Vijaya Vardhan Panthagani

PowerSchool

Senior Director - Technical Support

Technical Support Site Leader for a 200+ team of technical support staff. Direct span of 3 senior managers and 2 Associate Directors. Indirect span of 15 managers. 

Accountable for technical support delivery, quality and customer experience for NA, EMEA and APAC regions from Bangalore site. Responsible for developing and growing India COE in partnership with India Site Leadership Team.

Director - Technical Support

SaaS Labs

As the head of our global customer support operation, I oversee a team of 40 engineers, 3 team leaders, and 2 managers responsible for customer support across the globe.

EFFICIENCY: 
• Implemented automated conversation snoozing, resulting in a 30% reduction in first response time and a 40% improvement in subsequent response times.
• Introduced response automation through an AI bot (FIN), with AI participating in 30% of chat conversations and achieving a 20% answer resolution rate.
• Streamlined our training plan, reducing the go-live time by 50% through live training sessions and a phased approach to handling initial customer chats.

SERVICE GROWTH:
• Introduced 4 support offerings aligned with our pricing packages, spanning both chat and email channels
• Implemented weekend US shift support for 10 DLC returning and new customers, as well as our priority customers.

SERVICE ENHANCEMENT:
• Significantly improved the refund and cancellation flow, resulting in a more than 50% reduction in refund approval time.
• Enhanced the SDR process, achieving a 30% reduction in response times for 70% of our lead volume.
• Improved help articles, leading to a 23% case deflection and a subsequent improvement in support capacity.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE:
• Expedited customer issue, feature, and bug prioritization by 30% through a monthly Voice of Customer (VOC) report shared with the global leadership team.
• Developed and executed a Customer Support and Customer Success handoff process, leading to a 30% improvement in ticket response times and positively impacting customer retention.

PEOPLE GROWTH:
• Implemented a consistent performance and promotion criteria in partnership with the HR team, mitigating the perception of unfairness and appropriately rewarding top performers.
• Invested in technical upskilling of L1 engineers and cultivated a 6-member L2 team through a dedicated technical trainer and a 3-member lean QA team.

Director - Customer Support

Atlassian

Responsible for technical support delivery, escalation management, customer experience for our Select and Priority customers. Operations and people growth for a 14 member team of senior technical support engineers supporting our Confluence suite of products.  

Over the last 2 years, while being 100% remote,

•	Built trust with my team through regular team bonding, right feedback, removing roadblocks and being an enabler.

•	Drove team success in technical specialization moving the needle from 10% to 70% while onboarding 5 new hires in the last 2 quarters

•	Stabilized the Confluence Select team across 
  - Customer orientation (improved NPS & CSAT by 27%)
	- Internal process/tools adoption (improved by 36%)

•	Leading the hiring effort for FY22 (Jul - Jun 2022) and achieved 100% senior engineer hire calls over the last 3 quarters 
 - Enabled trust and collaboration between a 6 member Talent Acquisition team, 9 peers, 4 senior management execs and 20+ senior tech interviewers  across BLR and Amsterdam
 - Defined strategy and execution. Solved for volume forecast, operational code red situation and a sub-optimal candidate pipeline

•	Leading the weekend staffing planning and execution for EMEA region during FY21 AND FY22
 - Enabled trust and collaboration between 30 senior support engineers, 4 peers and 2 senior management execs across BLR and Amsterdam
 - Defined strategy and execution. Solved for for volume forecast, regional holidays, technology upskilling and weekend compensation policies across BLR and Amsterdam.

Enterprise Support Manager

Citrix

Responsible for technical support delivery, critical escalation management and customer experience for our Priority and Priority Plus customer program. Operations and people management of a 15 member team of senior technical specialists supporting our Virtual Apps Desktops and Citrix Cloud suite of products. 

