Chad T. Podcast

Why HubSpot Became the Growth Engine for Modern Companies | Eric V. Holtzclaw | #chadtpodcast Ep. 33

You're probably not telling your company's brand story right.Chad interviews Eric, founder of Liger Marketing, about why he recommends HubSpot for non-enterprise companies as a simpler way to consolidate marketing and sales systems, support long B2B decision cycles, and create consistent touchpoints that help sales teams. Eric explains who benefits most from HubSpot and introduces BATCOM—Branding, Awareness, Traffic, Conversion, Optimization, Measurement—as a framework for finding growth bottlenecks, arguing companies skip brand and awareness too often. He describes Liger’s focus on complex B2B challenger brands, typically $10M–$100M revenue, emphasizing business-first strategy, ROAR mapping, and aligning systems with strategy and culture. They discuss PESO media order, why awareness differs from traffic, examples like Chick-fil-A and Starbucks as brand promise and culture, naming and color selection, and how AI should enable experts rather than replace them.---Eric V. Holtzclaw is the CEO of Liger MarketingEric's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eholtzclaw/ ---Chad's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadtabary/Book an appointment with Chad: https://chadtabary.youcanbook.me/00:00 Why HubSpot Wins01:25 Who HubSpot Helps03:40 Funnel vs Loop04:43 Liger Origin Story07:04 Challenger Brands Focus07:53 RevOps Buzzwords Rant10:03 BATCOM Framework11:46 Marketing Skill Sets13:46 Brand First in AI19:03 PESO and 90 Day Plan23:06 Long Form Content Engine25:26 Awareness vs Traffic30:49 Conversion to Measurement33:29 Culture Must Match Brand33:53 Chick-fil-A and Starbucks38:02 Starbucks Brand Shift39:14 Employee Culture Decline40:36 Tech Versus Experience42:08 Service Level Expectations44:50 Challenger Brand Goals46:48 AI Hype Reality Check50:04 Jobs Consulting Future01:04:00 Strategy Versus Systems01:07:21 Naming Search Semantics01:11:40 Color Logo Simplicity01:16:06 Closing Where To Find

From 7-Figure Tech Sales to 9-Figure Company Sales | Aron Bohlig | #chadtpodcast Ep. 32

What's better than hitting 7-figures in tech sales? How about we just buy and sell the whole company. Chad interviews Aaron, a former software developer and enterprise sales leader who moved into investment banking. Aron shifted from selling million-dollar software deals to selling companies for eight and nine figures, and later became CEO by acquiring a 120-person German business. Aaron explains his firm’s focus as a 30-person lower middle-market investment bank doing sell-side M&A, buy-side advisory, and financings for SaaS, software, AI, and tech-enabled services, typically working with CEOs, boards, CROs, and CFOs. They discuss how executives can build generational wealth through equity during acquisitions, negotiating visibility and option grants, and using external offers as leverage. Aaron shares key SaaS sale metrics (growth rate, profitability, churn), how to run a disciplined sale process, why consolidation/fragmentation is constant, and how AI is reshaping operations, roles, and valuation expectations among large acquirers.---Aron Bohlig is the Managing Partner, ComCap LLCAron's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bohlig/ ---Chad's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadtabary/Book an appointment with Chad: https://chadtabary.youcanbook.me/00:00 From Tech Sales to Banking01:05 Buying a CEO Seat01:58 Advising SaaS Exits Today03:45 Career Moat Through Networking06:54 Generational Wealth in Deals09:00 Negotiating Equity Retention12:41 Why Options Matter14:57 Firm Focus and Sweet Spot17:27 Competing Without Big Brand22:23 MSP SaaS Exit Readiness26:00 Valuation Multiples and Plan B26:55 Running the Sale Process28:16 Exit Season Marketing Moves30:41 Hidden Acquisition Costs30:56 Surviving an Acquisition32:15 PE Cycle Uncertainty34:30 Consolidation and Career Strategy37:23 AI Rewrites the Playbook40:53 Maximizing Value With AI45:54 Valuation and Big Buyers51:59 Exit Multiples and Lifestyle55:10 Where to Find Aaron

How to Turn LinkedIn Into Revenue | Michelle Du Plessis | #chadtpodcast Ep. 31

I was doing LinkedIn wrong. You're probably doing it wrong too.Chad and Michelle discuss why $10M–$40M business owners wrongly assume a SaaS launch post or faceless brand content will generate inbound leads. They argue that visibility now outperforms skill without trust and authority. Michelle explains the shift from traditional advertising and declining influencer trust toward founder-led brands that humanize leaders while building credibility, contrasting it with attention-seeking content like TikTok dancing. She outlines a practical LinkedIn framework: define a specific ICP, align banner/headline/bio with a “golden thread,” lead the bio with a pain point, use the featured section for booking links and testimonials, and post across top/middle/bottom-of-funnel content (stories, authority, case studies). They cover avoiding generic AI content, “pitch slaps,” and using Sales Navigator plus intentional engagement to build relationships and drive inbound over time.---Michelle Du Plessis is a personal branding expert building high authority founder brands.Michelle's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-du-plessis-75580a22b/Join Michelle's LinkedIn Growth Academy: https://www.skool.com/stature-studios-8078/about ---Chad's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadtabary/Book an appointment with Chad: https://chadtabary.youcanbook.me/00:00 Visibility Beats Skill01:48 Ads to Influencers Shift02:53 Founder Led Brands05:06 Not Selfies Authority06:33 TikTok Surgeon Lesson08:21 Storytelling Plus Authority10:09 Michelle Origin Story12:41 Trust Over Attention16:23 LinkedIn Results Proof19:58 Viral Post Breakdown22:39 Networking Flywheel Effect24:26 Three Part LinkedIn System25:39 No Instant Inbound Myth33:09 Avoid AI Slop40:50 Profile Golden Thread50:54 First Impression Matters54:22 Bio Starts With Pain54:57 Lead With Pain56:01 Bio Framework And Qualifying58:13 Banner And Featured Section01:00:06 Testimonials And Social Proof01:02:45 Start Posting Without Fear01:09:09 Content Pillars Strategy01:11:41 Profile Views And Pitch Slaps01:17:41 Define Your ICP Precisely01:24:01 Funnel Content That Converts01:28:17 Sales Nav And Outreach Filters01:30:26 Engagement ICP And Comments01:38:36 Intentional Mindset And Coaching01:43:19 Work With Michelle And Wrap Up

