Alan Ruchtein

CEOs: Broken pipeline & poor performer sales reps? I fix both for you in <60 days. You’ll hate how fast it works. | Modern Seller Program Founder

Your ability to book meetings, negotiate, and close deals with potential clients will determine how far you’ll thrive as a sales rep and leader.

This will allow you to:

📈 Build a career
📈 Hit your quotas
📈 Get recognition
📈 Get a promotion
📈 Get better offers
📈 Land sponsorships

However, booking meetings and closing deals it’s harder than ever:

❌ Prospects don’t return your calls
❌ Prospects don’t stop ghosting you
❌ Prospects don’t answer your emails
❌ Prospects don’t trust you as a seller
❌ Prospects don’t believe in your offer 
❌ Prospects don’t accept your LinkedIn Invite

All of these makes you feel miserable

You feel your manager’s pressure on your shoulder

And you start thinking that sales might not be for you.

Do you relate with this? Because I do - I’ve been there

This happens because the “old way” of doing sales doesn’t work anymore.

Sending 1000s of generic emails and praying they get back to you will kill your sales career.

Now, imagine having a proven system that allows you to systematically:

✅ Book more meetings
✅ Handle all the objections
✅ Move deals through the pipe
✅ Close higher tickets in less time
✅ Run discovery and demo calls like a pro

And, hitting your sales quota.

Wouldn't this be the scenario you would like to be in?

The good news - I can help you get there with:

➝ My weekly Newsletter with actionable sales tactics
➝ My daily sales practical examples in my Content
➝ My sales personalized program
➝ My 1-on-1 Coaching Sessions
➝ My team Coaching Sessions

Now, how serious are you about building your Sales Career?

Let's make it happen.

👉🏼 Shoot me a DM, or head over to my Featured section.

I'll see you at the top!

Founder

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77 AI Use cases every seller should know:

These are the workflows that separate average sales teams from elite modern ones, the real levers behind faster pipelines, cleaner forecasts, and higher close rates.

I put together a 77-point Sales AI Cheatsheet covering every stage of the revenue engine:

✅ Identify ideal buyers fast.
✅ Protect forecast accuracy.
✅ Automate RevOps workflows.
✅ Enable buyers to move faster.
✅ Personalize outreach at scale.
✅ Automate outbound with context.
✅ Turn every call into a coaching loop.

Whether you're an SDR, AE, SDR, Sales Director, VP Sales, or CEO, this cheatsheet shows exactly where AI adds revenue, not noise.

Want the full hig-res PDF version?

Like this post.
Connect with me.
Comment “AI SALES” and I’ll send it to you.

Follow Alan Ruchtein for more sales systems, AI workflows & revenue frameworks.

70+ meetings/month. 3.2x reply rates. 
Less than 5 hours/week of manual prospecting:

My clients are getting these results after applying modern sales strategies.

No cold scraping.
No generic “just checking in” emails.
No SDR armies.

Just one difference:

→ We don’t guess who to contact.
→ We watch.

Every signal becomes a trigger:

- Viewed your LinkedIn profile
- Followed your company page
- Registered for a LinkedIn event
- Commented on an influencer’s take
- Left a G2 review on your competitor
- Liked a post about the pain you solve

Every message starts with:

→ “Saw you…”
→ “Noticed this…”
→ “Caught your comment on…”

That’s not cold outreach.
That’s timed outreach.

It feels warm.
It gets replies.

And it’s scalable.

✅ 4x more meetings
✅ 30%+ reply rates
✅ AI sorts the heat, reps just show up when the moment’s hot

This isn’t about working harder.

It’s about removing the guesswork and selling with precision.

Signal-led sales isn’t the future.

It’s the standard now.
It’s unified, AI-powered, and human.

Comment “10” if you want the top +10 cold email frameworks we use to book this amount of meetings.

PS: Don’t say I didn’t warn you when your reply rate spikes tomorrow.

How I book +70 meetings/mo for clients at 20% of the cost of having 4 reps performing at full capacity:

OLD WAY

-4 SDRs
-Multiple salaries
-Bloated tool stack
-Manual research
-Manual emails
-Manual follow-ups
-20–30 meetings/month (team)

NEW WAY

-1 Modern Seller (AI-powered)
-Lean, precise, high-output
-Modern tool stacks
-60+ meetings/month (one rep)

(Partial) Techstack used:

Maildoso: Email infrastructure
Clay: Enrichment & Research at scale
ChatGPT: Personalization & Messaging
FullEnrich: Waterfall enrichment for emails/phones
DeBounce: Data validation
Instantly.ai: Sending tool

And +10 other tools to complete the full tech stack and strategy ;)

You don’t need a better product, or a fancy new feature.

