Tushar Makhija is the co-founder and CEO of TeamOhana, a workforce intelligence platform that unifies finance, HR, and talent data, so growing companies can plan and manage headcount in real-time.

In this episode, Tushar shares how TeamOhana is breaking into enterprise deals while still winning $15K mid-market accounts, and why he believes spreadsheets are the silent killer of scale.

Topics we cover in this episode:

- Why $15K is the minimum price even for tiny teams

- What most SaaS founders get wrong about Workday

- From 150 to 15,000 employees: scaling up-market without losing speed

- The strategic manifesto Tushar wrote before writing code

- Why spreadsheet workflows kill growth (and how to replace them)

- How to build multi-product from day one without losing focus

- Case study: landing Scale AI with a 30-day exit clause

- Why you should produce your own founder podcast (and send it to every hire)

- The LinkedIn + long-form strategy driving brand and pipeline

- How TeamOhana frames “collaborative workforce intelligence” to win deals

Connect with Tushar:

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

TeamOhana: https://teamohana.com

Connect with me:

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

Website: https://www.project33.io/

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

Don’t forget to subscribe for more founder-led marketing playbooks from high-growth SaaS leaders.

Chapters

00:00 Why TeamOhana starts every deal at $15K

02:01 The hiring spreadsheet every company hates

05:10 Why selling to both Finance and HR was non-negotiable

08:30 Breaking into enterprise: from mid-market to 15K+ employees

10:40 How Tushar priced for scale (and resisted the $1K/month trap)

14:20 Building a multi-product platform with a narrow start

18:30 Turning spreadsheets into cloud-native workflows

22:00 The playbook for converting $15K logos into $100K ACVs

24:10 How Scale AI became a customer with a 45-day escape clause

28:30 Competing with Workday: why they’re a filing cabinet, not a system of action

32:50 Why hiring managers must live inside your product

35:00 GTM channels: website, LinkedIn, outbound—and one long-form bet

38:00 The 2-hour podcast Tushar made himself (and why he did it)

41:00 Every new hire watches the founder video—here’s why

42:45 Final advice: pick 2–3 channels and go deep

#linkedin #founderledmarketing #linkedinads #linkedinagency #founderbranding #saas #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #demandgen #content #b2b #revenue #contentmarketing #performancemarketing #videomarketing #personalbranding

Kevin Dorsey (KD) is one of the most respected voices in modern sales leadership, with 137K+ followers on LinkedIn and a track record that includes leading sales at PatientPop, Bench, and now as CRO at finally.

In this episode, KD shares the real reason he started posting on LinkedIn (spoiler: not to sell), how he built a magnetic hiring brand without selling to sellers, and why most founders are sitting on gold, but never reach out.

If you’ve ever wondered how to write consistently, attract the right hires, or build a sales motion in SMB this one’s a masterclass.

Topics we cover in this episode:

- Why KD started posting on LinkedIn (and why it still works today)

- How his content attracted the right hires—without recruiters

- Why he never chased virality or trends (no carousels, no hooks)

- The difference between leading vs. consulting—and why he came back

- How to use DMs to build pipeline with 20 messages a day and zero automation

- Why you should never automate what you haven’t nailed manually

- The biggest mindset shifts most founders need to sell effectively

- Why consistency, not creativity, drives long-term results

- Building a sales motion in SMB: volume, relevance, and fast learning

- Real AI workflows he’s already running as CRO, and what’s next

Perfect for:

- Founders posting on LinkedIn but not seeing traction

- Sales leaders scaling from 5 to 50 reps (or hiring their first few)

- Solo consultants, advisors, and creators wondering what’s next

- Anyone tired of “growth hacks” and looking for what actually works

Connect with KD

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kddorsey3/

finally: https://finally.com/

Sales Leadership Accelerator: https://salesleadershipaccelerator.com/

Connect with me:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/

- Website: https://www.project33.io/

- Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

Chapters:

