Product Growth Stories
Product Growth Stories with Jean Michel Product Growth Stories is a podcast for founders, product leaders, and marketers who want to scale their B2B businesses more effectively. Host Jean Michel interviews successful entrepreneurs and industry experts who share their proven strategies, tactical insights, and real-world experiences. Each episode delivers actionable advice on customer acquisition, go-to-market strategies, product development, AI integration, and building powerful brand partnerships. From landing marquee clients to implementing cutting-edge technologies, our guests reveal the approaches that helped them punch above their weight class and achieve remarkable growth. Whether you're a startup founder looking to secure your first enterprise clients, a product leader optimizing for market fit, or a marketer building distribution channels that scale, Product Growth Stories brings you conversations that cut through the noise with practical wisdom you can implement today.
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A $60K Project to a $25.5M SaaS Exit — The Pricing Model That Won 90% Market Share
02/10/2026
A $60K Project to a $25.5M SaaS Exit — The Pricing Model That Won 90% Market Share
He turned a $60K custom project into a $25.5M exit with 90% market share. Here's how. Featuring Kevin Price, Founder of Acucode — who built a B2B SaaS company from his basement in 1995 to the Inc 5,000 list. Kevin breaks down how he landed 60 enterprise airline customers with one salesperson, why metric-based pricing beats per-seat models for SaaS adoption, and how his operational software scaled a warehouse from one shift to three in four weeks with zero errors — using temp workers with no technical experience. 🎯 Pick compliance problems where buyers must spend money 💰 Price per unit of value, not per seat — watch adoption soar 🤝 Channel partners already have your buyer's trust 🔧 Build on open source stacks that scale without downtime 📸 Real-time visibility kills the need for expert-only labor ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Quitting on Friday, first order by Monday 02:00 From barcode scanners to SaaS in 2003 03:45 How a $60K project became Velocity Mail 07:00 Landing enterprise accounts with one sales rep 09:30 How to pick problems worth solving at scale 12:30 Why ERPs fail at operational visibility 15:00 Selling services through software, not software alone 18:00 Managing quality with 10,000 field sites per year 21:00 Scaling from 1 shift to 3 shifts in four weeks 24:00 Pricing, channels, and tech stack advice for SaaS founders 🔥 Want enterprise pipeline without a 10-person sales team? Start here👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #B2BSales #SaaSGrowth #TechFounders #RapidProductGrowth
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How Signal-Based Sequencing Drove 5.7x Pipeline Growth in One Year
02/10/2026
How Signal-Based Sequencing Drove 5.7x Pipeline Growth in One Year
Buyers do 85% of their research before talking to sales. Your sequence order might be costing you pipeline. Featuring Heath Barnett, VP of Revenue at Mixmax — previously at Uber, Notch, AirWallet, and Wallet X. Heath breaks down why sales engagement is ripe for disruption, how AI should augment reps instead of replacing them, and the specific GTM strategies that drove 5.7x pipeline growth year over year. If you're running a B2B SaaS revenue team and rethinking your sales engagement stack, this conversation gets tactical fast. 🎯 Sequence priority should follow buyer signals, not task order 🤖 AI as co-pilot, not spam cannon — the Mixmax approach 🎯 Know your ICP beyond firmographics or nothing else works 📊 Retention and expansion will outweigh new business in 2025 🏗️ Culture separates good revenue orgs from great ones ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Why Heath joined Mixmax as VP of Revenue 01:00 The gap between prospecting tools and deal management 02:45 The Jimmy Neutron of GTM — first principles in sales leadership 03:45 How signal-based sequencing drove 5.7x pipeline growth 05:00 AI meeting assistant built for reps, not just managers 06:45 Turning your inbox into a sales cockpit 07:45 Science plus art: data-driven GTM with a human edge 09:00 Sales is no longer linear — the buyer journey is a maze 14:00 Why ICP depth matters more than TAM breadth 17:00 High-performing revenue orgs vs. average ones 19:30 AI-first companies hitting $3M ARR 12 months faster 20:30 The future of Mixmax and sales engagement in 2025 🔥 Build qualified pipeline with executives who actually want to talk to you 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #B2BSales #SalesEngagement #PodcastOutbound #RapidProductGrowth
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Your B2B Pipeline Is 20-40% Chaos — How to Fix Cross-Silo Revenue Leaks Fast
02/10/2026
Your B2B Pipeline Is 20-40% Chaos — How to Fix Cross-Silo Revenue Leaks Fast
Your B2B company is losing 20-40% of top-line revenue to chaos. Most leaders don't even see it. Featuring Rick Partlin, CEO of The Revenue Game. Rick breaks down why most B2B SaaS companies bleed profit through cross-silo conflict, undefined selling processes, and a fundamental misalignment of purpose — and what to do instead. You'll hear why salespeople in major enterprises sell less than one hour per week, why you should ban the word "demo" from your org, and how to replace funnel-stuffing with a precision pipeline built on the diffusion of innovation curve. 🎯 Ask: do you make money WITH or FROM your customer? 💸 Cross-silo KPI battles destroy corporate profit 🚫 Stop filling funnels with people you plan to throw away 🔄 Replace "demos" with buyer-focused previews 🧭 Define your purpose before the demand bubble bursts ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 What is the revenue game and how do you win it? 01:00 Big purpose companies vs. mercenaries 02:45 When hiring mercenaries actually makes sense 04:00 Entrepreneurs who don't realize they're in a bubble 06:00 Making money WITH vs. FROM your customer 07:00 How Rick's auto industry roots shaped his approach 08:00 Cross-silo conflict and undefined selling rules 09:30 Why enterprise reps sell less than one hour per week 10:30 Why funnels and demos are costing you deals 12:00 Fighting complexity and chaos in 2025 13:45 Buyers need partners, not vendors 15:00 Using diffusion of innovation to build precision pipeline 🔥 Want to build qualified B2B pipeline without the chaos? Start here 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #B2BSales #SaaS #RevenueGrowth #SalesPipeline #RapidProductGrowth
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Why Most Founders Can't Let Go — The Leadership Transition Playbook That Saves Growth
02/10/2026
Why Most Founders Can't Let Go — The Leadership Transition Playbook That Saves Growth
