Tom Hunt

$3.6m ARR. $0 raised. I have no idea what I'm doing.

Jan 2014.

I'm walking home from a depressing New Year's trip to Oslo with an ex. girlfriend.

It's raining in East London.

I made a decision:

I would replace my management consulting salary (£42,000) by the end of the year.

I had no idea from where, but that was the goal...

I just about hit it and left the corporate world.

And I haven't been back since.

Fast forward a decade and I've:

- Tried and failed with 17 businesses
- Invested in 11
- Learnt a LOT

The one that is finally working is called Fame:

- We have a weird culture (in a good way)
- We start and grow podcasts for B2B businesses
- We are fully remote and have 75 full-time team members

I live for our awesome team at Fame, building businesses and great marketing.

I post about them here 🤗

Founder & CEO

We start and grow the world's most profitable B2B podcasts.

Clients include:

👉 IDEO
👉 Workday
👉 HighRadius
👉 People.ai
👉 Zendesk
👉 Bevy
👉 Circle
👉 Suzy
👉 Mazars
👉 LeanData
👉 CXL
👉 Ramp
👉 Alibaba
👉 Signify
👉 eToro

We don't review CVs.

We don't use an ATS.

We don't ask for cover letters.

And we barely spend money on job ads.


Here's our hiring process:

1. Candidates come inbound
2. We review their LinkedIn profile
3. They do a short test task
4. First interview: competency-based
5. Final interview: values-based

That's it.


No six-round marathons
No "upload your resume then retype it"
No AI scanning for keywords


Just people looking at real work and having conversations.

HR SaaS businesses told everyone that hiring needs to be complex.

It doesn't.


You don't need expensive software to find good people.

Agree?

$4.5m ARR. $0 raised. I have no idea what I’m doing.

No alternative text description for this image

I cancelled a 1-1 with someone on my team.


Why?

- They were thriving
- Their OKRs were progressing well
- I had nothing meaningful to contribute

So why have the meeting?

Why waste their time because I'm insecure about doing my job?


It's called macro-management.

HINT: the opposite of micro-management.


Here’s how it works:

- They work where they want
- You provide the insight, tools and resources
- You remove barriers, blockers and distractions
- They decide the "how"
- You trust them

Put simply:

You enable.
You assist.

Then you stay in your lane...

Not theirs.

Agree?

We hired a project manager for $7 per hour in 2022.

Now he's earning $40K a year.

That's higher than 98% of earners in the Philippines.


We made him a deal:

"Where you are right now limits what we can pay you because you don't generate enough value. But the more problems you can solve for us, the more we can pay you."

E.g. we hired him for what he could become, not what he was.


He got a payrise in year 2, then in year 3, he takes on another role.

Now he's:

- Project manager
- Video editor

Maybe more in the future.


The best hires have the right attitude toward growth.

Skill gaps close with time and effort.

Character gaps rarely close.

No one is clapping when you get the second resignation email of the day.

No one is clapping at 6:37am on a Saturday as you’re combing through the P&L.

No one is clapping when it’s your 17th decision of the day.

No one is clapping when you're the only person around to reply to the angry customer.

No one is clapping when payroll looms and the bank balance isn’t where it should be.

No one is clapping when you can’t think of anything else on a Sunday afternoon.



There’s a lot of hype around starting a business these days…

I’m not sure it’s for everyone.

Most people chase salaries and titles.
Smart people choose who they work with.

Specifically: their manager.

Here's why:

A bad manager...
- Drains your energy
- Protects their position
- Watches your every move

A great manager...
- Explains why things work
- Protects you from politics
- Supports your development


The truth?

You may spend more time with your manager than your spouse.

Choose wisely.

Fame bootstrapped to $4.5M ARR by charging LESS.

Plus we:

- Spend less than 2% of revenue on ads
- Have a 1 person sales team
- Raised $0

How?

By focusing on the one metric everyone ignores...

