C17 Lab

Head of GTM Engineering

Building out outbound plays for enterprise clients

Strategic GTM

Clay

Enterprise Partner

Monthly Unlimited Flows for Fixed retainer

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Unlimited Custom clay workflows for you for a fixed monthly price

24-72 hours delivery, one request at a time.

Free 3000 Credits - 

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Smartlead

Smartlead Certified Experts

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Persana AI

Monthly Flows on a fixed price


https://persana.ai/pros/utkarsh-rana

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Adyhere.com

Helping B2B SaaS Companies and Agencies Generate Leads while they sleep via AI-Powered Inbound + Outbound

If you are not from one of the above industries no issues, you just need to be a B2B business.

We do all the heavy lifting, you just attend the meetings!

$200,000+ in REV & $1M+ Pipeline generated for B2B clients via outbound

Website - https://www.adyhere.com/
Email - utkarsh.rana@adyhere.com

Founder

I help B2B SaaS Companies and Agencies Generate Leads while they sleep
$200,000+ in REV & $1M+ Pipeline generated for B2B clients

Unlimited Custom clay workflows for you at $2000/Month

I set content systems that:
-> Builds audience
-> Engage with them while heating their buying intent 
-> Converting warm leads with a high closing rate as the content did most of the work.

Then I use data from over 100+ sources to create smart strategies that find the right prospects. 

This helps your sales team connect with people who are looking for you.

Here’s what I do:
Build Content systems that build an audience
Build targeted lead lists
Set up and warm up inboxes
Write personalized emails & DMs
Manage full campaigns


The aim is to test 
OFFER-MARKET-FIT
TARGET TESTING
MESSAGE-MARKET FIT
PRODUCT-UNTAPPED MARKET FIT


--
If you're a B2B company that wants more demos/sales calls, go to https://www.adyhere.com/

Utkarsh Singh Rana

We don’t use Clay native waterfall.
Even though I love Clay
.
.
Why?

Because we needed full control

Especially around tools like Supabase, BounceBan (Verify risky emails without sending messages), and email domain filtering. 

So, I built a custom waterfall logic. 
We're now on Version 8 and it's been a game-changer for our GTM team.

Thanks to Enzo Carasso 🧲 for letting me spend $$$ on testing tools 😊 

🔁 Our Custom Enrichment Waterfall at C17 Lab:

1️⃣ Supabase First: 
Credit goes to 🦾Eric Nowoslawski and Bharatt Arorah for introducing me to SupaBase

We query by:
LinkedIn Handle (if valid)
OR Full Name + Domain
 This saves us 30–40% of our enrichment credits upfront.

2️⃣ Domain Filter Logic
 If Supabase gives us utkarsh@c17.ai
 but the real domain is c17.com → ❌ rejected.

 No mismatched domains. No noise in the pipeline.

➡️ What if Supabase fails?
We fall back to:
Apollo/CSV email (only if different from invalid ones)
Prospeo.io and Icypeas
But NEVER revalidate already-marked-invalid emails.

 🧠 That alone saved us 154,000+ verification calls last month.

3️⃣ Final Validation
 Every valid-looking email goes through:
✅ MillionVerifier
🚫 BounceBan (Verify risky emails without sending messages) (only if catch-all/invalid by MillionVerifier)

And we use request IDs to fetch final verdicts if needed as sometimes BounceBan gives you request ID

4️⃣ Bonus: ESP Detection
 We tag every email with Gmail, Outlook, etc., via EmailGuard.
 Helps in split testing emails as Outlook deliverability is bad.

5️⃣ Sync Back to Supabase
 Every enriched lead gets written back to Supabase with full data.

 No duplicates. No overwriting.

NOTE: When you cross like a Million records in Supabase, you'll get errors with LookUp as the data is too much

Use ChatGPT to figure out what schema you want with it.

🔍 How We Fixed the Lookup Problem
We use GIN trigram indexes, which are special tools that help Supabase find text very fast, even in millions of rows. 

They let Supabase search company domains and LinkedIn handles without slowing down. 

These indexes act like shortcuts that guide the database to the right place instantly.