You need (and deserve) the right modern GTM AI sales system that relies on intent, data, information and relevant insights.

That’s how you book meetings at scale in 2025, not by spamming prospects.

If you want to build a real process once and for all, DM me “system” and let’s do it together.

You won’t believe how fast your calendar gets hammered with qualified meetings. (I’m not cheap, but I’m good!)

No surprise you’re not booking meetings through cold email. This is what you must do now:

⭢ Stay under 70 words long.
⭢ Pitch solutions, not products.
⭢ End decisively, skip “Thanks!”
⭢ Relevance cuts through noise.
⭢ Use social proof to build trust.
⭢ Write clear, skimmable content.
⭢ Speak to their goals, not features.
⭢ Interest calls to action drive replies.
⭢ Ditch buzzwords; use their language.
⭢ Subject lines make or break open rates.

𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸:

1. Observation
2. Curiosity / value-added
3. Soft CTA
4. PS

𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲:

"Subject line: ramp-up stress

Hey Robert, long ramp-ups create stress and don’t prep reps to perform.

Most focus on the product, not prospects. With only 29% of reps hitting quota, a better ramp-up is crucial.

Mind if I share how [competitor] cut ramp time in half and get reps hitting quota in 3 months after working with us?

Best"

If you want me to help you take your cold email game to the next level

DM me "email" and see if we are fit (2 spots left to work).

*

🛍️ Modern Seller Program Get it here: https://lnkd.in/dR_CRPGc

+32% of your inbound calls go unanswered.
And +80% of those callers never call back.
Here’s how to solve it:

Last week, I shared that stat with a founder. Small team, lean setup, SDRs booked solid.

Midday calls were basically a roulette wheel: if someone was free, great. If not? Lost revenue.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth nobody says out loud:

If you can’t answer fast, you’ve already lost.

So we did what ELITE teams do: We tested AI.

Not to replace reps. To protect revenue.

Here’s what we built using CloudTalk:

→ An AI receptionist that picks up every call
→ Instantly qualifies the lead with high quality
→ Routes the hot ones to sales, or books them straight into Calendly
→ Logs everything to HubSpot automatically

No IVRs or “hold on” music. No “sorry, we missed your call.”

Results in 14 days:

- 57 new inbound calls captured
- 19 auto-qualified and booked
- 0 reps added

It runs in the background, 24/7. No “we’ll call them back later.” 

And the funny thing? Reps actually prefer it, because all the noise disappears and they can focus on real selling.

Here’s the principle I teach every team: AI shouldn’t replace reps. It should replace the tasks reps should’ve never been doing.

AI handles repetitive stuff. Humans sell.

The phone stack is the AI stack.

If you’ve got reps wasting time on “just checking” calls… or worse, missing them entirely, test this: https://lnkd.in/dHKteqHJ

PS: Tell CloudTalk you came from me and you’ll get an extra $100 in AI Voice Agents credits on your subscription.

I’ve helped +84 sales teams to “go AI”. Here’s why 99% of companies fail at doing it:

Over the past few months, I’ve reviewed sales setups from SDR teams to VPs of Sales and the same 4 mistakes show up every single time.

Here are The 4 Layers of AI Sales Mistakes 👇

1️⃣ Prompt-Level Mistakes:

You ask for “better emails” and get generic ones.

- No info
- No ICP
- No tone
- No details
- No context
- No insights

No nothing.

AI writes like it doesn’t know who it’s talking to because it doesn’t.

2️⃣ Process-Level Mistakes

No sync between ChatGPT, CRM, and outreach tools.

No detailed process on how your team should operate.

Without a connected workflow, every rep builds their own system and that kills consistency.

3️⃣ Strategy-Level Mistakes 

You measure “output,” not “impact.”

More prompts doesn’t mean more pipeline.

More calls made or emails sent doesn’t mean more revenue.

AI doesn’t fix bad messaging or a broken sales motion, it amplifies it.

4️⃣ Offer-Level Mistakes

Your prompts don’t connect to real buyer pain. You get “personalized” fluff that sounds clever but lands flat and AI can’t sell what you don’t understand deeply.