Your business skills got you here. They won't get you through a leadership transition. Featuring Josh Shapiro, executive coach and partner at Fortune Management. Jean-Michel and Josh break down why small business owners — especially those inheriting or handing off family businesses — hit the same leadership walls over and over. Josh shares what 30 years in corporate leadership taught him about coaching vs. consulting, why founders can't let go, and the exact benchmarks both sides of a generational transition need to hit before handing over the keys. 🧠 Why "I must have all the answers" kills growth 👨👦 How family business transitions destroy relationships 🎯 Hire for culture and coachability, not just résumés 🛑 The ego trap waiting for both founders and successors 🗣️ Ask for help before the car crash, not after ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Josh's path from corporate leader to executive coach 01:00 Why leadership is coaching, not commanding 02:00 The biggest gap holding small business owners back 04:00 Coaching vs. consulting — and why the difference matters 06:30 The "I need all the answers" trap 08:00 Ego and fear in corporate and small business leadership 10:00 How to hire smart when cash flow is tight 11:45 Legacy transitions and family business friction 15:00 What founders must do before handing over the reins 16:30 Advice for the next generation taking over 🔥 Want to build pipeline with conversations, not cold outreach? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #ExecutiveCoaching #SmallBusiness #LeadershipDevelopment #FamilyBusiness #RapidProductGrowth
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CEOs Ranked Growth Dead Last in AI Priorities — Why That's a Costly Mistake
02/10/2026
CEOs Ranked Growth Dead Last in AI Priorities — Why That's a Costly Mistake
CEOs ranked growth dead last in AI priorities. That's the real problem. Featuring Kendra Cooke and Anthony Quigley from SY Partners, a transformation consultancy with 30 years of experience helping companies navigate disruption. Jean-Michel sits down with two leaders who've spent the past several years advising Fortune 500 executives on AI adoption strategy. They break down why traditional change management playbooks fail with generative AI, what's actually keeping C-suite leaders stuck in survival mode, and why the companies ignoring culture and literacy right now will pay for it later. If you're leading a SaaS company through AI transformation, this conversation maps the blind spots most executives aren't talking about. 🤖 Why "deploy and pray" AI rollouts stall adoption 😰 The emotional resistance factor no playbook accounts for 💎 The diamond-shaped org: what happens when AI replaces entry roles 🧠 C-suite AI literacy is lagging — and it's dragging growth 🛡️ Responsible speed: moving fast without damaging trust or brand ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Meet Kendra and Anthony from SY Partners 02:00 Why leaders are stuck in survival mode with AI 03:00 Old change playbooks don't work here 05:00 The emotional undercurrent slowing AI adoption 08:00 Ethical weight and the fear of machines lying 10:00 Shifting experimentation skills across the org 13:00 Will AI replace teams or augment them? 14:45 The diamond-shaped workforce problem 17:00 Where leaders should actually focus right now 19:00 Don't defer AI literacy to one group 🔥 Build pipeline with executives who are navigating these exact challenges 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #AIAdoption #B2BLeadership #GrowthStory #RapidProductGrowth
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Stop Billing Hourly — The Pricing Fix That Scaled Her Services Business From Burnout to Profit
02/10/2026
Stop Billing Hourly — The Pricing Fix That Scaled Her Services Business From Burnout to Profit
She undercharged, burned out, and almost repeated the same mistake outside corporate. Here's how she fixed pricing. Featuring Linda Hunt, Founder of SumSolutions. Jean-Michel and Linda unpack how service-based entrepreneurs — especially those leaving corporate — sabotage their own growth through people-pleasing pricing. Linda shares the exact method she built to move from hourly billing to value-based packages, and why understanding your minimum aligned price is the difference between surviving and scaling. 💲 How hourly billing penalizes your best performers 🎯 The "baseline audit" trick that builds trust and sells itself 🧮 Calculate your minimum aligned price in three steps 📦 Why value-based packages outperform hourly every time 📖 Linda's upcoming book: The Money Conversation ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Linda's corporate burnout and the limo driver story 02:00 The real cost of 95% travel 03:00 What corporate didn't teach about entrepreneurship 04:30 Undervaluing yourself and people-pleasing pricing 06:00 From hourly billing to value-based packages 07:45 Why the baseline audit changes the sales conversation 09:30 Competing on price vs. competing on transformation 11:00 How Linda gets clients today through relational capital 13:00 The Money Conversation — Linda's upcoming book on pricing 🔥 Want to turn conversations into qualified pipeline for your SaaS company? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #B2BSales #PricingStrategy #GrowthStories #RapidProductGrowth
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One GitHub Comment to First Paying Customer: A Bootstrapped SaaS Growth Playbook
02/10/2026
One GitHub Comment to First Paying Customer: A Bootstrapped SaaS Growth Playbook
Joel built a $0-to-profitable SaaS by commenting on one GitHub issue. Here's the full bootstrapped growth playbook. Featuring Joel Griffith, CEO and Founder of Browserless. Jean-Michel and Joel break down how a bootstrapped developer tool went from a side project to a thriving SaaS business — without a dollar of VC funding. Joel shares exactly how he found his first paying customer through GitHub issues, why blogging still drives most of Browserless's growth, and what every bootstrap SaaS founder needs to hear about AI, buy-vs-build objections, and staying convicted when shiny distractions pile up. 🔍 How to find high-intent users in GitHub and Stack Overflow ✍️ Why long-form content is still the #1 channel for dev tools 🤖 Where AI actually helps engineering — and where it fails 💡 Selling to developers who think they can build it themselves 🧭 How conviction (and some ignorance) keeps founders going ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 The origin story behind Browserless 02:00 Scraping single-page apps and the browser problem 03:45 Finding the first paying users on GitHub issues 06:15 Scaling from hustle to content-driven growth 07:30 Why selling developer tools is brutally hard 10:45 AI's real impact on engineering teams 14:00 Using support tickets to generate content 17:30 How to prioritize as a bootstrapped founder 19:30 Advice for SaaS founders starting from zero 🔥 Want to build qualified pipeline for your SaaS without cold outreach? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #DeveloperTools #GrowthStories #RapidProductGrowth
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$40K/Month in Hidden Late Fees: How AI Invoice Coding Fixes Enterprise AP Blind Spots
02/10/2026
$40K/Month in Hidden Late Fees: How AI Invoice Coding Fixes Enterprise AP Blind Spots
