If you're a founder or CEO of a tech consultancy, MSP, or SaaS business, this episode is for you.

Spencer Bradley, VP of Business Development at Solutions Review, joins Gary Lafferty on The Growth Focus Podcast to talk about how to move from being another expert to becoming the authority in your space

Key takeaways:

• The #1 mistake founders make when scaling
  

• Why short, value-packed content outperforms long webinars
  

• How to combine personal and company branding on LinkedIn
  

• Proven tactics to grow your influence inside LinkedIn groups
  

• How top-performing companies use consistency and relevance to dominate
  

Connect with Spencer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-bradley-32556377/

 [email protected]

More from Gary: https://www.growthfocus.io/homepage/

Ideal for: Tech consultants, B2B SaaS leaders, MSPs, and IT founders ready to own their category.

Follow the show for more weekly insights on growing your authority, generating leads, and closing high-ticket deals.

 In this episode of The Growth Focus Podcast, Gary Lafferty interviews Heather Neff, CEO and Co-Founder of Equivalent, a groundbreaking SaaS company transforming how we experience digital imagery through AI-powered, accessible graphics.

Heather shares her journey from visual designer to disabled founder, how she turned personal adversity into innovation, and how Equivalent’s patent-pending "Smart SVGs" are solving the trillion-image accessibility problem.

Why this matters: Global accessibility regulations are tightening (ADA, European Accessibility Act), and tech founders must future-proof now.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What makes trillions of online images inaccessible—and how to fix it
  

• The surprising energy and bandwidth cost of legacy image formats
  

• Why "accessibility by design" beats reactive compliance tools
  

• How to position your SaaS with enterprise partners like Atos
  

• Lessons for tech founders launching truly new innovations
  

Resources & Links:

• Connect with Heather Neff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heathersneff/
  

• Learn more at: https://equivalentSVG.io
  

Gary Lafferty’s Authority Accelerator: https://www.growthfocus.io/homepage/

In this episode of The Growth Focus Podcast, Gary Lafferty interviews Ari Leeds, founder of LeedsSource—a Salesforce consultancy that's thriving in one of the most competitive spaces in tech.

Ari shares raw insights on growing a service business, avoiding burnout, building recurring revenue, and making strategic pivots in uncertain times.

Whether you're just starting or scaling your consultancy, this conversation is packed with wisdom on staying relevant, becoming a trusted advisor, and winning the long game in tech services.

Links:

• Ari’s Website: https://www.leedssource.com
  

• Ari on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arileeds
  

• Gary’s Authority Accelerator: https://www.growthfocus.io

  
  

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro to Ari Leeds

01:30 – From Mechanical Engineer to Tech Founder

05:00 – Biggest Business Lesson: Ride the Wave but Steer the Ship

10:00 – How to Track Metrics from Day One

13:00 – Standing Out in a Saturated Salesforce Market

18:00 – Restructuring: The Pain and the Payoff

22:00 – Revenue Challenges & Building Recurring Income

26:00 – The Power of Networking & In-Person Events

30:00 – Choosing Events That Actually Bring Clients

34:00 – Scaling with Focus: AI, Specialization & Client Diversification

36:00 – How to Reach Ari Leeds

Takeaways:

• Why data from day one matters—even for early-stage founders
  

• How to shift from reactive to proactive business building
  

• Why recurring revenue is key to survival in service industries
  

How to stand out when every consultant says they’re “different”

Keywords: Salesforce consultant, B2B tech growth, recurring revenue strategy, resilient business model, scaling tech consulting, service-based business growth, founder advice, sales pipeline management

Gary Lafferty sits down with badpixel’s Christopher Clarke to explore how to grow a modern tech agency in a crowded market without relying on cold outreach.

Learn how Chris transitioned from LA’s film industry to founding one of Austin’s most forward-thinking dev agencies.

