Alexander Estner

I help early-stage SaaS founders build & execute their Go-to-market foundation to grow from €0 to €1 million ARR 🚀

3 WAYS I CAN HELP YOU 👇
1️⃣ GTM Advisory - Work 1-on-1 with me in bi-weekly GTM sprints
2️⃣ GTM Audit - Get a 360° assessment of your current GTM status quo + custom action plan
3️⃣ GTM Content - Bi-weekly newsletter +  Daily LinkedIn posts + Free GTM Library

P.S. You will find the links to all 3 in the featured section.

Among other things, I help you with:
👉 Creating your early/ideal customer profile (ICP)
👉 Working on positioning, messaging & value proposition 
👉 Choosing the right pricing for your business (pricing model, value metric & packaging)
👉 Implementing the right sales strategy (sales-led vs. product-led)
👉 Mastering 2-3 growth channels to continuously generate new deals/trials
👉 Setting up the right tech stack in sales, marketing & customer success
👉 Building your commercial teams.

Send me a DM on LinkedIn or book a free 15-minute intro call to learn more about my offering.

Startup Consultant for B2B SaaS

As a freelance startup consultant, I help early-stage B2B SaaS Startups quickly grow their business with a powerful Growth Strategy 🚀


I work on both, strategic and operational, levels and help you with the following topics.

► For Founders (Launch to Seed Stage):
- Clarify, validate and stress test your business idea
- Win first paying customers and kickstart growth for your SaaS
- Develop and implement a powerful B2B SaaS Growth strategy
- Find product-market fit and close your first funding (business angels & seed)

► For Startups (Seed to Series A Stage):
- Accelerate your growth to 5M€+ ARR
- Review or implement a powerful B2B SaaS growth strategy
- Optimization of direct & indirect growth channels
- Create a growth team mentality, track the right KPIs, and set OKRs

► For more information:
- check out my website (www.alexestner.com)
- subscribe to my FREE weekly newsletter for founders & early-stage startups (https://startupbusinesstips.substack.com/)

► Interested?
- Send me a DM on Linkedin

Fundraising still costs founders 15–20 hours every week.
I partnered with Notion to drop the AI Fundraising Kit - a free stack to help startup founders raise with clarity and confidence.

After working with 30+ founders over the last 3 years, I kept hearing the same questions:

→ Which investors should we actually talk to?
→ What does a “good” pitch deck really look like?
→ How do we structure a proper data room?
→ How do we track investor conversations without chaos?

All this is covered in the AI Fundraising Kit.

What's inside 👇

1️⃣ Investor Database (10k+ profiles)
--> including 2000+ early-stage VCs, incubators, and accelerators

2️⃣ 50 real pitch decks
--> From YC, a16z, and Sequoia-backed startups

3️⃣ AI agents for fundraising
--> Ready-to-use Notion agent prompts for:
- creating pitch docs
- logging investor emails
- building a data room

4️⃣ Notion Data room template
→ A clean, investor-ready setup you can use instantly

Plus a big Bonus 💰

$50K+ in free AI tools (Notion, v0, Supabase...):
▫️ 1 Year Framer
▫️ $60 in v0 by Vercel (frontend)
▫️ $300 from Supabase (backend)
▫️ Up to 6 months of Notion Business with AI (run your startup)

If you’re fundraising now, or planning to soon, this saves weeks of work.

👉 You can access your AI Fundraising Kit here: https://lnkd.in/e4zYDVCe

(It’s free — and yes, I’d grab it before that changes.)

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Newsletter

Join 4500+ SaaS Leaders and get actionable content in your inbox: https://www.mrrunlocked.com/p/saas-gtm-foundation

GTM Foundation

Build your GTM foundation: https://www.mrrunlocked.com/p/saas-gtm-foundation

Listen to Podcast

Listen to the podcast episode on the 3 stages to 1€ million ARR: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s6e18-the-3-step-gtm-playbook-to-grow-your-saas-from/id1670431932?i=1000713247114

Sales Deck

Build your sales deck with my free sales deck template: https://www.mrrunlocked.com/p/high-converting-sales-deck

Vetted Tools

Vetted Partners

SaaS GTM Guides

https://www.alexestner.com/#Best-SaaS-GTM-Guides

14 actionable CRM tactics

SaaS Homepage

https://www.mrrunlocked.com/p/saas-homepage-copywriting-guide

Founder Brand on LinkedIn

https://www.mrrunlocked.com/p/founder-led-linkedin-guide

Customer Success into Referrals

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alexander-estner_how-moritz-weiss-turned-customer-success-activity-7327573567070420992-DkSk?

GTM Audit

https://alexander-estner.webflow.io/services/gtm-advisory#Pricing-Table

ECP to ICP Guide

https://www.mrrunlocked.com/p/analyze-your-icp

SaaS Vetted Tools

👇GTM templates: https://www.alexestner.com/gtm-templates

360 GTM Audit

https://www.mrrunlocked.com/p/360-saas-gtm-audit

SaaS Pricing Page Guide

Ultimate SaaS Pricing Page Guide: https://www.mrrunlocked.com/p/saas-pricing-page

Nocodefounders Newsletter

Read the full article on: https://nocodefounders.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-build-a-strong-gtm-foundation-0-to-1m-arr

6 founders sharing insights

Hear all 6 founders sharing their tips & mistakes: https://www.mrrunlocked.com/p/6-founders-insights

Experts Tips

📌 From 0 to €1M ARR: 17 Expert Tips Every Founder Should Know: https://www.mrrunlocked.com/p/17-experts-best-tips

MRRUnlocked Signup

Sign up on mrrunlocked.com to get all tips delivered in your inbox (+ 50+ GTM infographics for free).