Actively engaged in support improvement programs with global stakeholders (TRMs, Account managers and Customer Success Managers) to improve our priority customer experience:

•	Reduced Average speed of answer on the call queues by 60%
•	Cross-skilled 80% of the engineers on 70% of VAD products and 100% of Cloud technologies
•	Expanded the team by 25% to accommodate the tech support for growing priority customer base @ 20% Q-on-Q
•	Executed a Rewards & Recognition program to improve priority engineer experience and retention

Senior Manager, Priority Support Program - Virtual Apps and Desktops

Responsible for technical support delivery, escalation management and people management of a 15 member senior technical specialist team for our Virtual Apps and Desktops products.  Maintained a superior customer experience with an NPS >=75.

Technical Support Manager III

Responsible for technical support delivery, operations and people management  of an 18 member team of technical experts supporting the XenServer suite of products at Citrix. Additionally, I spearheaded the below initiatives as part of my role:

•	Net Promoter Score improvement initiative which resulted in NPS moving up from 60 to 65 within 6 months.
•	Advanced Customer handling skills interventions that reduced voice-based customer escalations by 40%

Technical Support Manager II (XenServer)

Talisma

Transforming Customer Experience to over 300 Higher Education Enterprise Customers globally, in the current role as off-shore program manager of a cost center. Leadership role in scaling up release management program to 24x7. Revenue generated from the off-shore cost center - US $ 200,000 per year. Additionally, built and managing a 24x7 technical support team, to cater to Middle East and Africa geographies.

Senior Technical Support Manager - Release Management

In this role, I managed release management delivery to 300 premier US customers across all US timezones with a team of 12 technical experts.I developed skill-gap analysis for all resources and charted a proactive technical training program in-line with new technologies in the future product versions – reduced customer escalations by 50% post new product version releases.

Technical Support Manager - Release Management

In this program, I managed a profit center having 16 premium customers having one technical Talisma on-site support consultant/expert onsite, per customer, pan India.  All the remote on-site support experts were full -time employees of Talisma reporting to me. The size of the business was INR 2 crores per year. I was responsible for customer contract renewal, annually. I also managed AMC renewals of Bangalore region customers having standard support contracts, as an additional responsibility. Achieved 100% AMC renewals. Used innovative cost savings techniques to achieve 50% profit margin.

Technical Support Manager - Expert Services

Managing Customer Experience to over 100 Talisma CRM Customers in APAC & Europe region. Responsible for 24x7 product support delivery with a team of 15 technical support experts.Additionally, planned and managed delivery of two Talisma CRM upgrade projects & one server migration project with existing resources. Overall, revenue to company was INR 10 lakhs.

Technical Support Manager - Product Support

I was the Technical Escalation SPOC for a profit center (Expert Services) having around 16 premium customers across India. Quarterly travel to customer locations to review resource/system performance with customer IT/BU heads.I also assisted with finalizing Expert Services annual support contracts for existing and new customers. Additionally, I anticipated and converted a customer’s reporting business requirement into an SOW worth USD $ 10,000 and managed delivery with an existing resource – zero additional cost to company.

Technical Lead - Expert Services

Managed a USD $30,000 SQL Server reporting services project for a marquee customer of Campus Management - Career Ed Corporation, Chicago, IL. I traveled to customer location in US for requirement gathering and project planning for 4 weeks. In a short period of 2 weeks, I formed and trained a 3 member off-shore team (including myself) to meet customer's business requirements.

Technical Lead - Reporting Services

I led a team of support escalation engineers to provide solutions for high priority product bugs and Support escalations via the Sustain Engineering Program. I influenced customer oriented decisions by liaising between Support and Development as a customer advocate.

Technical Lead - Sustain Engineering

I provided Premier Application Support and was SPOC (Single Point of Contact) for Talisma CRM implementation at Microsoft. I managed a complex Talisma application installation of 10 database servers (SQL cluster), 6 IIS servers (cluster), 4 Application servers (cluster) and 20 Windows 2003 terminal servers. Provided technical mentoring and process-orientation for a team of 5 support engineers based out of Bangalore, India.

Senior Technical Support Engineer

My job was to troubleshoot and resolve Talisma product technical support cases and ensuring high customer satisfaction rates. I also did process-orientation and technical mentoring for L1 support engineers.

