The Scale Up Show

Ryan is joined by fellow podcaster Andy Paul to uncover the secrets of building massive attention and growing connections in today's digital landscape. With nine years of podcasting experience and over 200k LinkedIn followers, Andy shares his knowledge on scaling attention, creating distribution, and the power of consistency.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Consistency is crucial in podcasting. Train your audience to expect your content at regular intervals to build a loyal following.
• Focus on creating high-quality, engaging content that keeps listeners coming back for more.
• The size of your audience isn't as important as having the right audience. Target your content to your ideal listeners.
• Prepare thoroughly for interviews and don't hesitate to challenge guests' ideas to create more engaging conversations.
• Podcasting can be an excellent tool for prospecting and reaching your target audience.
• Being thoughtful and developing a perspective on your circumstances can set you apart in sales and business.
• Success in sales often comes down to being human-first, building relationships, and genuinely helping customers make decisions.
• The key traits for success in sales are connection, curiosity, understanding, and generosity.

BEST MOMENTS

"I was inspired to start this podcast... I heard John Lee Dumas speak... And I was thinking, well, yeah, that sounds like a fun way to create content that people will find valuable."

"Consistency, I think, is really the thing that I keep coming back to... you're trying to sort of train the audience that you are going to be there at a certain time or a certain point in time every week."

"For me, over all the years that I've been doing this, my focus has always been, is I'm going to be as prepared as I can be overprepared for every conversation."

"We're one person throughout our entire lives, you know, as we are in our life, we are in sales and, you know, if we show up interested in other people, if we show up and are curious about things that are important to them, we make a real effort to understand them, if we're willing to give of ourselves to help them achieve what's important to them, we'll succeed."

"The only reason somebody talks to you as a salesperson these days is because they need your help."

Ryan Staley

Founder and CEO

Whale Boss

[email protected]

www.ryanstaley.io 

Saas, Saas growth, Scale, Business Growth, B2b Saas, Saas Sales, Enterprise Saas, Business growth strategy, founder, ceo: https://www.whalesellingsystem.com/closingsecrets

Ryan speaks to Brendan Kamm, the CEO of Thnks for the second time in this episode. Ryan and Brendan talk about his AI use cases as a CEO and discuss how Brendan leverages it to enhance his daily operations within the business and improve communication within his team. Brendan also talks about how to adapt and engage with AI to improve it and make it work for you and your business.

 

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Brendan uses AI to improve his writing, ensuring it aligns with his brand values, and engages in conversational interactions with AI models to generate ideas and gather feedback.
• AI can significantly reduce time spent on non-customer-related activities, allowing salespeople to focus more on building relationships.
• Creating custom AI models for your brand can help ensure consistency in communication and improve team members' ability to provide clear, detailed instructions.
• Leveraging AI for sales research, such as analyzing 10K reports and industry trends, can help representatives be more prepared and in tune with their prospects' concerns and goals.
• Experimenting with different AI tools and prompts can lead to more effective outputs and a deeper understanding of how to utilize these technologies for various tasks.
• Uploading multiple sources to AI models like Notebook LLM allows for a comprehensive analysis of an industry, providing valuable insights for sales and strategy.
• Brendan has found one of the biggest challenges in growing a business, is instilling the same level of passion and care in team members as the CEO has.

BEST MOMENTS

"I've created sort of custom bots that reflect our sort of brand values, and that's been really helpful, and I can just run it through and say, Hey, am I, you know, am I on target?" 

"If I can take all my non human interactions and make that less time consuming and less focused on the operational and the sort of behind the scenes things, I have more time to spend building relationships." 

"I'll also tell you I use a lot of explain to me like I'm five, explain to me like I'm 12. Like I'll go through the whole progression just to make sure I understand something." 

"I think you need to instill that level of care and confidence. And like, Hey, man, we're all on the same team headed in the same direction."

Ryan Staley

Founder and CEO

Whale Boss

[email protected]

www.ryanstaley.io 

Saas, Saas growth, Scale, Business Growth, B2b Saas, Saas Sales, Enterprise Saas, Business growth strategy, founder, ceo: https://www.whalesellingsystem.com/closingsecrets

Join Ryan for part 1 of 2 as he speaks with Brendan Kamm, founder and CEO of Thnks. Kamm shares insights on leveraging gratitude in business, discussing his company's innovative platform for expressing appreciation in professional contexts. The conversation explores the human element in sales, revealing top use cases for connecting with people authentically. Kamm's approach to scaling a business without losing sight of personal relationships offers valuable tips for closing revenue and building successful companies.