This episode is packed with insight for founders and CEOs of tech consultancies, including:

What operational awareness really means in a dev shop

How to stand out when every agency sounds the same

Why roadmapping is a sales advantage

How to win business through founder relationships—not email blasts

The importance of client-led innovation and people-first culture

Learn more: https://www.badpixel.com/

Hosted by: https://www.growthfocus.co/

Summary

Christopher Clarke shares how he bootstrapped and scaled badpixel by blending operational excellence with strategic storytelling. Instead of competing on price or features, Chris’ agency wins enterprise deals by showing clients a better future version of their product—backed by data and mockups.

We cover how failing fast helped him refine processes, how founder-led marketing outperforms paid ads, and why relationship-building is still the most powerful growth strategy in 2025.

Key Takeaways

Fail fast and learn fast: Every iteration is an opportunity to evolve.

Operational clarity wins: Agencies that scale have tight project scopes, retro processes, and communication loops.

Roadmaps = retention: Mapping future features drives repeat sales and client longevity.

Don’t rely on cold outreach: Relationships, referrals, and real value outperform mass email every time.

Founder-led visibility drives trust in a commoditized market.

On this episode of The Growth Focus Podcast, Gary Lafferty sits down with Donata Stroink-Skillrud, attorney and co-founder of Termageddon, to unpack how she turned legal frustration into a scalable SaaS company serving thousands of businesses globally.

If you’re a founder, consultant, or tech leader growing in a regulated industry—this episode is for you.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How GDPR changed everything for Termageddon
  

• Why law firms and web agencies are their biggest growth partners
  

• What didn’t work in the early days—and how they pivoted
  

• The secret power of support as a differentiator in SaaS
  

• How Donata builds authority through speaking, LinkedIn, and global legal work
  

• What’s coming next in their expansion into the EU, South Africa, and New Zealand
  

Key Takeaways:

✔️ Use founder-led content to educate your buyers

✔️ Validate assumptions with the market before scaling

✔️ Partner with those already trusted by your ideal customers

✔️ Your back-end service is your front-line growth strategy

Termageddon: https://termageddon.com

Connect with Donata: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donata-stroink-skillrud/

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your shows.

Search The Growth Focus Podcast for more founder-led insights on scaling, selling, and standing out.

On this episode of The Growth Focus Podcast, Gary Lafferty sits down with Rae Lambert, co- founder & CEO of River—an event platform built for global community scaling.

Rae shares her journey from Wall Street burnout to launching a viral movement and raising $100K to build a business that empowers influencers to create offline impact.

We dive into:

• Why most tech founders fail at go-to-market
  

• How to build in public, even without a huge audience
  

• The role of storytelling and founder-led marketing in early traction
  

• Why big swings matter more than polished perfection
  

️ Listen to learn:

• The #1 mindset shift Rae recommends to every early-stage founder
  

• How she grew a $2M/yr agency with no sales team
  

• What she learned working with Intercom, LinkedIn, and ServiceNow
  

• How River enables 100+ meetups in a day—with zero staff
  

Links:

• River: getriver.io

• Rae Lambert on X: twitter.com/raechelambert

• Host Gary Lafferty: growthfocus.io
  

For tech founders & CEOs building scalable businesses, this episode is a masterclass in modern growth.

What if your hiring process was no longer a bottleneck but a competitive edge? Maryam shares how AI can make that a reality — while building a tech company the smart way.

Description:  

In this episode of The Growth Focus Podcast, host Gary Lafferty sits down with Maryam, founder of Attesto, to unpack how artificial intelligence is reshaping the hiring process for mid-to-enterprise tech companies.

From leveraging AI agents for talent ops to dealing with the noise of startup growth, Maryam drops serious insights on scaling smarter, not louder.

If you’re a founder, operator, or tech executive trying to build momentum in a noisy market — this one’s for you.

