The Growth Wizards Podcast

Tanner Green
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The Growth Wizards Podcast is the playbook for B2B GTM leaders who want smarter, repeatable ways to generate demand and build pipeline. Each episode breaks down how CEOs, CROs, and marketing execs drive growth — from top-of-funnel tactics and AI to thought leadership that converts.

  1. Sep 22

    How Coder grew from five-figure deals to six-figure deals

    SummaryJosh Epstein, President & Chief Business Officer at Coder, joins Growth Wizards host Tanner Green to share how Coder went from selling development environments to becoming the governance layer for the coding agents now showing up in every enterprise. He explains why he won't give AI access to anything personal, why CISOs now answer his meeting requests with an enthusiastic yes, how average deal size grew from low five figures to mid six figures, how partnerships with Cursor and Anthropic came together, and how his team built an internal go-to-market brain that saves every seller five to ten hours a week. For revenue leaders and founders selling infrastructure in the age of AI agents. Chapters00:00 Welcome and Josh's background01:09 What Coder does and the pivot to governing coding agents03:15 Why infrastructure is boring until it breaks05:13 AI agents, MCPs and the unraveling of privacy norms09:39 How Coder tells its story in the market11:06 Why CISOs now say yes to sales meetings13:05 Growing from five-figure to six-figure deals14:53 Partnering with Cursor and Anthropic19:37 Building a go-to-market brain with AI22:44 Where to find Josh and Coder Takeaways- Coder found its growth by listening when customers said governing coding agents mattered more than onboarding developers.- Infrastructure is the most boring thing until it stops working, and then buyers will pay almost anything to fix it.- Giving AI tools access to your email and personal data hands agents information they will use in ways you never intended.- Security leaders have become Coder's champions, and a request for time with the CISO now usually gets an enthusiastic yes.- Coder's internal AI go-to-market brain took six months of prototyping and failing, and it now saves every seller five to ten hours a week. Connect with the GuestJosh Epstein LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-epstein-5783aa/Company Website: https://coder.comThe AI operating layer white paper: https://coder.com/ai-operating-layer SponsorGrowth Wizards is produced by Executive Media Network, the B2B podcast agency that turns one conversation into a month of content. Learn more at executivemedianetwork.com.

    How Coder grew from five-figure deals to six-figure deals

  2. Sep 15

    What's wrong with the 51% of marketers who trust data, per PureFacts

    SummaryEd Locher, CMO at PureFacts, joins Growth Wizards host Tanner Green to explain why he stopped believing the attribution numbers he used to present, what category entry points reveal about how B2B buyers actually decide, and how a zero-performance, awareness-only ad strategy took PureFacts from zero inbound to roughly $1M in pipeline a month in under a year. He also breaks down why empathy beats craft when writing for a VP of Operations, and previews Symphony, the AI native intelligence layer his three-person team built across the entire go-to-market. For CMOs, founders, and revenue leaders at B2B scale-ups rethinking how they fund and measure growth. Chapters00:00 Intro01:05 From IBM to private equity scale ups05:34 Only 49% of marketers trust their data06:36 The attribution confession: $100K in, $1.2M out08:37 How people actually buy: category entry points09:50 The math: take your TAM and divide it by 2011:33 Zero performance ads on purpose13:17 From zero inbound to $1M in pipeline a month16:28 Empathy, personas, and the VP of Ops who hates one week a quarter24:23 Symphony: the AI native layer over the whole go-to-market Takeaways- Marketing has one job: be one of the three or four brands already in the buyer's head when their category entry point hits.- Multi-touch attribution and MQL scoring assumed emails could trigger seven figure purchases. They can't, and building budgets on that assumption is why the numbers never held up.- Half of B2B deals end in no decision, and four of five that close go to a brand already on the shortlist. Take your TAM and divide it by 20 to see who you're actually fighting for.- Awareness debt doesn't retire in a quarter. PureFacts went to zero performance spend, set a two to three quarter expectation with leadership, and got its first on-purpose inbound at nine months and 22 days.- Credibility comes from empathy, not craft. "Get your evenings back" moved a VP of Operations when "$10M in savings" didn't, and there's no shortcut to learning that except talking to customers. Connect with the GuestEd Locher LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edlocher/Company Website: https://www.purefacts.com SponsorGrowth Wizards is produced by Executive Media Network, the B2B podcast agency that turns one conversation into a month of content. Learn more at executivemedianetwork.com.

