Leaders of B2B Podcast - Interviews on Business Leadership, B2B Sales, B2B Marketing and Revenue Growth – Details, episodes & analysis

In this special episode, we’re joined by Jake Jorgovan, Founder of Content Allies, and TJ Bonaventura, Client Strategist of Content Allies, to discuss the podcast's evolution as it transitions from host David (Ledge) Ledgerwood to Jake and TJ. 

Jake and TJ talk about how they plan to carry forward the show’s legacy and reflect on lessons from their extensive experience in podcasting and B2B marketing. They discuss creating ROI for clients, building strong teams and aligning marketing with sales while introducing new formats and actionable insights for listeners.

Key Takeaways:

(01:41) The StudioPod and Content Allies merger opens doors for growth.

(07:25) Listen Network enables ethical, effective podcast audience growth.

(12:30) Podcasting is now essential in B2B marketing, requiring measurable ROI.

(17:42) Strong teams and long-term relationships drive entrepreneurial success.

(21:18) Aligning marketing and sales remains a key challenge for B2B leaders.

(25:40) Content Allies is positioned as the agency of record for B2B podcasters, delivering complete solutions.

(28:45) B2B companies need data-driven strategies combined with creative branding.

(30:36) Misconceptions in B2B podcasting underscore the need for accurate insights.

(32:16) Ledge reflects on meaningful conversations and the opportunity for aspiring podcasters to grow their shows.

Resources Mentioned:

Jake Jorgovan -

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

TJ Bonaventura -

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tj-bonaventura/

Content Allies | LinkedIn -

https://www.linkedin.com/company/contentallies/

Content Allies | Website -

https://contentallies.com/

Listen Network -

https://listennetwork.co/

This episode is brought to you by Content Allies.

Content Allies helps B2B tech companies launch revenue-generating podcasts and build relationships that drive revenue through podcast networking. 

We schedule interviews with your ideal prospects and strategic partners so that you can build relationships and grow your business. 

You show up and have conversations, we handle everything else. Learn more at ContentAllies.com 

#B2B #BusinessLeaders #Leadership

In today's episode, Mike Malloy, Founder and CEO of Malloy Industries, discusses the growing trend of fractional executives and how they help businesses grow, especially in B2B SaaS technology companies. Mike explains why having part-time experts can be more effective than full-time hires for many companies. He also gives practical tips on how CEOs can focus on big-picture growth while letting seasoned professionals handle daily operations. 

Key Takeaways:

(01:20) The rise of fractional executives.

(03:08) The role of emotional and psychological aspects in effective client engagement.

(12:48) CEOs focus on strategic growth by delegating tasks.

(16:05) The importance of building a supportive network.

(25:55) Learning from past business experiences.

(27:52) Managing cash flow for business sustainability.

(34:00) Setting clear goals and metrics for success.

(35:39) Prioritize creative work before reactive tasks.

Resources Mentioned: 

Mike Malloy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwmalloy/

Malloy Industries - https://www.linkedin.com/company/malloy-industries/

Investopedia - https://www.investopedia.com

Daily Dad - https://www.dailydad.com

CliftonStrengths assessment - https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/home.aspx

Finance cheat sheet - https://malloyindustries.com/resources/finance-cheat-sheet/

Automate unlimited copy-and-paste - https://malloyindustries.com/resources/automate-unlimited-copy-and-paste/

If cash is king then sales is queen - https://malloyindustries.com/resources/if-cash-is-king-then-sales-is-queen-2-0/

Optimizing your schedule - https://malloyindustries.com/resources/optimizing-your-schedule-practical-strategies-for-makers-and-managers/

Podcast links - https://malloyindustries.com/pod

Mike Malloy email address - mike@malloyindustries.com

This episode is brought to you by Content Allies.

Content Allies helps B2B tech companies launch revenue-generating podcasts and build relationships that drive revenue through podcast networking. 

We schedule interviews with your ideal prospects and strategic partners so that you can build relationships and grow your business. 