What You'll Learn:

- How Attesto embeds AI agents into hiring workflows  

- Why message clarity trumps ad budgets  

- How cold outreach failed — and Reddit succeeded  

- Real founder struggles (and how to navigate them)  

- What to know before adopting AI for your ops  

- Why personal branding = trust in enterprise sales  

Follow & Connect:  

Learn more about Attesto: https://www.attesto.ai

Maryam on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryam

Subscribe for more: https://www.growthfocuspodcast.com

More episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GrowthFocusPodcast

ai recruiting podcast, startup hiring strategy, b2b ai tools, founder interview podcast, startup growth tips, scaling a tech company, tech ceo advice, ai for business operations, talent acquisition automation, maryam attesto podcast, tech founder stories, ai and hiring trends

In this episode of The Growth Focus Podcast, Gary Lafferty talks with Mollie Breen—former NSA mathematician turned tech founder—about building Perygee, a leading integration and automation platform. Mollie dives into the real challenges of product-market fit, the mindset shifts from public service to startup life, and what it takes to close Fortune 50 clients with zero brand equity. She also shares her outbound strategy using LinkedIn split testing and the power of founder-led sales.

Top Takeaways:

• How to create direction during uncertain pivots
  

• Why early experimentation matters more than automation
  

• Sales tactics that helped land Fortune 50 clients
  

• When and how to use POCs to accelerate trust and momentum
  

• Weekly split testing strategies on LinkedIn
  

Follow Mollie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollie-breen

Follow Gary on LinkedIn:⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/growthfocus

Connect with Gary & Authority Engine™: https://www.growthfocus.io

New episodes every week. Subscribe and stay growth-focused.

founder-led sales, enterprise sales, AI automation, startup growth strategy, B2B SaaS marketing, LinkedIn outreach, selling to enterprises, tech founder journey, pivoting a startup, Perigee AI, Gary Lafferty podcast, Mollie Breen NSA, authority-based marketing, scaling tech consultancies

How does a Navy SEAL become a tech CEO? In this episode, Gary Lafferty talks to Ty Smith about building enterprise-grade AI, leading with vision, and creating real growth in tech.

Description:Ty Smith, founder of CommSafe AI and Hero Consulting, joins Gary Lafferty to share how he transitioned from Navy SEAL to building an AI company that solves high-stakes problems for enterprise clients.

You’ll learn about:

• Preemptive AI solutions for insider threats and sentiment risk
  

• Why founders should not always do customer interviews
  

• The difference between founder-led sales and founder-led marketing
  

• How authority attracts elite teams, top investors, and loyal clients
  

• Lessons in humility, faith, and knowing your role as a CEO
  

Whether you're a tech CEO, startup founder, or enterprise consultant, this episode will reshape how you think about growth, leadership, and AI.

Links:

• https://www.commsafe.ai
  

• https://www.wearehero.com
  

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/tysmith31
  

• https://www.instagram.com/coachtysmith
  

Rate & Follow: Enjoyed the episode? Rate us 5 stars and follow for more founder-focused conversations that drive real growth.

AI startup podcast, B2B AI sales, enterprise tech leadership, CommSafe AI, startup growth strategy, founder marketing, Navy SEAL entrepreneur, authority building for founders, tech company growth, cybersecurity innovation

In this episode of The Growth Focus Podcast, Gary Lafferty speaks with Michael "Canz" Canzoneri, co-founder of DataSquirrel, a neural symbolic data platform.

From couch-surfing in college to tech exits and hypergrowth at Silicon Valley unicorns, Canz shares the raw reality of what drives growth.

You’ll learn how fear can be a fuel, why mentors who tell the truth matter, and how to stop being the best-kept secret by embracing founder-led marketing. This is a must-listen for growth-focused founders, especially those leading tech consultancies and scaling software firms.

Takeaways:

• Build authority with vulnerability and real stories
  

• Avoid stagnation by staying close to your core customer
  

• Use journaling as a leadership tool
  

• How to shift from expert to authority in a noisy world
  

Connect with Canz:

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

More on DataSquirrel: https://www.datasqrl.com/

Follow Gary:

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thegrowthfocus

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

Keywords: tech podcast, founder interview, scaling a tech company, SaaS growth, B2B marketing, tech authority, startup podcast, software consulting growth, founder-led marketing, authority building for tech leaders