Sam Jacobs

Founder & CEO

I build elite, modern GTM operators - CROs, CMOs, CCOs, and Revenue Operations leaders - who drive growth at the world’s fastest-growing B2B companies, including Salesforce, Hubspot, Stripe, Oracle, Snowflake, Clay, Klaviyo, Xero, Upside, Owner.com, Otter.ai, and Square

That’s the mission behind Pavilion, the leading global community of over 10,000 high-performance go-to-market executives. We exist to help ambitious professionals unlock and realize their full potential—not just as employees, but as leaders, thinkers, and builders.  

Pavilion is a paid membership for GTM leaders at every level. We provide tactical support, advanced education - incorporating financial literacy, advanced AI-powered GTM motions, and modern leadership tools - career acceleration, and a powerful peer network to help Members perform better in their roles and grow into the next. We operate in every major global hub and represent a new way of thinking about career development—community-powered, principle-led, and relentlessly practical.

This all started with a belief: that greatness exists within all of us. Sometimes it just needs the right mechanism to bring it forth.

To learn more, visit: www.joinpavilion.com

I also co-host the Topline Podcast with AJ Bruno and Asad Zaman.

And I wrote a bestselling book, Kind Folks Finish First, about building with kindness at the center.

Host, Sales Hacker Podcast

Host of The Sales Hacker Podcast featuring interviews and discussion with leading sales practitioners from high growth companies around the world.  

Learn more here: https://www.saleshacker.com/podcast-announcement/

Dear CEOs, Investors, Boards,

Take some time to understand the discipline of marketing.  

It's clear we're approaching 2026 and most of us are right where we were 15 years ago.  In fact, it might be worse.

15 years ago people had a deeper appreciation for brand.

Now, if people think about marketing at all, it's exclusively demand generation.  

SOME STORIES FROM MY COACHING CALLS

I've been doing 4-5 calls with Pavilion Members a day for the past few weeks as we near the holidays.  The goal is to help as many people as possible during what can be a high anxiety time.  

Negotiating EOY comp.  Getting fired.  Maneuvering for a promotion.  Taking on responsibilities of a recently fired exec.

What's become clear: marketing is under siege.

Some anecdotes:

- A job interview for a CMO that has a screening question blindly asking "How many MQLs did you generate last quarter?" with no additional context (!!??)

- CMOs being fired and all of marketing rerouted to the CRO with no CMO backfill

- Continued attacks on any budget line item not directly tied to hiring more reps or near term demand gen

- CMOs & marketing dept. being fired after crushing every number because the company needs to show improved profitability before an exit

The list goes on and on.

The #1 feeling most marketers are expressing right now: EXHAUSTION

BACK TO THE OPEN LETTER

So if you're a CEO or Founder or Investor reading this, a couple things:

1. Brand is long term demand generation.  If you want to drive revenue in 2026 and 2027 and 2028 and 2029 and onward you'll need a brand.  Some part of your marketing budget should be allocated towards it.

2. You don't need a "Chief Storyteller".  That's your head of Marketing.  You need a marketing department.  Stop being a moron.  Just hire a great marketer.  

3. We are in a world of commodity software products where people think they can vibe code what you've spent 10 years building in 30 minutes on the weekend.  You'll need marketing to differentiate yourself.  Your marketing can't just be "Ha ha they don't have any security and we're SOC-2"  

4. Your CHEAPEST path to demand generation is MARKETING.  Not tons of sales people.  You don't need more AEs.  You need program spend that puts  your story in front of as many people as possible.  That generates awareness and interest and your sales team converts that to revenue.  

5. You're in the business of driving efficient revenue growth.  That comes through MARKETING and, relatedly, through PARTNERSHIPS.  Hiring 50 SDRs with a 3 person marketing team isn't smart.  You look like a fool.  INVEST in the discipline of marketing.

BOTTOM LINE

I am having call after call with Pavilion Members tearing their hair out that you have no f-ing clue what you're talking about when it comes to marketing.

Take some courses through Pavilion if you need to or DM me.  

But you're doing it wrong and it's going to cost you results in 2026.

Thanks for reading.

Love,
Sam

CEO @ Pavilion | Co-Host of Topline Podcast | WSJ Best Selling Author of "Kind Folks Finish First"

In 2026, the race will split into two categories.  

