StartupGTM.com | I help b2b founders hack traction | Profitable founder (YC)

Transforming a startup from early to repeatable sales is HARD.

If you’re a B2B founder with early sales, then you've done many things right to win your first customers.

BUT - to raise a round A, your startup will need to have a product that's ready to scale because it can be 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮.

To get repeatable sales - there are four blockers. 
 
You'll need to change each one from "not working" to "working": 
 
1️⃣ Consistently creating a 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 of conversations with customers 
 
2️⃣ Converting these conversations into a 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 of first meetings 
 
3️⃣ Converting these meetings into a 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 of trials 
 
4️⃣ Converting trials into a 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 of deals. 
 
These blockers need to be removed 𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 - i.e. one by one. 
 
💡 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗡𝗢𝗪. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀.

—

I'm a former co-founder and CEO at ApolloShield - a profitable YC startup.

I work hands-on with B2B founders on turning their early sales into repeatable sales through a combination of disciplines:

1️⃣ 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀: Understanding the market, identifying target customers, and analyzing competitors.

2️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴: Defining how the product fits into the market and crafting compelling messages to appeal to the target audience.

3️⃣ 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀: Developing strategies for selling the product, including choosing sales channels and partnerships.

4️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Creating and executing campaigns to build brand awareness and generate leads.

5️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀: Managing discovery and commercial discussions with clients and partners to get their business.

5️⃣ 𝗢𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸: Gathering customer feedback and continuously adapting the product and strategies accordingly.

6️⃣ 𝗜𝗧 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Building support systems to holistically orchestrate and manage your GTM efforts.

7️⃣ 𝗥𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗱 𝗜𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Developing a method to move forward quickly, iterate and get market feedback - doubling what works and tossing what doesn’t.

🚀 Let's connect and accelerate your startup together!

Nimo Shkedy

Abbas Somji👋🏽

Helping Founders Scale Fast & Create Outbound That Works | Start-Up Advisor 🚀

I'm the co-founder of The Playbook Agency and started the business as we saw so many start-ups & scale ups making avoidable mistakes when it came to their Go-To-Market. 

I managed to become the Head Of Sales of a start-up when I was just 3 years into my career, and have continued to operate as a Fractional Head Of Sales ever since for multiple businesses.

Challenges we solve:

🟣 Your sales team is wasting time on manual research, poor data & not having enough opportunities in pipeline
🟣 You have inconsistent top of funnel resulting in revenue & pipeline spikes 
🟣 You want to instill AI & automation within your process but don’t know where to start
🟣 You’re doing outbound out of a singular domain which is resulting in landing in spam
🟣 Current data providers have “dirty data” which means high bounce rates, leading to blacklisting
🟣 You want to test new markets, before getting sales teams to allocate resource to it

Co-Founder

We help founders get their GTM right, the first time, without having to hire an expensive sales team.

If you start a new job and they hand you this..

Just leave bro

You're cooked

CRO of InboxKit | Driving New Revenue for Cold Email Agencies 🛠️

My Clay agency just got acquired

Here's why 👇🏽

2 years ago we started an agency accidentally with about $100

We initially started as a sales coaching agency, then Clay happened & we went all in on GTM engineering & outbound

We scaled ridiculously quickly in our first year and thought we we're going to be be balling for the rest of our lives 

But then growth plateaued

And the typical “let’s build a SaaS” or “maybe we should add content/ads/courses”  dreams started popping up 

But we knew it would be a massive distraction, so we worked with partners instead and we leaned into data and infrastructure-as-a-service

It took off. In fact it started growing faster than any other revenue line we had. 

Clients wanted to bring expertise in-house, we knew how to do it effectively 

Churned $5K retainers converted into $1-2K infrastructure deals that eventually re-engaged at full price.

Rahul Lakhaney at InboxKit noticed we were buying so much inboxes & data. He started asking what I needed.

I told him how agencies get stuck on fulfillment - and catastrophically fail when we try to build SaaS

I requested a few features. A day later, live. I suggested a couple of products. 

Two days later, finished. "Wth is going on??"

So I begged to visit Delhi and see how this was built

Less than 10 people. $12M ARR. 7 months. Hardly anyone knows them.

They were sat on gold, and I knew the pains of the industry deeply because I'd been doing outbound for my whole professional career

I knew they had just scratched the surface 

Today I'm proud to announce we did it - and I'm joining as CRO.