    What's wrong with the 51% of marketers who trust data, per PureFacts

  3. Sep 10

    From the cockpit to the revenue engine at Assembly Software

    SummaryWhat can a fighter weapons instructor teach a revenue team? On this episode of Growth Wizards, host Tanner Green sits down with Scott McNabb, Chief Revenue Officer at Assembly Software, the legal-tech company behind the Neos cloud case management platform. A twenty year Air Force veteran, Scott breaks down the pilot brief and debrief model he brought from the cockpit into the sales organization: an eight step discipline of preparing for every engagement, debriefing on facts only, and leaving rank at the door. He shares the results it produced at Assembly Software, why complacency is the killer for veteran sellers and pilots alike, why the cost of inaction beats ROI in sales conversations, and how loading AI with comp plans and P&Ls led him to rebuild his entire go to market strategy in days. This one is for revenue leaders, sales managers, and reps who want a repeatable discipline for getting better after every single call. Chapters00:00 Cold open and welcome02:45 AI news: legal prompts are now discoverable in court09:05 Reps are drowning in AI guidance10:30 Situational awareness from the fighter cockpit13:30 The eight step brief and debrief model17:15 The results: migration, retention and pipeline velocity20:45 Slow down to go fast: getting reps to buy in24:15 The cost of inaction28:00 Rebuilding go to market with AI30:45 Where to find Scott Takeaways- Most sales teams never truly prep for calls or formally debrief them, and the debrief is the most important step of the entire engagement.- Rank stays on the ground: honest, no-defensiveness deal reviews only work when everyone in the room gives and receives feedback as equals.- The discipline pays off in numbers: Assembly Software saw a 75% migration rate, 92% retention, roughly 30% pipeline growth, and a 20 to 30% drop in days in stage.- Sell the cost of inaction, not just ROI: help buyers quantify what doing nothing is already costing them.- Don't just ask AI questions. Load it with your comp plans, P&Ls, and rep performance data and let it pressure-test your entire go to market strategy. Connect with the GuestScott McNabb LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcnabbscott/Company Website: https://www.assemblysoftware.com/

    From the cockpit to the revenue engine at Assembly Software

  4. Sep 8

    How Impartner scaled through change, AI, and staying genuine

    SummaryWhat happens when a sales team stops opening its CRM entirely? In this episode of Growth Wizards, host Tanner Green sits down with Curtis Brinkerhoff, Chief Revenue Officer at Impartner, to unpack how his team replaced the Salesforce interface with a single AI console that updates every system from one recorded call, why enterprise companies are seriously considering eliminating their CRM altogether, and how a challenging product experience ultimately became the foundation of one of the most stable integration architectures in the industry. Curtis also shares the demand generation philosophy he's carried from BDR to CRO over twenty-plus years: the more AI drives the world, the more people yearn for genuine relationships. A must-listen for CROs, RevOps leaders, and anyone rethinking their go-to-market stack. Chapters00:00 Cold open and intro00:45 Curtis's path from BDR to CRO at Impartner02:00 Why 78% of B2B companies now run RevOps04:20 Replacing the CRM with one AI console06:15 Will enterprises eliminate the CRM entirely?07:20 Scaling from $3M to $100M and doing your homework11:05 Partner ecosystems and the alignment problem15:55 The failure that became Impartner's backbone19:15 Agentic models, marketplaces, and what's next22:30 Staying genuine in demand gen Takeaways- RevOps has become the connectivity fabric between systems, process, and people, and its importance grows as AI reshapes how revenue teams operate.- Impartner's sales team works from one AI console connected to every platform through MCPs, so a single recorded call updates contacts, follow-ups, and forecasts across all systems automatically.- Enterprise-level companies are seriously weighing whether to eliminate their CRM entirely, and the data layer is likely to outlive the interface.- A failed product can be your most valuable teacher: Impartner Connect's problematic backbone forced the rethink that became the company's most stable integration architecture.- The more AI drives the world, the more people yearn for real relationships, which makes genuine interest the most durable demand generation strategy. Connect with the GuestCurtis Brinkerhoff LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/curtis-brinkerhoff/Company Website: https://impartner.com SponsorGrowth Wizards is brought to you by Executive Media Network, the podcast agency that turns executive conversations into pipeline. Learn more at executivemedianetwork.com.

