, and why Shannen Doherty's death cracked her open in a way nothing else had. We also get into co parenting after 18 years of marriage, dating with five kids, and her plan to build her own entertainment empire. Thank you to our sponsors:

Episode Summary: Abundance in the Startup Ecosystem with Naseem Sayani In this episode of The Founder's Sandbox, Brenda McCabe sits down with investor, ecosystem builder, and female founder advocate Naseem Sayani to explore how capital, community, and visibility can create a more abundant and equitable startup ecosystem. Naseem shares her journey from management consulting and digital innovation to venture investing, where she became increasingly aware of the disparities women founders face when raising capital. After leaving a successful consulting partnership, she dedicated her career to supporting female entrepreneurs, investing in overlooked founders, and helping reshape how venture capital recognizes opportunity. The conversation dives into practical fundraising advice for women founders, including why founders should "lead with the money, not the empathy," how gender bias shows up in investor questioning, and how pitch decks can be strategically designed to guide investor conversations. Naseem also discusses the research-backed differences between the questions male and female founders receive during fundraising and offers actionable strategies for reframing those interactions. Brenda and Naseem explore several of Naseem's current initiatives, including her podcast The Capital Flex, which amplifies real fundraising stories from women founders, and the newly launched SoCal Women's Health Collective, a community focused on advancing innovation and collaboration in women's health. The discussion also examines the future of healthcare investing, where Naseem advocates for shifting the conversation from "women's health" to precision health—a broader framework that highlights the enormous market opportunities in personalized care, diagnostics, and health solutions that have historically been overlooked. Naseem emphasizes the power of abundance over scarcity, encouraging women to share networks, knowledge, and opportunities rather than competing for limited seats at the table. She argues that true progress will come when more capital flows from traditional funding sources into diverse founder communities, creating better outcomes for investors, founders, and society alike. Captions: 00:09 All right, welcome back to the Founder's Sandbox. I'm Brenda McCabe, your host, now in this fourth season of the Founder's Sandbox. And my mission is quite simple. With the Founder's Sandbox, I have guests that are business owners, service providers, VCs, and corporate directors. 00:36 who like me want to use the power of the enterprise to make change for a better world. And with stories in the sandbox on resilience, scalability, and purpose-driven experiences of my guest, um we have an origin story and we get to really understand what's under the hood of the businesses that my guest, um our owners have. So I'm absolutely delighted to have Naseem Sayani as my guest this month. Welcome, Naseem. 01:06 Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. Yeah. So Naseem and I go back um many, many years. She touches, um checks many, many boxes. Our first encounter was while I was m leading a women's corporate, a women's investment fund. So we invested in women owned companies with a minimum 33 % equity holding of uh the woman uh founder or m C-suite. 01:34 member and Nassim at that time was within Emily Ventures. She's since moved on to other firms and we've we're she's my first port of call when there is a very talented woman founder, particularly in the life science or digital health area. So I was absolutely delighted when the same also launched her own podcast podcast. So we'll get into that in a minute. So let me just make a uh bit more proper. uh 02:04 Introduction to you, Naseem. You're an investor, ecosystem builder, and speaker, as you guys are going to see here. Currently, the operating umbrella for all of the different ventures um that Naseem is orchestrating is Game Changers, World Changers. I love the title of your umbrella. You lead, and I've seen it in real life, commitment to empowering female founders. um 02:34 Her network across the United States and elsewhere is uh has no paragon. She is amazing. She's largely focused in health tech and fintech. And there's something that you've been doing recently, which is really giving a voice to women founders and what's it like raising capital. So with that, we're going to jump into uh our podcast today, abundance in the startup ecosystem. how, why are you doing what you do today? 03:04 Tell us about your origin story. Oh goodness. Yeah. No, back in time, back in time. Back in time. You were a consultant. all. I was. Yeah, we all grew up somewhere. So I like, I like to say I'm a recovering consultant. So I spent many, many, many years in core management consulting. So really problem solving. 03:27 at various strategic levels with Fortune 100s. I was working across healthcare, financial services, consumer, little bits of energy and other things along the way. But it was really those three sectors that I spent most of my time in. And this is early, early 2000s. So digital was a thing, but it wasn't. And we had Facebook that was happening already, you know, early 2000s. But it was in 2007 that we got iPhones in our hands and something shifted. 03:56 Right? It dramatically changed what the words digital strategy might mean. And that's when I started doing very continuously, very core digital strategy work with all of those same clients. And to put this in context, they didn't know what those words meant. Those words didn't mean anything. Like, what is digital strategy? What does it mean to my business? How does it change how I organize? How does it change how I go to market? 04:26 personalization moving from a one to many advertising model to a one to one ad model. That was a, it was a whole new paradigm, right? Of how we might interact and talk to the market as a brand or as a business. And that was all of the work I was doing in mid 2000s. And so it was fascinating to be in the center of, of that much problem solving. Well, that's what it feels like now. 04:54 That's what it feels like now, but at the time we didn't know that we were on the front end of what was this massive transformation, right? We were just doing the work and having fun and a bunch of young people straight out of MBA programs, problem solving. But it was great because you learn so much so quickly when you do that kind of work. And then a couple of years into it, we realized that our clients couldn't really execute against the strategies that we had built because they don't have 05:21 product and tech and UX and UI and scrums don't mean anything. Like this language that we take for granted now was just getting established mid late 2000s. And so we launched a product studio inside of the consulting firm to help them build product and launch experiences. And we, I was living in New York at a time. We launched this product studio out of Los Angeles. And in that same window, I moved back to LA. So I ended up being the person who ran the studio. 05:51 for about two and a half, three years. And so I was doing core strategy work. I was running the product studio and for about three years, every single digital proposal for the firm went through my inbox. Oh my gosh. Globally. it was every single project, every single client, we were tacking on the studio effort onto the back of that proposal. And so I didn't sleep for three years. I worked harder than I've ever worked in those three years. 06:20 But it was tremendous because I got to see so many different things so quickly. And we built a really great studio team. We were doing really great work in that team. And then the firm that I was at got acquired. There was lots of transformation things that happened. And then that product studio went and got acquired by a different management consulting firm and grew up into a full venture incubator. So the products we were building 06:47 ultimately needed different governance, different KPIs, different growth models, different leadership than what the corporate owner was able to do. So now we were, it was a different business. was a spin out turned into a spin out. So the value proposition turned into, we're not just building products. We're actually helping you build the startup that would otherwise put you out of business. That became the thing that we were doing. So now, now we're building startups and we're doing it at scale and we're doing with our clients and we're doing it. Now it's early. 07:17 2010s, 2011, 2012, and we're building startups and in parallel, right? Things like Uber and other things are happening in parallel and we're watching all kinds of change happen in how we engage and what kind of tools we're using across the marketplaces and what's broadly from a digital perspective. And it was great. I got to learn a lot really, really quickly. But in these... 07:43 Rooms right and you can imagine because you've been in these rooms also uh There's not enough women. There's not enough diversity We're building great product, but we don't really cover all the use cases because we're missing women and because we're missing diversity and so I was in parallel trying to meet as much of the I was trying to more founders I wanted to just see what else was out there. So I gravitated towards a lot of the the events that had more women and I was also 08:12 I'd led the diversity efforts inside of the incubator. was always protecting the careers of the women behind me. I held the diversity flag. I was one of three female partners in the incubator of like 50, right? So we were already standing on top of a pretty, on top of pretty small The token women, right? Right, right, exactly. So I was meeting a lot of women outside the building and building great products, building incredible businesses, but like, 08:41 fighting to the nail to raise capital for the companies that they're building. Meanwhile, my day job has capital. We're pouring money into building startups, but I'm surrounded by men all day. So this contrast between my day job and the struggle of what was happening for the female founders outside of the building, this contrast became... just this cognitive dissonance was too much. 09:09 stick too much to handle, right? It just doesn't work. And so I ultimately decided that I had to shift all of my energy, all of my focus. I know how to do things. I know how to build businesses. I know how to think strategically. I know how to problem solve. I can look at a market and hopefully figure it out. So let me just redirect all the energy to actually helping the whole other half of the ecosystem raise some capital and move some money and build some businesses because the boys have all the help that they need, right? 09:39 But the women don't. You left a partner position. I did. Yeah. No, my husband is super excited about that. I left my partner job at the consultancy to go full venture and decide to move some capital. Absolutely. And I started investing. This was 2019-ish and started writing some angel checks, larger angel checks, got deeper in the ecosystem. It was in that window that I met the two women. 10:08 that I launched Emmeline Ventures with. We raised about six and a half, seven million seats, stage focus, healthcare, fintech, sustainability, wrote some fantastic checks. I got some great capital out the door. And then I jumped, as you mentioned, to go do a whole host of other things. Now much more embedded, almost an ecosystem level, so more horizontal than just the vertical of the fund. And it's been great. It's, it's... 10:35 serendipitous that I got involved in the ecosystem in a moment where the female founder ecosystem was growing up the way that it was the women's health ecosystem was growing up the way that it was. And so the notion that I'm a pioneer comes up a lot because people like you've been in this for a while. Like you, you were one of the few people who built this thing. uh 10:57 But it doesn't feel that way to me. But there's a few of us who have been here since the beginning, really crafting this. And so it's really kind of fun to have been in it since the beginning, it feels like. So one of the things that we did with you uh from Ty last year is you did a master class with a cohort of women-owned businesses on how to pitch. Oh, yeah. And granted, I don't want to steal your thunder. 11:27 You're tagline with this, but we go into a room with VC, Rangel Investors. It's largely male. So what are your two or three core messages from that training? I used to it a lot. I attribute it to Naseem Sayani, but it is when women hear this, they're like, oh, I've got to go back and redo my text. 11:54 Yes. Yeah. So there's a couple of things I tell that I coach, I should say, female founders on all the time. One is you need to lead with the money and not the empathy. What we have been conditioned to do as women, and it's not conditioned, it actually comes from a lot of where our core empathy and how women move in the world is. We lead with the emotion. It's how we engage, it's how we build relationships. 12:21 But when you are in a money driven ecosystem, such as venture, you cannot lead with empathy. You have to lead with money. You have to tell me and tell who you're talking to how much this thing is worth. And you have to tell them that quickly. What typically happens with a pitch deck from a female founder is that there are four or five pages on pain. 12:46 pain and stress and how hard it is and just all this stuff that is so, so hard and you don't get to the size of the market until page seven. And that's too far, right? Because by then the people are bored and they don't care. you have do it in a page. Fine. But it's not five pages. Pull the market up sooner. Talk about the size of the opportunity sooner. I don't want any personal stories at the front of that deck. 13:14 The place where I want you to put the personal story is in how you're going to win. Because if you understand the market so closely and this pain point so closely because it happened to you, that is why your hustle is so much stronger. That's why you're after it so much more that your founder market fit comes from that. So put it there. Don't put it into product market fit. That's the wrong place. Right. Founder market fit. 13:42 Put it into founder market fit because that's the reason you're going to win is because you care about it in a way that other people don't care about it. So it's in the wrong place in the story. So put the empathy in the appendix. Nobody cares. I love you, but nobody cares. Lead with the money. That's point number one. Point number two is that there is data. It is validated that women get different questions in pitch meetings than men do. Yes. Harvard research. 14:08 Harvard research proves it. Two out of every three questions that a male founder gets will be about growth and vision and opportunity and how big this market can be. Two out of three questions that a woman gets will be risk related. So, oh my gosh, that CAC number is so high. And oh my goodness, what if you can't find the customers? And oh my goodness, what if somebody else does this? It is prevention. Yeah, it is prevention minded questions. Men get promotion minded questions. And if you're not... 14:37 prepared for that. You will be on the defense of the entire time in that meeting. So you have to practice. You have to spend a weekend with your camuja or your glass of wine or whatever it is and write down all of the prevention questions you might get on your deck, whether it's a main page or a footnote or something on the bottom of page 10. Write down everything. Be horribly brutal. 15:03 and then let it sit for a day, come back and write down your answers. And your intention with the answers is not to answer the question, but to flip that question into a promotion-based response. Excellent. Shift the power dynamic back. As an example, you have a revenue page that has the chart, revenue goes up from zero, year one to year five, and then you've got three bullets, you've got three data points on the right-hand side. Everyone should have a page that looks like this. You've got CAC, you've got AOV, you might have LTV as well. 15:33 More than likely, as a female founder, they're going to ask you about CAC. They're say, oh my God, CAC is $28. That's so high. How are you going to manage that? A male founder is going to get a question on AOV. AOV is $1,200. That's incredible. Can it get to $1,500? That's the difference in the questions. If you get that CAC question, your natural response might be, yeah, it's $28. We're going to work on it. We're going to run some tests. We really think we can get it to $25. 16:03 That might be how we naturally respond. What you should say is, it's $28, but our AOV is $1,200. So we actually think it's performing pretty well. 16:16 Very, very convincing. And that's it. Yes. Yeah. You don't respond to the defensiveness. You redirect them to the data point that actually matters. And you take back the power in that conversation. And it may also be that you have to reformat your deck. Yes. Yes. Yes. 100%. Yeah. So that's the third. That's the third thing is that your deck is a strategic asset. 16:44 Okay. And you should be very thoughtful about what you put in the deck so that you are teeing up the questions that you want to answer. Okay. There's a thing is too much information and there's a thing is too little information. The line in the middle is that if you're putting data on that same page on the right hand side, yes, put AOV at the top, put LTV next, put CAC at the bottom. Don't put CAC at the top because everyone's going look on the top right. It's natural. 17:14 Eyelines go to the top right of a page. Don't put CAC at the top. Put AOV at the top. Is that the biggest number? Put that one at the top. Be very deliberate about where you put data on the page so that you can tee up the questions that you want to get. You can bait the document with the things that you want to answer and set up the conversation that you want to have at least halfway. Right. It takes practice though. It takes practice. It takes practice. Yes. 17:42 And where are you now dedicating a lot of your uh time? We are fellow podcasters. And I know it was some time in the making. So you launched, was it six months ago, the Capital Flex podcast? Yes. Yes. And this is where you hear real stories, right? So to share a bit with my little. Yeah, absolutely. So I launched. 18:08 I launched the Capital Flex in January. I've been working on it since mid last year. It's been living on a post-it on my desk for the last two years, maybe more. So I get a lot of inbound from founders on the crazy things that happen when they're fundraising. A weird conversation, uh a offhand comment, an unfortunate behavior. Just the things that we know happen to women when they're out fundraising. 18:37 So I do a lot of, call myself, I've become this like de facto therapist for the female founder side of the ecosystem. And so I've been making notes on just the crazy that happens. And what I started, what happens is that there's founder, founder in New York and founder in California who are dealing with the same problem, but they don't know each other. So I'm, I'm sharing information across these two women when they should just know each other. So I'll bridge the connect, but you can't, I can't scale that. 19:04 quickly, right? And so instead I said, what if we just talked about it out loud on a podcast and just shared the stories and made it real and not just stories for the sake of, you know, kind of the victim hood that might come with that. That's not the intent. That's not my stance in any case, but I want to share the story so that we know that they're real. And then I want to share the learnings from that experience so that when another founder listens to any one of these episodes, you go, Oh my God, 19:34 Yes, that happens to maybe that's happened to me too. So I'm not alone. It's not just me and it's not personal and three That's a great way to deal with it because that founder dealt with it that way. Maybe I can do that too So it's really the toolkit that comes out of each episode. That was that was the end game And so episode, uh, sorry season one has just wrapped about a week ago 12 20:00 Great conversations, 12 fantastic founders. Each story is just tremendous. You learn a lot. They're very candid. It's very raw. And it's great. it's on Spotify and everywhere you can find it. called the Capital Flex. Everyone should go listen. It's tremendous. And then season two is going to drop in just a few weeks. And we've got another slate of 12 great founders. And we're running. Yeah, that's great. um 20:26 the impulse to actually launch a podcast, and the scene, if I hear you correctly, is you really wanted to amplify and scale these lessons that and experiences that other women founders have lived in their own skin. Yes. And not so much. It's not in a private way, but you really what do you think you're going to get out of this in terms of effectuating change in how people write checks? 