Smart Chickens A B2B SaaS Demand Gen Drives Innovation & Growth Podcast

In this episode of Smarts Chickens, we are joined by Greg Blazewicz, CEO of SALESManago & Daniele Sebastiano Murgo, Director of Sales discuss where online and offline retailers are heading, using their all-in-one customer experience data platform, Salesmanago.com Since its inception in 2012, SALESManago has carved a niche for itself as the only no-code, AI-driven CDXP (all-in-one customer data platform & customer experience platform). The platform is used by over 2000 midmarket and large enterprises in 50 countries which includes notable chains like Starbucks, Vodafone, Lacoste, New Balance, Victoria’s Secret, and many other global brands. Financial Times ranks SALESmanago as the fastest-growing marketing automation platform in Europe. The company has seen steady growth since 2016. From $8M APR to $25M APR in the span of five years, this upward trend of steady growth is expected to continue for another five years! Throughout the episode, Greg and Daniele discuss how SALESManago has aligned itself as a force multiplier because of its ability to deliver personalized experiences for its consumers. With the help of AI personalization, delivering marketing execution channels has never been so easy. The forecast is expecting $4.4 trillion in earnings and both Daniele & Greg discuss how e-commerce retailers can get a piece of the pie during these exciting times of growth and prosperity. Greg and Daniele both emphasize the missions of the company, chief among those is their unique ability to hit verticals for consumers in all industries.

In this episode, we are joined by Jay Maaraoui, CEO of Vyyer. Vyyer is a technology company that invented the first anonymous ID verification and they are also a product platform. To date, Vyyer has accrued a variety of accolades. They are about 100 times faster than other privacy platforms, such as Trulio. Jay goes into detail, discussing how his inner entrepreneurial spirit and family upbringing, inspired him to start the business. As he states: “In Lebanese culture, there are a lot of entrepreneurs, my father as a prime example of what it meant to be a true entrepreneur.” Jay’s vision with Vyyer is to go above and beyond in promoting practical and efficient security measures, when it comes to our privacy and security. One of the biggest turning points for starting Vyyer, was due to someone stealing his sister’s identity when she was young. Jay discusses a wide array of topics. Chief among those is the huge loopholes in the banking industry when it comes to security. As it relates to privacy and compliance, Vyyer is breaking the mold and going about conducting these procedures in a manner that is in the best interest of everyone who is involved. As it stands now, many companies are utilizing the same cookie cutter protocols when conducting security and privacy tasks. Jay discusses how privacy is a “fear-driven consumption”, but that other companies like Trulio, aren’t doing enough to guarantee the safety and well-being of its patrons. Users want to be presented with a fair choice when it comes to these matters, and this is where Vyyer is doing its due diligence in being innovative and ahead of the curve.

In today’s episode, we are joined by Guillaume Moubeche or “G”, Founder of Lemlist, which was launched in 2018. As Guillaume describes: Lemlist is the first email outreach platform that allows you to automatically create personal images and videos for your campaigns. They also have the capabilities to help you jumpstart relationships by making your cold emails highly personalized and engaging from day one. You can also streamline and automate your follow-ups, put repetitive tasks on autopilot and be up to date with all of your tasks and objectives. Lemlist’s list of accolades is continuing to grow. Guillaume has brought the company to a point where it has amassed “8 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) in 3.5 years time!” His community has been dubbed as the “Lemlist Family”, as being consumer-oriented is what it’s all about for G and his expansive team. To date, Lemlist has 10k+ customers worldwide, has hired 40+ people for the team, and not to mention, all of this has been achieved without funding. Guillaume even mentions that he turned down a “30 million dollar venture capital investment”, in order to focus on organically growing the business and prioritizing the interactions with the customers. G is a firm believer that having the funds is not what will make or break a business, especially if this is a journey that you’re in for the long haul. As he puts it: “Stop raising funds. Go build your product and engage with customers.” G goes on to discuss that entrepreneurs should run the business the way THEY want to run it, and any outside involvement can pigeon hole the framework of the company.