A $60B real estate company couldn't pay a bill because one employee retired. That's a tribal knowledge problem. Featuring David Stifter, CEO of PredictAP — built from a real accounts payable crisis at Colony Capital. David breaks down how AI-powered invoice coding is solving the massive, hidden problem of AP allocation in commercial real estate. From miscoded utility bills hiding $40K/month in late fees to staff getting promoted out of data entry, this conversation covers what happens when you give back-office teams the right tools — and why the ROI goes far beyond headcount reduction. 🏢 Why 80% of AP staff time goes to researching how to code 💸 Hidden late fees and misallocated expenses drain millions 🤖 AI as a tool, not a replacement — the augmentation argument 📊 Data insights that expose budget compromises before they compound 🧠 How to sell your first customers using existing relationships ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Why Colony Capital couldn't pay a bill 01:30 The complexity of real estate invoice coding 03:00 Economic impact of miscoding and manual AP 05:15 What you actually want your on-site staff doing 06:30 First customers: relationship-driven sales 08:30 Building a repeatable go-to-market engine 09:45 Enterprise vs. mid-market — architecture that scales both ways 12:00 AI is not a person — positioning augmentation over replacement 14:30 2025 roadmap: data insights and pattern detection 16:15 Finding hidden compromises before they become revenue problems 🔥 Want to build qualified pipeline with decision-makers like David? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #B2BMarketing #AIinFinance #ProductGrowthStory #RapidProductGrowth
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One-Third of Your Lost Deals Aren't Dead — AI Win-Loss Recovery in One Day
02/10/2026
One-Third of Your Lost Deals Aren't Dead — AI Win-Loss Recovery in One Day
Your customers will tell you why deals die — if you stop sending boring surveys and start using AI. Featuring Lihong Hicken, Co-Founder and CRO at Theysaid. Lihong built Theysaid three weeks after her daughter was born. Now her AI feedback platform ranks number one on Google for "AI survey" and is replacing tools like SurveyMonkey and Qualtrics for B2B SaaS teams. She and Jean-Michel break down how AI-powered interviews recover lost deals, why one-third of "dead" deals aren't actually dead, and how companies with 15+ sales reps can run win-loss analysis at one-tenth the cost of traditional consultants. 🔍 Why static surveys get ignored and AI interviews don't 💸 Recover lost deals at 1/10th the cost of manual win-loss ⚡ Shorten six-week consulting projects to one day with AI 🎯 One-third of lost deals can be won back with the right data 🛠️ Free AI surveys as a GTM wedge into paid enterprise products ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 What Theysaid does and the problem it solves 01:00 AI feedback vs. traditional surveys and interviews 03:00 Why buyers ghost your surveys and what to do instead 04:45 No scheduling, no gift cards — feedback in five minutes 05:45 How Theysaid iterated from 1.0 to 3.0 08:00 Product Hunt wins and community-driven growth 08:45 Ranking number one on Google for AI survey 10:00 AI deal recovery: win-loss interviews without consultants 14:00 Managing three products as an early-stage founder 15:30 Enterprise vs. mid-market lead gen challenges 17:00 Why podcast-based outreach works for market creation 🔥 Want a scalable way to build B2B SaaS pipeline without burning budget on cold outreach? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: 🔗 Theysaid: #SaaS #B2BSales #AITools #WinLossAnalysis #RapidProductGrowth
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$10M Revenue but Only $600K Profit — How Bad Debt Silently Destroys Your Cash Flow
02/10/2026
$10M Revenue but Only $600K Profit — How Bad Debt Silently Destroys Your Cash Flow
$10M in revenue but only $600K in profit — because $800K walked out the door as bad debt. Your CFO problem is bigger than you think. Featuring Omar Ritter, Area President at Focus CFO. Jean-Michel and Omar break down why small and medium-sized businesses between $3M and $50M often bleed cash without realizing it — and how a fractional CFO spots the financial blind spots that owners miss. From the Peloton inventory disaster to landlords stuck with non-paying tenants, this conversation is a masterclass in why cash flow management matters more than top-line revenue growth. 💸 Why profitable revenue beats total revenue every time 📉 The Peloton cautionary tale of scaling without restraint 🏠 How bad debt quietly destroys your bottom line 💰 Cash basis vs. accrual: the distinction that saves businesses 📊 Weekly KPIs every owner should track before hiring a CFO ⏱️Timestamps: 00:00 What is a fractional CFO and who needs one 01:45 Common financial pitfalls for growing businesses 03:00 Finding your most profitable revenue channels 04:30 Expense creep and competition eating your margins 06:00 The $10M revenue, $600K profit case study 07:30 Cash basis vs. accrual accounting explained simply 09:30 When everyone stops paying everyone — COVID lessons 12:00 Why the Inc. 5000 list predicts bankruptcy 13:00 The Peloton inventory disaster breakdown 16:00 How Focus CFO grows through franchising and referrals 20:30 Know when to hire a full-time CFO 21:00 Omar's top advice: understand your real cash flow 🔥 Want to build qualified pipeline with decision-makers like Omar? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #FractionalCFO #SmallBusiness #CashFlow #B2BGrowth #RapidProductGrowth
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Why SaaS Founders Burn $3M Before Hiring a Product Leader (Skip That Mistake)
02/10/2026
Why SaaS Founders Burn $3M Before Hiring a Product Leader (Skip That Mistake)
Most startups burn $3M+ before realizing they need a product leader. Here's how to skip that lesson. Featuring Jonathan Chashper, CEO of Product Savvy Consulting — nearly 20 years running fractional product leadership for funded startups. Jean-Michel and Jonathan break down why co-founders who appoint themselves VP of Product are setting their company up to fail, the four questions every founding team gets wrong, and why your first hire shouldn't be a developer. If you're a SaaS founder post-raise wondering why your roadmap keeps slipping, this conversation will save you years and millions. 🚢 Your first hire should be a product leader, not a developer ❓ Four questions co-founders can never answer the same way 🎪 How to extract competitor intel at trade shows for free 🧭 Why "everyone is our customer" kills your product market fit ⏳ Don't hire engineers until your MVP is defined and dev-ready ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Why Jonathan started Product Savvy Consulting 01:45 Fractional vs. interim product leadership 02:50 The biggest blind spot funded founders have 04:00 Product market fit and the tap-dancing problem 05:00 The four questions that expose founder misalignment 06:45 Defining an MVP after years of building wrong 08:00 Prioritizing features with market evidence 09:00 Fastest ways to get credible market feedback 11:30 How Product Savvy finds clients through accelerators 14:45 AI hype vs. real product positioning 17:45 Number one advice for 2025 founders 🔥 Want to build pipeline with SaaS executives who actually buy? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #ProductManagement #StartupFounders #ProductMarketFit #RapidProductGrowth