20:55 It's visibility on really what's different about the rooms that women walk into versus the rooms that men walk into. It's awareness and accountability on behavior. Because if we know what's happening and we see it happen, we can call it out. Because now there's proof, right? And we go, oh, it's not her being sensitive. These things are really happening. 21:23 And then three, there's a pattern recognition problem in the ecosystem. And there's been so much money has moved in certain ways. there's indicators of success that a lot of the money moves on. But a lot of that is based on a very historical founder profile. And that profile doesn't include women. And it doesn't include people of color. And those levers of success look different in women. And they look different. 21:53 in founders of color. And unless we are understanding the impact of not seeing that we're never going to move capital in bigger ways. And ultimately we're just missing huge opportunities. We are missing massive opportunities spaces because we, our pattern recognition is stopping us from writing checks into spaces that we don't know enough about. So if you were to pitch yourself, right? Or, um, 22:22 game changers, world changers in front of investors. What would be your top line? Do you want to effectuate change over x million of women founders? Are you going international? mean, do a pitch here if you want. I don't know if I'll do that, but I can. So what would be your key guys, right? And yeah, yes. Yeah. So it's how much capital do we shift from? 22:51 from kind of the core buckets, the capital goes to, to founders that they haven't written checks before. Okay. That's, and so that's a big one. Uh, and, and how that, and what's the profile of the check writer? Because we have, there's been a increase in women who run funds in the last 10 years. So there's a lot more diversity in who's running funds, which is great. There's also a lot more diversity in who's building companies. So there's a lot more women, a lot more people of color. 23:20 building companies, but the bulk of the money is still sitting in traditional hands going to traditional profiles of builders. I want both of those things to move. So if we have better awareness of who's building and how they're building and what they look like and how they move in rooms and how they might show up in rooms, then the people writing the profile of who writes the check should also shift, right? It's not just women who should be writing checks to women. Men should be writing checks to women as well. 23:50 So how do we cross the social and gender circles better? capturing that metric, like that's the KPI that I want, is how much capital is going from male-led funds into female-founded teams. That's the metric that I want to be able to track. Because right now what's happening is that all the women-led and diverse funds are who's funding the women-led and diverse founded companies. Say that again. 24:19 for my listeners, because this is important. Women-led and diverse-led funds are the bulk of the money that's funding women-led and diverse founded companies. 24:30 And that cannot persist because we need big capital to go into these companies because they are building fantastic game changing businesses and everybody should make money from what they're doing. And they're going to hit a series a, a series B, a series C, and they're going to need bigger checks. You heard it here on the founder sandbox. Let's, let's, let's change to sectors. largely health tech, fintech. 24:59 Where do you see um greater, where are you focusing your initiatives in terms of um getting more check writers, right? uh Into the ecosystem and where have there been the greatest deficiency in, you you talk about these big product or these sectors, right? That have not addressed women's needs. So, so the answer is the same for both of those. I'm, I'm calling. 25:27 This will come out. This is a semantic problem, but I'm causing I'm calling it precision health. This is a place where I'm spending where I'm spending all of my time where I want to be investing in where the biggest opportunity is is our ability to leverage precision health. This is insight driven health care, whether it's in care delivery, whether it's in diagnostics, whether it's in understanding cancer, whether it's in 25:56 delivering smarter insights based on the type of human we're talking to, that is where we're going to change the game in healthcare. And that's where I want more capital to go and where it should go. Now, we've historically called this women's health, right? You've flipped the term use. So we've called this women's health for a long time. We're still calling it women's health. The problem that we've now uncovered is 26:24 Women's health carries stigma. The language carries stigma. You hear women's health and still I'll have people that say, oh my gosh, no, yeah, we've one or two things. We've made our women's health investment this year. Check the box. We're good. Yeah. Or they'll say, oh, but it's, it's, it's just so niche. We're half of the population. Yeah. Half of the population is not niche. just, I can't even, I have to just look at them and say I'm half the population. 26:55 And then the third thing you'll hear is, there just haven't, we just haven't seen the exit. So we're just not sure that the value is there. And so on the third one, have my, I hope there's two responses. One is, you know, when Google and Facebook and Amazon came to market and we're raising capital, there were no exits for search and e-commerce and social. No, we didn't know what it was. These things were brand new. 27:22 The reason the money went there was because there were behaviors and there was demand and there was money that was moving towards these categories. That was the reason we invested was there was a behavior trend that was shifting. There was a market trend that was shifting. There was something we were after because there was going there was a value pool that we could get after. That's why the money moved. This is what's happening with women's health right now. There is demand. There's behavior. There's money moving there right now. Menopause is a 60 billion dollar category. 27:52 When it comes down to it, women will spend money on their health care and they'll do it out of pocket. They're doing it right now. Right. We have no interest in our grandma's health care. We're absolutely going to go get what we need to solve for the hot flashes and the brain fog and whatever it is. And that's we have the proof now. Now, in January of this year, 2026 at JPMorgan, there was a report that was launched. There's a fantastic team that spent the last year doing the work to reanalyze all of the health care exits for the last 20 years. 28:21 The report is called follow the exits. Okay. And what they did was reclassify all of the exits in healthcare for the last 20 years into three different buckets, assuming that they qualified. If those exits were aligned to conditions that exclusively differently or disproportionately affected women, they bucketed them that way to recast the exits against conditions that affected women. When they're not 28:50 They weren't talked about that way in the market already. But when they did that, they were able to quantify $100 billion of returns that have already made its way back to investors from exits related to companies that built and exited because they were in conditions that exclusively, differently, or disproportionately affected women. 29:13 So people have made money from women's health already. But we don't know how to talk about it. They weren't calling it women's health. They were calling it diagnostics in oncology. It didn't matter that it was breast cancer. It was diagnostics and oncology. So this is why the semantics problem has to get solved and addressed is that when we call it women's health, we're trying to prove a horizontal over and over again, or saying people to believe in this horizontal that has value. And it's not. 29:43 semantics aren't landing. What has been working is just the proof of value in cardiology or in cardiovascular or an autoimmune or in diagnostics where you go, there's money there. Let's go invest because there's money there. And that's the shift that we have to have. And this is why precision health is how I'm phrasing it now is that we need to get after precision health because if I can prove value in precision health because I can solve for cardiovascular disease. 30:11 for women differently than men and there's value in that and I can deliver better services, better care. I can access reimbursement codes. I can do all of these things differently because I understand what a heart attack looks like in a man versus the woman. And that means that they'll end up at their doctor's office and not in the ER, which is more expensive. That's a place we can invest. it's a semantic change, but that's why I'm now calling it precision. I hope it doesn't. 30:38 take another 20 years after the... I don't think it will. I think there's more and more of us talking about it now and actively talking about the semantics differently. And from this Follow the Exits report, what I'm working on, and this is through my role at Women's Health Access Matters with WAM, is that we're taking the data from that report and we're creating assets that founders can use in their pitch decks to actually showcase the exits that line up with the category that they're in. Amazing. 31:07 So here's the market. Here's three exits. I'm good. I have proof. Yeah. So I think we can get there faster. Excellent. So that's a great segue um to yet another initiative that um is near and dear to your heart, which is it's still in a seed stage. Talk to us about the SoCal Women's Collector. Oh, yeah. Yeah. This is brand new. Me and five other fantastic women here in Southern California. 31:37 decided that we wanted to better connect the ecosystem here in SoCal. So from LA to Orange County to San Diego, there are fragmented groups of wonderful humans, all building, researching, investing, et cetera, into women's health, whether they are at universities or at accelerators or independently investing or they're founders, et cetera. So we launched what's called the SoCal Women's Health Collective. 32:04 And we are actively focused on connecting community. So it's budding, it's growing. We're organizing and still setting full strategy. But at the very least, we are bringing people together at events. We're hosting virtual and live events, whether it's happy hours or panels. We're doing things virtually where we're doing coaching sessions with founders. And we're building a mailing list so that we can get this community connected and talking to each other and at least know who else 32:33 is in Southern California touching this category and building in this category. And it's been really incredible because we were just sitting around dinner one night going, my God, couldn't we do this? And now we have a mailing list that's more than 500 people long. And we meet people everywhere that want to be part of it, want to join, want to come to events. And it's really grown. And we're only within a year. It's really only 10 or 11 months old. 33:00 But it's really taken off. It's great. So we can do a lot with it. I love it. And are you at all working with, is it GLG or the Women's Collective? It's an advocacy group in Washington, DC. Yes, the policy group. Yes, the policy group. Yes. So there's a parallel group called Women's Held Advocates, which is the policy and lobbying organization that's focused in Washington. 33:29 that is entirely organized around uh supporting policy initiatives focused on women's health. So across breast cancer, menopause, we now have recently added bone health, fertility, et cetera. We have sub teams under the women's health advocates umbrella that are focused on policy initiatives to get budget lines or policy lines into different things in Congress to make sure there's a tension on women's health across, again, aligned by conditions. 33:58 so that we can get things done in Congress. So, Women's Health Collective and Women's Health Advocates, at least in SoCal, there's high overlap in the leadership across these two groups. So, we can do a lot of good things together because the women on the steering committee for Women's Health Advocates who are in LA are the same women who launched the SoCal Women's Health Collective. It's symbiotic uh and I've attended... 34:26 sessions with both groups and it's a very exciting moment. It's there's bipartisan bills going to Congress on just why are knee replacements for men being birthed at a higher rate than for women? We all have the same. So it's like really just providing the transparency. pulled that thread. It's a whole different podcast. I know. know. know. So anyway, so you heard it here. 34:55 What else? I could go on and on, Naseem, but we have a certain time here. And I just wanted to give you this moment to share with my listeners how to contact you, how to get involved in your multiple initiatives. These will be in the show notes. 35:16 Yeah, no, absolutely. So I love that the so find the podcast. It's on Spotify and Apple and all the places where you listen to your podcast. It's called the Capital Flex. So all the subscribers would be amazing. Come and listen. I love feedback. Tell me what you think. Season two will drop on May 6th and season one is tremendous. So start from the top. The second thing is I also host something called a Founders Coven, which is a monthly meetup for female founders. And it's a virtual session. It's an hour. 35:45 uh once a month and the entire intent is to infuse expertise, insight, education into the female founder half of the ecosystem. So we've had three sessions so far and I was doing these in a previous life and I've now rebooted it this year. We've talked about vibe coding. We've talked about healthcare reimbursement. uh Our next session is in two weeks. We have a exited founder coming to talk about how she built her business and then led to the exit. So 36:12 You can join the coven. It's on my LinkedIn. You can find the sign up sheet so you can join the coven and join us when you can each month. And then I also I do a lot. I'm very active on LinkedIn. I'm always writing and posting. I'm speaking at lots of events so you can find me out in the wild pretty easily also because I tend to be around a lot. So that's the easiest. as a pioneer, this is a question that just came to my mind. You were so in the early stages of social media, right? um 36:42 Would you dare to give an opinion on what is the best type of platform to get your voice out there as a, as a leader, a change leader like you, is it LinkedIn? Is it how it. I believe it's LinkedIn. I tell a lot of founders this, that if you want to build credibility and thought leadership in parallel to building your company, start to build a platform on LinkedIn. Got it. Build a point of view. 37:13 have a point of view on what the future looks like when your company wins and start to talk about it. And it doesn't have to be long. It's a couple of it's like blog posts type things and use headlines, right? Use what's going on in the news and in healthcare to express a point of view and to talk about what it means and what are the implications and what are the so what's of what's going on and how does that tie back to what you're building and why you're building it? Because when investors go out to research a company and to research the founder, 37:40 If they, will look at your data room with a look at financials, a look at what you're building. All of that has to be up to snuff. And then they're going to go research the founder. And if they go on LinkedIn and they see that you're writing and publishing and that you've built an audience and that you're somewhat prolific in terms of communicating a point of view, those things are important. They pay off, right? You go, well, she, she's talking about what she wants and she has a perspective that's valuable because it means that you're really committed to the thing that you're after. And 38:09 And women don't spend enough time building platforms. We don't spend enough time standing on soap boxes talking about the things we care about. And we should be doing it more. And all of your friends should like comment and share every single thing that you post. And so I also tell everyone once you share it, send it to all your friends and tell them they have to comment and post on it. We have to keep building the flywheel. A flywheel. You heard it here on the Founder's Sand. 38:38 All right, we're going to go to the sandbox. I like to close out asking my guests, um what is the meaning to you for the following three terms, which I am passionate about and how I work with my founder clients. What does scalability mean to you? Oh, scalability means an ability to grow and navigate the market. 39:03 in line with market trends and market behaviors. knowing, having a good perspective on what's going on, dynamics in the sector that you're in, and having built enough mobility in how you navigate your organization so that you can turn left, turn right, etc. in line with what's going on outside the business. That's scalability. Perfect. How about resilience? 39:32 Resilience. one is it's that. So one, it's a necessary skill. We'll start there. And two, it's an ability to take in what's going on in the market, not take it personally, reflect and keep going. uh Feedback can come from everywhere. A lot of it from places that maybe aren't relevant and not that useful. So knowing how to filter and listen and then really be able to be open minded and take the good feedback when you get it. 40:02 And I had one founder on my podcast say that she spent a lot of time on the floor while she was fundraising, like curled up in a ball because it was so hard. But she got up again every single time and she raised the capital and she built a business and she can use to do that. And that's resilience. Right. I'm after something big and it matters. So I'm going to get it done. Amazing. Amazing. And I heard you when we were talking about the subtitle for the episode. uh 40:32 Abundance. What's abundant? Why is abundance so important for you? Abundance is really important for me because we have been, we women have been conditioned so badly in scarcity where there's not enough. There's only one, only one of us can win. We can't all win. And so we don't share our networks easily. We don't share our relationship easily. We, we feel like we have to keep things really close because if I share it, then I lose it. 41:02 It's a mentality I hear em from founders and it's a bit generational as well. And I don't want us to do that. I have found more than once that the more I put into the ecosystem, the more I get back. Comes back to me in spades. so opening up our networks, sharing what we know, being open about the learnings, pulling everyone forward with us. All of that is going to... 41:29 it's going to benefit all ships rise. it's how our male counterparts have been doing it for years. The golf course is the golf course for a reason. Right. And so we don't have a golf course, but we do have our networks and we do have our relationships and women are very innate relationship builders. It is superpower territory and we should be using it. And that means abundance. That means not worrying about 41:57 being the only one because you know what? We're building our own tables and we're pulling up more chairs and that's how we're gonna get this done. I love it. have goosebumps just listening to this last part about bandits. Thank you, Naseem. Final question. What does purpose, purpose driven mean to you? No, purpose driven means that 42:21 your the things you are doing and the things that bring you joy are lined up. Amazing. Yeah. And you can make money from it. Yeah. Without the joy, right? Yeah. Make money better. Yeah. Final question to Jeff on here in the sandbox. This was great. Yes. Thank you. Amazing. I really enjoyed listening. Just I enjoy our friendship, our working together on 42:50 Common theme, which is getting more money into the female. This is 100%. Yep. So to my listeners, if you like this episode with the same, so Yanny sign up for the monthly release of the founder sandbox, you can find it on any major streaming platform. You've got to find founders, business owners, corporate directors and service providers that are building resilience, scalable and purpose driven companies with great corporate. 43:19 uh governance. So thank you for joining us today and see you next month. Thank you.