VC Backed AI Native:
- Expected hyper growth.  Growth ain't a goal.  It's a commandment.
- Experimental ARR facing GRR collapse.  Explosive on a chart.  Fragile IRL.
- Gross margins that are “fine for now” and hand-waved away as a future problem.
- Dependent on hype cycle and enterprise enthusiasm
- Small chance at $1B ARR
- Race to get to exit or secondary before you have to prove the business model
- VC investors whipping you into a frenzy 
- "Unicorns are dead.  I'm all in on SuperNovas (or a new moniker my team came up with last night)
- Brutal intensity but maybe you'll end up like Fyxer, Manus, Elyse, Lovable and get to the finish line
- Expected ARR Growth: 
-- 0-$100M - 300%
-- $100M+ - 200%
- Time Horizon: Get out ASAP before the music stops
- "This time it's different"

Non-AI SaaS / Everyone Else (including me):
- Growth that’s intentional, modeled, and meant to survive contact with reality
- ARR that compounds quietly, supported by actual customers and real CS motion
- Goal is Rule of 40-60
- Gross margins you can explain without squinting (65–90% and proud of it)
- Iced out of the hype cycle
- No meaningful chance at $1B ARR
- Long term focus
- "Long term games with long term partners"
- Slow and steady wins this particular race (which isn't the same race the AI teams are running)
- Expected ARR Growth:
-- 0-$100M - 40%
-- $100M+ - 20%
- Time Horizon: 10+ years
- "I'll just keep building a good business. (And sleep at night)"

If you're in the first category, enjoy the ride.  It might burn you out.  But you also might win.  

If you're in the second category, find your composure and design your business around steady compounding every day.

Personally, I'm in the second category.

Community is the antithesis of AI native.  

It's real relationships
Real people.
And real experiences.

It doesn't respond well to hyper growth pressure (and often breaks when forced).

It does respond well to a long term steady vision, a focus on human connection and meaning, and an emphasis on craft.  

There's no judgement.  

We all have to grow where we're planted.

And mine is one that builds over years and decades vs quarters.  

What game are you going to play this year?

There's >$10B of ARR in this picture.  

And even with operators of this size and scale, folks need support.

We just got back from a 3 day Pavilion Gold Winter Retreat in Mexico, the first of its kind for this program.

To say it was "magical" is an understatement.

Something happens when you get people away from their screens and their Zooms and put them in a beautiful spot together to share, to experience the beauty of the environment, and to workshop difficult problems.

This group brought their full selves to this experience.

Discussions about:

Being laid off.
Negotiating the right package to protect yourself and your family.
The existential fear of not moving fast enough in a world dominated by AI.
What great operators are doing to stay ahead of the curve.
How to solve backwards from enterprise value.
Creating long-term incentives for your management team to drive business outcomes.
The POV of LPs who haven't received a distribution check in years from your 2021+ fund vintages.
Chips in shoulders translating to chips in pockets.
The profile of great founders.
Seat-based pricing migrations to usage-based pricing.
Dealing with difficult boards.
Sharing perspectives across PE, VC, and operators.
Building a career that spans operating roles, board roles, advisory roles, and asset allocation.

Beyond that though, and because we all knew that Chatham House Rules prevailed, people truly opened up.  

They shared their challenges.
Their fears.
Their concerns.

GTM can be a grind.
At any altitude.  

Even the folks that seem like they have it all are working their way through their careers with fear, anxiety, and optimism all at once.

---

Within Pavilion Gold, we do dinners, we do virtual masterminds, we connect people to subject matter experts to answer difficult challenges.

We put people into non-competitive peer groups called Small Councils where you can learn from a group of operators who become friends and ultimately your personal board of advisors.

And all of that is awesome.

But IRL is where the real magic happens.

And I can tell you -- it's powerful.

Real life.  
Real human connection.

That's the best hedge against a world dominated by AI.

---

We're going to do 2 big retreats a year plus a dedicated track at GTM (our big conference) for Gold Members.

Next up is Jackson Hole, June 9-12.
Next year we're looking at Whistler in Feb of 27 and then Amelia Island in June of 27.  
TBD on 2028 but we'll probably try to do something in Europe.

---

If you're an operator at scale and any of this sounds interesting, DM me.

There's no online sign-up to be clear.

I personally interview every Member.

We're not "scaling" Pavilion Gold.

It is an elite membership.
It's not for everyone.
It's a meaningful investment.

But it will change your career and your life.

So there's that.

The beginnings of a whirlwind tour that will take me through Washington DC, Mexico, Miami, Boston, Vegas and New York. 

First stop: Frankfurt where I’ve been waylaid due to terrible weather in Europe. 

Had to find a sports bar to watch the NFL playoffs. 

