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What if the biggest barrier to your AI-powered future isn't the algorithm, but the state of your data from five years ago? Agility requires more than just fast decision-making; it demands a foundational trust in the data that fuels those decisions. It's about having the right information, accessible and reliable, to pivot not just your campaigns, but your entire strategy. Today, we're going to talk about the often-overlooked foundation of marketing agility and AI innovation: the data infrastructure itself. We'll explore how the role of the CMO is shifting from a master of messaging to a master of data strategy, and what it takes to lead a marketing organization when the quality of your data directly determines the success of your most ambitious technology investments. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Jim Kruger, CMO at Informatica. About Jim Kruger Jim currently serves as the Executive Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer at Informatica. He has 20+ years of B2B and B2C marketing experience in the areas of cloud, SaaS, services, and hardware solutions. Jim is a results-oriented, high-integrity leader with strong business acumen and an inclusive team-building vision. His top focus as a leader is to drive accountability and make every team member feel valued for their contribution.At Informatica, he leads the global marketing organization with the charter to accelerate cloud growth, expand into new markets and industry verticals, and lead the company's brand momentum. Jim Kruger on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimkruger1/ Resources Informatica: https://www.informatica.com Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code AGILE at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://aglbrnd.co/r/c43e68ce5cfb321e The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703 Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company
William and Eyvonne tackle the biggest AI stories of early 2026. They dissect Matt Schumer’s viral “Something Big is Happening” essay – agreeing professionals need to skill up now while pushing back on the doomsday framing with real-world examples from engineering disciplines. The conversation takes a fascinating turn as Eyvonne draws a parallel between AI-assisted... Read more »
SAASTR 843: Software Stocks Have Massively Crashed. Here's What Founders Need to Know. SaaStr founder and CEO Jason Lemkin joins the TBPN show for a wide-ranging conversation on the state of SaaS, AI, and venture capital. Jason shares how he shrunk his team from 15 to 3 people by going all-in on AI agents, why he's lost patience with companies that haven't re-accelerated growth, and the real economics behind running large-scale events. He breaks down why PE has "said goodbye to B2B," how vibe coding is flooding the market with competitors, and what's making the IPO window both exciting and treacherous. Plus: why the agent that closed a $100K deal on a Saturday night matters more than any demo day pitch, and how AI discoverability is quietly reshaping how businesses choose their software stack. --------------------- This episode is Sponsored in part by HappyFox: Imagine having AI agents for every support task — one that triages tickets, another that catches duplicates, one that spots churn risks. That'd be pretty amazing, right? HappyFox just made it real with Autopilot. These pre-built AI agents deploy in about 60 seconds and run for as low as 2 cents per successful action. All of it sits inside the HappyFox omnichannel, AI-first support stack — Chatbot, Copilot, and Autopilot working as one. Check them out at happyfox.com/saastr --------------------- Hey everybody, the biggest B2B + AI event of the year will be back - SaaStr AI in the SF Bay Area, aka the SaaStr Annual, will be back in May 2026. With 68% VP-level and above, 36% CEOs and founders and a growing 25% AI-first professional, this is the very best of the best S-tier attendees and decision makers that come to SaaStr each year. But here's the reality, folks: the longer you wait, the higher ticket prices can get. Early bird tickets are available now, but once they're gone, you'll pay hundreds more so don't wait. Lock in your spot today by going to podcast.saastrannual.com to get my exclusive discount SaaStr AI SF 2026. We'll see you there.
What does it take to get your SaaS offering on multiple cloud providers? Richard chats with Steve Buchanan about his new role at JAMF, which focuses on a mobile device management product for Apple devices. Originally built as a SaaS product on AWS, Steve is helping to build out the JAMF stack on Azure to support a broader range of customers. Steve talks about Kubernetes as the common ground among the major cloud players, but you need to dig into the rest of the tooling to minimize differences across implementations. That means cloud-agnostic tools for deployment, identity, instrumentation, and more! The good news is that there are plenty of tools out there to help you, but it does take time to work out your suite of tools to get consistent results, no matter where the backend resides.LinksJAMFOpenTofuElastic Kubernetes ServiceAzure Kubernetes ServiceGoogle Kubernetes EngineMicrosoft IntuneiOS and IntuneOktaPrometheusGrafanaSteve's Pluralsight ClassesKAgentSOC 2 Type 2Recorded January 8, 2026
A story about what happens when you build a Forever Business—instead of chasing the next exitThis episode is for sales-led SaaS founders who feel the business is getting slower the bigger it gets—and starting to accept that as normal.Most software companies slow down as they scale. Access got faster.Jon Jorgensen, Co-CEO of The Access Group, joined as a telesales trainee straight from school. In 2011, the company was doing £24 million. Fifteen years later, it's a £1.2 billion business with 160,000 customers.His belief: if you build what he calls a "Forever Business," growth compounds instead of stalling—even after six private equity transactions.And this inspired me to invite Jon to my podcast. We explore why companies that never stop learning outgrow everyone else. Jon shares lessons about what shifted when Access moved from profit-driven to value-creation thinking, why he pushed equity to over 50% of employees, and what a "Forever Business" actually demands. You'll discover how a company survives six private equity transactions and 9,000 employees—without becoming the corporate machine everyone expects.We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – Master the art of curiosity – Master creating momentumJon's journey proves that remarkable companies treat curiosity as a daily practice, not a poster on the wall—and that's what creates momentum competitors cannot replicate.Here's one of Jon's quotes that captures his leadership philosophy:"I can't change you. You've got to want to change. I can't make you do something. You've got to want to do it."By listening to this episode, you'll learn:Why shifting from profit-driven to value-creation thinking changes everything about growthWhat happens when you push equity deep into the organization instead of hoarding itWhy the psychology of belonging matters more than strategy at scaleHow building a "Forever Business" protects against short-term pressure from investorsFor more information about the guest from this week: Guest: Jon Jorgensen, Co-CEO, The Access Group Website: theaccessgroup.com
This episode is brought to you by B2B Better. Richard cut CAC by 27% by ditching billboards and investing in owned content — podcasts, videos, and customer interviews that actually moved the needle. That's exactly the kind of content engine we help B2B service businesses build. If you want a podcast that drives pipeline, not just downloads, visit b2bbetter.com. If you think B2B buying is purely rational, this episode is your wake-up call. In this episode of Pipe Dream, host Jason Bradwell sits down with Richard Dedor, Senior Client Strategist at Vericast, to unpack what a decade of B2C financial services marketing can teach B2B marketers about differentiation, storytelling, and cutting through a commoditised market. Richard's core point is clear: stop overthinking your product and start understanding the emotion behind the buying decision. Every purchase — whether it's a checking account or a six-figure SaaS contract — starts with a pain point. The businesses that win are the ones that lean into that pain and make the buyer the hero. The cheeseburger analogy says it all. McDonald's, In-N-Out, Wendy's — they're all selling the same thing but winning different customers by knowing exactly who they're for. B2B is no different. You don't need a revolutionary product. You need a sharper story built around the right ingredients for the right target market. The conversation gets tactical on CAC reduction. Richard's team cut acquisition costs by 27% by reallocating budget away from vanity spend — billboards chief among them — and investing in owned content instead. Podcasts, videos, webinar series, and customer interviews that spoke directly to real pain points. A billboard reaches everyone and no one. A customer interview that mirrors exactly what a prospect is feeling reaches the right person at the right moment. For B2B marketers dealing with long sales cycles and buying committees, hold the macro message steady and pivot the micro-messaging for each stakeholder in the room. And when compliance is standing between you and a good idea, make them your second-best friend — walk them through the concept one friction point at a time and help them get themselves to yes. People buy with emotion. Even in B2B. Especially in B2B. That's what you should be tapping into. Chapter Markers 00:00 - Introduction: Richard Dedor and a decade in B2C financial services 02:00 - The cheeseburger analogy: differentiation in commoditised markets 04:00 - Growing brand awareness by 50% and bridging it to conversion 06:00 - In-market moments and rare switching windows in financial services 08:00 - What B2B marketers should steal from the consumer playbook 09:00 - Micro-messaging pivots within a stable macro message 10:00 - Cutting CAC by 27%: stop spending on billboards 11:00 - Investing in owned content: podcasts, videos, and customer interviews 13:00 - Testing, killing, and doubling down on what works 14:00 - Working in regulated environments: making compliance your ally 16:00 - How to present ideas to legal and compliance teams 18:00 - Walking compliance through friction points one step at a time 20:00 - The one thing B2B companies get wrong about differentiation 22:00 - People buy with emotion — even in B2B Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Connect with Richard Dedor on LinkedIn Visit Richard Dedor's website Read Richard's writing on HubSpot and Medium Explore B2B Better and the Pipe Dream Podcast
Kenji Kuramoto is the Founder and former CEO of Acuity, a pioneering outsourced accounting and fractional CFO firm that built and maintained financial functions for thousands of innovative entrepreneurs. Under his leadership, Acuity became one of Accounting Today's Top Firms for Technology and a Top Firm to Work For, before merging into Sorren in 2025. In this episode, Kenji joins Jason M. Blumer, CPA, to unpack what really happens when you step away from something that's still working. He shares the full story behind Acuity's 20-year journey, the decision to run a proactive merger process, and why he ultimately chose not to continue into the next chapter with Sorren—despite being Acuity's founder and leading the proactive merger process. The conversation explores the emotional reality of leadership transitions: identity loss, grief, relief, clarity, and the discipline required to not hold on too long. Kenji reflects on the surprisingly anticlimactic nature of closing day, the importance of timing your exit well, and how staying deeply connected to the profession helped him navigate life after stepping away. Today, Kenji is an investor, founder, and advisor focused on reimagining the future of the accounting profession. He is the founder of 404 Invests, an early-stage investment firm backing Accounting Technology, SaaS, FinTech, and Crypto companies. Earlier in his career, Kenji served as CFO of an Inc. 5000 tech company and began in the assurance practice at Arthur Andersen. If you're a firm owner considering succession, a merger, retirement, or your own next chapter as a leader, this episode offers rare honesty and perspective you won't often hear.
Automóviles con engomado amarillo tienen hasta el 28 de febrero para verificarToluca alerta sobre riesgos de quemar basura en temporada de calorMéxico lidera en empresas SaaS y financiamiento en América LatinaMás información en nuestro Podcast
Anthropic's Hidden Claude 1, Market-Shaking AI Tools, and MIT's One-Step 3D-Printed Electric Motor Host Jim Love covers three major stories: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's comments on AI governance and safety, including that "Claude 1" was built before ChatGPT but not released because it didn't meet Anthropic's alignment and safety bar; how Anthropic's recent launches—Claude for knowledge-work "cowork" workflows, deeper office/document integrations, Claude Code Security for vulnerability scanning, and tooling to automate parts of COBOL modernization—coincided with sharp market reactions including declines in CrowdStrike and Zscaler (around 10–11%) and a major IBM drop (more than 13%) amid fears AI could disrupt SaaS, cybersecurity, and legacy modernization revenue; and MIT researchers' report of a 3D printing process that produces a fully functional linear electric motor in a single step (aside from magnetization), with reported material cost around 50 cents in a lab setting, raising the prospect of on-demand manufacturing and compressed supply chains. The episode also includes sponsorship messages about Meter's integrated wired, wireless, and cellular networking stack. Hashtag Trending would like to thank Meter for their support in bringing you this podcast. Meter delivers a complete networking stack, wired, wireless and cellular in one integrated solution that's built for performance and scale. You can find them at Meter.com/htt 00:00 Headlines and Sponsor 00:45 Amodei vs Altman 01:29 Claude 1 Not Shipped 03:19 Anthropic Shakes Markets 04:57 AI Hits Cybersecurity 05:28 COBOL Modernization Shock 08:10 MIT Prints Electric Motor 09:39 Manufacturing Disruption 10:26 Wrap Up and Thanks
In this episode, we dive into the seismic shifts happening in industrial AI, from the so-called 'SaaS-mageddon' disrupting established software models to the rise of AI-powered agents that promise to redefine productivity. We share first-hand insights on how large language models and open-source projects are reshaping the landscape, and what this means for the future of industry solutions. We then turn to the frontier of pharmaceutical innovation with Stanisław Jastrzębski, CTO & Co-Founder from molecule.one, who reveals how deep learning, automation, and custom data are accelerating drug discovery. Join us as we connect the dots between industrial AI trends, the evolution of personal assistants, and the chemistry breakthroughs powering tomorrow's medicines. Tune in for a global perspective and a dash of inspiration straight from the heart of Istanbul.