Martin Matejka is the CEO of Firefish, a company which offers a platform where BTC holders can connect with fiat borrowers in order to achieve the ”never sell your bitcoin” status. In this episode, we talk about how these BTC-backed loans work, and also pursue a more philosophical conversation about the purpose of Bitcoin and whether or not it's currently achieving it. Sponsors: Proudly sponsored by Orangerock.com: Trade Without Limits Orangerock is the pro trading terminal that fits in your pocket. Perps and spot, instant cross-chain swaps, and a self-custodial wallet. Trade crypto, stocks, and commodities with up to 40x leverage. Your keys, no surveillance. Get app: https://go.orangerock.com/bitcoin-takeover Sideshift, the place where you can exchange your stablecoins for unconfiscatable, free market money: https://sideshift.ai LayerTwo Labs, creators of BIP300 and builders of the Drivechain. Now they're hard forking Bitcoin to create Ecash too: https://ecash.com Cake Wallet, your privacy-friendly self-custody companion. Enables silent payments, PayJoins & Lightning for Bitcoin. Also supports Monero, Zcash, Zano & more. Available on desktop & mobile: https://cakewallet.com Time stamps: 00:01:14 Intro & sponsors: meet Martin Matejka of Firefish 00:02:11 "Making Bitcoin lending right this time": BlockFi & Celsius PTSD 00:02:53 How the loan marketplace works in a nutshell 00:03:36 The book: "Bitcoin, the Ultimate Collateral" 00:04:31 Why Bitcoin as collateral vs. digital cash 00:05:17 The Elon Musk playbook: borrow, don't sell 00:06:55 "Once I stopped seeing Bitcoin as an investment, life got better" 00:07:24 Being short fiat: the mortgage mindset 00:08:24 Vlad's pushback: spending fuels the system & miner fees 00:09:35 Liquidation risk & timing loans to the market cycle 00:12:14 Staying safe: 50% LTV and "a machine gun in your hands" 00:13:35 Coming soon: loans with no liquidation mechanism 00:15:17 Why Bitcoin-backed loans are still too expensive 00:16:00 Scaling up: 27,000 users, $160M loans, 4,500 BTC 00:17:05 "Almost as much Bitcoin as the Lightning Network" 00:20:22 Why he founded Firefish: a finance guy's contribution 00:21:38 Firefish explained simply: the marketplace model 00:23:12 The tech: escrow, presigned transactions & DLC-like logic 00:24:41 The "zombie apocalypse" recovery transaction 00:26:06 What's the catch? Avoiding the "trust me bro" mandate 00:28:11 Preventing rehypothecation via Bitcoin itself 00:28:45 How Firefish makes money: the origination fee 00:29:33 Promo code BTCTKVR for 30% lower fees on Firefish 00:30:50 Bitcoin-native DeFi vs. bridging & wrapping 00:32:07 Stablecoins, currencies & US availability 00:34:09 Cypherpunk loan settlement & the dispute mechanism 00:37:37 Why 3-of-3 multisig instead of 2-of-3 00:38:31 Oracles, ephemeral borrower keys & how signing works 00:40:01 Lenders need no keys: "my parents can fund loans" 00:40:32 Beating bonds: outperforming bank deposits & tax-free loans 00:42:37 Zcash giveaway & a seed-phrase security lesson 00:45:30 Sponsors: Bitcoin.com News & Layer 2 Labs drivechains 00:48:01 Debate: is Bitcoin just software that should improve? 00:50:58 Austrian economics & "crashing the central banks" 00:51:32 The paper Bitcoin debate: gold's financialization 00:53:29 Trust minimization, Nick Szabo & God protocols 00:55:10 Covenants & understanding both sides of Bitcoin's civil war 01:00:42 The spam/filtering debate & permissionless transactions 01:02:33 Satoshi's Genesis block message & arbitrary data history 01:06:09 "We're stuck debating spam" — limited supply as core value 01:08:15 The underrated educational value of Bitcoin 01:09:21 Where did the newcomers go? ETFs vs. real adoption 01:10:12 How to make Bitcoin cool again & the FTX taint 01:11:46 Eulogy for Paralelni Polis / Institute of Cryptoanarchy 01:15:44 Grandma's savings destroyed by inflation 01:17:05 The wedding money & the car that never came 01:18:03 Inflation is a much deeper problem than the CPI 01:20:24 The worst thing for Bitcoin: losing its identity 01:21:42 "Do you know what Zcash is?" Privacy vs. fixed supply 01:22:42 Competition & shitcoins: the jealousy analogy 01:23:28 Losing dominance & the Bitcoin Cash profitability metric 01:25:11 Sponsor: SideShift.ai for stablecoin swaps 01:26:11 Why try Firefish today? Rates as low as 5% 01:28:38 Closing thoughts & farewell