In this episode, we are joined by Justin Keller, who is the VP Of Marketing at Terminus. Terminus is a leader in ABM (Account-Based Marketing), which is responsible for powering high-performing marketing teams. Justin is a force multiplier when it comes to leveraging B2B marketing for Terminus and the clients they touch. His goal is to depart from the conventional methods of B2B Marketing, by focusing on pain and messaging points that consumers are truly passionate about. In fact, Justin is so passionate about consumer involvement that he decided to host and co-create a virtual event that is designed to address the outdated measures of outreach for B2B interactions. When crafting this virtual event, he wanted it to embody a “Coachella” of virtual B2B engagement. This virtual event was dubbed “Break Sh*t”, and it dispels the point that conventional B2B Marketing and “sales funnels” are effective. “Break Sh*t” takes a deep dive into analyzing the traditional methods of B2B Marketing, explaining that all social media channels and outlets know how to hit the right areas, but for the long-term, it’s not something that will yield conversions or consumer loyalty. The methods by which we buy products and services are always changing. The traditional funnel is linear, and this approach is not ideal when it comes to showing consideration for your buyers. As Justin so eloquently states: “Marketing is not just about operations. It’s about brand identity and understanding the soul.” He understands that B2B marketing at times can be like a black hole, of sorts. His goal is to work around this to make it more interesting for the consumers that are actively involved. Justin also goes on to discuss how these initiatives can be hard to enforce if you’re under a CEO who is unwilling or unable to understand how marketing works. He discusses ways to work around this and what the future looks like for B2B marketing capabilities.

In today’s episode, we have a very special guest Darryl Praill who is currently the CRO of VanillaSoft a SaaS leader in Sales Engagement software. He's a seasoned executive software professional, having navigated in his 30 plus year career through senior leadership roles in sales, marketing, and most currently on the revenue team. He has reached the following credentials and awards, voted by the industry and his peers: 2020 Top 10 SaaS Branding Expert ★ Top 19 B2B Marketer To Follow ★ Sales World Top 50 Keynote Speaker ★ Host of the Inside Inside Sales Podcast He’s helped raise millions in funding and taken companies public. He’s held executive roles with companies like SAP (Sybase), IBM (Cognos). He sought out by industry leaders including AC Nielsen, Salesforce.com, UBM, and Tweed We deep dive into his learned business acumen and experience as a former VP of Sales, recent CMO at VanillaSoft.com and how he has successfully, with some bumps along the way transitioned into his new CRO role at VanillaSoft. You’ll get a lot of his proven sales and marketing strategies and leadership insights from the always opinionated, informative and entertaining Darryl Praill.

Gracias for pressing PLAY, y Welcome to SmartChickens a Working Together Smarter Diversity Meets Innovation & Growth Podcast. In today’s episode, we have a very special guest who needs no introduction but here goes, he’s the God-father of Category Design strategy, Christopher Lochhead, and legendary marketing executive! Christopher is a #1 Apple Business Podcaster, #1 Amazon Marketing author, and a “Godfather of Category Design”. Lochhead has been an advisor to over 50 venture-backed startups, is a venture capital limited partner, and a former three-time Silicon Valley public company CMO (Vantive, Scient, Mercury Interactive), and entrepreneur. Lochhead hosts the award-winning dialogue podcast “Follow Your Different” and award-winning “Lochhead on Marketing” podcast and is co-author of two international bestsellers: Niche Down and Play Bigger. He has been called “one of the best minds in marketing” by The Marketing Journal, a “Human Exclamation Point” by Fast Company, a “quasar” by NBA legend Bill Walton and “Off-putting to some” by The Economist. We discuss his origin story from dropping out of high school in Canada and creating his own path to success as a solopreneur, we delve into his point of view around Category Design, why it's the only true path to differentiate and win big in today’s highly competitive market place. He also shares the top decision-makers who have to embrace Category Design as a business and go to market strategy, and yes it's a C-level, but you’ll be surprised by his answer. He delves into what Category Design is not, so executives and stakeholders don’t fall into pitfalls of category design confusion. He also describes how Category Design can shape culture, describing Eddie Yoon's missionary versus mercenary mentality around work culture. We also have a very special cameo by a furry feline, which shows Christopher Lochhead’s incredible awareness of detail and saved one of nine lives of Bean, his rescue kitten. He also gives us some of his book recommendations to get exponentially better and he shares the advice he would give or reflect on to a younger Christopher if he could go back to the future, there’s throwing down the rope and Counting Crows reference to his answer.

