Insight Out : Big Ideas, Decoded

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Latest Episodes:

The Marketing System Behind Building Companies That Grow | Alexa D’Agostino Sep 25, 2026

Show notes

Every successful company begins with an insight, but turning that insight into a scalable business requires more than a great idea.

In this episode of Insight Out with Billy Samoa, Billy sits down with Dr. Alexa D’Agostino, founder and CEO of Thynkfuel, serial entrepreneur, and the “Doctor of Marketing,” to explore the defining moments, lessons, and systems that shaped her approach to building and scaling companies.

Alexa shares how growing up around entrepreneurial problem-solving conversations, becoming a software developer, and building companies from a young age shaped the way she thinks about marketing, leadership, and growth.

She explains why many businesses are not actually growth-ready, but are simply surviving through chaos, and why founders need systems that allow their companies to operate without depending on them.

The conversation dives into Alexa’s Marketing by Modification™ philosophy, why the best marketers follow data instead of assumptions, and how founders can identify hidden problems with their offers, customer targeting, and sales processes.

This episode is packed with practical insights for entrepreneurs who want to move from reactive growth to building a company designed to scale.

In this episode:

00:00:30 - The defining moments that shape an entrepreneur

Alexa shares why founders should look back at the experiences that shaped their thinking, values, and approach to business.

00:03:57 - The dinner table lessons that created a problem-solving mindset

Alexa explains how conversations with her entrepreneurial mother and IBM executive father taught her to ask better questions and identify what needs to be solved.

00:07:33 - Learning leadership from the soccer field

Alexa shares a defining leadership moment from her soccer career and how watching others lead shaped her understanding of resilience and accountability.

00:11:42 - From software developer to the Doctor of Marketing

Alexa explains how her technology background gave her a unique perspective on marketing, data, and performance-driven growth.

00:16:40 - The billion-dollar idea that taught a valuable lesson

Alexa discusses one of her earliest ventures, the mistake of selling 100% of a company, and why founders should think carefully about ownership.

00:19:14 - Chaos-ready vs. growth-ready companies

Alexa breaks down the difference between businesses held together by founder effort and businesses built with systems that can scale.

00:27:23 - The questions that reveal what is actually broken

Alexa shares the diagnostic questions she uses with companies, including understanding customers, tracking conversions, and identifying operational gaps.

00:33:38 - The three biggest growth problems companies overlook

Alexa explains why many companies struggle because of unclear offers, outdated customer profiles, and broken marketing-to-sales handoffs.

00:38:44 - How founders can self-audit their own business

Alexa gives practical ways entrepreneurs can identify whether they have an offer problem, audience problem, or sales process problem.

00:45:03 - Marketing by Modification: Building growth through iteration

Alexa explains her framework for launching, measuring, optimizing, and scaling marketing campaigns based on data instead of assumptions.

Key takeaways:

The defining moments in your life often become the framework behind how you lead, build, and make decisions.
Great entrepreneurs are willing to ask questions and challenge assumptions.
A company that survives chaos is not necessarily a company built to scale.
Growth-ready businesses have systems, data, and teams that operate without constant founder involvement.
Many companies do not have marketing problems. They have offer, positioning, or customer clarity problems.
The best customers reveal the true market through their buying behavior, not just demographics.
Founders should diagnose problems through data instead of relying only on instinct.
Marketing is not a one-time launch. It is a continuous process of testing, learning, modifying, and scaling.
The first version of a campaign is rarely the best version. Improvement comes through iteration.
Scaling happens after finding what works, not before.

About Dr. Alexa D’Agostino:

Dr. Alexa D’Agostino, known as “The Doctor of Marketing,” is a serial 8-figure entrepreneur, investor, celebrity marketer, and award-winning business strategist.

She is the Founder and CEO of Thynkfuel, a marketing, technology, and AI agency that helps companies launch, scale, and prepare for successful exits.

Through her Marketing by Modification™ framework, Alexa combines data, technology, branding, automation, and execution to help companies build scalable growth systems.

She has helped scale hundreds of companies, driven billions in revenue, and worked with brands including Skype, American Express, Mercedes-Benz, Hard Rock Hotels, and more.

Connect with Dr. Alexa D’Agostino:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexadagostino/

Website: https://www.alexadagostino.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dralexadagostino/?hl=en

About Insight Out with Billy Samoa:

Insight Out: Big Ideas for the Modern Entrepreneur explores the ideas, strategies, and turning points behind successful founders, business leaders, and entrepreneurs.