AI doesn’t replace good selling.

It scales it, if you build it right.

DM me if you want to solve these 4 layers and stop suffering from the AI FOMO! I’ll teach, train and help you build a powerful AI sales system.

Outbound didn’t suddenly get hard. Buyers got smarter and you didn’t.

You “use AI” sure but when I look under the hood, it’s still the same manual guessing game.

The teams actually getting replies?
 
They treat AI as infrastructure, not a shortcut and they nail all 10 of these 👇

1️⃣ Are you letting AI track buying signals before you even start outreach?
If you’re not… you’re basically guessing. That’s not prospecting.

2️⃣ Are leads enriched instantly so reps aren’t flying blind?
Because nothing kills relevance faster than missing data.

3️⃣ Does every outbound message actually start from a real POV?
AI should give you context → you turn it into clarity → that’s what gets replies.

4️⃣ Is your messaging adapting to behavior, or are you still running static sequences?
If it doesn’t react, buyers ignore it. Simple

5️⃣ Are reps still doing manual research?
They shouldn’t be. Intel briefs should hit their inbox automatically.

6️⃣ Are your emails rewritten for clarity and mobile?
Buyers skim. Most reps write novels. You already know how that ends.

7️⃣ Are you analyzing wins with AI to see what’s actually working?
Because “my gut says…” is not a strategy.

8️⃣ Is AI doing the grunt work so reps can spend their time on actual conversations?
This one alone frees up 5–10 hours a week. Every week.

9️⃣ Are objections being handled before the prospect even raises them?
Top teams don’t react. They prevent it.

🔟 Are reps trained to operate AI as a workflow, not treat it like some shiny tool?
This is the real separator between “using AI” and actually winning with it.

If you're not answering “yes” to at least 8 of these, you’re not AI-native, you’re just an AI simple user.

If you want to solve this, DM me “AI” and let’s see if we can work together on building a robust Sales-AI-driven process together

AI is tracking more about your pipeline than your reps are. Here are 15 metrics AI catches that humans ALWAYS miss (and why it matters):

Save this. Your competitors will.

1. Deal Stagnation Alerts

AI flags every opportunity that has been idle for more than 14 days and scores the risk based on the stage and silence duration.

2. Velocity by Persona

Know exactly how fast VPs, Directors, or Managers move between stages. Different personas have different speeds.

3. Pipeline Leakage Detection

AI shows where deals die (after demo, proposal, negotiation) and why they die using call transcripts and CRM analysis.

4. Sentiment Shifts in Calls

Tracks tone, pauses, hesitation, interest.  Buyers tell you everything without saying it.

5. Email & DM Emotion Tracking

NLP scores every reply as positive, neutral, or skeptical. You’ll know who’s actually leaning in.

6. Content Interaction Heatmaps

Which links, PDFs, and messages does your ICP click, read, or ignore.

7. Reply Rate by Value Prop

ROI vs. efficiency vs. cost savings: AI reveals which angle hits hardest.

8. Objection Type Frequency

Automatically tags “budget,” “timing,” “not a priority,” and trends it across calls. You’ll see patterns your reps never notice.

9. CTA Conversion Rate

“Quick reply” vs “Deck?” vs “15 minutes?” AI tells you which CTA closes by persona.

10.  Talk-to-Listen Ratio

Tracks rep talk time vs buyer talk time and correlates it with win rates. Top reps talk less. Always.

11. Discovery Question Depth

Score questions by quality, layering, and intent. This stops surface-level discovery.

12. Follow-Up Timing Impact

Same-day vs next-day. AI knows which timelines close faster (hint: timing leads to conversion).

13. Deal Confidence Scoring

82% close probability? AI calculates it using:
→ call signals
→ response patterns
→ champion strength
→ engagement

14. Risk Heatmap by Stage

Missing champion. No urgency. Budget unclear. AI surfaces risk BEFORE the deal stalls.

15.  Rep Forecast Reliability

Compare "rep gut feeling" vs reality. You’ll see who’s overconfident and who’s accurate.

AI isn’t replacing reps. It’s replacing every blind spot they’ve had for 20 years.

Join +6218 heroes at The Modern Seller FREE & TACTICAL newsletter: https://alanruchtein.com

And DM me if you want me to help you build high-performance sales & revenue systems.

