David Fastuca

Growth Forum

We help you build pipeline and expand customers–faster. Growth Forum is a leading sales learning platform providing a continuous live learning solution for high-growth companies.
‍
The traditional education system has let B2B companies down, with a complete lack of formal, structured education in sales and go-to-market.
‍
It means 100 million+ people across the world are learning on the job, and every person responsible for revenue is at constant risk of missing their targets and often do.
‍
Growth Forum is solving this skills crisis by bringing together by teaching structured, live online courses with high learning design principles.

Growth Forum's "Sales OS" program has generated over 547 million in new deals for its members since launching in May 2023.

CEO & Co-Founder

"How To Sell" Podcast

I'm a proud co-host along with Luigi Prestinenzi of the "How To Sell" podcast, a top-rated business podcast. Each week, we discuss the world of B2B sales and how you can apply what's working to your business to win more deals.

Top 1.5% Business Podcast (Co-Host)

The Sales Playbook

A step-by-step playbook on how to create a sales operating system that creates a flood of qualified deals. Written By Luigi Prestinenzi & David Fastuca

The B2B Sales Playbook: Launching March 2025

Warmly,

Warmly is the first autonomous revenue orchestration platform purpose built for SMB sized revenue teams. The platform orchestrates metadata from sales enablement tools, B2B intent, and enrichment tools to identify, track, and connect with website visitors who are ready to convert. By automatically aggregating data and integrating insights from various platforms, Warmly orchestrates the most effective next step to drive qualified conversations for the sales team.

Investor & Advisor

Entrepreneurs'​ Organization

Board Member

Entrepreneurs' Organization, or EO, is one of the world's largest mastermind groups, enabling more than 13,000 like-minded entrepreneurs to learn from and help each other via online forums, events, and educational and leadership growth opportunities.

EO Member

The Startup Network

The Startup Network is Australia's largest startup network. No matter where you are in your journey as a startup founder, you can be sure to find the support you need with an amazing community of like-minded founders.

Sales Program Mentor & Coach

Locomote

Founding Shareholder

July 2020 - We aquired 100% of Locomote back from Travelport.com.

Locomote is a technology-led corporate travel agency. Streamlining everything to do with booking and managing business travel. Into one easy-to-use platform, backed by our 5-star travel agents.

CMO & Co-Founder

Post 100% sale in 2016 and staying on for a 2-year handover of Locomote to Travelport.com I left the business in 2018.

Post Acquisition

Travelport.com acquires the majority stake of Locomote and pivots business from a technology-led end-to-end travel company to a technology platform reselling it to travel agencies globally.

Locomote rebranded as Travelport Locomote and becomes a product within Travelport.com.

2015 - Travelport.com (NYSE: TVPT) acquires an additional 3% of Locomote.com.
2016 - Travelport.com (NYSE: TVPT) acquires the remaining 48% of Locomote.com.

Leading product strategy, technology, engineering teams, concept development and overall direction of the now Travelport Locomote.

Co-Founder / Chief Marketing & Experience Officer

2014 - Travelport.com (NYSE: TVPT) acquires 49% of Locomote.com.

Locomote was developed to change the current travel management landscape by empowering organisations to have complete control and visibility of their global travel programme and travel supply chain. 

A low cost, low touch solution which reduces the reliance on traditional bookings, Locomote creates a completely new automated and innovative solution for travel management.

With a global reach, built as a scalable platform, Locomote is the only truly corporate-specific travel platform in the market with access to the largest array of travel content.

Fathom (YC W21)

Founded by Richard White, Ex-Founder & CEO of UserVoice.com, Fathom is a free app that records, transcribes & highlights your calls so you can focus on the conversation instead of taking notes.

Advisor

Venezia FC

Investor & Shareholder

Melbourne Victory Football Club

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

I started my entrepreneurial journey at just twelve years old. 

Back then, I used the school computer lab to make my business cards, and I sold designs to friends and family.

I’ve been obsessed with turning pressure into productivity ever since.

