David Fastuca

CEO & Co-Founder, Growth Forum | Proven Sales Systems Add Up To 57% More Deals in 8 Weeks or Less.

When sales teams get stuck, they search everywhere for answers.

Google. ChatGPT. YouTube.

What they usually find is recycled advice:

“Follow up more.”

“Build rapport.”

“Handle objections.”

Tips that sound good in theory but miss the context of your industry, your buyer, and your deal.

By the time reps finish searching, the opportunity is gone.

The moment to act has passed.

Coach Pilot fixes that.

It gives your team real-time guidance while the deal is still alive, not post-mortem.

The right move, in the right moment, directly in their workflow.

That’s how top teams turn hesitation into control and pipeline into revenue.

Find out more: https://www.coachpilot.com/

CMO & Co-Founder

150+ founders walk into a room.

No, this isn't a joke setup.

(Okay, maybe it is.)

Next week I'm on a panel at The First Move, and if you're trying to figure out sales without losing your mind, this one's for you.

Here's my lane:
→ How early-stage B2B teams build a sales engine that actually runs 
→ $75M in exits, what I learned that wasn't in the playbook 
→ Sales mistakes I see founders make constantly (ps made them too) 
→ Quick wins that move pipeline faster than you'd expect

A bit about me:
Built and sold companies. 
Now building Coach Pilot. 
Coach founders on sales and AI every week.

The pattern?
Founders don't lack ideas. 

They lack:
Clear next steps
Honest feedback
People who know how lonely this actually is

I care about rooms where "here's where I'm stuck" isn't followed by awkward silence.

The First Move is that room.

What you'll get:
→ Tools you can deploy immediately
→ Frameworks from real deals, not case studies
→ A network that actually follows up

Come join me Desmond John, Tara Salmon Kate Pollard, Grant Gwynne and Megan Luttrell

I'll be the one making sales jokes nobody asked for. 

Link's in the comments.👇

CEO, coachpilot.com • 2 Exits (75M Value) • Revenue Leaders Podcast, Co-Host

I stopped relying on inbound and outbound alone. 

My last 10 deals came from partners I treated like teammates.

At first, I pushed harder on email.

More sequences.
More LinkedIn messages.

Pipeline grew a bit.

Then stalled.

I felt stuck.

Heavy targets.
Same accounts.
Same buyer list.

No one wins that game.

I tried a different move.

I pulled my last 10 closed deals.
I asked one question: who else already had access?

I saw a pattern.

3–4 companies sold into the same accounts.
Same champions.
Same budget cycles.

They were already inside.

I reached out and said:

Let’s act as one team.

Monthly call.
Shared intel.
Warm intros both ways.
Mutual success plans for key accounts.

I helped them hit their number.

Market insights.
Deal strategy.
Air cover with my contacts.

In return, they opened doors I could not reach.

Those partners became my ecosystem.

Not a “program”.
A small crew I went deep with.

That crew filled my next quarter.

If you carry a bag and feel stuck in outbound, pull your last 10 deals and find the people who were already there.

Link in the COMMENTS to this episode with the Master of Partnerships Bryan Williams

Your reps don’t need another full-day training.

They need one 30‑minute call review that changes how they sell this week.

I learned this the hard way.

I ran full-day workshops.
Big decks.
Role plays.
Everyone said “great session” on the day.

Next week

Same calls
Same weak questions
Same “send me the deck” endings

The truth is:

- Reps cannot use 20 ideas from one long day.
- They can use one upgrade from one real call.

Here is how I run a 30‑minute review that sticks

- First 5 minutes
- AI finds key moments in the call.
- I pick one short clip that matters.

Next 5 minutes

- We watch the clip together.
- I pause at the key second.
- I ask the rep: “What do you see here?”

Now the work starts

We talk about the buyer.
Their risk.
Their power.
Their emotion.

I help the rep see the story under the words.

Then we shape one clear upgrade line

For example
How to open price.
How to ask a deeper question.
How to set one strong next step.

We write the new line together in simple words.

Last 10 minutes

We practice only that moment.
Three fast reps.
We swap words until the rep feels calm, not tense.

End of session

AI logs the focus, the new line, the next call to test it.
We track what happens on live deals.

The Result:
- Reps stop fearing call reviews.
- They start asking for them.

We built Coach Pilot to make sessions like this easy to run at scale.

If you want to see how our platform handles call reviews and the guidance it gives, check the link in my profile.

If you vanished tomorrow, which customer would miss you first?

Now ask: why did they choose you in the first place?

You think you know the answer.

Product.
Price.
Features.
Relationships.