00:00 Intro & Career Highlights

01:00 Why KD Really Started Posting on LinkedIn

03:00 Recruiting with Content (No Sales Needed)

05:30 How Posting Has Changed (and What Still Works)

07:20 Why He Stuck With Text-Only Posts

09:00 Going Solo: More Money, Less Fun

11:15 Why He Returned to Sales Leadership

14:30 His Niche: Scaling from 5 to 50 Reps

16:10 The 5D Leadership Framework

18:00 Writing for Agreement (Not Just Education)

20:00 Why Founder Content Should Amplify ICP Voices

22:40 KD’s Daily Writing System

25:30 How to Pick the Right Post to Write

27:00 Why You Should DM Every Liker

29:00 Outreach Tactics Most Founders Miss

31:45 Why You Must Master Manual Before Automating

34:00 The Secret Power of Founder-to-Founder DMs

36:30 The Mental Shift from Inbound to Outbound

38:00 Scaling Sales in SMB: What Actually Works

41:00 Why ACV Isn’t the Problem—Pipeline Volume Is

43:00 Where AI Is Already Working in Sales

46:00 The Leadership Gap in AI Adoption

48:00 What KD Wishes He Knew 15 Years Ago

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

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

Website: https://www.project33.io/

#linkedin #founderledmarketing #linkedinads #linkedinagency #founderbranding #saas #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #demandgen #content #b2b #revenue #contentmarketing #performancemarketing #videomarketing #personalbranding

Irina Novoselsky is the CEO of Hootsuite, where she’s proving that social content is a revenue driver.

Since stepping in as CEO, Irina has built one of the most effective LinkedIn presences in tech leadership. Her content drives 11.6M impressions per quarter, helps influence 40% of Hootsuite’s pipeline, and breaks every “best practice” that doesn’t serve the brand or the customer.

In this episode, Irina breaks down her exact playbook for building a high-performing LinkedIn strategy, how she balances authenticity with outcomes, and why every CEO should treat social as a customer channel.

We also get into her journey from Wall Street to tech, the lessons she’s learned as a first-time CEO, and how Hootsuite is turning employee advocacy into real growth.

Topics we cover in this episode:

-Irina’s framework for content that’s personal and performs

- How her posts drive 40% of Hootsuite’s pipeline

- Why she avoids praise posts and what she does instead

- Building 3 content pillars every CEO should have

- Why video became her unfair advantage on LinkedIn

- Social selling vs. brand vs. pipeline—and how she thinks about ROI

- The real reason most execs don’t post (and how to fix it)

- What leadership actually looks like at the top

Perfect for:

- Founders looking to turn LinkedIn into a revenue engine

- CEOs trying to balance thought leadership with real impact

- Marketing leaders trying to get executive buy-in for content

Connect with Irina:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/irina-novoselsky/

- Hootsuite: https://www.hootsuite.com/

Connect with me:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/

- Website: https://www.project33.io/

- Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast for more insights from industry leaders in B2B SaaS and marketing!

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

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

Website: https://www.project33.io/

Chapters

00:00 Irina’s Journey from Finance to Tech

03:10 The Moment She Started Posting on LinkedIn

05:45 The PET Framework for High-Impact Posts

08:00 Why She Writes Her Own Content (and Always Will)

10:30 Commenting at Scale: Building Relationships in the Feed

13:00 The Myth of CEO Content Being “Optional”

16:20 Her 3 Content Pillars and Why They Work

19:15 The Real ROI of Posting: 40% Pipeline Influence

22:45 How Hootsuite Scales Employee Advocacy

25:50 Building a Feedback Loop Between Social and Product

28:15 Why Video Became Her Superpower on LinkedIn

31:10 Executing Content with Limited Time (The CEO Reality)

34:00 Balancing Authenticity, Leadership, and Audience Value

37:30 Advice for Founders Scared to Show Up Online

40:00 Creating a Company People Want to Follow

#linkedin #founderledmarketing #linkedinads #linkedinagency #founderbranding #saas #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #demandgen #content #b2b #revenue #contentmarketing #performancemarketing #videomarketing #personalbranding

Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast for more insights from industry leaders in B2B SaaS and marketing!

