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 LOTThe 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 membersI live for our awesome team at Fame, building businesses and great marketing.And 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

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

“We need to let them go.”

I’m in a 1-1 and a manager thinks someone in their team isn’t performing.

I'm in shock, to me they seemed enthusiastic and a culture fit.


We dug into the details:

- What weren’t they doing?
- Why weren’t they doing it?

The manager thought they either didn't understand or couldn't do the role.

Then I ask:

“How did onboarding go?”

“What do you mean by onboarding?” they reply.


And that's when we found the issue:

We skipped the onboarding process and replaced it with "a couple of calls".


If you’re recruiting right, you owe it to yourself to onboard right.

You can’t expect someone to join and start performing, you need to set them up to succeed.

Onboard right or do it twice.

Agree?

I had a terrible boss.

And I spent more time with them than my partner.
 

They never raised their voice.

They smiled (kind of).

But they also started:

- Passing my ideas off as their own
- Expecting email responses at 10pm
- “Checking in” multiple times per day
 
Again, they weren’t ever aggressive or rude, they just slowly eroded my confidence each day.

I thought this was normal e.g. you get a job, you get a manager like this.
 

And then…

I moved roles and got a new manager, they:

- Stepped in when needed
- Never emailed after hours
- Saved most comms to our weekly 1-1
 

A great manager won’t get you promoted.

They will change the trajectory of your career.

Agree?

My 7 favourite startup lies:


1. We’re scaling
-- No, you still don't know how/if you'll be profitable

2. We’re going viral
-- No, your CEO’s LinkedIn fundraise post got a few more likes than normal

3. TechCrunch picked us up
-- No, your $10k per month PR agency got you featured

4. We’re partnering with Google
-- No, you’re paying Google Cloud for servers

5. The inbound pipeline is strong
-- No, some competitors requested a demo to see what you’re building

6. We have FANG-level talent
-- No, one of your devs interned at Netflix 6 years ago

7. The team are fully incentivised
-- No, they have paper options based on an inflated fundraise


And my absolute favourite:

8. We’re worth $30m
-- No, a hyped up VC gave you this valuation to make themselves look good (so they can raise their next fund)


Thank god we don't have to lie to ourselves.

Here’s to the bootstrappers 🥂

(Exit the hype-train and subscribe to Cash Machines)

I probably shouldn’t share this…

I like to call it the “Pay Rise Formula”.


Most people go about asking for money in the completely wrong way:

1. Pay review arrives
2. “Can I have more money?”

It’s an easy "not yet" from the boss.


But if you follow these three steps, you boost your chances of a pay rise by at least 56%:

(Not a guarantee but it works)

1. 6 months before the pay review ask your boss: “what do I need to be doing in the next 6 months to get a pay-rise?”

2. Write those things down and make a plan to hit them. Work hard.

3. A few weeks before the pay review, show the list (with things ticked off) to your boss in a 1-1 and ask them to confirm if you are actually doing those things


If done right, there is no way a boss can push back on a raise with the "not yet" excuse.

Pro-activity pays.

Agree?

"OK let me get this straight..."

"Because it kind of sounds like you built yourself a job."


It's 11:37pm in 2017 and I'm sat with a good friend enjoying a spicy margarita in a seedy city bar.

He's shouting into my ear because they closed something called a "Series A":

- How their going to change the world
- An upcoming TechCrunch article
- All the people he needs to hire
- Their "enterprise motion"


But something isn't making sense to me:

1. He has to report to the board every month
2. Any cost greater than £25k must have board sign off
3. He can't take cash out whenever he wants
4. Board needs to sign off his salary
4. If he leaves in the next 4 years he only keeps a slice of his own company
5. If they don't sell it for a massive amount he may get nothing
6. To sell it, they need investor sign off


He replies:

"Yeah I see what you're saying, but the reality is the company is now valued at £20m, my stake is £6m, so I'm basically a multi-millionaire"

😳


As you can imagine, it didn't work out well.

Glad I stuck to building Cash Machines.

$4.5 million ARR, 0 raised.

$500 invested.

It’s been a wild ride.


We have built Fame as a service business with mostly intangible assets.

We did it without selling a single piece of equity to venture capital.

But even asset-light businesses get stuck.

You often need to buy speed to hire a star developer, fund a new marketing campaign, or pay a tax bill.

In those moments, I did not want to wait weeks for a bank.

Unless I had another option.

An option like iwoca.


They fund small businesses that move quickly and have already funded 100,000 businesses in the UK. 

They lent £3.3 billion to business owners who need to move fast and build resilience.

You can apply for business finance between £1,000 and £1M in about five minutes.

They typically give you a decision within 24 hours.

Apply here to check your options: https://lnkd.in/euSG4SCm

NOTE - applying does not impact your credit score.

#Ad

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

It felt like the responsible thing to do... 


But then it turned out to be one of the worst business decisions ever.

Depreciating assets hurt the balance sheet, locking up capital that could be used for growth. 

For example... 

We are in a hiring sprint, bringing on 2 - 3 new team members in Feb. 

Old Tom would have dropped thousands upfront for laptops that would be worth significantly less by next year.

That isn’t scaling.

It’s a cash drain.

Instead, we are using Raylo.

It took 60 seconds to set up a subscription for the latest HP laptops, and they arrived the next day.

