Growth IRL

Michael Schmutz

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Marketing
Weekly

Growth IRL is the podcast where DataXGrowth CEO Mike Schmutz and guests talk candidly about what it really takes to build and scale growth. Each episode connects marketing strategy, data, technology, web development, and the operating decisions behind sustainable results.

2d ago

AI Agents Are Reading Your Product Feed—Is It Ready? | GrowthIRL

Product feeds are becoming one of the most important sources of information for AI-powered shopping and ecommerce discovery. In this episode of Growth IRL, Mike Schmutz explains why short titles and thin descriptions can prevent AI agents from fully understanding or differentiating a product. Using custom sneakers as an example, he shows how richer titles, detailed descriptions, product history, fit, color options, variants, and buying reasons can give both shoppers and agents more useful context. Mike also discusses the growing importance of Merchant Center and catalog feeds, and how better product data can strengthen catalog-based advertising and create a more connected journey from the initial ad click to product discovery and purchase. You'll learn: • Why product feeds need more complete information • How to improve titles and descriptions for AI discovery • Which product attributes help differentiate similar items • Why Merchant Center and catalog data matter beyond shopping ads • How stronger feeds can support better ecommerce campaigns The core takeaway: detailed, structured product information helps people, platforms, and AI agents understand what makes a product worth choosing.
Oct 20

Scary CRO Mistakes: Two Halloween Website Reviews

In this Halloween edition of Growth IRL, Mike Schmutz reviews two ecommerce product pages: a Ghostbusters costume on HalloweenCostumes.com and a popcorn pack on PopArtSnacks.com. Mike rebuilds both experiences to demonstrate a practical CRO principle: simplification plus validation. He shows how familiar page structure, clear purchase options, reviews, FAQs, shipping details, sizing guidance, product badges, and lifestyle imagery can help shoppers understand the offer and move toward a purchase with less friction. The episode also explores how dedicated landing pages can carry an ad's value proposition—such as bold flavors or gifting—through the full customer journey, and how teams can measure those journeys to develop stronger testing hypotheses. You'll learn: • How to structure an ecommerce product page around the shopper's decision • Where trust and validation signals belong • Why lifestyle imagery creates an emotional connection • How to align ads, landing pages, and checkout paths • How to use funnel behavior to guide CRO tests The core takeaway: connect, validate, simplify, and test. Sites reviewed: https://www.halloweencostumes.com/ https://www.popartsnacks.com/ This is an independent educational review. DataXGrowth is not affiliated with either brand.
Oct 13

Systems Before Automation with Diego Barrera | Growth IRL

A useful automation starts with a working process—not a tool looking for a problem. In Episode 08 of Growth IRL, Mike Schmutz talks with Diego Barrera, founder and CEO of UnlockTheROI, about the systems-engineering approach Diego uses to build automated client workflows. They explore why the first step is understanding the client's sales process, questions, data, and existing flow. Diego explains the difference between reusable tools and systems that must be designed around a specific business, using a plumbing analogy to show why automation has to fit the environment where it will run. The conversation also connects workflow design to analytics: define the questions first, understand the available and missing data, and then build the dashboard, KPIs, or automation. For founders, sales leaders, marketers, and operators building systems that people will actually use. Learn more at https://dataxgrowth.com
Oct 6

Build a Growth Audit That Turns Signals Into a 90-Day Plan

Most growth audits review paid media, SEO, CRO, finance, and customer experience in isolation. That produces more reports, but it does not reveal the constraint holding growth back. In Episode 07 of Growth IRL, Mike Schmutz explains how to connect those signals into one functional growth audit. He walks through the structure of the audit operating system—from defining the brief and scoring rubric to organizing specialized modules, synthesizing the evidence, and turning the findings into a focused 90-day growth plan. This episode is for marketing leaders, founders, and operators who want their data to create alignment, priorities, and action. Follow Growth IRL for practical conversations about growing yourself, your team, and your business. Learn more at https://dataxgrowth.com
Sep 29

AI for Marketing Teams: Where to Start

Where does AI fit into the work your marketing team already does? In Episode 6 of Growth IRL, Mike Schmutz explores AI and marketing, with a focus on how teams can begin using AI in their everyday marketing workflows. For marketers, team leaders, and business owners looking for a practical starting point, this episode looks at bringing AI into the way teams work. Follow Growth IRL for more conversations about growth, marketing, and building a business. Learn more at DataXGrowth.
Sep 22