LinkedIn Playbook

📌 Get the Founder + Team LinkedIn Playbook for free: https://www.mrrunlocked.com/p/founder-linkedin-playbook

6 GTM problems

📌 Full breakdown of the 6 GTM problems that keep repeating: https://www.mrrunlocked.com/p/the-6-gtm-problems

Homepage Teardown

📌 Homepage Teardown of 6 Top SaaS/AI companies: https://www.mrrunlocked.com/p/homepage-teardowns-what-6-top-saas

Digital Nudging: User Experience positiv beeinflussen

Climate Change, Risks and Challenges

Digital Advertising

The Complete Digital Marketing Course

'Hands-on’ GTM Advisor || I help SaaS founders build & execute their Go-to-market and go from €0 to €1 million ARR with less trial & error || Join 4000+ SaaS leaders & get my free SaaS GTM tactics in your inbox👇

I help early-stage SaaS founders build & execute their Go-to-market and quickly go from €0 to €1 million ARR 🚀

3 WAYS I CAN HELP YOU
1️⃣ GTM advisory - Work with me 1-on-1 in weekly or bi-weekly deep-dive working sessions to build and execute your powerful GTM strategy.
2️⃣ List of 90+ actionable SaaS Growth Tactics and Free SaaS Growth Strategy Worksheet (Links are in the Highlight section).
3️⃣ Free actionable SaaS growth tips: Daily on LinkedIn and bi-weekly in my newsletter (read by 2300+ SaaS leaders)

Bonus: Sponsor my newsletter & reach 2300+ early-stage SaaS founders/leaders/decision makers.

Among other things, I help you with:
- Creating your ideal customer profile (ICP)
- Working on positioning, messaging & value proposition 
- Choosing the right pricing for your business (pricing model, value metric & packaging)
- Implementing the right sales strategy (sales-led vs. product-led)
- Mastering 2-3 growth channels to continuously generate new deals or/and trials
- Setting up the right tech stack in sales, marketing & customer success
- Building your commercial teams.

Send me a DM on Linkedin or book a free 15min virtual coffee to learn more about my offering.

------------
ABOUT ME:

Hi, I'm Alexander Estner - but please just call me Alex.

I'm based in Munich, Germany 🇩🇪 and I've spent my whole career in the startup environment with now more than 10 years of experience in SaaS and marketplaces from being the first commercial employee of a fast-growing SaaS-enabled-marketplace to being a Co-founder of a SaaS startup and now supporting other early-stage founders on their journey from pre-revenue to the first €1 million ARR.

Over the last 2 years, I've helped 25+ SaaS companies grow their business faster with a powerful GTM strategy - as a growth advisor, consultant, or interim manager.

What I care about: 

- Brainstorming new business ideas 💡
- Sustainability, healthy food, and barista coffee ☕.
- Traveling, well-being, and all kinds of sports like skiing, beach volleyball, yoga, and fitness 🧘‍♂️
- Books & podcasts about startups, leadership, personal development, & positive mindset 📚

------------
💡 Currently getting inspired for a new startup

Go-to-market in 2024 is tough.

My best SaaS GTM Guides help you master GTM in 2024.

1️⃣ The Ultimate Ideal Customer Profile Framework
2️⃣ The Ultimate SaaS Messaging Framework
3️⃣ High-converting SaaS Homepage template
4️⃣ The perfect Sales Deck template
5️⃣ The Ultimate SaaS Pricing Guide
6️⃣ The Best Outbound Tech Stack for SaaS
7️⃣ The Ultimate Content Marketing Guide for SaaS

The 7 Best SaaS GTM Guides 2024

The free Workbook helped 3000+ SaaS leaders build their SaaS GTM Strategy.

The Ultimate SaaS GTM Strategy Workbook [Free]

Grow faster from 0€ to 3€ million ARR with 100+ actionable & proven SaaS Growth Tactics (helped 200+ SaaS leaders)

100+ actionable SaaS growth tactics

Get weekly 3 actionable SaaS GTM strategies and tactics to grow your B2B SaaS business from €0 to €1 million ARR 🚀.

MRR Unlocked 🚀 | Alexander Estner | Substack

RevGenius is a group of revenue-generating sales and marketing professionals brought together to learn, share, support, and grow with each other. You can consider us your alt work family!

The Mentoring Club is a pro bono platform where mentors and mentees meet and can schedule mentoring sessions. You can schedule a free mentoring session with me here: https://www.mentoring-club.com/the-mentors/alexander-estner

Notion

Helping SaaS & AI founders build and execute their GTM foundation to grow from €0 to €1 million ARR with less trial and error | ‘Hands-on’ GTM Advisor👇

Tactics are great, but only if you have a strong GTM foundation.

When I work with founders on their way to 1€ million ARR,

we usually start building the foundation.

This includes:

Clarity...

1️⃣ on who you target (ICP)

Focus is key here. You can't afford having 2+ ICPs.

Every segment requires a different motion.

2️⃣ on what your product is and how it's different

This is your positioning anchor.

You can lead with a product category (e.g. CRM tool) or a usecase (sending SMS to clients).

This helps prospets to understand for what they need your product.

Once this is clear, you can add your differentiator (against the dominant status quo).

This might be: niche, unique feature, lite, premium...

3️⃣ on how to communicate this

This is your messaging. Your words need to resonate with your buyer.

Your website, demos, emails, sales decks, case studies all need to be aligned.

They become your core GTM assets that align your ICP, positioning & messaging.

4️⃣ on your GTM motion

Are you self-service / product-led or grow via demos (sales led).

You can't run both in parallel (too early). 

So your market, ICP and pricing defines your GTM motion. 

5️⃣ Pricing

In this phase, pricing is less about 'profit hacking' and more about willigness to pay.

You should treat pricing iterative. Key is to find the right value metric.

Build your pricing tiers (packaging).

The more clarity you have on these, the easier becomes the execution.