As the CEO & Co-Founder of Growth Forum and former Co-Founder of Locomote, I’ve learned what it takes to scale a business under pressure.

I know the challenges founders face.

You’re juggling endless tasks while also being relied on to prospect new leads and close deals.

Sales is the lifeblood of your business, after all.

That’s why we built our Sales OS program.

It’s a step-by-step blueprint for rapidly growing your sales while slashing your working hours in half.

Our goal is to equip you with the strategies and tactics that have helped countless businesses grow and thrive, even amidst challenging economic conditions.

I bet you're thinking:

“Will these methods work for me? Are online courses and coaching actually effective?”

The short answer: Yes. Otherwise, I would be in trouble ;-)

Our tailored approach meets your unique challenges and delivers real, tangible results.

So if you’re a SaaS or B2B founder ready to overcome sales hurdles, build a repeatable system, and create an overflowing pipeline…

👉 Head to my Featured Section and book your Free Sales Audit

Your team won’t do what you say.
They’ll do what you repeat.

Sales leadership today is not about more pressure.
It is about consistent direction.

Most GTM leaders still believe performance drops because of low motivation.

In reality, it drops because there is no operating rhythm.

I worked with a VP of Sales who adjusted strategy every few days.

The team wasn’t resisting change. They were reacting to chaos.

No one knew what “good execution” looked like on a daily level.

We rebuilt the foundation.

Here’s the exact structure:
• One clear daily focus for every rep
• 3-minute morning syncs using deal signals from Coach Pilot
• Weekly 1:1s based on actual behavior, not anecdotes

Within 3 weeks, pipeline velocity increased.
Call quality improved.
Forecast accuracy stabilized.

Progress is not the result of big pushes.
It is built through daily repetition.

That’s what real sales leadership looks like.
Clarity. Rhythm. And the discipline to protect both.

If you want the exact framework we used, DM me or comment CLOSE and I’ll send it to you for free.

CEO @ Coach Pilot • 2 SaaS Exits (75M Value) • Building an AI Coaching Agent That Can Help You Do The Same.

You think your team is underperforming.
But it’s not about effort. Or talent. Or product knowledge.

Here’s what reps are actually missing:
1) Clear next steps
→ Most reps leave calls with vague ideas, not committed actions.
→ Your system should make “what happens next” painfully obvious.

2) Buyer signals
→ Deals don’t stall because buyers disappear.
→ They stall because reps miss what buyers actually do.

3)Timing alignment
→ You don’t lose to better products.
→ You lose to better timing.

4) Follow-up rhythm
→ Top reps don’t “remember” to follow up.
→ They operate inside a rhythm that never lets momentum die.

5) Not your product
→ They’re not buying your CRM, your deck, or your logo.
→ They’re buying a system that helps them move 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

Most B2B teams close just 1 out of 5 deals.

Not because reps don’t try, but because they operate inside broken systems.

In SaaS, high-ticket deals now take up to 6 months and hundreds of interactions.

Here’s what this could look like for you.
You close 1 out of 3.
Your sales cycle drops from 6 months to 3.
Your reps stop guessing and start following clear instructions at the right time.

If you want to apply this framework and system, comment CLOSE and I’ll show you exactly how to do it for free.

“Let’s regroup next week”
= buyer slipped away.

That one sentence has killed more deals than bad demos.

Calls end without direction or urgency.
Everyone assumes the deal is safe. It isn’t.
Teams miss small shifts in intent.

They don’t act when the buyer starts pulling back.
The deal stalls. Follow-ups get ignored.
By the time you react, it’s too late.

One team had 17 mid-stage deals.

Coach Pilot flagged 11 at risk based on live signals.

We showed them exactly when to shift the ask or change timing.

Half of those deals closed.

What made the difference was a simple shift in how they ran the calls:
• Detect hesitation early
• Shift focus mid-call
• Confirm next steps before the call ends

Close rate jumped from 19% to 38% in 21 days.