Why Great Marketing Fails: The Tech Behind Growth with Bryce Drawe

Marketing makes a promise. Your website and systems have to deliver on it. In this episode, Mike Schmutz and DataXGrowth COO Bryce Drawe explore the connection between marketing and Growth Tech: the websites, data, workflows, and technical execution that help turn customer interest into business outcomes. They discuss how a campaign can look successful while slow landing pages, lost lead-source data, or weak follow-up undermine the result. The conversation covers measurement before optimization, a shared brief for marketing and development, and a practical cycle of diagnosing, building, measuring, and improving. For founders, marketers, and operators, this is a look at what needs to work behind the campaign. Follow Growth IRL for practical conversations about growing yourself, your team, and your business. Learn more: https://dataxgrowth.com
Sep 15

The Boring Work That Builds a Business with Bryce Drawe

Real growth often starts with the work that is easy to overlook. Mike Schmutz is joined by DataXGrowth COO Bryce Drawe for a conversation about personal growth, doing the boring work, and the journey of building DataXGrowth. Together, they explore how individual habits influence a business, how their different strengths shape the way they work, and why choosing what not to do matters as much as choosing the next opportunity. The conversation also looks at responsible growth and the culture and standards they want to build. For founders, operators, and anyone working toward something meaningful, this episode offers a chance to rethink the everyday work behind lasting progress. Follow Growth IRL for honest conversations about growing yourself, your team, and your business. Learn more: https://dataxgrowth.com
Sep 8

5 SaaS Growth Marketing Tactics Before You Spend More - Growth IRL Podcast

Before you buy more traffic, find out where your funnel is losing valuable prospects. In this podcast/episode of Growth IRL, Mike Schmutz breaks down five growth marketing tactics for SaaS companies: mapping revenue leaks, tightening the ideal customer profile and message, capturing high-intent demand, reducing time to value, and running experiments tied to business outcomes. The focus is finding the constraint that matters most across acquisition, conversion, activation, and retention, then choosing a tactic that addresses it. More leads only help when the customer journey can turn the right prospects into customers who stay. Your action: map your funnel, identify the stage losing the most valuable demand, and write one testable hypothesis aimed at that problem. Follow Growth IRL for practical conversations about growing yourself, your team, and your business. Learn more about our growth services: https://dataxgrowth.com
Aug 31

Ep. 2 — Your Circle Is Shaping Your Ceiling

Some people make you feel good. The right people make you better. Your environment doesn't determine every outcome — but it changes which outcomes feel normal and possible. In this episode, I share the one person and one moment that changed my direction, then break down exactly how the people around you shape your standards, perspective, courage, accountability, resilience, and opportunity. You'll learn how to separate real support from blind agreement, how to give grace to people in difficult seasons without ignoring harmful patterns, and how to run a simple audit of the five people who most influence your thinking. The best people in your life don't just protect your confidence — they protect your potential. This week's action: contact one person who positively affected your life, name the specific thing they did, and tell them what it changed. Then offer that same honesty and belief to someone else. Follow Growth IRL and share it with someone who's growing with you.
Aug 26

From Grind to Growth: Mike Schmutz and the Story Behind DataXGrowth | Growth IRL Ep. 1

Welcome to Growth IRL. In episode one, Mike Schmutz shares the path that led to DataXGrowth: 15+ years in growth marketing, the reality of building a business as a dad and competitive bodybuilder, and the discipline it takes to keep moving when the work gets hard. Mike breaks down why DataXGrowth was built as a fractional growth partner for startups, SaaS, D2C, subscription, and high-growth brands. The goal is straightforward: bring strategy, analytics, SEO/AEO, conversion optimization, paid acquisition, lifecycle, experimentation, and lean technical execution into one measurable growth system. This conversation is about more than agency building. It is about choosing a growth mindset that can handle hard things: taking the next rep, solving the next constraint, and staying in the work long enough for real progress to compound. In this episode: • The story behind DataXGrowth • The experiences that shaped Mike's operating philosophy • Why data, strategy, and execution must stay connected • How fitness, family, and resilience influence the way he builds • What to expect from future Growth IRL conversations Follow Growth IRL for practical conversations about building companies, systems, careers, and lives that keep moving forward. Learn more: https://dataxgrowth.com

10 Episodes

Growth IRL is the podcast where DataXGrowth CEO Mike Schmutz and guests talk candidly about what it really takes to build and scale growth. Each episode connects marketing strategy, data, technology, web development, and the operating decisions behind sustainable results.

Creator

Michael Schmutz
Years Active

2026
Episodes

10
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© 2026
Show Website

Growth IRL