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. 1d ago

    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 GuestLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bijaym/Website: https://artofmentoring.net

    Stop Building Community. Start Borrowing It.

  2. 2d ago

    Pryor Learning CMO, Tom Taylor shares his thoughts on AEO

    Summary What 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. Chapters 00:00 Cold open and intro 00:45 Meet Tom Taylor, CMO at Pryor Learning 02:05 Agentic advertising and AI guardrails in the ad industry 03:15 How AI is transforming go to market 06:30 Differentiating from AI with data, tracking, and custom training 09:15 Leveraging AI internally with coaches and website overlays 10:45 Connecting marketing to pipeline and meeting buyers where they are 14:30 What worked and what didn't: paid search and the AEO bet 18:35 The old playbooks are void 20:15 The future: content driven websites and 90 percent decided buyers 22:15 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 Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomastaylor01/ Website: https://www.pryor.com

    Pryor Learning CMO, Tom Taylor shares his thoughts on AEO

  3. Aug 18

    Where the AI Agent Ends and the Human Seller Begins

    Summary Where 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. Chapters 00:00 Welcome and Brian's background in biometrics 01:45 A $25 million bet on go to market agents 03:15 Why sales is still a people business 06:00 Information and time, the two assets AI increases 06:45 How Incode doubled North America ARR 09:15 Selling beyond the business unit in regulated markets 12:15 Global coverage, sales cycles, and the death of the POC 14:30 Automate first, hire second 16:15 Biometric sprawl and Aware's new platform 18:45 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 Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krause-brian/?skipRedirect=true Website: https://www.aware.com Sponsor

    Where the AI Agent Ends and the Human Seller Begins

  4. Aug 13

    Strategy Isn't the Problem. Behavior Is.

    Summary On this episode of Growth Wizards, host Tanner Green sits down with Michael Hvisdos, founder and managing partner of BETR Inc. and BETR Solutions, a global sales transformation firm. They start with a striking statistic, that 95% of B2B teams use AI while only 39% see results, and Michael explains why the gap comes down to chasing efficiency instead of effectiveness. From there the conversation moves into the idea BETR was built on, that strategy isn't the problem, behavior is, and why methodologies like Challenger, MEDDIC, and Sandler get adopted but rarely stick. Michael breaks down what a real methodology requires, how to spot buyer movement instead of busy work, and why people fall to the level of their training under pressure. It's a practical episode for revenue leaders, sellers, and go to market teams who want change that actually holds. Chapters 00:45 Welcome and Michael's background 03:15 The AI adoption gap, 95% use it and 39% see results 04:45 Why efficiency became the wrong obsession 08:15 Writing outreach the customer actually reads 10:45 The origin of BETR, behavior over strategy 12:45 Why sales methodologies rarely stick 14:45 The fishing analogy and what a real methodology needs 16:45 Chasing buyer movement instead of activity 18:45 Why people fall to the level of their training 21:45 The future of go to market and making deposits Takeaways -Ninety five percent of B2B teams use AI but only 39% see results, because most are using it to boost efficiency instead of effectiveness. -AI should help you understand a buyer and speak to their outcome, but a human still has to check the data and put the message in their own voice. -Strategy is rarely what stalls growth. Behavior is, and only 10 to 20% of people who go through a sales methodology actually get it right. -A methodology is more than a training program. It's account planning, great questions, and a real read on how buyers decide. -Under pressure people revert to what's easiest, so the systems around a team have to make the new behavior the easiest path to take. Connect with the Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjhvisdos/ Website: https://betrinc.com

    Strategy Isn't the Problem. Behavior Is.

  5. Aug 11

    The 18-Month Problem: Why CROs Keep Failing Before They're Even Hired

    Summary What if the biggest drain on your company's growth never shows up on the P&L? In this episode of Growth Wizards, host Tanner Green sits down with Brandon Taylor, managing partner at The Northwood Group, fractional CRO, and operator recruiter who has interviewed roughly 2,800 sales professionals and hired around 280. Brandon breaks down the 18 month tenure problem plaguing CROs and VPs of sales, a churn cycle that quietly costs companies $2.5 million or more per bad hire, and explains why 60% of the failure happens before the leader is ever hired. He shares the operator's playbook: start with a North Star, assess the full go to market motion before defining the role, hire like the outcome is your own number, and know when the right answer is a fractional leader instead of a full time hire. This conversation is for CEOs, investors, and revenue leaders who are tired of repeating the same expensive hiring cycle. Chapters 00:00 Welcome and Brandon's background 02:05 The 76% AI adoption stat and what it gets wrong 04:30 The 18 month tenure problem where everyone loses 06:45 Three CFOs and the hiring mistake that never hits the P&L 08:00 Assess the go to market motion before you hire 11:15 Hiring like an operator vs. hiring like a recruiter 15:30 Bench building and the 45 day placement 19:30 Start with the north star and reverse engineer the hire 23:00 Where AI takes go to market in the next 12 months 24:15 Where to connect with Brandon Takeaways The average CRO or VP of sales lasts just 18 months, and each failed hire quietly costs around $2.5 million that never shows up on the P&L as a hiring mistake.60% of the tenure problem happens before the hire: most CEOs cannot define exactly what they need in a sales leader beyond a revenue mandate.Recruiters are compensated on placements, so the churn cycle feeds their model; operators hire like the outcome is their own number, because it is.Every hiring decision should reverse engineer from a clear North Star, and a company with no three to five year target is a red flag.Sometimes the right answer is not a CRO at all: a fractional leader for three to six months can define what the company actually needs before it hires. Connect with the Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandontaylortx/ Website: https://thenorthwoodgrp.com/

