WMYT - What makes YOU Tick? Tech Leaders Career Stories

Richard and Tolu @ Tick Talent
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Conversations with high-performing tech leaders, breaking down the decisions, failures, and strategies behind exceptional careers. It all starts by asking "what makes you tick?" Designed for founders and operators who want practical lessons from people who’ve built, scaled, and led in the real world. No theory. No hype. Just insights you can use.

  1. Why Buyers Ghost After Great Sales Calls | Brent Adamson (The Challenger Sale)

    2d ago

    Why Buyers Ghost After Great Sales Calls | Brent Adamson (The Challenger Sale)

    Startups think they’ve found product-market fit because the graph went up for a few quarters. Mike Peroni explains why that false sense of PMF is exactly what causes so many SaaS companies to stall before $10M ARR. - Messaging confusion. - Founder-led growth. - Feature creep. - ICP drift. the stuff that quietly kills scale. when you know what the difference is, you're much more likely to have a system that can sail past $10M ARR. In this episode of What Makes You Tick, Richard Washington sits down with Mike Peroni to unpack one of the biggest questions in SaaS growth: How do you know if you really have product-market fit? Together, they break down: why so many SaaS companies plateau after early growth the difference between traction and true product-market fit why founder-led sales eventually stop scaling how ICP drift quietly kills momentum why adding more features can actually slow growth what happens between $5M and $25M ARR when messaging becomes unclear how scaling companies lose narrative clarity as products expand If you’re a SaaS founder, CRO, VP Sales, GTM leader, or startup operator trying to scale from Series A to Series B, this conversation is packed with practical insight on: SaaS growth strategy scaling product-market fit startup positioning founder-led sales go-to-market alignment ICP strategy SaaS messaging scaling revenue teams startup growth challenges why SaaS growth stalls Mike shares real-world lessons from working with scaling SaaS companies, including why many businesses mistake early momentum for sustainable repeatability — and how to diagnose the warning signs before growth plateaus. This episode also explores: why feature-led messaging creates confusion how startups become “feature catalogues” the hidden risks of expanding beyond your core ICP why clarity is often the real competitive advantage how the best SaaS companies scale without losing focus In This Episode: What product-market fit actually looks like Why startups plateau between $5M and $25M ARR How to know when your GTM motion is breaking Why messaging complexity kills growth How founder intuition must evolve into scalable systems Why ICP clarity matters more as you scale The biggest scaling mistakes SaaS founders make Who This Episode Is For SaaS founders Startup CEOs Revenue leaders CROs and VP Sales Series A and Series B companies GTM and product leaders Startup operators scaling revenue Connect With Mike Peroni https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeperoni/ Connect with Richard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/ Read Growth Magnet newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7083793079794556928/ Subscribe to @whatmakesyoutick Conversations with founders, operators, and revenue leaders exploring: startup growth hiring scaling leadership GTM strategy and what really makes high-performing companies tick

    22 min
  2. Champion Burnout & the Culture Metric [WMYT Edition]

    May 26

    Champion Burnout & the Culture Metric [WMYT Edition]

    Two topics. Against the clock.James opens with something he sees constantly, deals that look live and aren't. He gets into why champions burn out mid-process, why buyers go dark on the people they like most, and what the research says is the single biggest factor in whether a deal closes or dies.Rich follows with a metric most businesses aren't tracking, even though it takes five minutes to measure and will tell you more about the health of your culture than any employee survey ever will. New episodes every week with James Bissell and Rich Washington.Set the chicken. We're on the clock.Learn more  @fieldnotespodcast  Field Notes is sponsored by Tick Talent and The Revenue Enabler.If your sales team is missing quota and you're not sure why, The Revenue Enabler works with sales organisations to fix the fundamentals — from sales stage design through to seller capability. Find out more at therevenueenabler.comIf you're looking to hire exceptional sales and revenue talent across the tech sector, from your first AE hire through to VP level, get in touch with the team at tick-talent.com#FieldNotes #ChampionSales #SalesGhosting #ChampionBurnout #BusinessCase #CustomerConfidence #MEDDIC #ChallengerSale #SalesDiscovery #B2BSales #TechSales #SalesLeadership #CompanyCulture #InternalReferrals #EmployeeReferral #TalentAcquisition #SalesHiring #StartupCulture #ScaleUp #SalesEnablement #RevenueGrowth #GoToMarket #SalesTips #SalesCoaching #B2BPodcast #salespodcast