Comment Coach Pilot or DM me and I’ll show you how it works in your environment including which deals you can restart or re-engage that you don’t even realize are still alive.

Kim Willis

Persuasion Pursuit

Got Skills But Minimal Sales?  The Shocking Truth About Most Experts…….

Most coaches, consultants and self employed ‘experts’ are great at what they do.  But here is where they often fall down: they’re not so good at finding clients.  If you’re like a lot of coaches, experts and creative people I talk to, sales and marketing is not a comfortable activity for you.

You just want to do what you do best – work with quality clients – and make a difference for them.

👉 Is This You?

Maybe you’ve got technical skills (SEO, web design, even accounting), or creative skills (writing, blogging etc), or maybe you're a coach.  Irrespective, you just want a better, easier way to find clients.  Without having to sell and hustle like a salesman

👉 A Better Way to Attract Clients

Here is where you want to be:  the expert and authority in your niche.  Get it right and people will beat a path to your door.  Mess it up and people will run a mile.
 
 ****Special Offer to My Linked In Connections****

If you want to attract ‘A’ class clients to you like bees to a honey pot, you should talk to me.  I’ve been using these techniques for years in my own business.  Techniques that enabled me to quit the rat race and travel the world as a digital nomad.  

So here is my $500 offer for you……

I will give you up to 1 hour of my time (by phone, Zoom or Skype) for brainstorming, including specific strategies on expert positioning and client acquisition.  I’ll always be focused on skyrocketing your income by showing you how to attract clients who pay you top dollar.  

All I ask for in return for this free help session is a testimonial and the opportunity to build a valuable relationship.

Results matter, so that will be my focus with you – to give you valuable ideas you can use straight away.

👉 Contact Me

Link me in (see above).

OR You can contact me here:
Phone:
USA: 310 601 8528
Australia: 07 3102 3572
Skype: kimwillishere
Email: kim@persuasionpursuit.com

Partner

Willis Marketing

Director

Story-based content for Hot Leads, Authority, and Trust | Ghostwriting for Time Poor Experts, Founders and C-Suite Execs | Soft Skills Specialist | Cut Through the Online Noise NOW

If you're an expert with something to say, shout about it.

But you need an engaged audience.

No audience = no clients

How will you do it?

Different ways but here are my favs:

1. Podcasts
2. YouTube
3. LinkedIn
4. Website
5. Email list
6. Live Events
7. Collaborations

All good, but it's not as easy as it looks, but I guess you know that already.

The issue is not the method; it's more about execution than anything else.  

How will you get the job done? 

Will you need help?

If you're a do-it-yourself person, fine.  How's that been going for you?

Look, if you don't fix it, here is what will happen:

- You won't get enough traffic
- You won't generate warm leads
- You won't attract high-value clients
- Your dreams will be put on hold
- Hopes will be dashed
  
 I can help you:

• Build trust

• Establish authority in your industry.

• Give clarity about what you do and who you help.

• Inspire a prospect to work with you

I've helped hundreds of people generate more traffic, leads and clients.  We do it with smart traffic and relationship-building methods.

For example, I redesigned Avon's LinkedIn About section and newsfeed content for his Relevate business. Views increased by 500% within two weeks, and he got a new client.

Help starts at $395.  Send me a message. 

► 𝟭𝟮𝟭 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝟲 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗛𝗦, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗡𝗢 𝗔𝗗𝗦

"Kim helped me improve my content, sales copy, and one-to-one engagement with people. To say he has a 'way with words' is an understatement. With his help, I attracted 121 customers/clients online in six months. I spent no money on ads. Highly recommended." Connie Cachia, Digital Marketer (retired).