Through conversations with elite operators and innovators, Billy Samoa uncovers the insights that drive growth and how those ideas become systems, strategies, and results.

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The Real Reason Your Marketing Isn’t Working | Dave Mastovich Jul 24, 2026

Show notes

When a leader says, “Our marketing isn’t working,” most people immediately start changing tactics. Dave Mastovich believes the real problem usually begins much earlier: the company has never clearly defined what “working” actually means.

How do you cut through ambiguity, align your leadership team, and build marketing that drives authentic, measurable growth? Dave believes the answer starts with clarity around your story, your target audience, and the reasons your customers choose you.

In this episode of Insight Out, I sit down with Dave Mastovich, founder of MASSolutions and author of No Bullshit Marketing. Dave has helped organizations ranging from $3 million businesses to $13 billion companies strengthen their marketing, leadership, and growth strategies. His experience includes helping UPMC grow from under $1 billion to $10 billion in just three years.

Throughout our conversation, Dave explains why leadership teams often give completely different answers when asked what makes their company unique, and how that lack of alignment creates confusion throughout the organization. He breaks down the difference between your company’s “why” and your customer’s “why,” showing why both are essential to building a message that truly resonates.

Dave also reveals the six right-fit target markets most businesses overlook, why referral marketing should be treated as a repeatable system rather than a passive source of leads, and how asking referral partners one simple question can expose whether they truly understand your business.

We explore why ambiguity quietly breeds mediocrity, how companies can equip referral sources with better stories, and why marketing and sales should be treated as distinct disciplines. Dave also shares a practical framework leaders can begin using immediately to simplify their messaging, improve their marketing effectiveness, and build more authentic growth.

Join us as we explore how clarity, simplicity, and a no-bullshit approach can transform your marketing, your leadership, and your company culture.

In this episode, we discuss:

[00:00] Dynamic intro
[02:23] What Dave looks for when marketing isn’t working
[03:56] Why leaders can’t articulate their unique advantage
[06:53] The six right-fit target markets almost every company neglects
[09:08] Qualitative research, quantitative data, and the 80/20 rule
[11:05] Where ambiguity quietly destroys growth inside a company
[13:05] Why referral marketing is rarely treated as a real system
[15:07] Building a referral system
[19:00] Equipping referral sources with a ready inventory of stories
[19:51] Real-world examples of what works
[20:25] The question that exposes weak referral relationships: “How do you describe us?”
[22:13] Dave’s story: the referral that went sideways and the follow-up call that saved it
[27:38] The two whys: your reason for being vs. your customer’s reason for buying
[30:46] The core principles behind No Bullshit Marketing
[33:09] Why marketing and sales are different disciplines, not one job
[37:30] The top three ways to make your marketing more effective
[40:50] The three types of feedback every leader eventually hears
[43:00] How to tell when your story already exists but hasn’t been told yet
[45:09] How organizational structure affects marketing success
[50:25] The undue power of the salesperson
[47:54] Where to find Dave and work with him

Notable Quotes

[02:52] “Until they can nail down what they define as marketing is working, we really can’t tell them whether it is or it isn’t.” – Dave Mastovich

[04:15] “The way we prove that they don’t have that answer is we ask it individually of the leadership team... rarely are they identical.” – Dave Mastovich

[05:40] “Meaning doesn’t come from what we as leaders intend. It comes from what our audiences interpret.” – Dave Mastovich

[11:02] “Ambiguity breeds mediocrity most often in our personal communication with each other in an organization.” – Dave Mastovich

[17:39] “Perfect is the enemy of good... just start putting stuff on the board, start writing stuff out, start analyzing data.” – Dave Mastovich

[20:25] “You have to ask the question: ‘How do you describe us?’ And the first thing that’s gonna happen is a long, lengthy pause.” – Dave Mastovich

[35:15] “Marketing and culture are the two effectiveness functions in an organization, which is why they’re typically the two most frustrating functions.” – Dave Mastovich

[38:04] “Less is more and simple is better with your story... be able to say that in a short amount of words.” – Dave Mastovich

[50:42] “Hardly any business goes with them... we’re all afraid of it, but the reality is not nearly as much goes with the salesperson.” – Dave Mastovich

Resources and Links

Dave Mastovich

Website: https://massolutions.biz/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmmastovich
Podcast: NO BULL$H!# Marketing
Book: No Bullsh!t Marketing

Billy Samoa Saleebey

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billysamoa/
Email: billy@podify.com and saleebey@gmail.com

Insight Out

Website: https://www.insightoutshow.com/

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The Dangerous Habit That's Quietly Killing Innovation in Your Company | Will Hammond Jun 12, 2026

Show notes

How do you escape incrementalism in a world that rewards sameness? How do you stop solving the same problems differently and start thinking in ways that create seismic change? My guest Will Hammond believes the answer starts with seeing creativity not as a talent for the lucky few, but as a skill, a discipline, and in many ways a responsibility. But today is about more than creativity. It's about asking better questions, thinking better, and doing what it takes to break free.