This includes choosing the right GTM channels.

👉 Which part needs most of your attention?

📌 P.S. Send me a DM if you want the full GTM foundation guide.

I’ve done 15+ GTM audits across:

different markets
different ACVs
different stages (0€–1M ARR)

The problems repeat.

The 6 repeating GTM problems I see.

1️⃣ ICP is defined, but not enforced

2️⃣ Positioning lacks a clear anchor

3️⃣ Sales demos are product tours

4️⃣ No clearly defined sales process

5️⃣ GTM assets are too generic

6️⃣ Content without strategy

Not because founders don’t work hard.
But because GTM is treated as disconnected tasks.

Not as a system.

👇 Which GTM area feels most fragmented for you right now? 

--- 
📌 Full breakdown of The 6 GTM Problems That Keep Repeating in the latest MRR Unlocked newsletter (link in comments).

I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as GTM Advisor!

I'm deeply impressed what Yanick Frehner Ingmar Feldhoff Ramon Vorich Otto Attila Jonathan V. and the team achieved within a few months.

In November, I did a GTM audit for them.

They were doing already quite good.

But I uncovered a few areas that need their attention.
Since then, they executed crazy fast 🔥 

And now we decided to work together for the next months.

Excited about what the next months will bring together.

Co-Founder & CEO @ Leto GmbH | AI-Powered Automation | Zukunft der Arbeit gestalten

Vertriebsleiter | Leto AI | KI-gestützte Automatisierung für mehr Produktivität & Wachstum

CMO @ Leto AI

AI driven - PHP & Laravel Developer | Fullstack

I believe every B2B SaaS company has its own 'sales process'
So it's not about copying THE one.

But what you need to do is define your 'sales process'.

If you don't know what your sales process looks like,
you can't guide your prospects from first touchpoint to closing.

No need to overengineer too early.

Define:

✅ What is your primary CTA

--> Do you want them to book a call? Or do a free trial?

✅ What happens in the first call?

--> Is is a short discovery call? or already a demo?

✅ What defines a qualified lead?

--> What are your criteria for a MQL and SQL.

✅ When do you open a deal in your CRM?

--> Clear entry criteria

✅ What are the next steps after the call?

--> Do you do a technical deep dive? or a trial phase?

✅ What happens after closed won?

--> How do you handle the onboarding?

✅ How do you work with existing customers?

--> Monitor churn alerts? Identify expansion potential? 

Write down the steps your ICP take. 

👇 How is your sales process?

Over the last few months, I’ve done over 15 GTM audits across various B2B SaaS companies.

Different markets.
Different ACVs.
Different stages (all between 0€ and 1€ million ARR).

Yet the same GTM problems keep showing up.

Not because founders are sloppy.
Not because the product is bad.
Not because they don’t execute fast enough.

But because GTM is treated as a collection of independent activities, not a system.

Which is why many founders feel busy, ship constantly, and still struggle to create momentum.

Here are the 6 GTM mistakes I see over and over again.

👇 What GTM problem do you see?

---
📌 Yesterday, the first mrrunlocked.com newsletter episode went live, where we deep-dived into these 6 GTM problems. Link to the episode is in the comments.

I teamed up with web-design expert Maximilian Fleitmann for a teardown of  6 fast-growing SaaS and AI companies.

We reviewed Attio, Clay, Jimo, Fin AI, Sastrify, and introw.io.

We broke down
✅ what works
⛔ what doesn’t, 
🔥 and what we’d change immediately, 

turning all insights into a practical Figma file with concrete comments you can directly apply to your own homepage.

Comment 'teardown' to get the homepage teardown.

One of those bittersweet solopreneur moments today.

After 12 months of working closely together, my content freelancer Himani Sheth decided to take a full-time role.

And honestly?
I’m very happy for her.
And also... a little sad.

Over the last year, she helped me with:

--> My LinkedIn content

--> The mrrunlocked newsletter episodes

--> Getting sponsors

--> And a lot of behind-the-scenes work that most people never see

What I loved most about our journey:

In September 2024, she just reached out.
No pitch deck. No fancy intro.

She said:

“I’ve learned a lot from your content and would love to work with you.”

I checked her grid.
It impressed me.

We jumped on a few calls, aligned on expectations, and decided it was a good fit.

The rest is history.

This is also a reminder:
👉 Sometimes the best collaborations don’t come from job posts
👉 They come from people who already care about your work

Now, I’m looking for someone who can replace her.

Which, of course, is not really possible 🙂

But if you:

--> Love writing (LinkedIn + long form guides)

--> Care deeply about quality

--> And enjoy working closely with a solopreneur

Feel free to reach out (or tag someone great).

And to Himani:
Thank you for everything and good luck in your next chapter. 
You’ve earned it ❤️

Content marketing for B2B founders and solopreneurs | Influencer Marketing | Ex- VC

We all know competitor comparison pages, but CloudTalk is the only one I saw doing this on their homepage.

In crowded markets, Buyers evaluate different vendors.
You will NOT be the only one they check out.

So this is your chance to add your POV.

If you don't, someone else will do it.

And a very common way to do so is to have dedicated landing pages for competitor comparisons.

Either visible on the website footer.
Or completely hidden.

But I think if you know that buyers anyway compare you against your biggest competitors.

You can add them to your homepage.

I've seen Cloudtalk doing this.

And I think it's smart.

👇 What's your take?

P.S. If you want to learn how to position yourself against your competitors, send me a DM and I'll give you access to my new positioning&messaging framework.

graphical user interface, text, application, email

If you're SaaS/AI founder planning to launch new product pages on your website, we have something for you 👇

Quick reminder.

Your homepage is

❌ NOT a detailed page about how your product works.

❌ NOT a page purely on 1 specific use case or 1 specific feature.