In today’s episode, we have a very special guest Karishma Veljee, she’s the co-founder and president of DigitalHire, a digital interview platform that helps employers get to know their candidates and make better hiring decisions, all while getting time back in their day to focus on 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗚 their business. She shared with me her origin story from growing up in Pakistan and learning the life of a successful entrepreneur her father to studying college abroad here in the U.S. at Clark University and majoring with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science. Her journey during and post-college in the sales trenches led her to an entrepreneurship journey founding a successful recruitment firm that recently provided her and her co-founders with the idea for her second venture, a SaaS Video Interviewing Platform, Digital Hire. We discuss the changing hiring landscape with Millenials and Gen-Z professionals being the new workforce demographics and how personal branding and showcasing soft-skills is becoming more important for candidates looking to differentiate themselves from potential hiring managers and employers. Alternatively, employers who are looking to become an employer of choice in their industry, also have to humanize their brand and find new ways to connect with potential hires and showcase their unique corporate culture in a very competitive recruitment atmosphere. DigitalHire is on a fast-pace track for growth, working across diverse industries helping HR and talent management professionals to connect better with top talent candidates by leveraging their video interviewing platform to gain back 40% time back in their day and focus their efforts on growing their business. She also gives us some of her book recommendations to get 1% better and she shares the advice she would give a younger Karishma if she could go back to the future.

In today’s episode, we have a very special guest John Rougeux, VP of Marketing Strategy at Bomb Bomb, where he’s focused on re-humanizing the way people do business through personal, 1-1 video. As VP Marketing Strategy, he’s leading their content team on category design, strategic messaging, positioning, and content strategy. We discuss his entrepreneurial background which includes being a successful founder of Causely, where he built the world's first SaaS platform to help SMBs generate referrals using cause marketing. He oversaw all growth efforts and recruited over 6,000 SMBs to join our community, raising over $2 million for charity in the process. He built our marketing processes and the team from scratch. They were awarded #1 Place to Work in Kentucky in 2016 and received recognition from Entrepreneur and Outside Magazine for having a great company culture. Causely was acquired by SkyFii a cloud-based software helps you streamline operations, drive marketing results, and improve the visitor experience. In 2018 he led the team as VP of Marketing North America, before his recent role as VP of Marketing Strategy at BombBomb. He is also the co-host of the B2B Growth podcast. We have a very real and candid conversation around his view of Category Design as a unique path to differentiate your organization in an ever-increasingly competitive and noisy market. He also dives into his founder journey using Category Design with Causely and how he’s shaping Bomb Bomb's strategic marketing growth via the lens of Category Design.

In today’s episode, we have a very special guest Kathy Fasanella, she’s a female pioneer in healthcare, a graduate of the Milken Institute of Public Health - ranked 12th in the country and mentor for their graduate MHA programs. She has worked 30+ years in the healthcare industry in diverse roles. She was the Vice President of many global Insurance companies, Optum Healthcare, Cigna corporation among others. In addition, she was the COO of one of the largest Multispecialty groups in the US. In addition, she founded a startup company and was able to grow it to approximately 6 figures. Today she is the owner and the president of MyHireRoads.com whose purpose is helping all levels of job seekers to get hired. She also oversees the mentoring program at GWU graduate school mentoring students to enter the healthcare field. We have a very real and candid conversation around her journey in the private health insurance industry. She shares her experience in the C-suite as a professional woman, working in a very male-dominated industry. She gives aspiring women in healthcare some advice and insights on how to pursue your career goals in healthcare.