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

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

Website: https://www.project33.io/

Chris Evans is the co-founder of incident.io, an incident management platform built for modern reliability teams. He started the company in 2021 with two former Monzo engineers, and they’ve raised $62M, passed $10M+ ARR, and landed customers like Linear, Vercel, and Intercom.

In this episode, Chris breaks down how they built trust with technical buyers, why the co-founders chose to stay sales-led (even with developer customers), and what’s really working in their GTM motion today.

He also shares the role founder content played in landing their first customers, how the team picks between SF and London, and what’s next as they scale toward enterprise.

Topics we cover in this episode:

- How incident.io validated their first product by building in-house at Monzo

- The early traction playbook: landing logos without a sales process or billing setup

- Why the team stayed in London—until Series B pulled them to San Francisco

- Selling to engineers vs. executives: how they handle messaging across personas

- Building a solutions engineering team instead of a self-serve motion

- Why they ditched spray-and-pray for signal-based outbound

- Their ACV ranges and why they haven’t hit a $1M deal (yet)

- Founder-led content: how early Twitter and now LinkedIn shaped pipeline

Perfect for:

- DevTool and SaaS founders targeting both ICs and execs

- Founders navigating early-stage traction without a formal sales team

- GTM leaders balancing sales-led and product-led growth

- Engineers building “tools that should exist” and want to productize it

Connect with Chris:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evnsio

- incident.io: https://incident.io/

Connect with me:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/

- Website: https://www.project33.io/

- Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast for more insights from industry leaders in B2B SaaS and marketing!

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

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

Website: https://www.project33.io/

Chapters

00:00 From Monzo Bank to Co-Founding incident.io

01:20 Culture Shock: Scaling from London to San Francisco

04:15 Why They Delayed Building a US Office

06:17 How the Founders Chose Their Roles

08:43 Chris on Titles, Solutions Engineering & Field CTO

10:56 Building the MVP Inside Monzo (and Burning It Down Later)

12:44 The First Inbound Deals—Powered by Twitter, Not LinkedIn

14:21 Selling Without a Product, Billing, or Order Forms

16:18 Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Sales in Developer Tools

18:12 How They Balance Messaging Across Personas

20:20 Why They Prioritize the Buyer, Not the Exec

21:26 From 100% Inbound to Targeted Outbound

23:41 Using Signal-Based Outreach to Win High-Intent Accounts

25:08 ACVs, Self-Serve, and Moving Upmarket

27:08 How Etsy Pushed Them to Build an Enterprise-Ready Product

29:02 Advice on When to Go After Big Deals

31:17 “Be Loud on the Internet” – Founder-Led Brand at incident.io

33:14 Why LinkedIn Still Works for Technical Audiences

35:14 Founders Chris Looks Up To & His Own LinkedIn Strategy

#linkedin #founderledmarketing #linkedinads #linkedinagency #founderbranding #saas #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #demandgen #content #b2b #revenue #contentmarketing #performancemarketing #videomarketing #personalbranding

Peter Caputa is the CEO of Databox, a $10M+ ARR analytics platform that helps businesses centralize their data and make better decisions.

Before joining Databox, Peter was one of the early sales leaders at HubSpotwhere he helped pioneer the agency partner program that fueled the company’s breakout growth.

In this episode, Peter shares his full playbook for using LinkedIn as a CEO, why most founders still underrate brand and feedback loops, and how he spends 2–3 hours a day on content that drives real business outcomes.

We also get into positioning, pricing, and why staying visible yourself is one of the most underused advantages in SaaS.