This is "Noise".

When teams slow down and ask the hard question, a new story starts to show.

Customers say things like:
“You called when others sent links.”
“You listened when others pitched.”
“You made the next step clear.”

Real reasons.

Value lives in the small moments they remember.
Not the pitch you rehearsed.
Not the slide you love.
Not the feature you keep naming.

I ask sellers and leaders to do one simple thing.

Call three customers and say:
“I am not selling. I want to learn. Why did you choose us first? Why do you stay?”

Then write every word they say.

Patterns appear.

You start to see the real job you do in their world.
You see where you give safety, not software.
You see where you give clarity, not content.

From there, everything gets sharp.

Positioning.
Messaging.
Sales calls.
Product roadmap.

All change when you sell the reason customers chose you, not the story you tell yourself.

Start with one call today.

P.S. I'm on a journey to create the most useful platform to help sellers and leaders win more revenue in less time. 

If this interests you, check out my profile for more info.

Sales is getting harder.

Buyers are more informed. 
Cycles are longer. 
Reps are burning out.

The gap between top performers and everyone else keeps widening.

Here's what closes that gap: a sales playbook.

Not a static PDF that collects dust. 

A living system that: 
→ Captures your best sales practices 
→ Trains your team to execute them consistently 
→ Guides reps through every deal in real-time

We've spent months rebuilding our program to help you create exactly this.

Want free access? 

Fill out a 5-minute survey and it's yours—a $10,000+ value, on us.

👉 https://lnkd.in/gFm_Kyxy
♻️ Repost this to share with sales leaders who need it.

Chase Dimond

Top Ecommerce Email Marketer & Agency Owner | We’ve sent over 1 billion emails for our clients resulting in $200+ million in email attributable revenue.

I help brands make more money with email marketing.

I’m a Co-Founder of Structured, an ecommerce email marketing agency. Since launching in 2018, our team has helped brands send billions of emails and generate over $200M in email-attributable revenue.

We’re a top agency partner for platforms like Omnisend and Klaviyo.

Shopify featured me as a top email marketing influencer. I’ve also received LinkedIn’s Top Voice Award for Email Marketing, and Favikon has ranked me as the top email marketer across social media.

Some of the brands we’ve worked with include:

Poo~Pourri
Eight Sleep
Health-Ade
Mixtiles
Vessi

If you’re looking to hire an experienced email marketing agency, you can reach me here:

chase@chasedimond.com

——

Outside my agency, I run a number of other fast-growing businesses. I’m fortunate to have over 750,000+ followers and subscribers across my social channels and email newsletter.

I’ve worked with companies including:

LinkedIn
Amazon
TikTok
Gamma
Alibaba
Zapier
ClickUp

I work with a small number of paid sponsors and partners each year.

If you’re interested in exploring a potential fit, please email me with details:

chase@chasedimond.com

Founder

My newsletter is your no BS guide into what's working in email marketing - I'll give you the latest tips + tactics to help you drive more revenue from your email marketing channel. 

Sign up (it's free) here: https://chasedimond.com/chase-email-newsletter

Working with smart people is great.
But it is not enough.

Because intelligence can solve problems.
But humility and kindness build cultures where problems don’t have to exist in the first place.

Here’s why it matters so much 👇

Kind and humble people:

They make collaboration effortless.
You don’t waste energy defending ideas or egos. 
You build together - faster, cleaner, and with more trust.

They create psychological safety.
When people feel respected, they speak up, share bold ideas, 
and admit mistakes early. 
That’s how teams innovate and grow.

They inspire long-term loyalty.
People don’t leave companies - they leave toxic dynamics. 
Working with grounded, genuine teammates keeps great talent around.

 Ways to practice kindness and humility at work:

Listen more than you talk.
You don’t need to have the loudest voice to have the strongest impact. 
Listening builds connection and earns respect.

Give credit - generously.
Acknowledging others’ work doesn’t diminish your own. 
It multiplies the trust and energy in your team.

Keep learning.
The moment you think you’ve “arrived,” you stop growing. 
Stay curious, stay open, and never let success make you unapproachable.

Kind people build strong teams.
Strong teams create big results.

Top Ecommerce Email Marketer | $200M+ Generated via Email

If your job costs you your peace,
it’s too expensive.

You deserve a job that lets you sleep peacefully at night -
not one that keeps you awake questioning your worth, your future, or your sanity.

A healthy career doesn’t rely on:

 ❌ burnout
 ❌ constant anxiety
 ❌ toxic expectations

A healthy career is built on:

 ✔️ clear boundaries
 ✔️ supportive leadership
 ✔️ meaningful work
 ✔️ respect for your time and well-being

Your job should challenge you - not drain you.