"Saying yes to anything and everything just to produce that revenue leads to burnout. You're trying to serve everyone and do everything. The fact of the matter is, we don't have the capacity for that, nor were we ever meant to have the capacity for that." - Jessica Sanchez What if revenue growth didn't have to come at the expense of your peace? In this powerful conversation, Dr. Nadia Y. Brown sits down with business coach Jessica Sanchez to explore the lessons learned from her 15 years in B2B tech marketing, SaaS startups, and revenue leadership. Jessica shares her experience in sales, burnout, and achieving sustainable growth. After generating tens of millions in revenue and leading teams that served companies like Dell, Microsoft, and Intel, Jessica made a bold shift to launch her coaching business. Her goal is to support burned-out female founders craving clarity and alignment. During their discussion, Nadia and Jessica delve into the following topics: Why not all revenue growth is beneficial How to transition from transactional selling to relationship-driven sales The hidden traps women founders fall into The importance of documenting your sales process, ideal client profile, and messaging if you want to scale beyond being a solo salesperson Connect with Jessica: LinkedIn: @jessicasanchez2 Instagram: @jessicasanchezcoaching Website: www.jessicasanchezcoaching.com Connect with Dr. Nadia: LinkedIn: @drnadia Instagram: @iamdrnadia Website: www.thedoyenneagency.com Email: hello@thedoyenneagency.com Are you ready to get a clear, prioritized roadmap to move from sole salesperson to sales leader without burning out or compromising your values? Book Your Culture-First Sales Audit Interested in being a guest on the podcast? Email us at askdrnadia@thedoyenneagency.com
My guest today is Dan Sundheim. Dan is the founder and CIO of D1 Capital Partners. He thinks about markets and businesses constantly, and has built a career entirely around that obsession. He manages over $30B across both public and private markets, with investments in SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic, and a public portfolio of names you may never have heard of. Dan shares the story of the short case he wrote on Orthodontic Centers of America and posted on Value Investors Club, which crashed the stock, and helped him land his first job. He shares why he backed Anthropic at a moment when many people told him it was the Lyft to OpenAI's Uber, what reading Dario Amodei's essays reminded him of Jeff Bezos, and how he thinks about LLM business models through the lens of Netflix and Spotify. We spend time on the extraordinarily stressful moment in early 2021 when GameStop hit the firm, and what Dan believes is the single biggest tail risk facing the global economy right now. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at colossus.com/subscribe. ----- Ramp's mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to ramp.com/invest to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit vanta.com/invest. ----- WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit WorkOS.com to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit ridgelineapps.com. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best (00:02:43) Intro: Dan Sundheim (00:03:58) The State of Public & Private Investing (00:07:32) Investing in OpenAI and Anthropic (00:10:22) LLMs Business Model (00:14:13) How LLMs are like Netflix and Spotify (00:17:08) Focus v. Scope (00:22:43) The Bear Case for Hyperscalers (00:26:36) The Software Sell-Off (00:31:08) If Scaling Laws Stopped (00:32:18) Advice to a 12-Year-Old Investor (00:33:54) GameStop: D1's Darkest Hour (00:37:14) The Pivotal Dinner with LPs (00:40:56) Staying Calm and Confident (00:42:08) Economic Optimism vs. Societal Uncertainty (00:44:26) Investing on SpaceX and Rivian (00:48:09) Why Dan Loves Shorting (00:48:51) Sources of Inefficiency in Today's Markets (00:51:45) The Importance of Loyalty (00:53:11) Dan's Group Chat for Founders (00:55:39) What Motivates Dan (00:57:28) Posting on Value Investors Club (01:01:46) What Dan Learned at Viking (01:04:22) The Beauty of Art (01:06:49) Under-appreciated Parts of the Global Economy (01:08:00) The US-China-Taiwan Collision Course (01:12:10) Good Leaders vs. Good Businesses (01:13:15) The Kindest Thing
This Week In Startups is made possible by:Caldera Lab - [calderalab.com/twist](https://calderalab.com/twist)Iru - [iru.com](http://Iru.com)LinkedIn Jobs - http://linkedin.com/twist*OpenClaw is incredible at automating tasks. But what if it could also fix your startup's internal communication problems? Give agents shared memory, and you may be able to break down information silos while ensuring that teammates have the same context.@oliverhenry and @jeffweisbein demo what they've actually built with OpenClaw, including marketing automations, agentic loops, and bug fixing tools. Then we dig into what agentic infrastructure means for how startups operate, and why traditional SaaS products need to quickly adapt for the agentic era.Oliver Henry: The creator of the ‘[Larry](https://clawhub.ai/OllieWazza/larry)' OpenClaw skill, and founder of [Larrybrain](https://www.larrybrain.com/)Jeff Weisbein: The Claw-pilled founder of [WizardRFP](https://www.wizardrfp.com/) and [WhoCoversIt](https://www.whocoversit.com/), who shared his OpenClaw framework [publicly](https://weisbe.in/openclaw) and built a [getting-started guide for the tool](https://github.com/jeffweisbein/openclaw-starter-kit)**Timestamps:** 00:00 Intro(00:01:43) Here's why you never ski alone in a blizzard!(00:04:22) Why everyone at LAUNCH is going to get their own Mac Mini and AI agent(00:08:06) “OpenClaw has changed my entire solo-preneur lifestyle.” — Jeff Weinstein of Hype Lab(00:09:06) Jason's urgent API message to Steve Huffman of Reddit(00:10:20) LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at https://LinkedIn.com/twist(00:15:12) Oliver shows us his Larry Skill to make viral TikTok content with zero human intervention(00:20:10) Iru - Iru unifies identity, endpoint security, and compliance into one platform. Book a demo at https://iru.com.(00:21:22) Why are platforms like TikTok still so hostile toward bots?(00:24:45) The shift from asking a chatbot how to do things, to just telling an agent to do things(00:26:05) How Oliver is training Larry to get better at its job(00:30:09) Caldera Lab - Whether you're starting fresh or upgrading your routine, Caldera Lab makes skincare simple and effective. Head to https://CalderaLab.com/TWIST and use TWIST at checkout for 20% off your first order.(00:32:47) Why making your agent more PROACTIVE is more important than automating everything(00:37:14) Why pull requests… just aren't really a thing any more.(00:39:40) How Jason is using his new AI assistant, “Roy,” to keep track of everything going on at his company(00:53:00) Is the SaaS crash actually rational after all?(00:51:48) Using AI to create “pools of excellence”(00:54:03) The more you integrate software into AI, the less valuable the software becomes(00:56:56) Why “Agentify Your SaaS” may become the rallying cry(00:58:31) How has the age verification scandal impacted Discord's IPO plans?(01:03:10) When you want to build your own skill vs. downloading someone else's(01:03:53) How Larrybrain finds helpful skills and helps creators monetize(01:08:32) When we will get true experts making verifiably top skills?(01:11:40) Jason's SCARY but also AWESOME new OpenClaw CEO tools(01:18:10) What does this mean for the future of venture capital?(01:18:35) Why a lot of MBAs should probably have PhD'sThank you to our partners:(30:09) Caldera Lab - Whether you're starting fresh or upgrading your routine, Caldera Lab makes skincare simple and effective. Head to [CalderaLab.com/TWIST](http://calderalab.com/TWIST) and use TWIST at checkout for 20% off your first order.(20:10) Iru - Iru unifies identity, endpoint security, and compliance into one platform. Book a demo at [iru.com](http://iru.com/).(10:20) LinkedIn Jobs - *Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at* [LinkedIn.com/twist](http://linkedin.com/HiringProOffer)
Rob Walling is a godfather of the bootstrapped SaaS movement — he's started 6 companies (5 bootstrapped), built and sold Drip for 8 figures, and created the infrastructure behind MicroConf, TinySeed (which has raised nearly $60 million and invested in over 210 SaaS companies), and Startups for the Rest of Us (820+ episodes over 15 years). But here's what surprised me: Rob told me he's more of a creator these days than a software founder. The guy who built and sold an email marketing platform now gets his dopamine from podcasting, writing books, and making YouTube videos. And his experience on both sides gives him a perspective on the vibe coding trend that I think every creator needs to hear. In this episode, we get into the actual mechanics of how Rob runs his business — the team of 11 people, the $100,000-$120,000 monthly payroll, the four brands he wishes were two. We talk about how he eliminated stress from his life through therapy, hiring owner-level thinkers, and handing the project management to someone else entirely. And we have a real conversation about why vibe coding a SaaS product is probably not the opportunity you think it is — even if you have a big audience. This is part 1 of a 2-part episode; part 2 lives on Rob's podcast, Startups for the Rest of Us. → Rob Walling on Twitter/X → Rob Walling's YouTube Channel → Startups for the Rest of Us (Podcast) → MicroConf → TinySeed → Drip (Rob's 8-figure exit) → SavvyCal (co-founded by Derek Reimer) Full transcript and show notes *** TIMESTAMPS (00:24) Introduction — why Rob Walling is a unicorn in the bootstrapped SaaS world (02:40) Mapping the full Rob Walling business ecosystem: podcast, MicroConf, TinySeed, books, YouTube (05:15) How Producer Ron keeps the trains running on time across four brands (06:44) Inside the team of 11: roles, full-time commitment, and why Rob stopped hiring part-time (07:53) The psychology of making your first full-time hire (and Rob's 8-year wait for MicroConf) (09:33) Moving from task-level to project-level to owner-level thinkers (10:27) Four brands, two LLCs — the insurance story behind the split and why Rob wants to consolidate (12:18) Why Rob doesn't want his name on everything (and the legacy question) (14:41) Identity shifts: from SaaS founder to serial entrepreneur to content creator (16:31) The vibe coding reality check: why building SaaS is 10x harder than creating content (19:09) Why SaaS churn makes recurring revenue harder than it looks for creators (21:04) The construction analogy: tool sheds vs. skyscrapers and where vibe coding breaks down (24:53) Data from 234 investments: only 10-15% of successful SaaS companies lack a technical founder (27:00) The bigger opportunity for creators: equity partnerships instead of vibe coding (29:00) 'Build your network, not your audience' — why audiences plateau for SaaS growth (31:53) A week in Rob's life: deep work Mondays, advising Wednesdays, and the 329 TinySeed founders (34:00) How Rob eliminated stress: therapy, delegation, and giving up project management (38:46) Hiring for high-functioning: screening for 'Producer Ron'-level operators (41:21) The positive tension of deadline stress and why containers make you ship (43:09) Post-exit motivation: 6 months of comic books, guitar, and getting bored into purpose *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE → #291: 48 Hours With Clawdbot: How I'm Using It and Initial Reactions *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY
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Elad Gil was an early investor in 40 unicorns, including major AI companies like Perplexity. I asked him what's next for software companies now that AI can code better than humans, and what he'd invest in after AI. Elad Gil is the Founder & Investor at Gil Capital, his private investment firm. He has backed some of the most iconic technology companies of the past two decades, including Airbnb, Stripe, Coinbase, Instacart, OpenAI, and SpaceX. A former executive at Twitter and Google, Elad is known for identifying major technology waves early — from social to SaaS to AI — and helping founders build category-defining companies. Sponsored byZapier More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint
Bart Fanelli is the CEO and Co-founder of Skillibrium, an AI-driven revenue operating platform that aligns learning, execution, and coaching to help organizations scale high-performance revenue teams. With more than 25 years of revenue leadership experience, he has played key roles in scaling enterprise software companies, including Splunk, during a period of significant hypergrowth. He has worked with organizations from pre-IPO through post-IPO stages and is the co-author of The Success Cadence. Bart is recognized for building structured coaching frameworks that combine operational discipline with human-centered leadership. In this episode… Scaling high-performance revenue teams while keeping sales, customer success, and leadership aligned is challenging. Fragmented training, slow onboarding, and the Forgetting Curve weaken momentum. How can AI and structured coaching build a unified, continuously improving revenue engine? Bart Fanelli, a revenue operations leader and enterprise sales strategist, faced these challenges while scaling high-growth technology companies. With more than two decades of field and leadership experience, he has built repeatable systems that align sales, customer success, and executives around a shared cadence. Bart champions role-based playbooks and daily reinforcement within real workflows. He focuses on aligning "skill and will." He explains that consistent coaching rhythms and candid conversations drive accountability, adoption, and measurable growth. In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Weisz sits down with Bart Fanelli, CEO and Co-founder at Skillibrium, to discuss scaling revenue teams through AI and operational discipline. Bart shares the Magnificent Nine discovery framework and practical ways to beat the forgetting curve. He also explains how to build a coaching culture that sustains long-term growth.