In this episode of Insight Out, I sit down with Will Hammond, a creative leader who has spent years running major agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi and DDB, and is now on a mission to teach left brain thinkers how to unlock elite creative thinking. We dive deep into the hidden trap that keeps most leaders stuck in incremental growth and how to break free from it.

Throughout our conversation, Hammond shares powerful stories and real world examples that bring his concepts to life. Like the time a creative director tendered his entire department's resignations, dated six months out, as a commitment device to force breakthrough work. Or the envelope exercise where team members wrote down their wildest dreams for the year, sealed them shut, and achieved every single goal in eight months instead of twelve. And then there's the Emerald Nuts Super Bowl story, a powerful lesson in solving a distribution problem through perception rather than logistics.

He then breaks down the key practices of an elite creative thinker: why subtraction is more powerful than addition when trying to unlock better ideas, how to know if you're solving a business problem or a thinking problem, and why "stop waiting for permission" might be the most underrated leadership advice of all. Hammond doesn't just leave us with theory. He offers practical exercises you can use on a Tuesday at 2 pm to start thinking differently today.

Join us as we explore these insightful themes and discover how elite creative thinking can reshape not just your business, but your life.

In this episode, we discuss:

[00:00] Introducing Will Hammond
[03:31] The bomb blast, the mugging, and the Palisades fire
[05:39] Why “creativity” became a trigger word
[14:42] How to make creativity cultural in a business
[18:59] The portfolio idea
[21:55] The Saatchi & Saatchi resignation bet
[24:24] “What is the biggest role your company can play in society?”
[32:52] Why subtraction beats addition
[36:42] Solving the wrong problem because it’s framed too narrowly
[44:33] Seismic growth vs. incremental growth
[47:23] Diagnosing a thinking problem vs. a business problem
[50:50] What underperforming and “cruising” companies have in common
[52:36] What to diagnose first when brought in to help a leadership team
[59:07] Where to find Will and how to work with him

Notable Quotes

[04:31] "The more we set a goal, the more we drive toward something – opportunities suddenly start appearing that you didn't have before." – Will Hammond

[05:07] "The act of writing something down – it is now real, because it exists in the world. If you have a goal and you just have it in your head, it's kind of not really a goal." – Will Hammond

[07:19] "Creativity is solving problems. Your broom breaks. You don't have another broom. You grab a stick and duct tape. That is being creative." – Will Hammond

[16:55] "When everybody in a company is excited about kicking the competition's butt, you've bonded everybody against a singular mission. It breaks down silos." – Will Hammond

[25:17] "Every single company in the world is in service of another human somewhere else." – Will Hammond

[30:30] "Nobody gets promoted for doing their job. People get promoted because they have an idea that they execute that brings more revenue or makes people happier." – Will Hammond

[32:15] "Don't ask or wait for permission. Just do it. There is no such thing as 'should.'" – Will Hammond

[35:16] "In the craziest thing we could do is a golden thread your brain would never have gotten to because it's too scared." – Will Hammond

[41:22] "If you appear big, people take you seriously." – Will Hammond

[44:35] "Seismic growth and incremental growth don't take more energy. The only difference is dedication." – Will Hammond

[51:34] "If you rest on your laurels, you're going backwards. Even if you are moving forwards, it hasn't caught up with you yet. But you will be behind the eight ball." – Will Hammond

[56:00] "The greater your vision that you bring to AI, the more powerful it is." – Will Hammond

Will Hammond

Website: https://www.backwardbrilliance.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-hammond
Email: will@backwardbrilliance.com

Billy Samoa Saleebey

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/billysamoa/
Email: ⁠billy@podify.com⁠ and ⁠saleebey@gmail.com⁠

Insight Out

Website: ⁠https://www.insightoutshow.com/

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Why Jeff Bezos Leaves an Empty Chair in Every Meeting | Mitchell Levy May 22, 2026

Show notes

Have you ever felt like your business is hitting revenue targets but missing something bigger? Like your team is busy, but not truly fulfilled. Like you’re succeeding on paper, but if you were on your deathbed, you’d wish you’d done things differently.