Join 2,500+ readers getting weekly practical guidance to scale themselves and their companies using Artificial Intelligence and Revenue Cheat Codes.  

Explore becoming Superhuman here: https://superhumanrevenue.beehiiv.com/

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Thnks is a gratitude expression platform targeting large distributed sales teams, allowing for easy sending of small appreciation gestures.
• The company has grown to $30-40 million in ARR since 2016, with a team of about 50 people and under $15 million in total funding.
• Thnks relies heavily on network effects and product-led growth, with recent expansion into paid advertising and enterprise-level deals.
• Brendan emphasizes the importance of authenticity and relationship-building in sales, moving beyond mere tactics to focus on long-term connections.
• The company has observed measurable business outcomes from gratitude gestures, such as faster rescheduling of cancelled meetings.
• Brendan suggests focusing on thoughtful, personalized gestures rather than relying solely on traditional gifting occasions like birthdays or holidays.
• Ryan and Brendan highlight the balance between leveraging technology and maintaining human connection in modern business relationships.

BEST MOMENTS

"We call it a gratitude expression platform. Basically, it's a way to send a small gesture of appreciation in a business context.”

"Our philosophy is people like to do business with people they like. I think that's always been the case and everyone likes someone who appreciates them."

"It's easy to fall a little bit into the trap of tactics, right? And it's not that you write, you need tactics and you need to get your numbers, but it's, it's too easy to kind of let go of the end result, what you're really looking for."

"We want to focus on that sort of authenticity and that idea that these things take time. It's not just, I sent a thing. Did I get what I want back? It's gotta be less transactional than that over time."

"You can have hard business outcomes and track how these things affect even not in something as simple as that."

Ryan Staley

Founder and CEO

Whale Boss

[email protected]

www.ryanstaley.io 

Saas, Saas growth, Scale, Business Growth, B2b Saas, Saas Sales, Enterprise Saas, Business growth strategy, founder, ceo: https://www.whalesellingsystem.com/closingsecrets

Join Ryan for part 2 with Thomas Hansen, COO of Amplitude Analytics. Thomas talks with Ryan about the steps he took to uniquely climb the corporate ladder and how anyone can do the same. Ryan and Thomas also talk about how to leverage AI in your career and how AI is creating a new opportunity that has never before been possible!

Join 2,500+ readers getting weekly practical guidance to scale themselves and their companies using Artificial Intelligence and Revenue Cheat Codes.  

Explore becoming Superhuman here: https://superhumanrevenue.beehiiv.com/

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Even as COO, Thomas still has an SDR role.
• Thomas built out his knowledge and skillset, allowing himself to create a diverse portfolio, enabling him to climb the corporate ladder.
• You have to know your strength and your superpower, then apply that. Thomas encourages everyone to get diversity in their career early on to discover this but also to teach you how to spot new ways of creatively doing things.
• Saying yes and working towards things that may not be seen as the obvious or linear option, has created the most value for Thomas in his career.
• Look for AI roles that might not be in your comfort zone, to gain experience and exposure. Or become the internal champion in your existing role and company.
• Industry after industry will be revolutionized by AI, including VC, particularly in entry level positions.

BEST MOMENTS

“You’ve got to know yourself, you’ve got to figure out what is your one superpower”

“I just think that early in your career, doing stuff that’s not the linear boring path, that’s not so obvious, it teaches you to be scrappy, tenacity, to open up your eyes to different ways of doing things”

“One of the things that has created the most value in my career has been taking on the non-linear and the non-obvious choices”

“Think about what you can embrace in the current role you’re in, in terms of being the internal champion for use case and how you’re leveraging internally for your own business in AI”

Ryan Staley

Founder and CEO

Whale Boss

[email protected]

www.ryanstaley.io 

Saas, Saas growth, Scale, Business Growth, B2b Saas, Saas Sales, Enterprise Saas, Business growth strategy, founder, ceo: https://www.whalesellingsystem.com/closingsecrets

Ryan is joined by Thomas Hansen, the COO of Amplitude Analytics. Thomas has an impressive track record, having worked at companies like Microsoft and taken UiPath public as the chief revenue officer. He shares some really interesting insights about leadership, how to grow, inspire, and leverage AI to elevate your team. He also discusses an unexpected topic from the company's CEO in part one of two of Ryan and Thomas' conversation.

Join 2,500+ readers getting weekly practical guidance to scale themselves and their companies using Artificial Intelligence and Revenue Cheat Codes.  

