Leading by Influence: The Founder's Shift to Sustainable Growth with Matt Holtz

Leading by Influence: The Founder's Shift to Sustainable Growth with Matt Holtz

In this episode of Revenue Blind Spots, host Sam Jacobs speaks with Matt Holtz, President and CRO of Alliance HCM, about navigating the shift from a founder-led business to a role on an executive team. Matt shares his transition to leading "more by influence than you can lead by just being the darn founder". He discusses his biggest blind spot: the "survive to thrive curve", where he focused on grabbing any revenue possible, which resulted in non-sustainable business.

The M&A Integration Blind Spot: Autonomy vs. Synergy

Post-acquisition, most leaders promise: “Nothing changes for 6–12 months.” According to Xero CRO Ashley Grech, that’s exactly how you destroy deal value. In this episode of Revenue Blindspots, Sam Jacobs and Ashley unpack the hidden costs of “leaving the acquired company alone,” how to decide which teams to integrate and when, and why you should start with the customer experience—not org charts. They also dig into the tension between regional vs. functional structures and Ashley’s practical advice for rising revenue leaders in an AI-driven world: deeply understand the underlying workflows before you try to automate them.

The Hiring Blindspot That Sinks Growth

Hiring ahead of demand feels like the right move - but it can leave companies overextended and vulnerable. In this episode, Sam Jacobs and Kathleen Booth unpack the blind spots around hiring and firing, the cost of ruinous empathy, and why transparency is the only way to maintain morale.  They also explore how AI is reshaping marketing teams and forcing leaders to rethink org design from the ground up.

Outbound Isn’t Dead - You’re Just Doing It Wrong

Too many startups wait until the bank account is empty before building a real GTM engine. In this episode, Sam Jacobs and Dmitri Lisitski unpack the blind spots of relying on referrals, how Influ2 booked 20 meetings a month from a standing start, and why outbound + contact-level ads is still one of the most powerful combos in B2B. They also explore the role of AI in scaling signal-based selling and what SDRs look like in the years ahead.

Why Most Growth Teams Miss the Upsell Opportunity

Too often, growth leaders chase small, incremental wins while overlooking the real driver of scale: upsell. In this episode, Sam Jacobs and Darius Contractor dig into how product design and habit loops unlock expansion, the cultural blind spots that hold teams back, and why AI is quickly becoming a growth leader’s most important tool.