What if the question nobody in the room could answer became the business you spent a decade building? In this episode, Tyler Ryan, founder of LTV Numbers and former NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer, shares how a physics degree, a baseball bleacher conversation, and a single moment at a business event in 2018 led him to build a software company that helps online entrepreneurs finally see what has been invisible in their own data for years. Tyler didn't set out to build an analytics company. He set out to start something, anything, that would let him use his engineering brain in a business context. What he found was that the people around him needed him more than they knew. And one relationship in particular taught him the single most important lesson he has ever learned about business partnerships.   [00:03:30] What He Does and Who He Serves Founder of LTV Numbers, a software platform for online course creators, coaches, and digital businesses Helps businesses understand customer lifetime value at day 0, 30, 60, 90, and beyond Serves e-commerce, info product, and online businesses that sell to customers more than once [00:07:00] How He Got Here Dad was a career musician; that entrepreneurial mindset shaped Tyler from an early age Majored in physics at UCLA; got his master's in mechanical engineering Landed an internship at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory through a bleacher conversation at a high school baseball game Fell in love with coding through that internship and knew he would use it to build something [00:09:00] The Startup Apartment and the Fork in the Road Left NASA with a college friend to build a company in a Burbank apartment Spent two years going all in with zero revenue; nearly exhausted all savings His co-founder went back to Google; Tyler refused to quit Emptied retirement and investment accounts to join masterminds and get into the right rooms [00:12:00] The Moment That Built a Business Was the only tech person in a room full of fitness coaches and online business owners Started helping people with websites and automations for free without thinking anything of it With less than 30 days of money left, announced he was offering tech consulting to the group Made $3,000 in seven days; that was the proof of concept that changed everything [00:14:30] The Event That Crystallized Everything: Joel Marion Attended Craig Valentine's Perfect Life Retreat in 2018 and watched a talk by Joel Marion of BioTrust Marion asked 400 entrepreneurs how many knew their LTV at day 0, 30, 60, 90, and 180 by product, funnel, and traffic source Four hands went up; their businesses were doing $15M, $25M, $35M, and $50M Marion said: the reason we scaled BioTrust from zero to nine figures in 18 months was because we knew that answer better than anyone [00:17:30] What Inspires Him: Lifting the Fog Was an engineer who knew nothing about business; that insecurity held him back for years Sees brilliant business people constrained not by their ability but by their visibility Loves the moment a business owner finally sees what has been invisible for years Mission: make data-driven decision-making the default for every online business [00:20:00] Client Impact: Joe DiGalbo and Live Anabolic Joe was one of his earliest LTV Numbers clients; they met in the original mastermind Joe's fitness business had been stuck at $5 million a year for three years After deep work on LTV visibility and scaling decisions, the company hit $13 million last year Has been on a weekly call with Joe for years; Joe is one of his favorite people in the world [00:23:30] The First Relationship That Changed Everything: Steven Cornford Steven was the father of a high school baseball teammate; Tyler ran into him in the bleachers a year after graduation One conversation about physics led to an internship at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory that summer That internship introduced him to programming and set the entire trajectory of his career The lesson: say yes early to opportunities you can't fully see; the path reveals itself later [00:25:00] The Relationship That Healed Everything: Joe DiGalbo Got into several business partnerships from a place of desperation and insecurity Partners looked great on paper but produced negative results; the company went backwards Joe was different; not because of his skill set but because of who he is as a person That relationship taught him to over-index on character and values, not skills [00:28:00] The Compound Effect of One Great Relationship Joe introduced him to Robbie, a mentor and advisor who became a close friend Has been on a weekly three-way call with Joe and Robbie for years Robbie's company is finishing an acquisition; a new chapter together may be forming One great person leads to more great people; pour into the relationship without needing to see where it goes [00:37:30] Final Word: Seven Minutes of Terror and Knowing Your Numbers Was in the JPL auditorium when the Curiosity Mars rover landed in the early 2010s Due to signal delay, the auditorium was only finding out what had already happened as they listened When mission control said "touchdown confirmed" the entire auditorium burst into tears The rover landed within a mile of its target after flying through space entirely on its own; that is what knowing your numbers makes possible   KEY QUOTES "Your skill set determines your potential. But if your visibility is terrible, you are going to operate well below that potential." - Tyler Ryan "I could partner up with a person I loved with very little marketing skills, who would run through a wall for me, and they probably would have produced a better outcome." - Tyler Ryan "Once you find that one person where you're like, I don't know how, but I would want to work with this person on anything, just keep pouring into it. It might be three years later, but it changes your life." - Tyler Ryan CONNECT WITH TYLER RYAN Website: https://www.ltvnumbers.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerjryan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetylerjryan   Thanks for tuning in! If you liked my show, please LEAVE A 5-STAR REVIEW, like, and subscribe! Find me on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeart Radio | Stitcher

Brian O'Connor spent three years building a 40,000-person Twitter following, launched product after product into that audience, and made almost nothing. The turning point came when he stopped looking for clever ideas and started running a boring business where product market fit already exists. He wrote down everyone he knew, sent texts, and sold $20K of recruiting services off a single Google Doc in two weeks. Today he runs TalentHQ, a recruiting agency placing Latin American project managers into US businesses — built nomadically with a co-founder, now operating with a team of two plus AI. In this conversation: why reach and revenue have almost nothing to do with each other, how he turned a podcast into his primary acquisition channel, and what it actually looks like to build a service business from scratch in 2026. Guest: Brian O'Connor, Founder of Talent HQ Sponsor: wayfront.com/tmba Thanks to this week's sponsor Wayfront — the AI-ready operating system for productized agencies. One client portal. One team dashboard. All your data, AI-accessible. TMBA listeners get an extra free month on top of the trial at wayfront.com/tmba. Links: Business Resources Upcoming DC Events

Commercial Real Estate Now | Episode with Hue Chen, President & CEO of Saglo CompaniesKarly Iacono sits down with Hue Chen, President and CEO of Saglo Companies — a vertically integrated, privately held retail real estate firm celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. From surviving the S&L crisis and the dot-com bust to navigating COVID, Saglo has never defaulted on a loan. Hue breaks down exactly how they've done it.In this episode, we cover:Saglo's 50-year history and what it takes to survive every down cycle in commercial real estateHue's day-to-day as President & CEO — and why technology strategy must be led from the topHow to identify the right acquisition target: the full checklist Hue's team uses to underwrite neighborhood and community shopping centersCapEx decisions: when renovation makes sense, when it doesn't, and how lender financing changes the mathSaglo's capital stack: 65% LTV, banks over CMBS, and a friends-and-family equity modelThe fund structure vs. deal-by-deal investing — and what made them switch

On the podcast: reaching brand-new audiences through web funnels, how they created their own ‘Big Mac index' for global pricing, and why monthly plans can beat annual for LTV.Top Takeaways:

AI ARR is easy to announce. Proving it is where most SaaS finance teams are about to get exposed. In episode #379, Ben Murray tackles the new bar for AI financial transparency and what it means for your next budget season. The public markets have already moved the goalposts. Launching AI was the 2024 story. Reporting AI ARR was the 2025 story. Now investors and boards want to see AI margins, customer outcomes, and proof that AI revenue is actually dropping to the bottom line. That same pressure is heading straight for private SaaS, and your board will bring it to budget season whether you are ready or not. Understand why AI ARR by itself no longer satisfies boards or investors, and what they now demand to see in the numbers. Separate pure AI revenue, AI-influenced revenue, and AI upsell so your reporting survives scrutiny, using clean SKUs, product IDs, and chart of accounts. Know which AI costs belong in COGS, including inference, infrastructure, and observability, so you can show your real AI margins. Walk into budget season ready for the board questions on AI revenue, AI cost, and margin by revenue stream. Instrument heavy, medium, and light AI users so you can defend margins and LTV to CAC as usage scales. Listen now and build the AI transparency your board will expect before budget season starts. Resources Mentioned Ben's blog posts on capturing AI costs in COGS: inference, infrastructure, and observability: https://www.thesaascfo.com/what-should-be-included-in-ai-cogs/ Ben's training on AI metrics: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/ai-finance-metrics-saas

Adeel Shaikh Muhammad, founder of Adeel Solutions, is an advisor on cybersecurity, AI governance, and digital risk. He joins Apptivate to discuss the growing tension between AI-powered growth and user trust. The conversation explores why AI governance is becoming essential for modern marketing teams, how over-personalization can create a sense of creepiness for users, and where companies are introducing AI without clearly defined use cases. Adeel and Taylor also discuss shadow AI, human oversight in automated systems, the security implications of AI agents, and practical frameworks that organizations can use to balance innovation, speed, and accountability as AI adoption accelerates. Questions addressed in this episode What is AI governance and why does it matter? How should companies balance growth, personalization, and user trust? What mistakes are marketers making when adopting AI? What is shadow AI and why is it becoming a problem? When does AI-driven personalization become creepy? How can AI improve marketing performance while hurting long-term value? Which parts of marketing workflows should always include human oversight? What are the biggest security concerns surrounding AI agents? Who should own AI governance inside an organization? What practical steps can companies take to implement AI guardrails? Timestamps (0:00) — Introduction to Adeel Muhammad and his background (1:58) — Where companies are in their AI adoption journey (2:34) — Defining AI governance and the role of guardrails (3:30) — The biggest mistakes marketers make with AI (4:38) — AI use cases, visibility, and the rise of AI wrappers (5:40) — The creepiness problem and over-personalization (6:00) — When AI-driven growth starts eroding user trust (7:41) — Shadow AI and unauthorized AI usage (8:19) — Balancing speed, security, and business priorities (9:45) — Warning signs that trust is breaking down (10:12) — Why human oversight still matters (11:00) — The biggest cybersecurity risks in AI (13:11) — AI compliance, over-documentation, and risk prioritization (15:26) — Who should own AI governance? (16:57) — Human responsibility, AI access, and awareness training (19:02) — Adeel's seven-step AI governance framework (20:45) — The governance steps companies skip most often (21:25) — Trust as the foundation for AI growth (24:07) — Where to find Adeel and closing remarks Quotes (6:24)  “Growth breaks when the user feels watched, not when ads perform badly.” (6:53) “AI is optimized for CTR but not LTV, so you get high clicks from low-quality users.” (21:25) “The companies that win won't be the fastest, but they will be the ones that scale trust alongside the growth.” Mentioned in this episode Adeel Solutions Adeel Muhammad on LinkedIn

Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul, Pluribus) joins us this week for a candid and grounded conversation about the weight of her recent Golden Globe win, the long road of rejections that shaped her, and the moment Vince Gilligan called to say he had written Pluribus specifically for her. Rhea opens up about watching herself on screen, suppressing her anger until her body forces it out, and finding the heroism in simply getting off the couch. We also talk about her mentor's advice on curtain calls, the brutal feedback she received about her looks early on, and why she believes the best acting comes from her healthiest place. Thank you to our sponsors:

Send us Fan MailWe talk with Mike Ferreira about the moment a serious neck injury forced him to step out of his gym and finally build a business that works without him. We break down the skills, numbers, and leadership habits that turn a capped fitness business into a scalable machine while keeping family and real life in focus.• building a “jail cell” by wearing every hat• the emotional cost of missing family moments• why desperation creates bad business decisions• learning to ask better questions under pressure• finding mentorship that simplifies gym business fundamentals• using theory of constraints to diagnose bottlenecks• tracking CAC and LTV like you track macros• becoming a leader worth following through extreme ownership• protecting relationships, health, and meaning with the five pillarsYou can find us on the web at gymlaunch.com, and we love to hop on a call and have an honest conversation about whether we can help you or notHow To Reach Mike Ferreira:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realmikef/How to Learn More about Gym Launch:https://www.gymlaunch.com/ To Reach Jordan:Email: Jordan@Edwards.Consulting Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9ejFXH1_BjdnxG4J8u93ZwFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordan.edwards.7503Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanfedwards/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanedwards5/Hope you find value in this. If so please provide a 5-star and drop a review.Complimentary Edwards Consulting Session: https://calendly.com/jordan-edwardsconsulting/30min 

You can close $800 million deals, fly first class, and still be going broke on the inside. In this episode of The Fulfillionaire, Cruz Gamboa, Founder and Managing Partner of Ascend Growth Ventures, shares the full unfiltered story and the clarity, cash flow framework, and mindset shifts that finally set him free. Cruz breaks down the three metrics that actually tell you whether your business is healthy: profit margin over gross revenue, cash burn, and the LTV-to-CAC ratio.  But tactics without clarity are just expensive noise. His BHAG framework exposes the real problem most entrepreneurs avoid: they chase a number without knowing why it matters, which means they have no filter for what to pursue, what to cut, or when enough is actually enough. When clarity replaces ambition as your compass, decisions get easier, the right people find you, and the work starts to feel like a mission instead of a grind.   The breakthrough was always on the other side of the burnout. When you are ready to stop building income and start building a life, visit fulfillionaire.com. Don't miss the full episode of Why High Achievers Burn Out Before They Break Through with Cruz Gamboa. Cruz Gamboa is the Founder and Managing Partner of Ascend Growth Ventures, bringing over 25 years of experience as a corporate CFO navigating capital markets, structured finance, and project finance across Latin America. He has closed deals as large as $800 million and built financial models that moved real money at the highest levels of business and government. But behind the credentials was a man who stayed nearly eight years past the moment he knew it was time to leave. Cruz now channels that hard-won experience into helping high achievers recognize the burnout beneath the success before it costs them everything. Website: https://cruzgamboa.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cruzgamboa.ascend/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cruzgamboa/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ascendgrowthventures  Ascend Growth Ventures Website: https://ascendgrowthventures.com/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ascendgrowthventures/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ascendgrowthventures/  JP Newman is the founder of Fulfillionaire and CEO of Thrive FP, known for helping high-achievers align financial success with deeper human connection and purpose. With over $2 billion in real estate transactions and hundreds of investors coached, he brings a powerful blend of strategy, psychology, and emotional intelligence to the world of investing and negotiation. JP teaches that the best deals are built by understanding people, energy, and intention. Through his Fulfillionaire™ movement, he helps leaders stop operating from fear and start making decisions rooted in clarity and alignment. His approach redefines negotiation as a human-centered skill that turns insight into influence and lasting success. IG: https://www.instagram.com/jpnewman_/  LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jp-newman-45a1ba/     

Dr. Lorenzo Tomé apresenta o terceiro pilar da estruturação do negócio médico: as vendas. Não a venda como empurroterapia, e sim a venda como parte do cuidado — o ato de persuadir o paciente a aderir àquilo que o próprio médico, baseado em evidência, sabe que vai mudar o desfecho dele. O episódio começa desarmando o tabu que custa caro: a ideia de que médico que vende é picareta. Lorenzo separa com clareza persuasão de manipulação — agir sobre o outro pelo bem do outro, e não pelo bem de quem vende — e mostra por que o silêncio do bom médico não protege ninguém: apenas deixa o paciente refém de quem manipula. A tese central é direta: vender é uma fração do cuidado, nunca o cuidado uma fração da venda. E a medicina não se concretiza na prescrição, se concretiza na adesão. A partir daí, o episódio entra na mecânica do negócio. A diferença entre venda simples (a consulta, que cabe à secretária) e venda complexa (o upsell do médico, que não se delega). Por que o médico precisa, sim, conduzir a venda até o preço. A relação entre CAC crescente e LTV — incluindo o custo de oportunidade de quem deixa o convênio precificar o próprio trabalho. E o acompanhamento longitudinal como a saída ética para aumentar o lifetime value sem empurroterapia, já que o plano de acompanhamento é uma prescrição de nível de evidência 1A, não um produto. Para fechar, Lorenzo apresenta a técnica MAPA — Motivação, Alerta, Plano e preço, Adesão — um rito para vender com mais segurança, e fala sobre algo que move o ponteiro do faturamento e quase todo médico negligencia: a gestão da secretária, do follow-up e da reunião de accountability. Se você é um médico ético e sente desconforto com a palavra "vender", esse episódio reorganiza o conceito do zero — e mostra por que não oferecer o que há de melhor para o paciente é, no fim, uma falha no cuidado. O background do Dr. Lorenzo Tomé Lorenzo Tomé é médico, fundador e CEO da SD Escola de Negócios Médicos — escola especializada em estruturação de modelos de negócio para médicos com ética, método e previsibilidade. Com mais de 500 médicos capacitados, desenvolveu uma metodologia própria baseada em receita recorrente por acompanhamento longitudinal, que combina gestão, marketing, vendas, finanças e tecnologia aplicados à prática clínica. Atua como mentor direto de médicos em diferentes especialidades, ajudando-os a construir negócios sustentáveis, escaláveis e alinhados com o propósito de cuidar. Entre na Comunidade SD no WhatsApp e tenha conteúdo gratuito todos os dias sobre negócios médicos. Aplique para a sessão estratégica com o time SD! Assista esse episódio também em vídeo no Youtube no nosso canal Saúde Digital Podcast! Acesse os episódios anteriores! SD363 - 52 planos vendidos e 90% de renovação: como ela reestruturou o seu consultório SD362 - Por que o médico ético trava no marketing (e como se estruturar) SD361 - Quando seu principal produto perde mercado: como estruturar um novo modelo antes que seja tarde Música: Declan DP - Echo Music © Copyright Declan DP 2018 - Present. https://license.declandp.info | License ID: DDP1590665

Podmienky poskytovania hypoték sa zmenia. NBS avizuje zmeny, podľa ktorých by sa k vlastnému bývaniu mali jednoduchšie dostať mladí ľudia a, naopak, kúpiť si druhý či tretí investičný byt bude zložitejšie. Ako sa zmení hypotekárny a realitný trh vysvetľuje v rozhovore Marián Búlik, finančný analytik OVB Allfinanz Slovensko. Podstatnou zmenou je úprava parametra LTV (Loan-to-Value), teda pomerom medzi výškou úveru a hodnotou založenej nehnuteľnosti, teda akú veľkú časť ceny bytu alebo domu môže banka klientovi požičať. V prípade mladých ľudí do 35 rokov to bude až 90 percent a v prípade investorov, ktorí si kupujú tretiu a ďalšiu nehnuteľnosť táto hodnota klesne len na 70 percent. Zmena podmienok mladým ľuďom čiastočne pomôže, ale oveľa väčším problémom pre nich zostávajú vysoké ceny nehnuteľnosti. „Preto táto zmena pomôže len niektorým, nie všetkým. Dostupnosť bývania sa trochu zlepší, ale úplne sa nevyrieši,“ hovorí Búlik. Problémom sú najmä nízke úspory mladých ľudí a vysoké ceny nehnuteľností. Preto by skôr pomohlo, keby sa podarilo rozbehnúť bytovú výstavbu a zvýšiť ponuku bytov na Slovensku. „Dnes nám chýba 200-tisíc a viac bytových jednotiek. Na to by bolo nevyhnutné najmä urýchliť čas výstavby bytov, ktorý môže trvať až desať rokov. Problémom sú aj neobývané nehnuteľnosti, ktoré zostávajú prázdne. V Bratislave je ich desať percent a v Košiciach až pätnásť percent.“ Expert upozorňuje, že dobrým riešením môže byť pre záujemcov o bývanie predschválenie hypotéky ešte skôr, ako si vyberú konkrétnu nehnuteľnosť. Žiadateľ požiada banku o hypotéku, absolvuje celú procedúru, banka mu schváli maximálnu výšku úveru a stanoví konkrétnu úrokovú sadzbu. Tieto podmienky mu potom garantuje najbližších dvanásť mesiacov a človek má čas si hľadať nové bývanie podľa schváleného maximálneho limitu. „Veľmi sa to oplatí v čase očakávaného rastu úrokov.“ Zmeny NBS o niečo skomplikujú poskytovanie hypoték pre investorov, ktorí si požičiavajú na tretiu a ďalšiu nehnuteľnosť. Podľa údajov NBS až 16 percent nových hypoték získali v minulom roku investori. Pri novostavbách je ten podiel ešte oveľa vyšší, môže to byť aj viac ako polovica bytov. Marián Búlik komentuje, že zníženie parametru LTV na 70 percent čiastočne môže obmedziť investičný apetít po bytoch, ale zásadný vplyv to mať nebude. Pri takýchto klientoch je totiž možné založiť ich zvyšné nehnuteľnosti, ktoré už vlastnia a tým pádom tento limit na novú hypotéku úplne obídu. Čoraz viac investorov však upriamuje pozornosť do zahraničia. Deje sa to aj kvôli geopolitickej situácii. Ak niekto vlastní viacero nehnuteľností, často chce rozložiť riziko a nemať ich všetky na Slovensku. Preto sa obzerajú po iných krajinách, ako je Chorvátsko, Španielsko alebo Česko. „Hlavné mesto Praha je extrémne drahé, ale dá sa tam extrémne zarobiť. Ľudia, ktorí si tam kúpili byty, zarábajú desiatky percent ročne len na náraste ich ceny. Kapitálový výnos je tam mimoriadny.“ Na Slovensku narástli ceny nehnuteľností za posledný rok o 14,5 percenta. V Prahe to bolo ešte viac. Dnes je priemerná hypotekárna sadzba na Slovensku 3,5 percenta a podľa experta sa najviac oplatí trojročná fixácia. „Tento rok budú hypotekárne sadzby ešte rásť. Pokles príde neskôr.“ Rozhovor moderuje Eva Mihočková. V rozhovore sa dozviete: ako sa menia podmienky hypoték, čo by pomohlo zvýšiť dostupnosť bývania, ako sa zmenia podmienky pre investorov, kde a ako dnes kúpiť investičný byt, aká je situácia na hypotekárnom trhu a kam smeruje. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you scaling your e-commerce brand in revenue, but not in profit? Are you flying blind on CAC, LTV, fulfillment costs, and ad performance, hoping the numbers work out later? Many founders grow to low 7-figures on hustle and luck, only to hit a painful ceiling of chaos, cash-flow problems, and agency fatigue.  In this episode of Marketer of the Day, growth partner Cem Atik of Harucon Ventures shows you what it really takes to move from low 7-figures of chaotic growth to predictable, profitable scale. With 13+ years in e-commerce and a track record of stepping into DTC brands “stuck between traction and chaos,” Cem doesn't just run ads, he and his team take equity and full control of marketing, perform deep finance and marketing due diligence, and rebuild growth systems from the inside out. Cem reveals the three bottlenecks he sees in almost every 7- and 8-figure brand: founders who don't know their true CAC and LTV, broken or non-existent third-party tracking and attribution, and a lack of real control over fulfillment, taxes, and operational costs. He explains how, by building a single source of truth for numbers and cohorts, brands can finally make confident decisions about where to cut spend, where to double down, and how aggressively they can acquire new customers. Instead of guessing, you start steering your business with clarity. https://youtu.be/3fHMwV8W1tE?si=WS6EZKQnCQ77GEYj You'll also hear a powerful case study of a brand doing $10M/month that boosted revenue while cutting marketing spend by 20–25% just by fixing structure and supply chain inefficiencies, saving 9% on fulfillment alone. Cem calls his model “marketing for adults”: performance-based, numbers-first, and designed so both sides win only when the business truly grows profitably. Along the way, he shares why humility beats ego when hiring marketers and operators, and why, if you truly control your numbers, you can afford to move fast and even be a little chaotic everywhere else. If you're tired of agency fatigue, unclear profitability, and growth that feels like a gamble instead of a strategy, this conversation will give you a concrete blueprint. You'll discover how to get a grip on your metrics, clean up your ad accounts, and build a team and system that take you from “winging it” at $1–5M to scaling like a pro toward $50M and beyond, without losing your sanity or your margins. Quotes: “Brands that grow from five to fifty million don't do it because they run better marketing; they do it because they did the groundwork that allows them to grow safely.” “If you have control over your numbers, you can be chaotic in everything else, and as long as your execution speed is great, you will still succeed.” “You could be the best email, WhatsApp, Google Ads, or Meta guy, but the only thing that will always win is a good team that's working proactively together.” Contact Details: Connect with Cem Atik on LinkedIn Explore Harucon Ventures Official Website