Explore becoming Superhuman here: https://superhumanrevenue.beehiiv.com/

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Amplitude Analytics provides insights on customer product usage, helping companies build better products and monetize their user base more effectively.
• Different growth stages require different leadership skills; it's crucial to understand where your strengths lie and hire stage-appropriate executives.
• Situational leadership involves adapting your approach based on individual team member's needs and circumstances to maximize their potential.
• AI is a transformative force in business, with Amplitude leveraging it both for customer-facing features and internal operations.
• Consolidating tech stacks can increase efficiency and productivity, allowing sales teams to spend more time selling and less time managing tools.
• Embracing AI technologies like conversational intelligence can lead to significant improvements in metrics such as Average Selling Price (ASP).
• Leaders should lead by example. Thomas personally conducts cold outreach to 10 potential clients weekly, demonstrating the importance of staying hands-on.
• Continuous learning and experimentation with new AI tools and technologies are essential for staying competitive in today's business environment.

BEST MOMENTS

"Every stage of a company and its formation is unique. And frankly, different stages also tend to by and large require different folks." 

"My point of view on situational leadership is, it's not about others adapting to work with me. It's a bit about me recognizing where a person is at any given point in time in their journey, including having a sense for what's going on in their personal life."

"In my 32 years being an operator in the tech space, I've seen some tectonic changes. You had the arrival of the internet, you had the mobile explosion, you had the cloud. And then for me, the fourth big change, the biggest change of everything is the arrival of AI." 

"As much as I may be the president of Amplitude, my role every day is I'm selling. I also work as an SDR. Every day. It is on me personally, as it's on all of us to take personal ownership for growing our businesses." 

"I do a lot of cold calling outreach through LinkedIn and through email.  I do, if you believe it or not, I do 10 a week."

Ryan Staley

Founder and CEO

Whale Boss

[email protected]

www.ryanstaley.io 

Saas, Saas growth, Scale, Business Growth, B2b Saas, Saas Sales, Enterprise Saas, Business growth strategy, founder, ceo: https://www.whalesellingsystem.com/closingsecrets

Ryan continues his conversation with AI expert Jeff Mills from iMerit. They explore the future of work, the impact of AI on various industries, and how individuals can adapt to thrive in an AI-driven world. Mills shares invaluable insights on job automation, the importance of adaptability, and the exciting opportunities that AI presents.

Join 2,500+ readers getting weekly practical guidance to scale themselves and their companies using Artificial Intelligence and Revenue Cheat Codes.  

Explore becoming Superhuman here: https://superhumanrevenue.beehiiv.com/

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• AI will automate back office tasks, but it's a tool that enhances human productivity rather than completely replacing workers.
• Adaptability is crucial in the AI era, as people will need to switch industries and professions more frequently.
• AI skills, both technical and non-technical, are becoming essential for nearly all jobs across industries.
• The job market will evolve, with new industries and opportunities emerging as AI technology advances.
• AI is not just a vertical or niche; it will be embedded in everything we do, from social media to household appliances.
• Model stacking and multimodal AI are creating exciting new applications and opportunities in various fields.
• AI tools are empowering individuals to perform tasks that were previously limited to specialized professionals or agencies.
• Understanding and embracing AI is crucial for future success, as it will be integrated into all aspects of work and daily life.

BEST MOMENTS

"Darwin taught us that it's really not the strongest that's going to win. And it's not the smartest that's going to win. It's the most adaptable that's going to win."

"AI is going to be a lot like Excel. You're going to have people who actually are the coders, they're, they're, they're actually in there building the software, building the program, right?"

"There's gonna be issues. Yeah. I mean, there's gonna be problems, but at the same time, like. Don't be super scared of it (AI) either."

"I've effectively hired, I don't know, 10 employees for 30 a month now because they all have skills that I didn't have."

"There's no job that's going to exist that doesn't, have AI in it soon."

Ryan Staley

Founder and CEO

Whale Boss

[email protected]

www.ryanstaley.io 

Saas, Saas growth, Scale, Business Growth, B2b Saas, Saas Sales, Enterprise Saas, Business growth strategy, founder, ceo: https://www.whalesellingsystem.com/closingsecrets

In this episode, Ryan is joined by Jeff Mills, a veteran in the AI and machine learning space. With over 25 years of experience, Jeff shares invaluable insights on scaling businesses, particularly in the AI industry. From his early days at Yahoo to his current role as President at iMerit, Jeff offers a unique perspective on growing companies while maintaining a social impact focus.