If you still qualify your leads manually, STOP. Do this instead:

One of the sales teams I support was stuck in the usual loop

→ Hot leads sitting untouched
→ Manual routing causing rep fights
→ Objection handling all over the place

RevOps? Buried.
Engineering? “Maybe next sprint.”
Quota? Slipping.

So I stopped waiting. Opened Replit.
And started building live, with the team.

Here’s what we built, together, in under 90 minutes:

#1 — 𝗔𝗜 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗿 (22 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘀)

→ Pulls new leads from HubSpot
→ Scores by ICP fit, intent, and deal size
→ Routes hot leads instantly
→ Logs low-fit leads for marketing

Impact: + 31% demo rate & -43% response delay

#2 — 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿 (31 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘀)

→ Reps log objections via Slack
→ AI tags by category + urgency
→ Links battlecards automatically
→ Flags recurring issues for managers

Impact: Cleaner feedback loops, faster coaching, better win rates

#3 — 𝗦𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸-𝘁𝗼-𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹 (30 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘀)

→ AE types “/quote” in Slack
→ AI fills in pricing based on CRM
→ Routes to manager + logs activity

Impact:  –68% quote approval cycle time

We didn’t write code.
We didn’t wait for approvals.

We typed what we wanted in plain English, and Replit built it.

Everything deployed instantly.
No OAuth mess. No Zapier chain. No dev blockers.

This is the new sales edge: If you know the process, you can build the system.

Start here: https://replit.com/mobile

2 emails, 1 meeting booked in 10 minutes.
The Email Forward Strategy (explained below):

Most cold emails get ignored.

But there’s a play that flips the script — and books meetings fast.

I call it The Forward Strategy.

Here’s how it works:

You’re targeting a mid-market SaaS org. Their CRO just posted on LinkedIn about missing revenue targets.

In the comments: pipeline quality comes up.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 1: 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗥𝗢

“Saw your post on rev targets. Teams in your space are tightening up pipeline quality by doing X, might be worth a look.”

You’re not expecting a reply.
You’re planting a signal.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 2: 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗣 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀

With one sentence on top: “Saw this from [CRO Name], figured you might want eyes on it.”

Why it works:

→ It looks internal. Like the CRO passed it down.
→ It feels relevant. No pitch, just intel.
→ It uses social proof sideways. Exec is the signal. VP takes action.

It doesn’t feel like outreach.
It feels like context.

Here’s how to run it:

Find a CRO public trigger tied to a pain you solve. 
Send them a cold email with a sharp POV.
Forward it to their VP with that one-line intro.

No faking. No fluff.
Just smarter sequencing.

It’s not mass automation.
It’s surgical outbound.

Want to make it land? I use FullEnrich to get all the right emails and data.

Because even the best play flops if you’re emailing the wrong (or no) person.

#fullenrichpartner

Brand partnership • CEOs: Broken pipeline & poor performer sales reps? I fix both for you in <60 days. You’ll hate how fast it works. | Modern Seller Program Founder

Your “AI SDRs” are just faster spam (or scam) and don't work. Here’s what an AI Sales agent that works should look like:

One VP Sales told me, “We automated our SDRs, now we’re just getting ignored faster.”

Why? Because they didn’t fix the motion, they just sped it up.

Same dead leads.
Same spray-and-pray emails.
Same cold lists from last quarter.

All they did was replace junior reps with AI that sells like junior reps.

Here’s what we built for a client using Alta | AI Revenue Workforce:

Inbound started spiking, mostly fintech teams.

The inbound AI agent (Alex) flagged the pattern instantly.
No form fill reports. No waiting 48 hours. Just signal.

The outbound agent (Katie) picked it up.
Built a list of 30 lookalike companies:

→ Same tech stack
→ Similar hiring trends
→ Matching ICP

Campaign launched that day: “We’ve been helping fintech teams tackling [pain] by doing [action]. Sound familiar?”

→ Follow-up: “Still relevant?” with a 1-line value hook.

Result: 4 meetings in 2 days. 2 came from auto follow-ups.

Here’s the kicker:
One VP came inbound, but timing was off. So we set a smart trigger: re-engage if they post an SDR role.

Three weeks later, trigger fires: “Hey, saw you’re hiring SDRs. Still thinking about pipeline coverage?”

→ 13-minute reply.
→ Meeting booked.
→ Deal closed 22 days later.

No human lag. No lead drop-off. No guessing.
Just one system, talking to itself.

Inbound feeding outbound.
Outbound reviving inbound.
All running 24/7.

