If you want freedom and impact in your career, leadership, or startup, you can’t expect to take the easy path.

In this episode of Making Revenue Tick, Remy Piazza shares his journey through tech sales and leadership, and why the leaders who truly scale teams and careers are the ones willing to choose hard.

We tackle the toughest questions founders, executives, and aspiring leaders face:

Why does moving from sales to leadership feel so hard?

How do you balance personal freedom with building impact at scale?

What makes empathy and self-awareness non-negotiable for leaders?

How do you hire for character over credentials?

Why do the hardest choices in hiring, growth, and leadership pay off in the long run?

What’s the role of humility, honesty, and alignment in building teams that last?

How do leaders create impact without burning out their people — or themselves?

What You’ll Learn

How to navigate the toughest leadership transitions.

Why freedom + impact only come through hard choices.

Practical hiring lessons to avoid costly mis-hires.

How to build aligned, high-trust teams that scale.

The leadership philosophies that will define the next wave of tech growth.

This is full of real world lessons, an honest playbook on what it actually takes to lead, hire, and grow when the stakes are highest.

About Remy Piazza

Remy Piazza is a seasoned sales and revenue leader with deep experience in tech and a passion for proptech, driven by building teams that scale and leading with empathy. His career choices have always been guided by freedom and adventure, and today he’s on a mission to align those values with creating lasting impact in business. And he's been involved in growth of $240M in revenue as a 3x CRO.

🔗 Connect with Remy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rpiazza/

About the Host - Richard Washington:

Richard is co-host of What Makes You Tick, GTM recruiter, and advisor to B2B SaaS companies scaling from $5M to $50M ARR. He helps founders build revenue teams that actually perform.

Follow Richard on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

📩 Read Richard’s Newsletter Growth Magnet: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7083793079794556928

#LeadershipLessons #StartupGrowth #ExecutiveHiring

#FreedomAndImpact #MakingRevenueTick #WMYT #TickTalent #Whatmakesyoutick

Replay of our Best Bits. Bitesize lessons for you to enjoy. We've picked a clip from E.77 with Gal Aga. Where he shared how to move upmarket without the classic missteps.

Ready to move from SMB to enterprise… but not sure what it really takes?

Try Aligned for free: https://tick-talent.teamaligned.com?rfr=171607e5e6bd

In this episode of What Makes You Tick, Gal Aga, CEO and co-founder of Aligned and former revenue leader at Syte, shares battle-tested advice on what it takes to move upmarket successfully, without burning runway, hiring the wrong team, or scaling before your product is ready.

Hosted by Richard Washington and Tolu Adebekun (Tick Talent), this conversation cuts through the noise with actionable insights for founders, sales leaders, and GTM teams scaling beyond product-market fit.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to know if your company is actually ready to move upmarket

• Why most teams fail when selling into the enterprise (and how to avoid it)

• Gal’s personal lessons scaling revenue at Syte, and Aligned

• Why “obsession” and self-awareness are the real unlocks for growth

• The biggest hiring mistakes founders make when building sales teams

• How to build a GTM motion that wins in complex deals

• The mindset shift from founder-led sales to scalable sales orgs

• How Aligned are approaching moving upmarket themselves!

About Gal Aga:

Gal is the CEO & co-founder of Aligned, a modern buyer collaboration platform powering B2B sales. He’s built and scaled revenue functions at fast-growth SaaS companies and now helps other teams win in complex, multi-threaded deals.

Follow Gal on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/galaga/

About the Host - Richard Washington:

Richard is co-host of What Makes You Tick, GTM recruiter, and advisor to B2B SaaS companies scaling from $5M to $50M ARR. He helps founders build revenue teams that actually perform.

Follow Richard on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

Like this short version? Let us know which one you want us to do next!

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and drop your biggest takeaway in the comments.

#B2BSales #GoToMarket #StartupGrowth #MoveUpmarket #FounderLedSales #RevenueLeadership #GalAga #WhatMakesYouTick #EnterpriseSales #SaaSLeadership #TickTalent #Aligned

If you’re a startup founder or revenue leader in a scaleup environment feeling the pressure to grow fast, you already know the stakes:

You need double-digit revenue growth now.

You need a team that can deliver, without burning cash on the wrong hire.

You can’t afford to gamble on someone who “looks great on paper” but fails to execute.

In this episode of Making Revenue Tick, Rakesh Rathod shares why execution beats experience every time—and how his 5P Startup Revenue Growth Framework gives you a blueprint to scale without the big risks that sink so many startups.