Join 2,500+ readers getting weekly practical guidance to scale themselves and their companies using Artificial Intelligence and Revenue Cheat Codes.  

Explore becoming Superhuman here: https://superhumanrevenue.beehiiv.com/

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• iMerit works with leading AI companies in mobility, tech, and medical verticals, providing data solutions and annotation services for AI model development.
• Jeff talks about the importance of high-quality data in AI development, comparing it to a chef selecting the best ingredients for a Michelin-star restaurant.
• iMerit has evolved to include automation and a platform for data labelling, while still maintaining human-in-the-loop processes for validation and verification.
• The company employs a workforce pyramid, ranging from general workers to highly specialized experts in various fields, to meet diverse AI development needs.
• Retrieval Augmentation Generation (RAG) models are expected to be a significant trend in AI development over the next year and a half.
• iMerit adapts to customer needs, focusing on problem-solving and developing expertise in specific domains as required by clients.
• Jeff stresses the importance of domain expertise in prompt engineering and evaluating AI model outputs.

BEST MOMENTS

"You are literally a prompt engineer. You have created the box."

"We like to write, but we also are good readers. We want to lead by example, but we also are good at reading, hearing what someone's challenges are, what their problems are. And ultimately we're in the problem solving business.”

"We’ve built a workforce pyramid, so there's certain work that can be done if you have kind of expertise at a wide level."

"I've been in AI for about, you know, 25 years in different ways."

Ryan Staley

Founder and CEO

Whale Boss

[email protected]

www.ryanstaley.io 

Saas, Saas growth, Scale, Business Growth, B2b Saas, Saas Sales, Enterprise Saas, Business growth strategy, founder, ceo: https://www.whalesellingsystem.com/closingsecrets

In the second part of Ryan’s conversation with Jordan Wilson of Everyday AI, they dive deep into the world of AI tools and agents. From favorite tools like Chat GPT and Cast Magic to exploring the future of AI agents, this episode is packed with insights for businesses looking to leverage AI effectively. Jordan shares his expertise on strategic byproducts, micro GPTs, and the exciting developments in AI from tech giants.

Join 2,500+ readers getting weekly practical guidance to scale themselves and their companies using Artificial Intelligence and Revenue Cheat Codes.  

Explore becoming Superhuman here: https://superhumanrevenue.beehiiv.com/

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Jordan Wilson uses Chat GPT extensively and recommends Cast Magic for podcasting tasks, praising its ability to run multiple custom prompts simultaneously on audio content.
• Creating micro GPTs for specific tasks is more effective than trying to build one large GPT to handle multiple functions, ensuring better quality output.
• Major tech companies like Microsoft, Google, and Meta are heavily investing in AI agents, signalling a shift in the future of work towards AI-directed tasks.
• The adoption of AI agents in businesses is expected to follow a similar pattern to large language models, with early adopters gaining significant advantages.
• Advancements in GPU technology, particularly from NVIDIA, are driving down compute costs and energy requirements, making AI agents more accessible.
• The podcast industry is leveraging AI tools for content creation, transcription, and keyword extraction, enhancing productivity and output quality.
• Strategic byproducts from AI tools, such as creating a "customer Grammarly" from sales call transcriptions, can provide valuable insights for businesses.
• The future of work may involve skilled workers becoming directors of AI agents, and managing multiple tools across platforms to perform various tasks.

BEST MOMENTS

"I'm a huge chat GPT fan. I have been a fan of the GPT technology for a very long time. So I would say that still chat GPT is the most used tool."

"Instead let's create, you know, 10 micro GPTs that do the smallest little task, but they do it very, very well. Right. So it's this balance of productivity and saving time with quality and kind of this granular control."

"Every single big company in the world is sprinting toward agents because they see that's kind of the next goldmine, right?"

"I think we're having similar conversations that we've had about large language models and all these AI tools with companies that are implementing agents and those that are not"

"If the adoption rate is, you know, 20 percent for large language models, what do you think the adoption rate is going to be for you know, agents? It's going to be much lower, right?"

Ryan Staley

Founder and CEO

Whale Boss

[email protected]

www.ryanstaley.io 

EPISODE RESOURCES

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanwilson04/

Saas, Saas growth, Scale, Business Growth, B2b Saas, Saas Sales, Enterprise Saas, Business growth strategy, founder, ceo: https://www.whalesellingsystem.com/closingsecrets

Ryan talks with Jordan Wilson, founder of Everyday AI, about the rapidly evolving world of generative AI. The conversation explores the current state of AI technology, its impact on businesses, and the risks of falling behind. Wilson gives his take on how companies can integrate AI into their workflows and why leadership must take an active role in adoption.