An attempt to stretch my legs took me through some kind of Red Light district by the train station.  Will find a different route back to the hotel. 

Over the next two weeks:

- Pavilion Gold Winter Retreat in Mexico featuring a number of incredible operators and investors including Cassie Young, Nate Nasralla, Jonathan Moss, Monika Saha, 🌱 Allison Munro, and many more. 

- Miami to meet with Mike Lovell and brainstorm on the Miami Chapter

- Boston for a team offsite with Rich Gardner, Julia Segel, Josh Mait, Nicholas Tarnoff, and Samantha Carducci  and a big all community town hall to announce some major updates to the Pavilion community 

- Vegas to speak at the AlphaSense SKO with Kiva Kolstein, Ashley Hansen Grech, and Steve Rowland  

- Then back to Spain via NYC

Gonna be a whirlwind. 

Follow along. 

For now:

Frankfurt you have not made the best first impression and, on behalf of Carly Pallis, 

GO BILLS

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Someting beautiful and special about being at the airport at 6am in the cold winter morning, the sunrise barely scratching its auburn hues against the horizon, watching people get dropped off on their way to their flight.

Hugs.  Kisses.  And echoes of "love you" throughout the terminal as people say goodbye on their way to some new adventure. 

Sometimes the sheer overwhelming joy of being alive and giving and receiving love can catch you by surprise.

It's good to be alive.

After 25 years of building and scaling revenue teams across >$500M in ARR, the #1 reason I see sellers, managers, and CROs fail isn’t effort, strategy, or hustle.  It’s a lack of basic financial acumen (and I know Gal Aga agrees with me).

If I were going to design a course to fix that problem for revenue leaders, here’s exactly how I’d structure it. 👇🏻

Module 1: Understanding the P&L and the core financial statements

This module would cover financial literacy, not accounting theory.  The goal wouldn't be to go deep on the different kinds of depreciation or why R&D should be capitalized.  

It would be to quickly help revenue leaders get up to speed.  

Specific elements should include:

- How the P&L actually works: revenue, gross margin, operating expenses, EBITDA
- How the P&L connects to the balance sheet and cash flow statement
- Where revenue decisions quietly create downstream cost, margin, and cash consequences
- What “healthy” vs “fragile” P&Ls look like at different stages of growth

Key Takeaways:

Leaders would be able to scan a P&L in 60 seconds and understand:
- How the business is really performing
- Where the obvious gaps and inefficiencies are
- Whether growth is creating leverage or just hiding problems

Module 2: Unit economics and the true cost of growth

This is where most revenue leaders get dangerous with partial knowledge.

We would cover:
- GRR, NRR, churn, expansion, and why revenue quality matters more than topline growth
- LTV:CAC and why averages lie
- Cohort and channel-based unit economics
- How sales efficiency, payback periods, and growth rates interact

Key Takeaways:

You'd know whether growth is creating value or destroying it — and which segments, channels, or motions are responsible.

Module 3: Valuation, benchmarking, and building durable value

Benchmarks without context are how bad decisions get justified.  Too many people have no clue why revenue multiples exist, what they imply, and why they change with the market.

Benchmarks are the crutch of the half-informed.  This module would change that.

We'd focus on:

- How investors actually think about valuation
- Why different business models earn different multiples
- The real drivers of revenue and EBITDA multiples
- A valuation-first mindset for revenue strategy and investment decisions

Key Takeaways:

You’ll stop optimizing for vanity metrics and start making decisions that compound long-term enterprise value.

Revenue leadership without financial fluency is guesswork with confidence.

This course would be designed to change that.

Given its importance, I'm hoping someone is building this course and target it at CROs, CMOs, and revenue leadership.  

And given its urgency, I would hope that someone would launch this course on January 27th, ideally to the best and most enduring revenue community in the world.

Because this course would be an absolute banger.

Fingers crossed.

🤞🏼

Two important and related books. 

Wallace Wattles “The Science of Getting Rich” and

James Carse “Finite and Infinite Games”

Wattles speaks of the difference between the Creative and Competitive Minds. 

Carse classifies two types of games. Finite games are played for the purpose of winning. Infinite games are played for the purpose of continuing the play. 

Connecting those dots: there is a different approach to life that is not defined by the success or failures of other people but simply by your ability to continue to create from the source of your personal genius.  

Forcing myself to play other people’s finite games has been the source of most of my unhappiness in life. 

And conversely, the freedom to pursue creative non-zero infinite games has been the source of my greatest joy.

A mentor once told me, "At some point everyone becomes a capital allocator."