To my fellow agency founders - we're building tooling specifically for agencies like ours.

And as I get started I'm looking for the first agency partners to go deeper with

The same infrastructure plays that made us acquirable and layered on growth when nothing else seemed to add top line significantly 

If you want to explore what that looks like for your agency, let's chat this week

Pumped about this next chapter ✌️

Day 1 as a 28 y/o CRO of a $12m ARR company
 
Here's the exact tech stack I'm building 👇🏽
 
And what each tool costs
 
If you're building a GTM department today, it's a lot different to a few years back - especially with all the development on infra, data & AI
 
🟩 Data & Enrichment Layer
 
→ Clay ($350/month) - The orchestration brain for lead scoring, research & email/data waterfalls - pls Clay launch an Attio integration
→ Prospeo.io ($99/month) - Company + contact data (their v2 is awesome)
→ Sales Navigator ($99/license) - LinkedIn insights
 
🟩 Outbound Execution
 
→ InboxKit(from $2.50/inbox) - Email infrastructure, warmup & deliverability monitoring. I just so happen to know the founder so we get a discount ;)
→ EmailBison ($499/month) - Email sequencing
→ HeyReach.io ($99/license) - LinkedIn automation
→ ClickUp ($20/license) - Managing tasks & projects
→ Calendly ($12/license) - Routing meetings to the right team members
→ Fathom ($19/license) - Meeting recording, context & follow-ups
 
🟩 Ops & Intelligence
 
→ Attio(Free tier) - CRM that's easy, simple, and does what I need. Will upgrade to paid soon.
→ n8n (Free/self-hosted) - Workflows for when systems don't talk to each other
 
🟩 Content & Copywriting
 
→ Claude ($20/user) - All things copy, ideation, and even reporting
→ Canva ($13/user) - Design assets
→ Taplio  ($49/user/month) - LinkedIn scheduling & analytics
 
Total monthly run rate: ~$1,400-1,800 (small team)
 
Scale to 3-5 reps? Still under $2,000/month.
 
The math that matters:
 
Most CROs inherit bloated stacks costing $10K+/month

With tools that don't talk to each other

And teams who spend 66% of their time NOT selling
 
Every purchase I’m making is so we can stay in our zone of excellence, and not build a bloated team
 
Building your stack from scratch? Happy to share what's working
 
What am I missing here? Drop a comment & plug your tool!

Content drove 90% of our 2025 revenue 

And here's my exact playbook (for free)👇🏽

I was pretty shocked 

We have launched cold email campaigns, hired cold callers, visited events 

and built a tonne of pipeline 

But in the end - buyers that did their own homework, converted to real revenue for us

I had to rub my eyes when I reviewed our CRM for the year 

Not only did it provide us with real revenue, but across our business lifetime, our best key logo's came from LinkedIn inbound
 
Now everyones thinking about creating more content this year, and so I've put together everything I've learnt

The Playbook includes: 
 
🟣 Profile Optimisation
We show you exactly how to optimise every section so buyers see: "Yes, this person can solve my problem"
 
🟣 Content Strategy
70/30 framework that actually works
The exact formula that wins with GTM leaders
 
🟣 Engagement Routine
15-15 rule that compounds is the algorithm hack that nobody talks about
 
🟣 Conversion Framework
Most people stop at engagement,
We show you how to track buying signals, use soft CTAs, and turn conversations into actual revenue
 
🟣 30-Day Action Plan
Week by week, exactly what to do
No fluff as real consistency beats volume every time
 
This isn't theory, just my actual approach. 
 
It's built on demand engineering, not vanity metrics
 
Want it?
👉 Comment "PLAYBOOK"
👉 Connect with me
👉 I'll send it over within 48 hours

______________________

If you're a founder doing over $2M in ARR and content isn't driving at least 30% of your pipeline, you should get my team to do it for you ✌️

I'm opening up 3 spots this quarter to help companies build content + data systems that actually convert - shoot me a DM

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Co Founder | I turn GTM chaos into engineered revenue 🛠️

I don't know how to write this 

But I split up with my co-founder

I've spent the past 4 weeks debating on whether I share this or not 

In fact I know a lot of people who have been through the same, but not many openly talk about it 

We built one of the top GTM agencies in our space

Worked with some of the fastest growing tech companies in the world

Went from £3k/month to £45k/month in our first 9 months after being slapped with a redundancy

Grafters through & through. 

