🐶 Jacco van der Kooij

Do you know a large Midwest family? Well, if you do, then you know me.  I am the youngest of eight, raised in a small farmers'​ village in the Netherlands. If I picked an apple from the wrong tree on my way home from school, my parents would know about it before I got off my bike.

The family name is like a bank account, and my family has put their savings in it for over 50 years.  We are not rich, but the van der Kooij's are known for our hard work, and willingness to help others. So we never needed a lot of money. For my family, our reputation is the most valued asset and trust is the currency we trade in.  Every day.

Fast forward to today, a time where the subscription (SaaS) business model is impacting organizations big and small.   Why?  Because in the subscription business you MUST make a client successful!  You have to earn an honest word-of-mouth reference by exceeding a client's expectation. You have to work hard and build a reputation. I recognize this as these are the norms and values I was raised on, and I know exactly what to do.

Welcome to my village. Pop. 12,000. Established 2005.

Founder

Winning By Design helps customer to design, build and scale their sales efforts.  With offices in San Francisco, Amsterdam, Sao Paulo, Antwerp, Shanghai and Sydney we help clients big and small with a process driven approach to sales.  The right process executed by trained professional will help you earn more business from the right customers.

OPEN LETTER TO LINKEDIN
The growing need for structure and attribution in the knowledge economy

LinkedIn you are the world’s largest professional knowledge network. You've democratized access, but in doing so, have flattened content, blurred provenance, and eroded trust.

Your algorithm appears optimized for engagement, which inadvertently subsidizes noise and punishes original content. You now operate a system that rewards what spreads rather than what stands up to scrutiny. Popularity passes for truth, and noise drowns out knowledge. The loudest ideas rise the fastest — even when they add the least.

Today, a researcher’s 18-month field study sits beside a pundit’s morning take, a recycled quote, and a viral meme, all formatted the same and indistinguishable as users scroll through their feeds. It feels like click-harvesting, and runs counter to your mission to make professionals more productive and successful.

Traditional media solved this long ago:
+ Harvard Business Review separates research from commentary.
+ The Economist distinguishes data from opinion.
+ Fast Company labels features and essays differently.

They did this for one reason, to help readers understand: What am I consuming, and why should I trust it?

On LinkedIn, there’s no way to tell who uncovered an idea, who interpreted it, or who simply repackaged it. Operating the world’s largest knowledge exchange without structure or attribution overlooks the responsibility that comes with shaping how the world learns and works.

How LinkedIn Can Steward a Layered Knowledge Economy?

1. Structure:  Not all creators serve the same function. 

LinkedIn can establish a taxonomy that helps audiences distinguish between research, reaction, analysis, and amplification. This would restore hierarchy and context to the feed — making expertise visible.

To illustrate what a structure could look like, I’ve drafted an outline of five functional archetypes of the Knowledge Economy— Originators, Pundits, Aggregators, Amplifiers, and Synthesizers — complete with examples from the SaaS and AI industry.

2. Attribution: Establish content-protection and attribution standards.

LinkedIn can establish standards that ensure original insights, data, and frameworks are instantly recognized, cited, and credited — not quietly copied or recycled for click harvesting. In a knowledge economy, provenance is protection.

YouTube was forced to do this by the music industry—introducing attribution systems that ultimately benefited podcasters and creators worldwide. LinkedIn now faces a similar crossroads. In a knowledge economy, provenance is protection.

Today, AI is uniquely suited to solve both of these challenges at scale.

IN CLOSING

LinkedIn’s mission has always been to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. What began as a place to find a role in business has become the place to do business. That evolution carries a new responsibility: to steward knowledge.

Jacco van der Kooij

Working with customers opened my eyes and changed my life | Being kind and assuming positive intent will help you see the world from a different perspective

Taxonomy for the LinkedIn Knowledge Economy

EUREKA! We found a Growth Architecture that any company can use to grow in 2026 based on our research. Here are a few core truths you won't hear anywhere else:

1. The shift happened years ago 

AI-Natives did not invent a new GTM model... They grew so fast that they exposed it, and they've been doing it for years. Now that the dust has settled, one thing stands out clearly…

2. Loops are the new engine. Not funnels.

Growth Loops sit at the foundation of every successful modern GTM.
Loops turn outputs into inputs —in other words, Growth is now creating Growth.

And unlike funnels, loops compound growth without compounding cost.
This is the structural difference the Grow-at-All-Costs era never achieved.