In This Conversation, We Answer Questions Like:

Why do so many “proven” revenue leaders fail in early-stage startups?

How do you identify people who can execute in uncertainty?

What’s the most expensive hiring mistake founders make—and how can you avoid it?

How do you spot red flags in an interview before it’s too late?

What is the real job of a revenue leader in a scaling business? Be in a startup, scaleup, or even larger enterprise?

How do you align sales, marketing, and product around a clear ICP?

What processes and cadences turn strategy into consistent execution?

How do you scale sustainably, without over-hiring, over-spending, or burning out your team?

The Payoff for You

If you apply the 5Ps: People, Product, Process, Productivity, Programming, you’ll:

Hire talent who actually deliver results in a fast-moving startup environment

Break through the single-digit growth ceiling without doubling headcount

Keep your GTM team focused, aligned, and executing in the right direction

Build a growth rhythm that compounds over time instead of collapsing under pressure

This is a practical, real-world growth operating system—no theory, no fluff, just the steps founders use to scale revenue while controlling risk.

About Rakesh Rathod

Rakesh Rathod is a seasoned revenue leader who’s helped multiple startups transition from stalled growth to scalable success. With a focus on execution-first leadership, he brings operational clarity, cross-functional alignment, and a deep understanding of what it takes to build high-performing teams in chaotic environments. His 5P Framework is used by founders to transform strategy into predictable, compounding results.

Connect with Rakesh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rakesh-rathod-b6847b2b/

About Richard Washington

Richard Washington is the host of WMYT's Making Revenue Tick podcast and a MD of Tick Talent. A talent partner for tech leaders who want to hire and scale elite revenue teams. Known for his simple approach to complex problems, Richard helps startups avoid costly hiring mistakes, align GTM teams, and grow from early traction to sustained revenue success.

🔗 Follow Richard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

📩 Read Richard’s Newsletter Growth Magnet: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7083793079794556928

#StartupGrowth #RevenueLeadership #ExecutionOverExperience #SalesLeadership #SalesHiring #LeadershipHiring #FounderTips

Startup Masterclass - How Founders Step Out of Sales AND Grow Revenue (Without It Falling Apart) w/ Angel Evenson - Making Revenue Tick on WMYT

Founders: Do you see enough people openly talking about one of the biggest choke points in startup growth... getting out of founder-led sales without losing control?

Angel Evenson shares how you can build repeatable sales motion, empower teams to own revenue, and fix broken onboarding and marketing alignment before you scale headcount.

Whether you're pre-seed or post-Series A, this episode gives you a framework for building a sales engine that grows without you in the middle of every deal.

You’ll Learn:

- Why founders get trapped in sales - and how to escape

- What “high ownership” sales teams actually look like

- How to fix onboarding that confuses people

- The real role of sales enablement

- How to align messaging

- Mindset hiring in action

- How to empower!

Who's looking forward to this one?

Angel is the Founder & CCO of AKA Communications, a sales & marketing consultancy helping founders grow revenue without burning out. She’s also a former Challenger consultant, and her frameworks blend enablement, messaging, and leadership alignment to build high-performing teams that scale sustainably. Plus she's a dope author, entrepreneur and great mom who's killing it in business (and on TikTok!) - where does she find the time!??!

Follow Angel on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelevenson/

Get her tools here: https://linktr.ee/angelevenson

Follow Richard on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

Read Growth Magnet https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7083793079794556928

#FounderLedSales

#SalesLeadership

#StartupGrowth

#WhatMakesYouTick

#AngelEvenson

Selling is no longer about highpressure, manipulative tactics, or big corporate pitch decks.

Because AI made written content and automation so abundant - nooone trusts it. So now? It’s about alignment, trust, and emotional connection, built on how the brain actually makes decisions.

In this episode of Making Revenue Tick (the WMYT masterclass series), Richard Washington speaks with Silvia Li, founder of BrainSells Global to break down how founders and GTM leaders can sell in a way that mirrors buyer psychology, not outdated playbooks.

They explore the neuroscience behind high-impact sales conversations, the SCAN model, in-group dynamics, personalization beyond templates, and how AI can scale emotional intelligence across teams.