But none of that was enough to solve two people with very different work styles

I put together an introspective blog which will be linked below but here are the 7 lessons, if you want to understand more on each the blog is where to go 

7 lessons I'm taking forward:

1️⃣ Co-founder fit & skillset variation isn't optional 
2️⃣ Default distrust kills everything
3️⃣ Remote co-founding is hard mode
4️⃣ Perceived unequal contribution creates a death loop 
5️⃣ Align on HOW to build, not just WHAT to build 
6️⃣ Don't hire for your co-founder's department
7️⃣ When something's working, protect it 

We ended on good terms & not a single atom of me regrets building a business together, my former co founder is building his agency and is supported by some of our fantastic customers already. 

As for me, The Playbook Agency continues

Big announcements coming soon.

Full story with more context in the blog (link in comments).

Onwards 🚀

My family left India 150 years ago

We never went back

In the 1800s, Gujarati Khojas like my ancestors left India to build trade networks across East Africa

They set up shops in Zanzibar and Tanzania Became the commercial backbone of the region

Then my parents moved to the UK just before I was born

I grew up in Milton Keynes 

Mixed school, mixed friends I never really connected with "my culture" - Just a mish mash of what existed

All that to say - I was a bit of a "coconut" 

Visiting Tanzania all the time growing up but never learning Swahili 

Looking Indian, feeling British

When I heard from Rahul Lakhaney how quickly the InboxKit team scaled to $12m ARR (7 months) 

I begged Rahul to let me visit the team 

Last week I spent a week in Delhi with them

First of my family to go back to "where I came from"

I didn't see much of the city

But what I did see is the incredible team Rahul has built

Less than 12 people (crazy) 

Features shipped in hours that take a normal team months 

12-14 hour days because they genuinely want to win 

Lunch & dinner together every single day

I've spent 6+ years in SaaS Used every tool in the GTM stack 

Built an agency around email infrastructure

The team at InboxKit are building the best technology I've ever seen in this space 

Great start to the year - feeling energised & motivated 💪

I’ve made multiple 6 figures in revenue through LinkedIn inbound

But most LinkedIn advice will keep you poor

Everyone tells you to track:
• Impressions
• Followers
• Likes

Here's what they won't tell you:

If you danced every day on LinkedIn, you'd get those metrics. And it would do nothing for your business.

I see it constantly.

People create negative content, get lots of engagement from others fed up with seeing people do well

But unfortunately those are not customers, and people who buy services, get put off by that type of behaviour

Yesterday, I taught our team the LinkedIn framework that actually drives revenue

Here's what matters instead:

1️⃣ Focus on eyeballs, not algorithms

We proactively connect with our entire TAM. Not for reach. For relationships.
When they need help, we're already in their network. Already trusted. Already top of mind.

Fun fact: Most buyers of our services didn’t even like our content before they purchased - they were “lurkers” and “viewers”

2️⃣ Give away what others charge for

Our biggest clients came from LinkedIn. Zero ads, zero cold outreach.
They came because our free content solved problems they were paying other people to fix.

3️⃣ The 70/30 content split

70% tactical & useful: frameworks, case studies, how-to guides
30% personal: lessons, stories, behind the scenes

Broad content attracts. Specific content converts.

4️⃣ Engagement isn't optional

The 15-15 rule: 15 minutes before posting, 15 minutes after

Posting without engagement means the algorithm learns to ignore you

Most people post - then disappear. Putting useful comments on peoples posts are free advertising space for your profile

5️⃣ Stop creating AI slop

Everyone can spot AI-generated content from a mile away

The same phrases, the same structure, the same robotic tone that doesn't sound like you

__________________________

The right content, to the right audience & showing you’re a person they’d like to deal with, is the new way of generating revenue

__________________________

♻ Repost to help others starting their LinkedIn journey this year

Last week, a 30-minute coffee turned into a 4-hour GTM masterclass ☕️
 
I sat down with the teams at ColdIQ and InboxKit. Here's what we talked about:
 
1️⃣ Service Layering > Pure Outbound
 
The "lead gen only" model is dying
 
Agencies that layer other service lines see higher LTV and lower churn 
 
At TPBA, we found that deeper integration filters out "bad fit" clients and secures long-term partnerships