Revolutionizing Compliance: Modernizing Inspection Workflows with Tim HarrisIn a recent episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur Podcast, host Josh Elledge sat down with Tim Harris, the Chief Executive Officer of VirtuSpect, to explore how digital transformation is finally reaching the heavily regulated world of physical inspections. Tim shared how VirtuSpect is dismantling the traditional, slow-moving inspection model—particularly in the banking sector—by replacing manual third-party visits with a secure, automated SaaS platform. Their conversation dives into the critical intersection of speed and compliance, revealing how financial institutions and regulated enterprises can close loans faster and reduce operational overhead without compromising on security or regulatory rigor.Accelerating Efficiency: The Shift to Automated, Self-Guided InspectionsThe primary bottleneck in regulated industries has long been the reliance on manual, third-party inspections that can delay business cycles by several days or even weeks. Tim explains that the traditional "wait-and-see" approach, where an external inspector must be scheduled and dispatched, is being replaced by a guided, mobile-first experience that empowers internal staff or even business owners to complete the task themselves. By utilizing a secure mobile app that walks a non-expert through every required photo, video, and data point, VirtuSpect has seen turnaround times plummet from an average of five days to as little as 28 minutes. This radical shift in efficiency allows banks to move from inspection to loan closing in record time, significantly increasing interest income and enhancing the overall customer experience.Cost savings and scalability go hand-in-hand when an organization moves away from per-inspection travel fees and administrative bloat. Because the platform is built to handle thousands of requests per day, it allows enterprises to scale their operations without a linear increase in headcount or external vendor costs. Automated notifications and escalation triggers ensure that remediation steps are handled instantly, preventing human error from stalling a high-stakes audit or loan approval. For organizations conducting hundreds or thousands of inspections annually, this move toward productized, scalable workflows transforms a necessary administrative burden into a streamlined competitive advantage that can be deployed across various verticals.Beyond the immediate gains in speed, the platform is engineered to meet the stringent security and privacy demands of the financial and securities sectors. Every inspection performed through the system creates a comprehensive, encrypted audit trail that is far more robust than the fragmented email chains and physical files of the past. By collaborating with compliance experts to ensure that inspection criteria align with current regulations, VirtuSpect provides an enterprise-grade foundation that protects sensitive data both in transit and at rest. As the platform expands into branch audits, home office inspections, and asset management, it provides a unified source of truth that satisfies regulators while giving leadership real-time visibility into the health of their distributed assets.About Tim HarrisTim Harris is the Chief Executive Officer of VirtuSpect and a veteran leader in the technology space. A disciplined entrepreneur known for his rigorous personal routines—including a decade-long commitment to early-morning swimming—Tim applies a focus on technique and efficiency to help regulated industries modernize their most entrenched manual processes.About VirtuSpectVirtuSpect is a SaaS platform that provides automated inspection and remediation workflows for regulated industries, including banking, securities, and asset management. The company empowers...
TestTalks | Automation Awesomeness | Helping YOU Succeed with Test Automation
AI test automation is evolving fast — but most tools still generate brittle code that breaks with every UI change. See it for yourself now: https://links.testguild.com/Thunders In this episode of the TestGuild Podcast, Joe Colantonio sits down with Karim Jouini, founder of Thunders, to explore a radically different approach to AI testing: executing test automation in plain English without generating Selenium or Playwright code. Instead of "auto-healing selectors," Thunders interprets natural language directly — allowing teams to: Ship twice as fast Achieve 10x test coverage with the same resources Reduce regression cycles from weeks to days Eliminate massive automation maintenance overhead Karim shares real-world case studies, including: A European bank that reduced a 3-year core banking upgrade testing effort to 4 months A SaaS company that transitioned from a traditional QA team to AI-assisted product-led testing We also discuss: Whether AI test agents replace QA roles How QA managers must shift from individual contributors to AI managers The risks of adopting AI without a defined success metric The future of shift-left testing in the AI era If you're a software tester, automation engineer, QA lead, or DevOps leader trying to understand what's hype versus real ROI in AI testing — this episode breaks it down. Try it for yourself and see how AI testing fits into your pipeline. Get personal demo: https://links.testguild.com/Thunders
Databox is an easy-to-use Analytics Platform for growing businesses. We make it easy to centralize and view your entire company's marketing, sales, revenue, and product data in one place, so you always know how you're performing. Learn More About DataboxSubscribe to our newsletter for episode summaries, benchmark data, and moreScaling a company doesn't break because of a lack of ideas, but because instinct doesn't scale.In this episode of Move the Needle, Chris Savage (CEO & Co-Founder of Wistia) walks through the evolution from founder-driven decision-making to building a real operating system for scale.From choosing a single ICP when growth was already strong…- To installing a tri-annual planning cadence- To distributing ownership across teams- To using AI to compress execution cyclesThis is a masterclass in turning momentum into predictable growth. If you're a SaaS founder or GTM leader trying to scale without chaos, this episode is for you.
How do you know when you're no longer the right leader for your own company?After 15 years building Help Scout — shaping its culture, defining its values, and growing it into a successful SaaS business — Nick Francis faced that question himself.From the outside, it looked like the job of his dreams. But as the company scaled and took on venture capital, the expectations around growth began to shift. And Nick had to ask himself a question most founders don't say out loud: Was he still the right leader for Help Scout's next chapter?In this episode, Chris Savage talks with Nick about navigating that tension — between growth and craft, scale and vision — and how he ultimately chose to step aside when he realized the company needed something different.Links to Learn More: Follow Nick Francis on LinkedInFollow Savage on LinkedInSubscribe to Talking Too Loud on WistiaWatch on YouTubeFollow Talking Too Loud on InstagramFollow Talking Too Loud on TikTokLove what you heard? Leave us a review!On AppleOn Spotify
What if scaling your B2B SaaS business could be as simple as asking, “Who, not how?” In this episode of Predictable B2B Success, host Vinay Koshy speaks with Mike Malloy, founder of Malloy Industries, whose knack for executive matchmaking and battle-tested leadership has helped companies leap from $2M to $20M+ in revenue. Hear how a pandemic, a move to the beach, and life-changing moments sparked Mike Malloy's mission to build a business fueled by core values like generosity and trustworthy leadership. Discover the frameworks, scorecards, and insights that reveal why “what got you here won't get you there,” and learn how fractional executives can help founders multiply their impact without burning out. Ever wondered what holds SaaS companies back from scaling, or why founders get stuck in “if I want it done right, I'll do it myself” thinking? This episode is packed with practical tips, stories including the business lessons behind an infamous bankruptcy, and actionable strategies for founders ready to level up. Plus, you'll find out what Hawaiian shirts and dad jokes have to do with building a remarkable brand. Curious? Dive in to uncover the future of scalable leadership and why fractional expertise may be the game-changer your business needs. Some topics we explore in this episode include: How Malloy Industries was founded and Mike Malloy's career journey.Core values in business and ways to operationalize them.Pattern recognition in executive matchmaking for SaaS growth.Building scalable sales systems and the importance of delegation.Customer acquisition cost and cash flow management tips for SaaS founders.Cultural alignment vs. skillset when hiring fractional executives.Sales scalability scorecard and diagnosing sales process gaps.Transitioning from founder-led sales to fractional leadership and avoiding revenue dips.Time management and delegation for CEOs using frameworks like “who, not how.”Referral-based networking and educational marketing for fractional executive services.And much, much more...
Activation is the most overlooked growth lever in SaaS, especially for PLG-focused companies. While founders obsess over acquisition, pricing, and retention, they often overlook low-hanging fruit with activation. In this episode of In Demand, Asia and Kim break down what activation actually is, why most teams misunderstand it, and how to improve it using a clear, repeatable process. Asia shares why pop-ups and walkthroughs are not a strategy, why survivor bias is distorting your view of product performance, and how as few as three to five UX interviews can unlock growth. If you have a free trial, self-serve motion, or product-led growth model, this episode walks through a practical framework to improve activation. Got a question you'd like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here. Links: DemandMaven https://www.userinterviews.com/ Respondent.io Amplitude Mixpanel Chapters (00:01:00) - Why activation is often an overlooked growth lever in PLG SaaS.(00:04:05) - What activation actually means and how it connects acquisition and retention.(00:11:00) - Why pop-ups, overlays, and onboarding walkthroughs aren't working as well anymore.(00:14:00) - What good trial-to-paid benchmarks look like and why most bootstrappers leave money on the table.(00:19:45) - The process of improving activation, starting with step one, UX interviews with qualified strangers.(00:28:05) - What to pay attention to when doing UX interviews.(00:30:55) - The three levers to improve UX: cognitive overload, uncertainty, and limited attention.(00:36:50) - What steps to take after making initial improvements.(00:42:00) - How to think about later-stage activation.(00:52:45) - Activation starting from your homepage.
Digital transformation in procurement has been "imminent" for over a decade, however, Legacy Thinking Is the Real Bottleneck! Boards talk about automation. CFOs talk about control. Procurement leaders talk about value creation. And yet, across industries, source-to-pay (S2P) remains one of the most stubbornly legacy bound functions in the enterprise. The irony? Procurement should be one of the easiest functions to modernize. It is structured, process driven, data rich, and measurable. But in practice, S2P transformation efforts stall, underdeliver, or quietly die after expensive, lengthy and limited implementation cycles. Why? The bottleneck isn't technology. It's legacy gravity. The Hidden Cost of "Good Enough" Procurement Many organizations still operate on a patchwork of: ERP systems and bolt-ons built for another era Email based approvals Manual vendor onboarding Disconnected sourcing tools Excel driven reporting and even pen and paper These systems "work"… in the same way that a fax machine technically still works. The problem is that legacy procurement systems were designed for control and record keeping, not agility, collaboration, or strategic insight. They reflect a time when procurement was administrative. Today, it's expected to be strategic. That shift breaks the old model. Where Source-to-Pay Innovation Gets Stuck 1. ERP-Centric Thinking For years, procurement innovation meant adding modules to an ERP. But ERPs are transactional systems of record, not innovation platforms. They are excellent at posting journal entries. They are poor at enabling dynamic sourcing, supplier collaboration, or real time spend intelligence. Trying to build modern procurement on top of ERP architecture is like building a streaming service on top of a DVD player. 1. Change Fatigue and Organisational Inertia Procurement teams are often overworked and understaffed. Digital transformation becomes "another project" layered on top of operational pressure. Without clear ROI and intuitive user experience, adoption fails. Stakeholders revert to email. Maverick spend returns. The transformation narrative and urgency fades. 1. Fragmented Tool Stacks Organisations frequently assemble S2P capabilities from multiple vendors: One for sourcing One for contract management One for P2P Another for analytics Integration becomes the project. Data reconciliation becomes a full-time job. Innovation slows under its own complexity. 1. Supplier Experience Is an Afterthought Most legacy procurement systems optimize for internal compliance, not supplier usability. Clunky onboarding. Repetitive data entry. Limited transparency. In an era where supplier relationships are strategic assets, this friction is more than inconvenient — it's counterproductive. 1. Procurement Still Seen as Cost Control Perhaps the deepest legacy issue is philosophical. Many executive teams still view procurement primarily as a cost-cutting function. But modern S2P innovation unlocks: Risk visibility ESG traceability Working capital optimization Data driven negotiation leverage Cross functional alignment Actionable game changing business intelligence insights When procurement is framed as a back-office function, investment remains incremental. When it's framed as a strategic value driver, transformation becomes inevitable. What Modern Source-to-Pay Should Actually Look Like True S2P innovation isn't about digitising paperwork. It's about re-architecting the procurement experience. That includes: Consumer grade UX that drives adoption Unified workflows from sourcing through payment Real-time spend visibility Embedded analytics Supplier-first design Automation of approvals and compliance Configurability without heavy IT dependency In short, S2P should feel like modern SaaS, not a compliance portal from 2009, with the UX of teletext from the 1990's. The New Model: Agile, Unified, Intuitive Forward-thinking organizations are abandoning monolithic, ERP bound procurement stacks in favor of flexi...