That’s what AI in sales is supposed to look like. That’s the REAL AI SDR power.

If your AI SDR is still just sending cold emails, you don’t need a better copy.

You need a new system.

Want to quietly crush Q1 like this?

Try Alta | AI Revenue Workforce. Stop playing with tools that brag about being “AI.”

CURAT—D

In 2022, CURAT—D was born. Since then, we’ve partnered with 7-figure founders, signed high-profile clients (including one of Hollywood’s biggest names), and helped our clients close a $4M deal—all by using their personal brands.

Our mission is simple:

Help founders build brands that stand out and bring results.

At CURAT—D, we take a hands-on approach. We help you:

- Craft your unique story
- Grow your audience
- Build your authority
- Attract high-ticket clients

The best part?

It’s all done through organic content—no ads, no gimmicks, just real value.

We capture your authentic voice through simple processes like:

- Content calls
- Voice memos
- Raw thoughts you share, turned into content that drives engagement and results.

Our goal?

To take your brand to the next level and 10x your growth.

Outside of work, I’m always looking for my next challenge. I’ve traveled the world, spoken at events like The Metaverse Summit in Silicon Valley I watch every single Formula One Grandprix, and am always pushing myself to grow.

But my true passion is seeing my clients succeed. 

I’m here to help you turn your LinkedIn profile into more than just a social media account—it can be the key to unlocking your next big opportunity.

Curious to learn how?

Send me a message, and let’s talk about how we can elevate your brand.

Let’s make big things happen together.

U-Topia Ecosystem

It started with one meeting. In 2021, I'm 20 years old and I meet Emmanuel Quezada, CEO of U-topia Ecosystem. He shared a bold vision: creating a groundbreaking Web3 ecosystem. Days later, I joined as the sole US-based team member.

My title? Director of Partnerships.
My mission? Own the US market.

Over 14 months, here’s what I accomplished:

- Built connections with 20+ teams, linking U-topia to other metaverses.
- Led meetings with companies like Binance.
- Partnered with NFT communities to create interconnection bridges.
- Engaged VCs to showcase U-topia’s vision and future.
- Spoke at global events, sharing the stage with CEOs of $100M+ companies.
- Traveled to Dubai to meet the team face-to-face and strengthen collaboration.
- These moments weren’t just professional wins—they were personal milestones.

I grew relationships that turned into lifelong friendships. I learned the art of trust, connection, and creating real value in a fast-moving industry.

But as CURAT—D, my content agency, began to demand my full focus, I faced a tough decision. I chose to step away from U-topia to fully dedicate myself to my next chapter.

Today, I’m proud of the foundation we built together.
U-topia is now working with global giants like Adidas, FIFA, and Walmart, building cutting-edge IP products and redefining the Web3 space.

I’ll always root for their success and the bright future ahead.

Director of Partnerships | Partner

MONACAIR

In 2021, I was 19 years old and joined Monacair, Monaco’s premier private helicopter service, as a Business Development Intern.

My mission was to assist in expanding Monacair’s reach.

Over two months, here’s what I accomplished:

- Assisted in refining Monacair’s B2B partnership strategy.
- Conducted market research to identify high-value clientele and potential partners.
- Supported the sales team in optimizing customer acquisition efforts.
- Helped improve internal processes by analyzing client data and operational workflows.
- Gained firsthand experience in the ultra-luxury aviation space, working alongside a high-performance team.

I learned lessons in high-stakes client relations, precision-driven service, and the power of seamless logistics.

It was fast-paced, high-energy, and filled with invaluable insights.

But as my passion for branding and business growth evolved, I knew my next challenge awaited.

Still, I’ll always appreciate the experience and the foundation Monacair gave me in navigating elite service industries.

Intern

Building digital legacies for Founders & CEOs | Founder of CURAT-D

I’m Aurelien, and I help b2b founders turn their personal brands into a revenue-generating machine.

My journey started 7 years ago when, at 15, I launched my first company, STRADA PARIS. I had no experience, but I had a vision. 

Fast forward a few years—while I was still a student in Boston—I made my very first LinkedIn post, and everything changed.

What started as a leap of faith turned into a business that helps founders build their personal brands, drive growth, and generate serious revenue.

In 2022, CURAT—D was born. 

Since then, we’ve partnered with 7-figure founders, signed high-profile clients (including one of Hollywood’s biggest names), and helped our clients close a $4M deal—all by using LinkedIn organic content.