Topics we cover in this episode:

- Peter’s system for LinkedIn: writing, feedback, and scheduling

- How CEO content helped Databox navigate SEO decline

- The real ROI of posting daily (and how to measure it)

- Why most attribution models undervalue social

- How Databox used primary research to shape their GTM

- The mindset shift most founders need to publish consistently

- When calling BS publicly is worth it (and how to do it right)

- Positioning strategy: how Peter narrowed ICP & launched new pricing

- The HubSpot lessons he’s applying at Databox

- Why RevOps agencies are replacing traditional B2B marketing firms

Perfect for:

- Founders wondering if CEO-led content is worth the time

- SaaS execs rethinking SEO, attribution, and content strategy

- Marketing and RevOps leaders selling to mid-market companies

Connect with Peter:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pc4media/

- Databox: https://databox.com/

Connect with me:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/

- Website: https://www.project33.io/

- Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

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

Website: https://www.project33.io/

Chapters

00:00 Peter’s Background: HubSpot → CEO at Databox

02:05 Why Every B2B CEO Should Post on LinkedIn

04:00 The Hidden Leverage of CEO Content

06:15 Attribution Is Broken—but It Still Works

08:40 Measuring Word-of-Mouth and Dark Social

10:30 Why Search Declined & LinkedIn Rose

12:55 ROI: How Peter Tracks Impact with 3 Metrics

15:00 The “Two Hour a Day” LinkedIn System

17:15 Primary Research, Customer Quotes & Content Flywheels

20:45 AI, GPT, and Building an Internal Content Engine

23:10 Product Marketing Content → LinkedIn Posts

25:10 Should You Break the LinkedIn Rules?

26:45 When (and How) to Call BS Publicly

29:00 The Power of Differentiated Positioning

31:00 Building a Strategy Map for GTM

33:15 Serving Mid-Market Customers with Pricing & Product

36:45 Strategy at $10M ARR vs. Early-Stage SaaS

39:40 Why CEO Content Scales Better than You Think

41:15 Why It’s Hard to Scale LinkedIn Internally

43:10 Incentives That Actually Work for Employees

44:30 Building a Reseller Engine for Content & Growth

46:00 What Kind of Content Still Performs Best?

48:00 What Peter Obsesses Over (It’s Not the Algorithm)

50:10 Favorite Writing Lessons, Hooks, and Storycraft

51:30 The #1 Priority if You Only Have 30 Minutes a Day

53:00 Can a Founder-Led Content Agency Actually Help?

#linkedin #founderledmarketing #linkedinads #linkedinagency #founderbranding #saas #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #demandgen #content #b2b #revenue #contentmarketing #performancemarketing #videomarketing #personalbranding

Taylor Haren is the founder of Sales Automation Systems, running high-volume outbound campaigns for companies like RB2B, Fixer AI, and Directive, sending up to 8.5 million emails per month.

In this episode, Taylor breaks down what actually works in cold outreach in 2025, why most people fail with it, and how to build systems that generate PLG signups, meetings, and revenue at scale.

We will talk about:

- Why cold email isn’t dead—but traditional tactics are

- The “Navy SEALs vs. Carpet Bombing” framework for outbound

- How to get a 3X reply rate by changing one line of copy

- Offers that convert: what makes a good one, and how to test it

- How Taylor built a system to analyze 250+ messaging variants

- Tech stack recommendations for deliverability in 2025

- The real reason most campaigns fail (it’s not the copy)

Perfect for:

- Founders wondering if outbound still works (it does)

- Growth leaders building PLG or hybrid sales models

- Anyone testing cold email and struggling with results

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast for more unfiltered conversations with SaaS founders and operators building differently.

Connect with Taylor:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorharen/

- Sales Automation Systems: https://www.salesautomation.systems/

- Episode with Garrett, CEO of Directive: https://youtu.be/_ln2Tw_GFWc?si=Yw2RpVdpYLZgMjWx

Connect with me:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/

- Website: https://www.project33.io/

- Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

Chapters

00:00 Intro: What Taylor’s Building

02:00 Cold Email in 2025: What Still Works

05:12 The “Carpet Bomb” Playbook (PLG at Scale)