THE Sales Japan Series by Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo, Japan
Objections are not the enemy — they're signals. In complex B2B and high-ticket selling, an objection often means the buyer is still engaged, still evaluating, and still leaving the door open. The difference between "this is going nowhere" and "we can win this" is whether you follow a disciplined process instead of reacting emotionally. Below is a practical, repeatable objection-handling framework you can run in real time — in Australia, Japan, the US, Europe, in-person or on Zoom — without sounding scripted. Why are objections actually a good sign in sales conversations? Objections usually mean the buyer is still considering you — they're testing risk, fit, and trust rather than silently rejecting you. In most markets post-pandemic (2020–2025), buyers have tightened procurement, involved more stakeholders, and demanded clearer ROI, which means more questions and more pushback — even when they like you. In Japan, where consensus building and risk avoidance are culturally strong, objections often appear as "we need to think" or "it might be difficult." In the US and Australia, you might hear direct resistance like "too expensive" or "we're happy with our current vendor." In all cases, the presence of friction can be healthier than polite indifference. Do now (answer card): Treat objections as engagement. Your job isn't to "win" — it's to discover what's underneath and solve the real concern What's the biggest mistake salespeople make when they hear an objection? The fastest way to lose a deal is to argue with the buyer — even if you're technically correct. The human brain hears pushback and wants to defend: you jump in, correct them, prove them wrong, and accidentally trigger buyer resistance. You might "win the debate" and still lose the decision. This shows up everywhere: startups pitching to procurement, consultants selling transformation programs, and enterprise SaaS teams facing security and legal. In Australia and the US, that argument can feel like a pressure tactic; in Japan, it can feel like you've disrupted harmony and made it harder for the buyer to save face. Instead of debating the headline ("too expensive"), you need the story behind it (budget cycle, internal politics, competing priorities, risk fears). Do now (answer card): Stop defending. Assume the objection is a headline and your job is to uncover the full article. What is a "cushion" and why does it work for handling objections? A cushion is a neutral circuit-breaker sentence that stops you from reacting and buys you thinking time. It's not agreement and it's not disagreement — it's a calm buffer between what they said and what you say next. Examples in plain English: "I hear you." "That's a fair point." "Thanks for raising that." "I can see why you'd ask that." This works because it lowers emotional temperature, keeps the buyer talking, and prevents the "fight or flight" response that turns into arguing. Whether you're selling to a Japanese conglomerate, a US mid-market firm, or an Australian SME, that pause helps you shift from defence mode into discovery mode. Pro tip: keep the cushion short. The cushion isn't the solution — it's the doorway to the right question. Do now (answer card): Build 3–5 cushion phrases you can say naturally, then use one every single time before you respond. What question should you ask first after any objection? Ask: "May I ask you why you say that?" — because the only useful response to an objection is more information.Objections are like a newspaper headline: short, dramatic, and missing context. "Too expensive" could mean cashflow, competitor pricing, CFO scrutiny, or fear of implementation risk. When you ask "why," you throw the "porcupine" back to the buyer — gently — so they explain the real story. This is effective in high-context cultures like Japan because it invites explanation without confrontation. It also works in direct markets like the US and Australia because it signals professionalism: you're diagnosing, not pushing. Watch-out: don't ask "why" with a sharp tone. Make it soft, curious, and slow. The tone is the difference between coaching and challenging. Do now (answer card): Make "why" your reflex. Cushion → "May I ask why?" → listen longer than feels comfortable. How do you clarify and cross-check to find the real objection? Clarify by restating the concern, then cross-check for hidden issues until they run out of objections. Buyers often lead with a minor issue to end the conversation quickly, especially when they don't want a long discussion. Think iceberg: the visible tip is what they say; the big block below the waterline is what they mean. Use two moves: Clarify: "Thank you. So, as I understand it, your chief concern is ___ — is that right?" Cross-check: "In addition to ___, are there any other concerns on your side?" Repeat the cross-check 3–4 times if needed. Then prioritise: "You've mentioned X, Y, and Z. Which one is the highest priority for you?" This is how enterprise sales teams reduce "surprise" objections late in the cycle, and how consultants avoid being derailed by a small complaint masking a major deal-breaker. Do now (answer card): Clarify the core issue, then ask for additional concerns, then rank them. Don't respond until you know the deal-breaker. How do you reply: deny, agree, reverse — and then trial close? Reply to the true main objection with one of three paths — deny, agree, or reverse — then use a trial commitment to confirm it's resolved. Once you've identified the highest-priority concern, you respond in a way that protects trust. Deny (with proof): If it's incorrect ("I heard you're going bankrupt"), deny calmly and offer evidence (financial stability, customer references, audited statements where appropriate). Agree (own reality): If it's true (quality issues, missed deadlines), acknowledge it. Explain what changed: process fixes, governance, QA, leadership actions. Credibility beats spin. Reverse (reframe): If the concern can become a benefit ("you take longer to deliver"), reframe it as risk reduction and quality control — less rework, fewer outages, smoother adoption. Then trial close: "How does that sound so far?" If more objections appear, run the process again. Do now (answer card): Pick the right response type (deny/agree/reverse), then trial close immediately to confirm the objection is gone. Conclusion: the repeatable objection-handling rhythm Objections don't block deals — unmanaged emotions do. When you treat objections as engagement, cushion your response, ask "why," clarify the real issue, cross-check for hidden concerns, and reply with credibility, you stop wrestling the buyer and start guiding the decision. If there are no questions, no objections, no hesitation, it may mean the buyer has already eliminated you and is just waiting for the meeting to end. Better to find out early — and move on to a real opportunity. Author credentials Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across all leadership, communication, sales, and presentation programs, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー).
The hiring market in media and advertising isn't collapsing. It's resetting.In this episode, BIA's Rick Ducey sits down with Robert Hawthorne, President of Hawthorne Search, to unpack today's two-track job market: consolidation and headcount discipline in legacy media versus continued expansion across SaaS, data, and ad tech.They explore where real job growth is happening, how compensation plans are shifting, why Q1 and early fall are prime hiring windows, and what both employers and candidates are getting wrong about today's process.You'll hear why leading organizations are defining roles around 90-day and 6-to-12-month business outcomes instead of resume checklists and how that shift is changing the way talent competes and teams are built.If you are hiring, planning a move, or trying to understand where the market is truly heading in 2026, this conversation provides a clear, practical roadmap.To connect with Robert Hawthorne, reach him at Robert@hawthornesearch.com
Ovi Shekh didn't set out to build a startup. Wisdomic AI began as a practical response to an academic challenge, where literature review work demanded time, structure, and careful organization.The first version was intentionally simple. While the tool solved a real workflow problem, it also revealed early limits. Rather than stopping there, Ovi rebuilt the tool as a web product, expanding its reach beyond the classroom.Early traction quickly changed the trajectory. Adoption grew through academic networks, attracting roughly 1,900 users and later drawing interest from universities and research groups. Still, growth inside the fast-moving AI landscape introduced pressure, uncertainty, and new constraints.Eventually, the journey led to a successful acquisition on Acquire.com.You'll hear:How an academic tool gained real usersWhy early traction reshaped the opportunityThe challenges of building in the AI spaceWhat made selling the rational decisionHow buyer alignment influenced the exit3 Lessons from Wisdomic AIValidation Can Start Small: Real problems inside familiar environments can accelerate product adoption.Traction Changes Everything: Early usage can transform a simple tool into a credible software asset.Selling Can Be Strategic: Timing, focus, and fit often matter more than scale alone.For founders building side projects, micro-SaaS tools, or niche AI products, this episode offers a clear perspective on traction, growth realities, and acquisition decisions.Follow the guest:LinkedInX (Twitter)Wisdomic AI
Many micro-SaaS founders build their SaaS tech stack like they're running a large, VC-backed startup. They implement CRMs, advanced analytics, and marketing automation because VC blogs say that's what “serious”...
Sam Altman has a lot of stuff to say about AI and let's just say comms needs to have a quiet word with him. SaaS may or may not be dead, but is the replacement vertical AI? And a big thought experiment. If the AI bulls are right and AI transforms the economy, what might that look like? Sam Altman Says Companies Are ‘AI Washing' Layoffs (Gizmodo) People Loved the Dot-Com Boom. The A.I. Boom, Not So Much. (NYTimes) Sam Altman would like to remind you that humans use a lot of energy, too (TechCrunch) Half the AI Agent Market Is One Category. The Rest Is Wide Open. (Garry's List) Google Restricts AI Ultra Subscribers Over OpenClaw OAuth, Days After Anthropic Ban (Implicator.ai) THE 2028 GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE CRISIS (Citrini Research) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
#790 What if the easiest way to grow your business was hiding in plain sight — your existing customers? In this episode, host Brien Gearin welcomes back Brian O'Connor, ex-Deloitte consultant, founder of TalentHQ, and three-time MU guest, to dive deep into the power of customer success. Learn how businesses of all sizes — from SaaS companies to local service providers — can drive massive growth by retaining clients, generating referrals, collecting more reviews, and increasing lifetime customer value. Brian also shares how he helps companies hire top-tier talent from Latin America at a fraction of U.S. prices, and why the Customer Success Manager might be the most overlooked (and most profitable) role in your business. Whether you're just starting out or scaling fast, this episode will help you unlock more revenue — without chasing new leads! (Original Air Date - 6/26/25) What we discuss with Brian: + Customer success vs. customer service + Retention, referrals, and renewals + How SaaS pioneered customer success + Reoccurring vs. recurring revenue + Upselling through relationship building + Why reviews drive local business growth + Hiring top talent in Latin America + Small business roles to outsource + Automating follow-up for repeat sales + Customer success for online communities Thank you, Brian! Subscribe to Brian's newsletter at OutlierGrowth.com. Follow Brian on social media @thebrianfoconnor. Email Brian at brian@talenthq.co. Watch the video podcast of this episode! To get access to our FREE Business Training course go to MillionaireUniversity.com/training. To get exclusive offers mentioned in this episode and to support the show, visit millionaireuniversity.com/sponsors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
With Ruben Dalfovo, Saxo Equity Market strategist, today we delve into how to approach and rate the prospects for beaten down software-as-a-service (SaaS) stocks with a systematic approach and how some names may have been unfairly punished recently while the business models of others are indeed in doubt. We also look at a number of important software names reporting this week, as well as previewing the biggest hardware name of them all: Nvidia, who reports earnings Wednesday. Also, Trump tariffs, macro and FX and more on today's pod, which is hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy. Today's links: Ruben's piece: The AI stress-test for software stocks: a simple framework to spot disruption risk The JPY carry trade is important to understand, as well as the risks should it be set to unwind in coming weeks and months. Two or three times per week, you will also find links discussed on the podcast and a chart-of-the-day over at the John J. Hardy substack. Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here. Please reach out to us at marketcall@saxobank.com for feedback and questions. Click here to open an account with Saxo. Intro music by AShamaluevMusic DISCLAIMER This content is marketing material. Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.
John LeBaron is the CRO at Pattern, the leading e-commerce accelerator that helps brands scale profitably across marketplaces worldwide. John runs the SaaS and Services business units for Pattern and oversees all global go-to-market activities for the company and its partners. Prior to joining Pattern, John ran marketing for the Google Cloud business at Rackspace and has held a variety of global marketing roles with leading tech companies including Apple, Cisco, and Ciena. He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, an MSW from Columbia University, and a B.A. in Communications from Brigham Young University.Highlight Bullets> Here's a glimpse of what you would learn…. Challenges faced by e-commerce brands, particularly on Amazon, including competition and pricing pressures.The importance of inventory management and maintaining stock levels to avoid losing market share.Strategies for optimizing conversion rates, focusing on product imagery and continuous testing.The role of data-driven approaches in improving traffic, conversion, price, and availability.The significance of strategic pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and its relationship with organic rankings.Insights on leveraging AI and technology for product listing optimization and advertising efficiency.The impact of overseas competitors on the e-commerce landscape and brand profitability.The concept of the "e-commerce equation" and its components: traffic, conversion, price, and availability.Best practices for managing logistics and shipping to enhance operational efficiency.The importance of continuous improvement and adapting to changes in the e-commerce environment.In this episode of the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast, host Josh Hadley interviews John LeBaron, CRO at Pattern. They discuss how e-commerce brands can profitably scale on Amazon amid rising competition, pricing pressures, and operational challenges. John shares Pattern's data-driven strategies—optimizing inventory, pricing, traffic, and conversion—using advanced AI tools and logistics solutions. Key takeaways include the importance of inventory availability, rigorous conversion rate optimization, and strategic PPC management to build organic rankings. The episode offers actionable advice for brands seeking sustainable growth and highlights Pattern's role as a partner in navigating today's complex e-commerce landscape.Here are the 3 action items that Josh identified from this episode:Protect Your Availability or Lose the GameForecast demand aggressively, fix your inbound bottlenecks, and partner with fast-moving 3PLs—because every stockout destroys ranking, momentum, and profit.Obsess Over Conversion, Starting With the Main ImageRun continuous A/B tests on your hero image, audit your live content weekly, and optimize every element (titles, bullets, A+, coupons, bundles) to lift conversion without increasing ad spend.Use PPC to Own Keywords, Not Rent Them ForeverShift ad spend toward keywords that improve organic rank, monitor Buy Box and conversion signals, and prioritize long-tail opportunities to build profitable, compounding visibility.Resources mentioned in this episode:Josh Hadley on LinkedIneComm Breakthrough ConsultingeComm Breakthrough PodcastEmail Josh Hadley: Josh@eCommBreakthrough.comTmallTikTokWalmartPickFuLovable AIPatternLinkedInThe E-MythAtomic HabitsAll In PodcastSpecial Mention(s):Adam “Heist” Runquist on LinkedInKevin King on LinkedInMichael E. Gerber on LinkedInRelated Episode(s):“Cracking the Amazon Code: Learn From Adam Heist's Brand Scaling Secrets” on the eComm Breakthrough Podcast“Kevin King's Wicked-Smart Tips for Building an Audience of Raving Fans” on the eComm Breakthrough Podcast“Unlocking Entrepreneurial Greatness | Insider Secrets With E-myth Author Michael Gerber” on the eComm Breakthrough PodcastEpisode SponsorSponsor for this episode...This episode is brought to you by eComm Breakthrough Consulting where I help seven-figure e-commerce owners grow to eight figures. I started Hadley Designs in 2015 and grew it to an eight-figure brand in seven years.I made mistakes along the way that made the path to eight figures longer. At times I doubted whether our business could even survive and become a real brand. I wish I would have had a guide to help me grow faster and avoid the stumbling blocks.If you've hit a plateau and want to know the next steps to take your business to the next level, then go to www.EcommBreakthrough.com (that's Ecomm with two M's) to learn more.Transcript AreaJohn Lebaron 00:00:00 We're absolute zealots around something we call the e-commerce equation, which is revenue as a function of traffic times, conversion times, price times, availability. And I think that's very much the way that we think about accelerating brands is just isolating those specific variables of the equation and really going to work on okay for traffic, for example, there's paid traffic. There's, you know, organic traffic, there's off platform traffic. And what are all the hundreds of different kind of atomic levers that we want to pull and automate increasingly via AI for the brands that we represent. And and then helping them set an expectation, helping them forecast appropriately, helping them understand what is their ops upside.Speaker 2 00:00:47 Welcome to the E-comm Breakthrough Podcast. Are you ready to unlock the full potential and growth in your business? You've already crossed seven figures in sales, but the challenge is knowing how to take your business to the next level.Josh Hadley 00:01:00 Are you tired of getting squeezed by Amazon, watching your sales fall? Watching more overseas competitors come in to overtake your market share? Watching the race to the bottom pricing.Josh Hadley 00:01:12 Well, today's guest has the answer for you of how to di...