Instead,

✅ That’s the job of product pages

Compared to your homepage, they come with a few benefits:

1️⃣ Homepage visitors find information that matches their specific needs quickly

2️⃣ Sales and support teams share more information about a specific feature in a snackable format

3️⃣ Search engines and LLMs understand the core capabilities of your product and recommend your tool in their answers.

You can have 3 different types of product pages:

1️⃣ Feature pages

2️⃣ Use-case pages

3️⃣ Customer segment pages (Persona/Teams, Company type, Industry pages)

Each of these pages has a slightly different focus.

✅ Feature pages and Use-case pages focus on ‘how it works’.

✅ Persona/Teams, company type, and industry pages focus on ‘Who it’s for and how this type of audience benefits from using the product’.

What are the best product pages you know?

---
P.S. If you want the 'Perfect Product Pages Guide', send me DM.

Everyone says you can't run a sales-led motion with <10k€ ACV

Unless you...

If you're a founder on the way from 0€ to your first 1-3€ million ARR, it can be fine to be sales-led. 

Because ACV alone is not an indicator if your motion is healthy or not.

At the end, you need to look at:

1️⃣ CAC payback period (fully loaded)

How long does it take you to make money (and recover your CACs).

At the early stage, I would say
🟠 Everything below 12 months is acceptable
🟢 Below 6 months is great.

This might look a bit different if you're bootstrapped.

2️⃣ ARR signed per AE

If you set healthy quotas (e.g. 4-6x on OTE), it can be fine to scale with 'more humans' - at least for the first 2-3 reps.

All this, of course, requires an efficient sales motion.

Win rates over 20%.
Sales cycles < 90 days
Mostly inbound-driven demos.

I'm not saying that PLG or sales-assisted PLG is wrong.

I just say that sales-led can still be okay if you're early.

What do you think?

If your GTM isn’t working, this might be why:

You never made a real positioning decision.

No clear:
• ICP
• category
• competitor set

And without that:
→ your content lacks edge
→ your LinkedIn profile is vague
→ your outreach doesn’t convert

Founders often say:
“I don’t want to be boxed in.”

Reality:
You’re already boxed in by indecision.

Positioning is a bet.
Execution is how you validate it.

Take the bet.
Then improve it.

P.S. I'm launching soon my new ICP & Positioning Framework. Want early access? Drop me a DM.

If you already know how to reach your first 1€ million ARR, these slides are NOT for you ⛔

GTM Foundation Infographics

Sometimes the best planning happens away from the laptop.
I unplugged for 2 weeks.
And it gave me absolute clarity on 2026.

I spent unplugged,
in nature, hiking, slowing down, and being fully present with my wife.

No notifications.
No endless tabs.
Just long walks and clear thoughts.

And while I disconnected from work...
I reconnected with direction.

I used that time to plan my 2026.

And one thing became very clear:

I don't want to add more.

But rather less. More focus.

👉 I’m doubling down on GTM Foundations for AI & SaaS founders.

Not hacks.
Not shiny growth tactics.
But the fundamentals that actually compound.

This means a stronger focus on:

--> Defining who your product is really for

--> Sharpening positioning & messaging that cuts through noise

--> Designing a GTM motion that fits your stage

A few things that are coming soon:

--> ICP Framework V2
--> Sales Demo Blueprint
--> Positioning Framework

More on this soon.

👇 What topics should I cover in 2026?

If you're doing product demos for your SaaS/AI, this one is for you.

Most B2B demos fail not because of the product,
but because the structure is weak.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been building something to fix exactly that:

👉 The B2B SaaS Sales Demo Toolbox

It includes:

1️⃣ Demo Structure (1-pager)
A clear, repeatable flow for strong demos:
Intro → Time Check → Agenda → Discovery → Buy-In Summary → Tailored Demo → Recap → Next Steps

2️⃣ Sales Demo Script
Ready-to-use blurbs for every step of the demo
(no more “uhm... so yeah” moments)

3️⃣ Demo Coaching Feedback Template
A simple way to give (or receive) structured, actionable feedback

4️⃣ 2-Minute Demo Video Script
Perfect if you want a short sales/demo video without overthinking it

I’ve already tested this with 10 SaaS & AI founders over the last weeks.

Right now, I’m opening early access:
✅ Free
🔒 In exchange for qualified feedback

Heads-up:
I plan to turn this into a €50+ product soon once it’s polished.

So this is likely the only time it’ll be available for free.

👉 Want early access?
Comment “Demo Toolbox” and I’ll send it over.
,

One of the biggest GTM mistakes I see founders make:

They wait for perfect data before positioning.

But positioning creates the data.

The moment you decide:
• “We help X”
• “With problem Y”
• “Instead of solution Z”

Suddenly:
→ lead lists get easier
→ your website writes itself
→ content ideas appear
→ competitor research makes sense

Yes, it’s a bet.
Yes, it might be wrong.

If your GTM feels stuck, ask yourself:
👉 “Where am I avoiding a clear bet?”

P.S. Drop me a DM if you want my new Positioning Framework.

Me: "We're working in 2-week GTM sprints"
Founder: "Okay, but what does that look like practically?"

Below you see a real example of a GTM sprint board with one of my clients (Thomas Moussafer  Andy M. ).

We usually use Notion for sprint planning.

And a very simple Kanban board.

To keep things organized, we use:
--> Backlog
--> Ideas for next sprint
--> This sprint planned
(here we add all the initiatives that we want to focus on in the next 2 weeks)
--> In progress
--> Done this sprint

Each Initiative comes with an owner, deadline and related topic cluster.

Within a card, we share:
- templates & best practices
- updates & drafts
- reviews

It's 100% not the most sophisticated project management ever.

But I am 100% convinced.
Keep things simple.
Clarity wins.

👇Let me know. Do you like more 'behind the scenes' content?

