Impact 11

Helping B2B startups accelerate their GTM efforts - specializing in engineering, automations, and AI-assisted GTM acceleration for Series A-B companies, as well as hyper-targeted zero-to-one market and sales channel establishment for Seed and Pre-Seed startups.

Founder

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Certified Expert

ApolloShield Counter-Drone Systems

Founded and led ApolloShield from idea to a profitable world-class drone detection and mitigation company.

Sold critical perimeter security systems to top-tier stadiums, prisons, militaries, critical infrastructure, law enforcement and government agencies worldwide.

Raised $3m from Y Combinator and prominent Silicon Valley funds.

Co-Founder & CEO (YC S16, Profitable)

Viggo Hotel TV

Led development and deployment of a hardware and software smart TV content system in thousands of hotel rooms worldwide.

Chief Architect

iOnRoad

Directed UX, branding, marketing, business development, and media activities for driving > 3m YouTube views and ~1m downloads one year after product launch.

iOnRoad won the CES 2011 Innovation honors award and was acquired by Harman Automotive and later integrated into Samsung

Head of Product Management (acq. by SAMSUNG)

Unit 8200 - Israeli Intelligence Corps

Led a critical part of an Israel Defense Prize winning system; Managed engineering teams and led innovative inter-organizational projects with dozens of participants across four associate units

Researcher, Team Leader, Project Manager

StartupGTM.com | I help b2b founders hack traction | Profitable founder (YC)

Transforming a startup from early to repeatable sales is HARD.

If you’re a B2B founder with early sales, then you've done many things right to win your first customers.

BUT - to raise a round A, your startup will need to have a product that's ready to scale because it can be 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮.

To get repeatable sales - there are four blockers. 
 
You'll need to change each one from "not working" to "working": 
 
1️⃣ Consistently creating a 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 of conversations with customers 
 
2️⃣ Converting these conversations into a 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 of first meetings 
 
3️⃣ Converting these meetings into a 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 of trials 
 
4️⃣ Converting trials into a 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 of deals. 
 
These blockers need to be removed 𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 - i.e. one by one. 
 
💡 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗡𝗢𝗪. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀.

—

I'm a former co-founder and CEO at ApolloShield - a profitable YC startup.

I work hands-on with B2B founders on turning their early sales into repeatable sales through a combination of disciplines:

1️⃣ 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀: Understanding the market, identifying target customers, and analyzing competitors.

2️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴: Defining how the product fits into the market and crafting compelling messages to appeal to the target audience.

3️⃣ 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀: Developing strategies for selling the product, including choosing sales channels and partnerships.

4️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Creating and executing campaigns to build brand awareness and generate leads.

5️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀: Managing discovery and commercial discussions with clients and partners to get their business.

5️⃣ 𝗢𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸: Gathering customer feedback and continuously adapting the product and strategies accordingly.

6️⃣ 𝗜𝗧 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Building support systems to holistically orchestrate and manage your GTM efforts.

7️⃣ 𝗥𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗱 𝗜𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Developing a method to move forward quickly, iterate and get market feedback - doubling what works and tossing what doesn’t.

🚀 Let's connect and accelerate your startup together!

Nimo Shkedy

Excited to announce the second (N)YC GTM+AI Masterclass! 🎉

📍 Same venue: Clay's NYC HQ
🕰️ Same time: Wednesday at 5:30 pm
📆 Date: November 19, in 2 weeks
👥 Same guests: YC founders, alumni, and friends
🎓 More mentors and speakers
💪 More learning & building!