    28 min
  3. E.135 - Does Your Startup Have Product-Market Fit… Or Just Early Traction? w/ Mike Peroni

    May 20

    E.135 - Does Your Startup Have Product-Market Fit… Or Just Early Traction? w/ Mike Peroni

    Startups think they’ve found product-market fit because the graph went up for a few quarters. Mike Peroni explains why that false sense of PMF is exactly what causes so many SaaS companies to stall before $10M ARR. - Messaging confusion. - Founder-led growth. - Feature creep. - ICP drift. the stuff that quietly kills scale. when you know what the difference is, you're much more likely to have a system that can sail past $10M ARR. In this episode of What Makes You Tick, Richard Washington sits down with Mike Peroni to unpack one of the biggest questions in SaaS growth: How do you know if you really have product-market fit? Together, they break down: why so many SaaS companies plateau after early growth the difference between traction and true product-market fit why founder-led sales eventually stop scaling how ICP drift quietly kills momentum why adding more features can actually slow growth what happens between $5M and $25M ARR when messaging becomes unclear how scaling companies lose narrative clarity as products expand If you’re a SaaS founder, CRO, VP Sales, GTM leader, or startup operator trying to scale from Series A to Series B, this conversation is packed with practical insight on: SaaS growth strategy scaling product-market fit startup positioning founder-led sales go-to-market alignment ICP strategy SaaS messaging scaling revenue teams startup growth challenges why SaaS growth stalls Mike shares real-world lessons from working with scaling SaaS companies, including why many businesses mistake early momentum for sustainable repeatability — and how to diagnose the warning signs before growth plateaus. This episode also explores: why feature-led messaging creates confusion how startups become “feature catalogues” the hidden risks of expanding beyond your core ICP why clarity is often the real competitive advantage how the best SaaS companies scale without losing focus In This Episode: What product-market fit actually looks like Why startups plateau between $5M and $25M ARR How to know when your GTM motion is breaking Why messaging complexity kills growth How founder intuition must evolve into scalable systems Why ICP clarity matters more as you scale The biggest scaling mistakes SaaS founders make Who This Episode Is For SaaS founders Startup CEOs Revenue leaders CROs and VP Sales Series A and Series B companies GTM and product leaders Startup operators scaling revenue Connect With Mike Peroni https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeperoni/ Connect with Richard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/ Read Growth Magnet newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7083793079794556928/ Subscribe to @whatmakesyoutick Conversations with founders, operators, and revenue leaders exploring: startup growth hiring scaling leadership GTM strategy and what really makes high-performing companies tick #ProductMarketFit #SaaSGrowth #StartupGrowth #FounderLedSales #SeriesA #SeriesB #GTMStrategy #SaaS #RevenueGrowth #StartupScaling

    1h 1m
  4. Welcome to the first episode of Field Notes [WMYT Edition]

    May 15 ·  Bonus

    Welcome to the first episode of Field Notes [WMYT Edition]

    Two topics. Against the clock. James opens with something he's seeing across almost every sales org he works with right now — pipelines that look healthy and aren't. He gets into why it keeps happening, and what needs to change before you spend another penny on training. Rich follows with something two of the most elite EMEA Sales VPs he's ever interviewed both said, word for word, about how they ran their teams. One phrase. Two completely different companies. And a hiring insight that most sales leaders are missing entirely. New episodes every week with James Bissell and Rich Washington. Set the chicken. We're on the clock. -- Field Notes is sponsored by Tick Talent and The Revenue Enabler. If your sales team is missing quota and you're not sure why, The Revenue Enabler works with sales organisations to fix the fundamentals — from sales stage design through to seller capability. Find out more at therevenueenabler.com If you're looking to hire exceptional sales and revenue talent across the tech sector, from your first AE hire through to VP level, get in touch with the team at tick-talent.com USEFUL LINKS James Bissell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bissell1/Rich Washington on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/The Revenue Enabler: https://therevenueenabler.com/Tick Talent: https://www.tick-talent.com/ #FieldNotes #SalesPipeline #SalesLeadership #B2BSales #SalesEnablement #PipelineManagement #SalesHiring #QuotaAttainment #TechSales #GoToMarket #SalesProcess #CRMTips #SalesTraining #RevenueGrowth #SalesCoaching #StartupSales #SalesTips #DiscoveryCall #DealSlippage #SalesForecasting #VPofSales #SalesManagement #SDR #AccountExecutive #SalesPerformance #RevenueEnablement #B2BPodcast #SalesPodcast

