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.

College teacher turned ghostwriter | Scaling founders, coaches, and consultants to $100K+ /mo | Writing to build wealth and better self | 98,000 on Twitter (X)

Taylin John Simmonds

I just want you to know, it’s possible to become a full time writer. 

It might take longer than expected. It might not happen the way you expected. But it is possible. 

Please, on the hard days, remember that.

College teacher turned Substack ghostwriter | Helping multi-passionate writers and creatives earn on the internet | 2 billion impressions | $4,000,000+ revenue generated | All in on Substack

I’m 31, Canadian, introverted, and run a small online writing biz with my high school best friend.

Last year, we did $315,000 in revenue.

What we sell (copy us if you like):

– Social media ghostwriting: $4,700/mo + 10% commission
– Newsletter ghostwriting: $2,000 /mo
– Ghostwriting coaching: $5,700/qtr
- Ghostwriting course: $500
- Paid Substack newsletter: $99/yr

How we market:

– Post on LinkedIn 5x/week
– Post on Substack 7x/week
– Post on Twitter 14x/week
– Email my list 2-3x/week
– DM 100 people/mo on LinkedIn

Tools we use:

– Loom (SOPs and audits)
– Stripe + Whop (payment processors)
– Calendly (calendar bookings and pre-sale automation sequences)
– Heartbeat (community platform for coaching)
– Eden (all writing + my entire life in systems)
– Notion (company systems)
– Claude + ChatGPT (AI assistance)

Where I started:

4 years ago I was a college teacher who knew nothing about business, marketing, or sales. I just wanted more control over my time and to make a little more money. Today, I have exactly that.

if you do a fraction of this, you can make $100K /yr on Substack alone. You just need the right offers, strategy, and time.

I hope this gives you some direction.

—Taylin

I ghostwrote for 6 months with zero pay.

3am writing sessions to hit deadlines. Then I’d teach college classes from 8am to 6pm (exhausting).

I tracked every win. Saved the screenshots. Studied what worked.

That invisible work became my portfolio.
That portfolio landed my first paid client at $3,000 a month.

To get paid, get proof.

My tiny writing biz did $315,000 last year.

If I were starting over and wanted 6 figures, I’d ghostwrite newsletters on Substack.

Go to LinkedIn, find business owners, health coaches, and tech founders. DM them. Show them how a paid newsletter will make them more per mo than they pay you.

Do this well and you’ll have more clients than you can handle.

Funny... After 31 years of exploring, my happy life turned out to the simple one.

• Reading great books
• Going on walks to think
• Writing what I’d love to read

A little breathwork. A lot of time with my gf.

That’s it. That’s happiness.

Build in public (show your process)
Think in public (share your insights)
Write in public (show your skill)

Public credibility creates private opportunities.

If you want to level up in life, you must create more than you consume.

Create art, books, content, products, and businesses. Shape your body, mind, and environment. Build your ideal life one tiny step at a time.

Most people are stuck because they only watch. Don’t be like them.

Create something. Anything.

You only need 1 client.

Not one who underpays, drains your energy, and ignores boundaries.

1 client who pays more than most corporate salaries, treats you like a professional, and builds with you long term.

That single client will permanently change what you think is possible with a one person business.

You're exhausted because you have too many open loops.

Too many books you’re reading. Articles you’re writing. Skills you’re learning. Businesses you’re building. Problems you’re solving.

Pick one thing (for now). And grieve the rest. 
Energy will follow.

Don’t write with AI. Write assisted by AI.

AI can come up with ideas. You decide which are worth writing.
AI can research. You fact-check.
AI can give feedback. You choose what to keep.

You think. You write. You lead.

You bring the perspective, taste, and truth that no machine can.

AI saves you time.

Not so you can write less, but so you can write more, write better, and write more you.

The happiest people I know are not doing more. 
They are noticing more.

They pause to celebrate small wins others ignore. Ten minutes of focused work. One uncomfortable email sent. An honest start on a low-energy day.

That habit will make you effective.

Because people who notice progress keep going.

New milestone: 100 paid subscribers on Substack!

Solo building is overrated.

Find your people. Meet daily. Build cool sh*t together.

I’m creating a newsletter ghostwriting course with two close friends and it’s the most fun I’ve had in months.

Few things beat building with people who care as much as you do.

Multi-passionate people get stuck because they over-consume and under-create.

You don’t have to give up learning. But you do need to devote yourself to producing work daily.

Create for 2-4 hours in the morning. Explore for 1-2 hours in the evenings.

That’s how you both learn and earn with multiple interests.

You don't need motivation to achieve great things.

I don't always feel like writing.
I don't always feel like working.
I don't always feel like exercising.

Honestly, MOST days I don't feel like it.

But I do it anyways.
And I never regret it.

How to stand out on (corporate) LinkedIn: Speak the truth in an unexpected way.

Most people are scared to tell the truth. Even more are scared to show who they really are. It’s a shame.

Your weird is the most interesting thing about you.

I’m sorry but you’re not boring enough.

Keep a small circle, say no to extravagant vacations, eat the same food, go to bed early, and work on the same creative projects every day.

Boring isn’t flashy, but it builds a life far more meaningful than most people's highlight reels.

The future won’t belong to specialists who refuse to change.

It will belong to people who can become someone new again and again.

Technology is moving too fast for fixed identities.

Agency, learning speed, and keeping cool under uncertainty are the new job security.

A lack of pressure leads to an abundance of procrastination.

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The Battle

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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

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