    How Impartner scaled through change, AI, and staying genuine

  5. Sep 1

    Inside Verity's buying process as a service playbook

    SummaryMichael Deleonardis, Chief Revenue Officer at Verity, joins host Tanner Green on Growth Wizards to break down what AI is actually changing about go to market work and what it is not. Drawing on thirty years in enterprise technology, including running global sales and marketing for an automation firm and a 2002 sales call at a fifty person Salesforce, Michael makes the case for human in the loop AI: automation that enhances an individual's output rather than replacing the role. From there he walks through buying process as a service, the deliverable centric sales motion Verity runs at every phase gate, and the use case education work that moved three year ROI cases from 1.2x to as high as 15x. This one is for revenue leaders, founders, and go to market operators who want a concrete playbook for showing up as part of the buying process instead of an input to it. Chapters00:00 Introduction00:45 Thirty years in enterprise tech and the early days of software as a service03:00 AI and the future of entry level go to market roles04:15 Why human in the loop automation wins05:30 Buying process as a service explained07:20 The deliverables behind every phase gate08:30 Educating buyers past drones that count stuff09:45 Write offs, canceled orders, and a 15x ROI story12:05 Green dollars versus blue dollars13:55 From human dependent to intelligent orchestration Takeaways- The highest value automation keeps a human in the loop, complementing a person's work and creating consistency across large teams rather than removing the role.- Show me you know me is the new bar for sellers, and AI research is what makes that credibility achievable at scale.- Buying process as a service means delivering the right information at the right time so the buyer decides well, even when the decision is not to buy from you.- Every phase gate at Verity produces an artifact the buyer can share internally, which moved three year ROI cases from 1.2x and 1.5x to 10x and 15x.- Educating buyers on impact outside what the product was purpose built to do produced $400,000 in prevented write offs for one client in 90 days and a 1% drop in canceled orders for another. Connect with the GuestMichael Deleonardis LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-deleonardis-512555/Company Website: https://verity.net

    Inside Verity's buying process as a service playbook

  6. Aug 25

    Stop Building Community. Start Borrowing It.

    SummaryWhat do you do when your buyer has made up their mind before ever entering your funnel? In this episode of The Growth Wizards Podcast, host Tanner Green sits down with Bijay Alex Mathew, Chief Revenue Officer at Art of Mentoring, to unpack the trust gap behind a striking stat: 96% of marketing leaders say AI is transforming marketing, yet only 8% run autonomous campaigns. Bijay explains why AI-powered outbound keeps sounding the same, where automation is actually earning its keep, and why he stopped trying to out-shout the market and started borrowing the trust that communities and associations have spent decades building. He walks through his DEAR operating system for community led growth (develop, engage, activate, retain), the naming rights play that costs less than a conference booth, and why co-owning what a community values most is the new moat now that feature parity is dead. A must-listen for CROs, CMOs, and revenue leaders selling into categories their buyers don't have a line item for. Chapters00:45 Welcome and meet Bijay Alex Mathew01:55 The AI trust gap: 96% believe, only 8% go autonomous04:05 Human in the loop at Art of Mentoring06:30 Selling a category nobody has a line item for08:50 The potter's shop: build, buy, or borrow a community10:30 The DEAR framework: develop, engage, activate, retain13:45 Be a resource, not a vendor16:55 The secret sauce: fund the association's laundry list19:05 An association for every profession: the market size20:55 The future of go to market and the Centeno story Takeaways- 96% of marketing leaders say AI is transforming marketing but only 8% run autonomous campaigns; the gap is trust, and the biggest real gains today are in fast AI-assisted inbound response, not outbound.- 70% of the buyer's journey happens before your funnel, so optimizing the funnel can't fix pipeline; you have to get into the communities where decisions are actually formed.- Faced with build, buy, or borrow, borrow the trust of existing communities and associations; building takes 18 to 24 months and buying is expensive, while 50,000+ associations already hold your buyers.- Run community led growth on the DEAR operating system: develop the right communities, engage as a resource instead of a vendor, activate relationships into pipeline, and retain by making your presence part of your moat.- Ask associations what they would do for members if money were no object, then fund that thing and take the naming rights; it costs less than a conference booth and makes you nearly impossible to cut as a sponsor. Connect with the GuestBijay Alex Mathew LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bijaym/Company Website: https://artofmentoring.net

    Stop Building Community. Start Borrowing It.

