Precision Pipeline at scale? That's Genius.

I lost nearly half our ARR in 60 days.

It took 11 seconds to read the email. 4 years of work, gone. PE deal collapsed. I had to fire people with families. I sat at my desk 100 feet from where we eat dinner and questioned everything.

Most CROs would hide that.

We rebuilt. Won back Europe's largest software company. Grew back ARR at 30% EBITDA margins (3x more efficient than before). 

Now we're launching AdGenius to solve a problem I've watched for 12 years in this industry. 

**My Background:**

→ CRO at LeadGenius (7 years)
→ Grew ARR from $6M to $10M in 2 years as VP Sales
→ Rebuilt to 30% EBITDA after catastrophic churn
→ Started in mobile advertising in 2013 (yes, sketchy dating apps, don't judge)
→ "Doctored" my resume to skip the BDR role and get into ZoomInfo
→ 12+ years in go-to-market data, sales intelligence, and digital advertising

I share what most people won't: the failures, the near-death moments, the mistakes that almost cost me my career. Because that's where the real lessons are.

Zeb Couch 🤜🤛

"We can't hire you. You don't have the right background."

That's what the hiring manager at HubSpot told me after my 2nd interview.

I knew where she was coming from. I even agreed with her back then.

But I was wrong, and so was she.

People with unconventional paths often make the best hires, the best friends, and the most interesting people I want to surround myself with.

An unconventional path exhibits curiosity, comfort in the unknown, bravery, humility, and ambition.

What an incredible basket of qualities.

Being around people like that rubs off. I've been lucky enough to capture a smidgen of that stardust from many folks in my life.

As LeadGenius begins a new year building a new product, reflection on the journey has taken a big chunk of my mindshare.

A little over ten years ago, I had a similar reflection point after that HubSpot interview.

I escaped to my family's shack in Maine (same place my grandparents honeymooned in 1940, a year before my granddad entered WWII).

Sitting at a small desk with a dim lamp, I wrote out my journey in an old leather journal.

I took stock of all the things I'd done, people I'd met, detours, and seemingly random pathways I'd taken.

The image of my cataloging is part of this post.

I think I wrote all these things out in part as a protest to the hiring manager ("oh yeah? what've you done, lady?"... such youthful arrogance) and in part as a celebration.

It's important you celebrate your journey.

There are times you need to 'embrace the suck' and times when you're moved to tears of joy.

They all mean something. They're all part of your journey, and they're all part of what makes you unconventional.

If you've started this year building something new.
If you've started this year without the role you had last year.
If you've started this year still searching for what will give you purpose...

You're not alone. This is the year you're going to celebrate all the wonderful things you've already done and the new things you're yet to accomplish.

I'm rooting for you in 2026. I bet you have a few others in your life who are, too.

Just don't forget to add yourself to the list!

Zeb Couch

Building AdGenius | Modern Paid Media for Modern Demand Gen ❤️ | CRO @ LeadGenius

More people are moving to LinkedIn. That sounds like good news. I'm skeptical. 

The WSJ just reported on it. 1.3B total users (doubled since 2021).  

Users tired of the shouting matches and deep fakes on X and Facebook are showing up here looking for civil discourse and real names.

𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀? 

More people = more conversations. More reach. More opportunities to connect with folks who weren't on LinkedIn before.

And in theory, more audience supply should lower advertising costs.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆:

LinkedIn CPM costs jumped 30% from Q3 to Q4 2024 alone.

More users didn't lower costs. It gave LinkedIn more leverage to charge more.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺:

People are showing up here craving authenticity.

But what are they finding?

AI-generated "thought leadership." ChatGPT posts about "10 ways to be a better leader." Engagement bait disguised as vulnerability.

The same slop they left other platforms to escape.

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲?

Those new users will contribute to the slop. They'll see what "performs well" and copy the formula. 

More generic. More artificial. More noise. More gross. 

𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼?

The same thing you should've been doing all along.

𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹.

Share what you actually do for a living. How you help clients, customers, colleagues. The messy parts. The failures. The rebuilds.

Share your tools, strategies, tactics. Break down your process. Teach something you actually know.

Share what you like or dislike about your industry. Why certain things work. Why others don't.

Be the person who makes people think. Sell your stuff. Put a smile on faces. Ruffle some feathers. Make a dad joke. 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘄.

Most people are hiding behind AI prompts and recycled frameworks.

All it takes to stand out is sharing the REAL you.

More users on LinkedIn means more competition for attention.

But when all the AI slop, products and chatter sounds the same...its authenticity that cuts through.