This week's throwback guest is Vin Matano. Vin at time of this recording was a Sr Account Executive at Demandbase. Vin started his career at Demandbase where has been for the past 4 years (which we all know is a lifetime in SaaS years), working his way SDR to Sr AE. Since then, he founded Creatorbuzz, a B2B Influencer Marketing agency. From an early age, Vin loved art and showing his creative side, which he fortunately has been able to tap into in his selling career. Vin always wanted to be in sales, observing his father who owned a local bike shop, to being in door to door sales early in his career. In this week's episode, we discussed:What he learned in door to door sellingHow he met Gary Vaynerchuk from prospectingGetting on a personal level with your prospectsDeath to activity quotasTrying new things to get out of your comfort zoneThe New Sales Process 101 Much More!Enjoy this week's episode with Vin Matano. ____________________________________________________________________________I am now in the early stages of writing my first book! In this book, I will be telling my story of getting into sales and the lessons I have learned so far, and intertwine stories, tips, and advice from the Top Sales Professionals In The World! As a first time author, I want to share these interviews with you all, and take you on this book writing journey with me! Like the show? Subscribe to the email: https://mailchi.mp/a71e58dacffb/welcome-to-the-20-podcast-communityI want your feedback!Reach out to 20percentpodcastquestions@gmail.com, or find me on LinkedIn.If you know anyone who would benefit from this show, share it along! If you know of anyone who would be great to interview, please drop me a line!Enjoy the show!
This week on the AmplifyME Market Maker Podcast, Anthony goes solo to break down three big stories — a $58 billion oil merger, a pulled tech IPO, and private equity's move into Indian cricket — all tied together by one theme: survival in the age of AI.In energy, Devon Energy and Coterra Energy are merging to focus on efficiency and basin concentration as shale matures.In tech, Blackstone-backed Liftoff Mobile paused its IPO after AI tools like Anthropic's Claude Cowork cast doubt on the traditional per-seat SaaS model.And in sport, firms including Blackstone, KKR, and CVC are betting on the Indian Premier League, drawn to the scarcity and predictable cash flows of live, un-automatable experiences.From oil to software to sport, this episode explores how capital is repositioning for a world where defensibility and efficiency matter more than ever.(00:00) Intro & Themes in Focus(01:23) Oil Mega-Merger(03:23) AI & The SaaS Shock(05:59) Private Equity Buys Cricket(08:11) The Big PictureWant experience what it would be like to be an M&A adviser? Register for our free M&A Accelerator simulation now!
In this Dialogue episode of The Synopsis, we discuss the recent sell off of software names, Constellation Software, and introduce the idea of "Point of Monetization" to analyze why Dating Apps are such a bad business. Five Minute Money Newsletter Free Sign Up Watch the ServiceNow Video here, or the Constellation Software Video Here, the Adobe Video Here. ~*~ You can also get a free trial to AlphaSense to read 200k+ expert calls through this link. ~*~ For full access to all of our updates and in-depth research reports become a Speedwell Member here. Please reach out to info@speedwellresearch.com if you need help getting us to become an approved research vendor in order to expense it. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Show Notes (0:00) — Intro (3:48) — ServiceNow Business Overview (13:00) — Risks to ServiceNow (21:32) — AI Control Tower (24:14) — Competitive Dynamics (32:10) — Valuation (35:18) — Mature Margin Diatribe (42:39) — AI Risk Rebuttal (46:16) — ServiceNow Blue Sky Scenario (47:38) — Intuit Disrupted? (50:46) — Will Margins Collapse for SaaS? (52:54) — Difference Between SMB vs Enterprise SaaS -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- For full access to all of our updates and in-depth research reports, become a Speedwell Member here. Please reach out to info@speedwellresearch.com if you need help getting us to become an approved research vendor in order to expense it. *-*-*- Follow Us: Twitter: @Speedwell_LLC Threads: @speedwell_research Email us at info@speedwellresearch.com for any questions, comments, or feedback. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Disclaimer Nothing in this podcast is investment advice nor should be construed as such. Contributors to the podcast may own securities discussed. Furthermore, accounts contributors advise on may also have positions in companies discussed. This may change without notice. Please see our full disclaimers here: https://speedwellresearch.com/disclaimer/
In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen and John Ruffolo dive into Canada's bold new defence industrial strategy, backed by $6.6 billion to reduce U.S. dependency and prioritize domestic tech suppliers. They discuss the challenges of defining a “Canadian” company and whether the strategy has the right balance of government procurement and private sector support to succeed. The conversation also explores how AI, quantum, and other emerging technologies fit into Canada's national defence vision and what it means for the future of innovation.The episode also tackles the disruption facing vertical SaaS industries from large language models (LLMs) and AI. Are these technologies a threat to traditional SaaS business models, or do they create new opportunities for growth? Matt and John share their insights on navigating the evolving tech landscape, including the implications for investors and companies, and explore the recent leadership change at Telus and what it could mean for Canada's tech ecosystem.Tune in to hear how these seismic shifts will impact tech, investment, and business strategies in the coming years.Canada's New Defence Industrial Strategy (00:34)Prime Minister Mark Carney's announcement of Canada's first-ever defence industrial strategy (DIS) aims to reduce the country's dependency on U.S. suppliers. Matt and John break down the key components of the new strategy, its emphasis on domestic procurement, and the challenges in defining what constitutes a “Canadian” company.Sovereignty and Economic Policy (02:00)John Ruffolo sheds light on how the integration of national security, economic policy, and procurement is essential for a sovereign tech strategy. They discuss how Canada can avoid the pitfalls of previous initiatives like the Supercluster strategy by ensuring that small businesses can grow into global players.Canadian Government as a Catalyst for Tech Startups (05:02)Matt and John explore the role government-backed procurement and industrial strategy play in supporting Canadian startups, especially in AI, quantum computing, and clean energy. Will these policies level the playing field for domestic companies competing against their U.S. counterparts?Investment Strategies in Dual-Use Technologies (07:34)With dual-use technologies taking center stage, John discusses the investment opportunities in AI, photonics, quantum space, and more. What challenges do investors face when funding Canadian companies, and how can government support help them scale internationally?The Changing Face of Vertical SaaS (10:24)The discussion shifts to the evolution of vertical SaaS as AI-native companies begin to challenge longstanding industry moats. John and Matt debate whether large language models (LLMs) are eroding the traditional SaaS model and what it means for investors.Evaluating SaaS Companies in the Age of LLMs (13:29)As the market for SaaS companies evolves, Matt and John explore the risks of overvaluing growth at the expense of unit economics and profitability. They share tips for evaluating SaaS companies and distinguishing between real opportunities and the false positives that emerge during market shifts.The Future of Telus and Leadership Transition (21:23)The episode concludes with a fascinating discussion about Telus' leadership transition, as Victor Dodig takes over from Darren Entwistle. John and Matt analyze what this shift means for Telus' future strategy, especially in the context of the changing telecom landscape and the growing importance of data and communications in space.Connect with John Ruffolo on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/joruffoloConnect with Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com
Ankur Sethi spent years at two of India's most iconic startups — Swiggy and Paytm — before leaving his operating role to found Winner Capital, a consumer-first, AI-native syndicate investing out of North America.⭐ Sponsored by Podcast10x - Podcasting agency for VCs - https://podcast10x.comIn this episode, we get into:→ Why consumer AI is massively underfunded while enterprise SaaS gets all the attention→ What "durable retention" actually looks like — and the ambassador signal every founder should watch for→ The 0→1, 1→10, 10→100 framework and how your mindset must shift at each stage→ Why unit economics are non-negotiable even at pre-seed→ The one operating principle from Swiggy & Paytm that most founders underestimate until it's too late→ Why launching a fund during a market correction is actually an advantage→ His honest take on India as a market — and when Winner Capital plans to enterIf you're a founder building in consumer tech or AI, or an operator thinking about making the leap into venture, this one is for you.
Join Patrick Murphy, Co-Founder and CEO of Maket, for a high-stakes conversation on the future of the technology industry. With over one million users on his generative architecture platform, Patrick has a front-row seat to the radical shifts in how software is built and consumed. In this episode, we explore Patrick's bold thesis on the "death of SaaS," where AI is heading in the next 24 months, and the specific strategies companies must use to AGI-proof their products before traditional software models become obsolete.
Idag gästar Ole Daniel Nitter som är vd på Cardboard. SaaS står i dag för en allt större del av bolags mjukvarukostnader, men många saknar fortfarande verklig kontroll. Verktyg köps decentraliserat, licenser används inte fullt ut och ansvaret hamnar mellan ekonomi, IT och ledning. Därav bjöd jag in Ole för att diskutera om varför SaaS-kostnader blivit så svåra att styra, när problemen uppstår i tillväxtresan och hur bättre systemstöd och tydligare ansvar kan hjälpa bolag att växa utan att tappa greppet om sina kostnader. Glöm inte prenumerera och följ oss på instagram
Here's a quick question for you. If your software can make decisions for your customers, should it, or should it simply make them smarter? In this episode of 10 Minute Tech Talks, you will get a front-row seat at the Pittsburgh Technology Council's 2026 Think!AI Summit. You're going to hear why some of the most advanced AI leaders in healthcare believe technology should recommend not rule. And by getting this wrong, can cost you trust adoption, possibly even the entire market. The Tech Council's CEO, Audrey Russo interviewed Jonathan Jungk of Palantir and Chris Johnson of TeleTracking to get their insights. They reveal that the goal isn't to replace human judgment. It is to elevate it. If your product makes users feel smarter, safer, and more confident, you win. If it makes them feel replaced. You lose. Produced by the Pittsburgh Technology Council, this is a podcast for tech and manufacturing entrepreneurs exploring the tech ecosystem, from cyber security and AI to SaaS, robotics, and life sciences, featuring insights to satisfy the tech curious.
Shadow IT has evolved. Now it’s Shadow SaaS. Shadow AI. And it’s everywhere. In this week's episode of the KuppingerCole Analyst Chat, Matthias welcomes Matthew Gardiner for his first appearance to unpack one of the fastest-growing security domains: SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) and why that name may already be too narrow. Today’s organizations run on hundreds of SaaS applications. Many are sanctioned. Many aren’t. Some are connected via OAuth. Others are quietly leaking data through AI tools. And most security teams don’t have full visibility. In this conversation, we explore:✅ What SSPM actually means (and why the “PM” might be limiting)✅ How Shadow IT evolved into Shadow SaaS and Shadow AI✅ The intersection of identity and cybersecurity in SaaS environments✅ Misconfiguration risks, MFA bypass, OAuth sprawl & SaaS drift✅ Why continuous monitoring beats periodic audits✅ CASB vs SSPM vs CNAPP — where the lines blur✅ The growing governance challenge in AI-powered SaaS✅ Why SaaS security can’t be ignored anymore If your organization uses SaaS (spoiler: it does), this discussion is not optional.
En este SANEDRÍN traemos un programa muy completo: analizamos dos grandes focos de Inversión (SaaS y Oro) con Diego Puertas, y además Edgar desglosa la cartera de un súper inversor: Stanley Druckenmiller (ideas, enfoque y qué podemos aprender). Dos cosas que debes saber: 1 - Cada día mandamos un email con una idea, estrategia o reflexión privada para que avances más rápido en tu camino como inversor. El de hoy ya te lo has perdido, si quieres recibir el de mañana, te apuntas en: https://locosdewallstreet.com/7-errores/ 2 - Al apuntarte recibes un video titulado «7 errores fatales (muy habituales) en la selección de oportunidades en bolsa». Me da igual en lo que inviertas, tus años de experiencia o el tamaño de tu cartera. Si inviertes deberías verlo (antes de tomar una decisión de la que poder arrepentirte). Lo recibes al apuntarte en nuestra newsletter aquí: https://locosdewallstreet.com/7-errores/ ══════════════ DISCLAIMER El contenido de este canal de YouTube tiene exclusivamente fines educativos y no constituye asesoramiento financiero ni recomendaciones de inversión. Todos los temas tratados están diseñados para ayudar a los espectadores a entender mejor el mundo de las finanzas, pero las decisiones de inversión deben tomarse de forma personal y bajo la responsabilidad de cada individuo. Invertir en mercados financieros conlleva riesgos significativos debido a su complejidad y volatilidad. Es posible perder parte o la totalidad del capital invertido. Por ello, es fundamental que realices tu propio análisis antes de tomar cualquier decisión y, si lo consideras necesario, consultes con un profesional financiero acreditado. Recomendamos: Contar con un fondo de emergencia equivalente a al menos tres meses de tus gastos básicos antes de invertir. Analizar muy detenidamente y con precisión cualquier inversión. En caso de duda consultes con un asesor financiero certificado por CNMV Mantenerte alejado de promesas de rentabilidades astronómicas, dinero rápido u otros esquemas engañosos. En Locos de Wall Street, nuestra misión es fomentar una educación financiera sólida, ética y accesible para todos, ayudando a nuestros seguidores a tomar decisiones informadas y responsables. ══════════════ #SaaS #Oro #Druckenmiller #Bolsa #Sanedrín
Este episodio es posible gracias a HolaflyCon los planes de datos internacionales de Holafly tendrás internet en más de 170 destinos. Olvídate de buscar WiFi o pagar cargos extra: solo disfruta tu viaje conectado.Conoce los planes de Holafly:https://esim.holafly.com/es/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=itnigEn este episodio Bernat Farrero analiza uno de los mayores problemas ocultos del sector de la restauración: cómo miles de restaurantes facturan cada vez más, pero aun así pierden dinero sin saber exactamente por qué. A través de la experiencia real de Haddock, que ha construido una startup SaaS desde cero hasta alcanzar más de 3,5 millones de euros de facturación. Se explica cómo la falta de control financiero, la mala gestión de proveedores y la ausencia de datos en tiempo real están hundiendo negocios aparentemente rentables. También se profundiza en cómo la tecnología y la inteligencia artificial están transformando la gestión de restaurantes, creando auténticos “agentes digitales” capaces de automatizar procesos clave, optimizar costes y tomar mejores decisiones que los humanos. Un episodio imprescindible para emprendedores, fundadores de startups, gestores y cualquier persona interesada en negocio, SaaS, IA y crecimiento empresarial.