We're seeing this now with top agencies adding Hubspot/Revops services, ads & content
 
2️⃣ The Infrastructure "Minefield"
 
Most people don't realise the amount of work that goes into providing a top deliverability product like InboxKit and great LinkedIn content & influencer programmes do not equal a stable product
 
The real pros are unsure who to recommend because the liability of recommending the wrong tech is too high, until you see the details for yourself
 
3️⃣ In-Person is the Unfair Advantage
 
Zoom has a ceiling as your building a fast scaling business
 
Alex Vacca 🧠🛠️ & Michel Lieben 🧠 meeting in Barcelona or teams co-working for a month is like having a "sparring partner" physically present is essential for rapid scaling
 
4️⃣ Cold Calling is getting more necessary for wins
 
Data shows that adding phone touch points (even just 10%) creates a 30% lift in booking (source - Belkins Inc.)
 
I saw beta tech from InboxKit using AI to qualify prospects the second a positive reply hits, a game-changer for lean GTM teams
 
5️⃣ High-Value "Manual" Hooks
 
Nik Kotecha dropped a gem: True personalisation at the point of connection still wins

Providing upfront value manually might take more time, but the conversion rate makes it all worth it.
 
I won't give up his secrets, but pretty clever operation
 
6️⃣ 2026: The Rise of the Internal Owner
 
The best projects we see at The Playbook Agency have an internal GTM owner. They understand tools like Clay but need an agency to act as a turbocharger, not the engine
 
They don't want to outsource their strategy; they want to accelerate it - more and more GTM teams are looking for that owner this year
 
_____
 
I'm Abbas Somji👋🏽, founder of The Playbook Agency

The demand engineering experts for SaaS, Web3 & B2B brands across the UK, US & GCC

ColdIQ

InboxKit

LinkedIn

Co-Founder @ ColdIQ ($6M ARR) | Helped 300+ companies scale revenue with AI & Tech | #1 AI Sales Agency

Founder & CEO at ColdIQ | Tomorrow’s GTM Systems, Built for you 👉 coldiq.com

Belkins Inc.

Founder, Smart SEO Rankings | Helped 50+ businesses scale revenue with SEO & AI | #1 Agency by LBO Awards

Clay

The Playbook Agency

The gym saved my life 

A few years ago, I had a complete breakdown

Everything felt out of control

Business, career, relationships, mental health - I believed I was going crazy & wanted to “unalive” myself 

The next morning after breaking down, a friend literally forced me to the gym

I didn’t want to go. But he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

That single gym session didn’t fix everything

But it gave me something I desperately needed:

A positive feedback loop I could actually control
→ Show up
→ Lift
→ Get stronger
→ Repeat

While everything else in my life was chaos, the gym was predictable. Certain. Mine.

If you’re going into 2026 with low confidence in your goals

Start with fitness - I know it might be super low on your list 

But it’s the only activity I can think of where you’re guaranteed a positive outcome if you show up 

When you have low confidence & conviction that you’ll achieve your goals…

You need to prove to yourself you can follow through on something

The worst that happens? You go 3x per week and get stronger & slimmer

The best that happens? You build the discipline muscle that carries into every other area of your life

Fitness is the lowest barrier way to create a positive habit:
	∙	Eat less
	∙	Move more
	∙	That’s it

No complex strategy

No expensive tools

No perfect plan needed

Just show up

Your future self - will thank you

And if you’re finding it tough it doesn’t have to be all or nothing 

I ended the year a little rough, slacking on diet 

But I used my minimal viable day framework (see my previous posts) 

Where on my worst day I’d still force myself to walk around for 15-20 mins 

On my worst day I did allow myself a single unhealthy snack etc 

And that meant I was still able to lose a bit of body fat through the process 

Now however I’m locked tf in 🫡🔐

Aiming for 15% body fat by my birthday (May) 

Sunday grafters hope you’re getting after it ✌🏽

Sales leaders walking in this morning asking their team about those Q4 deals that slipped

I booked 5 meetings from 150 sends in 6 hours yesterday
 
I have spent 3 years building workarounds for broken cold email tools.
 