How to Show Up in ChatGPT in 2026 | Adrien Thomas | #chadtpodcast Ep. 30

Users are trying to buy you inside ChatGPT. Are you showing up there?Chad interviews Adrien, a French SEO/AEO expert based in Bangkok, about the rise of AEO/GEO (AI visibility) and how businesses can be recommended by LLMs like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini. Adrien says LLM-driven traffic converts far higher than traditional SEO—around 9% vs under 1%—because users are “lazy” and increasingly trust AI over ad-heavy Google results. He argues SEO remains a necessary foundation but not sufficient for AI recommendations, which depend on being mentioned across the web on sources LLMs use (often LinkedIn, Reddit, and YouTube). Adrien describes his agency and his SaaS tool for monitoring AI visibility and source citations, outlines a content workflow that starts from the top questions prospects ask, and explains how to self-audit with a set of informational and transactional prompts.---Adrien Thomas is the co founder of Crescendo Agency and Clairon, a golf addict, and an NBA fan.Adrien's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/athomas-crescendo/Crescendo Agency (SEO/GEO Agency): https://www.crescendoagency.ai/Clairon AI (GEO Analytics Solution): https://clairon.ai/Crescendo's Youtube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@crescendoagency Clairon's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ClaironAISearchGEO ---Chad's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadtabary/Book an appointment with Chad: https://chadtabary.youcanbook.me/00:00 Meet and define GEO01:11 Why AI traffic converts04:53 Google vs AI search reality08:14 Adrian background and offer11:18 Hype vs real AEO12:55 Sources that LLMs trust18:29 Trust and bias in LLMs22:47 Content repurposing playbook26:22 Bottom-up lead strategy29:08 Ransomware example workflow33:03 Repurpose One Answer Everywhere34:29 Do You Need A Website35:21 Owning A Keyword On LinkedIn37:50 Why Reddit Ranks So Well41:33 Reddit Tactics Patience And Karma43:34 Turning Reddit Value Into Leads47:29 AI Traffic Volume Misconception50:09 How Fast AI Search Is Growing51:19 Google AI Overview Vs Search54:51 The Future Moat Devices Not Models59:22 Self Audit Your LLM Visibility01:01:53 Clareon Who Its For And Next Steps01:04:47 Final Takeaways And Where To Follow

What if You Never Hired Sales? | Lindsay Rios | #chadtpodcast Ep. 29

You've probably got your ICP wrong, and you're making expensive mistakes in your pipeline.Chad interviews Lindsay Rios, owner of GTM Done Right, about why founders often hire sales too early and why “if we hire salespeople, deals will come” doesn’t work.They unpack defining a true ideal customer profile using qualitative and quantitative signals, ranking ICP high/medium/low, and avoiding “vampire” deals that linger past the normal sales cycle. Lindsay covers forecasting and the pitfalls of poopy pipelines, emphasizing that only qualified deals belong in pipeline, leaders must be taught forecasting, and CRM/rev ops should enable sellers rather than add required-field friction.Lindsay explains her fractional model serving scaling startups/SMBs (often $5–$30M) that grew through network and word-of-mouth but stalled because they never scaled intentionally.The episode also covers guidance on sales careers, active listening, and sales leadership expectations. --- Lindsay Rios is a fractional CRO and co-founder of Luminetics. Lindsay's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsayrios/ --- Chad's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadtabary/Book an appointment with Chad: https://chadtabary.youcanbook.me/00:00 Why Sales Matters00:23 Founder Led Sales Trap03:02 When to Hire Sales04:19 Repeatable Sales Motion05:13 Warm Network Limits06:30 Fractional GTM Help08:54 Define Your ICP13:14 ICP Red Flags15:06 Kill Vampire Deals16:18 Qualify Faster in Discovery17:23 Selling Without Being Salesy20:50 Runway and Hiring Budget21:34 Why Sales Needs Base Pay25:56 Pay for Talent Reality31:05 Sales Is High Risk32:33 Founder Leadership Blindspots37:37 What Founding Means39:33 Hiring Market Is Brutal41:17 Recruiter Screening Madness42:11 Awkward AI Interviews43:12 Non Negotiables After Layoffs44:05 Owning Your Own Work46:26 Poopy Pipeline Defined47:25 Forecasting Culture Fixes50:49 Pipeline Data That Matters56:33 Intuition Versus CRM Math01:03:17 Rev Ops Enablement Not Blockers01:09:09 Clawbacks And Commission Design01:10:37 Who Should Choose Sales01:18:07 Skills And Leadership Paths01:24:05 Wrap Up And Where To Find Lindsay