Caleb's guest is Doug Sirkoch from UpRoute, a marketing agency specializing in the green industry. The conversation focuses on digital advertising strategies for landscaping and hardscaping businesses, specifically highlighting the importance of tracking metrics like customer acquisition cost (CAC) and lifetime value (LTV). Doug explains the mechanics of Google Ads and the auction-based system that determines search rankings, while emphasizing that fundamental business practices like high-quality reviews remain essential. He also touch upon Facebook retargeting and the necessity of having a professional website to convert leads effectively. The episode provides a roadmap for contractors to use paid media as a scalable lever for business growth and diagnostic improvement. Key Takeaways: Calculate your customer acquisition cost and lifetime value to ensure your marketing spend is actually driving long-term profitability. Maintain high-quality website content and professional imagery to establish authority and attract premium, high-paying clients. Differentiate your business from large corporations by prioritizing personal communication and responding to leads as quickly as possible. Commit to a consistent, long-term advertising strategy rather than turning ads on and off to allow search algorithms to optimize your results over time. Implement retargeting campaigns on social media to stay in front of potential customers who have already shown interest in your high-ticket services. Connect with Auman Landscape

Join Our Live Free Masterclass on How to Add $14,800 a Month Signing Just 2 Clients Per Week with The LTV Retention Method We wanted to take a look back in time and show you 3 years later that what we are talking about with LTV and backend offers is more relevant than ever. We recently looked at all of our data during August and were surprised to learn two things: we had our highest revenue month ever and we have our lowest front end sales into our 90 day program. How can this be? In today's episode, I'll break everything down from roles to offer structure to backend offers. If you're wanting to grow or want to learn more about how a big business grows and operates, definitely don't miss this one!   Time Stamps:   (0:44) What We'll Cover Today (2:14) Context on Me (Jordan) (3:18) Our Highest Revenue Month (6:27) Our Offer Structure (8:14) Keys to Your Backend Offer (12:10) Sales Team (15:35) Growing Business Means Team Turnover (16:29) Long Term Goal ----------------

In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Dan Bettes, CFO of SoundCloud, at the New York Stock Exchange. Dan breaks down how SoundCloud operates as a two-sided music marketplace, how he thinks about liquidity between fans and creators, and why great finance leaders need to make forecasting feel owned by the business—SPONSORS:Aleph is a modern FP&A platform built for teams that want more than another planning tool. By connecting your ERP, CRM, and other systems into one trusted data layer with AI workflows, Aleph helps you move faster with real-time insights. Get a personalized demo at https://www.getaleph.com/runRightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform that lets your product team ship new pricing without asking finance for permission, and your sales team close deals without creating downstream chaos. Check out their free tool at calculator.rightrev.com It scores your rev rec process, shows what's exposing you to risk, and tells you exactly where to focus before it bites you in the rear end. Check it out at https://calculator.rightrev.comRillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cjEY has been part of Silicon Valley since it was just a valley, helping the most successful names in tech go from startup to exit to megacap. With teams across strategy, tax, audit, and transactions, EY helps you get your financials right early, long before your investors start asking for it. You build the next big thing, and EY will help you build it right. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartupsSpendHound cuts your SaaS and AI spend by up to 30% using real pricing benchmarks across 10,000 vendors, so you always know what fair pricing looks like before your next renewal. Rated #1 on G2 in SaaS spend management, it's free forever for teams up to 1,000 employees. Sign up by June 12th and get $500 just for getting started. Go to https://www.spendhound.com/cjBrex is an intelligent finance platform with AI-powered agents that capture expenses automatically, enforce policy before the spend happens, and close your books in minutes instead of weeks. 35,000+ companies like OpenAI, Coinbase, Anthropic, and DoorDash already run on Brex. It's time to get Brex AF. Learn more at https://www.brex.com/metrics—LINKS: Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsNGuest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielbettes/Company: https://soundcloud.com/CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com—TIMESTAMPS:0:00 Preview and Intro2:17 First stock: a Vanguard index fund3:13 Most memorable IPO: Groupon4:54 Benefits of going public have changed5:47 SoundCloud and the music industry7:21 Three eras: physical, streaming, creator platform8:49 Streaming unbundled the album10:03 Artists don't need labels anymore11:40 Sponsors — Aleph | RightRev | Rillet15:00 SoundCloud's two-sided business model16:23 Touring replaced the album17:17 First metric every morning: net adds18:31 DAU vs. MAU: it's a funnel19:14 Viral moments and exogenous pops20:10 LTV and the subscription funnel21:38 Sponsors — EY | SpendHound | Brex24:35 Tops-down vs. bottoms-up: reconcile both26:21 Revenue is an output27:45 Handling forecast deviation29:24 How often to reforecast30:23 The final boss: indirect cash flow statement33:09 Cash vs. EBITDA fluency35:04 Plain English and the power of reps36:52 Tailor the message to the audience37:45 Lightning round37:45 Screwed up: miscounted corn at a banquet38:41 Lean into discomfort39:55 Craziest expense: a post-flight massage40:17 Credits

"Rehypothecation is cryptographically impossible." Martin Matejka joins the show to break down the rise of Bitcoin-native lending, Firefish's 3-of-3 multisig + DLC architecture, and why the February 6 stress test was the day Bitcoin-backed credit grew up. We discuss why rehypothecation can be engineered out rather than promised away, how Firefish thinks about LTV, margin-call cadence, and the three warnings before liquidation, and why $160 million in non-custodial loans across 27,000 users in 70 countries is the proof a Bitcoin-native lender can scale. Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

We sit down with Bridget Winston to unpack what separates a real Chief Revenue Officer from a bookings-focused sales leader, and why the org chart tells you the truth faster than the job title. We get practical about SaaS metrics, AI-driven go-to-market, and the leadership habits that keep teams performing as the playbook keeps changing.• Evaluating a CRO remit by reporting lines and revenue accountability• Using GRR and NRR to diagnose product-market fit and ICP clarity• Treating revenue as a lagging indicator of customer centricity• Preparing for LLM-driven discovery with brand, PR, and earned media• Testing AI tools that shrink territory and quota planning cycles• Shifting budget from paid ads to community-led growth and local events• Turning customer testimonials into repeatable social proof loops• Managing humans and AI agents with specific, camera-ready feedback• Fixing incentives and systems before blaming the team• Creating urgency with day-five impact expectations instead of tired 30-60-90 plansYour org chart can tell you whether you're hiring a true Chief Revenue Officer or just renaming a VP of Sales. We sit down with Bridget Winston, CRO at Patient Now and a three-time CRO, to get brutally clear on what revenue ownership actually means and why “bookings” is a dangerous north star when retention and expansion are what compound.We dig into the SaaS metrics that expose reality fast: GRR, NRR, LTV to CAC, and how boards interpret dashboards when product-market fit and ideal customer profile are still shaky. Bridget shares a sharp reframing that stuck with us: revenue is a lagging indicator of customer centricity. From there, we zoom out to the “SaaS-pocalypse” conversation and what happens to pricing, planning cycles, and revenue per employee as AI turns some companies into dinosaurs and others into cheetahs.Then we get tactical about the LLM era of B2B discovery. If buyers are finding software through ChatGPT-style answers, Reddit threads, G2-style reviews, and YouTube, we need consumer-grade brand building, PR, and community-led growth that creates earned media AI can't ignore. Bridget also breaks down AI tools she's used to compress territory planning and quota work from months to weeks, plus AI coaching that improves call quality and handoffs without blowing up day-to-day operations.We even take a fun detour into Spark Tank wine trivia, then bring it back to leadership: how to give feedback with real specificity, fix systems before blaming people, and set expectations for day-one impact. Subscribe, share this with a revenue leader, and leave a review so more builders can find the show.Bridget Winston:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/bridgetwinston/Bridget Winston is the Chief Revenue Officer at PatientNow, leading go-to-market and customer-facing teams across a rapidly growing vertical SaaS platform in the fast-expanding $20 billion aesthetics and wellness industry.  A three-time CRO with over 20 years of experience, Bridget was formerly the CRO at Chief, where she led membership growth and helped the company reach a $1.1 billion valuation. During her tenure, Chief was recognized by TIME as one of the 100 Most Influential Companies and by Fast Company as one of the Most Innovative Companies. Before that, Bridget served as the CRO at Shutterstock, growing revenue to $300 million.Website: https://www.position2.com/podcast/Rajiv Parikh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajivparikh/Email us with any feedback for the show: sparkofages.podcast@position2.com