    36 min
  5. E.134 - How Great CROs Build Revenue Teams That Scale Without Them w/ Rob Wellner

    May 13

    E.134 - How Great CROs Build Revenue Teams That Scale Without Them w/ Rob Wellner

    What does it actually take to build a revenue team that scales without you?In this episode of What Makes You Tick, we sit down with Rob Wellner — C-suite revenue leader and operator who has helped scale high-growth tech businesses across SaaS, HR tech, fintech, and education into multibillion-dollar companies.From helping scale Velocity Global through hypergrowth and international expansion, to building commercial systems across multiple industries, Rob has spent his career building teams, cultures, and revenue engines designed to last.This wasn’t a conversation about sales hacks or “growth at all costs”.It was a conversation about building things that compound.Rob shares:* Why the best leaders eventually make themselves redundant* Why culture beats product* Why he hires for hunger and business acumen over industry experience* How elite operators build systems instead of relying on hero performers* Why discomfort is usually a sign of growth* How vulnerability became one of his biggest strengths as a leader* The difference between managing people and truly leading themOne of the most interesting parts of the conversation was Rob describing the moment his leadership team started running the business better than he could himself — and why that was the clearest sign they’d built something durable.At What Makes You Tick, we sit down with high-performing founders, CROs, operators, and leaders to understand the mindset, experiences, and philosophies behind scaling modern companies.If you're a founder, CRO, CEO, investor, or operator trying to build a company that actually scales — this episode is packed with lessons.Enjoy.Connect with Rob:https://www.linkedin.com/in/robwellnercro/Connect with Richard:https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/#WhatMakesYouTick #Leadership #CRO #StartupGrowth #SalesLeadership #Culture #SaaS #RevenueLeadership

    48 min
  6. BB: How to Hire High-Impact Startup Talent: The Traits That Separate Multipliers from Mis-Hires

    May 10

    BB: How to Hire High-Impact Startup Talent: The Traits That Separate Multipliers from Mis-Hires

    Why do so many startup hires fail — even when they look perfect on paper? In this Best Bits episode of What Makes You Tick, Alina Vandenberghe (Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Chili Piper) breaks down the real reason most hiring decisions go wrong — and what separates high-impact “multiplier” talent from costly mis-hires. Most companies hire based on experience, CVs, and past success. But as Alina explains, that’s not what actually drives performance inside startups. 👉 The real difference comes down to ownership, mindset, and behaviour under pressure. 🔍 What You’ll Learn Why most startup hires fail due to attitude, not experience The difference between multipliers, adders, subtractors, and dividers Why “blame is a cancer” in high-performing teams How to identify extreme ownership vs victim mentality The core traits every startup should hire for: Ownership Collaboration Resourcefulness Execution Why psychological safety drives performance (not weakens it) ⚠️ The Hidden Hiring Problem Most founders think they have a hiring problem. In reality, they have an evaluation problem. They optimise for: Experience Background Past results But miss: Behaviour mindset cultural impact That’s how you end up with: High performers who break teams “Great hires” who fail in 6 months Cultures destroyed by blame and misalignment 🧠 The Tick Talent Perspective At Tick Talent, we call this: 👉 The Multiplier Matrix The best hires don’t just perform. They multiply the impact of everyone around them. This episode shows you how to spot them — before you hire. 🎧 Who This Is For Startup founders hiring their first team CROs and revenue leaders scaling teams Anyone struggling with mis-hires Leaders who want high-performance cultures (without burnout or politics) 💬 Join the Conversation Are you hiring for experience — or impact? Comment below: 👉 What’s been your biggest hiring mistake? 🔗 Connect & Learn More Follow Alina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alinav/ Follow Richard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/ Read the Growth Magnet newsletter for weekly insights on hiring, leadership, and scaling revenue teams. 🔔 Subscribe to What Makes You Tick Conversations with founders and operators on: Hiring Leadership Startup growth What actually drives high performance #StartupHiring #HiringStrategy #SaaSGrowth #Leadership #StartupCulture #TickTalent #WMYT