Technical Support Engineer

My job was to write and execute test cases for the assigned modules in the Talisma product. I was the Feature Owner for Talisma CRM Sales Module and Offline Client. I researched on the Higher Education vertical and submitted a case study on implementing Talisma CRM in a University based setup.

Software Test Engineer

National Informatics Center

This was my first internship-cum-job straight out of college. First experience with a real time programming language and databases. Developed & supported a module in VB 6.0 and Oracle 8i as part of the Land Records Management Information System maintained by the Govt of AP. The cool thing about this project was I used language API's to be able to show the front end UI for my module in TELUGU (local language).

Software Engineer

I help managers demolish self doubt, get clarity and become promotable | Transformational Leadership Coach | Technical Support Leader

Over the last 20 years, I've built and scaled technical support teams ranging from 10 to 200+ staff across both Fortune 500 companies and startups. My speciality lies in setting vision and following it up with ruthless execution to achieve people and business outcomes. I prioritize progress over perfection and problem solving over innovation. I believe perfection and innovation are achieved through relentless focus on moving forward.

Director of Customer Support

Busy building the best customer service team on the planet. Hit me up if you are passionate about elevating customer experience through employee experience. I promise you won't regret the time spent :-)

The Buyer Psychologist | Sell more using science (not guru B.S.) | 63,000+ marketing geeks read my free newsletter

You wanna understand why customers *really* buy, right? I can help.

Here's the skinny: I built an audience of 280,000 smart people and grew my businesses from $0 to 7-figures. And I did it without a big team or a financial safety net (and as a new mom). 

How? 

By learning buyer psychology.

When you figure out what makes people tick, click, and buy... it’s easier to:

→ Sell more stuff
→ Attract better customers
→ Make more money, more predictably
→ Look like a genius to your clients or team

I don't peddle "hacks" or "quick tricks". And I won't promise you can 10X your growth in 30 days while working 10 hours a week from the beach. (We both know that's B.S.)

But if you're ready to stop guessing and start growing...

Here's how I can help:

________

1. Join 63,000 smart people who get my weekly newsletter

Why We Buy 🧠 is the free buyer psychology newsletter. Forbes says it's one of the "top marketing newsletters"

Subscribe today for $0 (and get a surprise gift)

https://learnwhywebuy.com/wwbnews/

________

2. Uncover the "ouchy" problems buyers will pay to solve—in just 4 minutes

My AI-powered Ouchy Pain Finder bot helps you uncover the deeper, “ouchier” pains your buyers are struggling with so you can craft copy that converts.

Get the bot free:

https://learnwhywebuy.com/ouchy

________

3. Craft copy that converts using 26.5 science-backed techniques 

Wallet-Opening Words is the conversion copywriting playbook for busy people. Ditch bloated courses and learn how to make tiny copy tweaks that drive BIG sales.

Write smarter copy that converts:

https://learnwhywebuy.com/wow

________

4. Get your business in front of 280,000 smart marketing geeks

I work with a select few brands for win-win-win partnerships across my newsletter (63,000 readers), LinkedIn (87,000 followers), and X (137,000 followers).

Want more info? 

Apply here: https://learnwhywebuy.com/advertise


________

Are you still here?

Let's connect ❤️

Katelyn Bourgoin 🧠

I’ve started calling out AI comments on my posts. Not because I want to embarrass the commenter…

But because I want to save them from scorching their reputation with people they clearly want to connect with. 

Look, the gurus lied. 

(About a lot of stuff, but we’ll focus on one thing in particular now)

They told people to “spend hours commenting.”

But that’s not realistic—unlike full-time creators, most people can’t hangout on LinkedIn all day. They’ve got a business to run. 

And while using an AI tool or outsouring commenting to a VA seems like a smart move, it won’t get you clients. 

You’ll likely just attract other people who are also trying to “hack the algorithm”.

Because guess what? The people getting spammed with AI comments—we can tell they’re AI comments. 

(Yes, even the ones you think are too clever to detect. We know.)

Stop it. 

Having a large following will feed your ego. But it won’t feed your family. 

Agreed?

I’m reading this while waiting for a train (I’m going on my first non-work girls weekend in 6+ years!)