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Why Your Org Keeps Failing After You Replace People — It's a Structural Problem
02/10/2026
Why Your Org Keeps Failing After You Replace People — It's a Structural Problem
Your org keeps failing the same way — even after you replace the people. The structure is the problem. Featuring Robert Fritz, bestselling author and structural consultant who has worked with organizations since the 1970s. Robert explains why companies get stuck in oscillating patterns — promoting then firing, building capacity then downsizing — and how the underlying structure of an organization, not its people, determines behavior. Jean-Michel and Robert cover how to shift from problem-driven management to outcome-driven leadership, why structural tension is the engine behind both great music and great organizations, and what successful companies do differently when designing how their parts fit together. 🎵 Why replacing people never fixes a broken position 🔄 Oscillating patterns: the sign your structure is off 🎯 Structural tension: define outcomes before problems 🏢 Competing departments signal a leadership clarity gap 📖 Start consulting by volunteering for nonprofits ⏱️Timestamps: 00:00 Robert Fritz's path from composer to consultant 01:00 Why success doesn't always succeed in orgs 02:45 The rocking chair vs. the car — structural metaphor 04:00 Path of least resistance: three core principles 06:00 When contradictory orders create false conflict 08:00 Problem-driven vs. outcome-driven organizations 09:30 The new lean: starting with the outcome in mind 11:45 How music composition maps to org design 13:30 Who Robert works best with — and how to reach him 🔥 Want to build qualified pipeline with the right structure behind it? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: 🔗 Robert Fritz: #SaaS #B2BLeadership #OrganizationalDesign #GrowthStories #RapidProductGrowth
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How Community-Driven GTM Built a Dominant Vertical SaaS Across 3 Acquisitions
02/10/2026
How Community-Driven GTM Built a Dominant Vertical SaaS Across 3 Acquisitions
Old-school go-to-market still wins — if your product touches people's homes. Here's how Property Control dominates vertical SaaS. Featuring Rob Auld, CRO at Property Control — the company consolidating condo and HOA management software across North America through acquisition and community-driven growth. Rob shares how Property Control grew from a founder scratching his own itch in a Toronto condo to the dominant player across three brands and thousands of properties. He explains why community-first GTM, phone calls, and trade show handshakes still outperform ad-driven inbound in vertical SaaS — and how AI is being layered in to scale that personal touch without losing it. 🏢 Founder-as-first-customer built a 15-year moat 🤝 Community-driven sales beat pure inbound in property tech 📞 Calling people still works when the product is personal 🤖 AI augments — not replaces — the human connection 💳 Payments and accounting integration fuel 2026 growth ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 What Property Control does across three brands 01:45 Why condo and HOA problems are nearly identical 03:00 SOPs, repeatability, and AI for property managers 03:45 The founding story — built by a condo board member 05:00 Community-driven GTM and the ECMO trade show 06:15 Why old-school blocking and tackling still wins 07:30 The garage software road trip analogy 08:00 Using AI to enhance personal customer experience 08:45 Vertical SaaS vision and scaling property managers 10:00 2026 priorities: payments, integration, and growth 🔥 Want to build pipeline with SaaS executives through real conversations? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #VerticalSaaS #B2BSales #PropertyTech #RapidProductGrowth
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One Influencer Mention Drove Thousands of Users — How This SaaS Dominates a Fragmented Market
02/10/2026
One Influencer Mention Drove Thousands of Users — How This SaaS Dominates a Fragmented Market
An influencer mentioned their product — and thousands of gig economy drivers signed up. Here's how Display Ride grew from there. Featuring Abdul Kaism, Co-Founder of Display Ride — a ride share monitoring platform rated number one in its industry for two consecutive years. Abdul breaks down how he built a safety-focused SaaS product for the gig economy, scaled to thousands of drivers across the US, and is now using AI agents and real-time road data to open entirely new market segments. He also shares the hard truth about reaching a fragmented customer base where no single go-to-market channel dominates — and why influencer partnerships and strategic carrier deals with companies like Vodafone became critical growth levers. 🚗 How an industry influencer kickstarted early traction 📡 Why fragmented markets demand multi-channel outreach 🤝 Using carrier partnerships to scale distribution globally 🤖 AI agents that monitor for stolen vehicles in real time 🎯 Dominating a niche before expanding to adjacent verticals ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 What Display Ride does and why it exists 01:00 The "he said, she said" safety problem in ride share 03:00 Getting first users through an unexpected influencer mention 04:00 Competing against commoditized products with a better solution 05:00 Reaching gig economy workers with no clear buyer profile 06:30 Influencer strategy and the economics behind it 08:00 Partnering with Google for AI-powered sentiment analysis 09:00 How the Vodafone partnership works as a distribution channel 10:00 AI agents, Amber Alerts, and new market opportunities 🔥 Want to build B2B pipeline through conversations, not cold outreach? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #GigEconomy #AIinSaaS #ProductGrowthStories #RapidProductGrowth
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From $25M to $150M ARR in 2.5 Years: The Post-Sale Playbook Behind a $1B Exit
02/10/2026
From $25M to $150M ARR in 2.5 Years: The Post-Sale Playbook Behind a $1B Exit
90% of SaaS success happens post-sale. Most companies still ignore it. Featuring Justin Silvia and Corrin Carranza, partner ecosystem and operations leaders at ActivTrak. Jean-Michel sits down with Justin and Corrin — a duo with 20+ years working together across IBM, EDB, and ActivTrak — to break down why SaaS companies stall at $25M, how partner ecosystems actually scale revenue, and what it took to grow a company from $25M to $150M (and a $1B exit) in under three years. They cover the operational gaps that kill retention, the real timeline for flipping a services P&L, and why most strategic pivots die at 12 weeks. 🔁 Why churn makes growth nearly impossible to outsell 📈 Growing from $25M to $150M: what actually changed ⏳ 16-18 months: the real timeline to see margin impact 🤝 When to launch a partner program (and when it's too early) 🧠 Hire for your gaps — stop competing with your own team ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Justin and Corrin's 20-year partnership origin story 03:00 How they split strategy vs. operations 05:30 Partner ecosystems: VAR, MSP, and when to start 09:45 Why companies abandon strategy after 12 weeks 15:30 The billion-dollar pivot a CEO walked away from 18:00 Milestones for flipping a services P&L 25:30 Utilization tracking — the metric most teams botch 30:00 Marketing, branding, and selling the problem not features 40:00 Post-sale handoff: where 90% of revenue is won or lost 49:00 Lightning round: best advice and why SaaS companies fail 🔥 Want to build real pipeline with B2B SaaS decision-makers? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #B2BSales #PartnerEcosystem #CustomerRetention #RapidProductGrowth
