Making The Grade

ScaleWise, Tom Glason

Less than 1 in 100 Startups manage to achieve funding beyond Series D or an exit. Investors typically expect 8 out of 10 of the businesses they invest in to fail. It’s time to make building a business less depressing and scale more wisely. Tune into Making The Grade to hear first-hand experiences of venture-backed software companies in their journeys from Seed to Series B funding. Every week, we’ll be joined by Founders, Investors and senior Go-To-Market Leaders to explore the factors driving the decline in graduation rates, misaligned go-to-market operations and ineffective sales and marketing strategies. All while making you leave every episode with actionable insights and expert advice to help you navigate these common Startup hurdles and thrive in a competitive market, showing that it can be done differently.

  1. Building for efficient growth - Pavilion’s honest growth journey & the real problem behind the short CRO tenure with Sam Jacobs

    5 HR AGO

    Building for efficient growth - Pavilion’s honest growth journey & the real problem behind the short CRO tenure with Sam Jacobs

    Most growth stories celebrate momentum, but very few actually share the behind-the-scenes of what happens when momentum stalls.  In this Making The Grade episode, we’re joined by Sam Jacobs, Founder & CEO of Pavilion - the community built to give in-seat GTM leaders the peers, frameworks, and rooms they need to operate under real pressure.  Sam takes us on a journey from the early days of Revenue Collective dinners to Pavilion’s Covid-era surge. But there’s no skipping the hard bits in this episode. Sam shares the painful consequences of growing too fast, loosening ICP, and chasing scale for growth’s sake. This is a rare, unfiltered conversation about what happens when your biggest strength gets diluted, and how you rebuild when churn becomes the signal you can’t ignore. No matter whether you’re a Founder currently building or a GTM Leader facing the various challenges the market throws at you, there’s endless practical advice in this episode, ready for you to apply straight away.    📚 Episode Chapters 01:15 - Pavilion’s origin story  09:23 - Scaling mistakes & lost focus  19:08 - The short CRO tenure  22:20 - Building P&L Fluency for Revenue Leaders  29:00 - Sustainable GTM Strategies  39:34 - Planning for a successful exit  ⛳ Mentioned in today’s episode:  Pavilion: https://www.joinpavilion.com/Intro to P&L Fluency: https://www.joinpavilion.com/pavilion-university/intro-to-pl-fluency  🎧 Continue listening…  Make sure you listen to What it really takes to win in the US - Honest lessons from Natalie Johnson Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade?  If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to...  ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube.  See you again next week!

    42 min
  2. What it really takes to win in the US - Honest lessons from Natalie Johnson

    5 FEB

    What it really takes to win in the US - Honest lessons from Natalie Johnson

    US expansion is one of the fastest ways for a venture-backed SaaS company to accelerate growth…or blow up months of momentum, burn a painful chunk of cash, and leave a trail of “scar tissue” behind. In this Making the Grade episode, Tom Glason sits down with Natalie Johnson, a seasoned revenue leader who’s lived the 1 to 10 million ARR journey multiple times - across the UK and the US - and now leads revenue at one of Europe’s fastest-scaling AI companies, AutogenAI. In this episode, Natalie unpacks what actually works when expanding into the US, why outbound still works and why AI is not an IT rollout but an organisational transformation that rewires how modern revenue teams operate.  If you’re scaling through the messy middle and considering the US leap, this one’s packed with battle-tested guidance you can apply immediately. 📚 Episode Chapters 01:15 - Lessons from two scaling journeys  03:12 - US expansion mistakes  16:26 - Navigating the messy middle  26:08 - Autogen AI’s Growth Engine   30:46 - Outbound strategies that actually work  35:34 - Hiring Revenue Leaders in 2026 ⛳ Mentioned in today’s episode:  AutogenAI: https://autogenai.com/uk/Glyphic: https://www.glyphic.ai/ 🎧 Continue listening…  Make sure you listen to Season 1 Sean Williams - From $60m exit to building an er-defining AI company Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade?  If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to...  ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube.  See you again next week!

    43 min
  3. SEASON 2 TRAILER

    Making The Grade - Season 2 Trailer

    Welcome back to Season 2 of Making The Grade.  This season, we’re digging into what it really takes to scale beyond early traction… the ups and downs of the journey from £1 million to £10 million in ARR… and why so many startups are struggling to make that leap. Each week, we're joined by experienced Founders, Investors, and senior Go-To-Market leaders to unpack the lessons, trade-offs, and decisions that define the £1m to £10m stage. We’ll explore how to build effective GTM functions and hire truly stage-fit talent, how AI is reshaping go-to-market, what changes we can expect to see in 2026, and what capital-efficient scaling actually looks like in practice. All with one core question in mind: How do you build an enduring B2B SaaS business that scales sustainably, stays capital-efficient, and creates real exit optionality? Expect honest conversations, hard-won insights, and practical advice you can apply straight away, because scaling can be done differently. Our first episode of the new season will be dropping on Thursday, February 5th, so make sure you hit subscribe to be notified of when it's ready!  Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade?  If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to...  ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube.  See you again next week!