It’s Jonathan Goodman new book, Unhinged Habits, and there’s a simple promise on the inside cover:

“Build your rich life by mastering the art of strategic subtraction.”

And honestly? This is exactly the guidance I need in my life right now.

I’m exploring making a major change in my business. And that comes with *all the feels*

Exciting.
Scary.
Doubt.

I’m considering selling Why We Buy and going all in on Unignorable. That means giving up over $600k of fairly consistent annual revenue Why We Buy generates just from newsletter sponsors and evergreen digital product sales.

Sure, I could keep doing both. But I don’t want to. I’ve tried and it’s left me feeling scattered.

→ I want to be known for ONE thing
→ Focus on delivering ONE outcome
→ Build ONE great core product

It’s a strategic sacrifice. 

Which means I’ve found Jon’s book at the perfect time.

If you’re at a crossroads too and looking to make a change… have you considered doing… less?

undefined undefined

Heyyy!

Here's the link to join the PAINKILLER waitlist and get access to your new bestie, Sparky, the Ouchy Pain Finder bot: https://www.customercamp.co/painkiller-waitlist

This message is automated but if you reply with a question I'll answer it

Have a brainy day!

It’s my 41st birthday. Maybe it looks like I’ve got my shit together but…

Nope. I f*ck up. All the time.

And after 15 years of entrepreneurship—and more than my share of failures and wins—I’ve learned a few hard lessons:

__
Lesson 1: Do less. Better.

The common wisdom is to diversify. Build multiple revenue streams. Do more.

That B.S. has always gotten me into trouble.

Stop chasing every new project—it’s not just stealing your time, it’s stealing your chance of success.

The people pushing “do everything” and “be everywhere”?

They have 30-person teams (or get paid to sell you that advice).

When something’s working, don’t diversify. 

Double-down.

__
Lesson 2: Forget trend-chasing. Focus on what doesn’t change.

Jeff Bezos built Amazon on a simple truth: People will always want lower prices, faster delivery, and better selection.

That won’t change.

The same triggers that made people buy 100 years ago work today.

While everyone chases trends, bet on human nature:

👉 Social proof? Still works.
👉 Status seeking? Still drives actions.
👉 The desire to belong? Timeless.

Platforms change. Tools evolve. Human psychology?

That’s your constant.

__
Lesson 3: The best products don’t win—the products with the best messaging do

I’ve watched brilliant products fail while mediocre ones sell like hot-cakes.

It’s rarely about product quality. It’s the story.

Your customers aren’t endlessly comparing features.

They’re asking: “Do I trust this? Do I get this? Do I want to be part of this?”

Master your message to own your market.

|||
This next lesson is uncomfortable… but it’s so f*cking true.
|||

__
Lesson 4: The *messenger* matters MORE than the message

Who says something matters more than what is being said.

You’ve seen this play out hundreds of times…

The same pitch, delivered by different people, gets wildly different results.

We like to think we judge ideas on merit. We don’t. We judge them based on:

👉 Who’s sharing them
👉 How much we trust them
👉 Whether we want to be like them

A trusted creator can launch a simple product and make millions, while an unknown genius struggles to get noticed.

It’s not fair. But it’s reality.

So how do you become someone worth listening to?

Don’t just share ideas. Own one.

One clear, contrarian idea that people associate with you. That’s what makes the difference.

—
Have you learned any of these the hard way too? And other lessons ring true?

P.S. this is what happens when your 4 year old gets to carry the birthday cake. 

The lesson? Floor cake is still tasty.

No alternative text description for this image

This is my friend Sarah. 8 years ago when we took this, my startup had gone bankrupt. I told her a secret I’d never shared…

The secret? I was relieved.

Building that VC-backed startup, I’d realized I didn’t actually want to run that type of business. 

I’d seen what “success” looked like. It was a massive company with a huge team. Just thinking about it all felt suffocating.

Maybe I’d self-sabotaged. I don’t know.

Fast forward to last week...

I had a call with Sarah Hart ✤ . (She’s working on my visual brand for Unignorable 2.0!!!!)