Retention.


1️⃣ Strong inbound engine

Outbound and ads cost more, both to book a sales call, but also in the skill (and therefore cost) of the person who needs to run the call.

Instead:

- SEO
- Personal brand
- Bottom of the funnel Google Ads


2️⃣ Charge less

E.g. the Amazon model.

The more you charge, the more likely you will be cut when the CFO and CEO review the monthly P&L.


3️⃣ Objective performance metrics

We used to track client happiness, now we track client objectives.

Happy clients churn, successful clients don't.


4️⃣ Build a retention culture

The team laugh everytime I say "retention is the foundation of growth" because I say it so much.

Hire, fire and promote based on retention.



The formula:

1️⃣ Strong inbound engine
2️⃣ Charge less
3️⃣ Track objective performance metrics
4️⃣ Build a culture of retention

And please, say it after me:

Retention is the foundation of growth.

As soon as I met Cristian and Alexandru in person, I knew I had to go.

They are the first reason I'm hosting a panel at Tekpon AI Summit 2025 in Bucharest.


The second reason is that I've spent the last 5 years working in my bedroom (pretty much).

$4.5m ARR from behind a screen.

It's working.

But now it's time to crawl out of the cave, and into real life.


So if you're in Bucharest on November 25th, come say hi.

Let's talk AI.
Let's talk marketing.
Let's talk LinkedIn.

Just let's actually talk.

Be like Taylor Swift...


At least that's what I told the awesome people at the Turing x SYSTM Growth Summit yesterday.


Why?

She nailed The Fame Formula:

1. Make really good content in a specific niche
2. Be seen around other famous people in the niche

First she did it with country, and now she does it with pop music.


It's also what we need to do in B2B.

B2B buyers are only in the market 3% of the time. We need to get them to know, like and trust us during the other 97% of the time.

How?

Two steps:

1. Content Format
2. Content Positioning


1. Content Format

You've got three options:

Social: Easiest to grow, lowest influence. Great for reach, but people scroll past quickly.

Email/Written: Middle ground. More intimate than social, easier to produce than podcasts.

Podcast: Hardest to grow, highest influence, best for repurposing. One episode can become 20 pieces of content.

If I was to start again, I would pick the social platform that I liked best, and start there.


2. Content Positioning

Two parts:

- The Niche

Be as narrow as possible.

If you sell email marketing software, don't start a marketing podcast, don't event start a email marketing podcast, start the open-rate podcast.

- The Edge

The thing a customer would tell their friends. What makes you different? What's your unique opinion?


That's The Fame Formula:

Pick your format.
Nail your positioning...

And be like Taylor.

If you can’t share an agenda for the meeting, we shouldn’t be meeting.

When Taplio was acquired by lemlist, they got:

- $2m upfront
- Another $6m for hitting growth targets


I asked him if it was time for beach and cocktails...

"Absolutely not."

Tibo starting sourcing young, hungry founders to build more products.

He now runs 5 products, each with difference technical founders, whilst he focuses on their growth and building his personal brand.

Now $6m ARR.


The next exit will be much bigger.

Find out how in this episode of Confessions of a B2B Entrepreneur below 👇

One of our team members' machines was compromised.

And a client found out about it.

Somehow their Slack log in was posted in a data dump, which was flagged to a client's security team.

We immediately took the compromised machine offline for deep cleaning and changed a load of other passwords.

In the end, no breach occurred, but it was a scare.

This would likely not have happened if we were using Keeper Security, Inc. 

It’s the highest-rated password manager in the world for a reason. 

It solves both the security and the productivity problem:

- Zero-Trust Security: Keeper built its entire platform on a zero-trust, zero-knowledge architecture so your business data is encrypted on your device before it ever reaches their servers

- Instant Access: The KeeperFill feature automatically enters usernames and complex passwords for you

Keeper is built to scale with your business (securely) from day one.