---
P.S. Want to improve your user onboarding? Check out Jimo

I’ve asked GTM advisor Björn W. Schäfer what founders misunderstand about ICP. Let’s hear his advice 👇

ICP clarity is not a workshop. It’s a discipline.

Most founders think they know their ICP once they hit early traction. They don’t. They just have a few happy customers.

Segment by outcome:
Who gets the fastest and most measurable ROI?

Look where deals close fastest, with the lowest discount and fastest time-to-value. That’s your real ICP.

Build an Anti-ICP list. Knowing who not to sell to saves massive effort.

👉 Want to hear 15 more expert tips. Read the latest MRR Unlocked episode. Link is in the comments.

One sprint item last week:

Launching evergreen signal-based outbound for my client Jimo

In 2026, I want to share more content about the actual work I do with the founders in my GTM advisory.

The core concept:
--> 2 week GTM sprints
--> Each sprint comes with 3-5 initiatives 

So one sprint item last week was to launch signal-based outreach campaigns.

Step 1 was to decide on the relevant signals.

In our case, we decided on 4 key signals:

--> Negative reviews on competitor tools
(they operate in a highly crowded red ocean)

--> Lookalike of happy customers
(reaching out to companies very similar to their happy customers)

--> Champion getting hired
(We know if they are hiring 'the champion role' the topic the tool helps fix is hot)

--> Website visitors
(proactively reaching out to ICP contacts that are visiting their website)

Step 2

Setting up the tracking of these signals. And pushing relevant leads to the outreach tool (this time GetSales.io - most of the time I recommend lemlist)

--> Snitcher for website visitor

--> manual g2, capterra research for negative reviews (any good tips to track these signals?)

--> LinkedIn job search for hiring (and using Cargo 🧱 to automate this)

--> Ocean.io for lookalike

Step 3 

Building a LinkedIn DM campaign with (2-4 DM) for each signal.

---
Evergreen signal-based outbound is one of 4 key initiatives that we bet on in Q1. 

👇What are your best signal-based outreach campaigns?

I like being a solopreneur.
I really do.

But liking it doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Content, client work, sales calls, finance, launching new products...

Most days, it’s all on my plate.
You switch contexts constantly.
You make decisions alone.

And sometimes you just want to talk to someone who gets it.
That’s why I’m genuinely excited about the solopreneur event on May 8th.

A room full of people wearing the same hats,
dealing with similar challenges.

It's the first time this year. And I'm sure Stephanie Sgura and Christiana Kunzner-Brand will host a master event 🥳 

I’ll be there and share a lot of my learnings.

Who's joining me?

Ranked #1 in Branding | AI Strategist for High-Stakes Communications | I Help You Attract Premium Clients, Stages & Global Media | 35M Views

Iza Montalvo is an award-winning journalist, founder, and speaker whose work has been recognized on the floor of the U.S. Congress.

She works at the intersection of media, reputation, and influence, shaping how leaders, companies, and experts are seen, trusted, and remembered.

Over the past 15+ years, Iza has helped craft public narratives and media strategy for U.S. elected officials, public figures, advised C-suite executives at Fortune 100 and 500 companies, and partnered with product and go-to-market teams to launch and scale complex technologies. 

Her specialty: translating high-stakes ideas, from AI platforms to enterprise systems into human stories people understand and believe.

Her own platform has reached more than 50 million people, building a 115k-strong audience in a single year. 

She has been featured in Times Square, recognized by Forbes as a LinkedIn expert, and ranked #1 globally for branding and positioning by Favikon.

Whether on stage, online, or on the page, Iza challenges one belief:
talent isn’t enough, visibility shapes opportunity.


IZA MONTALVO 🧲

This isn’t persuasion.
It’s how the brain works.

Most offers don’t fail because the product is weak.
They fail because the decision feels hard.

Carousel created by Tom Pestridge.

Every buying decision runs on a few shortcuts.
Ignore them and strong offers stall.

9 principles that shape buying decisions:

✅ Anchoring Bias
✅ The Framing Effect
✅ The Contrast Effect
✅ The Affordability Illusion
✅ The Power of Free
✅ The Rule of 3
✅ The Paradox of Choice
✅ The IKEA Effect
✅ The Endowment Effect

Good marketing isn’t deception.
It’s structure.

It aligns the offer with how decisions happen
so value doesn’t need explanation.

📌 Save this before you price or package anything.
♻️ Share it with someone who builds offers.

NEUROMARKETING CONCEPTS TO KNOW

I lost time trying to “figure things out myself.” Speed matters more than pride.

So in 2023, I made a rule:
If I want to learn something fast, I hire the best.

I treat this as a practical decision.

Jobs are contingent.
Markets are cyclical.
Titles are temporary.
Skills are portable.

I’ve seen people lose income, security, and status.
The ones who recovered weren’t unusually confident or optimistic.
They were competent.

They could do something useful in more than one setting.
They didn’t need ideal conditions to function.
They weren’t dependent on a single system continuing as planned.

One distinction:

You’re not paying for information.
Information is easy to access.

You’re paying to shorten the gap between not knowing and being able to act effectively.

There’s evidence behind this way of thinking.

The World Economic Forum estimates that 44% of workers’ skills will change by 2027, driven by technology and shifting business needs.

Skills that only work in one role or one environment don’t age well.
That’s why I don’t see learning skills as a gamble.
I see it as limiting downside.

When you invest in property, equities, or a role, you rely on external conditions holding.
When you invest in skills, you increase your ability to operate when they don’t.

The filter I use before investing in a skill:

Can I use this in more than one role or industry?
Does it improve how I think and decide, not just what I produce?
Would it still be useful if my current job disappeared?

If the answer is no, I skip it.
If things went wrong tomorrow, I wouldn’t be starting from zero.

I’d be starting with capabilities I can apply again.
That’s the difference.