Here is why I recommend Raylo as an affordable option for small businesses:

- Protect Your Cash: We paid £0 upfront. Every pound saved on hardware goes straight into growth.

- Upgrade Freedom: With the MacBook M5 rumors floating around, I am not worried because we can upgrade the team to the latest models for free with Raylo's monthly rolling option.

- Zero Drama: If something goes wrong with a device during the subscription, Raylo's Lifetime Warranty covers technical faults and they sort it quickly.


Or in other words:

Stop buying "stuff" that rots on your balance sheet. 

Convert your tech to OpEx and keep your capital for growth.

Check out the subscription options for your team here: mdsh.io/raylo-business 

#Ad

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You've likely heard there's two ways to generate leads:

1️⃣ 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 (LinkedIn outreach, email outreach)
2️⃣ 𝐈𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 (SEO, paid ads, content marketing, referrals)

Outbound, especially LinkedIn and email outreach, is your fastest, most direct path to new business.

✅ 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐖𝐄 𝐃𝐎:
We help B2B service-based professionals rapidly attract clients through targeted, done-for-you LinkedIn profile upgrades, LinkedIn outreach campaigns, and email outreach strategies leveraging your unique Value Offer.


✅ 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒:

1️⃣ 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝𝐈𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐔𝐩𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞:
Your LinkedIn profile isn't just a resume - it's your #1 personal landing page on Google. We'll optimize your LinkedIn profile for maximum visibility, keyword relevance, and lead conversion. When your ideal prospects search for someone offering your expertise, you'll be at the top.

2️⃣ 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
We develop a laser-focused Ideal Client Profile (ICP) to clearly define and target your ideal prospects, ensuring every outreach campaign precisely matches their needs.

3️⃣ 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:
We craft an irresistible "slice of your expertise" - a guide, report, masterclass, or video that attracts attention, builds authority, and generates high-quality leads.

4️⃣ 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐅𝐨𝐫-𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝𝐈𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡:
We design, execute, and optimize highly effective LinkedIn outreach and email campaigns to position your Value Offer directly in front of thousands of targeted prospects every month.

*Or if you just want to start with a done-for-you LinkedIn Profile Upgrade, go here:
https://www.referralprogrampros.com/linkedin-profile-upgrade


✅ 𝐌𝐘 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃:

-Born and raised in Stillwater, Minnesota. 
-Snowboarded (and went to college at Gonzaga) in Spokane, Washington.
-Co-founded a travel company in Florence, Italy.
-Became COO of a fintech company in Bellevue, Washington.
-Started Referral Program Pros and living my passion of helping entrepreneurs grow.

I live in Seattle, WA with my wife and two kids - the 3 people who make me the luckiest guy I know.

Thomas Ryan Oakes

Top 5 most practical ways to use AI for growth...

These are dead simple.

Most founders use AI for the obvious stuff.

Write a blog post. 
Summarize a doc. 
Draft an email.

That's fine.

But if you're a consultant, agency owner, or founder trying to bring in more business...

AI can do a LOT more than write your content.

Here are 5 plays that are actually moving the needle right now:

1. Turn your sales calls into your entire content strategy.

-Record every prospect call using Fathom or Otter.
-Upload the transcript. 
-Ask the AI to pull out the top objections, pain points, and exact phrases your prospects used.

Those phrases become your LinkedIn posts, email subject lines, and landing page copy.

Your market literally writes your messaging for you.


2. Build personalized outreach at scale.

-Feed a prospect's LinkedIn profile, website, or recent posts into ChatGPT or Claude.
-Ask it to draft a message that references something specific about their business and ties it to your offer.

Not fake personalization. 
Real relevance in 90 seconds instead of 15 minutes.

Shameless plug: You can also use gtmbud for this purpose if you want to launch a campaign within literal minutes - https://gtmbud.com/


3. Create custom "value offers" for every prospect.

Use AI to generate a quick audit, benchmark, or breakdown specific to the person you're reaching out to.

Example: "Had a few ideas on how your positioning could attract more prospects - want me to send it over?"


4. Research your ICP faster than....well any human ever.

Use AI to analyze job postings, earnings calls, LinkedIn activity, or industry reports for your target accounts.

You'll spot buying signals (new hires, leadership changes, budget shifts) before your competitors ever notice them.


5. Repurpose one piece of content into ten.

-Take a single client win, case study, or lesson learned.
-Ask AI to turn it into a LinkedIn post, a cold email angle, a video script, a newsletter section, and a follow-up message.

One idea. Ten touchpoints. All in under 20 minutes.

Pick one of these five.

Try it this week.

Then tell me what happened.

Rooting for you,
Tom

Outreach you can be proud of. We help B2B service businesses book more qualified calls using a proven Value-Offer Outreach Funnel that turns interest into clients. Join 7k+ others in GTM READY (free newsletter below)

Open article: GTMBud - AI-Powered Outbound Campaign Platform for Consultants & Agencies by gtmbud.com

GTMBud - AI-Powered Outbound Campaign Platform for Consultants & Agencies

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The Battle

Tom Hunt

Thomas Ryan Oakes

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Performance ScoreThomas Ryan Oakes's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Tom Hunt

Thomas Ryan Oakes

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 ScoreThomas Ryan Oakes's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreTom Hunt's LinkedIn Performance