Building the Growth Engine

Michelle Johnson
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Management

Building the Revenue Engine is a podcast for revenue leaders, founders, and anyone responsible for growing a services business. Hosted by Michelle Johnson, founder of Unison, the show explores how to move beyond ad-hoc business development and build repeatable, scalable revenue systems. Each episode features candid conversations with operators and executives who've navigated the messy reality of building growth engines from the ground up.

Episodes

  1. Sep 25

    The Counterintuitive Playbook for Professional Services Growth | Madison CEO Sean Johnson

    Sean Johnson is the CEO of Madison, a Chicago-based marketing and business development firm for professional services companies. Sean previously founded an innovation consulting firm and venture fund that grew to 70 people over 12 years with multiple Inc. 5000 appearances. In this episode we cover how startup thinking can transform professional services firms, the power of giving away your best ideas for free, and what it takes to build a firm that doesn't depend on the founder. (0:00) Intro(1:38) Deciding what you want to be known for(3:26) Teaching kids entrepreneurship(5:05) From startups to consulting(9:50) Thinking of the firm as a product(13:30) Scaling from 15 to 70 people(17:35) Building a years-long talent pipeline(23:30) Andy Grove's framework for delegation(26:55) Learning from BD pros at BCG and PWC(30:00) What Madison does(32:55) Giving away your secrets(36:36) What happens when clients take your ideas and run(39:48) Who it's not for(42:48) Firing clients(45:18) Growth planning and recurring revenue(47:40) Reconciling ambition and peace(51:22) Final advice

  • 1 Episode

About

Building the Revenue Engine is a podcast for revenue leaders, founders, and anyone responsible for growing a services business. Hosted by Michelle Johnson, founder of Unison, the show explores how to move beyond ad-hoc business development and build repeatable, scalable revenue systems. Each episode features candid conversations with operators and executives who've navigated the messy reality of building growth engines from the ground up.

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