Key Topics Covered

How to sell the way buyers actually think, not just react

The SCAN model: decoding cognitive styles to personalize effectively

Why “lowering threat” and creating emotional safety leads to better sales outcomes

Building Aha moments and co-creating value with buyers

The neuroscience behind resistance, similarity bias, and trust

The biggest mindset shifts founders need when leading or hiring sales teams

About Silvia Li

Silvia Li is a sales strategist, neuroscience-based performance coach, and founder of BrainSells Global, a consultancy that helps B2B sales teams and growth-minded leaders elevate sales performance by aligning communication with how the brain works.

With two decades of experience at organizations like RAIN Group, Sandler, Miller Heiman Group, NeuroLeadership Institute, and CEB (now Gartner), Silvia brings a rare combination of behavioral science and real-world sales expertise across enterprise, tech, healthcare, and professional services.

Who Should Watch

Founders building or scaling GTM functions

Sales and revenue leaders seeking to shift from scripts to signals

Enablement and talent leaders embedding sales psychology into onboarding

B2B teams selling in high-trust, high-stakes environments

Anyone using (or building) AI to make selling more human

What Makes You Tick is hosted by Richard Washington, founder of Tick Talent, the go-to retained search partner for VC-backed startups hiring GTM leaders.

Find Silvia on LI https://www.linkedin.com/in/silvia-li/

Find with Richard https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

Read Growth Magnet https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7083793079794556928

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

#SalesPsychology #BuyerBehavior #SalesAI #StartupSales #NeuroscienceSelling #SCANModel #SilviaLi #GTMLeadership #WhatMakesYouTick #TickTalent #DemandGeneration #SalesEnablement #EmotionalIntelligence #FoundersWhoSell

Early-stage startup failure rarely comes from product-market fit alone.

It often stems from hiring the wrong go-to-market leaders, and building sales teams on unstable foundations. One of the biggest culprits? The leadership growth gap.

Most first-time VPs are promoted with high expectations but little preparation. No playbook. No leadership enablement. No coaching infrastructure.

This episode unpacks what happens after the promotion, when sales leaders are left to figure it out alone.

🎙️ In This Episode of What Makes You Tick, Richard Washington speaks with Heath Barnett, VP Revenue at Mixmax and host of Mixology, to break down:

Why 90% of first VP Sales hires fail in early-stage startups, and how to find the 10% who scale

The hidden costs of skipping leadership alignment before hiring senior GTM talent

How to spot coachability, character, and signal-readiness in your interview process

Why signal-led sales motions outperform spray-and-pray tactics in PLG orgs

How to build onboarding, enablement, and feedback loops that unlock team performance

The real difference between hiring in startups vs corporates, and why many leaders fail to adapt

How to build a GTM culture of ownership, empathy, and execution

👤 About Heath Barnett

Heath Barnett is a GTM strategist, PLG operator, and community-first revenue leader with deep experience across both corporate and startup environments. Currently leading Revenue at Mixmax, Heath is known for building lean, high-impact sales engines that scale, from startup to unicorn.

He’s also the host of Mixology, a podcast featuring real talk with operators about what’s actually working in sales. With a background in consulting, enablement, and product marketing, Heath brings a multidimensional lens to GTM hiring, signal-based sales, and leadership development.

🎯 Who Should Listen

Founders from Seed to Series B making first GTM leadership hires

Sales and revenue leaders stepping into VP roles (or managing their first)

Hiring managers designing high-signal, aligned interview frameworks

Coaches, operators, and talent leaders focused on scaling high-performing cultures

B2B SaaS teams seeking real frameworks for onboarding, coaching, and GTM scale

📚 Key Topics

Go-to-market hiring strategy, Sales leadership development, Product-led growth, Signal-led sales, Talent acquisition, Coaching frameworks, Founder-led sales transition, Interview design, Culture building in startups

What Makes You Tick features real conversations with operators, founders, and GTM leaders who have built, scaled, and occasionally broken their way through the startup journey. Hosted by Richard Washington, founder of Tick Talent.

Find Heath on LI https://www.linkedin.com/in/whatsupheath/

Find with Richard https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

Read Growth Magnet https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7083793079794556928

Check out the Heath on the Mixmax pod: https://youtube.com/@getmixmax?si=WQxrpMoisgsu22a5

Available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.

#GoToMarketStrategy #StartupHiring #B2BSaaS #SalesLeadership #VPsales #HeathBarnett #Mixmax #WhatMakesYouTick #TickTalent #TalentAcquisition #SignalLedSales #ProductLedSales #StartupCulture #LeadershipAlignment #HiringFrameworks #SalesCoaching

Trying to scale from $2M to $10M ARR - and hitting a wall?

This episode is for founders who’ve nailed product-market fit but now face the messy middle: operational chaos, team burnout, flatlining revenue.