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Zero Marketing Spend, Zero Sales Team — How This SaaS Grows on Referrals Alone
02/10/2026
Zero Marketing Spend, Zero Sales Team — How This SaaS Grows on Referrals Alone
Zero spent on sales and marketing — and still growing. Here's how one subscription platform did it. Featuring Moran Mizrahi, COO and Co-Founder of Rebillia Platform. Moran explains how Rebillia rethought B2B subscription management by letting end users customize their own plans throughout the entire subscription lifecycle — not just at checkout. She breaks down why traditional billing automation fails small and mid-market e-commerce companies, how customer-centric subscription models reduce churn, and why Rebillia's zero-marketing growth strategy runs entirely on product quality and client referrals. 🛒 Why first-sale economics force e-comm brands into subscriptions 🔄 How adjustable plans cut churn vs. rigid skip-or-cancel models 🗣️ Building pipeline through community and word of mouth alone 🏥 New verticals — healthcare, hospitality, auto — adopting subscriptions 📈 Letting customers tell you what your product does best ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Moran's background and why Rebillia exists 01:55 The concrete e-comm problem that started everything 03:00 Why ROI lives in the second and third sale 05:30 Zero sales and marketing spend — how it actually works 07:30 Community involvement as a growth channel 08:30 How Rebillia differs from traditional billing platforms 10:00 The anti-subscription approach to subscription management 11:10 What excites Moran about the next few years 🔥 Want to build qualified pipeline with decision-makers like Moran? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #SubscriptionManagement #B2BPayments #BillingAutomation #RapidProductGrowth
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Your SEO Now Feeds ChatGPT: A 3x CMO's Playbook for SaaS Growth in the AI Era
02/10/2026
Your SEO Now Feeds ChatGPT: A 3x CMO's Playbook for SaaS Growth in the AI Era
Your SEO won't die because of AI — it'll feed ChatGPT's answers. A 3x CMO explains why. Featuring Joe Martin, CMO at Zight — former marketing leader at Adobe and Scorpion ($200M business, 100-person org). Joe breaks down what actually drives SaaS growth in 2025: why freemium conversion is a brutal numbers game, how to engineer your product's "aha moment" in minutes, and why strong SEO is now your best defense against AI search disruption. He also shares how Zight competes against Loom post-Atlassian acquisition by staying independent and shipping faster. 🎯 Track your "aha moment" and tie all marketing to it 💡 Freemium only works if volume backs the math 📧 Email sequences are saturated — diversify now 🔍 Strong SEO feeds LLM results like ChatGPT 🏗️ Independence beats acquisition for product speed ⏱️Timestamps: 00:00 Joe's path from Adobe to CMO at Zight 01:30 What's actually changed in SaaS marketing 03:45 Why freemium economics break most companies 05:00 The "aha moment" metric Zight tracks obsessively 06:45 Time to value in pain-driven purchase decisions 07:30 How Zight integrates AI into the product 09:15 Positioning against Loom post-Atlassian acquisition 11:30 SEO as your LLM strategy — the paradox 13:15 Advice for SaaS marketing leaders right now 🔥 Want to build qualified pipeline through conversations, not cold sequences? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #B2BMarketing #CMO #ProductLedGrowth #RapidProductGrowth
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70% of Pipeline From SEO Content: How This AI SaaS CEO Skipped Outbound Entirely
02/10/2026
70% of Pipeline From SEO Content: How This AI SaaS CEO Skipped Outbound Entirely
"We don't replace receptionists — we fill the gap." Why this AI healthcare startup rejects the playbook every other AI company runs. Featuring Anmol Oberoi, CEO of Emitrr — building AI employees for healthcare businesses. Anmol breaks down how Emitrr pivoted from automation tooling to a full AI receptionist for healthcare practices, why he built 70% of pipeline through bottom-of-funnel SEO content before touching outbound, and his contrarian take on why category creation is a fundraising pitch — not a customer acquisition strategy. 🏥 AI fills staffing gaps instead of replacing people ✍️ Bottom-of-funnel content drove 70% of inbound demand 💸 Outbound is more expensive than most founders realize 🚫 Category creation doesn't resonate with buyers 🔄 Use paid ads to shortcut keyword insights for SEO ⏱️Timestamps: 00:00 What Emitrr does and the pre-AI to post-AI shift 01:30 Why the market finally accepts AI voice products 03:45 Building an inbound engine with bottom-of-funnel content 05:15 Why outbound is the most expensive channel for early startups 06:45 Low-touch sales motion for healthcare AI SaaS 07:45 Why category creation is overrated for customer acquisition 10:30 Not replacing receptionists — filling the staffing shortage 13:00 Change management: treat AI like a new hire, not a replacement 🔥 Want to build qualified SaaS pipeline without burning time on cold outreach? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #AIinHealthcare #B2BMarketing #ProductGrowthStories #RapidProductGrowth
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PLG SaaS Grew Signups 40% With Zero Sales Team — Here's the Brand Reset Playbook
02/10/2026
PLG SaaS Grew Signups 40% With Zero Sales Team — Here's the Brand Reset Playbook
Balsamiq's first head of marketing grew website signups 40% — without a sales team. Featuring Arielle Johncox, Head of Marketing at Balsamiq. Arielle shares how she inherited a PLG SaaS company doing "checkbox marketing" and rebuilt the foundation — new ICP, repositioned brand, overhauled the website — all without a sales motion. She and Jean-Michel break down when B2B SaaS companies should hire a marketing leader, why incremental testing can't replace bold strategic resets, and what it actually takes to stand out when AI is flooding every channel. 🎯 Signs your marketing team needs a strategic leader 🔄 Why you can't A/B test your way to a brand reset 📈 40% signup lift from repositioning, not ad spend 🧠 The three strategies every new head of marketing needs ⚡ Why creativity beats analytics in a saturated market ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 What brought Arielle to Balsamiq 01:45 PLG vs. sales-led: which motion fits your product 05:00 When to hire your first head of marketing 06:45 Checkbox marketing and how to spot it 10:15 The five-step triage for a new marketing leader 14:00 How the Balsamiq website relaunch drove 40% more signups 16:00 Why AI makes creativity more important, not less 19:00 Testing everything vs. making bold strategic bets 21:30 Advice for SaaS leaders surviving 2025 🔥 Want to build qualified pipeline for your SaaS without cold outreach? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #PLG #B2BMarketing #ProductLedGrowth #RapidProductGrowth