Connect with the Investor Mama Tribe Jessie Lang started investing in real estate by “house-hacking” over 10 years ago, and has since grown a substantial rental portfolio that she manages with the help of a small, remote team. In the last 36 months, she’s grown from 11 doors (bought the wrong way with 20% down), to 70 doors and counting. She's laser focused on the BRRRR method, which allows her to put her money to work over and over to create generational wealth. She partners with private lenders to buy real estate with none of her own money, all while providing them double digit returns on their investment! Jessie has created a free mini-course—how to buy 1-3 rentals per month on autopilot (even if you don’t own a property yet, don’t have 20% down, and think rates are too high). When she isn't managing rentals or coaching, she is traveling with her wife Laura, spoiling her 5 (yes 5!) pets, and getting her hands dirty in DIY house projects and gardening. Key Takeaways: Start with $3,000 and a spare bedroom. You don’t need a big down payment to begin. Jessie’s first property was an FHA loan with $3K down. If you already own a home, renting out a room covers your mortgage and plants the seed. Action: Look up FHA loan requirements in your area this week. Find one local real estate meetup and show up. Every contractor, lender, wholesaler, and boots-on-the-ground person Jessie relies on came from networking in person. You don’t need to know anything yet — just go. Action: Search “real estate meetup [your city]” or BiggerPockets forums to find one happening this month. Download a free property management app before you even have a tenant. TenantCloud is free and builds the habits and systems you’ll need from day one. Don’t wait until you’re overwhelmed. Action: Sign up for TenantCloud today so the infrastructure is ready when you need it. Run the BRRRR  (buy, rehab, rent, refiance, repeat) numbers on one deal — even a fake one. Practice underwriting: find a distressed listing on Zillow, estimate rehab costs, and see if it hits the 75% LTV threshold after repair value. You learn by doing the math. Action: Pick one listing this week and walk through Jessie’s formula ($100K purchase + $40K rehab + $10K holding = $150K all-in, needs to appraise at $200K). Hire your “boots on the ground” before you make an offer. If you’re investing outside your market, line up a neutral third party first — someone from a local Facebook group or BiggerPockets subforum who will be your eyes and ears for $50–100 a trip. Action: Post in the BiggerPockets forum for your target market and ask if anyone does property walkthroughs for remote investors. Additional Resources and Help Support the Show Check out the Intern Strategy Course created by Christina from Smart Influencer Learn How to Make Extra Money with a Side Hustle or Get a High Paying Salary with Time Flexibility Episode #30:The #1 Side Hustle for the On the Go Busy Mom with Mike Yanda and Bobby Hoyt Episode #52: Millionaire by 31 and How to Start An ETSY Side Hustle Business with Julie Berninger from Gold City Ventures Check out Julia’s Sidehustle course to get started today The Legacy Binder to help you organize all of your estate documents and plans in case of an emergency Show Me How To Fix My Pelvic Floor from Tighten Your Tinkler Use Coupon Code: INVESTORMAMA to save $50 off this signature program High-income earner, needing an amazing accountant? Check out the TaxGoddess Connect with Jessie Jessie’s Free Mini Course on How to Buy Your First Rental Properties LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Rentals Made Easy: Unlock the Proven Step-by-Step System to Build Wealth Through Rental Properties by Jessie Lang

DSCR refinance deals do not fail by accident. They fail because nobody stress-tested the numbers before the hard money loan was signed.In this episode, I break down a real Cleveland duplex deal. The investor maxed their hard money at 75% LTV. Appraisal came in $15,000 light. Reconsideration of value failed. Now their only exit is a sale. No DSCR refinance. No cash out. No options left.This is happening right now in markets across the country. If you are using hard money or bridge loans to fund your fix-and-flip or buy-and-hold deals, this episode is both your warning and your roadmap.In this episode:— Why 75% LTV kills your DSCR refinance before it starts— How a $15,000 appraisal miss wipes out every exit strategy— The 15 to 20% fudge factor every investor needs in their budget— Why you should never go above 65% LTV on any investment property loan— How to stress test your ARV before you sign anything— What to do when your comps do not match your lender's appraisal— Why multiple exit strategies are never optionalIf this saved you from a bad deal, share it with a fellow investor. More tools and resources at trutalk.co

What does a decade of organic growth at one of fintech's most successful companies actually look like?In this episode of The Growth Leaders Series, Charlie Marchant sits down with Fabrizio Ballarini, Head of Organic Growth at Wise, the multi-billion dollar global money transfer platform operating across 160+ markets.Fabrizio shares the thinking behind Wise's famous growth philosophy: going as broad as possible, as fast as possible, and then refining what works. He breaks down the story of the currency converter that became one of the most powerful organic acquisition tools in fintech, how a single page generated 1 million clicks in one month, and why Wise continues to build acquisition for products that don't yet exist.The conversation gets into the AI Search question head-on: what it really means for an established brand like Wise, why traffic is still at an all-time high despite the hype, and where the genuine risk lies. Fabrizio also talks about the LTV forecasting models that changed how the team evaluates content, why he rarely kills pages that aren't converting, and what he'd tell his younger self about growth.Follow Fabrizio on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabrizioballarini/Read the show notes:https://exposureninja.com/podcast/growth-leader-series-fabrizio-ballarini/New episode launches every Wednesday throughout June 2026, so stay tuned to hear from growth leaders from leading brands like McKinsey and Company, Profound, and AirOps! Book a consultation to get a live review of your website and marketing

In this episode, Scott Carpenter and Andy “Boy” Miller break down one of the biggest marketing mistakes fitness business owners make: choosing between short-term marketing and long-term brand building instead of using both together.Short-term marketing is direct response — ads, offers, lead forms, consultations, and campaigns designed to get someone to take action now.Long-term marketing is your brand — your reputation, your content, your website, your social media presence, your personal brand, your authority, and the trust you build over time.Scott and Andy explain why direct response can bring in leads now, but can become expensive if your audience is cold and your brand has no foundation. They also explain why brand marketing may not always create immediate sales, but it can dramatically improve your conversions, reduce your acquisition costs, and make people more likely to buy when they are ready.They also cover key marketing numbers every fitness business owner needs to know, including customer acquisition cost, return on ad spend, lifetime customer value, and front-end cash flow.This episode is especially valuable for gym owners, online coaches, chiropractors, and fitness entrepreneurs who want to stop guessing with marketing and start building a strategy that creates both immediate opportunities and long-term growth.Need help building out your marketing plan? Book a 1-on-1 consultation here: https://ptlegends.com/30minadvisorcallKey Takeaways:Direct response marketing gets people to take action now.Brand marketing builds trust, recognition, and long-term demand.Cold traffic is harder to convert when people don't know your brand.Your content, website, and social media help people decide whether they trust you.Personal branding can create more reach than business pages alone.Knowing your CAC, CPA, ROAS, and LTV helps you scale marketing with confidence.Brand marketing and direct response marketing should feed each other.Organic content can create high-ticket opportunities without ad spend.Awareness ads can help grow your audience affordably.The best marketing strategy uses both immediate sales activity and long-term brand building.Like, subscribe, and share this episode with a fitness business owner who needs a better marketing strategy.

The pricing model that built the SaaS industry is being replaced in real time. Is your finance team ready for what it does to your core metrics? In episode #374, Ben Murray breaks down the four SaaS P&L metrics that break when per-seat pricing dies. Public tech leaders are already shifting fast. ServiceNow now drives 50% of net new business from non-seat-based pricing, Workday is reporting hundreds of millions in AI ARR, and GitHub is moving Copilot to usage-based billing. If you are a SaaS CFO or finance leader still modeling on a single blended gross margin, your benchmarks are about to stop working. Why the AI product gross margin sits around 52% and how a 30% revenue mix shift can compress your blended margin by 10 to 15 points How AI COGS scale directly with product usage, breaking the near-zero incremental cost assumption traditional SaaS finance was built on Why one blended LTV no longer works once you have heavy, medium, and light AI usage cohorts, and how to rebuild LTV to CAC by cohort How CAC payback period shifts when gross margin is no longer a single number across the customer base The new frameworks finance teams need to model hybrid subscription plus usage and outcome-based pricing before the board notices the margin compression Tune in to get ahead of the pricing shift before your next forecast and board deck go out. Resources Mentioned Ben's blog post on the SaaS pricing revolution: https://www.thesaascfo.com/saas-per-seat-pricing/ Ben's AI course for SaaS finance leaders: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/ai-finance-metrics-saas

Marketing leadership has become one of the most volatile seats in business. CMOs and marketing leaders are often expected to create immediate pipeline, prove instant ROI, fix deeper business issues they did not create, defend brand investment, align sales, understand customers, translate strategy across the organization, and still become one of the first functions questioned, blamed, or cut when growth slows. In part one of this master class conversation, Matt Hummel, CMO of Pipeline360, brings a clear reminder back to the table: great marketing starts with trusting the buyer, knowing the customer, and simplifying how you market. In a market obsessed with performance data, attribution, automation, dark social, buyer signals, and immediate results, more complexity does not automatically create better customer understanding. For aspiring CMOs, current CMOs, marketing leaders, founders, and business owners, this conversation is a valuable look at how to lead marketing without getting trapped in the pressure cooker. It challenges you to rethink what it really means to put the customer at the center, not as a tagline, not as another automation workflow, and not as another dashboard filled with signals, but as a deeper responsibility to understand the person, pressure, timing, risk, and decision behind the purchase. The conversation moves through buyer trust, brand versus demand, customer empathy, attribution, sales alignment, CMO pressure, market timing, and the difference between chasing pipeline and building LTV. It is also a reminder to get out of your lane, understand product, spend time with sales, listen to customers, and learn how the whole business works. Because the best CMOs are not just campaign operators. They are translators, mediators, trust builders, and business leaders who know how to connect marketing to revenue, customer experience, and long term growth. Beyond The Episode Gems: Connect With Matt Hummel on LinkedIn Listen To Troy On Matt's Podcast, Pipeline Brew: The Evolving Role of CMOs & Community Building Visit Pipeline360 website to learn more about how they solve B2B marketers' biggest headaches Buy Troy's Book, Strategize Up: The Blueprint To Scale Your Business StrategizeUpBook.com Discover All Podcasts On The HubSpot Podcast Network Get Free HubSpot Marketing Tools To Help You Grow Your Business Grow Your Business Faster Using HubSpot's CRM Platform Support The Podcast & Connect With Troy:  Rate & Review iDigress: iDigress.fm/Reviews Follow Troy's Socials @FindTroy: LinkedIn, Instagram, Threads, TikTok Subscribe to Troy's YouTube Channel For Strategy Videos & See Masterclass Episodes Need Growth Strategy, A Keynote Speaker, Or Want To Sponsor The Podcast? Go To FindTroy.com  

Blue Origin's New Glenn blew up on LC-36 last night during a static fire test, Starship flew its 12th flight, and NASA had a series of updates on its Moon Base program, including LTV awards, launch and landing contracts, and a somewhat unexplained branding exercise. This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 32 executive producers—Lee, Steve, Josh from Impulse, Kris, David, Miles O'Brien, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Jan, Donald, Frank, Better Every Day Studios, Stealth Julian, The Astrogators at SEE, Ryan, Matt, Warren, Will and Lars from Agile, Pat, Fred, Joonas, Theo and Violet, Russell, Joel, Natasha Tsakos, Joakim, and four anonymous—and hundreds of supporters. Topics Here's why the failure of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket is so catastrophic - Ars Technica NASA takes steps toward building Moon Base, including discussing a "perimeter" - Ars Technica NASA selects four companies for initial moon base awards - SpaceNews The Show Like the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack! Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to anthony@mainenginecutoff.com Follow @WeHaveMECO Follow @meco@spacey.space on Mastodon Listen to MECO Headlines Listen to Off-Nominal Join the Off-Nominal Discord Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhere Subscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off Newsletter Artwork photo by NASA/Bill Ingalls Work with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works