3. The engine behind it all: real-time, user-level data.

Modern GTM runs at far higher velocity. Real-time user data is what fires the loops — and closed-loop feedback is what keeps them reinforcing each other.

For the first time, we can:
+ model growth accurately
+ design for it deliberately
+ build systems that compound Growth, not cost — by design

Attached is an article from Growth, our quarterly journal, to help you get started today. But there's one gotcha…

4. It takes a village.

The research exposed a tough truth: You know that story we all joke about at conferences, "How Sales and Marketing don't talk…" and that "CS not even being in the room…" It gets everyone to laugh and nod in agreement—we accept it... and nothing changes.

Surprise: that actually IS the problem. Meaning, this new approach only works when the whole GTM system works as one. It's like a new unlock that a team must master. 

This and much more in the attached article. Share it with your team (click full-screen, then download–no gates).

Let's Grow.
~ Jacco

PS: If you need help, we've got you — new Courses, Executive Workshops, and Advisory Services, all focused on modern Growth.

Growth in the Age of AI

Do you know the probability you will hit your growth target by the end of 2026?
When we ask Execs sitting on tens to hundreds of millions of funding (and revenue), most have no real answer.

In the past, this didn’t matter — all you needed to know was capacity needed to meet demand. But times have changed.

Good news, today we are able to scientifically instrument growth, not only to give an answer with precision to that question — but also to reveal the patterns underneath it. 

Check the dashboard!!!

The growth rate may still be exponential. Yet the growth state is already decelerating.

The system is adding revenue, but it’s no longer self-reinforcing, the second derivative — the compound rate — has gone negative.

GTM Efficiency is rising for all the wrong reasons. It is now spending $3.38 of commercial energy to produce every $1 of growth. Whoa! cost is compounding faster than growth. At that rate, it will take more than a decade to earn it back. 

Then reality sets in: Probability of hitting target: 22%!

Not because the target is wrong — but because the growth architecture underneath is leaking. Lead quality is dropping. Conversion is inconsistent.
But most of all Loop activation (k-factor) is weak, since most effort is spend on growth through inbound!

The internal physics of the system are fighting the goal, not supporting it.

Here’s the good news: the 3x3 GTM growth analysis shows exactly where to look.
• Enterprise Acquisition: massive untapped opportunity
• SMB Retention: underperforming
• Mid-Market Expansion: sub-optimal

“Yes, Jacco, but… it’s just a dashboard.”

Folks — this isn’t.  It’s a reflection of a new mindset, a multi-threaded model of the growth engine, built on a scientific growth architecture:
• S-curve behavior
• The compound rate
• Growth loop activation
• GTM efficiency
• Probability analysis to hit target 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 months out.
• And identify underutilized GTM motions

This is a different way of seeing growth — and a different way of designing it. Its been a missing layer, causing us to model growth against investor metrics instead! 

Richard Feynman once said: “What I cannot create, I do not understand.”

Thus, our job is to understand growth, so we may create it.

We now teach this scientific approach to growth through an online class (6 hours) better yet, opt for an annual subscription to the Growth Institute that includes quarterly case-studies.

Let's Grow!

A new era of B2B growth awaits. Powered by GTM-AI infrastructure based on First Principles that is paving the way to more autonomous growth.

Faster cycles.
Near-zero marginal cost.
Intelligent workflows that learn.
_____ x
Growth that compounds.

This Wednesday, we’ll reveal how Growth Architecture makes this future real. Join the over 750 who already signed up. 

Nov 19, 9am PST
Growth Architecture Primer
Designing Systems for Compounding Growth

The next era is here. Let’s Grow.

Angel Suarez Alcoser

From 2021 to 2025, software moved from post-pandemic peak valuations in SaaS to the explosive rise of AI-Natives.

Below is the six-part chronicle of the shift that redefined modern GTM — revealing what happened, why it happened, and how it unfolded.

--
Episode 1 of 6 — The Sweet Spot in the Eye of the Storm

Growth rates fall, the market shakes, and everyone blames the economy. But beneath the turbulence, the SaaS machine itself starts to fail. Is this a storm — or the start of something much bigger?

https://lnkd.in/gpiFikhB
--
Episode 2 of 6 — Has SaaS Lost GTM Fit?

