The GTM Playbook Podcast

Mark Deacon
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The GTM Playbook Podcast gives founders and go-to-market leaders a front-row seat to how today’s fastest-growing SaaS and AI companies scale. Each episode, host Mark Deacon sits down with founders and leaders scaling the next generation of SaaS and AI companies. Together, they unpack the actual playbooks—what’s working, what’s not, and the lessons that only come from being in the trenches.

Episodes

  1. What High-Performing Teams Do Differently to Find and Hire Top Talent.

    FEB 10

    What High-Performing Teams Do Differently to Find and Hire Top Talent.

    Maddie Jones, founder of Talent X, has worked with founders and GTM leaders at fast-growing companies to fix one of the most underestimated growth problems: hiring the wrong people. With a background far outside traditional recruiting, she brings a performance-first lens to how teams are built and scaled. In this episode, Maddie breaks down why CVs, pedigree, and brand-name experience are weak predictors of success. You’ll learn how to hire for aptitude over credentials, design job ads that self-filter talent, interview for real performance evidence, and run reference checks that actually surface the truth. If your GTM strategy looks good on paper but execution keeps breaking, this conversation explains why.

    1h 2m
  2. The Post-Sale Mistake That Locks in Churn Early

    JAN 19

    The Post-Sale Mistake That Locks in Churn Early

    Daniel Zarick is the CEO and co-founder of Arrows and was the second product manager at Twilio. He has spent his career studying what happens after deals close and why most SaaS growth breaks down post-sale. In this conversation, Daniel explains how those lessons shaped Arrows and why onboarding is one of the most overlooked growth levers in modern SaaS. We break down why churn is often locked in during the first two weeks after a customer signs, how collaborative onboarding replaces internal-only checklists, and how AI-powered sales rooms give buyers exactly what they need to move deals forward. Daniel also shares hard-earned GTM lessons from narrowing ICP focus, going all-in on a single CRM integration, and designing pricing around value rather than seats.

    57 min
  3. Inside the GTM Engine Powering One of the Fastest-Growing AI Startups

    12/15/2025

    Inside the GTM Engine Powering One of the Fastest-Growing AI Startups

    Second-time founder Jacob Banks breaks down how Sophiie AI is growing at 30% month-on-month in one of the most crowded AI markets. Drawing on lessons from scaling Service.com.au into a leading service marketplace, he explains how those experiences shaped Sophiie’s go-to-market strategy, pricing, and team structure. In this episode, Jacob goes deep on the GTM mechanics driving Sophiie’s growth — including high-velocity content testing, vertical selection, sales execution, and the leadership decisions behind building a lean, high-performing team. He also shares what investors looked for in Sophiie’s oversubscribed raise and how the company is scaling without losing focus.

    54 min
  4. HubSpot's $2.6B ARR Growth Playbook Revealed

    11/27/2025

    HubSpot's $2.6B ARR Growth Playbook Revealed

    HubSpot’s SVP of Product and Head of AI, Nicholas Holland, reveals the real drivers that scaled the company to $2.6B ARR, their new AI intiatives, and how they're rethinking GTM for the AI era.

    57 min
  5. How to Automate Your Entire GTM Stack Through One Interface

    11/09/2025

    How to Automate Your Entire GTM Stack Through One Interface

    Zams CEO Nirman Dave on building “The AI Command Center for B2B Sales Teams” and rewriting the GTM playbook for the autonomous era.

    1 hr
  6. Ex-Googler Builds Next-Gen Voice AI Onboarding Agent

    10/31/2025

    Ex-Googler Builds Next-Gen Voice AI Onboarding Agent

    Ex-Google Head of Startup Growth Mantas Aleksiejevas on building an in-product, voice-guided AI onboarding agent, why tooltips are dead, and the GTM plays scaling Cor.

    1h 5m
  7. How 11x is Replacing SaaS with AI Agents

    10/20/2025

    How 11x is Replacing SaaS with AI Agents

    11x CEO, Prabhav Jain, on building autonomous coworkers, raising $70M, and the GTM org of the future.

    1h 2m
  • 7 Episodes

About

The GTM Playbook Podcast gives founders and go-to-market leaders a front-row seat to how today’s fastest-growing SaaS and AI companies scale. Each episode, host Mark Deacon sits down with founders and leaders scaling the next generation of SaaS and AI companies. Together, they unpack the actual playbooks—what’s working, what’s not, and the lessons that only come from being in the trenches.

Information

  • Creator
    Mark Deacon
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    7
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Mark Deacon
  • Show Website
    The GTM Playbook Podcast