  7. Aug 24

    Pryor Learning CMO, Tom Taylor shares his thoughts on AEO

    SummaryWhat happens when your biggest competitor is the LLM in every buyer's browser? In this episode of Growth Wizards, host Tanner Green sits down with Tom Taylor, chief marketing officer at Pryor Learning, to talk about competing with AI day in and day out, and winning anyway. Tom explains why the corporate training company's real moat is LMS data, record tracking, and compliance packaging rather than content alone, why the marketing playbooks that worked at iSolved no longer move the needle, and how an early bet on answer engine optimization helped offset the slide in paid search. He closes with two predictions every marketing leader should sit with: websites will flip from UX driven to content driven as LLM search takes over, and buyers will be 90 percent decided before they ever talk to sales. A candid conversation for CMOs, demand gen leaders, and anyone rethinking go to market in the AI era. Chapters00:00 Cold open and intro00:45 Meet Tom Taylor, CMO at Pryor Learning02:05 Agentic advertising and AI guardrails in the ad industry03:15 How AI is transforming go to market06:30 Differentiating from AI with data, tracking, and custom training09:15 Leveraging AI internally with coaches and website overlays10:45 Connecting marketing to pipeline and meeting buyers where they are14:30 What worked and what didn't: paid search and the AEO bet18:35 The old playbooks are void20:15 The future: content driven websites and 90 percent decided buyers22:15 Where to find Tom Takeaways- Pryor Learning competes with AI every day, and wins on what LLMs can't deliver: usage data, record tracking, compliance packaging, and custom courses built around a company's specific challenge.- The strongest AI posture is doing both at once: competing with AI externally while deploying it internally through AI coaches in the LMS and an AI overlay that helps buyers navigate 5,300+ courses.- The old marketing playbooks are void. The levers that worked at iSolved no longer respond, so every launch now gets a SWOT analysis, deliberate testing, and budget that follows the green shoots.- Investing early in answer engine optimization, rewriting blog content so LLMs surface and cite it, helped Pryor offset the ebbs and flows of paid search. Walk before you run: blogs first, then white papers and case studies.- Websites are about to flip from UX driven to content driven as LLM search grows, and buyers will be roughly 90 percent through the decision before they ever engage a seller. Connect with the GuestTom Taylor LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomastaylor01/Company Website: https://www.pryor.com

    Pryor Learning CMO, Tom Taylor shares his thoughts on AEO

  8. Aug 18

    Where the AI Agent Ends and the Human Seller Begins

    SummaryWhere does the AI agent end and the human seller begin? In this episode of Growth Wizards, host Tanner Green sits down with Brian Krause, Chief Revenue Officer at Aware, Inc. (NASDAQ: AWRE), who has spent more than a decade selling biometric and digital identity technology at Incode, Veriff, and AnyVision. Brian makes the case that the top of the funnel runs on the two assets AI is built to increase, information and time, while enterprise deals deeper in the funnel stay a people business. He breaks down what it takes to sell regulated technology far beyond the business unit, why nobody should ever sell alone, and the problem his industry created by winning: biometric sprawl, where business units buy their own biometrics with no central oversight. He also shares why proof of concepts are vanishing from enterprise deals and how Aware's new platform gives CIOs a single API and a bird's eye view. This conversation is for revenue leaders, founders, and go to market teams deciding where AI actually belongs in their funnel. Chapters00:00 Welcome and Brian's background in biometrics01:45 A $25 million bet on go to market agents03:15 Why sales is still a people business06:00 Information and time, the two assets AI increases06:45 How Incode doubled North America ARR09:15 Selling beyond the business unit in regulated markets12:15 Global coverage, sales cycles, and the death of the POC14:30 Automate first, hire second16:15 Biometric sprawl and Aware's new platform18:45 Where to connect with Brian Takeaways- AI's natural home is the top of the funnel, where information and time are the two greatest assets and velocity wins; deeper in the funnel, enterprise sales stays a people business.- In regulated industries the sale goes far beyond the business unit: the full lifecycle of biometric data pulls compliance, regulatory, and security into every purchase decision.- Nobody ever buys alone, so nobody should ever sell alone; leaders who stay in the trenches and earn their team's trust can supercharge growth.- Biometric sprawl is the industry's unsolved problem: business units buying their own biometrics leave no central oversight, and upwards of 95% of CIOs want it solved.- Proof of concepts are disappearing as biometrics become pervasive, so deals now turn on proof of value and technical fit, with cycles at five to six months and improving. Connect with the GuestBrian Krause LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krause-brian/?skipRedirect=trueCompany Website: https://www.aware.com Sponsor

    Where the AI Agent Ends and the Human Seller Begins
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The Growth Wizards Podcast is the playbook for B2B GTM leaders who want smarter, repeatable ways to generate demand and build pipeline. Each episode breaks down how CEOs, CROs, and marketing execs drive growth — from top-of-funnel tactics and AI to thought leadership that converts.

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