The industry wakes up to a harsh reality: growth halves, costs double, and GTM motions no longer work the same way. Has SaaS simply slowed — or fundamentally lost its GTM Fit?

https://lnkd.in/g3TfuEB4
--
Episode 3 of 6 — GTM Efficiency & IPO Readiness

As growth stalls, companies search for answers and discover that the GTM engine is built on broken processes. Efficiency becomes the new survival benchmark. Who can fix their system fast enough?

https://lnkd.in/gXyHrAJe
--
Episode 4 of 6 — In 2025 AI Won’t Just Assist People — It Will Replace Them

A new force enters the scene. AI doesn’t improve the old GTM model — it exposes it. As AI takes its place inside GTM workflows, a question looms: what happens to companies still built on people-driven growth?

https://lnkd.in/gt6izDeY
--
Episode 5 of 6 — Growth Is Back — Can You Keep Up?

AI-Natives explode with 3–4× velocity and far higher efficiency, leaving SaaS-Natives behind. Growth returns — but only for those who can architect systems. Can traditional GTM keep pace?

https://lnkd.in/gS8BjACe
--
Episode 6 of 6 — Growth in the Age of AI

The pattern becomes undeniable. Growth now comes from loops, real-time data, and system-driven GTM — not the old playbooks. A new architecture emerges. Who will adapt in time to stay in the game?

https://lnkd.in/gnDpxrFv
--
Bonus — Process First, AI Second
Before companies can adopt AI at scale, they must repair the system it will operate within.

https://lnkd.in/gwnfyCgp

What will be the story of 2026? 
Jacco.

May I ask: What’s your revenue target for 2026? And… what’s the probability you’ll hit it?

Not knowing the answer, isn’t part of the problem. IMO it is the problem!

Why?

Because your GTM system already knows the answer. It speaks in patterns, in signals, in motions. It obeys physical laws. It follows engineering-like principles.

And this is key, with advances in AI, we can give your GTM a voice.

When we do… it doesn’t seem to stop talking. Haha — seriously, it doesn’t! It tells us where growth accumulates, where momentum is lost, when compounding stops, and — wait for it — YES, it tells us how to capture it. 

BOOM.

This is what we teach in our latest class: Growth Architecture. 

We help you find where growth is hiding in your GTM machine. And once you uncover it, you can direct all your resources, with confidence, to go capture it (and beat competitors to it).

You ready!? Let’s Grow
~ jacco

PS: 

The next Growth Architecture class starts January 8. 4×2 hr online. Founder-led sessions (Marketing told me to put that in). Go to WbD website → Training → Growth Architecture.  There’s also demo video on our youtube channel.

I’d love to give you the links, but LinkedIn gets very jealous when I do that.

Growth Architecture: How to Grow Revenue in 2026

GTM has a growth problem

SaaS-Natives are buying customers,
AI-Natives are buying usage

The problem is on a system level
It can be fixed
..but it won't fix itself

Want to learn how?

Nov 19 → Growth Architecture Primer Open Workshop

Learn more about the science behind compounding growth

So frigging proud of Shane.  Fly Shane McGrath.  Fly.   Big love.

EMEA’s #1 Facilitator for Teams Who Hate Boring Training & Workshops. Because your teams deserve better than beige. 🌶️ Train with Shane. 💪🏻🥇 Executive Leadership Coach. Agile Change Coach

“I’ve never been through a training like this before.” Heard this a few times this week. 

It makes me happy, because my goal is not “train”. 

Training is what you do when HR tells you to complete the online safety module before Friday. It’s a tick box, ahoop, a compliance workout.

What I do is different…I facilitate.

My job isn’t to stand at the front and tell people they’ve been doing it wrong.
Most teams aren’t doing anything “wrong”.
They’re just human.

And when you’re human, you naturally lean into some behaviours and forget others. We assume, shortcut and get comfortable.

My role is to provoke.
To highlight the things that get overlooked.
To surface the blind spots.
And to spark the shift in the direction you actually want to go.

But here’s the part no one talks about:

A workshop isn’t the fix. It’s only the ignition.

If a team isn’t open, or doesn’t understand the why, the what, or the direction they’re moving in no workshop on earth will shift anything.

You can’t change actions without changing awareness.

This week in the North East, I’ve had CS, Product, Marketing, and Sales in the same room.

And they didn’t just focus on “how this helps me”, it was class watching how they leaned into understanding each other.

Where the friction sits.
Where the opportunities live.
How their decisions collide or compound.

That’s where the magic happens.

The workshop sparks it.
The company builds it.
The leaders model it.
The people embrace it.

That’s the real work.

taplio

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