David Fastuca

CEO & Co-Founder, Growth Forum | Proven Sales Systems Add Up To 57% More Deals in 8 Weeks or Less.

When sales teams get stuck, they search everywhere for answers.

Google. ChatGPT. YouTube.

What they usually find is recycled advice:

“Follow up more.”

“Build rapport.”

“Handle objections.”

Tips that sound good in theory but miss the context of your industry, your buyer, and your deal.

By the time reps finish searching, the opportunity is gone.

The moment to act has passed.

Coach Pilot fixes that.

It gives your team real-time guidance while the deal is still alive, not post-mortem.

The right move, in the right moment, directly in their workflow.

That’s how top teams turn hesitation into control and pipeline into revenue.

Find out more: https://www.coachpilot.com/

CMO & Co-Founder

150+ founders walk into a room.

No, this isn't a joke setup.

(Okay, maybe it is.)

Next week I'm on a panel at The First Move, and if you're trying to figure out sales without losing your mind, this one's for you.

Here's my lane:
→ How early-stage B2B teams build a sales engine that actually runs 
→ $75M in exits, what I learned that wasn't in the playbook 
→ Sales mistakes I see founders make constantly (ps made them too) 
→ Quick wins that move pipeline faster than you'd expect

A bit about me:
Built and sold companies. 
Now building Coach Pilot. 
Coach founders on sales and AI every week.

The pattern?
Founders don't lack ideas. 

They lack:
Clear next steps
Honest feedback
People who know how lonely this actually is

I care about rooms where "here's where I'm stuck" isn't followed by awkward silence.

The First Move is that room.

What you'll get:
→ Tools you can deploy immediately
→ Frameworks from real deals, not case studies
→ A network that actually follows up

Come join me Desmond John, Tara Salmon Kate Pollard, Grant Gwynne and Megan Luttrell

I'll be the one making sales jokes nobody asked for. 

Link's in the comments.👇

CEO, coachpilot.com • 2 Exits (75M Value) • Revenue Leaders Podcast, Co-Host

I stopped relying on inbound and outbound alone. 

My last 10 deals came from partners I treated like teammates.

At first, I pushed harder on email.

More sequences.
More LinkedIn messages.

Pipeline grew a bit.

Then stalled.

I felt stuck.

Heavy targets.
Same accounts.
Same buyer list.

No one wins that game.

I tried a different move.

I pulled my last 10 closed deals.
I asked one question: who else already had access?

I saw a pattern.

3–4 companies sold into the same accounts.
Same champions.
Same budget cycles.

They were already inside.

I reached out and said:

Let’s act as one team.

Monthly call.
Shared intel.
Warm intros both ways.
Mutual success plans for key accounts.

I helped them hit their number.

Market insights.
Deal strategy.
Air cover with my contacts.

In return, they opened doors I could not reach.

Those partners became my ecosystem.

Not a “program”.
A small crew I went deep with.

That crew filled my next quarter.

If you carry a bag and feel stuck in outbound, pull your last 10 deals and find the people who were already there.

Link in the COMMENTS to this episode with the Master of Partnerships Bryan Williams

Your reps don’t need another full-day training.

They need one 30‑minute call review that changes how they sell this week.

I learned this the hard way.

I ran full-day workshops.
Big decks.
Role plays.
Everyone said “great session” on the day.

Next week

Same calls
Same weak questions
Same “send me the deck” endings

The truth is:

- Reps cannot use 20 ideas from one long day.
- They can use one upgrade from one real call.

Here is how I run a 30‑minute review that sticks

- First 5 minutes
- AI finds key moments in the call.
- I pick one short clip that matters.

Next 5 minutes

- We watch the clip together.
- I pause at the key second.
- I ask the rep: “What do you see here?”

Now the work starts

We talk about the buyer.
Their risk.
Their power.
Their emotion.

I help the rep see the story under the words.

Then we shape one clear upgrade line

For example
How to open price.
How to ask a deeper question.
How to set one strong next step.

We write the new line together in simple words.

Last 10 minutes

We practice only that moment.
Three fast reps.
We swap words until the rep feels calm, not tense.

End of session

AI logs the focus, the new line, the next call to test it.
We track what happens on live deals.

The Result:
- Reps stop fearing call reviews.
- They start asking for them.

We built Coach Pilot to make sessions like this easy to run at scale.

If you want to see how our platform handles call reviews and the guidance it gives, check the link in my profile.

If you vanished tomorrow, which customer would miss you first?

Now ask: why did they choose you in the first place?

You think you know the answer.

Product.
Price.
Features.
Relationships.

This is "Noise".

When teams slow down and ask the hard question, a new story starts to show.

Customers say things like:
“You called when others sent links.”
“You listened when others pitched.”
“You made the next step clear.”

Real reasons.

Value lives in the small moments they remember.
Not the pitch you rehearsed.
Not the slide you love.
Not the feature you keep naming.

