NextGen Sales Leaders

Sponsored By RevyOps (The #1 GTM Data Management Platform): https://tinyurl.com/revyops-brandoncharleson

Episode Summary:

In this episode of the Next Gen Sales Leader Podcast, Ben Reed sits down with Brandon Charleson, founder of Top of Funnel, certified Clay & Instantly expert, U.S. Air Force veteran, and GTM systems builder. Brandon shares his path from tinkering with TI-calculator apps and running Kickstarter campaigns to becoming a recruitment leader, data engineer, and AI-powered GTM operator. The conversation blends tactical GTM execution (Clay, scraping, APIs, automation) with the human side of leadership, prioritization, communication, mental energy, and avoiding burnout.

What you’ll learn:

• How Brandon evolved from tinkerer to GTM engineer using APIs, scraping, and automation
• Why “people + systems” is the essential framework for scaling
• Practical Clay/no-code data acquisition and enrichment tactics
• How to manage “brain cycles” and make better founder decisions
• Communication skills: silence, deep lexicon, and micro open-loops
• The PPTP method (Puppy → Process → Training → People) for building scalable workflows
• Where AI helps today and why it fails without clean data

Featured Guest: Brandon Charleson, Founder, Top of Funnel

Host: Ben Reed, host of the Next Gen Sales Leaders Podcast

Episode Highlights:

• 00:26 - Brandon’s Background: Tech, Film, Recruiting & Air Force
• 03:43 - “People + Systems”: How Brandon Diagnoses Problems
• 15:29 - Communication Psychology & Sales
• 18:45 - Brain Cycles, Prioritization & Founder Decision-Making
• 31:12 - Fitness, Sleep, Circadian Rhythm & Peak Performance
• 46:40 - AI Prompting, Context Engineering, LLMs
• 57:22 - Schema Design, Data Meaning & GTM Architecture
• 59:02 - Final Advice: Tell People You Care About Them Daily

Connect with Brandon:

Website: https://www.topoffunnel.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-charleson/

Follow Ben on Social:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-aaron-reed/

Join our B2B GTM & RevOps Entrepreneur Community:

https://www.skool.com/outbound-b2b-sa...

Sponsored By RevyOps (The #1 GTM Data Management Platform): https://tinyurl.com/revyops-brandoncharleson

Sponsored By RevyOps (The #1 GTM Data Management Platform): https://tinyurl.com/revyops-jdgarcia1

Episode Summary:

In this episode of the Next Gen Sales Leader Podcast, Ben Reed sits down with JD Garcia, Head of Growth at Impactable, for a raw, insightful conversation that blends the human side of leadership with the tactical edge of modern GTM. From there, Ben and JD dive into the mechanics of LinkedIn ads, channel validation, intent signals, and why so many companies misunderstand both data and AI. They break down the gap between reach and relevance, the truth about GTM engineering, and what founders actually need to do before scaling their offer. It’s equal parts philosophy, playbook, and straight talk.

What you’ll learn:

• Why achievement without fulfillment wrecks founders
• How to validate a LinkedIn audience using saturation and frequency data
• Why “reach” is a lie and “relevance” is king
• The must-do technical basics for LinkedIn Ads (Insights tag, matched audiences, paused campaigns).
• How to identify intent through overlooked signals
• Why most GTM teams misuse AI
• The simple “founder validation framework”
• Why early-stage teams shouldn’t rely on LinkedIn Ads alone
• Simple leadership moves that improve CRM adoption, team growth, and alignment.

Featured Guest: JD Garcia, Head of Growth, Impactable

Host: Ben Reed, host of the Next Gen Sales Leaders Podcast

Episode Highlights:

• 00:33: Work-Life Balance & Integrity
• 06:40: “Everybody’s Replaceable” & Real Career Lessons
• 15:38: “Perfection Is the Enemy of Good” & Moving Fast
•  32:19: Marketing is not gonna work in a silo.
• 29:48: Validating LinkedIn as a Channel (Real Examples)
• 01:00:15: Intent Signals, Data Quality & Why AI Isn’t Magic
• 01:12:58: Don't Believe the Hype, AI Needs Real Data to Work

Connect with JD:

Website: https://impactable.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linknlearn-jdg/