Our mission is simple:

Help founders build brands that stand out and bring results.

At CURAT—D, we take a hands-on approach. We help you:

- Craft your unique story
- Grow your audience
- Build your authority
- Attract high-ticket clients

The best part?

It’s all done through organic LinkedIn strategies—no ads, no gimmicks, just real value.

We capture your authentic voice through simple processes like:

- Content calls
- Voice memos
- Raw thoughts you share, turned into content that drives engagement and results.

Our goal?

To take your brand to the next level and 10x your growth.

Outside of work, I’m always looking for my next challenge. I’ve traveled the world, spoken at events like The Metaverse Summit in Silicon Valley I watch every single Formula One Grandprix, and am always pushing myself to grow.

But my true passion is seeing my clients succeed. 

I’m here to help you turn your LinkedIn profile into more than just a social media account—it can be the key to unlocking your next big opportunity.

Curious to learn how?

Send me a message, and let’s talk about how we can elevate your brand.

Let’s make big things happen together.

Aurelien Scagnolari

I'm hiring our first full-time Content Strategist at CURAT—D.

If you want to work with founders who've exited for 8/9 figures, Hollywood talent, global leaders, and CEOs building legendary companies, this is it.

You'll be paid to extract stories, shape ideas, and turn them into content that drives results.

And if things go well you'll grow into Head of Content next year and own the entire department.

If you're in apply, or tag someone who should :)

Founder at CURAT—D | We partner with service & tech founders to build authority that compounds into clients, capital, and opportunities

Thank you Antler.

8 weeks ago, I'm thinking about a problem. 
My clients keep asking: "Can we do video content?" Sure. But then:

"What's the script?"
"What lighting?"
"Which camera? Should I use my phone?"
"Who edits it?"

It becomes this whole thing. So they don't do it.

But video is how leaders are communicating now. Fortune 500 CEOs speaking directly to stakeholders. 

Video forces you to be real. You're either authentic or you're not. There's no hiding behind polished copy.

That's the power of it.

Then came the idea…

What if I made it stupid simple for founders to shoot video?

Show up. Sit down. Answer questions. We handle everything else.

That's when The Booth idea hit me.

I called Ted Merz, CFA. He spent 3 decades at Bloomberg. Incredible person. Perfect partner for this.

"Let's do it."

Two weeks later, we had a spot at Antler to test it.

We set up the booth on a Saturday. Had to be ready by Monday.

Ted looks at it: "This isn't soundproof."

He's right. It's in a co-working space. If someone's recording, no one can work.

Panic mode. Went to Amazon. Bought the best soundproof panels I could find. Installed them overnight.

The results:

30 founders interviewed. 15 minutes each. 7.5 hours of footage.

We asked everyone: "How was your Antler experience?"

Every single person said the same thing. Life-changing. Amazing community. Incredible tools.

4,000 applicants. 150 accepted. Only 8-10 get funded. Everyone's dialed in from morning to night for six weeks.

The emotions were real. It was the end of their cohort, the last week.

We compiled all the answers into one video showing gratitude to Antler and what the experience really means to founders.

Thank you, Antler and the whole NY team, Kaila Jeff McKenzie Malcolm-Wiley Sam Allie Wouter.

Ps: If you want the booth in your space, send us a DM :)

There was a moment I decided I wasn't going to live a normal life.

I was 16.

My dad used to travel to the US for work. He'd come back and tell me: "That place is full of opportunities. Full of ambitious people. If you want to be successful, discover the world, meet interesting people, that's where you need to go."

I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life yet. But I asked my parents if I could spend a year abroad in the US. 

They said yes.

I spent a year in Denver, Colorado with a host family I still consider my second family.

That's where I discovered entrepreneurship.

Books. Business conferences. People like Gary V and Tai Lopez (yes I know…) telling the young generation: "You can write your own story. You don't have to follow the traditional path."

I read everything I could. Started thinking about building businesses.

And I came back to France thinking: this is what I want to do.

I wanted freedom. Agency over my own agenda. The ability to travel whenever I wanted. To be my own boss, not over other people, but over my own life.

So I finished high school in France. Started a clothing brand with my best friend. Learned a ton.

Then went back to the US for university. Joined a company as Director of Partnerships at 19. Built my personal brand on LinkedIn. Content was crushing it.

People started asking: "How are you generating this content while working and being a student?"

I started helping them.