Over the course of a few days, $300 billion in market cap was wiped out from public SaaS companies. Looking at the ten most notable US publicly traded SaaS companies over the last six months, they have lost upwards of $600 billion. The public markets are signaling that the classic VC-funded SaaS model is under massive pressure to show rapid AI integration and tangible revenue growth. This episode examines the fallout of the SaaS market correction and what it means for go-to-market operators. We discuss the shift away from legacy system of record platforms toward agile, AI-native solutions that eat labor budgets. The conversation covers how to adjust your GTM strategy if you are not growing at AI rates, why cash flow is now king over growth at all costs, and how to build a resilient enterprise pipeline generation engine. Finally, we share predictions on which SaaS stocks might bounce back from the dip. Key Takeaways Companies failing to match AI-driven growth expectations are facing severe valuation resets from public markets, as AJ Bruno explains that "The argument you're hearing is AI will replace SaaS... that's the lazy argument... What AI is doing is it's compressing the time value of money." Software businesses unable to achieve hypergrowth must pivot to strict operational efficiency, with Sam Jacobs noting, "If you're generating $50 million growing 25% and you're just breaking even, I need you to either grow faster or be more profitable." Go-to-market professionals at legacy software companies have a limited opportunity to pivot their careers toward emerging technology, as Asad Zaman advises, "Right now the window is open... That window will get smaller and smaller as time grows by. So if you are not confident in your company, this is the time to make a shift and enter the new world." Connect with the Hosts & Guests: Host: Sam Jacobs Host: AJ Bruno Host: Asad Zaman Topline is more than a YouTube Channel: Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to the SaaS Collapse 07:12 Billions Wiped From SaaS Market Caps 10:44 Compressing the Time Value of Money 14:27 Why Revenue Growth Trumps All 20:56 The Threat of AI Inference Costs 25:17 Shifting Careers to the AI World 28:21 Entering the Slow Growth Movement 35:27 Building Long Term Craft Businesses 38:29 Winning the Long Brand Game 42:03 Founder Burnout and Pivot Challenges 48:24 Managing Investor Board Expectations 52:02 Reengineering for a Platform Shift 60:57 Public SaaS Stock Rebound Picks
In this week's episode of WSJ's Take On the Week, co-host Miriam Gottfried and guest host Dan Gallagher, a tech columnist for Heard on the Street, chat with Jefferies software analyst Brent Thill about the recent turbulence in the business software market. They talk about the growing fears that AI will replace the need for traditional software-as-a-service, or SaaS, platforms like Intuit, Salesforce, and Workday. They analyze how the narrative around AI "vibe coding"—where businesses generate their own apps using simple text prompts—has led to a sharp selloff in cloud software stocks. They also note other factors weighing on the sector, including tech layoffs and the shift away from seat-based software pricing models and toward consumption-based metrics. After the break, Thill explains why he thinks the market's fears over AI disrupting major enterprise software are overblown. They explore why large companies won't trust AI with critical systems for payroll, accounting or taxes. Then Thill makes the case for why AI infrastructure and security companies remain safe bets, and why the current tech selloff and depressed valuations are setting the stage for a massive tech M&A boom driven by private-equity firms. This is WSJ's Take On the Week where co-hosts Telis Demos, Heard on the Street's banking and money columnist, and Miriam Gottfried, WSJ's investing and wealth management reporter, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We'd love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com. To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com Further Reading Threat of New AI Tools Wipes $300 Billion Off Software and Data Stocks AI Won't Kill the Software Business, Just Its Growth Story What You Need to Know About the AI Models Rattling Markets Meta Overshadows Microsoft by Showing AI Payoff in Ad Business Thoma Bravo's $34 Billion Fundraising Haul Bucks Private-Equity Slowdown IBM Strikes $11 Billion Deal for Confluent For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ's Heard on The Street Column, and WSJ's Live Markets blog. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Follow Miriam Gottfried here and Telis Demos here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode of the CPQ Podcast, we sit down with Dustin Anglen, Strategic Partnerships Manager at PandaDoc, to discuss how PandaDoc CPQ supports faster quoting for SMB teams (roughly 5–500 employees). PandaDoc is widely known for proposals and eSignature, and Dustin explains why CPQ is a natural extension—especially for organizations that want a practical, easy-to-administer approach without heavy configuration overhead. We cover where PandaDoc CPQ fits best (including SaaS, software & technology, professional services, and education) and how customers typically use it alongside their CRM. Dustin outlines PandaDoc's API-forward SaaSapproach and its key integrations with HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Salesforce. We also discuss what's available today—and what's still evolving—such as ERP connectivity (currently not a standard integration, with MVP work underway) and common customer expectations around implementation, which is often 8–12 weeks. On the capability side, Dustin shares the top requests he sees from the market: product configuration, contract-based pricing, and CRM integration. We talk about product structure support (including bundles), pricing flexibility across segments and regions, usage-based pricing, and how PandaDoc positions its CPQ as a rules engine that is largely no-code (with options for more advanced logic when needed). We also dig into PandaDoc's AI direction—template generation, OCR and document intelligence, metadata-driven automation, and an admin-focused AI feature for helping set up product and pricing rules (currently in testing, with broader availability expected later this year). You'll also hear a few personal moments from Dustin—from his early career in the Salesforce ecosystem (including starting at Apttus in 2014), to an unexpected chapter running a beekeeping business in Santa Barbara, to his passion for freediving near San Diego. A PandaDoc CPQ free trial is available on PandaDoc's website.
Todays conversation is hosted in person in NYC. Isaiah Washington and I discussed how he built AI tools built with Claude Code as a largely non technical person for his organization. We also discussed his experience at Facebook and Insight and his current role at Artemis. I greatly enjoyed the conversation and hope to have many more like it in the future.
The Smarter Way To Pick Winning Stocks Podcast: Find out more about Blueberry Markets – Click Here Find out more about my Online Video Forex Course Book a Call with Andrew or one of his team now Click Here to Attend my Free Masterclass Checkout the Tykr Platform here. #624: The Smarter Way To Pick Winning Stocks In this video: 00:14 – Sean Tepper – found of TYKR 04:55 – How does this software help? 08:50 – TFTC also helps create successful traders 12:25 – Is social media helpful? 16:20 – Multiple brokers or one? 22:18 – TFTC creating a trading bot program 28:16 – 60,000 stocks analyzed 32:45 – Contact Sean Andrew Mitchem Hello, everybody. It’s Andrew Mitchem here at The Forex Trading Coach. And today I’m really pleased to be joined by Sean Tepper, who’s the founder and the CEO of Tykr. Welcome along. Sean. Sean Tepper Andrew. Good to be here. Andrew Mitchem Awesome to have you. Sean, could you introduce yourselves to everybody and let us know who you are and what you do and what we’re going to talk about? Sean Tepper – found of TYKR Sean Tepper Sure. Yeah. My name is Sean Tepper. I’m the founder of TYKR, as Andrew said. And long story short, TYKRs a platform that helps people buy and sell stocks with confidence prior to that. My background is about 20 years in tech, 15 years investing, and I kind of created TYKR as a solution to a frustration in the markets. Sean Tepper And we could dive into what that frustration is, if you’d like. Yeah. But yeah, I had to create a solution because it was very hard to make decisions when I first got started. And that’s where really TYKR came from. And, but yeah, fast forward to today. We’ve got a little over, 13,000 customers in about 50 countries, including where you’re based. Sean Tepper New Zealand. Andrew Mitchem Oh that’s good. Yeah. So you had 50 countries. That’s a that’s an awesome effort. And, and Sean, I was reading about, you know, you started, on your website says, in, you know, 2011 to 2015, you were trying to figure out what wasn’t there to help you. What did you find back then? Was the biggest frustration that led to TYKR happening? Sean Tepper Yeah. So when I first got started, you know, I think I joined E-Trade. And, you know, there’s so many brokers these days, it’s hard to keep track of. But as soon as I joined, I had no idea what to do next. So I started going on YouTube researching where do you go to invest? Like looking up different investing platforms? Sean Tepper I found a few of our competitors, like Seeking Alpha and Motley Fool, and they do a fine job, but it’s still very difficult to truly know the difference between a strong stock and a weak stock is is very frustrating. And for context, my background is in tech, but to go, layer deeper, it’s actually in process engineering. Sean Tepper Like I’ve worked a lot for GE and Koehler. And the rule is in process engineering, if you have 100 data points, you cannot present that to a customer or an executive. You have to roll it up to ideally a binary decision like yes or no or a traffic light. And I was complaining at that time, like, am I the only one complaining about the fact that there’s no process engineering lens layered over investing like, this is insane. Sean Tepper Like nobody’s making it easy. And that was kind of the green light I was thinking of, like, hey, if I could figure something out here, I think the big solution is a create a process engineering solution in the world of finance and apparently I’m the only one really doing that today, other than the few platforms that say buy or sell. Sean Tepper But I don’t really recommend that. But yeah, that was that was the beginning. And it took about a year to build this Excel sheets. And I give you context here, I found a lot of inspiration from Phil Towne. He wrote a few books on value investing. Do you know Phil Towne? Andrew Mitchem No, I don’t know. No. Okay. Sean Tepper Your your audience may be interested. He wrote a book. One of them is rule one. The other one is payback time. I really provided some. Yeah, yeah. You know, rule one investing, Warren Buffett. We can talk about that. But, yeah, I, I found some of the calculus in his books, put it into Excel, and I ended up coming up with about 50 data points to analyze the stock. Sean Tepper And then on top of that, I created a traffic like rating system where stocks are either on sale, watch or overpriced. That’s green, gray or red. And I used it the next 4 or 5 years on my own, making returns between 15 and 50%, and my returns still fall in that range today. Our customers actually fall in that range as well. Sean Tepper But yeah, I, I wanted to make sure I’m using my own money testing it to make sure it works, not just like four weeks or four months. I went like that over four years. And then it was 2019 was the inflection point when I’m like, I think I’ve got a solution here, but let’s just confirm. Sent the sheet to a few of the retail investors and everybody’s like, I’m not going to use this Excel sheet. Sean Tepper This is insane. You got to create a software. So that right. That was the green light. Let’s go create a SaaS platform. And took a year to build the first version. And the first version was not pretty. But yeah, fast forward to today. That’s where we’re at. But yeah. Andrew Mitchem They Nimrod when you look back on them. Sean Tepper Yeah, right. It was like the, the metaphor I use is it felt like I was building a physical prototype made of like, and duct tape and cardboard. It was not pretty videos. It’s pretty ugly. But you get feedback from your customers and you just keep making it better, and it actually turns into something. How does this software help? Andrew Mitchem So, yeah, awesome. That’s brilliant. So fast forward then to today. Why would someone come and use what you have and I suppose in a practical basis, how does it help them? What are they. What do they input? What do they use to make decisions for them? Sean Tepper Sure. Yeah. So I’ll give you some of the the subjective reasons and then we’ll get into the objective and why that’s actually important to our, our broker partners. But our rating system again process engineering, it doesn’t sound very glamorous, but the concept of making decisions very easy for people, it is very true in most industries. So we we use the process engineering lens. Sean Tepper Plus we take a lot of inspiration from Duolingo for language learning in our opinion. Like what? They’ve got over 600 million users. They’re doing something right. We’re teaching people how to learn a language with these micro learning modules. And I’m like, we need to do the same thing in our platform, but it’s got to be investing focused. So we’ve got these modules peppered around that quickly teaches people how to invest in you put the two together, the rating system, plus the simplified education that helps people. Sean Tepper And it’s not our guarantee, but it’s it’s something we let people know upfront that 90% of customers is actually over 90. But we say 90% of customers that use TYKR are able to go from a beginner to confident an investor in 14 days or less. It’s very quick. Wow. And what does that mean from an objective standpoint? And this is what matters most to brokers, which is most brokers we’re talking to have two big problems. Sean Tepper And number one, very little transaction volumes, like somebody will join on day one and they’ll wait three months or six months or nine months, and then make another trade. And the other issue is the average account size is less than 5000. While with TYKR after five years. Now we’re we track like a lot of data points to see our, investors behavior. Sean Tepper And typically people make 30% more transactions after joining TYKR. And their average account size is about $180,000. So what that tells us is and it tells. Right. So these people are their confidence is skyrocketing and they’re adding more money from their checking account or their savings. So it’s not sitting in a low interest vehicle. So so there you go. Sean Tepper That’s how we’re different. I’ll give you one more way where different in your audience may appreciate this is TYKRs. Calculations are actually open source for personal use. And the SEC really likes that. Like we had an audit done to make sure we fall in that publisher exclusion category. We could talk about that in a minute, but making sure we’re not we’re not giving financial advice, but