Steve Knight has done this before- more than once. A client, friend, and one of the sharpest commercial operators I know, Steve is the archetype of the intrapreneur: a strategic operator who thrives inside growth-stage companies. He’s been a founder, an IC, a GM, and a CEO. He’s built teams from scratch, scaled startups to 8-figure revenue, and helped unicorns find commercial clarity.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

How to scale from $2M to $10M ARR without breaking the business

The 3 strategic pillars Steve uses to unlock growth: Growth, Efficiency, Innovation

How to stop running in circles: “You’re busy. But you’re not moving.”

The real reason founder-led sales plateaus, and how to fix it

How Steve balances strategy, people, and operations to drive aligned execution

Why he thrives in chaos, and how to build a self-sustaining GTM engine

Who This Is For:

Founders scaling between $2M–$10M ARR. Or those on the path to $50M+ through new venuture. GEO and service expansion.

VCs and boards hiring for interim or permanent commercial leadership

Operators dealing with too many priorities, no clear ownership, and team fatigue

About Steve Knight

Steve has built, scaled, and led across every stage of the business lifecycle, from high-growth startups to global unicorns:

✅ CEO at UIC Digital – led digital transformation for BBC, UEFA, FIFA, NBC, Diageo, and more

✅ GM UK & Director, Builder.ai (StudioStore) – scaled a zero-to-£8M business line in 18 months

✅ Founder of Productiv Delivery – built and exited a logistics platform for major QSR brands

✅ Sales Director at Just Eat, GM UK at Hungryhouse, BD at Delivery Hero, Leadership at Coca-Cola and Britvic

✅ 20+ years across GTM, ops, finance, SaaS, logistics, FMCG & digital product

✅ NatWest Entrepreneur Finalist, BIMA + Stevie Award-winning CEO, and a founder who’s failed, learned, and come back stronger

Whether in a startup, a scaleup, or a unicorn, Steve builds engines that run.

As someone who’s worked with Steve directly:

He’s the who that knows the how.

If you’ve hit the growth wall and don’t want to “just hire another CRO,” this conversation is your roadmap.

Connect with Steve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-knight-61a15540/

Find with Richard https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

Read Growth Magnet https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7083793079794556928

💬 Got a question for Steve or Richard?

👉 Like, Subscribe & Share for no-fluff operator content that helps founders actually grow.

#HowToScale #StartupGrowth #startups #vc #scaleup #SteveKnight #CommercialLeadership #FounderLedSales #GTMExecution #Intrapreneur #BuilderAI #ticktalent #wmyt #careerstory #careergrowth

Founders: Thinking about hiring your first major sales or marketing leader? Pause. Watch this first and set them up to win BIG with you!

In this episode of Making Revenue Tick, GTM strategist Jess Schultz (Founder of Amplify Group) joins Richard Washington (Founder of Tick Talent) to deliver a brutally honest, clarity-first guide to building early-stage traction before hiring your first revenue team.

This isn’t another generic startup chat. It’s a strategic intervention.

What You'll Learn (and What Most Founders Get Wrong):

Why hiring sales or marketing too early is the #1 GTM mistake in startups

How to build a revenue engine without ads, a team, or a massive budget

What “founder-led GTM” actually means, and why it’s essential pre-Series A

How to create message-market match and use it to build traction

The specific questions you must answer before hiring any GTM leader

Why clarity > channels, and how to define ICP, offer, and differentiation

How to avoid burning cash and culture on a hire that isn’t set up to win

Key Takeaways:

Don’t outsource your GTM too early. You’ll create noise, not sales.

Hiring won’t fix clarity problems. You need message/market fit first.

Your first hire is a multiplier, not a miracle. Get the inputs right, or the output will fail.

Founders are their own best marketers, at least at the start.

Who This Is For:

Founders at pre-seed to Series A trying to scale GTM with limited headcount

Startups struggling to convert pipeline or articulate clear messaging

CEOs wondering: “Should I hire a salesperson or marketer first?”

Operators who want to nail traction before spending on talent

Why This Episode Matters:

This episode is the bridge between founder-led traction and scalable hiring.

Jess gives you the GTM strategy; Richard shows you what to do after you get it right.

Because a bad hire can set you back 12 months.

And a good hire, made too soon, still won’t save you.