I ask sellers and leaders to do one simple thing.

Call three customers and say:
“I am not selling. I want to learn. Why did you choose us first? Why do you stay?”

Then write every word they say.

Patterns appear.

You start to see the real job you do in their world.
You see where you give safety, not software.
You see where you give clarity, not content.

From there, everything gets sharp.

Positioning.
Messaging.
Sales calls.
Product roadmap.

All change when you sell the reason customers chose you, not the story you tell yourself.

Start with one call today.

P.S. I'm on a journey to create the most useful platform to help sellers and leaders win more revenue in less time. 

If this interests you, check out my profile for more info.

Sales is getting harder.

Buyers are more informed. 
Cycles are longer. 
Reps are burning out.

The gap between top performers and everyone else keeps widening.

Here's what closes that gap: a sales playbook.

Not a static PDF that collects dust. 

A living system that: 
→ Captures your best sales practices 
→ Trains your team to execute them consistently 
→ Guides reps through every deal in real-time

We've spent months rebuilding our program to help you create exactly this.

Want free access? 

Fill out a 5-minute survey and it's yours—a $10,000+ value, on us.

👉 https://lnkd.in/gFm_Kyxy
♻️ Repost this to share with sales leaders who need it.

Sales and Marketing at CBF Labels

I'm passionate about sharing content & ideas on sales + marketing to help you level up your professional knowledge.

Outside my main role, I've been helping Ecommerce SaaS and AI companies with distribution and promotion.

If you’re looking to advertise to my audience, please send me a message so we can chat further. Thanks!

Jamie Dimond

Some years don’t reward you.
They prepare you.

The hardest years
quietly build the strongest versions of you. 
 
Trust the process you survived.

Image credit: SeekWiser_ on Twitter/X

Here’s something I learned later than I should have:

Being good isn’t always enough.

You can do solid work.
Hit the goals.
Show up prepared.

And still feel overlooked.

For a long time, I thought the answer was:
Work harder
Be more patient
Prove myself longer

But that wasn’t it.

The truth is, skill only compounds in the right environment.

In the wrong place:
Good work gets normalized
Extra effort becomes expected
Your ceiling gets set for you

In the right place:
Your strengths make sense
Your growth gets noticed
Your value actually increases

This isn’t about ego.
It’s about alignment.

Sometimes the problem isn’t your ability.
It’s the room you’re in.

And leaving isn’t quitting.
It’s choosing a place where your work can breathe.

Image credit: Mind_Essentials on Twitter/X

People call it luck.
They don’t see the attempts.

What looks like "overnight success"
is usually years of quiet failure stacked on top of each other.

Missed shots.
Rejected ideas.
Campaigns that didn’t land.
Pitches that went nowhere.
Work that never made it past the draft.

That part rarely gets shared.

But here’s the truth most people skip:

Progress doesn’t come from getting it right early.
It comes from being willing to get it wrong repeatedly.

Every win is just a failure that stayed long enough to learn.
Every breakthrough is built on things that didn’t work first.

So if you’re in the messy middle right now:
trying, 
testing, 
tweaking, 
doubting 

You’re not behind.
You’re doing the work.

And that work compounds.

Don’t call it luck.
Call it reps.

Passion isn’t extra.
It’s the multiplier.

I’ve seen average work win
simply because someone cared more than expected.

Same role.
Same tools.
Different energy.

People feel that.

You can’t fake it.
And you can’t outsource it.

As Christian Dior put it:
Whatever you do - do it with passion.

Every logo tells a story.
But not every logo speaks the same language.

Each style carries its own purpose, personality, and visual strategy —
from simple symbols to expressive characters.

Understanding the 7 logo types helps brands choose how they want to be seen and remembered.

🖼 Pictorial
Instant recognition. One symbol becomes the brand.

🔤 Lettermark
Simplicity wins. Ideal when the name is long but memorability matters.

✍️ Wordmark
Clarity first. The name is the brand, powered by typography.

🔗 Combination
Maximum flexibility. Text builds trust, symbols scale everywhere.

🛡 Emblems
Heritage and authority. Feels established and timeless.

🔺 Abstract
Meaning over literal form. Global, adaptable, open to interpretation.

🙂 Mascot
Emotional connection. Brands feel human, friendly, and memorable.

A strong logo isn’t about following trends.
It’s about choosing the visual language that fits your brand’s voice, audience, and ambition.

Credit: Kenny Song

👉 Skills matter, but a positive attitude matters more.

You can’t build a great culture with negative energy, no matter how talented your team is.
(Credit: Dr. Kevin Ham)

When building a team or scaling a business, many focus solely on talent. 
But here’s a hard truth: 
Skills without the right energy are like a beautiful car without fuel.

Working with talented people who carry negative energy can drain your motivation and damage your company culture. 