Most leaders operate inside a hidden trap: short‑termism. We measure quarterly earnings, optimize employees like machines, and accidentally sacrifice the very people who make the company run. The result? 20% of employees are happy. The other 80% are checked out or actively working against you.

In this episode of Insight Out, I sit down with Mitchell Levy – TEDx speaker, PhD candidate, author of 60+ books, and the creator of the Executive Abundance framework. Mitchell has interviewed over 500 thought leaders on credibility, built multiple six‑figure businesses, and spent 18 months researching why companies lose their way even when they’re profitable.

Mitchell reveals why 98% of people can’t articulate their purpose in 3–9 words (and why that’s a crisis), how a single sentence from a friend forced him to pivot his entire business, and why the “empty chair” at Amazon’s executive table might be the most powerful retention tool you’re not using. He also shares his controversial take on AI, remote work, and why forcing people back to the office proves we haven’t updated our metrics since the 20th century.

If you’ve ever struggled to explain what you do, wondered why your team feels disconnected, or suspected that shareholder value shouldn’t be the only scorecard, this conversation will change how you lead.

In this episode, we discuss:

[00:00] Why Mitchell pivoted despite building a career on credibility
[02:29] From credibility to clarity
[07:03] "Sell them what they want, deliver what they need"
[09:03] What is the Executive Abundance engine?
[12:16] The Silicon Valley software story: releasing 50% buggy code
[15:47] The five stakeholder groups and why investors come fourth
[17:07] The Deming and Japan calisthenics example
[23:40] What "community" really means and how it's been overlooked
[27:11] The ecosystem vs. the engine: what's the difference?
[32:49] The four Cs of the Executive Abundance engine
[34:10] What is clarity and why do 98% of people lack it?
[47:26] Defining executive abundance in plain language
[48:14] Where to find Mitchell and the book launch details

Notable Quotes

[07:05] “Sell them what they want. Deliver what they need.” — Mitchell Levy

[08:47] “I cannot change anyone. I cannot teach anyone. But I can allow somebody to see a framework and if they can see a framework and insert themselves inside it, they can change themselves.” — Mitchell Levy

[11:45] “We act and become what we measure.” — Mitchell Levy

[13:56] “There are companies where 20% of employees are happy and 80% are either checked out or aggressively working against the company.” – Mitchell Levy

[15:20] “Companies say, I care about my employees and I care about my customers. But then you look at the numbers and the answer is no, we don't.” — Mitchell Levy

[18:30] “No one on their deathbed ever says, ‘I wish I’d made more money.’ They say, ‘I wish I’d taken better care of my family. I wish I’d spent more time with my kids.’” – Mitchell Levy

[20:07] “If you take care of your employees, they’ll take care of your customers. If you take care of your customers, they’ll take care of your investors.” – Mitchell Levy

[23:30] “He [Bezos] would leave an empty chair in every meeting for the customer.” – Mitchell Levy

[33:15] “98% of people think they have clarity. 98% don't.” — Mitchell Levy

[42:30] “There's an audience I add a lot of value to.” — Mitchell Levy

[47:26] “Abundance is not about money. It's about bringing quality of life to five different stakeholder groups, not just one.” — Mitchell Levy

[49:41] “If we optimize the employee out of the equation, what happens to the economy, which is a consumer driven economy?” — Mitchell Levy

Mitchell Levy

Website: mitchelllevy.com
Book: Executive Abundance
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchelllevy/

Billy Samoa Saleebey

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/billysamoa/
Email: ⁠billy@podify.com⁠ and ⁠saleebey@gmail.com⁠

Insight Out

Website: ⁠https://www.insightoutshow.com/

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Why the Lowest-Paid Person Knows What Your Business Is Missing - Gary David May 01, 2026

Show notes

What if the janitor in your building knows more about your business than your CEO? What if the person you overlook the most holds the exact insight that could save your company millions?

And what if the only reason you have not heard it is because no one ever thought to ask?

According to sociologist Gary David, that is not a hypothetical but a pattern. In every organization, the people at the lowest point of the org chart often have the clearest view of what is actually happening on the ground. But leaders rarely talk to them. They design strategies from the top down, rely on the wrong signals, and then wonder why their customer first initiatives are burning out employees and weakening morale.

Gary has spent 26 years at Bentley University teaching business students to think like sociologists: to study systems rather than just individuals, to map stakeholders from the ground up, and to understand that data without context can easily mislead.