    17 min
  7. E.133 - Why SaaS Companies Plateau Between $5M and $25M ARR

    May 6

    E.133 - Why SaaS Companies Plateau Between $5M and $25M ARR

    Truth: Your SaaS company doesn’t stall because of product capability… it stalls because you’ve lost clarity in your messaging when you've invested in making your product do more, for more people. Scaling from $5M to $25M ARR is where most startups hit a wall. Not because they don’t have product-market fit—but because as they grow, their messaging shifts from clear problem-solving to a confusing list of features. And when that happens? Growth slows. Pipeline drops. Teams lose direction. In this episode of Making Revenue Tick, Richard Washington sits down with Paul Wingfield to break down why SaaS companies plateau after early success—and how to fix it. This is a follow-up to their original ICP masterclass—but this time, they go deeper into what happens after you’ve defined your ICP… and still get stuck. Paul shares real-world examples of companies that: Nailed their ICP Scaled successfully Then lost momentum due to messaging dilution No theory. Just patterns seen across 15+ years scaling SaaS companies. What You’ll Learn Why SaaS growth stalls after product-market fit How feature expansion kills messaging clarity The difference between pain-led messaging vs feature-led selling Why early adopters buy differently to mainstream customers How to realign your entire go-to-market team around a clear narrative The biggest messaging mistake SDRs, AEs, and leaders make as companies scale Who This Is For SaaS founders scaling from Series A → Series B CROs, VP Sales, and revenue leaders Startups stuck between $5M–$25M ARR Anyone dealing with stagnant growth despite a strong product Key Insight The best SaaS companies don’t win because they have more features. They win because they are crystal clear about the problems they solve. Key Topics SaaS Growth Strategy Messaging & Positioning Product-Market Fit vs Go-To-Market Fit ICP Evolution Revenue Stagnation Sales & Marketing Alignment Scaling from $5M to $25M ARR If your growth has plateaued… it’s probably not your product. Hit play and find out why. Connect with Paul: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-wingfield/ Connect with Richard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/ Read Growth Magnet newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7083793079794556928/ #StartupGrowth #ICPStrategy #ScalingStartups #ARRGrowth #SeriesAtoB #SalesAlignment #RevenueGrowth #MakingRevenueTick #PaulWingfield #RichardWashington #startup #scaleup #techsales #seriesa #seriesb #tech #saas #ticktalent #icp

    1h 13m
  8. E.132 - The One Interview Question That Changes Everything in Hiring

    Apr 29

    E.132 - The One Interview Question That Changes Everything in Hiring

    You can learn more about someone in one question than in an entire CV. This conversation breaks down the interview approach that reveals personality, character, and long-term fit. In this special "how to" episode, Richard Washington and James Bissell break down the interview questions that reveal who people really are, beyond rehearsed answers, polished CVs, and “greatest weakness” clichés. This isn’t a typical hiring conversation. It’s a deep discussion about communication, trust, culture fit, sales psychology, leadership, and why most interviews fail to uncover what actually matters. If you hire people, lead teams, work in sales, recruit talent, or want to become better at reading people — this episode will completely change how you think about interviews. Richard shares the unconventional interview question he used to hire hundreds of people over a 12-year leadership career, why comfort creates honesty, and how great hiring is more like a sales process than an interrogation. James and Richard also explore: The interview questions that reveal personality and character Why most hiring managers ask the wrong questions How to make candidates feel comfortable and open up Why interviews should feel like conversations, not interrogations The psychology behind trust, honesty, and human connection How sales skills improve interviewing and hiring decisions Why culture fit matters more than scripted answers The hidden mistakes companies make when hiring salespeople How communication skills shape careers and leadership Why great interviews are about alignment, not pressure Whether you’re a founder, sales leader, recruiter, hiring manager, AE, SDR, or someone navigating your next career move, this conversation gives you practical insight into what great hiring actually looks like. If you enjoy conversations about hiring, leadership, sales psychology, communication, recruiting, startups, culture, and high-performance teams, you’ll love this episode. Subscribe for more conversations on leadership, hiring, revenue growth, communication, entrepreneurship, sales careers, and building exceptional teams. #InterviewQuestions #HiringTips #SalesLeadership #Recruitment #HiringManagers #LeadershipPodcast #SalesPodcast #CareerGrowth #InterviewTips #StartupHiring #SalesCareers #CommunicationSkills #CultureFit #RecruitingTips #LeadershipDevelopment

    17 min
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Conversations with high-performing tech leaders, breaking down the decisions, failures, and strategies behind exceptional careers. It all starts by asking "what makes you tick?" Designed for founders and operators who want practical lessons from people who’ve built, scaled, and led in the real world. No theory. No hype. Just insights you can use.

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