That's how I got into this world.

But here's the thing, I've never struggled with anything in my life. 

My trauma isn't from high school or some personal hardship.

My trauma is from seeing people who couldn't afford things.

My dad also used to go to Africa when I was a kid. Every time I didn't finish my plate, he'd say: "I'm going to take you there and you'll see if you ever leave food on your plate again."

His message: You're privileged to have food. Finish it. Because there are people who would die for the scraps you're leaving behind.

I've seen both ends. People who had everything and were unhappy. People who had nothing and it was tough.

That's why I wanted my reality to be different.

I saw what was possible and what wasn't, and I wanted to be on the side where I had control.

I've been building toward this ever since.

I haven't taken a day off in two years. Not a single one. For +900 days, I've worked for a few hours minimum. Usually more.

If I get in a car accident tomorrow, no one will take care of the business. I’ll even lose a few clients.

If something happens to my family, I still have to show up.

Entrepreneurship is way too glorified online.

"Be your own boss." "Work from anywhere." "Make millions."

But let me glorify it for you:

Some Saturdays I'm working at 11 PM. Some nights I'm sending emails at 2 AM. Some mornings I wake up stressed about what happened overnight with my US clients while I was asleep in Europe, some I won't sleep at all

There's always something that can go wrong. Deliverables. Client expectations. Cash flow.

It's not glamorous, yet I personally wouldn't do anything else.

Yes, it's hard. Yes, I work every single day. Yes, there are no sick days or vacations.

But I get to build something from nothing. I get to work with incredible people. I get to learn by doing.

And I'm grateful for it every single day.

Just don't let LinkedIn fool you into thinking it's easy.

Re-introducing CURAT—D.

We're a personal branding partner for founders and CEOs.

what we do:

We extract stories (the real ones, not the LinkedIn versions). We dig into your entire life, your company, how you actually operate, how you hire, what happens behind the scenes. Who you are as a person.

Then we amplify those stories at scale.

Two engines: video content and written content. Mostly using LinkedIn as the vehicle to get your voice out there in a way that actually sounds like you.

We work with founders for 6 to 12 months. Sometimes longer.

founders we work with are doing $5M to $20M in revenue per year. They're at the stage where their personal brand matters, for hiring, for partnerships, for deals, for authority in their space.

Our process is not quick.

We audit everything. your story. your company. how you do things differently. what makes you interesting. what pisses you off. what you believe that most people in your industry don't.

We meet you in person after a few months because you can't build someone's brand over Zoom calls alone. You need to see how they move, how they talk when they're comfortable, what they're like when the camera's off.

We don't use frameworks nor we apply the same playbook to everyone.

Every founder is different so is every story. That's the whole point.

If you're a founder who's tired of sounding like everyone else, let's talk.

I do manually what everyone else tries to automate. I have enough data right now to automate everything. The content creation. The commenting. The outreach. All of it.

I could plug an AI tomorrow and watch my profit margins go up.

But I don't, why?

Because I've seen what happens when you optimize for scale over soul. Founders end up with content that performs but doesn't feel like them. Posts that get engagement but don't build trust. Frameworks that work on paper but miss the whole point.

Personal branding is really messy, emotional, human.

Our content calls with clients…Sophia Kelly told me they feel more like therapy than marketing interviews. She told me once they helped her with self-discovery, questions she hadn't even thought to ask herself.

Most CEOs never sit down and reflect. They're in the weeds all day, working their asses off, then they go home. Repeat.

But when we do these extraction sessions, something usually clicks. "I haven't thought about it that way." "That's actually interesting."

I have an author as a client, he's used to this kind of thinking. But for most CEOs, these calls are more valuable than actual therapy sessions.

A lot of founders are blind to their own stories.

They don't see what's interesting about their journey until someone goes in and pulls it out. That's what we do. We extract. We find the emotion, the energy, the thing that makes them different.

Not a hook or a framework. 

If you look at our case studies, there's a pattern, storytelling that feels unique. Content that sounds like the person, not like everyone else running the same playbook.

Could I automate this and scale faster? Sure.

Would it work as well? No chance.

I'm running my own race here. Focused on depth. On the stuff you can't systematize.

And that's exactly how I want it.

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Alan Ruchtein

Aurelien Scagnolari

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taplio

The Battle

Alan Ruchtein

Aurelien Scagnolari

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Posts

Engagements

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Alan Ruchtein's LinkedIn Performance

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