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95% of Video Has Zero ROI — How Vyrill Turned Search Into a Commerce Engine
02/10/2026
95% of Video Has Zero ROI — How Vyrill Turned Search Into a Commerce Engine
95% of video content online isn't searchable — and it's costing e-commerce brands millions. Featuring Ajay Bam, Founder of Vyrill — the AI-powered video search platform helping brands turn video into revenue. Ajay shares how Vyrill went from delivering one-off video intelligence reports for Porsche to building a full video commerce engine on Shopify — and why the company just landed a contract with TikTok Shop to power content moderation for 500,000 merchants. He breaks down the hard lessons of finding product-market fit, why insights alone didn't create sticky SaaS revenue, and how video search is becoming the backbone of e-commerce personalization. 🎯 Why video reviews beat AI-generated content for trust 🛒 How video search drives attribution and conversion 🔄 The pivot from insights-only to full video commerce 📊 6,000 videos analyzed in one week vs. 11 months manually 🤖 Why building your own AI models beats LLM costs at scale ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Ajay's 18-year e-commerce background 01:00 Why 95% of video is unsearchable 02:30 The BMW problem — $25M spent, low video ROI 04:00 How Vyrill got its first customer: Porsche 06:00 Why project-based insights didn't stick as SaaS 07:15 The shift to commerce: search, personalization, SEO 09:30 Landing TikTok Shop and content moderation at scale 11:00 Hyper-personalization and the video distribution gap 12:30 Chicago Bulls case study — 2,000 videos at a live game 13:15 2025 priorities: sales, growth, and partnerships 🔥 Want to build qualified pipeline with SaaS decision-makers? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #Ecommerce #VideoMarketing #ProdGrowthStory #RapidProductGrowth
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130 SaaS Startups Exposed the #1 Mistake Founders Make Before First Revenue
02/10/2026
130 SaaS Startups Exposed the #1 Mistake Founders Make Before First Revenue
130+ SaaS companies nurtured, $200M+ in follow-on funding. Here's what actually works. Featuring Patrick White, Co-Founder of L-SPARK — one of Canada's top B2B SaaS accelerators. Patrick breaks down what separates SaaS founders who gain traction from those who stall — covering why "revenue solves all problems," how AI is reshaping SaaS pricing models, and why 60% of their most successful founders come from the vertical they're serving. If you're building a B2B SaaS startup or advising one, this conversation is packed with hard-won operator logic. 💰 Revenue first: validate before you build $250K of product 🏗️ Vertical SaaS wins because founders know the pain firsthand 📦 Channel partnerships fail when you forget to feed them 🤖 AI won't compress timelines as fast as founders expect 🎯 L-SPARK's 3% warrant model aligns incentives with founders ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 How L-SPARK started and why SaaS-only was the bet 02:45 L-SPARK's unique for-profit model and 3% warrant structure 04:00 How AI is pressuring SaaS margins and pricing models 07:00 Marketing an accelerator: inbound, outbound, and showing value 09:30 Will AI reduce the need for VC funding? 11:45 Why bootstrap and lifestyle shouldn't be dirty words 13:45 The $250K mistake: building before validating distribution 15:00 Trends among founders who succeed vs. those who stall 17:00 Where Canadian SaaS is headed in the next five years 19:30 Patrick's parting advice: revenue solves all problems 🔥 Want to build qualified pipeline for your B2B SaaS company? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #B2BStartups #VentureCapital #SaaSGrowth #RapidProductGrowth
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Why This SaaS CEO Says Build vs. Buy Is the Wrong Analytics Question Entirely
02/10/2026
Why This SaaS CEO Says Build vs. Buy Is the Wrong Analytics Question Entirely
Most SaaS companies waste years building analytics from scratch. Arman Eshraghi built a platform so they don't have to. Featuring Arman Eshraghi, serial entrepreneur and CEO of Qrvey — the embedded analytics platform purpose-built for SaaS. Arman has founded four B2B SaaS companies, scaled one past 200 employees to acquisition, and spent decades learning what separates platform builders from application builders. He breaks down why extreme specialization in a crowded analytics market is a competitive advantage, how Qrvey's OEM sales cycle works from first call to close, and why most founders fail because they build for themselves instead of their customers. 🧩 Platform vs. application: why the distinction changes everything 📋 How to run an OEM evaluation in weeks, not months 🎯 Extreme niche focus means buyers find you, not the reverse 🏠 The "house" metaphor for build vs. buy vs. rent in analytics 🚫 The one question that exposes whether a startup will fail ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Arman's journey from age-18 founder to platform builder 02:00 What multi-tenant embedded analytics actually means 03:00 Four companies and the lesson each one taught 06:15 How the OEM sales cycle runs in 2-3 months 08:45 Direct sales vs. partnerships in a B2B2B model 09:45 Why hyper-specialization changes your entire marketing strategy 12:30 Articulating positioning so the right buyers self-select 13:15 "Build less, deliver more" — the buy vs. build vs. rent framework 15:45 The question that predicts startup failure 🔥 Want SaaS executives booking calls with you every week? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #EmbeddedAnalytics #B2BSales #ProductLedGrowth #RapidProductGrowth
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Enterprise ROI From Day One: Why Innovation Theater Is Dead in 2025
02/10/2026
Enterprise ROI From Day One: Why Innovation Theater Is Dead in 2025
Enterprise innovation used to mean skunkworks and venture studios. Now it has to hit an ROI target on day one. Featuring Jordan Katz, Partner at Manifold — advisory firm partnered with Google Cloud, Microsoft, and Oracle. Jean-Michel and Jordan break down how enterprise digital transformation has shifted from "innovation theater" to use-case-driven AI deployment with clear business cases. They walk through a real healthcare referral automation project that cut staff time, increased patient volume, and layered on predictive analytics — plus why change management kills more initiatives than bad technology ever will. 🏥 How a hospital automated referrals and drove measurable revenue 🤖 Why AI projects now require an ROI case before they start 🔄 Change management tactics: top-down, bottom-up, carrot, stick 👤 Augmenting your best people instead of replacing headcount 📩 Why most outbound sales emails fail the personalization test ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Jordan's path from startup growth to enterprise consulting 02:00 Skunkworks vs. startup-in-a-box: what actually works 03:30 How COVID shifted enterprise innovation spending 05:30 Healthcare referral automation: a real case study 07:45 Why implementation and change management get overlooked 09:30 Frameworks for driving adoption across organizations 10:15 How Manifold wins clients through partnerships and referrals 12:00 Where enterprise transformation is headed in 2025 14:00 Scaling digital initiatives: the adoption bottleneck 15:00 AI and jobs — augmentation vs. automation in practice 17:00 Filling the top of funnel without spamming prospects 18:00 What excites Jordan most about AI in 2025 🔥 Want to build qualified pipeline with SaaS decision-makers? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #DigitalTransformation #B2BSaaS #EnterpriseAI #HealthcareInnovation #RapidProductGrowth