this firm we’re talking to and we had another we’re actually had two firms. Sean Tepper Take a look. They were both very impressed that we we put those calculations out and I’m like, I’m, I’m actually not concerned anybody’s going to take it because it’s even though it’s relatively simple math, it’s a lot of it. And try to put together in a software what would take you a really long time. So fortunately nobody’s tried to duplicate it. Sean Tepper But the calculations are out there. Andrew Mitchem Yeah, well, for the sake, I was looking on your your purchase, page. Your pricing page. For the sake of $50 a month, you just use it. Wouldn’t you? Rather than trying to reinvent it or. Sean Tepper It exact right at the base price is like, you’re saying 15, 15 bucks a month or 99 a year? You’re right. It’s like, oh, okay. So here’s the here’s the calculations. Yeah. I’m not going to reiterate. That’s where it. Andrew Mitchem Is. I mean in in lifetime working it out will spend $100 a year same. Sean Tepper Same prices Netflix their. Andrew Mitchem Data. Exactly. Yeah a lot more educational. Yes. Sean Tepper Yes. TFTC also helps create successful traders Andrew Mitchem Thank you. So it it sounds like although we’re in, slightly different markets within the overall similar markets now, we have something very similar going on, which is amazing is we’ve never met obviously, before, you know, 20 minutes ago, and that we find that our clients would be very similar to yours. The average forex person’s out there, small account, scared to trade, or they do the opposite and they do silly things and they make us even money and then lose it all, which inevitably happens. Andrew Mitchem And then they blame the break on the market. And that’s where we find our clients are different as well. You know, they have confidence that low risk approach. They they know what they’re doing, what to look for, when to do it. And therefore when they go to a broker brokers out there because, you know, the client’s got a hugely, bigger account and trading more often. Andrew Mitchem So it’s incredible how education and lack of it can affect so many people in this. Seriously. Yeah. It’s crazy. Yeah. Now, Sean, you mentioned, about the no financial advice, you know, situation. And again, coming back, that’s where we’re similar, you know, what’s your take on the no financial advice? Sean Tepper Yeah. So with the SEC, there’s I don’t have the exact, it’s like rule 102-5 or whatever. I’m making that up. But yeah, they’re essentially three rules you have to follow with staying in the publisher exclusion category. And there are companies and there are guys out there, some women as well, that they they get into some some shaky ground or gray areas where they push the envelope and they can get into some some big legal trouble. Sean Tepper So the three rules really go as follows. Number one is all information has to be factual. Like we can’t say like, hey, because I like x, y, z CEO, I think the share price is going to $2,000 a share. That’s crazy. We have to present the data like everything we do is really based off the fundamentals. We don’t cook any books. Sean Tepper We don’t skew the financials. It’s like, hey, here’s the EPS, here’s the revenue, here’s the net income, here’s the debt. Bam, roll it up to our calculations. And there’s your score. Keep it very simple right. Number two is and this is actually pretty easy to follow is we can’t ask our customers their age their risk level when they want to retire and then give them recommendations based on that criteria. Sean Tepper That is described as personalized financial advice. So very easy. Like okay, so don’t ask those personal questions. And number three everything has to be regular. And what does regular mean. It means all information we we put out has to be like every day or every week, which it’s we update our data every day. We can’t do and this is a common problem with a lot of discord and WhatsApp groups. Sean Tepper And so I’ve been told from the SEC, which is pump and dumps, is like, hey, go buy as much of GameStop by Tuesday. And then the very next day, without telling anyone, they’ll go sell a bunch of GameStop or whatever stock they they can come up with. And that is actually a common issue because you can make a lot of money in short order. Sean Tepper So, yeah, no, no irregular posting. It has to be regular posting. So yeah, those are the three rules with the publisher exclusion. And to be honest with you, but actually pretty easy to follow. Is social media helpful? Andrew Mitchem Yeah, yeah. That’s good. Do you find you mentioned on social media type of apps? Do you find that those, causing problems generally for people because they just think they’re going to find something that’s going to solve all their life’s financial problems? Sean Tepper You mean like our customer is going on social media and reading comments. Andrew Mitchem To make sure customers, but just general people out there and in general isn’t there going to find some app and follow something and it’s suddenly going to give them all the magical answers? Sean Tepper No. In general, I think most people are skeptical, which I think is good. They’re not going to like, you know, like, for example, they’re not going to come to tinker right away and be like, oh, this is this is my savior. That’s that’s not the case. We want people to be skeptical. And we always tell people like, don’t like, I’ll talk about Tinker all day, but don’t even take my word for it. Sean Tepper I always say, go to Trustpilot, see what our customers have to say first before you even think about it. And then our model is, it’s a trial 14 day trial. And then we also have a 30 day money back guarantee. So even when your credit card is charged, if you want to refund, we’re not going to fight you on it. Sean Tepper It’s like it’s 15 bucks. That’s right, that’s right. It’s like we’re not going to split hairs on this, but it’s like you want to create a platform that it’s very easy to join is very easy to learn about. You can see what your customers are saying. It’s easy to test drive. Those are kind of the boxes I like to check when I join a platform because I’m using other software to build TYKR, whether it’s a marketing software or analytics or email marketing or whatever, right. Sean Tepper I want those things. So I’m like, I’m going to do the same thing with my own platform. But coming back to the skepticism, I think it’s good. It’s good to have a healthy amount, and it’s good for people to not only, like join TYKR, but go have like join our competitors, see what they have to say. And sometimes you’ll get things to line up like let’s say it’s a stock you really like and you’ve got, you know, TYKR, Motley Fool and Seeking Alpha are all like, hey, this is this is a strong stock, not a buy stock, but its financials are strong. Sean Tepper That creates layers of confidence is how we phrase it. Yeah. Creating those layers of confidence gives people more confidence to move forward. Andrew Mitchem Yeah yeah that’s good. And I noticed also on your on your offer there that you talk about cryptos as well Matt. Obviously it’s the, the big thing that people want to talk about and we’ll see more recently we’ve seen some big drops as well. Yeah. How, how do people finding using your software or on cryptos. Andrew Mitchem Because it’s, it’s like one of the markets that we kind of cross over on. Sean Tepper Yeah. So with crypto we weren’t originally going to add it to the platform, but a few people were like, hey, can you add crypto from a tracking perspective? Now for context, we have three assets in TYKR. We have stocks, ETFs and crypto ETFs. It’s easy to analyze because it’s really just a bundle of stocks. So we analyze each individual stock. Sean Tepper We roll them all up. If it’s let’s say 500 stocks within an ETF. You can create you can calculate what is the average score within come to that on sale watch over priced. But when it comes to crypto as you know there’s no income statement cash flow statement A balance sheet is not a business, it’s just a digital asset. Sean Tepper But again, we had customers that were like, hey, you got a lot of good tracking tools, like you can set alerts on my dates and prices and really anything you want within TYKR. And so they’re saying like, can you add crypto within so we can keep track of all of our favorite assets in one clean location. And my response to that was, oh yeah, no problem. Sean Tepper We’ll add crypto to this tool. But there’s not a lot of analysis you can do there because again, it’s not a business. Multiple brokers or one? Andrew Mitchem Yeah, yeah. Fair enough. And also I noticed that you said about the broker connection. So one of your pricing models, that’s one broker three and five. Correct. What would be the reasons around someone needing, say, three brokers or five brokers as opposed to one. Sean Tepper Yeah. So the reason is typically your employer is going to issue you A41 like here in the states, of course, we get A41KI don’t know, in New Zealand you call it a pension like they do in, Europe. Andrew Mitchem Yeah. Kiwisavers called but yeah it’s that has is our name. Yeah. Sean Tepper Okay. Exactly. So you’re going to have that is going to be one retirement vehicle. And that’s typically set up with like here in the States. The two big ones are typically fidelity and Empower. There’s also Schwab. But then you’re probably going to want to do some trading on your own. So then here in the States some of the popular choices are Robinhood. Sean Tepper You’ve got E-Trade, you know. So there’s your second one. And then sometimes you’re going to have like an inherited account from a family member, you know, that could be on a different account. And if you don’t roll it over to your current broker, well, guess what? You’ve got a third broker sitting in place. But I get this. I’ve talked to people that have they’ve had more than five different brokers on my response. Sean Tepper So that is why. Yeah. So. Right. It’s it’s it seems unorganized. But we created the three tiers the premium premium plus an advanced premium. You get one broker premium Plus you get three in advance. You get five. We usually like 99.9% of the time. We don’t see people with more than five brokers. But like for example, between my wife and I, we have like we have three. Sean Tepper So yeah. Andrew Mitchem Okay. So with this allows someone to make their analysis and then connect directly through to that broker via your software. Is that how it works. Sean Tepper Yeah. Yeah. So yeah when when you join your broker and we’re really good complement to a broker will never replace it. We don’t want to be a broker dealer. That’s a legal name for their business model because we don’t hold any assets. We don’t hold people’s money. We’re just analytics. So yeah, when people join, you can sync up with your broker. Sean Tepper And what that does is it automatically updates your portfolio in TYKR every day. And it’s a much cleaner interface than most brokers out there. I, I’m never going to talk down about brokers, but it’s like their job is to protect people’s money. But when it comes to analytics dashboards or giving, like education or analytics, it’s that’s not their specialty, nor will it really ever be. Sean Tepper So we fill that gap, we complement and we make it easy to see because some people are like, I don’t I don’t actually know how much money I have because the dashboards in my broker’s so hard to use them, like just sync up your account TYKR and it’s going to kind of summarize it for you. Yeah, yeah. Andrew Mitchem That’s interesting. That makes a lot of sense. Makes life easy for people. And also I see that you have a mobile app. So can someone get the exact same information on the app. But they can all the desktop. Sean Tepper It’s pretty much the same experience. We try to release our features, if not the same day within the next week or two. Like if we need to deploy something to web or web app, we try to do the same thing to the mobile, that allows people to write. They can kind of analyze stocks and the gold or standing in line somewhere at Starbucks, whatever. Sean Tepper The mobile app, I will say this has an additional feature, which is the Duolingo inspired learning modules that kind of like swipe right, swipe left type feel. We don’t have that in the web app today, but we’ve had a few people say, hey, can you also add that to web? Well, that’ll come soon. But yeah, it’s pretty much the same experience. Andrew Mitchem And what’s the AI investing helper that’s not like yeah, humming live. Sean Tepper Oh, that could be going live. Well, recording this video is, February 9th. That could go live on the 11th. Okay. So that’s a feature where you can, like, interact with where you’re going to be the first to hear about it here. So it’s it’s an AI tool where you can ask questions like how do I get started? Sean Tepper Or what should I do with my first thousand dollars? Or, what when is the best time to buy or best to sell? You can interact with AI and it’s actually connected with TYKRs, data set, but also the the globe and it’s put a lot of rigor, rigor into place to make sure it’s not giving you financial advice, but it’s really leaning into giving you the data and TYKR. Sean Tepper So it’s for example, if you were to ask it, hey, can you tell me how to value a stock? It’s going to first go to TYKRs data set. And with the education and give you that information. And then some general information. You know that makes it sound nicer. And then kind of spit it out. So yeah, eventually we’ll release in multiple phases. Sean Tepper So the first phase we call the helper, the second phase is the portfolio builder in a will build hypothetical like for example, build me a portfolio of ten strong tech stocks or buy food stocks or car stocks, something like that. Yeah. And of course it’ll say this is not financial advice. This is a hypothetical portfolio. But yes. And then the third phase will be an analyzer. Sean Tepper So analyze my current portfolio. Like what changes would you recommend. And that that’s going to be really, really cool. So with I will say this and then I’ll stop talking. It’s a powerful tool because it can analyze large data sets in a short amount of time. But as we say at TYKR. And this is why when I become self-aware like Skynet, I’m going to be the first one to be targeted. Sean Tepper Right? It’s, it’s smart, but it’s not that smart. So you have to put a lot of rigor in a place, a lot of guardrails, because it can, as you know, hallucinate. Yeah. So we are bouncing AI up against logic and mathematics to make sure it does not say something stupid to our customers. TFTC creating a trading bot program Andrew Mitchem That’s interesting. We’re in the middle of all we’re saying in the middle. We’ve been testing this live for over a year of getting AI to create trading bots for us, and what it’s doing is it’s spitting at a heap of bots and going through, sort of live trading on, on, you know, that are not real money. We’re trading on the money. Andrew Mitchem And then each week, we’re using the human aspect, the common sense and the knowledge that we look at as technical traders to pick which bots we’re going to be running live for subscribers for the upcoming week. And, and we’re finding that that combination of using the AI for that speed and, you know, doing the, the