► 𝐀 𝐇𝐔𝐆𝐄 𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐔𝐄

"Great ideas; I love the full post. Now, I understand the power of good writing. And I can vouch for Kim's brain dump call process. A huge amount of value there." Lloyd Thompson, Founder at Digitaldoo.com

► '𝙆𝙄𝙈 𝙒𝙄𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙎 𝙄𝙎 𝘼 𝙍𝘼𝙍𝙀 𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙊𝙐𝙍𝘾𝙀'
"Kim Willis is a rare resource and one you should connect with. He can easily mix the skills of copywriting, sales and social media marketing in such a way that it works. I'll be forever grateful for the advice, coaching and mentoring he provided me, and so will you." Peter Beckenham. The Solopreneur Sales Strategist.

Last week I saw Faheem Moosa’s post that featured a pic of him with a couple of his clients.

No biggie except for one simple fact.  He’s from Canada, but the pic was taken in Dubai.

He was there for a business conference, and fortuitously, two of his clients were at the same event.

Like me, Faheem does all of his business online and rarely meets clients face to face.

Seeing as I haven’t been on a plane since before COVID, the last time I met clients face-to-face was in 2019.

I hosted a small mastermind for a handful of my clients, hence the pic.

Connie was one of my best students.  She embraced what I taught her and, over the next few months, attracted 121 customers without ads.  How did she do it? Direct outreach on Facebook.

Yes, really.   

Here is a picture of us in Bali.  Connie is on the right, with her husband on the left.

Referral Systems to Drive Leads | Trust-based Conversations to Drive Revenue | Case Studies to Build Belief and Authority | People Connector and Community Builder.

Who should you write for?

Those who pay you, or those who praise you?

For many, it’s the latter.

They crave approval

They forget about the main game: 
- Winning right fit people to your cause
- Being the go-to option for buyers

Temptations abound.

And lots of goo-roos will pander to your ego.

But winning Likes and Comments from those who will never buy.

Is a fool’s errand that ends up one way

No moulah
 
And a likely exit from LinkedIn

Oh well.  Another dream shattered.

Back to the drawing board.

The message?

Focus on: 
- Networking
- Relationships
- Conversations

Boring eh?

Why less qualified people are stealing your lunch

Here's the uncomfortable truth:

That "less qualified" person is winning BECAUSE their expertise is limited.

They think their basic insights are groundbreaking. 

But basic is exactly what your target buyers want.

Your buyers aren't experts. They're trying to solve a problem, and they need someone who can explain what's going wrong in simple terms.

Meanwhile, you're adding layers of nuance. Caveats. Sophistication.

You know too much to keep it simple.

You add complexity because you're worried a peer might think it's not "expert" enough.

This is 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 stuff.

But your ideal buyers aren’t impressed by your expertise.  What they want is simple: they feel you understand their challenges.

So you have a choice:

Create content that earns nods from peers (who will never hire you)...

OR create content that attracts clients.

One feeds your ego. The other feeds your family.

So, are you creating for peers or for your clients?

Cut the crap.  Fess up - your fear is holding you back
That was me

I was like a deer frozen in the glare of a car's headlight..

Trying to deal with my fear of public speaking wasn't easy.  

Time and time again, I rejected opportunities to give talks about my primary area of expertise:

“How to use stories and conversations to explode your sales”

Hot topic, eh?  Yet every time someone asked me to speak… 

I made every cotton-pickin' excuse under the sun, including:

- I’ll be on vacation
- I have another commitment
- My dog is about to die (I didn't have a dog)
- I’m scheduled to mow the lawn (I never mow lawns) 
- My wife said I was a loser, and now I'm sad (another lie)

But finally, I developed enough gumption to kick the fear to the curb.

And give my first talk.

It was a disaster, but I recommitted and, over the next few years, gave hundreds of talks. 

As I improved, my results also improved.  Some talks led to hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue.

All because I tackled the fear monster head-on, and won.

What fear have you conquered?

What fear do you need to tackle?

P.S.  I still have fears - fear of heights, and I’m claustrophobic.  Oh well, can't win ‘em all. 

TODAY'S PIC.  Me at 5 months.  Another lie.  It's Noah, my grandson, and he has NO FEAR.  (Well, not yet. haha)

Why B2B marketers mess up on LinkedIn
They treat it like a lead gen platform.

