Building AI-Driven Teams, Scalable Services, and a Global Career with Tom Kelly of Braze
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
Release Date: 06/27/2025
How AI Is Shaping the Future of Sales with Doreen Pernel from Scaleway
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
I am thrilled to have Doreen Pernel, Chief Sales Officer at Scaleway, Europe's leading sovereign cloud provider. She's built and scaled sales teams across Meta, Dataiku, Box, and Bloomberg, navigating Sydney, New York, London, and Paris. In this conversation, Doreen Pernel, Chief Sales Officer at Scaleway, shares her insights on sales leadership, cultural adaptability, and innovative strategies in the cloud computing industry. She discusses the importance of resilience in hiring, the evolving role of cold calling, and how to motivate teams against larger competitors. She also reflects on the...
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Unlocking Subscription Success with Daniel Layfield
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
I am thrilled to have Daniel Layfield, who is Director of Product Management at Diligent and founder of Subscription Index, advising subscription businesses on monetisation. In this conversation, Daniel Layfield shares his journey from finance to product management, discussing his experiences at Code Academy and Diligent. He emphasises the importance of understanding churn, effective pricing strategies, and the role of AI in product management. Daniel also explores the complexities of subscription models, the significance of metrics, and the impact of price localisation on revenue. Timestamps...
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Scaling Product Organizations in the Age of AI with CallRail's Ryan Johnson
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
I am excited to have , who is the Chief Product Officer at CallRail, an AI-powered lead intelligence platform serving 200,000+ businesses with over $100M ARR. In this conversation, Ryan Johnson, Chief Product Officer at CallRail, shares his journey from finance to product management, discussing the evolution of CallRail from a call tracking service to a lead intelligence platform. He emphasises the importance of scaling product organisations, balancing sales and product-led growth, and navigating the challenges posed by AI disruption. Ryan also delves into pricing strategies, monetisation...
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Evolution of Pricing Strategies in Business with Gary Bailey
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
I am thrilled to have , founder of Strategim, a monetisation & pricing expert with a deep background in financial services, accounting, pricing, and AI. In this conversation, Gary Bailey, a monetisation and pricing expert, shares his journey from accounting to product management and pricing. He discusses the importance of pricing as a core discipline in business education, the evolving role of finance in pricing strategies, and the impact of AI on SaaS pricing models. Gary emphasizes the need for training the next generation in pricing and the role of a monetization architect in modern...
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Art of Pricing Strategies in SaaS with Naveen Mohan at Otter
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
I am thrilled to have Naveen Mohan, who leads monetisation at , bringing deep experience from Adobe and Loom. With a Carnegie Mellon Information Systems degree and software engineering background, he combines data science expertise with product management. In this conversation, Naveen Mohan, Product and Monetisation Lead at Otter.ai, shares his journey from data science to product management, emphasising the importance of experimentation in pricing strategies and the evolution of monetisation in tech startups. He discusses the balance between soft and hard paywalls, the rise of hybrid pricing...
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How Superlinked is building the Next Generation of AI Search with Ben Gutkovich
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
I am excited to have , co-founder of , helping AI engineers build information retrieval systems using vector embeddings. In this conversation, Ben Gutkovich, co-founder of Superlink, shares his journey from a software engineer to an entrepreneur in the AI space. He discusses the differences between consulting and building technology, the challenges of recruiting talent in a competitive market, and innovative strategies for business development. Ben also addresses the impact of remote work on startups, insights into M&A deals, and predictions for the future of AI. He emphasises the...
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Future of Fundraising in the Age of AI with Casey Woo of Operators Guild
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
I am excited to have , founder of , a community of 800+ top operators. He is also a General Partner at FOG Ventures, where he's witnessing how AI is killing the 18-month fundraising cycle, enabling 1000x returns in half the time. In this conversation, Casey Woo, founder of Operators Guild and general partner at Fog Ventures, discusses his journey from Wall Street to the startup world, the evolving landscape of fundraising, and the impact of AI on job roles and business operations. He emphasises the importance of generalists in startups, the need for effective distribution strategies, and the...
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Navigating the Crypto Landscape with Harvey Liu of Levex Exchange
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
I am happy to have Harvey Liu, the CEO of , where he’s building a cutting-edge platform for spot and futures trading in digital assets. In this conversation, Harvey Liu, CEO of Levex Exchange, discusses his journey from computer science to venture capital and now leading a crypto exchange. We explore misconceptions about blockchain, the psychology of trading, the challenges of asset tokenisation, and the importance of a strong team and culture in business. Harvey shares insights on investing principles, strategies for startups going global, and the dynamics of venture capital, emphasising...