Indexes that make Supabase fast:
➡️ emaildb_companydomain_trgm_idx — helps find company domains quickly
➡️ emaildb_handle_trgm_idx — helps match LinkedIn handles fast
➡️ emaildb_handle_eq_idx — speeds up exact LinkedIn lookups
➡️ emaildb_email_key — keeps emails unique and easy to find


⚙️ Other Automations We Use
➡️ Emails are cleaned automatically before saving
➡️ LinkedIn handles are generated on their own
➡️ Full names and email domains are created automatically
➡️ Duplicate contacts are blocked before saving
➡️ "created_at" and "updated_at" update automatically
➡️ All new records become searchable right away

Utkarsh  Rana 🧲

Head of GTMs @ C17 Lab | Top Clay Enterprise Partner • Sales Tech & Revenue Systems Optimization •

I would still be spending 40+ hours weekly if it wasn't for these tools.
.
.
1. Serper
 Scrape Google Search, Maps, and Reviews.
 → Build targeted business lists
 → Monitor reviews to gauge activity
 → Pull company data fast

2. n8n
 Zapier’s smarter cousin.
 Great for cloud automations and AI workflows—especially if you're technical.

3. Apify
 Custom scraping powerhouse.
 → Grab Meta ads, Google data, TikTok profiles, tech stacks - whatever you need.

4. ZenRows
 Most reliable and cost-efficient scraper I've used.
 → Scrapes full websites (HTML + Text) cleanly.

5. HeyReach.io
 It's Smartlead, but for LinkedIn.
 → Automate connection and message campaigns at scale.

6. SmartProspect (by Smartlead)
 Massive lead database.
 → Easily download leads—top-tier for outbound.

7. Clay
 The glue.
 → Integrates with everything to automate lead enrichment, research, and outreach.

8. Taplio
 Content machine for LinkedIn.
 → Helps you ideate, write, and post consistently.

 If you're not stacking the right tools, you're stacking unnecessary hours.
 
Will it increase your cost? Yes
Will it save your time so that you can re-invest it into scaling your business? Yes

Tools I use everyday!

I used to burn $$$ on B2B lead tools that overpromised and underdelivered.
.
.
.
The worst part?
Even after dropping $1K+ per month, I still had to:

Clean up lists and have 2 verification tools - basic and catchall verification
Deal with bounce-backs

Guess who my real ICP was as list contained leads that didn't match the filters I added

AND somehow protect my domain reputation...

And that was called normal.

The real problem?
Most tools aren’t built to prioritize lead quality.
They bulk scrape, charge you upfront, and leave you holding a bag of outdated contacts.
Their job ends when you pay.

But your job (booking meetings) is just getting started.

Now imagine you're an agency owner or founder...

Every bad lead = wasted rep time.
Every bounce = damaged sender reputation.
Every wrong ICP = campaign fatigue.

When your pipeline depends on cold outreach, these things compound fast.

You’re not just burning ad spend - you’re burning trust, time, and deliverability.

Shared this issue with the Smartlead and next 2 weeks, they launched Smartprospect

✅ 300M+ verified B2B profiles with real-time enrichment
✅ Filters for role, company size, engagement, and more
✅ Multi-step verification waterfall built-in
✅ Push leads directly into your campaigns (no manual export/import)
✅ Flat $59/month fee - and no per-lead nonsense

The result?
Better data. Better replies. Better ROI - all without risking your sender health.

C17 Lab is a proud Smartlead Partner!

Last week: a lead from Samsung ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gE8Ja-Y4
This week: a booked call with Intel.
.
.
.

No warm intros. No magic.
Just a clear offer, a sharp GTM motion, and a real solution to a real problem.

This isn’t luck - this is strategy.

Here’s what we know:
🎯 Who to target
 Enterprise teams feeling the pain - and the exact decision-maker responsible for fixing it.

🔍 What they care about
Not your product — their problem. Even giants like Intel have burning issues they want solved.

📞 How to reach them
 Right message. Right channel. Right timing.

Here’s what we did:
1. Refined the targeting
We reworked the ICP - especially headcount - to align with the client’s enterprise motion.

2. Rewrote the messaging
Enterprise-grade clarity, but still easy to digest and imagine in action.

3. Shifted personalization
We don’t care about their nearest KFC.
We care about their problem.
Messaging anchored in their challenges - not surface-level flattery.