👉 Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/dKXuhw7K

This event will comprise of 2 parts:
1. TED talks + Expert panel
2. Hands-on masterclasses with mentors

Agenda:
• ​5:30-6:00 pm - Snacks, Drinks, Networking
  Music by Yotam Koren 
  
• 6:00-6:45 pm - Expert panel
  Topic: Value vs Fluff in the GTM+AI space
  David Ronen (Anomalo)
  Gal Fontyn (WalkMe)
  Ajinkya Nene (Trellus (YC W22))
  John DiLoreto (Knock2.ai)
  Avishai Sam Bitton (DemandBox)

• ​6:45-7:15 pm - TED talks
  Asaf Raz (Agora):
  AI-Powered GTM: From Hype to Action
  Maya Mandelbaum (Drata):
  Building global, multi-product GTM with AI

• ​7:15-9:00 pm - Hands-on masterclasses:
  ​AI hyper-targeted lists and signals,
  ​AI revenue operations, automations, and agents,
  ​AI outreach & sequences,
  ​AI content & SEO,
  Context aware GTM engines,
  ​+ Vibe-coded apps with the amazing Shira Luk-Zilberman 

Special thanks to previous mentors + speakers, as well as friends who helped & inspired this event: Omer Shkedy Boaz Descalo Nir Sandbank Keren Milman Adir Ben-Yehuda Keenan D. Williams David Pawlan Brittany Levy Aakash Shah Boardy Gil Birnboim 🐰 Shahar Sorek Nir Goldstein Arnon Sobol Augusto Ferreira🌴 David Goecke 

CCd + Mentors and speakers I wish would join our next events: Amos Bar-Joseph Matan Zamft Osnat Lidor Omer Maman Nima Gardideh Matthew Silberman Andreas Wernicke  Tom Granot Karthiga Ratnam Jared Robin  Ofer Hermoni, Ph.D.

B2B GTM | 2x Founder | YC | MBA | Former hacker (yes, for real)

Awesome masterclass this Wednesday at Clay's HQ! 😍

📆 𝗦𝗲𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 (𝗡)𝗬𝗖 𝗚𝗧𝗠+𝗔𝗜 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀:
https://lnkd.in/dPTNjbHD (Wednesday, Jan 21, 5:30pm)

(I'll announce speakers & mentors soon. Let me know if you have experts to nominate!)

👑 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 & 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀: 
• Asaf Raz ​Building and executing an organizational GTM engineering plan
• Maya Mandelbaum ​AI for enabling partnerships + A Hands-On Growth Workshop From Insight to Income
• Avishai Sam Bitton ​AEO mastery
• Shira Luk-Zilberman ​Vibe Coding Apps with Base 44
• Ajinkya Nene ​Building products with AI to compete with giants
• Gal Fontyn ​Org-wide AI project strategies for executives
• John DiLoreto ​Evaluating AI in GTM: Separating Real Revenue Economics Value from Fluff
• David Ronen ​Building context-aware GTM automations
• Randall Bennett ​Expert prompt-writing for agents and chats

💡 𝗔𝘄𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲:
Gil Birnboim Lior Meitar Boaz Descalo Andreas Wernicke Matthew Silberman Omer Maman Nima Gardideh Aakash Shah Adam Alpert Tom Granot Gil Dabah Tom Mes TJ (Tsion) Gonen Amit Yampolsky 🎏 Shoham Eckhaus Gadi Evron 

🤝 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 (𝗡)𝗬𝗖 𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆:
https://lnkd.in/d2Drua36

It took me 7 years to hit $2M a year

Today I understand: I was learning too slowly

Homeland security sales cycles drag on for 12–24 months and many end up closed lost

It was part miracle, part design that we survived long enough to get traction

So now, I pivoted to B2B software and services - what a relief 😎

But even in B2B, here’s how to move faster:

𝟭. 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 >𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁<, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮.
↳ Volume is too low to wait for A/B tests that yield 5% improvement
↳ Five real conversations beat 5000 clicks with 0.1% conversion
↳ You’ll learn more in a week of calls than a month of dashboards & guesswork

𝟮. 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘅𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀.
↳ If deals take months to close, find leading indicators.
↳ Second meetings. Proofs of value.
↳ Those tell you 𝘯𝘰𝘸 if you’re building something people want.