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Netlify's CTO Says SaaS Is Dying — How AI Agents Replace Your Entire Stack
02/10/2026
Netlify's CTO Says SaaS Is Dying — How AI Agents Replace Your Entire Stack
"SaaS is dead" — Satya said it. Salesforce went agent-first. Netlify's CTO explains what's actually next. Featuring Dana, CTO at Netlify — a 10-year-old Series D company navigating the shift from JAMstack to AI-native web development. Jean-Michel sits down with Netlify's CTO to unpack how vibe coding, no-code platforms, and AI agents are collapsing the time-to-market for B2B SaaS products — and why enterprise companies are still stuck in procurement cycles while solo founders ship production apps in an afternoon. They cover why the expertise gap is widening, how MCP protocols will connect your entire tool stack, and what CTOs should actually tell their teams right now. 🤖 Vibe coding is real — senior devs are shipping faster than ever 🏢 Enterprises want speed but compliance lags behind new tech 🧑💻 Startups of one are building end-to-end products today 🔗 MCP will connect Salesforce, Gong, Notion into one AI layer 🎯 Start with business tool automation to lower team resistance ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Netlify's 10-year journey from JAMstack to AI 01:30 The vibe coding explosion in the last 3 months 03:00 Why mid-market moves faster than enterprise on AI 04:00 Bot traffic vs. human traffic — does it matter? 05:00 No-code's version control problem 08:00 The widening expertise gap in software 11:00 MySpace HTML to AI prompts — the same evolution 13:00 Startups of one and the end of large dev teams 15:30 Enterprise customers demanding faster customization 17:00 MCP protocols and the future of connected SaaS tools 18:00 Advice for CTOs in Q2 2025 — prepare your people 🔥 Want to build qualified pipeline with SaaS executives like this? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #AI #B2BMarketing #VibeCoding #RapidProductGrowth
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Why Enterprise SaaS Deals Only Close Through Trust (Not Demos or SEO)
02/10/2026
Why Enterprise SaaS Deals Only Close Through Trust (Not Demos or SEO)
Your $20K personality workshop gets forgotten in a month. AI coaching changes that math entirely. Featuring Juan Bentancourt, founder of Human Intelligence and creator of Ask Aura. Juan spent 25 years at Procter & Gamble, Reebok, Siebel Systems, and executive search firms Heidrick & Struggles and Korn Ferry before building an AI coaching platform that makes psychometric tools like DISC actually usable at scale. He and Jean-Michel break down why enterprise HR buyers struggle to trust small vendors, how to sell a product nobody knows they need, and the one weekly habit that keeps startup teams aligned without formal engagement surveys. 🧠 Why 95% of employees never benefit from personality assessments 🤝 The only sales motion closing deals for unknown SaaS vendors ⚡ How Ask Aura turns a 10-minute test into 240+ uses per year 📋 The "mood meter" one-on-one trick for startup founders 🏢 Lessons from signing a $5M Accenture deal — then losing your champions ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Why Juan built an AI psychometrics platform 01:30 The workshop-in-a-folder problem with DISC and StrengthsFinder 03:45 Making AI coaching as simple as ChatGPT adoption 05:30 Quantifying ROI for soft-skill tools when CFOs push back 08:15 Why SEO and demos fail for category-creating products 09:30 The trust gap: selling enterprise software as a small vendor 11:45 AI noise and buyer paralysis in 2025 12:30 Product roadmap and the Accenture rollout 14:15 Advice for founders: mood meters and better one-on-ones 🔥 Want to build real pipeline with decision-makers who actually show up? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #B2BSales #HRTech #PeopleAnalytics #RapidProductGrowth
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How to Close Enterprise Sales With 9-Month Cycles in Healthcare SaaS
02/10/2026
How to Close Enterprise Sales With 9-Month Cycles in Healthcare SaaS
A diabetes nonprofit selling into hospital systems with 9-month sales cycles? Here's how Tidepool closes enterprise deals. Featuring Izzy, who oversees sales and fundraising at Tidepool, a diabetes med tech nonprofit that took a DIY community's algorithm through FDA clearance and turned it into a commercial product. Jean-Michel and Izzy break down how Tidepool sells enterprise software to health systems — navigating HIPAA security reviews, C-suite budget cycles, and 9-12 month deal timelines — all while operating as a nonprofit. If you sell into healthcare or run long enterprise sales cycles, this conversation covers the exact tactics that keep deals alive when your buyer has a patient waiting in the next room. 🏥 Why nonprofit SaaS still needs serious revenue strategy ⏳ How to stay top of mind across 9-month sales cycles 🤝 Role-play and prep your champion before budget meetings 📩 The "go until no" follow-up framework from fundraising 🎯 One non-response does not equal one lost deal ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 What Tidepool does and why it exists 01:50 The founding story: two frustrated patients build a company 03:45 Diabetes as a data disease — why devices need a hub 05:00 DIY Loop: patients building their own medical tech 06:30 Taking a community algorithm through FDA clearance 07:30 No money, no mission — how nonprofit revenue works 08:45 Selling a data platform to health systems 11:00 Why hospital sales cycles take 9-12 months 13:00 Adapting to the buyer's timeline and budget cycle 15:00 The "go until no" follow-up principle 16:30 Why boldness in follow-up beats politeness 🔥 Want to build qualified pipeline with decision-makers who actually show up? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #B2BSales #HealthTech #EnterpriseSales #RapidProductGrowth
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Dirty CRM Data Cost This Company Six Figures — AI Fixed It in 5 Days
02/10/2026
Dirty CRM Data Cost This Company Six Figures — AI Fixed It in 5 Days