The best GTM strategies don’t start with the product.
They start with pain - and offer a clear path to relief.

You’re not burning your TAM.
You’re not annoying anyone.

You’re stepping up with relevance and precision - and that gets responses.

If your offer can solve problems for Intel…
Why wouldn’t smaller companies take notice?

🚫 Stop playing small.
✅ Start executing like it’s enterprise.

That’s the C17 Lab way.

We made 40% fewer dials than usual for a client… 
And still hit the meeting KPI 🤯 for them
That’s not a fluke.
.
.


📅 On Nov 11, we dialed 40% less than our usual volume for this client.
 🎯 Still booked 4 meetings a day - exactly what we needed to hit target.

Here’s what I learned:
🚀 Quality wins if you don't have much quantity - especially when your data source is 🔥

BetterContact is turning out to be a total powerhouse for phone numbers.

I still remember Roman Hipp telling me they were rolling out Phone Number Waterfall.

 And I was like:
 💳 “This is gonna hit the credit card HARD.”

But nope.
💡 The quality, the hit rate, and the ROI we’re seeing - it’s totally worth it.

And I don’t even validate phone numbers manually.
Yeah, there are tools for that…
 But honestly?

📞 The only way to validate a phone number is by actually calling it.

Just like how Scrubby | Complete email validation validates emails by sending actual emails - max accuracy, no guesswork.

Cold + Warm Calls = 💘 
Cold emails + Cold Calls + Warm Calls = 👩‍❤️‍👩

Ecommerce Email Marketer | Sent thousands of emails resulting in $100+ million in email attributable revenue.

Currently I am building Dimond Media, an ecommerce email marketing agency. Since launching in July 2020, we have helped clients scale their business, with email driving 30-40% of total revenue.

I am also growing a newsletter network that has reached 1.2 million subscribers, all organically without spending on traditional ads. These newsletters focus on daily education, achieving over 700,000 opens a day and generating more than 150,000 monthly page views to our site.

Always open to connecting. Feel free to reach out at connor@dimondmedia.io

Connor Dimond

If your job costs you your peace,
it’s too expensive.

You deserve a job that lets you sleep peacefully at night -
not one that keeps you awake questioning your worth, your future, or your sanity.

A healthy career doesn’t rely on:

 ❌ burnout
 ❌ constant anxiety
 ❌ toxic expectations

A healthy career is built on:

 ✔️ clear boundaries
 ✔️ supportive leadership
 ✔️ meaningful work
 ✔️ respect for your time and well-being

Your job should challenge you - not drain you.

It should grow you - not break you.

And it should fit into your life, not become your life.

If your work steals your peace, it’s costing you more than it pays.

Ecommerce Email Marketer | Sent thousands of emails resulting in $150+ million in email attributable revenue.

Not everyone wants the version of you that wins.

But those who do will help you get there.

Here’s the career advice they don't teach in school:
Individual talent only takes you so far.

The big multiplier is who you surround yourself with.
And more importantly, how you protect your inner circle.

(Credit: Maryann (MJ) Jamieson)

Think about your biggest career wins:

🔹 Who opened that door?
🔹 Who made that introduction?
🔹 Who challenged your thinking?
🔹 Who pushed you to level up?
🔹 Who celebrated your growth?
🔹 Who had your back when you doubted yourself?

Now think about your setbacks:

🚫 Who doubted every move?
🚫 Who spread subtle negativity?
🚫 Who made you question yourself?
🚫 Who downplayed your success?
🚫 Who disappeared when it mattered?

Success leaves clues.

And the biggest one is this:
Behind every major achievement is a circle of people who believed in you.
But first, you had to clear out those who didn't.

5 signs someone needs to go:

1/ They downplay your achievements
 ↳ "You just got lucky"
↳ Always finds the negative angle

2/ They compete instead of collaborate
↳ Turn every win into a comparison
↳ Make success feel like a zero-sum game

3/ They disappear during challenges
↳ Show up for celebrations, not struggles
↳ Always too busy when you need support

4/ They leak your energy
↳ Every interaction leaves you drained
↳ Turn excitement into doubt

5/ They guard information like weapons
↳ Hoard connections and opportunities
↳ See your growth as their loss

Remember:
You become who you hang around.
Not everyone clapping is in your corner.