In this episode, we explore why the Starbucks mobile order shift created unintended pressure points, how a well intentioned grant tied to underage drinking distorted crime data, and why the janitor in The Breakfast Club might have understood the system better than anyone else in the room.

Because if you are not designing with people, including the ones who clean the floors and staff the front desk, you are not really designing at all.

In this episode, we discuss:

[00:00] Why systems matter more than individuals
[01:57] What shaped Gary’s interest in human behavior
[03:56] Why we act differently in different settings
[07:09] The power of social identity
[10:45] Discovering sociology and thinking at scale
[13:08] Bringing sociology into business
[16:31] Where leaders fail at “including people”
[18:38] Why the lowest levels have the best insights
[21:04] The Starbucks breakdown of experience design
[27:32] Limits of design thinking
[30:15] Inside-out problem solving
[36:07] Thinking about data at a small scale
[39:00] The key question before acting on data
[41:00] Business, ethics, and real-world impact
[46:00] The role of business in society
[50:22] Co‑creating the first DEI major in the country
[55:12] What Bentley grads do differently
[58:30] What other business schools should copy from Bentley
[01:00:15] Where to learn more and connect with Gary

Notable Quotes

[00:05] "We have to look at people within context, people in systems, and how those attempts we have at making things better can ripple in ways that are unanticipated." – Gary

[00:33] "Before you act on the data, critically examine your data, make sure you know where it's coming from and what's creating it." – Gary

[19:12] "The people at the lowest point of an org chart can have the greatest insight in terms of how to improve things, but no one ever talks to them." – Gary

[17:07] "Focusing on customer experience to the detriment of employee experience resulted in a worse overall experience and actually degraded their brand." – Gary

[33:39] "Data plus context equals information. Data itself doesn't say anything." – Gary

[34:53] "People don't leave an organization, does that mean it's a good organization? No. It just means people may not have the ability to leave." – Gary

[54:35] "I can start to notice things I otherwise would never have noticed. And that noticing becomes an opportunity for designing and innovating." – Gary

[58:36] "100% of customers are people, 100% of employees are people. If you don't understand people, you don't understand business." – Simon Sinek (quoted by Gary)

Gary David

Website: https://www.garycdavid.com/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gary-c-david
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@garydavid9535/videos
Podcast: Experience By Design

Billy Samoa Saleebey

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/billysamoa/
Email: ⁠billy@podify.com⁠ and ⁠saleebey@gmail.com⁠

Insight Out

Website: ⁠https://www.insightoutshow.com/

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Why Smart Packaging Beats Most Ads - Jason Wong Apr 18, 2026

Show notes

Have you ever opened a package so beautiful you hesitated to even throw it away, or felt like it Have you ever bought something and immediately felt like the packaging itself changed how valuable it seemed? Like before you even used the product, your perception was already different?

That’s something Jason Wong talks about a lot. He’s the founder of Paking Duck, and he’s also built and scaled multiple product businesses before moving into packaging full-time.

And his argument is pretty simple. most founders underestimate packaging completely. Not just as design, but as something that can influence trust, conversions, and how people perceive value instantly.

Because when it’s done well, packaging doesn’t just hold a product… it actually becomes part of how the product sells itself.

So it makes you wonder, how many businesses are leaving that advantage on the table without even realizing it?

In this episode, we discuss:

[00:00] Introduction
[01:58] What founders miss about packaging
[03:14] The Apple packaging effect
[05:35] How packaging increases profit and reduces cost
[09:45] Jason’s origin story
[13:44] The $250K viral product in a week
[18:02] How immigration shaped grit and perspective
[23:28] Transition from product founder to packaging founder
[34:00] OBVI case: ~70% higher conversions from PR boxes
[35:33] 3 key areas for packaging audits
[49:18] Why network with successful founders
[50:55] Advice to his younger self
[52:05] Where to connect with Jason
[52:28] The Paking Duck origin story

Notable Quotes

[00:13] “I discovered entrepreneurship when I was young, purely out of survival.” – Jaso

[05:35] “ Great packaging can save you money. A smart design can reduce weight, reduce damage.”– Jason

[12:27] “I’m an opportunist. I see things that have a need, and I know how to fill that demand.” – Jason

[06:51] “ Everybody that buys your product, the one thing you know they're gonna open is the packaging.” – Billy

[18:02] “ I think when you're an immigrant, you have so much to prove.” – Jason

[24:44] “ Packaging is often forgotten. No one really thinks about packaging, but everyone needs it.”– Jason

[39:58] “ I think influencers are not going to be as powerful as they used to be because of a lot of these AI avatars.” – Jason