07:40 Why the Old Multi-Touch Sequences Are Dead

09:30 How Offers Shape Everything in Cold Email

12:40 Blending High-Volume and Targeted Sales

15:45 Garrett from Directive’s Copy Beat the AI

18:30 When Cold Email Can Replace Ads (and Why)

21:10 Why One Email Every 60 Days Is the Sweet Spot

23:40 Copy That Converts: Taylor’s Full Framework

27:15 Subject Lines, Hooks, and Real Personalization

30:20 AI vs Human-Written Cold Emails

32:00 How to A/B Test Messaging the Right Way

36:00 $100M Offers and Irresistible Cold Hooks

39:10 Cold Email as a GTM Testing Tool

41:00 The Rule of 1,000: Why You’re Not Sending Enough

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

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

Website: https://www.project33.io/

#linkedin #founderledmarketing #linkedinads #linkedinagency #founderbranding #saas #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #demandgen #content #b2b #revenue #contentmarketing #performancemarketing #videomarketing #personalbranding

Peter Walker is the Senior Director of Insights at Carta, the leading cap table platform with over 45,000 customers and one of the most followed B2B voices on LinkedIn.

In this episode, Peter breaks down how he built Carta’s insights function from scratch and how it's become one of the most effective brand-building machines in SaaS. He shares how data storytelling fuels their content engine, what makes a great graphic, and why every B2B company should have a voice in the public conversation.

Topics we cover in this episode:

- How Carta turned data into a brand moat

- The 3 core skills behind a great insights team

- Peter’s system for publishing daily, high-impact LinkedIn content

- What makes a great data visualization (and what doesn’t)

- How to test and scale content ideas through comments and reposts

- The CTA and chart format that drives thousands of subscribers

- Carta’s long-term approach to insights: not leads, just value

- Why most B2B brands should stop gating data and start storytelling

- Peter’s LinkedIn growth from 2K → 137K and the flywheel behind it

Perfect for:

- B2B marketers building thought leadership around data

- SaaS founders exploring brand-led growth

- Operators looking to create LinkedIn-native content systems

- Anyone wondering how to turn usage data into viral insights

Connect with Peter:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterjameswalker/

- Carta: https://carta.com/

- Data Desk Newsletter: https://carta.com/data/

- How to create engaging data graphics: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/peterjameswalker_the-5-step-guide-to-building-data-graphics-activity-7341517849120731136-aTKA/

Connect with me:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/

- Website: https://www.project33.io/

- Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

Chapters:

00:00 Building the Insights Function at Carta

02:10 How Carta Uses Data to Fuel Daily Content

05:00 Carta’s Distribution Flywheel: LinkedIn → Email → Events

08:45 Who Should Build an Insights Function

12:30 What Makes Data “Interesting” Enough to Publish

14:40 Usage Data vs. Market Data (and What You Can Do With It)

17:10 Privacy, Contracts, and How to Handle Sensitive Data

19:30 Measuring Success: The 6-Month Rule

21:00 Who Should Be the Public Face of Insights?

22:40 The Rise of Embedded Creators in B2B

24:50 The Equity Insight That Blew Peter’s Mind

27:00 LinkedIn Growth: 2K to 137K and the Tipping Point

30:10 Text + Image vs. Video: What Works on LinkedIn

33:00 How to Use Comments to Supercharge Distribution

35:40 The Right Way to Follow Up with Creators

36:40 The Three Kinds of Data Stories That Work

38:45 Newsjacking, Press Coverage, and Ecosystem Relevance

42:50 Visual Design: What Makes a Chart Work

46:10 The Tableau → Figma Workflow Explained

49:20 Use One Chart for One Story—Then Scale It

52:00 The Importance of Staying Curious (and Consistent)

54:00 Peter’s Final Advice for SaaS Brands and Creators

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

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

Website: https://www.project33.io/

#linkedin #founderledmarketing #linkedinads #linkedinagency #founderbranding #saas #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #demandgen #content #b2b #revenue #contentmarketing #performancemarketing #videomarketing #personalbranding

James Hawkins is the co-founder & co-CEO of PostHog, a dev-first product suite built to help teams build better software, faster. Since launching in 2020, PostHog has grown to 100+ people, 14 products, and a plan to hit $100M ARR by 2026, all while staying lean, shipping fast, and having fun.

