Making The Grade

What actually breaks a startup between £1m and £10m ARR isn’t usually the thing founders are obsessing over. In this Making the Grade episode, we’re joined by Paul Fifield - one of the UK’s most experienced go-to-market leaders, and someone who’s lived the full spectrum from predictable revenue playbooks, to rocketship growth, brutal crashes, and the rebuild that follows. Paul unpacks two defining failures in his career, and the patterns he now sees repeatedly in early-stage SaaS: messy data, woolly ICPs, uncontrolled SDR targeting, false confidence from renewals, and leadership decisions driven by ego rather than fundamentals. Paul also shares why the GTM playbook is changing fast, what modern CRO capability looks like in 2026, and why AI won’t save teams that haven’t done the foundational work first. If you’re a founder, CRO, VP Sales, or an Operator trying to help a business graduate from Series A to Series B - this one is a masterclass in what to do, what to avoid, and what to take seriously before the market forces you to. 📚 Episode Chapters 03:04 - Lessons from Failures and Successes 24:04 - The impact of ego in leadership28:13 - Scaling strategies from $1M to $10M 35:05 - The evolving role of the CRO   41:06 - Leaning into fractional talent as a startup   🎧 Continue listening…  Make sure you listen to Designing an AI-first Business - Bethany Ayers on hiring stage-fit leaders & the GTM playbooks that actually work in the AI era  Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

Bethany Ayers isn’t experimenting with AI at the edges of Metomic; she’s using it to redesign how the company operates, with an ambitious goal of becoming an AI-first company. In this episode of Making the Grade, Bethany Ayers, CEO of Metomic, joins us to unpack what it really means to build an AI-first organisation, and how it impacts hiring decisions, GTM design, and leadership accountability. Beth shares why her default is now AI before headcount, how Metomic is using AI coworkers to strip out busy work across SDRs, engineering, marketing, and leadership, and why one SDR can now deliver the output of two to three. But this isn’t an AI hype conversation. Beth is equally candid about the fundamentals that don’t change: why stage-fit exec hiring still breaks scale-ups, why founders step away from sales too early (or not at all), and why clarity on ICP, pipeline targets, and operating rhythm matters more than ever.If you’re rethinking how to scale with fewer people, higher leverage, and sharper focus, this episode offers a clear, practical blueprint, without pretending the trade-offs don’t exist.📚 Episode Chapters: 01:50 - Hiring the right Sales Leadership  03:22 - Evolving GTM Strategies 16:45 - The intersection of Product and Sales 22:04 - Leveraging AI in your Sales Team 30:35 - Future of Work: Balancing AI and People 36:10 - Diversity in Leadership ⛳ Mentioned in today’s episode: Metomic: https://www.metomic.io/ 🎧 Continue listening… Make sure you listen to Building for efficient growth - Pavilion’s honest growth journey & the real problem behind the short CRO tenure with Sam Jacobs Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

Most growth stories celebrate momentum, but very few actually share the behind-the-scenes of what happens when momentum stalls. In this Making The Grade episode, we’re joined by Sam Jacobs, Founder & CEO of Pavilion - the community built to give in-seat GTM leaders the peers, frameworks, and rooms they need to operate under real pressure. Sam takes us on a journey from the early days of Revenue Collective dinners to Pavilion’s Covid-era surge. But there’s no skipping the hard bits in this episode. Sam shares the painful consequences of growing too fast, loosening ICP, and chasing scale for growth’s sake.This is a rare, unfiltered conversation about what happens when your biggest strength gets diluted, and how you rebuild when churn becomes the signal you can’t ignore.No matter whether you’re a Founder currently building or a GTM Leader facing the various challenges the market throws at you, there’s endless practical advice in this episode, ready for you to apply straight away.  📚 Episode Chapters01:15 - Pavilion’s origin story 09:23 - Scaling mistakes & lost focus 19:08 - The short CRO tenure 22:20 - Building P&L Fluency for Revenue Leaders 29:00 - Sustainable GTM Strategies 39:34 - Planning for a successful exit ⛳ Mentioned in today’s episode: Pavilion: https://www.joinpavilion.com/Intro to P&L Fluency: https://www.joinpavilion.com/pavilion-university/intro-to-pl-fluency 🎧 Continue listening… Make sure you listen to What it really takes to win in the US - Honest lessons from Natalie Johnson Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