Join 2,500+ readers getting weekly practical guidance to scale themselves and their companies using Artificial Intelligence and Revenue Cheat Codes.  

Explore becoming Superhuman here: https://superhumanrevenue.beehiiv.com/

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The state of generative AI is both fascinating and alarming, with rapid advancements occurring across various domains including language models, sound generation, and multimodal capabilities.
• Companies still on the fence about adopting generative AI are at risk of losing market share to more nimble competitors who embrace the technology.
• Integrating generative AI into workflows doesn't necessarily mean building custom models; it can be as simple as using AI-powered tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot or advanced web browsers.
• Leaders should lead by example in AI adoption, understanding that it's not just another SaaS solution but a fundamentally different way of operating.
• Using outdated or non-internet-connected AI models for business decisions can be detrimental, as up-to-date information is crucial in today's fast-paced environment.
• Understanding the basics of how large language models work, including their limitations and best practices, is essential for effective implementation.
• Upgrading hardware, such as PCs with new AI capabilities, can significantly enhance productivity and AI integration in the workplace.
• Transitioning from traditional search engines to AI-powered tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT can save hours of research time and improve efficiency.

BEST MOMENTS

"If you're still reading through 50 page PDFs to pull out that one little bit that's relevant for you or your company, all of these things that are part of our day to day tasks, you should be using generative AI."

"If you are still using traditional search engines, you are waiting hours a day"

"Think if you worked through the whole two thousands, the decade of the two thousands, the entire decade without using the internet?"

"If you don't understand it at its core you are probably going to misuse it and you could end up doing more harm than good." 

"Here we are every day waking up and scratching our heads, looking at what's happening and saying, there's no way this is happening." 

Ryan Staley

Founder and CEO

Whale Boss

[email protected]

www.ryanstaley.io 

EPISODE RESOURCES

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanwilson04/

Saas, Saas growth, Scale, Business Growth, B2b Saas, Saas Sales, Enterprise Saas, Business growth strategy, founder, ceo: https://www.whalesellingsystem.com/closingsecrets

This is part two of Ryan’s conversation with Aytekin Tank, the founder and CEO of Jotform, a form building platform created from his desire to help automate the communication between people. Author of Automate Your Busy Work, Aytekin shares his framework for cutting time spent on menial tasks by 70% and reveals how AI is transforming Jotform's products. From the importance of prioritization to embracing system thinking, this episode shares actionable insights for entrepreneurs looking to scale their businesses efficiently in the age of AI.

Join 2,500+ readers getting weekly practical guidance to scale themselves and their companies using Artificial Intelligence and Revenue Cheat Codes.  

Explore becoming Superhuman here: https://superhumanrevenue.beehiiv.com/

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Clarify priorities through time audits to understand how you spend your time and identify tasks to automate or delegate.
• Embrace "laziness" and impatience as drivers for finding efficient solutions and automating repetitive tasks.
• Make time to save time by researching automation tools and learning new technologies like AI and prompt engineering.
• Adopt a system thinking approach, transitioning from an individual contributor to a manager of automations and AI.
• Use tools like Dead Man's Snitch to monitor and maintain your automated systems, ensuring they continue to function properly.
• Focus on important tasks that are often not urgent, following Eisenhower's wisdom on prioritization.
• Leverage AI for code reviews and fraud detection to significantly improve efficiency and accuracy in tech development.
• Explore AI integration in products through copilots and agents to reduce learning curves and enhance user experience.

BEST MOMENTS

"Bill Gates said, 'I would always hire a lazy person to do a hard job. Because he will find an easy way to do it.'”

"Eisenhower says that he had two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The important are never urgent and the urgent are seldom important."

"With copilots, you can actually give people an option... They don't have to learn it anymore, they can just tell us what they need."

"It's about figuring out your priorities. For example, for me, in the morning, that's my best time."

"We use AI for code reviews... It becomes easier because it's going to catch many types of code problems."

Ryan Staley

Founder and CEO

Whale Boss

[email protected]

www.ryanstaley.io 

Saas, Saas growth, Scale, Business Growth, B2b Saas, Saas Sales, Enterprise Saas, Business growth strategy, founder, ceo: https://www.whalesellingsystem.com/closingsecrets