In this episode, James breaks down how they got early traction, why building for developers demands a different growth mindset, and what it actually takes to scale multi-product SaaS in public.

Topics we cover in this episode:

- Why PostHog focused on shipping speed instead of sales

- The real story behind PostHog’s $100M ARR target

- Building multiple products at once with 2-person teams

- The value of shitposting (and why it still works)

- How James thinks about brand, attention, and developer trust

- Why they replaced product managers with empowered engineers

- PostHog’s approach to retention, performance reviews & team design

- Growing through word of mouth vs. optimizing for ROI

- Lessons from building and monetizing open source software

- James’ advice on fundraising, agency hiring, and long-term thinking

Perfect for:

- DevTool founders scaling without a salesteam

- B2B SaaS teams building multi-product platforms

- Founders looking to build a brand, culture, and a presence on LinkedIn

Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast for more insights from industry leaders reshaping B2B SaaS and marketing!

Connect with James:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/j-hawkins/

- PostHog: https://posthog.com/

Connect with me:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/

- Website: https://www.project33.io/

- Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

Chapters

00:00 Intro & PostHog’s Mission

01:35 Setting a $100M ARR Goal (When They Had $0)

04:20 Long-Term Thinking & Taking Big Swings

06:05 Why Having Fun Is Strategic

07:12 Shitposting for Brand and Attention

10:00 The Day They Hit Product-Market Fit

13:40 Early-Stage Lessons: Why Velocity is more improtant than Validation

16:00 Pricing Strategy for Open Source Tools

18:30 Competing in Existing Categories (and Why)

21:15 Why Product Engineers Don’t Have Deadlines

24:00 No Roadmaps, No Meetings, No Bureaucracy

26:30 Hiring for Ownership and Accountability

28:15 How They Evaluate Performance Without Goals

30:00 Product Engineer Hiring Criteria & Red Flags

32:15 Talking to Users (Without Forcing It)

34:40 Developer Marketing That Actually Works

37:00 Four Reasons People Choose PostHog

39:05 Brand, Word of Mouth, and Developer Taste

41:10 Being the News vs. Chasing It

43:00 When They Shipped the Wrong Product

45:30 Building a Data Warehouse to Compete with Snowflake

47:05 Why Hard Products Drive Retention

49:00 Letting Engineers Decide What to Fix

51:00 How AI Is Used Inside PostHog

53:15 Fundraising Advice for DevTool Founders

55:20 Final Thoughts & Closing

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

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

Website: https://www.project33.io/

#linkedin #founderledmarketing #linkedinads #linkedinagency #founderbranding #saas #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #demandgen #content #b2b #revenue #contentmarketing #performancemarketing #videomarketing #personalbranding

Santosh Sharan is the founder of ZeerAI, who helped scale companies like Apollo, ZoomInfo, and RB2B. ZeerAI is building AI agents that act like your best sales rep, engaging with buyers, answering questions, and moving deals forward without needing a human.

In this episode, Santosh explains why most sales and marketing channels are failing, how LinkedIn became his #1 source of demand, and how AI agents will transform how we buy and sell software.

He also walks through the exact playbook he used to go from 5K to 44K followers, run 200+ meetings, and build product-market fit, before shipping a product.

Topics we cover in this episode:

- The system behind 200+ meetings booked through content

- Why most B2B GTM motions are broken (and how to rebuild them)

- How Santosh grew from 5K to 44K LinkedIn followers in one year

- What “buyer agents” are and why they’re the next GTM role

- How he used content to test pricing, positioning, and demand

- What it takes to get 50+ qualified calls from a single post

- Why repeatable conversations are better than repeatable automations

- The future of pricing, value-based offers, and go-to-market ops

Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast for more insights from industry leaders reshaping B2B SaaS and marketing!