US expansion is one of the fastest ways for a venture-backed SaaS company to accelerate growth…or blow up months of momentum, burn a painful chunk of cash, and leave a trail of “scar tissue” behind.In this Making the Grade episode, Tom Glason sits down with Natalie Johnson, a seasoned revenue leader who’s lived the 1 to 10 million ARR journey multiple times - across the UK and the US - and now leads revenue at one of Europe’s fastest-scaling AI companies, AutogenAI.In this episode, Natalie unpacks what actually works when expanding into the US, why outbound still works and why AI is not an IT rollout but an organisational transformation that rewires how modern revenue teams operate. If you’re scaling through the messy middle and considering the US leap, this one’s packed with battle-tested guidance you can apply immediately.📚 Episode Chapters01:15 - Lessons from two scaling journeys 03:12 - US expansion mistakes 16:26 - Navigating the messy middle 26:08 - Autogen AI’s Growth Engine  30:46 - Outbound strategies that actually work 35:34 - Hiring Revenue Leaders in 2026⛳ Mentioned in today’s episode: AutogenAI: https://autogenai.com/uk/Glyphic: https://www.glyphic.ai/🎧 Continue listening… Make sure you listen to Season 1 Sean Williams - From $60m exit to building an er-defining AI company Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

Welcome back to Season 2 of Making The Grade. This season, we’re digging into what it really takes to scale beyond early traction… the ups and downs of the journey from £1 million to £10 million in ARR… and why so many startups are struggling to make that leap.Each week, we're joined by experienced Founders, Investors, and senior Go-To-Market leaders to unpack the lessons, trade-offs, and decisions that define the £1m to £10m stage.We’ll explore how to build effective GTM functions and hire truly stage-fit talent, how AI is reshaping go-to-market, what changes we can expect to see in 2026, and what capital-efficient scaling actually looks like in practice.All with one core question in mind:How do you build an enduring B2B SaaS business that scales sustainably, stays capital-efficient, and creates real exit optionality?Expect honest conversations, hard-won insights, and practical advice you can apply straight away, because scaling can be done differently.Our first episode of the new season will be dropping on Thursday, February 5th, so make sure you hit subscribe to be notified of when it's ready!  Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

Natasha Ratanshi-Stein has seen startups from almost every angle, as a VC, Operator, and Founder. After scaling customer service operations at Bulb, she saw firsthand how broken legacy workforce management tooling really was.  That pain became Surfboard, and in today’s Making The Grade episode, Natasha is refreshingly honest about what founders underestimate in the £1 to £10M ARR journey, and her own journey from inception to an acquisition by Dialpad, which was all sparked by an SDR’s mis-targeted outbound message.   📚 Episode Chapters:  02:00 - Building Surfboard from idea to acquisition14:40 - Lessons from selling before a finished product 30:15 - Transitioning out of being a Founder 38:00 - Hiring the right Sales Leaders for growth   44:15 - Navigating funding challenges  🎧 Continue listening…  Make sure you listen to Ego, Cash & GTM Discipline: Paul Fifield’s unfiltered lessons from building scalable businesses  Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

What does it really take to make the leap from CMO to CRO and to build a revenue function that actually scales?In the final episode of Season 1, Tom is joined by Florence Broderick, CRO at General Index, to unpack what it actually takes to make the transition to CRO and what founders should know before hiring their first CRO. Florence shares candid insights from her transition to CRO, why she believes marketing leaders can make exceptional CROs, and how she’s balancing growth with capital efficiency in 2025 and beyond. If you’re a founder or GTM leader navigating growth right now, you won’t want to miss this episode.  Episode Chapters02:30 - Flo’s career journey from dreams of big corporates to CRO 08:30 - Managing imposter syndrome in a new role 14:30 - Building her CRO playbook 22:10 - What every CRO should nail in their first 90 days 27:30 - Why ‘rockstar CVs’ often fail 31:45 - The CRO skills that matter most in 2025 38:10 - AI that uses the needle & metrics that matter 46:50 - Getting more women into sales Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

What do you think of when you hear ‘exited Founder’? Someone travelling the world or sitting on a remote island sipping cocktails? Today’s Making The Grade guest may change your perspective… We’re joined by Sean Williams, Co-Founder & CEO of AutogenAI, the AI bid writing software. Before AutogenAI, Sean co-founded Corndell Ltd, which he grew from scratch to 350 people and sold to THI Holdings for $60m. In this episode, Sean discusses how to build with an exit in mind, why you need to keep control while fundraising and why US expansion isn’t as easy as some Founders might think. Episode Chapters02:18 - From bid writer to CEO - Sean’s career journey 08:40 - Post-exit reality & why Sean decided to jump back in the Founder seat14:36 - Selling a business during Covid 18:57 - More about AutogenAI and the opportunity 23:12 - Fundraising without losing control 27:26 - US expansion do’s & don’ts  29:33 - GTM in the AI-era - what actually works 33:43 - Hiring GTM leaders  Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

