The tactics founders are ditching—and what’s replacing them
The new playbook for lean teams who want results, not busywork
A founder’s intuition is sharp.
You know what’s not working—but with too many paths and too many “solutions,” it’s easy to stall.
This week, we’re getting honest about what really works: real practices, practical setups, and powerful tools that get the job done.
Today’s agenda:
🤦 Overhyped marketing tactics—and what to do instead
📬 Cold outreach that actually works in 2025
📚 The ideal AI tool stack for founders
💼 Briefly: Make your business “unshakeable”—and stay authentic
⏱️ Up & coming: Content for a new era (hot take 🔥)
🎯 When “best practices” backfire
When I want to know what B2B marketers are struggling with, I check Reddit—especially r/marketing, r/saas, and r/startups.
These founders are smart. They’ve tried the “best practices,” seen what flops, and aren’t afraid to say so.
So I rounded up the biggest complaints—and the better strategies that actually work for small teams.
🤖 AI-written content at scale
Flooding the web with SEO posts from ChatGPT? It’s not landing. Founders are reporting zero leads from 50+ articles.
Try this instead: Use AI for research and outlines—but layer in founder voice and real insight. Quality over volume wins in 2025.
📱 Social content without direction
That sleek LinkedIn grid might look nice, but if it’s not sparking conversations or conversions, it’s just noise.
Try this instead: Build around buyer questions and bold opinions. Every post should answer, challenge, or offer something real.
🧪 Endless A/B testing with no volume
Testing button colors with 400 visits a month isn’t optimization, it’s distraction.
Try this instead: Focus on meaningful changes—your offer, format, or funnel. Go for bold, not busywork.
🤝 Cold outreach isn’t dead—just bloated
Most founders are drowning in bad cold outreach advice. AI spam, scraped lists, and empty personalization aren’t just ineffective—they’re ruining your reputation.
In this video, I walk through the exact cold outreach system we use with our clients—email + LinkedIn, built for trust, not volume:
You'll see how to:
Nail your ICP and role-play buyer pain points using ChatGPT
Build a smart, segmented list without scraping
Write cold emails that get replies (with examples)
Use LinkedIn the right way—before you ever send an email
Run a 14-day sequence that gets real results
💡 Ready to build a cold outreach system that actually works? Book a Discovery Session →
🤖 Stop collecting tools—start building leverage
New AI tools are dropping daily, and most are doing nothing but distracting us.
After testing dozens of tools inside real GTM teams, here’s the stack I actually recommend to founders—and how to use it as a system, not just a toolbox:
ChatGPT (GPT-4o): Best for messaging, roleplay, follow-ups, and cold outreach
Claude: Ideal for refining logic, clarity, and high-stakes writing
Perplexity: Your market research layer—real insights with sources
Fathom/Grain: Turn sales calls into follow-ups, insights, and content
Canva AI + Notion AI: Visual velocity meets operational clarity
📈 The kicker? It’s not about the tools—it’s how you connect them into a workflow that compounds time and sharpens focus.
👉 See the full stack and how to use it as a system →
Briefly
📝 If AI content keeps falling flat, the tool isn’t the issue—your brief is. This post shares a 5-minute framework to help you turn vague prompts into sharp, usable output that actually sounds like you.
🔍 Google’s turning AI into background noise—on purpose. At I/O 2025, it rolled out features that bake generative tools into search, video, and mobile so seamlessly, most users won’t even realize they’re using it.
🛡️ Business continuity isn’t just for big companies. This guide breaks down how founders can use ISO 22301 to build resilience into their ops—so you’re not scrambling the next time disruption hits.
📊 A new analysis of 300 top-performing LinkedIn posts shows what’s actually working in 2025—frequent image-based posts, light use of hashtags, and consistent personal style beat flashy formats or engagement hacks.
🤝 Still treating networking like a transaction? This refreshingly honest guide unpacks what not to do—like overexplaining, oversharing, or over-automating—and shows how to make better connections online and in-person without coming off as awkward or needy.
Up & Coming
Search isn’t what it used to be—and your SEO content probably isn’t helping.
With AI-generated summaries and zero-click results crowding the page, the old playbook of “publish, rank, convert” is falling apart.
This piece by Jono Alderson is a gut-check for anyone still churning out keyword filler.
It’s time to stop gaming algorithms and start publishing like you mean it—with real perspective, editorial standards, and content that solves actual problems.
🔥 If your blog feels like background noise, this will change how you write.