You show up and have conversations, we handle everything else. Learn more at ContentAllies.com 

#B2B #BusinessLeaders #Leadership

In today's episode, we dive deep with Michael Smart, Founder and Managing Principal of Egress Solutions, Inc., as he sheds light on accelerating growth in B2B SaaS companies. Michael brings his wealth of experience to the table, discussing the details of product management and the vital role of customer-centric approaches in today's tech-driven market.

Key Takeaways:

(01:10) Michael Smart introduces his role at Egress Solutions and their focus on mid-market B2B software companies.

(03:33) The shift from all-encompassing platforms to specialized systems that integrate into larger ecosystems.

(08:13) The emphasis on product marketing to bridge the gap between user satisfaction and organizational buy-in.

(13:38) Every aspect of a product must add value and reinforce the customer's decision, or it risks harming the vendor relationship.

(17:43) The significance of early-stage consideration of the customer experience in the product development cycle.

(22:01) The need for organizational change management and the impact of executive leadership's attitude on successful transformations.

(29:20) Embracing lifelong learning allows for continuous adaptation and correction based on life's unexpected turns and new data.

(37:57) The ongoing challenge of adapting to rapid changes in the business environment.

Resources Mentioned:

Egress Solutions

GTM Disrupted Podcast

Content Allies helps B2B tech companies launch revenue-generating podcasts and build relationships that drive revenue through podcast networking. 

We schedule interviews with your ideal prospects and strategic partners so that you can build relationships and grow your business. 

You show up and have conversations, we handle everything else. Learn more at ContentAllies.com 

#B2B #BusinessLeaders #Leadership

Oliver Nutt, Vice President, Marketing and External Communications at General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), shares insights about the importance of branding, leading large organizations, and navigating change.

Most of our guests here on Leaders of B2B are usually startup founders overseeing smaller teams. So hearing from a leader of a large organization is extremely insightful.

Nutt talks about the importance of branding in enterprise organizations. This marketing responsibility is critical, serving both internal and external purposes. In the case of GDIT, it was essential, following a merger. It was a means of projecting unity, rallying behind a new culture, and placing them on the map.

Nutt talks about the dynamics of leadership as it scales. The approach shifts when you’re leading a team, multiple teams, and an entire organization. With a constant number of hours in a day, it’s essential to build a culture of trust and empowerment. 

Nutt explains how the spirit of entrepreneurship can also work in a corporate environment. The same feeling of embracing change, even if it is uncomfortable, also holds true. The move from General Dynamics in the UK to the US was a huge step. Nutt thought he’d never be ready to take on this daunting task but found that it was great for his career.

Business leaders can gain great lessons from large organization leaders like Oliver Nutt. See how you can take some of these and apply them to your own startups. 

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-nutt/
   

This episode is brought to you by Content Allies.

Content Allies helps B2B tech companies launch revenue-generating podcasts. Build relationships that drive revenue through podcast networking. 

We schedule interviews with your ideal prospects and strategic partners so that you can build relationships & grow your business. 

You show up and have conversations, we handle everything else. Learn more at ContentAllies.com

Esben Friis-Jensen, Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of Userflow, joins Noah on the show to talk about the value of product-led growth to fuel your startup. He also talks about how he was able to improve his startup journey on the next round as a founder.

Friis-Jensen shares how essential onboarding is for every SaaS company. It sets the tone and trend for customer retention by promoting use of any SaaS solution. Providing a self-service option reduces cost and is a great fit for B2B, where customers want to learn and customize the solution on their own.

Friis-Jensen took the plunge from an established startup because, as an entrepreneur, he believed in the value of building his own destiny. In Userflow, he follows a bootstrap model that provides more capability to map their own destiny without the pressure of a VC dictating growth trajectories.

Friiis-Jensen is a proponent of product-led growth. A strong product with constantly updated features will sell itself and attract customers. This can be combined with automated onboarding and campaigns to dramatically reduce CAC. He calls for balance and thinks people still fuel the growth — it cannot rely on full automation or you will risk detaching from your customers.