PS: If you’ve built a skill that paid off later than expected, share it below, those examples are more useful than advice.

♻️ Repost to help spread this message

When I say it's never too late, I mean it because I've lived it.

At 40, I:

got married for the first time
had my second child
quit my corporate career in news
built my first serious business
traveled to my dream city in Europe 
bought my first investment property

At the same time, life didn't stop happening.

I lost a job. 
My husband got sick.
I spent years trying to find the right support for my child with additional needs.
I got scammed online.
I had to reinvent myself.
I found success again. 

If you're new here, I want you to know this:

You're not late.
You're not broken.
You didn't miss your one chance.

Some of us move slower because we're carrying more.
We are figuring out things as we get older and wiser. 

If you're in the middle of a reset, this isn't the end of your story.
It's the part where you realize what you're really made of.

PS: What's one thing you started later than you "should have" and still made happen?

Award-Winning Founder, Journalist & Speaker | Top 1% Creator | Former U.S. Congress Communications Director

Kindness matters more now than it used to. 
Or at least it feels that way. 

Sometimes it’s a smile, a helping hand, or a simple gesture that brightens someone’s day. 

Work has sped up, gone remote, stripped back to tasks and messages and calendars. 
A lot of the human stuff has thinned out.

There’s data behind that feeling. 
Studies on modern workplaces show declines in perceived empathy and connection as work becomes more digital. 

Gallup has found that only a small fraction of employees feel genuinely seen or cared about at work, even when performance stays high.

During remote learning, a professor logged into what he assumed was just another final Zoom class. 

Same faces. 
Same screens. 
Nothing to mark the end.

Then the cameras came on.
One at a time.
Every student holding a handwritten sign.

"Thank you".
"For caring".
"For showing up".
"For treating us like people".

He stopped talking.
Just looked at the screen for a second.

Then said is a whisper: “You’re gonna make me cry.”

Someone recorded it. 
The clip made its way around. 
People shared it, saved it, sent it to each other.

Psychology research explains why moments like this are so memorable. 

Under stress, the brain holds on to emotional experiences more than information. 
Facts blur. 
Feelings don’t.

That semester was full of isolation, deadlines, and glowing rectangles. 
And this is what stayed with people.

Not the material.
Not the grades.
Not the lectures they crammed for.

Being noticed.
This isn’t really about teaching.
It’s about leadership. 

Or maybe it’s about what leadership looks like when all the extras fall away.
If you manage people, build things, mentor someone, the impact you have usually shows up later.

In trust.
In who sticks around.
In moments you never planned for.

That’s the part people carry with them.

🎥 Video credit: Brain Nourishment, IG
♻️ If you believe in kindness, pass it on.

Perspective arbitrage is worth 30% more revenue.
Research on cultural adaptation found this pattern.

Companies that adjust products and messaging see higher revenue growth than those that don’t.

Most companies already have this advantage.
They just don’t see it.

What is perspective arbitrage?

The ability to profit from insights others can't access because you think in multiple cultural contexts.

Inside organizations, this ability is often treated as translation.

I’ve seen the cost of that mistake.

A company planned to enter a new market.
The discussion centered on translation and launch timing.
One person raised a different concern.

The product story didn’t match how customers in that market judged value.
That observation changed the launch plan.
Projected revenue increased threefold.

Nothing new was added.
The decision changed.

So why does this keep getting overlooked?

1/ It gets framed as language
“I can help translate.”
Instead of: “This won’t work the way we expect.”

2/ Differences get set aside
Teams aim for speed and miss context.

3/ Observations don’t carry forward
Adjustments get made in meetings,
then disappear once the decision is done.

When insight isn’t named, it doesn’t influence the next choice.
Seeing across cultures isn’t a soft skill.
It’s how blind spots get caught early.

Many bilingual professionals are hired for language.
The ones who advance earn trust for how they think.

Perspective arbitrage isn’t a personal advantage.
It’s how companies avoid making the wrong call.

Your cultural lens isn't just heritage.
It's a business advantage.

🔁 Share if you've used cultural insights to drive business results
➕ Follow me IZA MONTALVO 🧲 for more

Founder | Top 1% Creator | Journalist | Former U.S. Congress Communications Director | 50M Views

Intelligence opens doors. 
Adaptability keeps you moving.

Someone with less experience just got promoted 
over 5 people who'd been there longer.

Same role. 
Same manager.
Happened over 18 months.

The difference wasn't talent.
It was how they responded when things changed.

When feedback came, they didn't defend it. 

They listened. 
Took notes. 
Applied it without ego.

When a new system rolled out, they learned it first. 
While others complained, they were already fluent.

They copied what worked. 
Emails. 
Meetings. 
How to handle pushback. 

Same personality. 
Upgraded execution.

They admitted gaps early. 

"I haven't used this before. 
I'll learn it this week." 
Speed beats pretending.

They systemized mistakes. 

What went wrong. 
Why it happened. 
What changes next time. 

Fix once. 
Avoid forever.

Research shows 64% of senior leaders say: 
a growth mindset enhances productivity and performance. 
Source (TalentLMS)
and 94% of employees would stay at a company longer 
if it invested in their career development.  
Source (LinkedIn)

The pattern is clear: 
Internal promotions happen 20% faster than external hires 

PS: What's one habit you picked up from watching someone else work?
♻️ Share with your network of high-performers

Most leadership misses one simple truth:
Connection isn’t one-size-fits-all.

My 9-year old son’s teacher proves this every morning.
At the classroom door, she gives her students five ways to be greeted:

High-five
Hug
Fist bump
Smile and nod
“Good morning”

That’s it.

No pressure.
No forcing energy.
Just choice.

What matters isn’t the options themselves
it’s what they mean.

👉 You get to decide how you want to be seen today.