Follow Ben on Social:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-aaron-reed/

Join our FREE GTM Scaling Group:

https://tinyurl.com/next-gen-skool

Sponsored By RevyOps (The #1 GTM Data Management Platform): https://tinyurl.com/revyops-jdgarcia1

Sponsored By RevyOps (The #1 GTM Data Management Platform | Better Data & Reports): https://tinyurl.com/revyops-jordan2

Episode Summary:

In this episode of the Next Gen Sales Leader Podcast, Ben Reed sits down with Jordan Park, Founder of Rev Pilot, to discuss how to build simple, scalable sales systems that sales reps actually use. Jordan shares insights on improving CRM adoption, creating accountability, and cutting through the hype around AI in sales. Together, they unpack the human side of sales operations, the difference between management and ops, and why great leadership and simplicity always win.

What You Will Learn:

• How Rev Pilot helps companies build sales systems reps love and leaders trust.
• Why most CRM adoption issues come down to leadership, not technology.
• The key differences between sales management and sales operations.
• How to handle resistant reps and drive real accountability.
• Why AI is not the silver bullet for sales operations.
• The legal and ethical risks of AI voice agents in outbound sales.
• Why simplicity and discernment outperform complexity and hype.

Featured Guest: Jordan Park – Founder, RevPilot

Host: Ben Reed, host of the Next Gen Sales Leaders Podcast

Episode Highlights:

• 01:14 – What Rev Pilot does and why trust in your system matters more than tech
• 03:22 – Sales rep adoption: The #1 thing that makes or breaks CRM implementation
• 07:45 – Leadership vs. systems: fixing behavior, not just processes
• 14:43 – The three-step framework for handling resistant sales reps
• 10:59 – Cultural pushback: when a few unhappy reps can derail the whole system.
• 22:17 – Top-down leadership vs. democratized values (the culture coach disaster story)
• 30:20 – The 12 leads/week guy who wanted AI: When solutions chase problems
• 42:30 – AI hype vs. reality: Why most businesses don't actually need AI
• 52:28 – The politics of tech providers and why honest voices get silenced
• 01:08:12 – WARNING: AI voice agents and FTC robocall compliance (this will get you sued)
• 01:17:18 – Signal-based outreach: Context beats personalization every time

Connect with Jordan:

Website: https://revpilot.co

YouTube: Jordan R. Park

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesalesoperator/

Instagram: @jordanrpark

Follow Ben on Social:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-aaron-reed/

Join our FREE GTM Scaling Group:

https://tinyurl.com/next-gen-skool

Sponsored By RevyOps (The #1 GTM Data Platform) https://tinyurl.com/revyops-jordan2

Episode Summary: In this episode of the Next Gen Sales Leader Podcast, Ben welcomes Felipe Aranguiz , Head of Growth and Partner at Email Bison. Felipe shares his decade-long journey in cold email, from the early days of sending “spam” to co-founding one of the most advanced email deliverability platforms tailored for agencies and GTM teams. They unpack how the cold email industry has evolved, why deliverability is the most critical lever today, and how the best players in the space are adapting. This is a must-listen for GTM Agency owners, cold email pros, and anyone doing outbound marketing today.

What You Will Learn:

• Why deliverability is the new bottleneck in cold email and how to overcome it.
• The major differences between Email Bison and other sequencers like Instantly.
• Insights from Taylor Harron's 250K email deliverability benchmark study.
• Why most cold email data is misleading (and how to fix it).
• What separates top-performing agencies from the rest.
• Why tracking full-funnel metrics matters more than reply rates.
• Felipe’s take on building an honorable business in a hype-driven industry.

Featured Guest: Felipe Aranguiz – Head of Growth & Partner, Email Bison

Connect with Felipe:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felipearanguiz/

Subscribe & Review: Love this episode? Subscribe to the Next Gen Sales Leaders Podcast for B2B cold outbound, lead generation, sales, and marketing industry insights. If you found value in today’s episode, please leave us a review.

Host: Ben Reed, host of the Next Gen Sales Leaders Podcast.

Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-aaron-reed/

Join our B2B GTM Scaling Community: https://www.skool.com/outbound-b2b-sales/about?ref=07a56393b2d2435d9366f2e6151e2600

Give your GTM Team Data Super Powers: https://tinyurl.com/revyops-29

Episode Summary: Join me with Carolyn Dilks, Co-Founder of Passetto, a GTM and Revenue Operations Agency that helps you "Fix Your Pipeline Problem. For Good."

We dive deep into the evolving world of revenue operations, data integrity, and the emerging GTM engineering trend.

Carolyn shares her journey in building data-driven systems that align marketing and sales into a unified revenue engine.

We tackle the myths around attribution, the messy reality of CRM data, and how to fix the broken frameworks that most teams are still using to measure success.

What You Will Learn:

• Why most B2B teams are still using decade-old models for measuring revenue success.
• How to transition from a source-based attribution model to a more insightful causal chain of events.
• What defines a true GTM Engineer—and how that differs from RevOps.
• The biggest constraints holding back revenue growth and how to solve them using data.
• How Passetto uses tech-enabled advisory services to clean CRM data and unlock actionable growth insights.

Featured Guest: Carolyn Dilks – Co-Founder of Passetto, revenue data strategist, and B2B growth expert.

Connect with Carolyn:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolyn-dilks/
• Website: https://www.passetto.com/

Host: Ben Reed, host of the NextGen Sales Leaders Podcast.

Follow Ben on Social:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-aaron-reed/

Subscribe & Review: Love this episode? Subscribe to the NextGen Sales Leaders Podcast for bold insights on B2B CRO, sales, and marketing strategy. If you found value in today’s episode, please leave us a review!

Join our B2B GTM & RevOps Entrepreneur Community:

• https://www.skool.com/outbound-b2b-sales/about?ref=07a56393b2d2435d9366f2e6151e2600

Sponsored By RevyOps (The #1 GTM Data Management Platform): https://tinyurl.com/carolyn-1

Episode Summary:

Host Ben Reed welcomes Stuart Brent, founder of SaasyDB, to the NextGen Sales Leaders Podcast. Stuart shares his path from running a screen-printing shop in West Philly to building multiple startups and launching a niche SaaS company database. Together, they explore the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, hiring lessons, the power of niche data, and how to bootstrap SaaS without outside funding.

What You Will Learn:

1. How Stuart’s early ventures shaped his entrepreneurial mindset.
2. The importance of discernment and trust in partnerships and hiring.
3. Why “hire slow, fire fast” is one of the most important rules in scaling.
4. Insights into building niche databases and monetizing curated data.
5. Predictions on AI, low-code vulnerabilities, and the pushback for more human involvement in customer support.

Featured Guest: Stuart Brent: Founder of SaasyDB, the SaaS company database built for marketers and sales teams.

Host: Ben Reed, host of the Next Gen Sales Leaders Podcast.

Episode Highlights:

• 01:00 – From band T-shirts to screen printing business in West Philly
• 12:00 – How street smarts translate into entrepreneurship
• 14:00 – Red flags in partnerships & why discernment matters
• 17:00 – Hiring lessons: firing fast, the “mafia enforcer” candidate story
• 21:00 – Ben’s 3-day hiring challenge method & why most founders get hiring wrong
• 27:00 – VA challenges: when to cut ties quickly vs. retrain
• 31:00 – Managing people with clear systems: Ben’s PPTP framework
• 36:00 – Scaling agencies vs. building SaaS: lessons from RevyOps and SaasyDB
• 43:00 – Why lead generation agencies are brutally hard to scale
• 46:00 – Niching down for success and the power of specialized databases
• 50:00 – RevyOps’ vision of the “database of databases”
• 55:00 – What SaasyDB does and how Stuart pivoted into SaaS data
• 58:00 – Future of curated niche data sets vs. big providers
• 1:03:00 – Signal enrichment, tiered products & upsell opportunities
• 1:07:00 – Final thoughts, advice for entrepreneurs & AI predictions

Connect with Stuart:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartbrent/
• Website: https://www.saasydb.com/

Follow Ben on Social:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-aaron-reed/

Join our FREE Group "NextGen Sales Systems:"

https://tinyurl.com/next-gen-skool

Centralize & Analyze Your GTM Data: https://revyops.com

Episode Summary:

Join us as Austin Reed, CEO of Horizon Dev, shares his entrepreneurial journey from being a full-time musician and digital nomad to building a thriving development agency focused on low-code and no-code automation. Austin opens up about scaling Horizon Dev, landing dream clients like VRF, building a vibrant Skool community, and navigating the personal challenges of identity, resilience, and leadership along the way.

