Do Hard Things Podcast

Gabe Lullo
  • 5.0 (22)
  • BUSINESS

Meet Gabe Lullo. Gabe Lullo is the CEO of Alleyoop, a sales development agency working with industry giants such as ZoomInfo, Salesloft, and Adobe. He has trained over 8,000 salespeople across diverse businesses and, during his tenure in Alleyoop, he has personally hired and managed more than 1,500 SDRs. With over two decades of experience in sales, marketing, and executive recruitment, his strategies have significantly driven Alleyoop’s growth.

  1. Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. Kade Hinkle

    10H AGO

    Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. Kade Hinkle

    "You don't need to post something groundbreaking every time. Just post your story. People are going to like that because they can see themselves in you." - Kade Hinkle Kade’s a young SDR in the game and he's been on LinkedIn longer than most sales reps you know. Not because someone told him to. Because he watched a YouTube video at 16, figured out LinkedIn was where the jobs were, and started connecting with people before he ever graduated high school.  By the time he did, he had 2,000 connections and a job offer waiting in his inbox. He started in landscaping and now he's cold calling executives every afternoon and booking meetings from LinkedIn DMs in between, with over 12,000 followers. He's not doing anything magical. Prospecting in the morning. Emails around noon. Calls from 3 to 5.  Video messages when he remembers to push himself. Posts at the end of the day from whatever he wrote in his notes app. The difference is he started. At 16. While most people his age were doom-scrolling Instagram. The rejection question came up. How do you handle getting punched in the face all day as a brand new SDR? His answer was pretty simple: "I know it's not personal. So you just keep moving to the next one." No elaborate mental framework. No morning routine. Just the understanding that a no isn't about you, and the next call is waiting. Here's what stuck with us though. Kade wants to be an AE by 20. After that it gets blurry. Maybe leadership. Maybe his own business. He's not sure yet. But he knows one thing: he's not waiting until he has something impressive to say before he starts showing up.  He's posting the journey in real time, figuring it out in public, and letting people grow with him. In the age of AI, that's exactly what cuts through.

    23 min
  2. Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. Leo and Clarissa Martinez

    5D AGO

    Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. Leo and Clarissa Martinez

    "You're only going to go as far as your identity takes you." - Leo Martinez Leo is the Co-founder of Martinez and Associates Consulting. 25 years in business with his wife Clarissa. A 21-year-old company that now runs 99% without them in it. He didn't learn that in a classroom. He learned it after spending seven years inside Patrick Bet David's inner circle, having 15 to 18 conversations a day, six days a week, with founders and CEOs running companies from $2 million to $12 billion. After all of that, the pattern was clear. But before we get there, here's what actually built the foundation. Leo is the dreamer. Big vision, moves fast, commits before he has all the answers. Clarissa is the one with 27 objections and 30 questions. She pumps the brakes. She asks what nobody wants to ask. Her words: "You need two people that are almost opposites coming together in order to balance each other out." That's not just their marriage. That's their entire operating model. Most entrepreneurs live in the "if it is to be, it's up to me" trap. All the pressure on their shoulders, nobody empowered to carry any of it. The business grows to a point, then stops. Not because the market ran out. Because the founder's identity did. Clarissa added what most people miss: founders think they're doing the right thing by pouring everything into the business. But while they're winning at work, they're quietly losing at home. You don't have to pick one. But you do have to be intentional about both. Their ops manager Diana has been with them 14 years. Not because of the salary. Because Leo and Clarissa invested in her life, not just her output. "You have to love them. If you love them, they will go through walls for you." That's not soft. That's the whole system.

    54 min
  3. Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. John Zurowski

    6D AGO

    Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. John Zurowski

    "My success is actually when a client stops working with me." - John Zurowski   John is the Founder of JZ Sales Consulting with Twenty years of corporate sales leadership before going fractional. And that line is the most honest thing you'll hear from a consultant this year. His goal isn't to become indispensable. It's to build companies to the point where they can replace him with a full-time leader. He calls that the win. Most founders hitting a growth ceiling make the same move: rush to hire a senior sales leader. Big salary, fancy title, high expectations. And more often than not, it doesn't work. Not because the hire is wrong. Because the foundation isn't there yet. John sees it constantly. You sit down with a company's employees and ask a simple question: what does your company do and what problem does it solve? You'll get five different answers. Every time. If your own team can't align on that, no sales leader in the world is going to fix your pipeline. That's where John starts. Not with a CRM. Not with a headcount plan. With clarity. Get the team aligned on what you do and who you help. Build process that's designed to flex, not break. And when you're stuck, stop looking for a new tactic. Go back to the fundamentals. He put it simply: "When you're in a rut, it just takes one small win to get that wind in your sail again." Make the extra calls. Review your proposal with fresh eyes. Do the basic things well. The breakthrough rarely comes from doing something new. It comes from doing the right things consistently. John's also direct about AI: it's a productivity tool, not a replacement for genuine human conversations. People still buy from people. That hasn't changed, and the market fatigue with AI-driven outreach is only going to accelerate it. The sales leaders winning right now are the ones combining structure with hustle, and knowing the difference between a phase and a ceiling.

