CEO at GroLink.io & Gro3.io I Get more leads with AI

Data leader with 10+ years amplifying brands like Apple, Google, Uber, and Amazon through actionable insights. At Engine, I launched our London strategic research practice and unified fragmented data into a singular analytics platform. I founded data & insights teams at Social Chain and Flight Story. As Flight Story's Chief Data Officer, I unveiled the Flight Deck platform, addressing market intelligence gaps for clients. I actively invest in digital startups and speak on AI, Web3, and branding. With certifications in data science, I build with Python and SQL and am experienced in OpenAI's API. I thrive on transforming challenges into success in fast-paced settings.

McVal Osborne

we built a free tool for GroLink that audits any linkedin profile in 10 seconds. engagement rate benchmarked against audience size, top performing posts, content mix, posting consistency.

no login. no email. paste any profile URL and see what prospects actually see.

been using it to audit prospect profiles too, which is a whole other use case. knowing what someone engages with before you message them changes the conversation.

check it out here >> https://lnkd.in/e7_cFgVN

Co-Founder, Crest Labs | Building Human-Centric AI Automation Tools | Former CDO @ Flight Story

nobody cares about your roadmap.

they care about the problem they walked in with.

solve that first. then you've earned the right to show them what's next.

the fastest way to lose a deal: answer the question you wish they'd asked instead of the one they actually asked.

everyone hates linkedin automation tools. and they're right to.

the reputation is earned. spray-and-pray connection requests. copy-paste messages to 500 people. "hey [first_name], noticed we're both in [industry]" templates that fool absolutely nobody.

the linkedin automation industry built its reputation on volume over relevance. and now the whole category pays the price. even tools doing genuinely different things get lumped in with the spam machines.

but they're conflating automation with human-in-the-loop ai tools that actually drive engagement engagement.

automation = doing things to people at scale. sending messages they didn't ask for. connecting with people you'll never talk to. blasting sequences.

engagement = doing things with people consistently. commenting on their posts. sharing their work with your take. building familiarity before you ever ask for anything.

these are fundamentally different activities. but because they both happen on linkedin and both involve tools, people assume they're the same thing.

spray-and-pray automation response rates have been declining for years. linkedin actively detects and restricts it. recipients are numb to it.

engagement-first outreach leads to response rates 3-5x higher than cold. linkedin's algorithm actually rewards it (better comments boost your visibility). recipients remember you.

the future of linkedin outreach isn't more automation. it's better engagement with less automation.

the tools that win won't be the ones that help you message 1000 people. they'll be the ones that help you engage meaningfully with 50 of the right people.

the companies that understand this distinction early will own the next wave. the ones that keep building spam tools will keep poisoning the well for everyone.

i lost a deal last week because i was too excited about the wrong thing.

a prospect reached out asking about one of our tools. a specific one. they'd seen it, they had questions, they were interested.

but i'd been deep in building something else. a different product. better market fit, clearer use case, more interesting problem. i was genuinely pumped about it.

so when we got on the call, i led with the thing i was excited about. not the thing they asked about.

the conversation went flat. they asked polite questions. then went quiet.

two days later: "not the right fit for us right now."

here's what took me a full day to accept:
they didn't ask about my new thing. they asked about the thing they found. and instead of answering their question, i answered the question i wished they'd asked.

the tactical lesson is simple:
answer the question they came with first.
solve the problem they know they have.
then expand to what you're excited about.
not before.

the emotional lesson is harder:
your enthusiasm isn't the sale. their problem is the sale.

when a prospect asks about x, they're not ready to hear why y is better. they're ready to hear that you understand why they need x.

i've been in sales for years. i still made this mistake. the excitement of building something new overrode the basics of listening.

the fix isn't complicated. it's just hard to remember when you're genuinely excited about what you're building.

keeping this one pinned for the next time i get too pumped about the wrong thing on a call.

Group Head of Marketing @ Flight Story

Hi, I’m Penny - Founder, Advisor and Fractional CMO. 

Building a startup is bold work. 

It’s messy, exciting, chaotic and sometimes downright brutal. With 10+ years in the startup world, I’ve seen it all. And now, I help founders cut through the noise, build standout brands and scale with confidence. 

I work with ambitious, disruptive founders and teams - from idea stage through to exit - to sharpen strategy, supercharge growth and tell a story the world can’t ignore. 

Think of me as your fractional CMO and strategic cofounder - part brand builder, part growth engine, part sounding board.

What I help with: 

🚀 Marketing strategy 
🎯 Positioning, brand and messaging 
📱 Social & content strategy 
🧠 Product & growth strategy 
📈 Fundraising & investor comms 
🤝 Intros to the right people

Who I’ve worked with: 

✔️ Steven Bartlett
✔️ Flight Story
✔️ Flight Fund
✔️ Koble.ai and dozens more startups across industries and markets.

If you're a bold founder building something that breaks the mould, I’d love to hear about it. 

📩 penny@pennywatson.com 
🌐 www.pennywatson.com

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