What You Will Learn:

• How Austin transitioned from music and freelancing to leading a global dev agency.
• The evolution of outbound prospecting and why branding often wins over cold outreach.
• Key no-code/low-code tools and their tradeoffs for businesses and developers.
• Insights into scaling a business with long-term client relationships and MRR stability.
• The mindset shifts and personal growth required to sustain entrepreneurial success.

Featured Guest: Austin Reed – CEO of Horizon Dev.

Host: Ben Reed, host of the Next Gen Sales Leaders Podcast.

Episode Highlights:

[00:01:00] Building Horizon Dev: From musician and nomad to tech CEO.

[00:03:30] Branding vs. Outbound: Why Austin shifted from cold outreach to long-term brand and content strategies.

[00:08:10] Skool Community: Teaching no-code/low-code automation to founders & devs.

[00:26:00] Martial Arts & Mindset: How Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu shaped resilience.

[00:32:00] The Automation Stack: N8N, Zapier, Make, and Lovable.

[00:44:00] Ecosystems & Psychology: Why some tools win despite better options.

[00:52:00] Identity & Burnout: Learning to let go and grow as a leader.

[01:14:00] Meditation & Surrender: Vipassana retreats and emotional awareness.

[01:23:00] Final Reflections: Empowering teams and clients to chase their dreams.

Connect with Austin:

• Website: https://horizon.dev
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@horizonsoftwaredev
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/automationsexpert/

Follow Ben on Social:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-aaron-reed/

Join our FREE Group "NextGen Sales Systems:"

https://tinyurl.com/next-gen-skool

Centralize & Analyze Your GTM Data: https://revyops.com

Episode Summary:

Join us as Dean Fiacco, founder of Scaled Mail (cold email infrastructure SaaS) and Beanstalk Consulting (cold outbound agency), shares his journey from tech sales to running two successful businesses. Dean breaks down the realities of cold email deliverability, why inbox infrastructure is critical, and how he’s balanced scaling an agency while building SaaS. From domain reputation to hiring strategies, this episode is packed with practical insights for agency owners, outbound teams, and aspiring founders.

What You Will Learn:

• Why scaling cold email requires more than Gmail/Microsoft accounts.
• How Scaled Mail grew out of Beanstalk’s inbox challenges.
• Best practices for domain reputation and inbox-to-domain ratios.
• The importance of simplifying agency operations and client selection.
• Hiring strategies that work: probationary periods, tests, and “hire fast, fire fast.”
• Why agencies often spin out SaaS products and how to approach it.

Featured Guest: Dean Fiacco – Founder of Beanstalk Consulting (cold email agency) and ScaledMail (cold email infrastructure SaaS).

Host: Ben Reed – RevyOps founder and host of the Next Gen Sales Leaders Podcast.

Episode Highlights:

• [00:00] Welcome & Intro: Dean introduces Beanstalk and Scaled Mail.
• [02:30] From pain point to SaaS: How inbox headaches became Scaled Mail.
• [04:06] Why not just Gmail?: ESP limits and deliverability challenges.
• [06:59] Domain reputation: Protecting your main domain with lookalikes.
• [10:04] Inbox ratios: Safe setups for Google, Microsoft, and SMTP.
• [12:23] Marketplace solution: Prebuilt packages to simplify scaling.
• [15:46] Redundancy matters: Avoiding provider lock-in and outages.
• [21:23] Running two businesses: Delegation, teams, and evolving roles.
• [25:58] Agency growth tips: Keep it simple, choose the right clients.
• [31:23] Hiring tests: Ben’s “three-day challenge” for new hires.
• [34:06] Hire fast, fire fast: Dean’s approach to evaluating talent.
• [40:33] From agency to SaaS: Why services spawn product ideas.
• [58:04] Sales as a founder skill: Why talking to customers matters.
• [01:08:12] Parting advice: Dean’s call to action—just start and sell.