𝟯. 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲, 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘀.
↳ Write down every hypothesis. Record every experiment.
↳ The faster you learn & adapt, the faster you move.
↳ Place bets that can have dramatic outcomes, not single digit improvements.

You don’t grow by doing more of the same.
You grow by learning & adapting faster.

Speed & magnitude of iteration is everything.

Inspired by Eytan Levit & David Katz's podcast episode (from 10 years ago!) about placing big bets + tips from YC, Ron Binder, Gil Dabah, Adir Ben-Yehuda, Erez Moscovich, Tobia De Angelis, Rob Snyder and Logan Gott 

--

P.S: I have space for 2 startups this month, to remove guesswork from their lead gen efforts

Using "PMF sprints" - a method I perfected while working with 30+ seed/A B2B startups

Want to learn the method? Book a meeting from my profile (it's free)

Want to see the best GTM+AI practitioners in NYC show their best work? 👇

Today's amazing mentors:

Asaf Raz on ​​building and executing an organizational GTM engineering plan

Maya Mandelbaum on the path from insight to income: A hands-on growth workshop

Avishai Sam Bitton on ​AEO mastery

Shira Luk-Zilberman on vibe coding apps with Base 44 (CC: Lior Meitar + Ofer Hermoni, Ph.D. @)

Ajinkya Nene on building products with AI to compete with giants (CC: Kaushik Tiwari + Beeri Amiel)

Gal Fontyn ​on org-wide AI project strategies for executives

David Ronen on building context-aware GTM automations

John DiLoreto ​on evaluating AI in GTM: Separating real revenue economic value from fluff

Randall Bennett on expert prompt-writing for agents and chats

---

In case you missed this event -

👉  𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗚𝗧𝗠+𝗔𝗜 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀: https://lnkd.in/dPTNjbHD

and join us on Wednesday, Jan 21, at Clay's office

Speakers & mentors on my wishlist: Jared Robin Amit Yampolsky 🎏 Nima Gardideh Andreas Wernicke Amos Bar-Joseph Matan Zamft Ron Binder Omer Maman Matthew Silberman Karthiga Ratnam 

💡 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀? Let me & them know in the comments :)

Last month, I ran a campaign I was 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 would crush it.

Tight copy. Perfect audience. BUT: No results.

I was baffled. What am I going to do now?

That’s when I realized something many founders miss:
𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱. 𝗜𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆.

And that’s the trap I see so many founders fall into:

We stare at dashboards, trying to decode why one version wins and another flops.

But those numbers seldom tell us what we should do next.

So if you’re stuck in that loop, stop running “yes/no” experiments.
✅ Click / ❌ No Click
✅ Reply / ❌ No Reply

Instead, talk to 5 customers.
Say the same message out loud.
Watch how they react.

You’ll learn more in an hour of conversation than in a month of A/B testing.

This week, an investor in 500+ startups told me 95% of B2B founders fail at GTM.
 
Here's what he sees in the 5% who succeed:
 
𝟭) 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗿-𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗽 𝗜𝗖𝗣
 
Not "CFOs at enterprise companies."
 
CFOs using Stack X, tried Solutions Y and Z (heard about them from Channel Q), failed because of Problems A, B, C.
 
If you can't describe your ICP in one breath with this level of detail, you're guessing.
 
𝟮) 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲
 
Some founders are naturally good at GTM. Others are really well connected.

With B2B buyers already confused by the competition and still having sky-high expectations, GTM is a knife fight. Founders play in hard mode from day one.

Good founders who aren't experienced with knife fights get coaches or expert fighters, or both.

(Note: For proper founder-led sales, founders still need to lead. They keep ownership and accountability, and manage their coaches / experts while getting their own hands dirty too)
  
𝟯) 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀 - 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻
 
They find tricks to get to the right people. They read between the lines in every conversation.
 
They don't pitch. They don't get "happy ears." They don't fall in love with their solution.
 