Find Jess on LI https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicatschultz/

Find with Richard https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

Read Jess' newsletter https://playbook.amplifyscales.com/

Read Growth Magnet https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7083793079794556928

#GTM #Startups #Sales #Hiring #Traction #Founders #Seed #SeriesA #WMYT #TickTalent #AmplifyScales

Humans Should Be More Like Machines + Machines More Humans.

We all know how hard new business development is. People rightly are saying "Cold Outreach Is Dead.”

Get his best selling book now: https://coldcallalgo.com/launch

With the rise of automation and spam cannon selling, in 2025, blasting generic emails isn’t just ineffective, it’s a brand killer.

In this episode of Making Revenue Tick, Richard Washington sits down with Justin Michael, bestselling author, futurist, and GTM advisor, to unpack what actually works in outbound now. For your job, company, or side hustle.

This isn’t theory. It’s tested, proven, effective - and it scales!

You will get a highly tactical, controversial, high-ROI blueprint the top 1% of sales teams are already using to get ahead.

You’ll learn:

Why outbound is broken, and how to rebuild it using modern technology enabled selling

The AI + EQ playbook for hyper-personalized, scalable outreach

How founders can stop burning cash on underperforming Sales teams

How to make a side hustle work, when 40% who want to are failing

The future of sales development in a machine-human hybrid world

Justin’s frameworks for building pipeline that actually converts

🔍 If you’ve been searching for:

how to scale outbound sales in 2025”

“why aren't cold emails don’t work anymore”

“AI in sales outreach strategy”

“best GTM frameworks for B2B startups”

“how to fix SDR burnout and boost conversion rates”

"How can we win customers in this market?"

Or any of these:

- Why “spray and pray” is burning your brand

- The reason SDRs and revenue teams are burning out

- How to build pipeline with AI WITHOUT killing human connection

- Why humans need to be more like machines + machines more human

- How to stop wasting precious hours on outbound that doesn’t scale

- Why personalisation is misused in 99% of sales teams

- What makes a sales message land in 2025 vs get deleted in 0.6s

- How can you make that side hustle dream in to a profitable business

➡️ You just found gold.

About the Guest:

Justin Michael is a GTM innovator and author of “Tech-Powered Sales”, and his latest best seller "Cold Call Algo".

He’s worked with Salesforce, consulted across 100+ tech stacks, and leads the movement toward rehumanizing sales in the AI era.

📌 Subscribe for weekly episodes on GTM hiring, startup scaling, and sales leadership.

Follow Justin on LI:

Read his new book yet? https://coldcallalgo.com/launch

Follow Richard on LI:

Read Growth Magnet:

#ColdOutreach #Sales2025 #JustinMichael #MakingRevenueTick #OutboundSales #TechSales #Prospecting #SalesStrategy #SalesTactics #GTMstrategy #AIinSales #SDR #StartupSales #WMYT #ColdCallAlgo

Most execs hate QBRs. Why? Because they’re long, bloated, and miss the mark.

In this masterclass episode of Making Revenue Tick, Andrea Bumstead shares how she built a QBR model so sharp and effective, it fits into just 15 minutes and still delivers impact.

If you’re in Customer Success and

struggle to get exec sponsors to attend your QBRs, this is for you. Andrea breaks down the real reason they don’t show up, and how to flip that by shifting from slides to strategic impact.

What you’ll learn:

Why most QBRs feel like a waste of time, and how to fix that

How to open with value, not fluff

The “set the stage” script Andrea uses to hook executives fast

How a 15-minute QBR earns trust, unlocks expansion, and makes execs want to stay

🎯 This episode is a tactical goldmine for:

CS leaders looking to elevate team performance

Post-sales teams struggling with exec engagement

Founders building a stronger customer lifecycle without adding time

📌 Andrea’s approach is simple but powerful:

“In the next 15 minutes, we’ll align on the impact you’re getting from our product—and how you can get even more. Then I’ll open it up for your thoughts.”

That’s the kind of clarity execs respect—and act on.

👤 Guest: Andrea Bumstead

💡 Host: Richard Washington, Tick Talent

Connect with Andrea on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreabumstead/

Connect with Richard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

Subscribe to Growth Magnet: Subscribe on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7083793079794556928

🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more tactical GTM insights from the frontlines.

💬 Like what you hear? Drop “15” in the comments if you’re ready to ditch the bloated QBR for something that actually works.

#CustomerSuccess #15MinuteQBR #QBRFramework #PostSales #CustomerEngagement #SaaSLeadership #ExecEngagement #StartupGrowth #GTMStrategy #MakingRevenueTick #CSImpact #TickTalent #WMYT