Airtable bases to track deliverability & create reporting, n8n & Make scenarios to supplement missing features like Slack notifications
 
All because most of the best tools have painful UX
 
Their warmups are confusing
 
And reporting is… let's not…
 
This week I found a tool nobody's talking about
 
Within hours:
🚀 150 leads contacted
🚀 5 meetings booked
🚀 83% positive reply rate
 
No supplementary workflows
 
No duct-tape automations
 
No spreadsheet tracking
 
No finding a reply 3 hours later because the tool doesn’t have the capacity to let replies through real time
 
It just works
 
✅ Built-in warmup pools that actually recover domains (Insane)
✅ Unlimited placement tests 
✅ Pro-active blacklist monitoring
✅ Native Slack notifications for replies (huge win)
 
I'm not posting the name publicly because I don't want it to get overcrowded yet 🤫
 
Comment “cold” or anything you want and I'll DM you the tool

This week, I had the highest high and the lowest low 

I had my first business acquisition

The Playbook Agency is now part of InboxKit

Second clay agency ever to get acquired 

Checked a massive box I’ve been working towards 

This week, I also had the lowest point of my life - 

I’m not going to get into details. But within 72 hours, I experienced a true emotional whirlwind 

Here’s what I’m sitting with:

Success doesn’t protect you from loss

The highest professional win doesn’t cancel out personal pain

They just exist together, in the same week, in the same body, in the same life.

I’ve built a lot of my identity around the work

Around the systems, the results, the milestones

And this week reminded me that I’m not my business or my profession. I’m a person who also runs businesses.

There’s something about entrepreneurship that makes you think if you just work hard enough, control enough variables, build enough systems - you can insulate yourself from the hard stuff

You can’t.

I don’t have a lesson here. No framework. No silver lining I’m packaging up to make this feel tidy.

Just the reminder that we’re all whole people navigating whole lives

And sometimes the best and worst happen in the same breath

If you’re going through something while also showing up professionally - you’re not alone

The compartmentalisation we’re taught to perform isn’t natural

It’s just what we do to survive 🫡

How am I dealing with it? 

Gym, prayer & throwing myself into work

A few fundamental beliefs that I hold tightly which guide me 

- Life happens for me not to me 
- “With every hardship comes ease” an Islamic principle that always rings true
- “This too shall pass” this goes for the high highs and the low lows 
- Every challenge is a chance to become a better more capable man 
- The 24 hours after a challenging moment is crucial, what you do in this time will define how you move forward 
- There is a story being written far better than I could write myself 

Anyway my last business was built on the back of some challenging circumstances to say the least 

Looks like this journey is no different 

Let’s get it 🫡💪🏽

No alternative text description for this image

This weekend I watched a 9-figure entrepreneur get coached in real-time

Alex Hormozi sat down with Tony Robbins , and it felt like a real fly on the wall convo - the type that wasn't meant to be recorded 

Here's what stuck with me:

Astronauts 🧑‍🚀

🟣 Tony brought up that lot of the astronauts who walked on the moon struggled massively when they came back - some fell into depression, others into addiction

They'd done the ultimate thing. Walked on the actual moon. And then... what next?

Tony's point was that they'd lost the ability to find joy in smaller things. They couldn't find adventure in a smile anymore.

I think a lot of high achievers can relate to this feeling - you hit a big goal, and instead of feeling fulfilled, you just feel... empty. And you're not sure why

🟣 Push vs Pull

Alex shared that his approach has basically been "f*ck happiness" - just focus on the work, grind it out, happiness is overrated

But Tony pushed back on that (respectfully)

His take: there are two types of motivation:

🟣 Push motivation is willpower, discipline, "I have to do this."

🟣 Pull motivation is different - it's something outside yourself that draws you forward (a purpose bigger than you) 

Tony's quote on this is great: "When you're pushed by pain, you'll survive. When you're pulled by purpose, you'll thrive"

The astronauts had the ultimate push - they trained for years, competed against thousands, achieved the impossible

But when they came back, there was nothing pulling them forward anymore

🟣 Stay a Student

The thing that really got me though? Just watching Alex throughout the conversation

This is someone who's built $100M+ businesses - has every reason to brush off any advice he's getting - most people in his situation would assume they know it all 

But he was genuinely curious, asking q's, showing a way more vulnerable side than I was used to seeing 

Recommend everyone watches this ep! 

The willingness to stay a student, even when you've "made it."

Day 2 as a 28 yo CRO of a $12m ARR SaaS

Mapping the team.

Now I don't think anyone would openly talk about this on socials this early, which is exactly why I think it's important 
 
My first job isn't to change anything,
 
It's to understand what I'm working with...
 