Business leaders looking to implement a product-led growth strategy will love the ideas Friis-Jensen throws out there. His take on keeping customers connected while automating smartly provides great outlook for any SaaS company.

• Twitter - @esbenfj
• Website - userflow.com
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/esbenfriisjensen/

This episode is brought to you by Content Allies.

Content Allies helps B2B tech companies launch revenue-generating podcasts. Build relationships that drive revenue through podcast networking. 

We schedule interviews with your ideal prospects and strategic partners so that you can build relationships & grow your business. 

You show up and have conversations, we handle everything else. Learn more at ContentAllies.com

Slater Victoroff, Founder and CTO of Indico, joins Noah to talk about his startup journey and the next level of AI. His company Indico Data works on unstructured data. They use analytics with AI to create tools that arm the users and subject matter experts. 

One of the values Victoroff learned early on and abides by through his journey is humility and self-realization. After being proven wrong on his outlook that deep learning has reached its peak, he pivoted and founded Indico. This value is important towards constant improvement — both for yourself and for your business.

Being in an industry that is often misunderstood, Victoroff sees the value in engaging in valuable conversations. He makes it a point to use this value to help educate prospects, clients, and peers. The end result is not only being able to sell his solution better but also spread a better perspective on AI.

Victoroff thinks we are still at the cusp of AI’s potential. A lot of AI is centered around structured data, so many companies are still using manual processes in unstructured data. There is still much room for improvement in the entire industry and Victoroff takes pride at leading the charge with his company.  

Business leaders looking to upgrade their outlook and skills on the latest AI trends will love this discussion.

• Twitter - @sl8rv
• Website - slater.website
• Quora - https://www.quora.com/profile/Slater-Ryan-Victoroff
• Company Website - indicodata.ai

This episode is brought to you by Content Allies.

Content Allies helps B2B tech companies launch revenue-generating podcasts. Build relationships that drive revenue through podcast networking. 

We schedule interviews with your ideal prospects and strategic partners so that you can build relationships & grow your business. 

You show up and have conversations, we handle everything else. Learn more at ContentAllies.com

Garrett Mehrguth, CEO of Directive, joins Ledge to share his expertise in marketing and his insights as a successful business leader. Directive Consulting has been providing customer generation for software companies for the last eight years.

Mehrguth shares that account-based marketing isn’t the right way to go. Citing limited market potential and disjointed KPIs, the spend on impressions and MQL doesn’t translate into deals. He thinks the focus should be geared more towards sales qualified leads. 

He also shares that targeting users is more effective than focusing on decision-makers. So many marketers have made the mistake of targeting the C-level, who don’t necessarily understand the full value of your product. 

Mehrguth goes on to discuss his approach to personal development that’s also applicable to organizations. Be humble enough to realize you aren’t good at something, strive to learn it, then develop consistent actions to practice and improve. Mehrguth doesn’t target perfection but expertise, which allows him to take on more skills to develop and learn. 

Mehrguth also shares that as a business leader, we should hire for talent over experience. Being able to communicate and share forward-looking ideas and a path to execution will attract great talent — people who want to execute and make a difference to your vision. 

Business leaders looking to up their game in developing themselves and their organizations will love this discussion. They’ll find ways to generate more customer demand through Mehrguth’s approach.

• Website - directiveconsulting.com
• Community - https://directiveconsulting.com/join-society/

This episode is brought to you by Content Allies.

Content Allies helps B2B tech companies launch revenue-generating podcasts. Build relationships that drive revenue through podcast networking. 

We schedule interviews with your ideal prospects and strategic partners so that you can build relationships & grow your business. 

You show up and have conversations, we handle everything else. Learn more at ContentAllies.com

Eric Stockton, VP of Demand Generation at Constant Contact, shares his career journey that has led to his expertise in revenue generation. 

He also talks about the timeless tug-of-war between sales and marketing. It’s essential for any business leader to steer both toward revenue for the company. Marketing should be solid in determining the ideal customer profiles and driving meetings toward sales. It’s also essential that sales is given materials and support that relate and speak the target customer language.