In today’s episode, we have a very special guest Sangram Vagre, he’s the Chief Evangelist and Co-founder of ABM SaaS Leader Terminus, as well 2x author of the following books: ABM is B2B and Account-Based Marketing For Dummies. He is also the host and founder of the top 50 business podcast - FlipMyFunnel and because Mr. BOOM has more energy than a pinned up hamster on a mini-treadmill, he JUST LAUNCHED a private b2b marketing and sales leader community. The Peak Community, a private community for marketers and leaders, focuses on sharing a collective knowledge from the expertise of members with the intention to get 1% better.and host of FlipMyFunnel with 100K community members in marketing and sales, We have a very real conversation around his journey from India where he obtained his B.S. in Computer Sciences at Nagpur University to obtain his Masters in Computer Science at The University of Alabama, and his career experience throughout his journey from becoming the Co-Founder, CMO and now Chief Evangelist of Terminus an ABM SaaS leader. We discuss his point of view around AMB, alignment of marketing and sales, how to leverage your superpowers to make your career more enjoyable and productive. He shares his belief in the power of letting go to watch you grow, not an easy thing for C-levels and A-Type personalities to do, but in his opinion essential for sustained career and personal growth. We get over 10 quality gems of his insights ranging from what it took to build a category, SaaS platform organization to how to intentionally create successful multiple engagement-driven content programs such as his LinkedIn Live Series, The Peak Community, FlipMyFunnel Podcast and the power that frequency and consistency have to their success. We chat about where he sees Marketing and Sales evolving in b2b SaaS and ABM’s role in this "happening now" evolution. He gives us some valuable book recommendations and what he would tell a younger Sangram on a trip with Marty in his Back to The Future DeLorean.

In today’s episode, we have a very special guest KK Diaz, my brother from another mother. We share an interesting conversation around his origin story growing up in South Africa, his career journey with a major U.S. company in Sage, which catapulted him to explore entrepreneurship and opened the doors to his own digital transformation consultancy, all while owning a music record label for the underground South African artist scene. He talks about building up his courage and purpose to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and the impact it had on his life and career. Now 5 authored books later and with a thriving consultancy, he gives us some of his book recommendations to get 1% better, insights on authoring books, and his process. We go over three takeaways he's experienced during his journey, which he feels can be helpful to navigate our current business atmosphere: 1. Refection is key to find your true purpose-driven life 2. Courage is important, take your risks with conviction towards your purpose-driven life 3. Seek like-minded people to work together and go further instead of solo through your journey We also take the fictional trip with Michael J. Fox and his Back to the Future DeLorean to see what he would say to a younger KK.

In today’s episode we have a very special guest Damian Rivera he is the CEO of ALPFA ((Association of Latino Professionals For America) and former 20 plus year senior managing director at Accenture. We have a very real conversation around the critical importance of your origin story, his childhood upbringing in NY to El Paso Texas, and then back to Spanish Harlem in the ’80s and how those experiences shaped and prepared him for his educational and career paths. We chat about the important role of his parents’ attention to education and summer computer camps, which would come to impact his future choices for work and academics. He gives us some valuable takeaways on how to focus on leadership and the power of using your voice at all times, even when you don’t think you're being heard. He gives us some of his favorite diverse book recommendations to get 1% better, and some advice he would give to recent college graduates. Then we take a fictional trip with Michael J. Fox in his Back to the Future DeLorean to speak to a younger Damian Rivera. There's a little bonus part to this episode, where we learn about Damian's Rutgers Football career and how his non-casa nova style landed him the girl of his dreams.

In today’s episode, we have a very special guest Morgan J. Ingram, named the top 50 Voices in Sales by LinkedIn. We delve into a powerful conversation around his background growing up in and around Atlanta, Georgia, and how his diverse background shaped his sales strategy throughout his meteoric career in sales. We unpack three valuable lessons he learned from winning two state high school basketball championships. He played with NBA's 2017 Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon of the Milwaukee Bucks, and we dissect how his basketball background has shaped his art of sales strategy. He gives us pro tips that can help any salesperson to catapult their careers from an SDR to AE to sales guru by thinking differently and honing in on their sales craft. Morgan shares his secret weapon how he uses his creative mindset to develop unique sales plays somewhat inspired by fictional book recommendations and gaming. We also took a trip with Michael J. Fox “aka” Marty in his Back to the Future DeLorean to get some rear-view mirroring insights.