Some mornings kids want closeness.
Some mornings they want space.
Some mornings they just want acknowledgment without attention.

And every choice is respected.

That small moment does something powerful:
It gives students agency before the day even starts.

When people are acknowledged in ways that work for them, engagement follows.

They participate more.
They take risks.
They trust.

It made me think about leadership.

How often do we decide for people how connection should look?
How often do we mistake our preference for a universal rule?
The best leaders don’t demand sameness.

They design for difference.
Because confidence doesn’t grow from being managed.
It grows from being met where you are.

♻️ Worth sharing with someone who leads people.

Some fires don’t burn you all at once.
They warm you first 🔥 

You stand close.
You tell yourself it’s manageable.

You adjust instead of stepping back.

Until one day you realize...
you’re not tired.
You’re scorched.

I used to stay near things that were silently burning me.
I thought endurance was a virtue.
It isn’t.

There’s research that backs this up.

Studies on chronic stress show the body reacts before the mind does: 
elevated cortisol, muscle tension, sleep disruption, long before people consciously label a situation as “toxic” or unsustainable.

That’s why logic rarely gets you out first.
Your nervous system tries to.

What finally changed things wasn’t a conversation.
Or closure.
Or an apology.

Relief came the moment I stepped out of the burn radius.

That’s emotional intelligence.
Not reading the room
reading the heat in your own body.

Those Sunday night knots?
That’s not anxiety.
That’s information.

Psychologists call it somatic signaling, the body flagging prolonged threat when the mind is still negotiating.

Signs you’re standing in the fire:

🚩 You explain it more than you enjoy it
🚩 You’re depleted, not restored
🚩 You don’t recognize who you’re becoming
🚩 Every interaction feels like careful movement
🚩 You’re giving fuel, getting smoke back

Leaving doesn’t mean you failed to control it.
It means you stopped pretending you could.

Sometimes, the bravest thing you can do 
is walk away and chose yourself.

♻️ Repost to share this message with your network.

Ranked #1 in Branding & Positioning | AI Strategist for High-Stakes Communications | I Help You Attract Premium Clients, Stages & Global Media

Your biggest limit isn’t skill. 
It’s self-perception.

Before effort.
Before chances.
Before experience.

I didn’t apply for leadership roles
because I didn’t see myself there yet.

That took me longer to admit than I’d like.

You don’t try everything you can do.
You try what feels right for someone like you.

That starts early.

The jobs you apply for.
The roles you raise your hand for.
The rooms you expect to be in.

Over time, this view becomes familiar.

You learn what you’re known for.
You learn what people come to you for.
You learn what feels normal to reach for.

Then something bigger shows up.

A role with more responsibility.
A chance to lead instead of help.
An opportunity that could change things.

You pause.
You read it twice.
You tell yourself to wait.
You think you need more time.

So you stay where you are.
The work stays busy.
The results stay good.

But nothing really changes.

While that view stayed the same:

Skills stayed boxed
Growth slowed
Opportunities passed you by

Nothing broke.
Nothing failed.
That’s how limits work.

They don’t stop you.
They guide what you try.

People who move ahead see themselves doing more.

They apply sooner.
They speak up earlier.
They step into roles they grow into later.

That starts with how they see themselves.

Different view.
Different actions.
Different results.

Change how you see yourself,
and the line moves.

Little by little.
You reach higher.
You stay in the room.

You try things that once felt out of reach.
That’s how limits lift.

PS: What’s one limit you’re ready to question?
♻️ Share this with someone who needs it.

A bad boss makes weekdays hell. 
A great one gives you Sundays off. 

I’ve worked for managers who made me dread Mondays.
And managers who made me want to take on things I didn’t feel ready for.

The difference wasn’t title or tenure.

7 signs you’re working with a great manager:

They remember what you told them weeks ago.
They ask how it turned out without checking notes.

When you mess up, the first question is:
“What do you need to fix this?”

They back you in rooms you’re not in.
You hear about it later, casually, from someone else.

Bad news doesn’t trigger panic.
It starts with: “Walk me through what happened.”

They give you work that makes you pause before saying yes.
The kind that forces you to rise.

Their one-on-ones aren’t updates.
They’re honest conversations about what’s stuck and what’s next.

When they’re wrong, they say it.
Out loud in front of others.
Then they move on.

The best managers don’t just manage work.
They change what you think you can do.

If you've got one, appreciate them. 
If you don't, become one. 

PS: What’s one thing a great manager did that you still remember?
♻️ Share if you believe good leaders deserve recognition.

5 mindsets I see in every successful person 
(you’re not born with this)

95% of people want to be high performers.
Only 5% install the mindset required to sustain it.

The difference isn’t effort.
It’s how they interpret pressure, failure, and time.

I’ve had to consciously rewire these myself, especially after hitting plateaus where “working harder” stopped working.

Here are 5 mindset reframes that separate winners from everyone else:

Reframe #1: Failure
Every setback is data.
Every obstacle reveals something.

❌ "I'm afraid of making mistakes."
✅ "Mistakes show me what to fix."

Reframe #2: Discipline
Pressure isn't the enemy.
Avoidance is.

❌ "I don't feel like doing it."
✅ "I do what needs to be done."


Reframe #3: Time
You don't find time.
You protect it.

❌ "I don't have time."
✅ "I protect what matters most."


Reframe #4: Success
Success isn't motivation.
It's repetition.

❌ "I hope this works."
✅ "I make it work through action."


Reframe #5: Opportunity
Momentum beats timing.
Action beats waiting.

❌ "I'll start when it's right."
✅ "I start now."

Your mindset determines your ceiling.
Reframe how you think.
Change what you achieve.

♻️ Repost this if it helped.

>>5 MINDSET REFRAMES OF HIGH-PERFORMERS<<

The best KPI no one talks about 👇🏽
because you can’t measure it

It’s how your team feels on Monday morning.
You won’t find it in a dashboard.
It won’t show up in a report.