Some cheer your wins.
Others cheer your struggles. 
Learn to spot the difference.

Building your circle matters.
Protecting it is critical.

We often search for the “perfect candidate” - someone with every qualification, every skill, and years of experience. But in doing so, we overlook a simple truth:

(Credit: Makarand Utpat )

Most jobs are trainable.
What really matters is a person’s willingness to learn.

The real asset is a teachable attitude

Skills can be taught. Software can be learned.
Processes can be explained.
But curiosity, drive, and a growth mindset are priceless.

Here’s proof:

Every top chef once started at the sink, scrubbing dishes.

Every great designer once fumbled through their first Photoshop file.

Every confident leader once feared speaking up in a room.

Every skilled coder once Googled “how to write a loop.”

Every thriving professional once just had the courage to say, “I’m willing to learn.”

Skills are teachable. Hunger isn’t.
Hire for mindset. Train for mastery.

What employers should do

Hire for attitude, train for skill.
Build supportive onboarding and mentorship.
Create clear growth paths.
Reward effort, not just results.

The payoff:

When you give someone a chance, you don’t just fill a role, you build loyalty, reduce turnover, and uncover hidden potential.

Every expert was once a beginner.
Every success story started with someone who got a shot.

Let’s stop gatekeeping potential. Give people the opportunity to prove themselves.

The biggest failing of most leaders?

Trying to be liked all the time.

Now, don't get me wrong...
Of course, you don't want your team to hate you.

But if your main focus is on being liked,

You’re not going to tell people the hard truths,
or get them to do the things you need them to do.

It’s one of the hardest skills a leader can learn.

Because the reality is...

Humans are social animals.
We generally want to be liked.

It’s how we’ve been successful in life so far.

But in leadership, that instinct can hold you back.

Because no matter what you do,
You can’t control how others act towards you.

Only how YOU act towards them.

Here are a few ways to handle that balance:

1️⃣ Earn respect; don’t chase approval.
↳ This comes from consistency, fairness, and integrity.

2️⃣ Lead with your values.
↳ If your actions align with your values, you’ve done your part.

3️⃣ Don’t take criticism personally.
↳ A strong leader listens, learns, and stays steady.

4️⃣ Be willing to make unpopular calls.
↳ The right decision won’t please everyone, but it moves the team forward.

5️⃣ Hold people accountable.
↳ Being liked won't matter if standards slip.

Great leadership is about doing what’s right,
Even when it’s not easy.

Act with integrity,
And the right people will respect you for it.

Do you agree?

Сredit: Gareth Lloyd ( go follow him )

Once someone gives notice, it’s already too late.
They’ve mentally checked out long before they handed in that resignation.

People don’t quit jobs - they quit poor leadership, toxic culture, and places where growth has stalled.

Someone recently reached out to me on LI to say:
“I just resigned from my job last week because the owner is just destroying the very thing he is trying to accomplish. He doesn't care about anyone but himself and blames everyone for all the company problems. .”

That’s real at a lot of workplaces...and it sucks.

You see, retention isn’t about scrambling to fill empty seats.
It’s about getting curious: Why are people leaving in the first place?

Here are the top reasons employees walk away:
1. They feel invisible.
 – When was the last time you truly acknowledged their efforts?
2. Growth has stalled.
 – No path forward? They’ll create one - somewhere else.
3. Feedback is broken.
 – Micromanaging isn't feedback. Neither is silence.
4. Culture feels toxic.
 – Gossip, burnout, and favoritism kill engagement fast.
5. Pay doesn’t reflect value.
 – People do notice when their efforts outweigh their paycheck.
6. Leaders don’t inspire.
 – Leadership isn’t about control. It’s about empowerment.
7. Work-life balance is a myth.
 – When “flexibility” means always being on call, people leave.

And here’s what many organizations get wrong:
→ Exit interviews are too late.
By then, the damage is done.
→ Perks don’t replace purpose.
Free snacks won’t fix poor management or lack of appreciation.
→ Turnover is costly.
It’s not just about money - it’s the loss of morale, momentum, and institutional knowledge.

If you’re serious about retention, start by listening to the people still in the room.
Be the reason they stay, not the reason they leave.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear it.

♻️ Repost if this struck a chord.