[38:11] “We don’t run a single ad. We don’t do cold email. We don’t go to conventions. And we’re still getting so many clients because of AI.” – Jason

Jason Wong

Website: https://www.pakingduck.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imjasonwong/
Instagram:

Billy Samoa Saleebey

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/billysamoa/
Email: ⁠billy@podify.com⁠ and ⁠saleebey@gmail.com⁠

Insight Out

Website: ⁠https://www.insightoutshow.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why Efficiency Metrics Are Killing Your Business (And What to Track Instead) - Nicolas Darveau-Garneau Apr 03, 2026

Show notes

Is your company optimizing for the wrong kind of success? Almost 90 percent of companies are focused on short term efficiency metrics when the real winners are playing a long term profitability game. The scary part is your numbers can look better than ever while your business is actually getting weaker.

In this episode of Insight Out, I sit down with Nicolas Darveau-Garneau, growth strategist, former Google Chief Evangelist, and author of "Be a Sequoia, Not a Bonsai," to unpack why most companies focus on the wrong things and what the top performers do instead.

Nicolas has studied growth across more than 1,000 companies, from startups to global giants. What he found is a simple but powerful shift in thinking. Most companies behave like bonsai trees, constantly trimming for short-term efficiency. The ones that win grow like sequoias. They focus on scale, resilience, and long-term customer value.

We talk about why return on ad spend can be a risky metric, how St. Jude's raised 46% more money by changing a single KPI, and why the best companies stay open to new ideas. Nicolas also shares how to use AI to predict customer lifetime value, how to build a testing culture that moves faster than your competitors, and why brand building can actually be measured in a meaningful way.

From Amazon’s early days in Canada to a single gym in Los Gatos that makes its customers far more valuable, the examples bring these ideas to life in a very practical way.

If you are a founder, executive, or entrepreneur who wants to build something that keeps growing and compounding over time, this conversation will change how you look at every metric on your dashboard. Let’s dive in!

In this episode, we discuss:

[00:00] Introduction
[01:08] Introduction to Nicolas Darveau-Garneau
[02:58] The one metric making companies weaker
[05:48] The St. Jude's case study
[07:43] Examples that reveal right vs wrong metrics
[11:17] AI and the right dashboard
[15:10] Why customer lifetime value is so controversial
[18:37] The three pillars of sequoia growth
[22:26] Pillar 2: Increasing value of existing customers
[26:37] Pillar 3: Velocity of testing
[30:40] Customer lifetime value in everything
[33:13] The art of the minimum viable test
[35:47] Amazon's customer lifetime value playbook
[38:37] Brand building as economic science
[47:54] The AI acceleration
[52:11] Where to find Nicolas

Notable Quotes

[03:30] “Would you rather invest a dollar to make 10 or invest a million dollars to make $2 million?” – Nicolas

[03:37] “By dividing by the investment as opposed to subtracting the investment, you're making a mistake.” – Nicolas

[03:48] “Almost every company, 90% of the companies are focusing on the short term efficiency metrics, and instead they should be focusing on longer term profitability metrics.” – Nicolas

[06:23] “Most companies don't have the right KPI and don't use the right data.” – Nicolas

[10:45] “The best companies are already much better and they get better faster because they're open to trying new stuff.” – Nicolas

[13:58] “For almost every industry that 20% of the customers in the industry drive a hundred percent of the profits in the industry.” – Nicolas

[14:35] “Not all customers are created equally.” – Billy

[15:31] “Make more money in the long term trying to predict the future and try to acquire the most valuable customers.” – Nicolas

[29:42] “If you have customer lifetime value in the middle, and then you spin tests really, really quickly, you're gonna be hard to catch.” – Nicolas

Nicolas Darveau-Garneau

Website: https://nicolasdarveaugarneau.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickdg
Book: Be a Sequoia, Not a Bonsai

Billy Samoa Saleebey

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/billysamoa/
Email: ⁠billy@podify.com⁠ and ⁠saleebey@gmail.com⁠

Insight Out

Website: ⁠https://www.insightoutshow.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Investors Spend 90 Seconds on Your Pitch Deck. Here’s How to Win - Carl Fudge Mar 06, 2026

Show notes

Investors spend 90 seconds on your pitch deck. Most founders waste the first 30. So how do you grab their attention fast? And what separates the startups that raise millions from the ones investors dismiss in the first 30 seconds?