They're IN the conversation - curious, wanting to help, but staying ready to adapt and open to learn what they got wrong.
 
---

P.S: I learned GTM solo. I made it work. But there was a shorter, better way.

Now, I get help to achieve my goals.

Expensive? Yes. Always works? No. Worth it? Absolutely.

If you're a funded B2B founder and want to talk GTM - book a quick meeting from my profile.

Abbas Somji👋🏽

Helping Founders Scale Fast & Create Outbound That Works | Start-Up Advisor 🚀

I'm the co-founder of The Playbook Agency and started the business as we saw so many start-ups & scale ups making avoidable mistakes when it came to their Go-To-Market. 

I managed to become the Head Of Sales of a start-up when I was just 3 years into my career, and have continued to operate as a Fractional Head Of Sales ever since for multiple businesses.

Challenges we solve:

🟣 Your sales team is wasting time on manual research, poor data & not having enough opportunities in pipeline
🟣 You have inconsistent top of funnel resulting in revenue & pipeline spikes 
🟣 You want to instill AI & automation within your process but don’t know where to start
🟣 You’re doing outbound out of a singular domain which is resulting in landing in spam
🟣 Current data providers have “dirty data” which means high bounce rates, leading to blacklisting
🟣 You want to test new markets, before getting sales teams to allocate resource to it

Co-Founder

We help founders get their GTM right, the first time, without having to hire an expensive sales team.

I always get asked what's Dubai like? 

Well here's a typical Friday for me 👇🏽

Everyone wants to move to Dubai 

But coming to Dubai won't solve all your problems

It might give you a bit more sunshine and security, but the work still has to get done & it won't fundamentally change you 

Your habits will follow you & so if you're anything like me, Dubai is the same as London is the same as Bali - the surroundings just change ✌️

Happy Friday - let's get after it!🫡

Co Founder | I turn GTM chaos into engineered revenue 🛠️

I moved to Dubai in January. Here's what I actually spend
 
No fluff, just the real numbers (In AED & GBP)
 
I've been here for a while now and people always ask me what it actually costs
 
So here's my full monthly breakdown:
 
🏠 Fixed costs (10,102 AED / £2,173)
→ Rent (Downtown Dubai, as central as it gets): 7,500 AED (£1,613) - split with a flatmate
→ Utilities (DEWA + housing fee): 1,000 AED (£215)
→ Internet: 450 AED (£97)
→ Phone (pay as you go): 60 AED (£13)
→ Gym: 512 AED (£110)
→ Cleaning (weekly, split with flatmate): 300 AED (£65)
→ Laundry: 280 AED (£60)
 
🍔 Variable costs (7,485 AED / £1,610)
→ Food & drink: 2,790 AED (£600) - about £20/day averaged out
→ Weekends out: 3,720 AED (£800) - nice meals + entertainment
→ Transport (Limes & taxis): 465 AED (£100)
→ Haircuts: 510 AED (£110) - every 10 days
 
Monthly total: 17,587 AED (£3,783)
 
A few notes:
❌ This doesn't include setup costs (visa, deposits etc.)
❌ I don't have a car. Limes and taxis work fine for me.
🫃🏽I get at least 1 takeaway a day but nearly always use Careem's 50% off section - hot meal for about 40 AED or £8.
You could cut this significantly cooking at home (I'm starting to cook myself as I go Keto now)
❌I don't drink or go to nightclubs etc
You can find cheaper barbers, but my area isn't very cost effective & I do miss my hood barber shops from the UK
 
Is it cheaper than London? Not for me - but I lived in Barking before this, so if you compare like for like area's then it is cheaper 

_________________________

My name is Abbas Somji, I'm the Founder of The Playbook Agency 

I talk all thing GTM, AI & Entrepreneurship 

Follow along if that's what you're into!