AI Innovations & Strategy - GTM AI Competence Center 

Global Lead - Digital innovations (SAP Digital)

Supporting/advising on customer engagements and transformation initiatives-
•	Customer engagements: Supported lighthouse SAP sales opportunities across Europe and Asia by developing value driven point-of-view assets (including value proposition and business cases)
•	Execution acceleration: Improved performance management and adoption of value methodologies by developing a live dashboard capturing key KPIs across 600+ advisors

Value Advisory

Porsche AG

Performed smart city market analysis and applied desirability-feasibility-viability framework to recommend offerings for market entry

Consultant

Droom Technology

I was entrusted with responsibility of setting up and running program management function at Droom. I specialized in conceptualizing and executing project portfolio focused on solving complex business problems and achieving tremendous business results and value. I initiated with product development focused projects and over the time my role expanded to cover transformation projects in areas of process improvement, digitalization, customer experience improvement and business growth.

•	PMO development: Led a 5-member team to setup PMO and manage a portfolio of strategic initiatives. Defined strategy, tools, governance and ensured 90% on-time program completion
•	Business model transformation: Spearheaded revamp of marketplace business model from per-booking commission to subscription model. Generated €20 Mn incremental revenue
•	Customer experience transformation: Led transformation program by redesigning customer journeys and digitizing customer touchpoints. Improved NPS by 30 percentage points
•	Change management: Executed change management plans facilitating organizational transformation through stakeholder partnerships improving user adoption of tools, best practices

Director - Head of Program Management 

Associate Director - Program Management 

LeasePlan

At LeasePlan, I setup the program and transformation function from scratch and took the responsibility of managing strategic initiatives and business transformation efforts. I collaborated with McKinsey consulting team to identify initiatives expected to achieve business growth as per 5 year growth plan while company undergoes through rapid digitalization. 

•	Business transformation road mapping: Supervised McKinsey engagement to rollout a 2-year transformation roadmap spanning 10+ strategic initiatives. Led to 70% increase in fleet size
•	Sales transformation: Designed sales transformation program and streamlined sales planning, process, enablement. Increased Salesforce CRM adoption to 90% ensuring sales pipeline visibility
•	Business process optimization: Collaborated with process partner to redesign enterprise business processes and implement a business process management solution. Improved process efficiency by 40% through automation and enhanced workflows

Program and Transformation Manager

With PwC, I consulted reputed clients on consulting engagements to identify and analyse core business problems, conduct strategic gap analysis and provide recommendations to design appropriate business solutions. Along with that, I also assisted senior management in proposal development process for new business acquisition. 

•	Cost optimization: Devised cost planning and optimization strategy for a major automotive parts supplier through spend analysis and cost benchmarking, reducing costs by 40 %
•	Growth strategy: Conducted market analysis and product assessment to recommend growth strategy for a digital payment application, increasing market share by 10 percentage points
•	Digital web strategy: Partnered with system integrator to develop the digital strategy and technology landscape to launch a web portal for a government authority, resulting in 2Mn signups

Four-S Services Pvt. Ltd.

Investment Banking Analyst

Reserve Bank of India

Key Responsibilities:
	Identify and execute research projects to provide policy level inputs and recommendations
	Planning, designing and organising research surveys. Assist with the relevant analytical, statistical tools necessary to execute the research projects
	Performed financial analytics, management reporting and supervisory transformation. Supervisory compliance rose by 20%
	Conducted digital financial inclusion research study on low-income groups Provided solutions to improve services adoption by over 30%

Executive

Mahindra Satyam

Key Responsibilities:
UI/UX development and execution of software development life cycle (SDLC)

Major Assignment:
•  Devised responsive website design approach for a gaming portal, resulting in 20% traffic increase and improvement in engagement by 350%
• Performed intelligent gaming analytics and provided recommendations on improving in-game economy and monetization
• Collaborated with developers, product managers, QA and marketing to create user interfaces
• Monitored work against the schedule, provided updates to the Design and Development Manager

Software Engineer

Nivio

Redesigned user interface of a cloud-based computing solution for enterprise clients to enhance user experience by 45%

User Experience Designer

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

Project Engineering Intern

I help organizations transform their strategy into reality and get the best ROI through project management and transformation efforts. I love breaking down complex strategic goals into initiatives and making them easy for stakeholders to grasp. You know why what you do is important, but that doesn't mean every stakeholder does. I find and communicate the vision behind the initiatives and create realistic and achievable plans that compels everyone to act and perform.

Having worked extensively in field of project management, I know what it’s like to struggle to get projects going on track. And, it seems that even when you do reach that stage, the quality and consistency required to meet project goals dwindle over time.

Let me be your guiding hand.

Currently, I'm pursuing MBA degree at HHL Leipzig with Specialization in Business Innovation, Transformation and Digital Marketing.

I have a wealth of experience handling business and technical projects in multiple industries, including e-commerce, financial services, consulting and information technology. I have a consistent track record of delivering projects in areas of business and digital transformation, process improvements, automation and customer experience optimization.

I combine my passion for project management with innovation and change management methodologies to ensure project teams are in sync with organizational reality optimizing their performance and continuously contributing to organizational growth.

I'm insatiably curious and innovative. Looking to collaborate on strategic goals and projects, learn new things, and help you thrive.

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Abhishek Kumar Singh

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