So I'm spending this week in one-on-ones. Here's exactly how I'm running them:
 
The 1:1 Agenda (30 mins)
 
🟩 Part 1: Their reality (15 mins)
 
→ What do you own day-to-day?
→ What's working well right now?
→ Where do you feel stuck or unsupported?
→ What would make your job easier tomorrow?
 
🟩 Part 2: Their trajectory (10 mins)
 
→ Where do you want to be in 12 months?
→ What skills are you trying to build?
→ What part of the role energises you most?
 
🟩 Part 3: Their perspective (5 mins)
→ If you were me, what would you fix first?
→ What's one thing I should know that nobody's told me?
 
The Skill Mapping Framework
 
After each conversation, I watch their performance against their repsonsibilities and audit internally to understand past performance 

I plot the person against two axes:
 
X-Axis: Capability Can they do what the role requires today?
Y-Axis: Trajectory Are they growing into what we'll need tomorrow?
 
This gives me four quadrants:
 
↗ High capability + High trajectory = Your core. Protect and develop them.
↘ High capability + Low trajectory = Solid performers. Clarify expectations, find what reignites them.
↖ Low capability + High trajectory = High potential. Invest in training and mentorship.
↙ Low capability + Low trajectory = Hard conversation needed. Role fit or exit.
 
From there, I'm categorising gaps:
 
1️⃣ Fractional help now
Urgent gaps that don't justify a full hire. Bring in a specialist, solve the problem, step back.
 
2️⃣ Full-time help needed
Roles that are clearly missing. Work falling through cracks because nobody owns it.
 
3️⃣ Internal growth opportunities
Who's already here that could step up with the right support?
 
Sometimes the talent is there, but the structure isn't…
 
Early days aren't about making cuts
 
They're about seeing clearly, then building deliberately.
 
I don’t know many who’d put this online/public now, but I wanted to share exactly how I’m adding the turbo’s to this rocket ship 🚀
 
Tomorrow, we talk rev ops & product led sales! 

______________________

I'm Abbas Somji👋🏽 CRO of InboxKit and I recently sold my Clay Agency to be on this rocketship 

I'm sharing everything I learn as I build the GTM function and get the team to $100M ARR

Normal startups run on VC money

Bootstrapped startups run on:

______________

InboxKit

Day 3 as 28 y/o CRO of a $12m ARR business 
 
This week I shared the tech stack
 
Today it's about who we're actually going after 👇🏽
 
Here's the framework I'm using to segment our ICP:
 
Step 1️⃣: Size the accounts
 
We're splitting every account into three buckets: small, medium, large
 
Using Prospeo.io to put this initial TAM together.
 
Step 2️⃣: Tier by fit
 
Within each size, we're scoring accounts:
→ Tier 1 - Perfect fit. High intent signals. Priority.
→ Tier 2 - Good fit. Needs exploring.
→ Tier 3 - Potential fit. Lower priority.
 
We’re using Clay to orchestrate this
 
Step 3️⃣: Match the motion to the account
 
This is where most teams get it wrong.
They blast the same campaign to everyone.
 
Here's what we're doing instead:
 
Large accounts → 1:1 outbound
• Personalised, researched, human
• Two of us are dedicated to these accounts only
• Every touchpoint is intentional
 
Small/Medium accounts → Campaign-based outbound
• Automated but still personalised
 
Using our own infrastructure - InboxKit(Email infra), Prospeo (Data), Clay (Prioritisation), EmailBison (Sending), HeyReach.io(LinkedIn)
 
The stack I shared yesterday isn't theoretical, it's running these campaigns
 
Two of us are dedicated to building and optimising these motions
 
Why this matters:
 
Your best accounts deserve your best effort,
Your smaller accounts deserve efficient systems
 
Treating them the same = wasted effort on small accounts, not enough effort on large ones
 
Segment first, then build the motion
 
What framework do you use to segment your ICP? Curious if I'm missing anything 👇🏽

_______________________

P.S how do you think my week went, anything you would change?? 

Happy friday - let's finish strong!

A mentor of mine recently gave me some advice that I'll share:

"Business is a game of snakes and ladders."

Ladders take you four levels up
Snakes send you right back to the start

The problem? Most entrepreneurs can't tell the difference until it's too late...