Your outbound isn't working
 
And it's probably not because you're bad at sales
 
It's because you're missing one (or all) of these 5 things:
 
After 6 years selling to everyone from corner shops "boss men" to biotech CEOs, I've realised most outbound failures come down to the same systematic gaps
 
Here's what's actually breaking:
 
1️⃣ Your ICP is too vague

"We target Series A companies" tells you nothing about why they'd buy.
"We target Series A SaaS with <5% ad conversion and a new in role marketeer" tells you exactly what pain to hit
 
2️⃣ You're not testing hypotheses

Every message should test an assumption about your buyer's pain
But most people just blast the same message & do not pivot when it goes wrong, they change way too late after they've burned through contacts and wonder why it doesn't work
 
3️⃣ You're selling on the wrong channel

You're cold calling developers who live on Discord
You're sending LinkedIn messages to people who never check it
Go where your buyers actually hang out! When we were targeting coffee shops for a previous SaaS venture, we put the phones down, and walked into businesses!
 
4️⃣ Your data doesn't match your channel

You need mobile data but you're using an email tool. Or vice versa. Wrong data provider = doomed campaign
 
You need to find pockets of data that matter, again using the coffee shop example, they aren't on LinkedIn, but you can scrape Google maps to find their contact info instead
 
5️⃣ You have no infrastructure

Single email domain. No proper calling setup. No way to scale and test fast.
YOU CANNOT run experiments without proper infrastructure
 
I've built 100+ GTM systems using this 5-step framework. It works for SaaS, services, agencies, doesn't matter
 
Sales is an art yes, but it's also a science
____________________
 
Abbas Somji👋🏽 | Founder, The Playbook Agency
 
We solve 1 major problem via AI & Automation: Too many of your reps doing too little selling to too few good prospects (Pipeline death!)
 
Supporting $2.4+ billion in SaaS revenue since 2023

I showed this chart to a VP of Sales last week
 
His response: "This is painfully accurate"
 
Look at what salespeople actually do ⤵️
 
Out of 8 daily tasks, only 2 are actual selling
 
The rest is:
 
• Cold Email + Launching Sequences
• LinkedIn Messaging
• Building lists
• Double checking to see if it's been worked on
• Tiering prospects & segmenting them
• Booking meetings
• CRM Admin
• Receiving training
• Getting their email unblocked after sending too many emails
 
No wonder hitting quota feels impossible
 
Your reps are spending 75% of their time on tasks that don't require a human anymore.
 
Here's what I told him:
 
"6/10 of these tasks can be automated using Clay & will outperform your rep doing it manually.
 
Clay + AI + the right workflows = 20 hours/week back per rep"
 
His response: "That's impossible"
 
So I showed him our exact workflow
 
🟣 Mapping out our TAM with live intent signals
🟣 Tiering that TAM & segmenting based on vertical / persona
🟣 Personalising to the pain using AI + human writing
🟣 Sending through rock solid infrastructure
🟣 Handing off the best leads to our fractional BDR to call
 
It's not impossible
 
It's just that most sales leaders don't know these systems exist or just don't trust them yet because of the amount of tools being shoved down everyone's throats right now
 
So sales leaders - what are you doing to ensure your reps time on the phones increases come Q1?
 
P.S. If this chart made you wince, we should talk.

Clay

It's that time of year 📊

I analysed our 50 best-performing email campaigns from 2025...

They all had one thing in common.