Check out their Cyber Week offer linked in the first comment 👇

#ad #keepersecurity #cyberweek

Brand partnership • $4.5m ARR. $0 raised. I have no idea what I’m doing.

The Good Stuff Group

We’re putting the good back in to brand and marketing, working with decent people to make a difference. Using the right ingredients from the very start. After all, you get out what you put in ☺️

www.thegoodstuffgroup.co.uk

Co-Founder

The Marketing Meetup

Hosting The Marketing Meet-up for Kent, in Ashford.
If you would like to learn from the greatest marketers in the world or meet your fellow marketing people in a kind environment – TMM is for you.

Event Host

Roofbox Collective

Industry friends, who’ve joined forces to expand our destination marketing offer. To reach more people and do more work in partnership, as a team. Bringing the extra hands, extra eyes, extra space and extra knowledge – geared up and ready to go.

Founding Member

Zest The Agency

Brand first, audience driven. We work with companies that recognise change is needed. We help craft engaging narratives and shape these across all journeys, channels and products.

Small steps lead to big changes.

Let’s start a little revolution.

zesttheagency.com

Managing Director

Atherstone Partners

As part of an Advisory Board, I help Atherstone Partners by providing an independent strategic view across the digital sector.

atherstonepartners.co.uk

An Executive Search firm that specialises in top-level Executive and Non-executive search.  Our experience as CEOs and entrepreneurs, as well as search consultants, enables us to reach beyond professional services to understand the corporate world from a different perspective.  And our knowledge of, and access to, a network of individuals working at the highest level within Asia, means that we can find and attract outstanding talent in one of the fastest growing and most exciting regions globally.

Digital Advisor

Epic Adventures

A unique range of adventure-themed stories, journals and craft activities designed to get children off their screens, using their imaginations and finding the epic in the everyday.

Founder / Product Strategy & Marketing

We Love Digital

An independent agency - nimble, curious and cross-functional - we've spent the past 12 years collaborating with brands, their internal teams and lead agencies, to create beautifully crafted, behaviour driven, digital experiences.

Our services include Digital Marketing, Experience Design, Brand communications.

With award-winning work for the likes of Sony, DFDS, Yamaha, Endemol-Shine, MTV, Turner Broadcasting, and L'Oreal, across their core digital channels and platforms.

welovedigital.com

Founder / Head of Client Services

Think iMG

Responsible for the proposition, commercial growth, studio and account management of the digital arm of a forward thinking media group.

think.studio

ABA Group

Mid-weight designer, transitioning to Studio Manager within an entrepreneurial design studio. Work was predominantly blue-chip clients with BTL design requirements, direct mail, PR, magazine work and publishing, moving to digital in latter years.

Lead Designer

Various

Designer

Do you know who your 𝗕𝗘𝗦𝗧 customers are? Do you know 𝗪𝗛𝗬 they come to you and not your competitors? Before spending money on a new website or ad campaign, speak to us about how to optimise your 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 first. We'll make sure that when you spend your hard won marketing budget, it's in the right place for the right reasons.

✉️ 𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗷𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀@𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽.𝗰𝗼.𝘂𝗸


𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗔𝗠 𝗜?

I'm obsessed with health, outdoor, sourdough and kefir. I LOVE mud runs with my girls. BBQ (and a few craft beers) is my place of zen.

Strategically minded, with a passion for connecting people, creativity and systems. I’ve spent 30+ years in industry, honing my trade running three successful agencies - The Good Stuff being my fourth.


𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗦𝗧𝗨𝗙𝗙

🚫 We DON’T do PPC, SEO, CRO, or eComm
🚫 We DON’T do content, video, social or email.
🚫 We DON’T do digital PR, influencer or affiliate marketing. And we definitely don’t do marketing automation.

✅ We do Brand.
✅ Brand Strategy, execution and activation.

We work out that unique thing that only you do. What makes you, you, and the value it creates for your best customers. And we lean into it. And then we lean into it some more.