We get energised by things that feel like ladders but are actually snakes in disguise

It could be a shiny new project. The easy and comfortable thing (continue as is) or the thing we're emotionally attached to.

Meanwhile, the real ladder is sitting right there. A little peak into the unknown, but able to take you a whole few levels up if it gets the attention it needs.

This frame really helped me decide on a big decision I'm having to make 

and will be a constant voice in my head moving forward 

Is this opportunity a snake or a ladder? 

Thanks Jordan Adams - see you soon in Dubai! 🇦🇪

15 tools to turn your LinkedIn profile into a lead machine
 
Everyone's asking the same question: "Abbas, which LinkedIn tool should I use?"
 
Wrong question
 
The question isn't which tool, it's which layers
 
I'm going to make this stupid simple 👇🏿
 
Here are the 15 tools we've actually used organised by layer because that's what matters
 
Layer 1: Clean Data
Prospeo.io, Apollo, Cognism, Wiza, Lusha
 
These tools will allow you to pull lists directly from Sales Navigator via extension 
 
+ give you the emails + mobiles for multi-channel outreach
 
Layer 2: Automation Infrastructure
HeyReach, lemlist, La Growth Machine, PhantomBuster, Dripify, Expandi
 
Pick 1, don't overthink it
 
HeyReach.io the safest, lemlist the most balanced, La Growth Machine has some great features like automated voice notes, PhantomBuster is most powerful
 
Layer 3: Intent Detection
Trigify, Clay, Teamfluence
 
󠁯•󠁏󠁏 Trigify.io tells you when they're buying - Social Listening Data
󠁯•󠁏󠁏 Clay ties everything together - Your data warehouse for signal stacking
󠁯•󠁏󠁏 Teamfluence™ shows profile visitor data (The hidden one most teams miss)
 
The math:
Clean data + Right automation + Perfect timing = 800+ conversations monthly 🚀
 
You don't need the best tool, you need the right layers
 
What else am I missing? Seems to be a new tool every week - but these are the most reliable I've used so far.
 
__________________
 
If you need help turning your LinkedIn profile into revenue - I run The Playbook Agency (A content + Data Agency that gets you in front of buyers)

Prospeo.io

Cognism

Wiza

Lusha

HeyReach.io

lemlist

PhantomBuster

Trigify.io

Teamfluence

Agencies growth in our space plateaus at $2-4M

One way to fix it, is turn churn & interest into revenue

Let me explain how

Some of our best revenue comes from clients who "left."

Here's what I mean:

A client comes in for 6 months of outbound.
Things go well. They hit message-market fit. They want to take things in-house.

Old thinking: Lost client. Find a replacement. Start over.
New thinking: Transition them to infrastructure.

They still need: 
→ Inboxes 
→ ICP Contact data 
→ Deliverability management (they don't understand the complexities) 
→ Domain health monitoring (they'll burn everything in 3 months without it)

So we set them up on our infrastructure stack.

$5K/month client becomes $3K/month infrastructure client.

But here's the magic:

🟣 Every few weeks: "Hey, we need help with a campaign."
🟣 Every few months: "Hey, can you look at our copy?"
🟣 Every quarter: "Hey, can you train our new hire?"

That "churned" client has now spent more with us than if they'd stayed on the original retainer.

On the flip side, clients who can’t afford our services, can purchase our down sell support package

But the key is partnering with first-party providers who let you white-label, and charge pricing you need to 

Most agencies use tools that are wrappers on wrappers. Low margin. 

When you go direct to the source: 
✓ Better pricing 
✓ Better reliability 
✓ Better margins on the resell

If you're an agency founder and want to explore how this works, shoot me a DM

We estimate we can add around $2M of top line for top agencies in the space

My competitive advantage is that I know how to have fun, 

I can be going through the craziest situations 

And still find a way to create enjoyment out of it

You ever see so those guys in the boxing ring smiling? 

They're the most dangerous, because they enjoy every part of it - they'll fight for way longer

You do not have to be miserable & glorify suffering to have a better life

Suffering isn't the price of success...

It's often the reason people quit before they get there.

Miserable millionaires are still miserable.

You need to create an environment where working hard is still enjoyable

My filter: Would I still do this if success took 10 years?

If the answer is no, I'm playing the wrong game.

Success is a long game.

Pick one you actually enjoy playing ✌️

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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);}Abbas Somji👋🏽's LinkedIn Performance

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