    28 min
  4. Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. Pierce Brehm

    MAY 6

    Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. Pierce Brehm

    "If it's not producing pipeline, it's not a partnership. It's a coffee club." - Pierce Brehm  Pierce is the Founder and CEO of Holland Lane Global Advisers. And if you've ever announced a new logo, signed an agreement, done a webinar, and wondered why none of it turned into revenue, this ones for you.  Most companies know partnerships should be part of their growth strategy and the data backs it up.  Deals close 53% more often when a partner is involved and close 46% faster.  A recommendation from a trusted source is up to 50 times more likely to result in a purchase than a cold outreach. So why do so many partnerships go nowhere? Pierce has a simple answer, there is no ideal partner profile, no activation plan, no shared revenue target, and no measurement.  Companies are treating partnerships like a branding exercise instead of a revenue channel. Pierce's framework starts at the foundation: define your ideal partner profile.  Who's selling to the same types of companies, the same personas, the same industries?  Who compliments you without competing? Get that right first. Everything else builds from it. Then comes consistency. Not a logo swap and a LinkedIn post. Consistent communication, proactive introductions, and a clear way to track what's actually converting. When you get it right, partnerships stop feeling slow and unpredictable. They become one of the most efficient growth channels in B2B. The companies winning right now aren't making more noise. They're building stronger relationships, on purpose, with a plan.

    29 min
  5. Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. Gabe Naviasky

    MAY 4

    Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. Gabe Naviasky

    “AI is just an extension of software. It essentially makes what we have been doing much better.” - Gabe Naviasky In this episode, Gabe shares a story about a company that chose not to work with his team simply because they were using AI. At first glance, it sounds cautious and even reasonable. This company had experienced a security breach the year before, so their hesitation around vendors like OpenAI made sense. But here’s the part that’s harder to reconcile: Avoiding a specific vendor is one thing. Avoiding AI altogether? That’s a different story. Because opting out of AI today doesn’t just mean skipping a tool, it means stepping away from the infrastructure of modern software itself. It means: • No Google search • No Siri or voice assistants • No smart automation quietly improving workflows in the background AI isn’t a feature anymore, it’s becoming the baseline. As workflows become more automated, the nature of work itself is changing. The repetitive, manual, and process-heavy tasks? Those are increasingly handled by systems. What’s left, and what becomes more valuable, is the work that requires judgment, creativity, and real-world experience. The human layer doesn’t disappear, it sharpens. So the question isn’t whether to use AI. It’s how intentionally we choose to use it and where we decide human expertise matters most.

    35 min
  6. Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. Karen Laos

    APR 29

    Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. Karen Laos

    “We all have agency to speak up, and it’s incredibly liberating.” - Karen Laos Karen came to this realization after a moment that could have easily been dismissed as just another bad day at work. She was in a boardroom giving a presentation when she suddenly froze. Instead of pushing through, her boss stopped the meeting.  Later, she pulled her aside and asked a simple but powerful question: why didn’t you just table the discussion, and why do you keep asking for permission? That question stayed with her. As she reflected, Karen recognized something deeper, she didn’t actually agree with what she had been presenting.  But she had been raised to respect authority, not challenge it, and certainly not push back in a room like that. In that moment, she saw how much she had been holding herself back. What started as an uncomfortable experience became a turning point.  It led her to rethink how often people stay quiet, even when they have something important to say, and ultimately inspired her to help others find the confidence to use their voice. It’s easy to stay silent, especially when speaking up feels risky. But over time, that silence can become a kind of prison we create for ourselves. Speaking up isn’t about being difficult or confrontational, it’s about being honest and bringing your full perspective to the table. If something doesn’t sit right with you, it’s worth saying so. You’re in the room for a reason, and your voice carries more value than you might think.

    41 min
  7. Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. Matthew Beaudin

    APR 27

    Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. Matthew Beaudin

    “You need to get comfortable with you. You are the reason you are going to fail. You are the reason you are going to succeed.” - Matthew Beaudin It’s easy to point fingers to market conditions, pricing, competition, or timing when things don’t go our way.  But the truth is, the biggest variable in any outcome is us. Our mindset. Our consistency. Our willingness to have uncomfortable conversations. Our discipline to follow up when others don’t. The same is true on the flip side. The wins? They come from preparation no one sees.  From resilience after rejection.  From choosing to improve instead of making excuses. If you’re in sales right now, here’s the real question: Are your daily habits aligned with the results you say you want? Because growth in this field doesn’t start with a new script or tool, it starts with ownership. And when you fully own your outcomes, everything changes.

    41 min
  8. Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. James Bissell

    APR 22

    Do Hard Things A Podcast With Gabe Lullo Ft. James Bissell

    “Get out there and make it happen. Don’t sit back and wait for it to come to you, it probably never will, not in the time you want it to.” - James Bissell  Success in sales isn’t something that just shows up at your door. Nothing is handed to you in this game.  No shortcuts, no easy wins. It takes grit.  It takes consistency.  It takes showing up even when you don’t feel like it. And above all, it takes action. You can’t afford to be lazy and expect results.  The people who win are the ones who go after it, every single day. Go make it happen.

    47 min
See All (78)

5
out of 5
22 Ratings

About

Meet Gabe Lullo. Gabe Lullo is the CEO of Alleyoop, a sales development agency working with industry giants such as ZoomInfo, Salesloft, and Adobe. He has trained over 8,000 salespeople across diverse businesses and, during his tenure in Alleyoop, he has personally hired and managed more than 1,500 SDRs. With over two decades of experience in sales, marketing, and executive recruitment, his strategies have significantly driven Alleyoop’s growth.

Information

  • Creator
    Gabe Lullo
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    78
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Gabe Lullo
  • Show Website
    Do Hard Things Podcast

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