hard work. Andrew Mitchem Yeah. And giving us some information. But like you said, the guardrail becomes the human input in the common sense of what we’re seeing as technically on a chart. There’s no point in, let’s say, say Bitcoin over the last few weeks has been, you know, crashing. So nicely. There’s no point in us selecting bullish, crypto bots for the upcoming week when there’s technical traders. Andrew Mitchem We’re looking at it dropping. So I find that adding a bit of human common sense and knowledge, along with the AI at this stage is a really nice combination. Sean Tepper You got to do it right, and you probably seen the, the bad choices some people have made. If you let I make all the decisions, you can pull yourself into a, really bad situation. Especially. I like what you’re describing with your bots or those bots actually executing trades. Andrew Mitchem They they can, but we are more trying to set it up so the individual gets the alert and still needs to manually go yes or no as well. Good call. Because I don’t want to get into that situation where it’s completely, you know, automated, although a lot of people are want it all automated. My job as someone who teaches people is you still have to have that knowledge first to understand how to run the bots and to make a commonsense decision. Andrew Mitchem Is it making a good call or not? Sean Tepper Yeah, I’m good answer there, because the other hour I was talking to one company that was have was looking to have AI execute trades automatically. I’m like, whoa, what if they just run with the line and it’s like, go right? Like if rapid fire trades for an hour or two, it’s like, yeah, put some people in a bad situation. Sean Tepper So yeah. Andrew Mitchem Anyway, yeah, we’ll avoid that. We’re both avoid that. Yep. Yeah, exactly. I use it for the hard work and still use the brain. And that’s the thing, isn’t it? You know, what you created and what we’ve created. We’re about educating people, empowering people to use their common sense. Because I still think, after all, it comes down to it, there’s nothing better as a human, as an individual to have that, that how and that it’s almost like that feelgood factor that I know I can analyze these markets and make sound decisions and do well, you know, that’s you, you. Sean Tepper You, yeah. You just hit on the, the number one thing our customers care about like in and this will give you and your audience a little moment for me when I first created TYKR, especially the Excel sheet, I was all about getting better returns. I’m like, well, if Warren and Charlie can do it, I can do it. Sean Tepper Well, when I went live, that was my focus. But then after talking to a few customers, I’m like, they don’t agree with that. There’s actually something more important. And fast forward, I probably talked to a few thousand customers by this point over five years, and the number one thing they care about is confidence. Now, having confidence to literally do it on your own. Sean Tepper That is the home run. Feeling that supersedes, you know, getting good returns any day. Like people sleep better at night. Just knowing that, Shawn, I, I can do this on my own. That is what I’m looking for. I’m like home. So we even though the returns in tech are good, like, we actually lean into confidence. Like how do we give people more confidence is actually the bigger priority now. Andrew Mitchem Yeah, yeah, I, I fully get it. You know, we’ve been operating since 2009. Come on, Ryan, the Ryan run around the world in 111 countries and the same thing we we asked people, we, of course, you know, want to know why people join. And then we follow up after three months, six months, year, two years and keep asking people it’s the community and that knowledge of knowing what you’re doing for yourself, to have that control with low risk and, you know, really good outcomes. Andrew Mitchem But up here and then I say to people, trade any trading into, investments is emotion, isn’t it? Your head in your heart. You have to control those two. And what we’re doing is providing platforms or education platforms to allow people to fulfill that, that dream successfully and safely. Sean Tepper Yep, yep. Andrew Mitchem So it’s huge. Yeah. We can have all the AI and all the risks, all the all these flash gadgets, but ultimately it still comes back to that human wanting to have confidence in what they’re doing with their own money. Sean Tepper That’s it. Yeah. Andrew Mitchem And no. And also not just handing it over to someone as well. I think it’s important. Sean Tepper They add it and it’s actually you’re kind of alluding to this. It’s in people’s best interest to let’s say AI does 90% of the work. You want to be the person you want the human being finishing that process? Yeah. Because they, they ultimately it’s it’s better for them from an educational standpoint and from an, confidence standpoint, like they should know what was done. Sean Tepper But now, I control things. I get to execute the trade. Yes. You know, that’s right, that you want people to have that power at the end of the day. 60,000 stocks analyzed Andrew Mitchem Absolutely. And the, your software obviously does a lot of analysis just to give myself and viewers and listeners a ballpark figure. What kind of number of stocks is it kind of looking at and analyzing? Sean Tepper Sure. Okay. Yeah. So we’ve got about 60,000 stocks in TYKR around the world’s. We are up. Yeah. We’re upgrading. They’ll get this in the next month or two. We’re switching our data provider. So we’re going to have in the states real time pricing. You will have 15 minute delay. But then we’re going to have actually I can’t guarantee all stocks around the world, but most that’ll bring us closer to about 75,000 stocks around the world. Sean Tepper And then we’ll also have most ETFs around the world, which I think is closer to about 10,000. I could following in that Bow Wow. Yeah. No wonder. Andrew Mitchem They need analysis software that. Sean Tepper Yeah, right, right. It’s what we do. We run into circumstances when people, you know, they’ll join from a smaller country and they’ll be like, hey, you don’t have any stocks from our country. Winner may arriving. So it’s a lot of those requests and it’s like we knew we had to get to this point eventually. Yeah. But yeah. But then you just give transparency. Sean Tepper We’re looking at Finn Hub is, the data provider that will help us get, the more stocks and ETFs around the world. Andrew Mitchem Wow. So when you see your clients in 50 countries, if, for example, someone was here in New Zealand and they don’t want to be, and 2:00 in the morning to trade the US markets, they could be trading like the Australasian markets. Yeah. So your software. Sean Tepper Absolutely. Yep. Andrew Mitchem Oh, fantastic. That’s really good. Yeah. That, that’s blowing my way. That number. One thing as a currency trader, there’s like about eight main currencies. And so that makes, hence why there’s nothing like this for the forex market. I’m guessing because we can look at charts and read a bit of news and kind of make your analysis voice your, the information. Andrew Mitchem Someone out there with that. Your software is almost got an impossible task. Sean Tepper Yeah. We I was just checking here in tick or how many stocks from New Zealand. We’ve got a little over 187. So, do you know I like the I assume it’s the new New Zealand Stock Exchange. Andrew Mitchem Yes. In Wellington. Nice. Sean Tepper Got it. Do you know how many stocks they have? Andrew Mitchem No. I’m not, I’m purely forex. I honestly don’t know. Sean Tepper Okay. No no worries. But we’ll hopefully fin Hub will be able to get us most from from your exchange. Yeah. But that’s just a good example of like absolutely. You know we again we get a lot of people from random countries like, hey, can you add more stocks from our country? It’s like, yeah, absolutely. We’re we’re on it. Andrew Mitchem Yeah. Well, and also it’s purely that time of day thing, isn’t it. Because the you know, I suppose I get used to forex which is 24 hours a day. It doesn’t matter where you live in your world, you can trade it in cryptos obviously seven days a week now as well. But when you’re talking US stocks, they are, you know, for someone on my side of the world, some quite awkward trading hours. Andrew Mitchem So what you’re providing now would allow me to trade some of the the Japanese stocks, I’m guessing. Oh, and then the Australian ones using the ones now that you mentioned. So you really do open up your product to being truly a global, tool for people. Sean Tepper Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Andrew Mitchem That’s awesome. Sean, anything else you want to add about what we’ve not covered, about what you can help people with? Sean Tepper Yeah. Knowing that you’re more in the trading world and we’re more investing, I have to say this one detail, which is we do have about 10% of our customers are traders, give or take, and they’ll use TYKR as their starting points. You’re like, hey, let’s see. You’ve got like 100 ideas out there. Well, they’ll use TYKR to narrow it down from 100 down to ten. Sean Tepper Yeah. So that’s one main use case. It’s kind of like the short AI, as it’s been described to me. Is the short list creator TYKRs, the short list for like for traders. So so yeah, I want to add that tidbit as some people are like, well I’m not really into best thing. It’s like, you don’t have to be. Sean Tepper You can just use the tool to, narrow down your search. So I’ve selected one use case. Andrew Mitchem Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. That’s kind of how I was thinking about potentially using it as well. It’s like, makes a lot of sense to do all that, that work and get it down to something more manageable. Right? Yeah. Contact Sean Andrew Mitchem And what’s the best way that someone can contact you to find out more, about what you offer? Andrew Mitchem Sure. Well, how would. Sean Tepper They add, two ways to get in touch with, TYKR or myself? You can just go to tykr.com. That’s TYKR, tykr.com. And then, I’m really active on LinkedIn. Sean Tepper, Sean is spelled the Sean Connery way. Andrew Mitchem Yes. This with the voice. Sean Tepper Yeah. I wish I had strong Scottish voice. Yes. Andrew Mitchem Awesome. Hey, Sean, we’ll put links, of course, up here as well. And we will be sharing this in around the website and social media as well, so people can contact you finding a link here as well. It’s been awesome talking to you. I’ve learned a lot about the market. I don’t know a huge amount, and it’s fascinating to hear what you do and how, you know, you going to make it from when you mentioned 60, it still blew me away. Andrew Mitchem That number, from a ridiculous number of, stocks to help to analyze something in a, in a more simplified way. So, awesome to speak to you. Thank you. Your product looks amazing. I will be trying it. And, Yeah, look forward to it as well. Sean Tepper Thanks, Andrew. This is great. Andrew Mitchem Awesome. Thanks, Sean. Bye for now. Episode Title: #624: The Smarter Way To Pick Winning Stocks Find out more about Blueberry Markets – Click Here Find out more about my Online Video Forex Course Book a Call with Andrew or one of his team now Click Here to Attend my Free Masterclass Checkout the Tykr Platform here.
SAP and Enterprise Trends Podcasts from Jon Reed (@jonerp) of diginomica.com
ZohoDay 2026 is in the books. But while the assembled mass of industry analysts were still in Austin, Jon Reed and Brian Sommer grabbed a quiet room for an unscripted recap. There was a flurry of news at this show to make sense of, some of it NDA but most of it not. The guys were on the clock this time, with only 25 minutes to hit on the hottest issues from customers, partners, and Zoho leadership - not to mention Zoho fleshing out the "Zoho ERP" news. Brian had his infamous hand-scrawled notepad on the state of Zoho, and Jon walked listeners through Zoho's take on the changing risks of SaaS in the AI era. (This podcast was taped prior to Jon's last AI deep dives with Zoho in Austin, but there was plenty of AI content to discuss regardless). As always, catch Jon and Brian's recaps on diginomica.com for more background as they appear...
Brad Mills is a Bitcoin OG (in since 2011), entrepreneur, and angel investor. In this episode, we talk about what it actually looks like to think long-term in Bitcoin, how he invests without selling, and why “AI agents + Bitcoin” might be the first truly mainstream crypto use case.We get into real founder stuff too: leadership failures, scaling mistakes, decision fatigue, and how Brad rebuilt his habits using a “proof of work” mindset.What we cover:Brad's first “business” at 8 years old, and the Facebook app that hit massive scaleThe moment he realized “buy and hold Bitcoin” outperformed his highest-effort businessesBorrowing against Bitcoin: why LTV discipline matters and how people get wiped outWhy gold confiscation (6102) is not the same risk model as Bitcoin custody todayQuantum risk: what's real, what's noise, and how upgrades likely happenWhy AI agents choosing Bitcoin is a bigger deal than retail adoption“Citadel mind and body”: applying Bitcoin-style consistency to health and relationshipsBooks that actually changed his executionChapters / Timestamps00:00 Intro, “Bitcoin is up 3x since 2022”01:40 Brad's first business at 8 years old04:00 Growing up in poverty, learning to hustle04:30 Hacky sack business and early entrepreneurship05:40 “How do I make money online?” and getting scammed06:15 The Facebook “Roll Up The Rim” app and the cease & desist07:10 Monetization at scale, then getting crowded out08:40 Hiring 17 people, leadership reality check11:55 When Bitcoin outperformed the entire company12:10 Brad's first Bitcoin in 2011 and the early volatility lessons15:00 Failed mining partnership and why he stopped “doing too much”19:00 Trading strategy vs just holding Bitcoin21:05 Becoming an angel investor (Bitcoin-only)21:45 Borrowing against Bitcoin, loans, and LTV discipline28:15 Interest rates and banks eventually offering BTC loans30:00 Canada, optionality, and the sovereign individual thesis33:00 Gold confiscation (6102) and why it's often misunderstood36:05 Self-custody vs “in the bank vault” risk38:45 Capital controls and how Bitcoin changes the game41:30 Epstein/Bitcoin origin claims and why decentralization makes it irrelevant45:20 This downturn: what feels different this cycle50:55 Is quantum Bitcoin's biggest risk?52:00 Quantum soft fork talk + Saylor's quantum task force56:10 “Quantum treasure hunt” and lost coins as a volatility catalyst01:00:25 Portfolio updates, Maple private AI compute, AnchorWatch insurance01:02:15 Square/Cash App Bitcoin payments and orange-pilling merchants01:03:45 AI agents using Bitcoin as default money01:10:15 OpenClaw as “translator” for non-technical builders01:12:30 CLAWI.AI, Mac mini vs VPS setups01:12:40 Token burn reality ($150–$200/day)01:13:45 “Citadel mind and body” and proof-of-work habits01:23:00 Book recs: Buy Back Your Time, The Big Leap, If the Buddha Married01:24:35 WrapThe Arena The Arena is a private Skool community for SaaS founders who are actively building and selling. I share real-time decisions, experiments, and assets as I use them while growing a bootstrapped SaaS.No theory. No polish. Just execution.Learn more at: https://www.skool.com/the-arena/