And during that call, I revealed another secret—something I’d never said out loud before.

Something I’m embarrassed to admit.

The truth?

I’ve been avoiding video and speaking opportunities for years.

I have plenty to say. 
That’s not the problem.

I just don’t feel like “me” these days.

I’ve gained weight. I look tired.

I feel old compared to the 20-somethings lighting up my feed.

Somewhere between startup grind → bankruptcy → pandemic → baby → husband breaking his neck → moving across the country...

I got... frumpy.

I know social media rewards beauty.
It’s basic human psychology.

I also know that avoiding video and speaking opportunities for such a vain and silly reason will hurt my business.

Now... if one of my smart, talented friends confessed something similar to me?

I’d tell them they were being ridiculous.

I’d kindly yet firmly tell them they DESERVE to show up. The world NEEDS to hear that special message that only they can share.

And yet here I am. Hiding.

Weird, right?

Our logical brain can know something’s technical true, but that inner critic still sabotages us.

If you feel this way—especially the women reading this—you’re not alone.

Yes, do the work to get back to feeling like yourself again.

But in the meantime, show up anyway.

That’s what I plan to do.

Study human behavior (not algorithms)

Platforms change. 
Tactics get copied. 
Stuff that worked stops working.

But basic human psychology? That shifts at glacial speed.

When you understand the timeless principles of attention and trust, algorithm updates become irrelevant.

You'll always know how to adapt and win.

Deal?

How to build a “successful” biz in 2026.

4 easy steps:

—
1) Wake up early

The early bird gets the worm. You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish before 8am while the rest of the world is still sleeping.

—
2) Create something valuable

Solve a real problem for real people. If you help others win, you’ll win too.

—
3) Have a massive chip on your shoulder

Get bullied as a kid. Mercilessly.

Grow up poor with a single mom who’s constantly stressed about money and on the edge of a breakdown. Pack a bag in the middle of the night and escape to a women’s shelter to hide from her psycho ex-husband.

Have your heart shattered by your first love in a way that takes years to process.

Trust no one.

Develop a nervous system that’s constantly in fight or flight.

Drown it in alcohol and drugs for a while.

Then discover a more socially acceptable addiction: work.

Build a branding agency...

Then a restaurant consulting business.

Land clients like Target and Holiday Inn. Sell the restaurant consulting business. Decide that’s not enough.

Bootstrap a tech startup. Funnel every dollar you make in your agency back into your startup. Stop taking a paycheck. Lie awake at 3am running numbers that never work. Keep going anyway.

Get featured in Forbes and Inc Magazine for building “The next LinkedIn for women.”

Run out of money.
Watch it all collapse.
Go bankrupt.

And somehow... the chip gets bigger.

Build another business. Cross $1M in revenue. Hit 100k followers. Then 200k.

People start clapping. Magazine features. Podcast invitations.

Think you’ll finally feel different.

You don’t.

The goalposts keep moving when you’re running away from something instead of toward it.

Then you become a mom. You hold your baby for the first time and feel something shift inside you.

All those numbers, all those milestones, all that proving—none of it mattered the way you thought it would.

Start therapy. Unpack why you’ve been running so hard for so long. Begin to heal.

Now you build differently. Not to prove anything to the world. But because you’re on a mission to help others make a bigger impact. 

You stop chasing what you think you’re supposed to want... and do the work to figure out what you actually want.

—
4) Build an audience
(It really is worth it)

—
Do you have a chip on your shoulder too? Use it as fuel. But don’t let it run you ragged. Remember, you get to decide what a “successful” business looks like for *you*

Did you spend weeks or months building something no one wants?

Congrats 👏

This is a rite of passage for every successful entrepreneur.

Even smart people need to get kicked in the teeth by the market before you realize how important it is to talk to customers. 

It’s not about asking them what you should build. 

They usually dont know. 

But you need to dig into their problems so you can build solutions they actually want to buy.

When you solve bigger problems, you earn bigger paydays. 

Ya feel me?

ChatGPT says I'm the #1 buyer psychology expert on LinkedIn. But I cheated...

