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.

Justin Rowe

Impactable - B2B Linkedin Ads Agency

Impactable is dedicated to helping B2B brands grow through LinkedIn advertising, multi-channel demand generation, and data-driven insights. Acquired by a data-centric investor in 2021, we leverage our LinkedIn Ads expertise to drive consistent, scalable growth for over 150 clients in the B2B space.

Key Capabilities:
LinkedIn Ads: We specialize in LinkedIn Ads management and create campaigns tailored to each client’s goals. We use LinkedIn’s precise targeting to reach decision-makers and convert leads.

Demand Generation: Our approach combines LinkedIn with Google Ads, Facebook, and programmatic channels, building a cohesive marketing ecosystem that accelerates the buyer’s journey and enhances engagement.

Website Visitor Identification: Our proprietary tech uncovers high-intent website visitors, providing insights for personalized retargeting and follow-ups.

Automated Lead Gen: Our automated LinkedIn outreach solution captures ICP-fit prospects, generating qualified leads with efficient workflows.

Custom SaaS Tools: We continuously expand our tech stack, providing clients with tools that streamline digital advertising and lead generation.

Results & Impact:
Client Growth: Increased qualified leads and conversion rates, driving revenue growth across 150+ brands.

Optimization: Leveraged A/B testing, segmentation, and data-driven adjustments to deliver up to 30% higher ROI on multi-channel campaigns.

Advanced Reporting: Developed custom reporting for clear insights into campaign performance, ensuring clients see measurable results.

Impactable builds efficient, results-focused marketing ecosystems for scaling B2B brands, blending strategy, technology, and insights to achieve long-term growth.

Other capabilities include website visitor identification, automated LinkedIn lead generation, and a few SAAS tools we are working on.

Chief Executive Officer

Linknlearn - Acquired by Impactable in 2021

Linknlearn was started as a Linkedin lead generation agency and then was acquired in 2021. We served over 1,000+ clients before the sale. 

We started out as a scrappy freelance team and then grow to an agency with a global reach. 

After the acquisition, I've stayed on as part-owner and CEO as we pivot into Linkedin ads, data, and a more comprehensive multi-channel marketing approach.

Founder

Potbelly Sandwich Works

I am currently the Managing Owner of 4 Potbelly Sandwich Shops in Louisville KY, and IN.

Restaurant Owner of 4 Locations

Founder/CMO @ Impactable - B2B LinkedIn Ads Agency | Acquired in 2021 | 2x Acquisitions in 2024 | Making things up as I go

From Restaurant Hustle to LinkedIn Agency Founder → Acquired → Now Scaling the #1 LinkedIn Ads Agency

I went from serving tables to serving over 1,000 clients in 30+ countries - and building an agency that was acquired in an all-cash buyout.

Starting in the restaurant industry, I had a hunger for something more (pun intended). I turned to LinkedIn to document my journey and connect with people. That content led to job offers, investor conversations, and even a deal to co-launch a restaurant franchise.

I saw the power of LinkedIn firsthand and started helping others. That side hustle turned into Linknlearn, a global lead gen agency built entirely through Upwork and LinkedIn outreach. I became the #1 ranked LinkedIn expert on Upwork, launched a $500 website, and scaled the agency internationally.

In 2021, we were acquired. We pivoted to LinkedIn Ads, launched new tech tools, and Impactable was born.

Today, I lead Impactable — a LinkedIn-Centric B2B Marketing Agency and creators of DemandSense, our proprietary LinkedIn Ads platform. We’ve been recognized by LinkedIn, invited to speak at their Indie Agency Summit, and continue working toward deeper partnerships with their team.

💡 What I’m Focused On Now

👉 Helping B2B brands scale with LinkedIn + Google + Programmatic full-funnel campaigns
👉 Working with clients spending $5K–$200K/month in ad budget to scale high-value pipelines
👉 Building smarter offers, audiences, and funnels through our 90-Day Validation Sprints
👉 Empowering internal marketers with DemandSense: ad scheduling, audience testing, and signal tracking for LinkedIn Ads

🧰 Resources (Free & Paid)

🎯 Free Strategy Resources & Templates
→ linktr.ee/justin_rowe

🛠 LinkedIn Ads Toolset (DemandSense)
→ https://impactable.com/dgp-linkedin-ads-tools/


🎥 LinkedIn Ads + B2B Demand Gen on YouTube
→ https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCATGD6P27kWXDVuaAZeZBuQ/videos

📈 LinkedIn Ads Agency (Done-for-You)
→ https://impactable.com/

💬 Want to Collaborate?

→ Send me a DM if you want to:

Test your audience + offer fit on LinkedIn

Migrate from Google to multichannel demand gen

Build a scalable paid strategy with a trusted partner

Impactable is a Linkedin Ads Agency that specializes in Linkedin Marketing for B2B companies. We were acquired in 2021 by a data-heavy investor and made a strong pivot into Linkedin advertising. Impactable now manages over 150+ B2B brands with Linkedin advertising being our core focus. 

Other capabilities include website visitor identification, automated Linkedin lead generation, and a few saas tools we are working on.

It’s November. Targets for next year are going up.
Your marketing budget probably isn’t.

If leadership just asked you to grow pipeline by 30% without growing spend, you are not getting there with “more cold.”

You get there by squeezing every drop out of the warm audiences and first party data you already paid for.

Here is how I’d use the last 4-5 weeks of the year 👇

1️⃣ Map the warm demand you already have
Before you touch budgets, answer:

“If I had to show sales the top 50–100 warm accounts to go all‑in on this quarter… could I?”