Connect with Santosh:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssharan/

- ZeerAI: https://zeer.ai/

Connect with me:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/

- Website: https://www.project33.io/

- Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

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

Website: https://www.project33.io/

Chapters

00:00 Santosh’s Background: From ZoomInfo, Apollo to ZeerAI

02:15 Why Most GTM Motions Don’t Work Anymore

05:00 What Happens When Everyone Copies the Same Tactics

07:45 The LinkedIn Strategy That Replaced Outbound

10:10 The System Behind 200+ Meetings Booked Through Content

13:30 From 5K to 44K Followers in 12 Months

15:50 How Content Became the Primary Validation Engine

18:40 What to Post (And Why It’s Not About You)

21:15 The Real Power of CTA Posts (And What Kills Them)

24:10 Why repeatable conversations are better than repeatable automations

27:30 How to Get Buyers to Come to You, without a Demo Funnel

29:50 Why Buyer Agents Will Replace SDRs (And What That Means)

32:00 The Death of Seat-Based Pricing

34:45 How to Build a Category Without Spending $500K

36:30 Building a Community Before Product

39:00 The Office Hours Strategy That Drives Pipeline

41:45 Advice for Founders Starting From Zero

#linkedin #founderledmarketing #linkedinads #linkedinagency #founderbranding #saas #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #demandgen #content #b2b #revenue #contentmarketing #performancemarketing #videomarketing #personalbranding

Gal Aga is the co-founder and CEO of Aligned, a deal room platform used by teams at HubSpot, Salesforce, Intel, and more.

In the last year, Gal went from a few thousand followers to 74,000+, gets up to 1M impressions per week, and attributes 65% of Aligned’s leads directly to LinkedIn.

In this episode, Gal breaks down exactly how he writes high-performing posts, the system behind his three-post-per-week cadence, and how content became the foundation for hiring, expansion, and product-market fit.

Topics we cover in this episode:

- The system behind Gal’s 3M/month LinkedIn reach

- How 65% of Aligned’s leads come from content

- Writing posts that drive 400+ leads without ads

- Gal’s exact weekly routine and how long each post takes

- Building your narrative by testing in public

- The difference between being a thought leader vs. having a strong POV

- Why engagement hooks and polished writing still matter

- Using LinkedIn to improve hiring, expansion, and even fundraising

Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast for more insights from industry leaders reshaping B2B SaaS and marketing!

Connect with Gal:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/galaga/

- Aligned: https://alignedup.com/

Connect with me:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/

- Website: https://www.project33.io/

- Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

Chapters

00:00 Gal’s Background & Aligned’s LinkedIn Strategy

01:20 From 0 to 74K Followers in 12 Months

03:15 How 65% of Leads Come from LinkedIn

05:40 The Business Case: Why Brand is Bigger than Channel

07:45 Content’s Hidden ROI: Hiring, Retention, Events, Funding

10:05 Gal’s Weekly Writing Workflow (Sun–Fri Breakdown)

13:20 Why Each Post Takes 2–3 Hours to Write

15:05 The Role of Hooks, Tone, and Authenticity

17:45 Comment Strategy, Engagement Cadence & Inbox Limits

20:20 How He Prioritizes What to Write (100+ Hook Bank)

24:30 The Anatomy of a Great Post: Hook, POV, Takeaway

27:30 Why Bullet Points and Contrarian turns into Scroll Stopper

30:10 What Makes Content Commentable (and Shareable)

32:30 The CTA Playbook Gal Uses in His Posts

35:00 Why Links Don’t Kill Reach (If the Post Is Good)

37:20 Newsletter Plans, Repurposing, and What’s Next

40:00 Gal’s Framework for Thought Leadership That Actually Performs

42:30 Advice for Founders Who Want to Start But Feel Behind

#linkedin #founderledmarketing #linkedinads #linkedinagency #founderbranding #saas #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #demandgen #content #b2b #revenue #contentmarketing #performancemarketing #videomarketing #personalbranding