It’s easy to overlook this because their expertise shines, but the cost is real—
↳ Morale drops
↳ Trust erodes, and 
↳ Innovation stalls.

On the other hand, kind people with positive energy are priceless. 
They bring solutions instead of complaints, 
Collaboration over competition, and 
Momentum to every project.

Their positivity can inspire others and elevate your team’s performance.

Remember: 
You can teach skills, but you can’t teach someone to be kind or to bring positive energy into a room. 

Choose your collaborators wisely. 
Build a team based on values, energy, and the human heart, and success will flow naturally.

Focus on who people are, not just what they do. 
That’s where true success begins.

♻️ Repost to share the positive energy!

Success isn’t just skill.

It’s discipline.

10 things that require zero talent:

 1. Showing up on time
 
 ↳ Being late is a choice. So is being reliable.
 ↳ Punctuality shows respect for others and yourself.
 
 2. Giving full effort
 
 ↳ No shortcuts. No half-measures.
 ↳ If you’re going to do it, do it right.
 
 3. Having a strong work ethic
 
 ↳ Talent without discipline is wasted potential.
 ↳ The hardest worker wins in the long run.
 
 4. Bringing positive energy
 
 ↳ Be the person others want on their team.
 ↳ Energy is contagious. Choose wisely.
 
 5. Staying prepared
 
 ↳ Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready.
 ↳ You'll raise to your level of preparation.
 
 6. Going beyond expectations
 
 ↳ The bare minimum gets you nowhere.
 ↳ The extra mile has no traffic.
 
 7. Keeping an open mind
 
 ↳ Be coachable. Feedback isn’t criticism, it’s growth.
 ↳ The moment you stop learning, you start declining.
 
 8. Showing professionalism
 
 ↳ Your attitude is your business card.
 ↳ The way you do anything is the way you do everything.
 
 9. Maintaining strong body language
 
 ↳ Confidence is seen before it’s heard.
 ↳ How you carry yourself sets the tone.
 
10. Being kind
 
 ↳ Tough and kind aren’t opposites.
 ↳ Long-term success is built on relationships.
 

You don’t need talent to master these.

Just discipline and a decision.

♻️ Repost if this resonates 

Credit: Noemi Kis✨

Life as a marketer:

Credit: Rana Bassiouni

The #1 thing that separates the best CEOs from the rest:

It's not their vision.
It's not their strategy.
It's not even their intelligence.

It's 6 decisions they make every single day.

Most people think being a CEO is about the big moves.

The acquisitions.
The product launches.
The inspiring speeches.

I used to think that too.

But after years of leading teams, I've learned the truth:

Your company is shaped by the small decisions you make repeatedly.

Not the ones that make headlines.

The ones nobody sees.

Here are the 6 that matter most:

1️⃣ Who you hire

One wrong hire drains everyone around them. One right hire elevates the entire team. No decision compounds faster than this one.

2️⃣ Who you fire

Keeping the wrong person is a decision too. Every day you wait, your best people are watching. And wondering why.

3️⃣ What you tolerate

Low standards spread like wildfire. What you accept today becomes normal tomorrow. Culture isn't built by what you say. It's built by what you allow.

4️⃣ What you say no to

Every yes costs you something. Strategy isn't just what you choose to do. It's what you choose NOT to do. Protect your focus like your future depends on it.

5️⃣ Where you spend your time

Your calendar never lies. It reveals your real priorities. If it doesn't match your goals, nothing else will.

6️⃣ Who you are when things get tough

Pressure doesn't build character. It reveals it. Your team will forget the wins. They'll never forget how you made them feel in the hard times.

You're already making these decisions.

Whether you realize it or not.

Every person you keep is a decision.

Every meeting you attend is a decision.

Every behavior you tolerate is a decision.

The question isn't whether you're making them.

It's whether you're making them on purpose.

The best CEOs don't leave these to chance.

They treat them as sacred.

Because they know the truth:

Your company will never outgrow the standards you set at the top.

Which of these defines a CEO's legacy most?

♻ If this resonates, repost to inspire others.

Credit: Eric Partaker

The best thing you can do in 2026 is to NOT set resolutions.

There’s a reason why our New Year resolutions disappear by February.

Because they’re focused on the outcome; with factors outside of our control.
So we turn the focus inwards.

Want to publish a book?

Don’t set that goal. 
Instead, set a habit of writing everyday.

Want to lose weight?

Don’t set a target weight. 
Instead, set a habit of working out everyday.

Want to get a great job?

Don’t set a job goal. 
Instead, set a habit of connecting with people on LinkedIn and Twitter everyday.

May 2026 be YOUR year.

Where you live it on your terms, at your pace, to your strengths.

May you fall in love with yourself.
And see yourself for what you always were.

YOU.

Not anyone else.
Just authentically you.

Wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Credit: Ankur Warikoo

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The Battle

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