MY INTERPRETATION:

There's only so far advisory or employee equity will take you.

If you want to be a player in this world you'll have to write big checks.  

Like it or hate it, the way power is distributed is according to who actually invests.  

Not advisory equity.
Not small $5K checks.

But the people that commit 6, 7, and 8 figures into causes and companies they believe in.

Many people are understandably not in that position.
Many people don't have the privilege of coming from that position,.
Many people are struggling every day to simply put food on the table.

This is not a judgement.
At many times in my life, I've been one of those people.
For the majority in fact.

So this is not social commentary.

But there are lots of people who could make meaningful commitments, who have simply become used to people giving them ownership without making a financial contribution for it.

And those folks will always be on the outside.

If you want to be on the inside:

Your goal should be to create enough resources that you can make meaningful bets on the things you believe in.  

Only if you want to be on the inside.

And everyone's journey is their own.

But the path to power is derived from capital allocation.

So you have to get out your checkbook.

Matthew Lakajev ☎️

Get 5+ more warm leads/wk from LinkedIn with our 3Cs system | Work with me and 435 creators in the program link below | DM me CREATOR SYSTEM and let’s chat

Matt Lakajev 🚀

Here's the FREE link to my new book: https://lnkd.in/gVWyyztD

I just spent 90 hrs writing my new book

- Comment NICHE and I'll send it to you -

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗧𝗼 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲
And Make F*ck You Money Online

It's 23,943 words that don't exist on the internet.

Taken directly from

• My 500 ChatGPT conversations
• And my AI second brain I've built

Inside you'll find

• 1 MEGA Prompt to help you niche
• 21 chapters you CANNOT find online
• Learning from my clients making $200M/yr

My client got 52 inbound leads from 1 post

After applying just this book.

- Comment NICHE and I'll send it to you -


PS - Legit copy and paste the entire book into ChatGPT and ask it where it ranks in ALL niching books online.

Wait till you see what it says :)

Matt Lakajev

Here's the FREE link to The LinkedIn Bible legends: https://lnkd.in/ghnnGKDD

After 3 yrs, I finished - The LinkedIn Bible

14,475 words. You can have for FREE.

- Comment "TRUST" and I'll send it to you -

It's the exact system I've used

→ To close $5,000,000 on LinkedIn
→ Help 1,500+ small business owners
→ Book 5,000+ meetings with $0 on ads
→ Become the No.1 lead gen expert in Australia
→ Influence $172,000,000 of clients annual revenue

I share insights I've NEVER shared before like

→ How I reverse engineered 54,187 viral posts
→ The AI analysis I did on 275,305 DMs
→ The Recursive Trust OS System I built

It teaches you EXACTLY

How to sell online - without feeling like a weirdo.

This is the only thing you need to make money on LinkedIn.

And I promise: it’ll blow your mind.

Comment "TRUST" and I'll send it to you


PS - ⚠️WARNING: this is the red pill 🔴.

Once you understand trust physics, you'll never look at selling online the same way again.

Making Clients $1,000,000,000 - On the journey now. You have 2 options: 1) Watch along 2) Join the LinkedIn Gym to work with us. You decide...

I just got off a call with LinkedIn’s internal team.

What they told me explains why so many LinkedIn accounts are getting fewer views.

The issue is not the algorithm update or the time you post.

The real reason is the huge rise in AI-made content on the platform.

They said there has been a 5,670% jump in AI slop in the last few months.

This wave is pushing their systems too hard.

Most people now open ChatGPT, grab a post in under 30 seconds, and hit publish.

LinkedIn was not built for this much low-effort content.

Their servers, review tools, and ranking system are all feeling the strain.

They told me there is one top secret method that still gets strong reach.

And very few people are using it.

Here is what they said:

𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻.

Their team of 1,000 data scientists said human-written posts now get pushed higher in the feed.

So normal AI-made posts will keep getting weak reach.

If you want the full breakdown and the simple steps they shared to write posts using your own brain?

— Comment BRAIN and I’ll send it —

I was shocked to hear this, to be honest.

What do you think?

The worst LinkedIn trend right now?

I'll go first:

AI comments

You look like an idiot, it destroys your reputation and it doesn’t do anything.

Please stop.

Your turn:

The worst LinkedIn trend is…

I was a loser for 27 years.

In 2018, I had a mental breakdown.

3:53AM in my parents’ spare bedroom
Heart pounding, chest tight
I realised one thing.

No one is coming to save me.
So I’m going to save myself.

That moment rebuilt my entire life.