No, I don't know some voodoo magic for ranking in ChatGPT. My "hack" is years in the making.

Honestly? It's probably the best thing I did in my business. It made everything else easier.

Here's the backstory...

When I started my Why We Buy newsletter in 2020, I had a decision to make:

How would I cateogorize it?

Technically it was about "behavioural economics"—using cognitive biases and heuristics in marketing.

Sounds science-y, right? Yeah, that was the problem.

My ideal readers weren't academics. They were marketers and founders building online businesses.

Now I could have used a sexier term: “consumer psychology”. 

But my target readers mostly ran B2B businesses. They didn't sell "consumer" products. They sold services and software.

So I took a strategic leap. I created the world's first "buyer psychology" newsletter. No other person owned that specific category, so I:

→ named it 
→ framed it
→ claimed it

This brings me to my "hack"...

If you want to be known for something specific, you can literally choose to name that thing (eg. think “boring businesses” or Storybrand). 

But making it spread isn't just about choosing the right words.

You must attach meaning to those words (aka. frame it).

The easiest way to do that is by starting with a problem your audience already feels.

In my case, that problem was chronic overwhelm. Marketers are exhausted by constant change—always chasing, never catching up. But human behavior doesn't change. It's a steady anchor in the raging sea.

So I crafted a simple mantra: Marketing changes fast. People don't. Learn buyer psychology.

I framed the problem (ie. speed of change) and offered a distinctive solution (ie. buyer psychology.)

Then to claim it? I just spread that idea everywhere. It became the dominant narrative underpinning all my content.

Not once. Not twice. But consistently across 100s of posts... for... years.

Finding my first ownable idea changed my business. It can change yours too.

So if you want to be seen as an authority in your space (and get paid like one), I've got a new mantra for you:

Don't just share ideas.
Own one.

That's the best "hack" there is.

--

P.S. Claiming a new category isn't the only type of ownable idea. It's actually one of six (and probably the hardest to pull off).

I'm breaking down all six in my new UNIGNORABLE newsletter. First issue drops next week.

Drop a 🧠 if you want in.

Most content advice only works for wannabe influencers. If you need leads—not just likes—try this instead:

—
I’ve helped 1,800+ entrepreneurs build personal brands. Many became dominant voices in their space (and their sales exploded in the process).

Yet I’ve also watched qualified experts remain painfully invisible.

I bet you’re excellent at what you do, but your content doesn’t drive pipeline.

(And, no. You don’t need to “hack the algorithm” or spend hours per day commenting.)

What you need is content that makes your expertise unignorable—so clients come to you, cash in hand.

That’s what I call ‘authority content’.

And there’s a simple equation for creating it:

—
Authority =
(Problem + POV + Promise + Proof)
× Repetition

Each element is backed by behavioral science and maps directly to your buyer’s journey.

Here’s how it all works together:

—
PROBLEM — Name their struggle

Example: “You don’t have a lead gen problem. You have a positioning problem.”

↳ The science: Problems activate survival mechanisms (fear/urgency) and when you articulate their problem better than they can, they lean in

↳ Buyer stage: Attracts new people who recognize the problem

—
➕ POV — Show your differentiated thinking

Example: “Most content advice only works for wannabe influencers. If you wanna get leads—not just likes—try this instead:” (Look familiar?)

↳ The science: Sharing your contrarian beliefs, proprietary frameworks, and ownable ideas triggers the von Restorff effect (you stand out) while challenging best practices signals status

↳ Buyer stage: Engages problem-aware people seeking fresh perspectives

—
➕ PROMISE — Tease what’s possible

Example: “I used to work 80 hours a week just to scrape by. Now I average 5 hours per day and had my best year yet. What changed?”

↳ The science: Triggers social comparison and self-efficacy while tapping into identity aspiration (we want to become who we admire)

↳ Buyer stage: Converts lurkers into believers

—
➕ PROOF — Build credibility

Example: “My client went from stuck at $200k for years to doing $600k in 9 months—same service, better positioning.”