Credit:  Sharon Grossman  ( go follow her )

Some years test your patience more than your strategy.

Not every year is about scaling fast, hitting every goal, or breaking records.
Some years are about surviving the turbulence and learning who you are when nothing goes as planned.

Those seasons don’t define your losses - they define your foundation.

Because:

👉 The lessons learned in difficult years become the instincts you rely on in successful ones.
👉 The resilience you build under pressure becomes the quiet strength that carries your team.
👉 The humility gained in setbacks makes you a better leader when you rise again.

You don’t lose when progress slows.
You build depth, discipline, and direction.

Growth doesn’t always look like expansion.
Sometimes, it looks like endurance.

Some years you win.
Other years - you build the person who will.

Image credit: UpSkillYourLife on Twitter/X

We’ve all done it - lowered the dream to make it feel "realistic"

"I’ll wait till I have more money"
"I’ll start when things calm down"
"I’ll dream smaller so I don’t get disappointed"

But here’s the thing…
Your dreams don’t need downsizing
Your belief does

Reality bends when you move like it’s already possible


Image credit: artistryhere on Twitter/X

Ever notice how the happiest people at work aren’t always the highest paid?
There’s a reason for that.

After working with different teams, one thing became obvious:
People don’t stay for perks — they stay when they feel valued.

Here’s what that actually looks like inside a workplace:

1. Appreciation that feels real
Not the automated "great job" in a Slack thread.
The genuine, specific kind that tells someone their work mattered.

2. Growth that isn’t performative
When leaders don’t just say "we support development",
They fund courses, offer mentorship, and open real doors.

3. Belonging that isn’t just a slogan
Teams where people feel safe to speak, ask, fail, learn, and question.

4. Flexibility rooted in trust
Because adults shouldn’t need permission to take care of life.

5. Feedback that goes both ways
People stay where their voice counts, not where it disappears.

6. Well-being that’s taken seriously
Mental health days.
Workload check-ins.
Leaders who ask "How are you really doing?"

When people feel valued, something shifts:
They show up differently.
Work feels lighter.
And "company culture" stops being a poster on the wall.

Because happiness at work doesn’t come from benefits.
It comes from being seen.

Image credit: Dr Alex Young

One day, you’ll look back and realize…

You did it.

👉You stopped waiting for the perfect time.
👉You stopped asking for permission.
👉You got tired of "maybe someday".
And you finally bet on yourself.

It wasn’t luck. It was courage.
You chose the hard thing.

AND 

It worked.

The truth? Most people never start because they fear failure.
But the real regret isn’t failing.
It’s never finding out what could’ve happened if you tried.

Keep going.
Your future self is already proud of you.

Image Credit: Dearme2_ on Twitter/X

The most valuable people in your life aren’t the ones who clap the loudest when you’re present - they’re the ones who speak your name with respect when you’re not in the room.

In careers, business, and leadership, your biggest opportunities often come from:

 -  someone who recommended you,
 -  someone who defended your work,
 -  someone who believed in your potential before others saw it.

That’s real loyalty.
That’s real advocacy.
And it’s built on trust, integrity, and how consistently you show up.

Surround yourself with people who fight for you - and be the kind of person worth fighting for.

18 Profitable Marketing Tips:

1. Base your decisions on data, not solely on assumptions. 

2. People aren't as smart as you think. Dumb it down. 

3. Getting new clients is important. Keeping existing clients is crucial. 

4. Stories are your most powerful tool as a marketer. Use them often. 

5. Don't hate your competitors, study them. 

6. What works today may not work tomorrow. Always test. 

7. It's not the best product that wins, but the one with the best marketing. 

8. Sell with emotion, and justify with logic. 

9. No one cares about your product, they care about how it will help them. 

10. Meet demand, don't try to create it. 

11. Not everyone is your customer. 

12. Don't sell products, sell outcomes. 

13. People have short attention spans. Be unique to combat this. 

14. The best marketing doesn't feel like marketing. 

15. A small starving market is more profitable than a huge overfed one. 

16. Give, give, give... then ask. 

17. Before learning tricks and hacks... learn the fundamentals. 

18. Saturation doesn't exist if your product is newer, faster, better or cheaper.

Сredit: Chase Dimond ( go follow him )

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