Stockton also shares that the best marketing ideas come from conversations had directly with customers. It’s vital to listen to those conversations and interact with customers to know about the market — it will help you know what messaging to put together.

Stockton is a huge advocate of sales and marketing working symbiotically toward success. He thinks that sales teams shouldn’t be pressured to be too pushy and force a close. Finding a customer with the right problems to solve with your solution is imperative. He thinks marketing should be able to provide a large enough pool and the right messaging to find this.

Listen to this 40-minute episode, which feels like a full postgraduate crash course in marketing. The insights from this conversation are simply amazing.

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericstockton/

This episode is brought to you by Content Allies.

Content Allies helps B2B tech companies launch revenue-generating podcasts. Build relationships that drive revenue through podcast networking. 

We schedule interviews with your ideal prospects and strategic partners so that you can build relationships & grow your business. 

You show up and have conversations, we handle everything else. Learn more at ContentAllies.com

Stephen King, Founder and CEO of GrowthForce, joins today’s podcast with some great insight for business leaders. Accounting is a key business function, providing data to help you manage your strategy. Smaller businesses and startups need to deal with the added cost of this function, which often comes even before they have the revenue to cover it.

King explains that outsourcing this function is the solution to this conundrum. Outsourcing gives businesses the expertise at a fraction of the cost. Companies that provide this service have developed efficient processes that match the scale. He states this approach can be replicated in other business functions that are outside your core expertise, too. 

King expounds on efficiency further with his view on automation. He talks about how several business functions can be repeated and replicated by software. Breaking them down into processes can allow more efficient operations. He also argues against the notion that automation takes away jobs. Automation will increase the quality of the workforce and give them better jobs as the business shifts upward.

Another key discussion is around business finances. King talks about how businesses seem to be obsessed with the amount of money they raise or sell. He argues that what matters is what is kept, and businesses need to focus on profits first. By setting profit goals, a company can plot their cost and determine how much they need to sell. This results in a healthier, sustainable business that benefits owners, investors, employees, and customers.

Business leaders looking to enhance their perspective into business fundamentals like finance will find this episode full of insight.

• Email - stephen@growthforce.com
• Website - growthforce.com
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenkingcpa/
• Twitter - skinggforce

This episode is brought to you by Content Allies.

Content Allies helps B2B tech companies launch revenue-generating podcasts. Build relationships that drive revenue through podcast networking. 

We schedule interviews with your ideal prospects and strategic partners so that you can build relationships & grow your business. 

You show up and have conversations, we handle everything else. Learn more at ContentAllies.com

Alexis Chiagouris, director of global marketing communications and brand at Ensono, shares insights in marketing specific to the IT space. As the IT industry has grown, so has the saturation of providers in the space. Creating brand awareness through a marketing communications plan is essential to success.

Chiagouris talks about her take on content strategy. She disagrees with the approach to gate content in exchange for gathering people’s information or forcing them to opt-in. She sees so many different ways to get this information. Having a meaningful message will attract potential customers.

Chiagouris also thinks that having thought leaders, case studies, and customer testimonials are huge in terms of building brand awareness. Marketers need to work with sales reps or account managers to leverage their relationship with the customer and get testimonials. Clashing with sales over control is pointless because both sides have the same goal, which is to increase revenue.

Wearing her futurist hat, she thinks the basics will still prevail as far as MarCom is concerned. Videos and podcasts are effective, especially with people constantly crunched for time. She thinks they can be done effectively even without spending a lot on a full production. Focusing on the message and the brand in the medium is what matters. 

Leaders looking to expand their sales through brand awareness in the digital space will find this discussion educational and helpful. 

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexischiagouris/

This episode is brought to you by Content Allies.

Content Allies helps B2B tech companies launch revenue-generating podcasts. Build relationships that drive revenue through podcast networking. 

We schedule interviews with your ideal prospects and strategic partners so that you can build relationships and grow your business. 

You show up and have conversations, we handle everything else. Learn more at ContentAllies.com