In this episode of Insight Out, I sit down with Carl Fudge, founder of Presentation Mode, to break down the anatomy of pitch decks that raise capital. Carl combines psychology, strategy, and design, drawing from experience at McKinsey, IDEO, and venture-backed startups to help founders cut through investor noise.

Carl explains why most founders misunderstand storytelling. A pitch is not a fairy tale. It’s an argument. Investors are reviewing hundreds of opportunities and funding only a few, so founders must present a compelling case backed by both narrative and evidence.

We explore why the first three slides can determine whether an investor keeps reading, why traction should never be buried deep in the deck, and how frameworks like Insight–Tension–Action transform scattered information into a persuasive story.

Carl also discusses the role of visual design in storytelling, the credibility signals investors look for, and how domain expertise strengthens a founder’s narrative.

From Spotify’s origin story to Apple’s iconic marketing philosophy, Carl shares vivid examples of what makes ideas stick.

If you’re raising capital or trying to communicate a bold idea, this conversation will change how you think about pitching your vision.

In this episode, we discuss:

[00:00] Introduction to Carl Fudge
[02:07] Story as argument, not fairy tale
[08:37] The lightbulb moment: becoming "the pitch deck guy"
[11:15] The Friday night email that changed everything
[18:37] Why the first three slides decide your fate
[22:05] Different types of hooks and how to choose the right one
[24:47] The personal story hook (and the promotion that wasn't)
[28:01] The insight/fact hook (and playing to FOMO)
[31:13] The shift hook (AI and security)
[39:30] Threading emotion without becoming fluffy
[40:48] Why facts alone fail (the telephone game)
[45:28] The three-step process for crafting story
[49:02] Spotify case study
[53:24] The Tesla/PayPal mafia effect
[57:30] The role of design in storytelling
[01:02:00] Presentation Mode: what they do and how to work with them
[01:04:16] Closing remarks

Notable Quotes

[02:18] “Out of every 100 pitch decks an investor sees, maybe one or two get funded.” – Carl

[18:56] “ An investor's kind of only looking at a deck for about 90 seconds. So you just don't have that much time.” – Carl

[19:03] “ What absolutely must be true is that you have found a way to capture their attention In that first 30 seconds.” – Carl

[19:26] “ I don't think you can necessarily win a pitch in the first three slides, but I think you can sure as hell lose one.” – Carl

[38:30] “ You don't have to agree with the conclusion. But as a founder, your job is to lay out your point of view unequivocally to to leave no room for doubt” – Carl

[57:55] “ Design doesn't matter as much as story. However, I would also say that design is highly fundamental to elevating stories” – Carl

Resources and Links

Carl Fudge

Website: https://www.presentationmode.co/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-fudge-storytelling

Billy Samoa Saleebey

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/billysamoa/
Email: ⁠billy@podify.com⁠ and ⁠saleebey@gmail.com⁠

Insight Out

Website: ⁠https://www.insightoutshow.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We Lost Money for 23 Years… Then Saved 40 Million Lives - Kurt Avery Feb 20, 2026

Show notes

What does it take to build a global company that loses money for 23 of its first 25 years and still impacts tens of millions of lives?

In this episode of Insight Out, I sit down with Kurt Avery, founder of Sawyer Products, to explore the 40-year journey from a French snake bite kit to a global leader in water filtration and insect repellent. Sawyer has changed tens of millions of lives while giving away over 90% of its profits to communities worldwide.

Kurt shares how persistence, product discipline, and listening to real customer problems created what many call an “overnight success.” He recalls a missionary in Uganda discovering that children aren’t named until age three because so many don’t survive, an insight that shaped Sawyer’s approach.

We dive into his marketing philosophy, early educator targeting, influencer strategies before they were mainstream, and his refusal to build “me too” products. He also explains frameworks like the decision matrix and creative destruction that guide pricing and long-term strategy.

From Haiti to rural Africa and now toward eliminating malaria in children, this conversation redefines what business success can mean.

Feeling like quitting because results aren’t coming fast enough? Kurt’s story will inspire you. Tune in to learn how to build something that lasts and leaves a legacy beyond profit.