It wasn't the persona ❌
It wasn't the subject lines ❌
It wasn't (at times) even the offer ❌

It was WHO we were reaching out to ✅

The campaigns that performed best all targeted people actively following our clients' competitors on LinkedIn

Think about it:

These aren't cold leads pulled from some database
They're people who've already raised their hand and said "I care about this space." 🙋‍♂️

→ They're monitoring the competition 
→ They're evaluating alternatives 
→ They're staying informed 
→ They're problem AND solution aware

So we tried every single "tool" on the market for this....but response times sucked, people wouldn't deliver on time and the contact data was poor 📉

So we built something to make this repeatable

Our new LinkedIn Follower Finder pulls audiences directly from competitor pages - the exact people showing active interest in your category

Plus, we scan against your ICP requirements
Meaning instead of paying for 100,000 contacts (of which only 5,000 are relevant), we find those 5,000 from the start
✅ Scored 
✅ Qualified
✅ Verified data 
✅ Additional buying signals

This is what we mean by demand engineering - finding people who are already in the market, not trying to create demand from scratch

For our clients running outbound, this has become the highest-converting data source we use

If you're still relying on legacy databases to build your lists, you're missing the people who are actually paying attention 👀

Want to see who's following your competitors? Drop me a message. 
___________________

I'm Abbas Somji, Founder of The Playbook Agency. We turn TAM into pipeline through demand engineering - building GTM automation systems that find high-intent buyers, not just contacts.

Competitor Followers - How to Find Them 

I just reverse-engineered how ColdIQ scaled to $6M ARR
 
Here's the dirty secret most outbound businesses won't tell you 👇🏽
 
That's not just agencies, it's also outbound tools you know and love
 
Most revenue doesn't come from outbound anymore
 
It comes from content-led systems that turn LinkedIn engagement into booked calls
 
The breakdown:
 
→ Build context engine (understand your market) & uncover bleeding neck problems
→ Connect with Tier 1 ICP prospects using LinkedIn tools
→ Create content using human + AI methods around bleeding neck problems
→ Qualify engaged audience through Clay
→ Create community & goodwill through free value (Penn Frank kills it with the ebooks)
→ Route hot leads to human touch points
 
We use this exact system ourselves - 3 of our top 5 clients came through content we posted
 
The game has changed - buyers are 80% through their decision before they even speak to you
 
Are you going to wait for your competitors to educate your buyers? or do you want them to come to you first?
 
Build the system or get left behind
 
_____________________
 
P.S ColdIQ have been extremely open on their methodologies so do check out their content it's top tier
 
P.P.S I'm taking on 5 businesses in January to take on what I call the Content→Warmbound Revenue system, where I'll build the exact set up that me and all the other businesses who are growing fast today, are utilising
 
Let me know if it's worth a conversation in the DM's ✌️

ColdIQ

Surrounded by about $2M of bonzai tree's right now 

I'm currently sat in a Japanese coffee shop in Dubai 

Every corner has a story - hand carved walls

Staff's passions for chocolate making is now a menu item

The coffee mugs are made by hand and perfectly imperfect 

Founders love for Anime is peppered across the projectors, & his personal collection of items is spread in meeting rooms

Every single thing has been thought of and selected carefully, from the coffee to the couches 

Down to the figurines in the toilets 🤯

I spoke to the founder for a few minutes

You can see it in his eyes - this place isn't a business to him, it's an extension of who he is 

It reminded me of the difference between old buildings and modern ones

Old buildings have soul

They were built by people who cared about the craft itself, not just finishing on time and under budget

You walk into a 100-year-old structure and feel the weight of decisions made by someone who knew their work would outlast them

Modern buildings? Boring bits of glass slapped together for maximum profit in the shortest time 

After I read Ikigai, and also got a little obsessed w Japanese watch making (I bought a 55 year old Grand Seiko a few months back)

I've started to fall in love with their approach & principles - here's 3 I learned: 

1️⃣ Ikigai (生き甲斐) means "reason for being" - the intersection of what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for

2️⃣ Kodawari (こだわり) - uncompromising attention to detail and commitment to your craft. It's obsessing over every element, not because it's rational, but because anything less would feel wrong

3️⃣ Shokunin - the craftsman's spirit 

A shokunin doesn't just work for money - their craft is an extension of themselves

They know their work will outlast them, so they pour their soul into it.. 

That founder? He's a shokunin

The divide exists everywhere:

Are you building something crap, soul-less and forgettable?

