How do you go from a scrappy B2B SaaS with early traction… to a repeatable, scalable growth machine?

In this episode, we sit down with EVP’s Allen Zhu — founder-turned-PM-turned-investor — to unpack the go-to-market playbook for scaling from 1 to 10. We dive into how top SaaS companies segment their market, fund sales and marketing early, and build moats that compound.

Allen shares real examples from EVP’s portfolio (including Nexl) and explains how segmentation, workflow-driven expansion, and smart early investment helped them scale fast without burning cash.

Tune in and learn:

+ How segmentation drives efficiency — and the Nexl case that proves it

+ The “self-funding” model for early sales & marketing investment

+ Product expansion frameworks: follow the workflow, then follow the money

+ How to build switching-cost moats and pre-board ROI for enterprise deals

This is a must-watch for any B2B marketer or founder navigating the jump from early traction to scalable growth.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

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🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

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🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

📩 Newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter/

📚 Latest content: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

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00:00 The counter-intuitive truth: Sales & marketing can be self-funding

01:00 Meet Allen Zhu (EVP): founder → PM → investor

03:00 Early ventures, lessons from agency → apps → D2C

06:30 From Citi to Freelancer to EVP: why B2B SaaS

09:30 What EVP does at Series A (and how they partner)

12:00 The #1 scaling mistake: skipping segmentation

15:10 Case study: Nexl’s segmentation unlock (who, where, and why)

19:40 Why SDR “spray & pray” fails in small total addressable lists

22:10 Invest in S&M early: the “self-funding” window explained

24:30 Measuring what matters when attribution gets messy

29:30 Product expansion playbook: follow the workflow, follow the money

33:30 Moats 101 for SaaS: switching costs, data, and process power

37:30 Selling enterprise: pre-boarding ROI to win the room

42:30 Timing outreach with public contract intel (governments)

46:30 Customer advocacy flywheel: advisory boards & reference power

53:00 Leading vs lagging: how EVP reads GTM progress

56:30 What “active partner” really means at Series A

58:30 Final takeaway: segmentation first, everything else follows

59:30 Where to find Allen & EVP

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👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

🔹 templates

🔹 tools

So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

S07 E200 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #b2bsaas #gotomarket #seriesA #evpventures #demandgeneration

How do you go from 70 to 1000+ registrants for your webinar? How do you convert this to revenue? In this game-changing episode of The B2B Playbook, we dive deep into the world of webinar marketing with expert Justin Zimmerman. Justin reveals his innovative approach to webinars that's driving unprecedented results for B2B companies.

We explore a complete paradigm shift in webinar strategy, moving away from the traditional focus on attendance and content creation to a data-driven, partner-centric approach. Justin shares his secrets for consistently achieving 1000+ registrants, turning webinars into powerful lead generation and sales conversion tools.

Tune in and learn:

+ How to leverage partners and influencers to exponentially grow your webinar audience

+ The 6-step registration process that captures crucial lead data and drives conversions

+ Post-webinar strategies that turn no-shows into demo bookings and sales opportunities

This episode is a must-watch for any B2B marketer looking to revolutionize their webinar strategy, drive more leads, and achieve better ROI from their marketing efforts. Justin's insights will change the way you think about webinars forever!

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SUBSCRIBE to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter/

GET the latest CONTENT: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

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00:00 The Game-Changing Webinar Strategy You've Been Missing

02:19 Common Webinar Pitfalls: Why Most B2B Marketers Struggle

04:30 Revolutionizing Webinars: Focus on Data Collection, Not Attendance

07:09 Leveraging Partners and Influencers for Massive Webinar Growth

11:37 The 6-Step Registration Process That Drives Results

16:40 Curating Content vs. Creating: A Stress-Free Approach to Webinars

21:20 Structuring Your Webinar for Maximum Impact and Sales Conversion

26:29 Post-Webinar Strategies That Turn Attendees into Customers

31:30 The Power of Problem Awareness in Demand Capture

37:10 Automating Follow-Ups: Balancing Efficiency and Personalization

41:40 Ask More, Get More: Introducing a Revolutionary Webinar Tool

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👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

🔹 templates

🔹 tools

So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

Check out: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

S06 E151 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #demandgen #webinar

#b2bsaas #revenuemarketing #MarketingStrategy #leadgeneration #b2bcontentmarketing #salesandmarketing

If your outbound is optimised for meetings, not conversations, you’re burning cash and trust.

We sit down with Joey Gilkey (CEO, Titan X) and Adem Manderovic (Closed Circuit Selling, CRO School) to rebuild B2B outbound so it actually drives revenue. We unpack why the SDR-AE factory failed, how to get 25% connect rates, and how to use first-party signals to guide timing, ads, and follow up.

Joey shows why he pays SDRs to create completed conversations and rigorous disposition buckets. Adem explains cataloguing and channel validation so marketing stops guessing and starts planning around real timing. We dig into audience activation using opt-in texts and VSLs, and why “buyer intent” data isn’t the shortcut you think it is.

Tune in and learn:

+ A practical B2B outbound strategy built on conversations and 6 disposition buckets

+ Why the SDR-AE model and Predictable Revenue broke outbound (and what replaces it)

+ Why pipeline coverage and meeting quotas mislead teams, and what to measure instead

This is a must-watch if you’re a B2B revenue leader. Stop chasing low-value meetings and start engineering high-value conversations that inform ads, timing, and deals.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

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🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

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🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

📩 Newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter/

📚 Latest content: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

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00:00 Why today’s outbound is breaking trust

01:34 Joey Gilkey on Titan X and the “phone intent” wedge

02:58 The 25% connect-rate play and why conversations matter

04:30 How the SDR-AE split eroded buyer trust

06:05 Cheap headcount, costly model: the real flaw

08:36 What APAC got right: senior sellers and CS roots

10:28 Market validation beats MQLs every time

12:44 VC incentives and the sales industrial complex

13:58 Joey’s reversal: paying SDRs to have conversations

15:42 Long-cycle selling lessons that fix short-term thinking

18:32 Buckets, not bookings: 6 dispositions that run your follow up

21:05 Full-cycle AEs vs modern roles – what actually works

27:10 Audience activation: VSL + phone + SMS that scales trust

32:33 Opt-in texting, pixeling, and smarter retargeting

34:52 Make marketing useful: capture commercial intel, not contacts

36:55 Pipeline coverage is a vanity metric without context

38:28 Phone intel powering LinkedIn ads and account timing

40:28 Why “buyer intent” data misses the mark

45:35 PE firms are cutting SDRs – what to run toward instead

52:57 Retraining SDRs is easy. Leaders are the bottleneck

55:40 Final take: value conversations, not meetings

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👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

🔹 templates

🔹 tools

So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B...