☀️ We use it to clearly differentiate you from your competitors.
☀️ And connect you with MORE of your best customers
☀️ All backed by evidence. The words and voice of… you guessed it... your best customers.


𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗪𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞 𝗧𝗢𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥?

💚 GOOD PEOPLE, DOING GOOD WORK, FOR GOOD REASONS
We want to work with businesses and organisations that care as much about people and the planet as they do about profit. To support this, we offer a discounted rate card and a number of pro bono services for purpose led businesses.

If you're not a purpose led business, but you're good people, then we're also up for a chat ☺️


💚 NINE in 90
Every job we take on starts with a fast-paced workshop that we call 'Nine in 90'. It's aim is to create a clear, objective view of the strategic components you already have in place. And to ascertain gaps and potential pain points that may need to be overcome.


💚 B2B, B2C, D2C, A2P or B2B2C?

🚫 𝗪𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲.

Why?

Because your customers don’t buy from you in this way. They don’t see themselves as a 2anything. There’s only ever the value of what you provide and whether they want it or not.

Let’s not make things complicated.


𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱? 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗲!

✉️ 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗷𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀@𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽.𝗰𝗼.𝘂𝗸

James Easley

Most bees follow the waggle dance and head where they're told. 
A small group don't - they break pattern and forage new ground.

Incredibly proud of my better half, for going off and exploring... 

...a category that needs to be brought to the fore, incredible new businesses and products, and for pushing herself to explore connections and relationships that take her outside of her comfort zone.

Well done Maria Easley, what an incredible opportunity.

💛🐝

The World Alcohol-Free Awards

Brand Strategist | Co-Host of the Marketing Meet-up | Over 146 Followers | Once Had 27 Likes on a Post

Drinks consultant and educator | World Alcohol-Free Awards Judge | WSET Level 2 in Spirits| Specialises in low and no | Cocktail masterclasses and drinks experiences

World Alcohol-Free Awards  2026

I’m excited to share that I’ll be a judge at the The World Alcohol-Free Awards  in March.

WAFA is the global benchmark for alcohol-free, and I can’t wait to join the panel and discover what new and innovative drinks are coming into the category.

It’s a brilliant moment for anyone working in low & no, and I’m proud to play a small part in spotlighting great producers.

The competition is now open to enter 🏆

In sport, they talk about the green zone - the space where everything feels natural, your instincts take over, and you don’t have to think too hard about what you’re doing.

That’s what workshops feel like to me. A state of 100% curiosity and focus. One goal - understanding what’s in our clients heads and getting it out on the walls, tables and Miro boards in front of them.

Exactly the opposite effect I may add, around public speaking!!

Thankfully I have a H e L e N.

Everyone needs one.
They help you with heebigeebies, general confidence, anxiety and SO much more.

When I go to into a meeting with H, I’m not worried by half the things my overactive brain is making up and telling me I should be.

So, next week I’ll be stepping out of that green zone for The Marketing Meetup, Ashford, where Helen Banyard☀️ will be hosting the panel.

And we’ll be joined by two BRILLIANT guests, Lucy Hall and Andy Barden, who’ll make the conversation one worth listening to 💛


🔥 Book now - tickets for this one are HOT!!

🔗 Link in the comments

What’s the LinkedIn lesson here, folks?

Never let your Canva-obsessed business partner design your promotional assets. Obviously.

Join us at The Marketing Meetup on 17th November at Coachworks (Ashford) for a panel on ‘How to turn fans into customers’.


2️⃣ brilliant guests - Andy Barden and Lucy Hall 

1️⃣ host who definitely shouldn’t be trusted with photo-editing software Helen Banyard☀️ !! 

😲And one rabbit in a beanie.


Hope to see you there!!

💛


(Link in the comments)

taplio

The Battle

Tom Hunt

James Easley

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taplio

The Battle

Tom Hunt

James Easley

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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);}Tom Hunt's LinkedIn Performance

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