Connect with Dean:

• ScaledMail: https://scaledmail.com
• Beanstalk Consulting: https://beanstalkconsulting.co
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanfiacco/

Subscribe & Review: Love this episode? Subscribe to the Next Gen Sales Leaders Podcast.

Follow Ben on Social:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-aaron-reed/

Join our FREE Group "NextGen Sales Systems:"

• https://tinyurl.com/next-gen-skool

Solve your GTM Data Problems: https://revyops.com

Episode Summary:

Join Ben Reed as he speaks with Bill Stathopoulos—author of Cold Email Secrets and founder of Sales Captain.

Bill shares how he built a leading outbound agency that scaled from mastering messaging with leading brands to developing their own AI-powered reply systems.

Discover the behind-the-scenes of fast-paced book creation, high-stakes offer crafting, and staying ahead in the shifting world of outbound marketing.

What You Will Learn:

• The unexpected journey from Zoom-recorded conversations to a nearly 200-page cold email book, and the rigorous revisions that shaped it.
• How Bill leveraged cold outbound to go from recruiting elite speakers to landing million-dollar campaigns with brands like Amazon, Apple, and JCPenney.
• The contrasting types of agencies in the cold email space—from get-rich-quick schemes to expert-focused firms to scalable, client-first businesses.
• Insights on crafting offers and messaging that resonate with a cold audience—and why testing, negative replies, and rapid iteration matter.
• Strategies behind Sales Captain’s custom-built AI BDR tool: how it intelligently classifies replies and auto-responds without hallucinations.
• Trends reshaping outbound: the shift from one-to-one emails to outbound-as-inbound, multi-channel orchestration, signal-based personalization, and the renewed emphasis on relevance and deliverability.
• The enduring importance of idea-market fit: targeting the right ICP, creating compelling messaging, and maintaining email deliverability—a triad where any weakness can break your campaign.

Featured Guest: Bill Stathopoulos — Author of Cold Email Secrets and Founder of Sales Captain, specializing in data-driven, AI-enhanced outbound strategies.

Connect with Bill:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billstath/

Host: Ben Reed, host of the NextGen Sales Leaders Podcast.

Follow Ben on Social:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-aaron-reed/

Join our B2B GTM & RevOps Entrepreneur Community:

• https://www.skool.com/outbound-b2b-sales/about?ref=07a56393b2d2435d9366f2e6151e2600

Work with Ben:

• https://www.nextgensalessystems.com/

Centralize, analyze, and visualize your B2B data:

• https://www.revyops.com

Subscribe & Review: Love this episode? Subscribe to the Next Gen Sales Leaders Podcast for B2B CRO, Sales, and Marketing industry insights. If you found value in today’s episode, please leave us a review.

Episode Summary:

Host Ben Reed sits down with Jeff Gostovich, a 26-year veteran in B2B and B2C sales and a master of capital raising in the oil and gas industry.

Jeff breaks down his journey from door-to-door sales to raising millions over the phone with high-net-worth investors—all without Zoom or in-person meetings.

Tune in for Jedi-level insights into sales psychology, handling high-risk deals, and how being authentic and aligned beats hard-selling tactics every time.

What You Will Learn:

• Why oil and gas capital raising is one of the most challenging sales fields.
• How to influence high-net-worth individuals to invest in high-risk deals—over the phone.
• The psychology of top-tier sales, including the power of silence and disqualifying early.
• The art of building alignment over persuasion in sales.
• How to be the “CIA agent” of enterprise sales and master internal influence.
• Real-world insights on subject-matter expertise, listening, and identifying real buyers.

Featured Guest: Jeff Gostovich – Capital raising expert and high-ticket sales specialist in the oil and gas industry.

Connect with Jeff Gostovich:

• Call/Text: (307) 630-3992

Host: Ben Reed, host of the Next Gen Sales Leaders Podcast.

Follow Ben on Social:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-aaron-reed/

Join our FREE B2B Scaling Group for Founders:

https://www.skool.com/outbound-b2b-sales/about?ref=07a56393b2d2435d9366f2e6151e2600

Work with Ben: https://www.nextgensalessystems.com/

Subscribe & Review: Love this episode? Subscribe to the Next Gen Sales Leaders Podcast for top-tier insights in B2B sales, CRO strategies, and marketing leadership. Found value in this episode? Please leave us a review!