In this episode, we discuss:

[00:00] Introduction
[02:26] Introduction to Kurt Avery
[05:26] Water filtration breakthroughs and growth
[08:10] Disaster response & 40M served
[15:03] Early marketing lessons
[17:39] Customer-centric product development
[20:01] Key milestones and the internet’s role
[23:19] The lens for deciding categories
[25:25] Best ways to educate early adopters
[31:36] Kurt’s pricing philosophy
[35:36] Outside-the-box thinking vs. business school
[42:44] Sawyer’s philanthropic model and foundation
[44:16] What business owners get wrong about philanthropy
[50:21] Kurt on his legacy
[56:24] Where to support Sawyer
[57:41] Kurt on advice for his younger self

Notable Quotes

[04:46] “We lost money 23 of the first 25 years till we became an overnight success.” – Kurt
[07:28] “Your hair is 170 microns. So we are that much. We're one 10th or 17 miles. We're like 170 times smaller than your hair is our largest hole.” – Kurt
[07:50] “Nothing biological can get through there to make you sick. They're all bigger than that.” – Kurt
[09:32] “We had one in Uganda. Missionary goes in, they, he finds out that the first week you don't name your kids till they're three years old. Why is that? Because we lose so many of 'em.” – Kurt
[10:03] “I think we're at 40 million people now have gotten clean water from our filters with it.” – Kurt
[10:11] “We can give somebody 10 years of water for as low as a one-time investment of 30 cents.” – Kurt
[29:21] “You spend your money on the casual fringe is lucky, hardcore, you don't need to spend money on them, but then you develop your products from them.” – Kurt
[30:25] “Any buyer's probably got four or five people looking for a piece of the action on everything he buys.” – Kurt
[43:01] “Our whole philosophy is we'd rather give the money away than the federal government. So we try to minimize our profit.” – Kurt
[50:33] “As long as I get to heaven and God says, well done. The good and faithful service.” – Kurt

Kurt Avery

Website: https://www.sawyer.com/
LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/sawyer-products/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Sawyer-Products
Book: Sawyer Think: How a Small Company Disrupts Markets and Changes the World

Billy Samoa Saleebey

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/billysamoa/
Email: ⁠billy@podify.com⁠ and ⁠saleebey@gmail.com⁠

Insight Out

Website: ⁠https://www.insightoutshow.com/

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Why Emotional Intelligence Will Decide Who Survives the Age of AI - Phil Johnson Feb 13, 2026

Show notes

Did you know that toxic work environments are draining the global economy by a staggering $9 trillion every year? That’s the price tag of showing up to work and checking out emotionally.

My guest today, Phil Johnson, founder of the Master of Business Leadership Academy, joins me to explore why emotional intelligence (EQ) is more critical than ever, not just for us, but for the next generation. Phil explains why our kids will suffer more than we do if we fail to evolve in this area.

We dive into why presence matters in the workplace, why organizations spend so much on presence, and yet so many of us struggle to truly be present. Phil makes a compelling case that leaders with high emotional intelligence cannot be measured the same way as those with high intellectual intelligence, and he discusses the implications of artificial intelligence in this mix.

We also explore the hidden cost of giving away our energy, how it creates an energy deficit, and why replacing that energy without taking it from others is essential. Phil shows why inspirational leaders tend to be more emotionally intelligent and how everyone benefits when we lower our walls, while raising them hurts everyone around us.

Through real-life stories of leadership and transformation, Phil underscores that developing emotional intelligence is essential for personal growth, professional success, and societal evolution. Let’s dive in!

In this episode, we discuss:

[02:08] Billy’s first conversation with Phil: key lessons & his methodology
[03:51] Who Phil Johnson is
[04:17] What leaders truly need to hear
[07:05] Root cause of workplace chaos & why thriving at work is low
[10:49] Habits & tools to protect energy
[12:20] Real-world examples of energy loss
[16:40] Developing emotional intelligence
[18:16] Who to learn from for EQ
[27:13] Responding vs reacting
[32:24] Phil’s transformative aha moments
[39:08] 20,000 years of change in 100 years
[48:50] Organizations treat symptoms, not root causes
[52:19] Phil’s advice on developing EI to lead & achieve goals

Notable Quotes

[06:27] “ Emotional intelligence is 400% more valuable in achieving success in intellectual intelligence.” - Phil
[07:53] “ Toxic work environments are costing the global economy over $9 trillion a year, and it's increasing.”- Phil
[08:43] “ We're only actually conscious about 3 to 5% of the time. The rest of the time we're relying on our, on our habits that we've developed.” - Phil
[11:30] “ How we feel about ourself is based on how somebody else feels about us, we're unconsciously giving away our energy to them to determine how you, how we should feel about ourselves.”- Phil
[23:37] " Everybody benefits when we lower our walls and everybody is affected negatively when we raise our walls.” - Phil
[25:27] “ When we're not present, our ego-based fears take over.”- Phil
[44:57] “ We can no longer continue like the slowly boiling frog to pretend that somebody's gonna come and save us.”- Phil