↳ The science: Social proof and authority heuristic bypass skepticism to build trust

↳ Buyer stage: Converts believers into buyers

—
✖️ Repetition — The multiplier

Clarify your messageing and then repeat key talking points consistently.

↳ The science: repetition builds familiarity and trust. And the more we hear an idea, the more we come to like it. 

↳ Buyer stage: Reinforces recognition across the entire buying journey

🟰 Authority 

—
I’m no mathematician, but I know this:

Strategy beats volume. Every time.

Once you understand the authority equation, you’ll stop posting randomly and start building a reputation that commands premium pricing.

Your competitors might post more. But you’ll be the one clients seek out.

It’s officially 2026.
Do I need to keep shouting this message and waving this sign around?

Or are you finally convinced that building your personal brand will help build your business?

Please say you get it. 
My arms are getting tired.

P.S. Happy new year!!

See? Dreams can come true. 
Get after yours in 2026! 💪

Most "personal brand" problems are actually messaging or offer problems in disguise

Sell something people want
Explain it so they know why they should want it
Creating unignorable content becomes much easier

Does your content get ignored?
You may be *too smart* for your own good.

Many brilliant entrepreneurs I talk to have all but given up on LinkedIn.

They’ve put the time in, but it ain’t working.

Meanwhile inexperienced newbies are getting more claps and more clients... while the post you spent 2 hours writing falls flat.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

That “less qualified” person may be winning BECAUSE their expertise is limited.

It’s not like they don’t want to sound impressive. They just think their basic 101 insights are groundbreaking.

But basic is exactly what your target buyers often need.

Because your buyers aren’t experts in your topic.

They’re just people trying to solve a problem, and they need someone who can explain what’s going wrong in a way that finally clicks.

Meanwhile, you’re over here adding layer upon layer of nuance.

Caveats.
Sophistication.
Deeeeepth

Every time you draft something simple, your FOBO kicks in (aka “Fear of being Obvious”).

You add complexity because you’re worried a peer might think it’s not “expert” enough.

(I catch myself doing this constantly. I’ll write something direct, then overcomplicate it because I’m afraid it sounds too obvious.)

Real talk?

This is your status anxiety dressed up as quality control.

You’re afraid to dumb it down because you want to prove to peers that you know your shit.

But your ideal buyers don’t need to be impressed by the depth of your expertise—they need to feel like you understand their challenges and can help them.

So you have a choice...

Create content that earns nods from your peers (who will never hire you)... OR create content that attracts clients.

One feeds your ego. 
The other will feed your family.

Now I want to ask you a tough question (and you need to answer honestly):

Are you creating for peers or for your clients?

I kicked off 2026 by making $113K in 4 days with a "lazy launch" strategy.


Okay, now that I've got your attention...

Flashy headlines like that grab eyeballs. But most people don't share the full story.

Let me fix that…

After getting the blessing from the team at Demand Curve, I decided to open access to the Unignorable course curriculum one last time.

I wanted to time the launch around New Year's, when people are hungry to level up.

But with the holidays coming up and my 1:1 client work at Unignorable 2.0, I'd massively overcommitted. I didn't have time for a big, flashy promotion—but I also didn't want to miss that "fresh start effect" energy.

So I asked myself, what might a “lazy” version of a launch look like?

Then we got scrappy:

→ We reused an old email course we already had to prime people for the launch
→ We reused the expiring bonuses strategy that had worked great in the past
→ We repurposed past launch emails and social posts rather than creating from scratch

All in? I personally spent about 25 hours prepping for this launch—a breeze compared to my typical 4-6 weeks of pre-launch prep.

25 hours and $113,000 in sales.

Now, before you run off to copy this strategy… not so fast.

Here’s the unsexy truth:

Years of gruelling upfront work went into making this near “passive income” possible.

I’ve been building an audience since 2019. Showing up consistently. Earning trust sloooowly.

I’ve poured 1000+ hours into creating the original Unignorable challenge. I worked 16-hour days over the Christmas holidays back in 2022 to prep for our first cohort.

We ran five cohorts of Unignorable—and after each one, we made the product better.