Your CRM data is lying to you — and your CFO knows it. Featuring Joanna Ridgway, SVP Global Sales at CEN.ai. Jean-Michel and Joanna break down why messy GTM data is costing B2B SaaS companies hundreds of thousands in misallocated marketing spend — and how AI-powered sales analytics can clean, enhance, and analyze your CRM data in under five days. They cover selling to CROs and CFOs simultaneously, the cross-functional business case for data tools, and a practical checklist for AI implementation that actually sticks. 📊 How one company saved six figures by shifting from paid ads to product-led growth 🤝 Why your AI sales tool should sell to the CFO, not just the CRO ⚡ Clean CRM data in 3-5 days by connecting Salesforce, HubSpot, and ERP 🧠 The build vs. buy decision for AI — and when each makes sense ✅ A simple AI implementation checklist: strategy, pilot, KPIs, governance ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Why Joanna left banking for AI sales 01:45 What CEN.ai actually does with your CRM data 03:30 Selling to the CFO — revenue models and budget allocation 05:15 Using "what if" analytics to optimize lead response time 06:00 Change management when rolling out AI tools 08:30 How CROs and CMOs use the same dashboards differently 10:00 The biggest GTM data problems in B2B right now 11:30 Connecting CRM and ERP for the full customer journey 12:45 Scaling a global sales org through channel strategy 15:00 Patterns in successful vs. failed AI implementations 17:00 Build vs. buy and the future of AI in sales 🔥 Want to get in front of SaaS executives who buy? Start here 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #B2BSales #SalesAnalytics #AIinSales #RapidProductGrowth
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We Cut Our Team from 50 to 7 and Grew Faster — Scaling a SaaS Marketplace in 2025
02/10/2026
We Cut Our Team from 50 to 7 and Grew Faster — Scaling a SaaS Marketplace in 2025
Search Eye went from 50 employees to 7 — and grew faster. Here's how. Featuring Chris Porteous, Founder of Search Eye, a marketplace connecting brands with publishers for digital PR and backlinks. Chris breaks down how his team scaled a B2B SaaS marketplace to Fortune 100 clients like Nasdaq and AT&T, then hit a wall when manual fulfillment collapsed at 1,200 orders per month. He shares the hard lessons on achieving product market fit for both sides of a marketplace, why he wishes he'd collected deposits before writing a single line of code, and how AI and automation let a team of 7 outperform a team of 50. 🎯 No PMF until both sides of your marketplace demand it 💰 Collect deposits before you build — ignore everyone else 🛠️ Manual fulfillment will collapse at scale, plan for it early 📈 Google search is up 10% YoY despite "SEO is dead" claims 🚀 Distribution beats product — but only if you can fulfill ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Chris's accidental path from banking to SEO 01:00 Building an internal tool that became a product 02:00 How AI is actually affecting SEO and search traffic 04:00 Search Eye's top-of-funnel strategy and visitor-level data 05:15 Why they decided to raise a pre-seed round 06:45 Biggest mistakes scaling a two-sided marketplace 08:00 The manual fulfillment collapse at 1,200 orders 10:00 Going from 50 people to 7 with AI and automation 11:00 Advice for founders stuck in manual fulfillment 13:00 Distribution vs. product — what matters more in 2025 14:45 Parting advice for marketplace founders 🔥 Want to build qualified pipeline with SaaS decision-makers? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #B2BMarketing #SEO #MarketplaceStartup #RapidProductGrowth
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Why This CRO Killed Discovery Calls and Started Closing More B2B SaaS Deals
02/10/2026
Why This CRO Killed Discovery Calls and Started Closing More B2B SaaS Deals
"Discovery calls are killing your deals." This CRO explains why — and what to do instead. Featuring Anthony Palladino, CRO at Mabl, with two decades of go-to-market experience across JetBlue, Accenture, and Electronic Arts. Anthony breaks down why the traditional B2B sales discovery call alienates buyers, how champion-based selling actually closes deals in a compressed economy, and what CROs need to change about their sales process right now. He also shares his framework for evaluating markets through "recycled budget" vs. "disruptive budget" — and why custom ROI models written for each prospect are non-negotiable in 2025. 🎯 Why your first meeting should lead with value, not questions 💰 How to land in a CFO's top 10 funded projects 🤝 Build champions before you run discovery 📊 Custom ROI models close deals — generic decks don't 🧭 Anticipate your buyer's process before they know it ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Why Anthony joined Mabl — recycled vs. disruptive budget 02:50 How AI is accelerating the need for automated testing 04:50 Moore's Law is dead — innovation now moves in days 06:00 SaaS subscription mindset changed how buyers evaluate 07:30 Why only 10 of 40 projects get funded right now 08:15 Customer examples beat product pitches every time 10:00 Domain knowledge as a competitive weapon 11:00 Helping buyers navigate their own buying process 16:30 The anti-discovery call — why Anthony refuses the old model 20:30 Editing a hypothesis beats asking "what keeps you up at night" 21:45 Anthony's two-part advice for CROs in 2025 🔥 Want to build qualified pipeline with SaaS executives who actually show up? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #B2BSales #SaaS #CRO #ProductGrowthStories #RapidProductGrowth
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She Bootstrapped a SaaS to Millions in ARR With Zero Investors — Here's the Playbook
02/10/2026
She Bootstrapped a SaaS to Millions in ARR With Zero Investors — Here's the Playbook
Genesis Digital built Kartra, Webinar Jam, and an entire SaaS suite — with zero investors. Here's how. Featuring Sarah Jenkins, CEO of Genesis Digital. Sarah shares how she and her late husband bootstrapped an all-in-one marketing platform from a Google Hangouts overlay into a product competing with ClickFunnels, Go High Level, and Kajabi — all funded from profits, never venture capital. Jean-Michel and Sarah cover the brutal truth about building vs. buying software, why most SaaS founders launch AI features too fast, and the dead-simple tactic (surveys) that Daymond John recommends to recover abandoned carts. 🎯 Solve your own pain point — that's your product 💡 Surveys on cart abandons convert better than new features 🛠️ Build small integrations before trying to own the platform 📧 Send 2-3 emails per week — use AI to draft, then edit 🚀 Bootstrap by cutting costs, not chasing investors ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Sarah's origin story: Video Boss to Genesis Digital 02:30 Why video outsells every other content format 03:30 How Webinar Jam started as a Google Hangouts hack 05:00 Building vs. white labeling your SaaS product 06:30 Kartra vs. ClickFunnels vs. Go High Level vs. Kajabi 08:00 AI-integrated funnels and the product roadmap 10:00 Reliability over features — how Kartra handles downtime 12:30 Why Sarah stepped back as CEO and came back 14:00 Where AI is headed for internet marketers in two years 17:00 Daymond John's abandoned cart survey strategy 21:00 Bootstrapping SaaS without investors — the real math 23:00 Advice for SaaS founders in 2025: start small, sell info first 🔥 Want to build qualified pipeline with conversations, not cold email? 👉 🔗 Website: 🔗 Jean-Michel on LinkedIn: #SaaS #InternetMarketing #BootstrappedStartup #ProductGrowthStories #RapidProductGrowth
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