It should grow you - not break you.

And it should fit into your life, not become your life.

If your work steals your peace, it’s costing you more than it pays.

Reality:
A small, ordinary action.

LinkedIn:
A “high-impact initiative” with “key learnings” and “next steps.”

Clear communication beats inflated language.
Strong professionals don’t need to oversell normal work.

Say what you did.
Say why it mattered.
Move on.

Clarity builds trust faster than buzzwords.

Image credit: TheSecretAcct on Twitter/X

Funny how your brain has unlimited energy
for worst-case scenarios.

It can write entire disaster scripts at 3 a.m.
With dialogue.
With consequences.
With a soundtrack.

But ask it to imagine things going well
and suddenly it needs evidence, references, and a peer review.

That’s not intuition.
That’s anxiety pretending to be preparation.

You don’t need to stop overthinking.
You just need to stop letting it bully you into pessimism only.

If your mind insists on spiraling,
at least make it spiral in both directions.

Same brain.
Different hypothesis.

Image credit: bywiseword

It’s not about collecting business cards or follower counts.

It’s about building bridges with people who get it - who challenge you, inspire you, and open doors you didn’t know existed.

The right network doesn’t just grow your career - it expands your mindset, your confidence, and your opportunities.

Here are 12 ways to build powerful, authentic connections:

1️⃣ Lead with curiosity. Ask, don’t pitch. People love being seen and heard.

2️⃣ Add value first. Share insights, introductions, or encouragement before asking for anything.

3️⃣ Show up consistently. Comment, engage, and participate where your industry hangs out.

4️⃣ Find your communities. Join professional groups, Slack channels, or niche forums.

5️⃣ Attend events strategically. Go where your next mentor, collaborator, or client might actually be.

6️⃣ Follow up. A short, thoughtful message can turn a conversation into a relationship.

7️⃣ Be generous with your expertise. Give more than you take - it builds reputation fast.

8️⃣ Don’t chase status. The best opportunities often come from peers, not big titles.

9️⃣ Stay authentic. Pretending to be someone you’re not is the fastest way to disconnect.

1️⃣0️⃣ Keep it human. Share stories, not sales pitches.

1️⃣1️⃣ Support others publicly. Celebrate others’ wins - it builds goodwill that lasts.

1️⃣2️⃣ Play the long game. Relationships compound like interest; nurture them with time.

The truth? You’re one conversation away from a completely different path.

Image credit: Tim Stoddart

Small habit.
Big impact.

The way you speak to yourself
every morning
becomes your baseline.

Speak growth.
Speak calm.
Speak possibility.

It adds up.

Image credit: Wordofwise_ on Twitter/X

“Hire the people that…”

Interesting how the list skips:
– constant availability
– performative hustle
– being the loudest voice
– working 24/7 for optics

Great teams grow from maturity, not heroics.
From people who communicate clearly, take ownership, and move in sync.

Ego slows teams down.
Trust speeds them up.
Psychological safety keeps the work moving.

Hire for reliability and collaboration first.
Everything else gets easier after that.

“It wasn’t a waste of time if you learned something.”

That’s easy to agree with in theory.
Harder when the lesson came with lost money, bruised confidence, or a year you won’t get back.

Still - experience has a way of paying later.

It sharpens your instincts.
It changes what you tolerate.
It shortens the gap between seeing a red flag and acting on it.

Not every chapter produces visible wins.
Some exist to quietly upgrade your judgment.

And that upgrade shows up in every decision after.

Nobody talks about this part enough.

You can do it tired.
You can do it frustrated.
You can do it unsure.

You just can’t do it if you quit.

Keep going.


Image credit: Dearme2_ on Twitter/X

Here’s a hard truth most people avoid:

If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not moving forward.

I learned this the slow way.

Early on, I tried to get everything right.
Perfect plan.
Perfect timing.
Perfect execution.

And progress?
Basically stalled.

Things only changed when I gave myself permission to be wrong.

To test ideas that might flop.
To ship work that wasn’t perfect.
To learn out loud instead of waiting in silence.

Mistakes aren’t failure.
They’re feedback.

The people doing the most interesting work
aren’t avoiding mistakes.

They’re just willing to make them faster.

Safe paths feel good.
But they don’t teach much.

Growth always comes with friction.
That’s the price of trying something new.

Image credit: Tomas Gorny

Marketing is great they said…


P.S. If you write emails and you’re looking for inspiration, check out:

inboox.ai

10 years of rejection.