And because we built a good product that drives results, internet-famous alumni like Josh Lowman, Alex Smith, Sarah Hart, and Eric Partaker sing our praises. 

Showing real success stories made getting ‘yeses’ much easier this time around.

So yeah. “Lazy” launches are absolutely possible.

But they're the reward for years of front-loaded work. Not a shortcut.

The "passive income" crowd leaves that part out. And the big promises are bullshit without context.

The work you do now is the "lazy" you earn later.

Sound good?

Do you constantly feel like you’re behind on AI and marketing stuff?

Take a deeeeeep breath. 

You’re not behind. If you’re worried about this stuff, you’re probably way ahead of most folks. But you might be focused on the wrong things. 

Tech and tools change rapidly. 
People don’t.

Yes, AI can help you do work faster. But first you need to figure out what works with your target buyers.

Focus on that.

Nail your message and offer. 
Then you can figure out how to scale it.

Breathe. You’ve got this.

My client pitched using his new ownable idea for the first time. Best sales call he’s EVER had.

(And he runs a $1M+ agency)

This is the first 1:1 client project work I’ve done in 7 years. And I’ve gotta say, after cutting my teeth in the agency world, it feels damn good to be back in the saddle again.

—

P.S. I anonymized this out of respect for the client. He wants to keep his new strategic direction secret. Too many copycats around here 👀

P.P. S. Want to work with us 1:1 to find your ownable idea?

(AKA: a compelling, strategically chosen concept that becomes synonymous with you and drives your business.)

I’m opening a few more spots for clients in February. Jump on the waitlist to be notified when applications open: beunignorable.com

Owning a place in your target buyer’s mind is the ultimate marketing “hack”












(Yup. That’s the whole post.)

Most AI writing tools make everyone sound THE SAME. So I’m using Lovable  to build something different for my clients.

I’m building a brand voice diagnostic tool for our Unignorable clients. We’ll use it to build each client a custom Claude Co-writer that actually writes in *their* voice

(bye-bye, generic AI slop.)

This won’t be publicly available—it’s only for clients.

Now you might be wondering, “Katelyn, why go to all that effort to build a custom tool for just a handful of clients?”

Fair question.

Here’s my two-part answer:
1. It wasn’t that much effort. All in, it took about 2 days to build this thing with Lovable.
2. I don’t just want to satisfy our clients. I want to DELIGHT them.

Psychologically speaking, delight is different from satisfaction. Satisfaction means you met expectations. Delight means you exceeded them.

When customers experience a moment of delight, they’ll buy more and tell their friends.

And unsolicited praise from a happy client is the best dang marketing there is.

OK. So back to my new brand voice diagnostic tool…

I can’t tell you exactly how it works. (That’s my secret sauce.)

But I can tell you the problem it solves…

Most AI tools make everyone sound the same. Or worse? They mimic the voice of big influencers, which makes you sound like a copycat.

We can train AI to write like you, but first we need to define your voice profile. That’s what our tool does.

If you’d told me 3 years ago I could build a custom tool like this for our clients in a weekend—without hiring a developer or learning to code—I’d say you were crazy.

But Lovable changed the game.

I just described what I wanted, watched it get built in real-time, and kept tweaking until I got exactly what I’d envisioned.

Cool, right?

Give it a try.

When you solve problems your clients didn’t even realize they had, you both win.

They get pain relief and you (hopefully) get rich.

—
P.S. Feeling inspired to build something for YOUR clients?

Start with their problems. What friction keeps showing up? What do they struggle to do on their own? Build a mini tool that solves that.

Lovable makes it possible in days, not months. No coding required.

And it’s free to start creating. 

Sign-up here and get 20% off if you decide to upgrade: https://lnkd.in/eCrSjxCE

#sponsored #lovablepartner

I'm curious. What's one thing you changed your mind about in 2025? 

Unlearning is a superpower. 

The smartest people I know are constnatly reevaluating and rethinking their belief system. 

So what’s one thing you unlearned in 2025 that will change how you work in 2026? 

I’ll post mine in the comments too shortly 👀

How to win with content in 2026:


Don’t just share ideas. 
Own one. 

iykyk

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