Not because I got lucky.
But because I stopped outsourcing who I was.

Most people don’t have a business problem.
They have a self-authorship problem.

Fix that, and everything changes.

Agree?

How to send 10 LinkedIn DMs a day

And book 20 meetings a month.

Step 1: Document your top 3 clients wins

In a Google Doc write

1 - All the issues they had before working with you
2 - All the impacts it had on the business due to them
3 - What specifc results they got after working with you


Step 2: Create their "twins" in Sales Navigator

1 - Screenshot the Leads List filters
2 - Paste them into ChatGPT
3 - Paste your clients profile

Then ask it to create the filters of their twins.


Step 3: Send 10 DMs before 10am saying

"𝘏𝘦𝘺 𝘕𝘈𝘔𝘌, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘟 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘠 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘡 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 3 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘤 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘸. 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶?"


→ My client did this with my FREE content
→ Before we started working together
→ And closed a $6,000 a mth retainer.

This is how you get client on LinkedIn

Not that "commenting for 2 hours a day" garbage.

What do you think?

My 1st client was my mum's friend

I thought I "made it". It cost me $180k.
 
Biz start Nov 2022
First $8k/mth retainer Mar 2023.

Confirmation Bias on my sh*tty offer

I then spent like I’d won even though I sucked.

4 mths went by, bank balance dangerously low.

I could barely sell anything.

Finally dropped my ego

1 - Made a 3.5k one off offer
2 - DM'd 100's of peeps
3 - Closed 25 deals.

Same ICP. Smaller promise.
 
The lesson?

You're not as good as you think you are.

Make an offer that is smaller and lower risk

People don't buy promises
They buy something believable.

Agree?

How to make $30k/mth on LinkedIn

1) Start talking to people
2) Ask what they need help with
3) Offer to start helping them for free
4) Start helping them to see what you like
5) Ask what they found most valuable together
6) Find other people like them in Sales Navigator
7) Say you just helped this person and offer to help them
8) Keep helping more people to become the most useful
9) Use that real life data to create your offer doc to sell

That's it. You need nothing else. Just starting helping.

You can't "ChatGPT" your way into making an offer

The offer is created through you having conversations with actual human being, being useful and solving their real world problems.

No made up "AI" ones.

Agree?

I just hosted a 11 hr 35 min  LinkedIn Workshop

386 people joined. It was wild.

What a day.

But honestly, it was so much fun.

Can't wait to do it again.

Now I'm gonna peace out

And order Uber Eats.

Catcha Legend


PS - It was actually 2 workshops in 1 day. Forgot to mention. Peace out.

For 27 years I was a loser

Because I believed this lie

“If I understand it… that means I’ll do it.”

What a load of bs.

I binged YouTube videos — but never focussed.
I read dozens of self help book — but did nothing
I constantly compared myself to others — and it infected my brain.

I did all the “things” you’re meant to do

Until one day when I was staring at the bedroom ceiling after I’d had to move home to my parents house after having a breakdown.

I thought — “F*ck it. I’m going to start trusting my gut. I don’t care what society says. I’m going to be me”

And since that day—I built a life most people only dream of.

Ideas means nothing
The only thing that matters

Is taking uncomfortable action while other people call you a weirdo.

Agree?

3 ways to trash

Your personal brand on LinkedIn

1) Comment mindlessly for 2 hours a day on 50 "creators" posts saying "OMG this is so correct! You are the greatest human of all time!"

2) Use AI to only agree with what someone said. Ffs please stop. You look like a robot with no soul.

3) Ask for a 15 min catchup in every single DM you send. Just stop. You look like a desperate weirdo.

What would you add?


PS - I've added some more in the comments

Anyone who says "Don't cold DM" is an idiot

Last year I Cold DMd Ali Abdaal and booked a call

I then helped him for FREE for 60 mins on LinkedIn
I then coached his program for 90 mins for FREE also.

I asked for nothing in return.

Then I saw him on the The 505 Podcast

I then asked Ali if I could get an intro.

He said "Yeah send me the message and I'll forward it"

So, I cold DMd Brayden Figueroa

And guess what?

We recorded the pod this morining.

Cold DMs work. Your just suck.

And if you want to get better at them?

I just recorded a 30 FREE training

Where I show the EXACT DMs I sent to Ali and Brayden.

Go to my YouTube and under LIVE and check it out.

But what do you think?

Cold DMs? Yay or Nay?

taplio

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The Battle

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Matt Lakajev 🚀

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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);}Sam Jacobs's LinkedIn Performance

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