Or are you building something tastefully put together, thoughtful with love 

In a world full of AI - I believe this is the moat 

AI will never have passion, it'll never create the imperfect perfect 

How do your customers feel, are they in love with your service or product? 

Or is it just a transaction to them? 

Sunday thoughts ✌🏽

Most sales leaders have given up on cold email entirely
 
Meanwhile, we just booked 17 meetings last month using it
 
Here's how (my exact method no gate keeping)
 
Revenue leaders are sick of SDRs being "email monkeys."
 
Putting leads into a sequence isn't sales - it's laziness that worked for a while ﻿🥱
 
Some try solving this by buying inboxes - but they burn them as fast as they buy them.
 
My take: Sales people should be on phones. Emails should be handled by experts.
 
This landed us meetings with execs at Binance, Nvidia, HSBC, Casio & 100's more:
 
Step 1️⃣: Infrastructure Design
 
Calculate exact inbox needs, then buy from multiple providers (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, different registrars)

Our go-to's: InboxKit, Zapmail & Hypertide.

The 2x Rule: Buy 2x the domains needed. While Set A is active, Set B warms for 45 days.
 
Step 2️⃣: The 30-Day Warmup
 
Every inbox gets 30 days before touching prospects. 10-25 warmup emails daily with 30-60% reply targets.
 
Week 1-2: Pure warmup
Week 3-4: 10 cold emails daily
Week 5-6: 15-20 cold emails daily
After 45 days: Full campaign
 
Step 3️⃣: Lead List Intelligence
 
We run lists through Clay to score into three tiers:
• Tier 1 (Top 20%): Perfect ICP matches
• Tier 2 (Middle 60%): Good fits
• Tier 3 (Bottom 20%): Difficult providers
 
Then analyze MX records. Gmail inboxes go to the top. Enterprise security (Barracuda, Proofpoint, Mimecast) goes to the bottom.
 
Your domain builds reputation as it sends. First 100 sends should hit the easiest inboxes, not the hardest.
 
Step 4️⃣: Verification
 
Every lead runs through TrueInbox or Millionverifier. Target: <2% bounce rate.

One bad list burns a 45-day warmed domain. Treat verification like domain insurance.
 
Step 5️⃣: Copy That Converts
 
We reverse-engineer a perfect one-to-one email, then use Clay to create that personalization at scale.

The result? Email that sounds individually written, because the foundation was.
 
The math most sales leaders miss:
 
▸ Bad infrastructure + great copy = burned domains
▸ Great infrastructure + bad copy = fixable with A/B testing
▸ Bad infrastructure + bad copy = why you gave up
 
Cold email works if you know what you're doing.
 
 
______
Struggling to get replies? We'll build you the system in 90 days - so you own it forever. DM me.

I'm the founder of The Playbook Agency - GTM operations partner for SaaS brands from Seed to Pre-IPO

Find, contact & own your TAM with us

The Playbook Agency

I built my first "app" in 90 mins this weekend

It's really simple, it's a time buyback tracker based on Dan Martell's buy back your time book (Dan's EA if you're reading this make sure he see's it 😉) 

It takes your yearly salary, breaks it down into an hourly rate & then tells you what value of tasks you should be outsourcing 

You then track your activities in 15 min intervals for 1-2 days, to truly factory reset your life

You can then understand where you are wasting time, make changes & get back to grafting 

E.g Client Proposals are high revenue generating, low enjoyment - so I should delegate this task using the 4 C's

- Capital
- Collaboration (Team or partners)
- Code (AI, Tools etc)
- Content (SOP's, Recordings, Trainings)

In this example I set a figure of $100,000 as income just as an easy figure to work with, you can see any tasks that I'm doing that are worth around $12 I can confidently outsource 

If anyone wants to use it feel free just ping me and I'll send you the link

AI is getting incredible 

I recently got rid of my book keeper as Claude makes no mistakes in tagging my expenses properly & actually did my corporate tax filings in Dubai using it

What a world we live in ✌️

Hope everyone is getting after it - Monday's creeping upon us!