    6 min
  4. From CMO to CRO: Florence Broderick on balancing growth with efficiency and the metrics that actually matter

    02/10/2025

    From CMO to CRO: Florence Broderick on balancing growth with efficiency and the metrics that actually matter

    What does it really take to make the leap from CMO to CRO and to build a revenue function that actually scales? In the final episode of Season 1, Tom is joined by Florence Broderick, CRO at General Index, to unpack what it actually takes to make the transition to CRO and what founders should know before hiring their first CRO.  Florence shares candid insights from her transition to CRO, why she believes marketing leaders can make exceptional CROs, and how she’s balancing growth with capital efficiency in 2025 and beyond.  If you’re a founder or GTM leader navigating growth right now, you won’t want to miss this episode.    Episode Chapters 02:30 - Flo’s career journey from dreams of big corporates to CRO  08:30 - Managing imposter syndrome in a new role  14:30 - Building her CRO playbook  22:10 - What every CRO should nail in their first 90 days  27:30 - Why ‘rockstar CVs’ often fail  31:45 - The CRO skills that matter most in 2025  38:10 - AI that uses the needle & metrics that matter  46:50 - Getting more women into sales Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade?  If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to...  ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube.  See you again next week!

    51 min
  5. From $60m Exit to Building an Era-Defining AI Company: Sean Williams on lessons from a start-up exit to building again with AutogenAI

    25/09/2025

    From $60m Exit to Building an Era-Defining AI Company: Sean Williams on lessons from a start-up exit to building again with AutogenAI

    What do you think of when you hear ‘exited Founder’?  Someone travelling the world or sitting on a remote island sipping cocktails?  Today’s Making The Grade guest may change your perspective…  We’re joined by Sean Williams, Co-Founder & CEO of AutogenAI, the AI bid writing software. Before AutogenAI, Sean co-founded Corndell Ltd, which he grew from scratch to 350 people and sold to THI Holdings for $60m.  In this episode, Sean discusses how to build with an exit in mind, why you need to keep control while fundraising and why US expansion isn’t as easy as some Founders might think.  Episode Chapters 02:18 - From bid writer to CEO - Sean’s career journey  08:40 - Post-exit reality & why Sean decided to jump back in the Founder seat 14:36 - Selling a business during Covid  18:57 - More about AutogenAI and the opportunity  23:12 - Fundraising without losing control  27:26 - US expansion do’s & don’ts   29:33 - GTM in the AI-era - what actually works  33:43 - Hiring GTM leaders  Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade?  If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to...  ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube.  See you again next week!

    43 min
  6. Scaling Lean in a $500B Market: Ed Bartlett on going from zero to one & transitioning out of the CEO seat

    18/09/2025

    Scaling Lean in a $500B Market: Ed Bartlett on going from zero to one & transitioning out of the CEO seat

    In the start-up ecosystem, there are a few truths that never change - scaling is harder than it looks, over-hiring can kill momentum, and knowing when to hand over the CEO reins might be the hardest call of all.  In this episode,Ed Barltett, Founder & CEO of Hicomply, unpacks how to successfully scale with a lean team and build a GTM engine that actually produces an intent-led pipeline.  Ed breaks down why stage-fit leadership beats vanity headcount and how to plan a smooth CEO transition when the time is right.  If you’re a founder starting to think about what might be next for you, then this is the perfect episode to listen to. Episode Chapters 02:02 - Ed’s path into Tech  10:40 - Finding your niche in a $500B market  12:44 - Comparing the UK and US markets  17:02 - Staying lean & focusing on speed of execution  19:10 - Building a realistic GTM stack in an AI-driven world  31:58 - Founder transition & handing over the CEO reins  36:47 - Exit prep 101 in 2025 and beyond Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade?  If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to...  ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube.  See you again next week!

    43 min
  7. Bootstrapping Agorapulse to over $20M ARR with Emeric Ernoult

    04/09/2025

    Bootstrapping Agorapulse to over $20M ARR with Emeric Ernoult

    Start-up headlines are often dominated by fundraising announcements and the latest valuation.  But the Venture Capital route isn’t the only option or the best to take.  In this episode, we’re joined by Emeric Ernoult, Co-Founder & CEO of Agorapulse, one of Europe’s most successful bootstrapped SaaS Founders. Emeric is a serial entrepreneur and has seen Agorapulse through several pivots and international expansion, all while bootstrapping.  This often painful journey has come with its fair share of lessons - some of which Emeric shares with us in today’s conversation.  This is definitely not a highlights reel, so if you’re currently going through the trenches or facing a pivot, this episode is one you don’t want to miss.  Episode Chapters 03:37 - Building Agorapulse from the ashes of a previous business  07:20 - The signs to know when it’s time to pivot  13:31 - Bootstrapping vs VC funding - the hard truths 17:44 - Understanding VCs beyond the money  23:25 - The Do’s & Don’ts of international expansion 27:28 - Growth metrics that actually matter 34:07 - How AI is transforming data-driven growth Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade?  If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to...  ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube.  See you again next week!

    38 min

Trailers

5
out of 5
21 Ratings

About

Less than 1 in 100 Startups manage to achieve funding beyond Series D or an exit. Investors typically expect 8 out of 10 of the businesses they invest in to fail. It’s time to make building a business less depressing and scale more wisely. Tune into Making The Grade to hear first-hand experiences of venture-backed software companies in their journeys from Seed to Series B funding. Every week, we’ll be joined by Founders, Investors and senior Go-To-Market Leaders to explore the factors driving the decline in graduation rates, misaligned go-to-market operations and ineffective sales and marketing strategies. All while making you leave every episode with actionable insights and expert advice to help you navigate these common Startup hurdles and thrive in a competitive market, showing that it can be done differently.