That used to be me.  I bought into the hype and went all out for leads.

After 3 months - no leads, no nothing

So I switched

I focused on relationships and little more than a month later signed my first client

So the message is clear:

LinkedIn is really a networking and relationship-building platform.

This is why cold outreach campaigns bomb.

The same applies to running ads to people who don’t know you.

It’s likely to fail.  You’re a nobody, and you will be ignored.

Instead, start here:

1. Ideal Buyers.  Your ideal client profiles (ICP)
2. Engagers.  Industry people who amplify your content to buyers.
3. Industry Influencers.  Thought leaders your buyers follow.
4. Potential Channel Partners.  Non-competitive companies serving your ICP
5. Niche Media.  Podcast hosts, event organisers and community owners.

Build relationships with these people.

Referrals, introductions and warm leads will flow from there.

The Success System That Never Fails

That’s the title of a book I read many moons ago.

Written by W. Clement Stone, he shared his miraculous story of how, at age 19, he began working with his mother to sell accident insurance policies. 

He became a sales superstar and then founded his own company, Combined Insurance, which eventually grew into a large business.

According to Stone, the keys to success are threefold:

1. PMA - Positive Mental Attitude.
2. A saleable product
3. A sales success system that never fails

Rather than constantly reinvent the wheel, he was adamant that a simple, replicable system trumps constant improvisation.

We dont have to embrace everything Stone did or all of his views, but I like the idea of having a success system that works over and over again.

Replication = Multiplication

It’s the way to scale.

Example:

I’m building a new referral system where warm leads are regularly produced.

Like clockwork.

I can’t do that without a reliable system that replicates the initial work I did

It’s not smart, it doesn't duplicate, and it’s very tiring.

Thoughts on systems?

Any fool can complicate things

Even me.  Which is why I’m always simplifying my message.

So an 8-year-old can understand it.

But to do it well, understand your topic at a deep level.

Go deep.

Then remove excess words that add nothing to the piece.

Sometimes less is more.

And right now commoditised content - AI slop or otherwise - is saying a lot but meaning little.

Your job is not to produce content that means nothing.

Instead, learn how to cut through so you mean something to your audience

It’s about resonance, not word count or posting frequency.  

Slow down, and focus on making real connection

That’s all.

Why I’ll never join BNI

Or other in-person business referral groups.

I’m not saying you can't make money from them.

You can.

But often the referrals are low quality - not exactly your type of people.


Not all referral groups are like that, of course.  

Some attract high-calibre people, but it’s the exception, not the rule.

The effect for many members - especially white-collar experts - is few, if any leads.

And if the leads convert, often the ticket value is low.


The other problem is the time factor. 

I know people who spend half their week travelling to one networking event or another.

And having one-to-one networking coffees.  

It’s ok to do these things, but it's not very time-efficient, and it can be expensive.

Here is my suggestion…

✅ Break free from the need to always meet people face to face.

And find a balance between online and offline networking activities.

And for crying out loud, be creative.

👉 Example:

Many moons ago, when living in Sydney, I hatched an idea to visit Melbourne to do business.

I had some connections there, so I enlisted their support and asked for introductions.  

Each of these introductions was called, and appointments were booked.  Yes, no emails or DMs were sent - fancy that.

The result was 5 new clients and a heap of revenue.

This might sound harsh, but some of the people who join these often expensive networking groups are a bit lazy.  

They don’t have the wit, courage or confidence to break free and go for it.  


There are plenty of ways to generate business without spending countless hours a week doing offline networking.

I’ll talk about one of them in my next post.

P.S. Regarding the above example.  It happened when I was a young guy - well before the internet.  Would I travel a long way to talk to leads now?  No way.  Today, I would do a Zoom call and decide the next steps from there.

taplio

The Battle

David Fastuca

Kim Willis

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreDavid Fastuca's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreKim Willis's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

David Fastuca

Kim Willis

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}David Fastuca's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreKim Willis's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreDavid Fastuca's LinkedIn Performance