Revenue Science | Business Growth & Marketing Strategy

Why Most B2B Positioning Fails — And How to Fix It | April Dunford

👉 Connect with me: https://richmsmith.com/ [https://richmsmith.com/] In this episode of the Revenue Science Podcast, April Dunford explains why positioning is not just a branding exercise — it’s a revenue strategy that impacts pipeline growth, sales conversion, differentiation, and market expansion. April also shares practical frameworks from her bestselling books Obviously Awesome and Sales Pitch, along with actionable advice for CEOs, marketers, and sales leaders trying to sharpen their competitive advantage. If you work in B2B SaaS, enterprise software, marketing, or revenue leadership, this episode is packed with insights you can apply immediately.

The Architecture of Monetization: Unlocking B2B SaaS Pricing with Dan Balcauski

👉 Connect with me: https://richmsmith.com/ [https://richmsmith.com/]Dan Balcauski is the founder of Product Tranquility, a consulting firm based in Austin, Texas. With over 20 years of experience in software engineering, product management, and business strategy, Dan helps B2B SaaS CEOs design pricing and packaging strategies that unlock revenue without adding headcount or increasing acquisition spend. In this episode, we cover business growth, startup growth, marketing strategy, executive leadership, and founder advice. Key Takeaways: The Net Revenue Retention (NRR) Link: Why your pricing strategy is the ultimate driver of NRR and enterprise value. Killing "Discount Theater": How unenforced discounting policies destroy your margins and confuse your market signals. The Danger of B2B A/B Testing: Why consumer-style price experiments break trust in long B2B sales cycles—and what to do instead. Pricing Psychology: Unpacking the behavioral economics behind Good-Better-Best tiers, decoy pricing, and the "magic of the middle." Building a Pricing Committee: Why pricing falls through the cracks and how to build a governance process that outlasts leadership transitions. 00:00 Intro01:52 American Solutions for Business 02:42 Why is pricing often a silent growth lever? 07:16 Why is pricing a constraint to growth? 12:05 Which financial metric get the attention of investors? 14:55 How do you discuss pricing change with your investors? 10:27 How to tell if you have a pricing problem? 33:03 American Solutions for Business 35:24 What are the leading indicators to tell that your pricing is working? 40:29 How do you structure pricing experiments in B2B? 46:36 How to use pricing as a differentiating factor? 52:28 What is the one advice that you would give a CEO to increase their revenue? 54:24 Outro

When Marketing Moves But Revenue Doesn’t w/ Steve Chen of Boldin

Revenue systems don’t fail loudly—they degrade quietly. This conversation examines how growth actually behaves inside a business, and why most teams default to tactics when the underlying system lacks clarity. Rich Smith and Steve Chen (Boldin) explore how companies diagnose and improve the mechanics of growth—from acquisition through monetization—while navigating real constraints. The discussion surfaces several structural truths: * Funnels are systems with interdependent parts, not isolated functions * Customer behavior—not stated intent—should shape product and GTM decisions * Trust is built through transparency, consistency, and alignment over time * Rebrands and strategic shifts only work when they reflect deeper changes in positioning and direction * Growth compounds when teams focus on the right levers, measured against clear metrics The broader implication is that durable growth is engineered—not accelerated. Listen to full episodes focused on revenue as an engineered system: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ULPzJc0tRVnAIchvfR99s?si=VBZvNgdNSSeeBLQ_3Vvv9Q

Why Sales Isn't a Talent Problem w/ Justin Roff-Marsh of Ballistix

Justin Roff-Marsh (Ballistix, author of The Machine) reframes sales as a designed system optimized for throughput, flow, and leverage—rather than a charisma-driven craft. You’ll hear: * Why multiple “qualification” definitions create conflict and bottlenecks * How to define opportunities and stages using objective prospect behavior * Why commission and autonomy introduce noise into the system * Why centralized customer service often unlocks sales capacity fastest * A sharper boundary between growth (sales/marketing) and revenue (operations) Follow: https://www.linkedin.com/company/109540990

The New Sponsorship Playbook w/ Mike Verlander of Richard Childress Racing

Sponsorship is often discussed as media. In practice, it behaves more like a revenue system—one that either produces measurable outcomes or fails the renewal test. Rich Smith is joined by Mike Verlander, President of Richard Childress Racing, for a clear breakdown of how sponsorship models evolved from logo placement to objective-driven activation. Core themes explored: * Why “generic exposure” is a weak primary metric and rarely satisfies CFO scrutiny * How top organizations define partner-specific objectives and build a defensible measurement plan * What actually drives renewals: outperforming expectations on the metric that matters, plus strong internal sentiment inside the partner organization * The operational shift inside sponsorship organizations: acting like marketers and account managers, not just inventory sellers * How AI and first-party data are changing sponsorship measurement by helping teams learn what drives results, not simply report results * Why AI search increases the value of third-party credibility, making sponsorship a lever for validation beyond a brand’s own claims The through-line is structural: sponsorship succeeds when it’s designed as a system with levers, feedback loops, and proof that ties back to the partner’s business model. Listen to full episodes focused on revenue as an engineered system. https://open.spotify.com/show/6ULPzJc0tRVnAIchvfR99s?si=VBZvNgdNSSeeBLQ_3Vvv9Q [https://open.spotify.com/show/6ULPzJc0tRVnAIchvfR99s?si=VBZvNgdNSSeeBLQ_3Vvv9Q]