📘 Bestselling Author (Buy Back Your Time) 🚀 Building AI startups @Martell Ventures ⚙️ 3x Software Exits • $100M+ HoldCo 💬 DM "COACH" if you're looking to scale

This is how you actually get a VP's attention in 3 ways: 

I just had coffee with Zubair Rana VP of Sales at Omtera

He moved to Dubai recently

Updated his LinkedIn profile... got absolutely bombarded on LI & email more than ever before 

The best way to close & open more deals is to stop trying to close & open more deals.. 

Here's what I mean: 

This is what he got hit with: 

❌ "Can I have 15 minutes?"
❌ "Quick call to discuss..." 
❌ "Interested in learning about..."
❌ "I can guarantee 10-20 appointments for Omtera.." 

Everyone wants to TAKE. Nobody wants to GIVE.

Here's what he said:

"If someone had sent me something actually useful for new VP setting up in the UAE before asking for time, I would've booked a call."

Here's what you need to do: 

1️⃣ Make it their world 

Example: "Zubair, everyone in Dubai loves to meet for coffee, but they rarely turn to pipeline - worked with another new to region VP on....."

2️⃣ Make it free 

Example: "I actually put together a 90 day plan for new VP's in Dubai, can I ping it over it contains...."

3️⃣ Do their homework 

Example: "I can build you a list of 25 companies that are re-evaluating monday()com whilst you get set up, worth pining over?"

This is what we're seeing across the board:
→ The companies that educate first, sell later 
→ The reps that share insights before booking meetings 
→ The agencies that build playbooks before pitching

They're closing at 3-4x the rate of traditional outbound

Why?

Because goodwill compounds

When you give value upfront:
🟣 You demonstrate expertise (not claim it)
🟣 You build trust (not demand it)
🟣 You create reciprocity (not resentment)

The fastest way to get a meeting is to deserve one

Stop optimising for opens and clicks

Start optimising for goodwill

I'm sharing these insights and more in Sales of Dubai, our free community for sales leaders in the region looking to level up with other revenue leaders 

Ping me if you want an invite or sign up via the site! 

____________

I'm Abbas, the co founder of The Playbook Agency - I talk about GTM, AI & Entrepreneurship 

Supporting SaaS brands with finding, contacting & owning their TAM

VP of Sales at Omtera

Omtera

Sales of Dubai

Them: So what do you do? 

Me: Own a GTM engineering agency, we automate inbound and outbound sales using AI & automation 

Them: What 

Me:

19 acquisitions in a 5 year period
 
Not everyone get's front row seats to transactions like that
 
Just spoke with Stephen Howard, we talked all things Channel Sales and M&A, here's 5 things I picked up:
 
1️⃣ Not every target is a whale

Some were one or two person shops. Small businesses with great customers and negotiated leases ready to transfer.
 
2️⃣ The deal is the easy part
 
It's a series of steps similar to purchasing a house, if you can handle a home purchase, you can handle an acquisition

The real work? Customer communication. Making sure they see it as a net positive, not just two people getting richer!
 
3️⃣ You inherit more than revenue

Employees. Leases. Customer relationships. Market access.
All without starting from zero.
 
4️⃣ Channel sales unlocks everything

This one surprised me, how partnerships actually work behind the scenes and the 80/20 rule of channel sales.
 
What was really cool is he saw it all at 27 (I'm 28 now) and he used that experience to negotiate his first business purchases too!
 
Full episode is coming, subscribe so you don't miss it - just search my name on YouTube (Abbas SomjI)
 
What's the first business you'd acquire if you could? 👇
 
__________________________
 
I'm Abbas Somji👋🏽 Somji, I talk all things GTM, AI & Entrepreneurship - follow along if that's what you're into!

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