But you notice it straight away.
It’s there when people walk in.
In the energy they bring.

In whether ideas get shared or kept to themselves.
In how people treat each other before the meeting even starts.
That tells you more than most metrics ever will.

What tends to move that needle:

1/ Keeping people interested
Not just busy.
Not just ticking tasks.
Engaged in what they’re building.

2/ Keeping people informed
Sharing the why, not just the plan.
Letting people see the bigger picture, not just their lane.

3/ Keeping people involved
In decisions that affect their work.
In changes they’ll have to live with.
In wins they helped create.

4/ Keeping people inspired
Through trust.
Through space.
Through leadership that doesn’t rely on pressure.

You can track every number in the business
and still miss the important one.

How many people want to be here.
Look at how your team show up in the morning.
That’s the real dashboard.

Old thinking built control.
New thinking builds outcomes.

Good people don’t leave bad companies.
They leave bad leaders.

Treat people like a risk and you’ll churn talent.
Treat them like an asset and they’ll grow the business.

This isn’t a culture debate.
It shows up in revenue. 

Here's what works:

→ Hire for behavior, train for skill
→ Give people freedom to get results
→ Apply the same rules to everyone

The business owners I work with get this.
They don't build places where people count down to Friday.
They build places where people want to show up.

This change is happening now.

The best leaders aren't building better companies.
They're building places where people grow.

PS: Which shift has made the biggest difference where you work?
♻️ Share this if you agree

"If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed."
William H. McRaven

If you can’t do the small things right
You’ll never do the big things right 

That’s a Navy SEAL lesson to remember. 

Admiral William McRaven said it best in a commencement speech that has been watched over 100 million times.

It comes down to one simple idea:

Make your bed.

It sounds silly.
It isn’t.

True leadership isn’t built in big moments.
It’s built in what you do every day.

When small things slip, bigger things follow.
1/ Start with one finished task
Before email.
Before meetings.
Before anyone needs you.
Do one small thing you can complete.
You start the day with a win.

2/ Use hard moments to pull people together
In SEAL training, the toughest tasks can’t be done alone.

When something breaks:
→ Don’t avoid it
→ Don’t carry it solo
→ Bring someone in and work through it

Teams don’t bond when things are easy.
They bond when things feel challenging.

3/ Notice what others skip
Details tell the truth.
What you check shows what you care about.
People trust leaders who pay attention.

4/ Say what didn’t work
In training, failure was normal.
What mattered was owning it and learning fast.
When leaders talk about mistakes, people stop hiding.
Trust goes up.

5/ Make one person feel seen
In the hardest moments, one comment kept people from quitting.
Leadership lives here.
In checking in.
In noticing effort.
In showing up when it’s uncomfortable.

The gap between good and great isn’t talent.
It’s doing the small things.
Every day.

video credit: IG

♻️ Share this with your network of high-performers

Built your credibility face-to-face.
Keeping it offline is the bottleneck.

I analyzed 50+ leaders’ online presence last year.

Not to study content.
To see where opportunity breaks.

The pattern showed up across the same roles:

📣 Investors.
📣 Executives.
📣 Founders.

People with track records.
Very little to verify in public.

That gap creates credibility leaks.
If you’re missing deals, it’s usually coming from 1 of these 4 places:

1/ Your wins are hard to find
Media features buried
Exits never named
Board seats invisible
If someone has to work to understand your background, they won’t.

2/ Your language sounds like everyone else’s
Careful phrasing
Safe opinions
Nothing that shows judgment
You don’t look wrong.
You look replaceable.

3/ Your presence doesn’t match your level
Generic posts
Helpful tips
No authority markers
You wouldn’t hire this version of yourself.

4/ Your footprint is too light to confirm influence
Search doesn’t validate you
So decisions move on without you

Here’s what that costs in practice:

❌ Investor intros that don’t progress
❌ Board seats that go to visible peers
❌ Speaking invites that never land
 
When leaders fix this, the shift is predictable.

✅ Inbound increases.
✅ Demand rises.
✅ Opportunities start finding them.

Same experience.
Clear positioning.

If you want to close the leaks:

1 / Look yourself up like capital would
First three results only
Do they show relevance?

2 / Put proof where attention goes
Headline: the win that opens doors
About section: the track record you already have
Once a month: explain one real outcome

3 / Remove corporate or technical language
Write how you speak in closed rooms
State what you believe
Let judgment show

4 / Leave authority trails
Share how you decide
Break down calls you’ve made
Show the method behind results

Staying quiet doesn’t protect your name.
It makes it easier to pass over.

PS: Where is your credibility leaking?
♻️ Share with your network of high-achievers

>>Your Perception Capital VS Your Intellectual Capital<<

The mistake doesn’t define you.
It’s what you do next.

This video shows that.
The chair breaks.
The performance continues.

There’s no pause or restart.
The movement changes.
The routine carries on.

That pattern shows up in real work.
When something goes wrong in front of people, they don’t stay on the error.
They watch what happens next.

This lines up with what Atul Gawande describes in The Checklist Manifesto after studying surgeons, pilots, and emergency teams.

Mistakes are expected.
What counts is whether the work keeps moving.

People tend to notice three things:

1/ does it stall or continue
2/ does form hold or break
3/ does ownership stay visible

That’s what shapes judgment.

When something breaks in public, decide fast:
what still works
what needs to change

Then move forward.
The error passes.
The response stays.

Everyone has a version of this moment.
VC: motivatengrwvin

♻️ Repost to help spread this message

Iza Montalvo 🧲

Ranked #1 in Branding | Award-Winning Journalist Turned Founder | Ex-US Congress Director | Atract Premium Clients, Global Media & Stages 🧲

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