-Open a doc and list:
-Open opps (especially mid/late that went quiet in the last 60–90 days)
-Closed‑lost for timing/budget, not bad fit
-Accounts on pricing / demo / comparison / integration pages in the last 30 days
-Trials or freemium users with strong usage
-Engaged subscribers, webinar attendees
-Companies that keep showing up across content + LinkedIn


Rough tier it:
Tier A = high fit, high intent
Tier B = high fit, medium intent
Tier C = medium fit, earlier stage

That’s your warm universe. You already paid for it.

2️⃣ Rebalance from “more cold” to “better warm”
Most ad accounts right now:

-60–80% of spend on cold
-Warm retargeting underfunded or on autopilot
-Success defined as CPL and lead volume

If you need more pipeline on a flat budget, that math does not work.

For the rest of Q4 I’d:
-Push 30–40% of paid budget into Tier A + B
-Protect branded search so competitors don’t close the deals you warmed up
-Judge cold by how many new warm accounts it creates, not just cheap leads

Cold fills tomorrow’s warm pool.
Warm protects CAC today.

3️⃣ Give warm audiences something better than a generic ad
Tier A/B don’t need another “who we are” explainer.

They need:
-Proof
-Clarity
-Help making the internal case


Think:

-Thought‑leader ads from you/your execs: “How we’d use the next 90 days if we were in your seat”
-Short videos that call out CAC / pipeline pressure and show a concrete path
-Landing pages that assume they’re evaluating, not discovering you for the first time

By January, a warm account should feel:
“Of course we’re seeing you, and of course this is relevant right now.”

If you want the structured, in‑depth version of this (warm‑audience mapping, budget models, creative examples, reporting that survives CFO scrutiny), that’s exactly what I break down in my new on‑demand CXL course on building a warm‑audience‑first B2B ecosystem that actually lowers CAC.

You can find the link to this course and other useful resources in my profile resource link (i'll include in comments too). 

But even if you never touch the course, using the rest of this year to:

-Map your warm demand
-Rebalance spend
-Upgrade what warm accounts see

…will put you in a much better spot when Q1 hits.

You can find the link to the CXL course here - https://lnkd.in/gQWzYwYb

Founder & CEO @ Impactable | B2B LinkedIn Ads Partners | Paid Ads + Demand Gen + AI + Audiences + Automation + Strategy |

Vector’s ghost mascot isn’t just a quirky idea. 
It’s proof that emotion drives every purchase, even in B2B.

When I spoke with Jess Cook, Head of Marketing at Vector, she told me the ghost mascot wasn’t created by marketing. 

It came straight from their CEO, Joshua Perk 👻.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵.

Before a single marketing hire, Joshua and COO Nick Masters had already built a brand that felt human with bold colors, personality, and a tone that stood out from the industry’s usual gray.

Jess knew instantly that was a brand she wanted to help grow.

Because it’s rare to see a B2B company act like a consumer brand, focusing on connection and likability first.

And that’s exactly why it works.

Be the brand people actually 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 to root for.

#B2BMarketing #BrandBuilding #MarketingStrategy #BrandPersonality #Impactable

B2B Marketing isn’t about algorithms or ad types. 
It’s about people.

Before running a LinkedIn ads agency, I ran restaurants. And I learned quickly that if you want to build something great, it starts with people.

You need to create an environment where good people can thrive. 

You need to understand what motivates them, how they work, and what they need to succeed.

That same principle applies to marketing. 
You’re still serving people, just in a different way.

When you understand your audience deeply, you create content that feels natural to them. 

And if it works organically, it deserves to be amplified with ads.

It’s simple: 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲-𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲-𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Build for people first, and everything else follows.

Website LinkedIn Ads Agency: https://lnkd.in/guEafPKk
B2B Strategies and Guides: https://lnkd.in/gB-WQ82f
Impactable YouTube Channel: https://lnkd.in/emYVDn_T

#Leadership #B2BMarketing #PeopleFirst #LinkedInAds #Impactable

In the age of AI, the most valuable thing your brand can own is its original thinking.

In a recent live chat with Jess Cook, Head of Marketing at Vector, she shared a concept that really stuck with me: 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗜𝗣.

In a world where anyone can produce a blog post or social clip with a few prompts, the question becomes:
What are the things only 𝘺𝘰𝘶 can say?

What insights, experiences, or opinions are so rooted in your brand and expertise that no one else could copy them even if they tried?

That’s your moat.

Your 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗜𝗣 is what separates you from the noise, and the smartest brands are building around it.

𝗢𝘄𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.

#B2BMarketing #ContentStrategy #ThoughtLeadership #AIinMarketing #Impactable

How precise does your b2b marketing data get?

Lately, I've been exploring technographic data – a tool that’s reshaping how I approach marketing personalization.

Technographic data refers to information that describes a company's current technology stack, including the software, platforms, tools, and technologies they use to run their business.

This data can reveal insights into a company's operations, technological capabilities, preferences, potential needs, and challenges.

For instance, knowing a company uses WordPress not only tells us about their web platform choice, but can also indicate specific challenges they face, from security concerns to customization issues.

Rather than a generic pitch, you can address their unique situation with a solution that fits perfectly.

👉 This level of personalized outreach doesn't just get attention; it positions you as an expert.

You're already halfway through the door by demonstrating an understanding of their tools and challenges, shifting from a cold outreach to a meaningful conversation starter.

#DigitalMarketing #TechnographicData #Personalization #MarketingStrategy

taplio

The Battle

Tom Hunt

Justin Rowe

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreTom Hunt's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreJustin Rowe's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Tom Hunt

Justin Rowe

Followers

Posts

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

Performance ScoreJustin Rowe's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreTom Hunt's LinkedIn Performance