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Transforming Education Through Digital Infrastructure with Shankar Maruwada from EkStep Foundation
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
I am excited to have , Co-Founder and CEO of EkStep Foundation, a pioneering non-profit working to improve learning outcomes for millions of children in India through technology and learner-centric platforms. Shankar has been featured in ’s ‘Policy 50’, a definitive list of the 50 leaders who are steering and shaping India’s digital economy. In this conversation, Shankar Maruwada shares his journey from corporate leadership to social impact through the Ekstep Foundation. He discusses the importance of digital infrastructure in education, the lessons learned from the Aadhaar initiative,...
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Investing in Peace with Shane Martin of B Ventures
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
I am excited to have —a venture capitalist who’s rewriting the playbook for what investing can look like. He’s an investor at , the first-of-its-kind global peace VC fund that backs tech founders building solutions for both profit and peace. In this conversation, Shane Ray Martin, a venture capitalist at B-Ventures, discusses his unique journey into the world of venture capital, emphasising the potential profitability of peace tech. He shares insights on the challenges of pitching peace tech to investors, common mistakes founders make in their pitches, and the balance between instincts...
info_outlineI am thrilled to have Tom Kelly, a global tech leader and angel investor, works as the senior director of account management at Braze. With deep expertise in customer success, AI adoption, and GTM strategy, Tom builds high-performing teams and invests in the next wave of startups shaping the future of tech.
In this episode, Tom Kelly, Senior Director at Braze and angel investor, shares his journey from physics and hedge funds to building global technical account teams. Tom dives into launching a new services arm inside a high-growth SaaS company, how to scale AI adoption across teams, and why distribution is the ultimate moat in today’s product-rich world. He unpacks early-stage GTM mistakes, what he looks for as an angel investor, and how he’s building an “AI ETF” through OpenAI, Anthropic, and XAI. Tom also shares why he moved to Dubai, the power of community, and the underrated impact of personal reinvention, and much more!
Timestamps
01:30 – Tom’s unconventional start in tech from a physics and hedge fund background.
04:00 – Early career at CrowdVision and exposure to AI and machine learning in crowd tracking.
06:20 – Joining Braze: From generalist customer success to building the London office.
08:45 – Wearing multiple hats in the early days of Braze’s CS team.
10:15 – Evolution into Technical Account Management (TAM) and co-founding the TAM team.
12:00 – Finding product-market fit for TAM services and rapid scale-up.
14:30 – Global TAM growth: Expansion into APAC, Dubai, London, and the U.S.
16:00 – The importance of leadership support and internal advocates when launching services.
18:15 – Making early customers your biggest advocates to accelerate adoption.
20:00 – KPIs beyond CSAT: Using OKRs effectively to track TAM performance.
23:00 – Mistakes with OKRs and how TAM team restructured them to be metrics-driven.
25:30 – How Tom led AI adoption across his 35-person TAM team.
28:00 – Hackathons and AI showcases to encourage AI culture internally.
30:00 – Klarna's AI workforce experiment: Layoffs, savings, and human comeback.
33:00 – Distribution as the new moat in a world where everyone can build with AI.
35:30 – Why early-stage companies rely on network and personal brand for GTM.
37:15 – The shift to regional, vertical SaaS businesses and specialized solutions.
39:00 – Should students still study computer science in an AI-first world?
41:30 – Most underrated skill in services: Empathy and personalized ROI communication.
44:00 – Tom’s angel investing thesis: Founder passion, resilience, and baked-in distribution.
46:00 – Investing in OpenAI, Anthropic, XAI: Building an “AI ETF” portfolio.
48:00 – Why Tom moved from London to Dubai and how it transformed his lifestyle.
51:00 – Building new networks in Dubai: GCC Club, OPUS, wellness, and low alcohol lifestyle.
Tom’s Links
LDN– https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomkelly91/
My Links
Podcast: https://lifeselfmastery.com/itunes
Newsletter: https://partner-grow.beehiiv.com/subscribe
YouTube: youtube.com/lifeselfmastery
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rohitmal
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohit857/
Agency: https://bit.ly/41YuNnx