In this episode recorded directly from Subsummit, Nick Truman is joined by John Roman from BattlBox and Ben Holland from Good Ranchers to unpack how BattlBox grew a multimillion-dollar brand with 70% subscription revenue & Good Ranchers scaling to 63,000+ subscribers!This conversation is packed with real-world lessons for ecommerce founders. John and Ben share how they approach retention, churn, customer lifetime value, product quality, pricing, influencer marketing, subscription tech, and building long-term customer relationships.Guests:John Roman – BattlBoxWebsite: https://www.battlbox.com/Ben Holland – Good RanchersWebsite: https://www.goodranchers.com/What you'll learn:- How BattlBox built a 70% subscription-based business- How Good Ranchers scaled to 63,000+ subscribers- Why product quality beats retention hacks- How to grow ecommerce without relying on Meta ads- Why LTV matters more than one-time sales- How to reduce churn and win back customers- Why subscription tech should be seen as a value driver- How influencer and podcast marketing can build trust fastKey Takeaways:00:23 Growing E-commerce Without Meta Ads02:49 Product Quality Trumps Tech Nudges05:52 Achieving High Customer Retention Rates06:36 From Truck Sales to Online Meat08:16 Value Beyond Product: Education & Recipes09:14 LTV as a Key Scaling Metric12:04 Landing a Netflix Original Series14:25 Identifying Your True Target Audience15:28 Growing E-commerce Without Meta Ads17:09 Influencer Marketing for New Brands21:08 Subscription Pricing Strategy: One-Time Premium24:12 Subscription Platform: Value, Not Expense28:56 Full-Time Churn Win-Back Strategy32:58 Too Much Product Causes ChurnEXCLUSIVE WWS OFFERS:Winning With Shopify listeners get 20% off the first three months of Seguno Email Marketing with code WWS20: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.seguno.com/winning-with-shopify-podcast⁠⁠Check out Yoast and get 15% off ALL monthly Shopify purchases for the first 6 months using code WWS15! ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://yoast.com/winningwithshopify-exclusive/⁠⁠⁠⁠Get a short, tactical session with insights on things like tax reconciliation, returns, compliance, and more - all led by experts from the tools top brands rely on. Sign up now at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://taxcloud.com/summer/⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the bootcamp and elevate your inventory game: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://info.brightpearl.com/winning-with-shopify-holiday-planning-bootcamp⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on socials:https://www.instagram.com/winningwithshopifypodcast/https://www.tiktok.com/@winningwithshopifyhttps://www.youtube.com/@winningwithshopifyJoin our newsletter: https://wwspodcast.com/Proudly powered by https://spec.digital/, a world class SEO Agency and PPC AgencyBecome a sponsor: https://wwspodcast.com/pages/sponsorship

It's been a very difficult past 11 days and throughout the tears and frustration and guilt seeing our 1 year old battle her illness but this time has also given me time to think about what we've built over the past 8 years (and sold if you didn't know) and the freedom building a sellable business gives you. I'll be breaking down what's been going on with our family while still given you a framework around why LTV is so important in your business.   Time Stamps:   (0:20) Our Daughter Marlee (1:45) The Story (5:38) Building Work Around Your Life (8:29) IFCA Has Been Acquired (13:44) Fostering Community (14:45) IFCA Client Examples (16:35) Our Upcoming Masterclass ----------------

Most brands underestimate how much personalized retention strategies can transform their growth — Zach Fromson, Co-Founder at Lilo Social, uncovers the overlooked levers brands must pull now to supercharge customer lifetime value and build a sustainable business.In this eye-opening episode, Zach, a top Klaviyo Elite partner and co-founder of the full-funnel agency Lilo Social, reveals how brands are leaving money on the table by sticking with linear, one-size-fits-all retention approaches. Instead, he dives into the nuanced science of journey mapping, channel-specific insights, and the strategic use of data — showing exactly how to craft experiences that foster loyalty, increase LTV, and outsmart rising CACs.You'll discover the real reasons most brands aren't fully leveraging their retention potential — from capacity gaps to a lack of education around journey mapping and automation. Zach shares concrete frameworks for understanding customer behavior across subscription, durable, and one-time purchase spaces, and how to build customized, context-driven workflows that move beyond generic promos. Learn how to measure success through metrics like time to repurchase, AOV, and cohort analysis, proving that a granular, tailored approach isn't just smart — it's essential in today's competitive landscape.We also break down emerging channels like SMS and innovative tools such as Google's RCS — and how early adoption can give you a crucial edge before saturation. Zach reveals how the most forward-thinking brands are integrating these new modalities to deepen engagement, gather richer data, and create immersive shopping experiences. Plus, get his take on the broad impact of AI on agency workflows and how to future-proof your team.If you're a founder, marketer, or e-commerce owner tired of playing it safe with generic strategies, this episode is your blueprint to unlocking exponential growth through smarter retention. Don't be the brand left behind in the noise; adapt, innovate, and thrive — Zach shows you exactly how.Want to learn how to make your retention efforts more personalized, simple, and surprisingly effective? This episode is your first step toward conversion mastery. Reach out to Zach at LiloSocial.com or connect on LinkedIn — your next big move starts here.

Your practice is stuck because you don't have enough Qualified Leads to take you to the next level.  In this episode, Dr. Stephen and Dr. Pete unpack the first and often most common bottleneck in practice growth: the inability to consistently attract the right people with the right message at the right time. Through the lens of the Theory of Constraints, they reveal why marketing struggles are rarely solved by simply “doing more marketing” and instead require deeper clarity around purpose, messaging, ideal patient profiles, and measurable systems. From refining the market message that cuts through the noise to understanding Marketing Spend, CAC (Cost to Acquire a Customer) and “Buyer Readiness”, this episode provides a strategic framework for chiropractors who want to stop spraying and praying and start building predictable attraction systems that scale influence, income, and patient impact. In This Episode You Will: Understand why attraction constraints are often the hidden bottleneck in practice growth. Discover how purpose, mission, and vision shape effective marketing systems.  Learn how to create messaging that cuts through marketplace noise and increases readiness.  Clarify the difference between random marketing activity and measurable lead generation.  See how metrics like CAC and LTV create confidence, scale, and strategic decision-making.   Episode Highlights 01:44 - Identify how one primary constraint can quietly suppress growth across an otherwise healthy practice. 03:54 - Discover why true transformation begins when education unlocks awareness rather than simply delivering information. 05:28 - Recognize how unresolved attraction constraints keep practices stuck even when effort and intention remain high. 08:16 - Explore why great coaching often reveals hidden solutions that were already within reach. 11:12 - Clarify why the problem behind the problem must be solved before marketing tactics can produce meaningful growth. 14:23 - Uncover how defining an ideal client profile changes the precision and effectiveness of attraction strategies. 16:36 - Examine the three-part messaging equation required to cut through marketplace noise and create urgency. 18:06 - Reveal how trust-building systems increase patient readiness long before a conversion conversation begins. 20:38 - Differentiate between inconsistent marketing activity and the disciplined repetition required to create momentum. 27:31 - Understand why data-driven marketing eliminates stress and creates confidence in scaling patient acquisition. 28:43 - Dr. Rachel is joined by Dr. Kendall Price of Success Partner Elevate Marketing to unpack what it really takes to turn marketing into a true growth system for modern practices. They explore how Elevate moves beyond generic campaigns by blending brand identity with proven strategies, building trust through every step of the patient journey, and optimizing for real outcomes like patient show rates, not just leads. When marketing becomes intentional, relational, and data-driven, growth shifts from unpredictable to scalable and sustainable.   Resources Mentioned To learn more about the REM CEO Program, please visit:  http://www.theremarkablepractice.com/rem-ceo For more information about Elevate Marketing please visit: https://goelevatemarketing.com/ Book a Strategy Session with Dr. Pete - https://go.oncehub.com/PodcastPC Prefer to watch? Catch the podcast on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRemarkablePractice1 To listen to more episodes, visit https://theremarkablepractice.com/podcast or follow on your favorite podcast app.

Stop checkbook managing your real estate business. Fractional CFO Alex Lopez breaks down the KPIs, projections, and tax strategies that scale investors.In this episode of RealDealChat, Jack Hoss sits down with Alex Lopez, fractional CFO and tax strategist at alexlopescpa.com, to unpack the financial blind spots that hold real estate investors back from scaling past seven figures.Most investors nail the CEO role but completely ignore the CFO role. Alex explains why that gap is costing investors money, deals, and growth, and how to fix it without hiring a full-time finance team.Topics covered in this episode:What a fractional CFO actually does and why it's different from a bookkeeper or tax preparerThe "checkbook management" trap that kills businesses at the $800K to $1M revenue markHow to set up KPIs that actually define success or failure in your investing businessWhy projecting at least one quarter ahead is the single habit that separates scaling businesses from stagnant onesA real example of an investor who built a multi-million dollar portfolio in his 20s by architecting the finances firstHow to use NOI, cap rates, and LTV to back into your portfolio target before you buyWhy conversion rate is one of the most overlooked KPIs and what doubled Alex's own conversionThe ROI on fractional CFO services and why it typically pays for itself several times overHow AI fits into financial operations today (and where it still falls short)Why building SOPs before you need them saves years of stress down the roadThis episode is for real estate investors approaching or past the million-dollar mark who are still managing finances reactively rather than strategically.

For many eCommerce brands, getting the first sale is not the hardest part. Keeping customers coming back is. In this episode of the Opportunity Podcast, Greg speaks with Matthew Holman, founder of D2C subscription agency Subscription Prescription, about how eCommerce brands can improve retention and increase recurring revenue by adding a subscription component to their business.Matt explains why subscriptions are often misunderstood by founders. Many brands treat them purely as a way to increase lifetime value, but according to Matt, the real opportunity is creating a better customer experience that naturally drives recurring revenue. Good onboarding is key. Matt explains that the first 7–10 days after a purchase are critical because that is when customers decide whether they feel like they are "winning" with the product. Brands that educate customers early, guide them through the experience, and reinforce value tend to see far stronger retention. Greg and Matt also dive into why some ecommerce businesses force subscriptions where they do not belong, the psychology behind multi-month subscription offers, and why value stacking often works better than endless discounting. For founders looking to improve customer retention and grow recurring revenue, this episode is filled with practical insights and real-world examples. Topics Discussed in this episode: What makes a business a good fit for subscriptions  (06:16) When subscriptions do not work for ecommerce brands  (09:30) The weirdest subscription product Matt has ever seen (12:38) What separates high retention offers from those that just churn (14:38) Mistakes founders make when trying to grow subscription revenue (18:56) Building offers that increase retention and LTV  (22:03) How new businesses should test subscription offers (27:29) Matt's recommended testing framework for new subscription offers (32:42) How to attract high-value consumers instead of discount shoppers (36:17) Mentions:  Empire Flippers Podcasts Empire Flippers Marketplace Create an Empire Flippers account Subscribe to our newsletter Matt's LinkedIn TheSubscriptionDoc.com Sit back, grab a coffee, and learn how to reduce churn and increase recurring revenue through subscriptions!