That's how long Squid Game's creator spent pitching his script.

Studio after studio said no.
Too dark. Too violent. Won't work.

Then Netflix took a chance.

28 days later, it became their most-watched show in history.

A decade of "no" turned into a $900M yes.

Most people quit after a few rejections.
They assume the silence means the idea is bad.

But rejection isn't a verdict.
It's just timing.

The right opportunity doesn't always show up first.
Sometimes it shows up tenth. Or hundredth.

If you're getting rejected right now, consider this:

You might not be wrong.
You might just be early.

Keep going.


Image Credit: Amy Sussman/WireImage; Noh Juhan/Netflix

How to survive marketing in 2026.

Open your laptop.
Check Slack.
Three notifications in…

…and you already feel behind.

Sound familiar?

In 2026, “digital marketer” doesn’t mean one role anymore.
It means the entire agency in one tab.

Copywriter.
Strategist.
Videographer.
Social media manager.
Designer.
Editor.
Analyst.

All before lunch.

From experience, the problem isn’t a lack of skill.
It’s the expectation that one person can do everything at once and do it well.

Burnout doesn’t come from hard work.
It comes from an impossible scope.

The marketers who survive aren’t the busiest.
They’re the ones who set boundaries, prioritize ruthlessly, and stop trying to be great at everything every day.

Because marketing isn’t about doing more.
It’s about doing the right things consistently.

Agree?

Most marketers track a ton of metrics.

Very few know which ones actually matter.

Here are 7 worth paying attention to, plus how to improve each one:

(bookmark this)

Our email domains kept getting blacklisted at my agency.

Everyone assumed we were sending too aggressively.

After diving into the data, we found the real issue.

18% bounce rate.
From a "verified" list.

We had bad data.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁:

Deals lost during 2-3 weeks of rebuilding.
Hours spent verifying and cleaning lists.
Teams questioning their skills when it's not their fault.
Buying new domains every month.

We thought this was just how outbound worked.

Then I saw a friend's company sending thousands of emails each week.
Same domains. Month after month.
Strong deliverability maintained.

They were using Prospeo.io's data.

SMTP handshakes verify emails before you send.
BounceBan removes risky addresses automatically.
Weekly updates catch job changes that kill domains.

After testing several providers, Prospeo consistently delivered the cleanest data.

Our domains have been going steady for months now.
Data prep time cut by 80%.
Bounce rates dropped from 18% to under 2%.

Clean data isn't just about deliverability.
It's about keeping your team confident and productive.

What hidden costs is bad data creating at your agency?

Brand partnership • Top Ecommerce Email Marketer | $200M+ Generated via Email

January hits different for ecommerce founders.

Sales slow down. Costs don't.

You're staring at:
- Depleted inventory
- Q1 expenses stacking up
- Ad costs that won't wait
- Cash tied up in last quarter's orders

The revenue will come. But the bills are here now.

This is the ecommerce cash flow trap.

Most founders either:
→ Wait it out and lose momentum
→ Take on debt with rigid terms
→ Give up equity way too early

That's where Wayflyer comes in.

Capital in 24-48 hours. Non-dilutive. Flexible repayment based on your actual sales.

No giving up ownership. No waiting weeks for bank approvals.

You restock. You scale Q1 ads. You keep the momentum going.

$6B+ already deployed to brands like yours.

If your cash flow is playing catch-up, get your offer today: 

https://lnkd.in/gJsgPrrm


#WayflyerSponsor

I used to think GTM complexity was just part of the job.

Multiple tools. Manual handoffs. Workflows that took hours to build and days to fix.

Last week I tested Apollo's AI Assistant on something different: workflow creation.

Instead of clicking through menus and configuring triggers manually, I just described what I wanted in plain English.

The AI built the multi-step workflow in minutes.

What used to require:
→ A GTM engineer
→ Multiple tools stitched together
→ Hours of setup and testing

Now happens in a single conversation.

Same thing with building prospect lists, creating sequences, or analyzing campaign performance. Describe what you need. The AI handles the execution.

Most teams are still doing GTM the old way. Clicking through settings, connecting triggers, testing each step manually.

Meanwhile, the fastest operators are just talking to the AI.

GTM shouldn't require an engineering degree.
It should require clear thinking and the right tools.

Join the beta waitlist:

https://lnkd.in/gW2ZeEUb

#ApolloAIAssistant #ApolloPartner

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The Battle

David Fastuca

Chase Dimond

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The Battle

David Fastuca

Chase Dimond

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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);}David Fastuca's LinkedIn Performance

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