    The 18-Month Problem: Why CROs Keep Failing Before They're Even Hired

  6. Aug 6

    The Go-to-Market Junkie's Playbook for Scaling Revenue Teams

    Summary On this episode of Growth Wizards, host Tanner Green sits down with Mike Wolber, Chief Sales Officer at Apartment List, where he leads a roughly 95-person go-to-market organization spanning sales, customer success, rev ops, enablement, and strategy. A self-described go-to-market junkie who built revenue engines across Nike, G5, Entrata, and Rent Dynamics, Mike unpacks why the newest AI is worthless if your CRM house isn't in order, why the best revenue leaders manage leading indicators instead of leading from a dashboard, and how Apartment List standardized AI across the business before the team could go hog wild. It's a tactical, no-fluff conversation for founders, sales leaders, and RevOps pros who want to build a revenue engine that actually holds. Chapters 00:00 Welcome and guest introduction 01:56 What Salesforce gets right and where it falters 03:30 Garbage in, garbage out: getting your CRM house in order 05:14 Going deep and building revenue engines 08:00 The leading indicators every revenue leader should know 08:53 Why dashboard leaders are done 12:09 Inside Apartment List's AI architects group 13:56 Three cultures that scale revenue 18:45 Tactical relevance and the calendar test 20:43 The return of the handshake in go-to-market Takeaways If your CRM house isn't in order, you can't use the new AI. Salesforce gives you scale, but its hands-off model means garbage in, garbage out, so treat your CRM as a center of excellence with a single owner and real data governance.Stop leading from the dashboard. The best revenue leaders know their leading indicators cold: dials-to-pipeline by source, LTV to CAC by segment, and where NRR is strong versus where they're bleeding cash.Standardize AI before your team goes hog wild. Apartment List built a cross-functional AIX team and a go-to-market AI architects group, rolling out standards monthly so 100 people don't create 100 workflows.Use AI to enrich selling, not as a crutch. Buyers can tell when they're getting AI'd and are craving a handshake, so the human touch is becoming a competitive advantage.Scale on three cultures: a culture of selling, a culture of obsession, and closing the back door, because churn and weak net revenue retention kill growth-stage companies. Connect with the Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikewolber/ Website: https://www.apartmentlist.com Newsletter: Modern Go-To-Market (Substack)

    The Go-to-Market Junkie's Playbook for Scaling Revenue Teams

  7. Aug 6

    Creating One Purpose and One Mind as a Company

    Summary In this episode of Beyond the Paycheck, host Tanner Green sits down with Joe Del Regno, a growth and marketing executive who has doubled revenue for consumer brands across CPG, food, and DTC and now serves as chief marketing officer at Stratosphere Management Executive Consultants. Joe shares the principled approach behind his biggest wins: start with core purpose and people, find the one foundational growth insight that unlocks everything, and build marketing that reaches the emotional high ground in an authentic, fact based way. Along the way he tells the stories behind Welch's sad banana fruit bites, the Family Dinner Night movement at Home Market Foods, and the Feel Better, Fight Harder cancer campaign at Intrinsic Bioscience, and explains where he sees AI helping and where it still cannot compete. This one is for growth leaders, marketers, and founders who want purpose driven work that also drives results. Chapters 0:00 Introduction 1:05 Meet Joe Del Regno 2:25 HubSpot's Revenue Hub rebrand 4:30 A principled approach: core purpose and people 5:15 The sad banana insight at Welch's 6:25 Partnering with Starbucks to save family farms 9:15 Intrinsic Bioscience and hiring for mission 10:45 Feel better, fight harder and the boxer story 13:15 Home Market Foods and Family Dinner Night 16:45 AI and the future of mission driven marketing Takeaways -Mission and purpose driven companies achieve roughly three times the success of those that are not, but only when the mission is authentic. -Every major growth win starts with one foundational insight you unlock, like Welch's sad banana or families eating dinner together fewer than 2.4 times a week. -Hiring people who are personally connected to the mission can matter more than domain experience; Joe's team made Enteraid standard of care at 700+ cancer centers with no pharma background. -The strongest marketing ladders up to the emotional high ground in a way that is authentic and fact based, not manufactured. -AI is a powerful augmenter across content, efficiency, and building tools, but it cannot replace passion for a mission. Connect with the Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joedelregno/ Website: https://joedelregno.com

    Creating One Purpose and One Mind as a Company

  8. Aug 4

    Partnership Strategies for Revenue Growth

    SummaryIn this episode of Growth Wizards, Tanner Green interviews Vaughn Mordecai, a revenue and go-to-market executive, about the evolving landscape of AI in business, strategies for international expansion, and innovations at Mindmatrix. Vaughn shares insights on how AI is consolidating into a few dominant platforms, the importance of aligning with ideal customer profiles, and the development of a partner operating system to enhance user experience in partnerships. TakeawaysAI is evolving rapidly, consolidating into a few key platforms.Successful international expansion requires a shift from services to product-led strategies.Aligning with ideal customer profiles (ICP) is crucial for maximizing revenue.Creating a partner operating system enhances user experience and efficiency.Utilizing marketing development funds can ease budget constraints for clients.Partnerships should focus on providing value to both partners and account managers.Non-friction experiences in partnerships lead to higher usage and satisfaction.AI tools must be integrated thoughtfully to avoid data leaks.Understanding the partner ecosystem is essential for effective go-to-market strategies.Continuous learning and adaptation are key in the fast-paced tech industry.Partnership Strategies for Revenue Growth

    Partnership Strategies for Revenue Growth
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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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