In the start-up ecosystem, there are a few truths that never change - scaling is harder than it looks, over-hiring can kill momentum, and knowing when to hand over the CEO reins might be the hardest call of all. In this episode,Ed Barltett, Founder & CEO of Hicomply, unpacks how to successfully scale with a lean team and build a GTM engine that actually produces an intent-led pipeline. Ed breaks down why stage-fit leadership beats vanity headcount and how to plan a smooth CEO transition when the time is right. If you’re a founder starting to think about what might be next for you, then this is the perfect episode to listen to.Episode Chapters02:02 - Ed’s path into Tech 10:40 - Finding your niche in a $500B market 12:44 - Comparing the UK and US markets 17:02 - Staying lean & focusing on speed of execution 19:10 - Building a realistic GTM stack in an AI-driven world 31:58 - Founder transition & handing over the CEO reins 36:47 - Exit prep 101 in 2025 and beyond Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

What does it take to build a category-defining SaaS company when your biggest competitors have raised 40x more funding than you?In this episode, Tom Lavery, Founder & CEO of Jiminny, joins us to share how he bootstrapped for years before raising, why staying in control beats chasing hype, and how to layer AI into GTM without over-engineering your stack.Expect pragmatic tactics for capital-efficient growth, candid lessons from fundraising in a downturn, and a no-BS view on what’s truly changed in sales. Episode Chapters:03:34 - Jiminny’s origin story 05:53 - Competing in a category with 40x more capital  09:21 - How to pick your investors & navigating the SaaS recession 17:20 - What’s changed in sales 21:18 - Successfully implementing AI 31:18 - The European ecosystem 33:18 - Slowing down and getting hiring right Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

Start-up headlines are often dominated by fundraising announcements and the latest valuation. But the Venture Capital route isn’t the only option or the best to take. In this episode, we’re joined by Emeric Ernoult, Co-Founder & CEO of Agorapulse, one of Europe’s most successful bootstrapped SaaS Founders.Emeric is a serial entrepreneur and has seen Agorapulse through several pivots and international expansion, all while bootstrapping. This often painful journey has come with its fair share of lessons - some of which Emeric shares with us in today’s conversation. This is definitely not a highlights reel, so if you’re currently going through the trenches or facing a pivot, this episode is one you don’t want to miss. Episode Chapters03:37 - Building Agorapulse from the ashes of a previous business 07:20 - The signs to know when it’s time to pivot 13:31 - Bootstrapping vs VC funding - the hard truths17:44 - Understanding VCs beyond the money 23:25 - The Do’s & Don’ts of international expansion27:28 - Growth metrics that actually matter34:07 - How AI is transforming data-driven growth Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

Every founder thinks they’re focused on growth. But too often, hidden mistakes in their go-to-market (GTM) strategy quietly erode their chances of success.In this Making The Grade episode, we’re joined by Keji Mustapha, CMO at Partech, to unpack the 5 Silent Killers of Go-To-Market. From undefined ICPs and premature scaling, to misaligned leadership and ignoring the voice of the customer, Keji shares practical advice founders can use today to avoid costly mistakes and scale more wisely.If you’re a founder, operator, or investor looking to understand why so many companies fail to “make the grade” and why their GTM strategy has a lot to answer for, then this episode will be the one for you. Episode Chapters01:40 - Keji’s unconventional journey from law to tech and venture capital05:10 - The day-to-day of a CMO in venture07:30 - The biggest challenges founders face in 202509:15 - The 5 Silent Killers of GTM15:40 - The misalignment trap18:50 - Why hiring for shiny logos often backfires23:45 - How to build customer obsession into your culture 28:00 - Keji’s predictions for GTM 32:40 - What really needs to change to improve startup graduation rates  Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

Too many startups hire ahead of demand, invest in the wrong leaders, or scale sales without a clear ICP - all mistakes that can cost millions and kill momentum.Today’s Making The Grade guest knows exactly how to avoid those pitfalls.We’re joined by James Bagan, Investor at Frog Capital, Chair and GTM advisor for investors. James has been on both sides of the scaling journey. He’s built world-class sales functions, turned around broken go-to-market engines, and led multiple exits. In this episode, James joins Tom to unpack what it really takes to build a GTM engine that lasts. From the shift to capital-efficient growth, to why RevOps is the unsung hero of scaling, to the leadership traits VCs should be hiring for, but so often overlook.Whether you’re a founder, CRO, or investor, you’ll walk away from this conversation with practical strategies to help you scale sustainably and avoid the most expensive mistakes.  Episode Chapters:01:30 - James’ unconventional path to multiple exits05:30 - How GTM has changed: the shift from growth at all costs to sustainable growth08:40 -  The 3 biggest mistakes founders make when building GTM teams14:30 - Why RevOps is the ultimate GTM alignment tool (and when to hire them)19:40 - Finding the right fit: fractional vs full-time RevOps teams 22:30 - The underrated traits of top GTM leaders in 202529:30 - Leadership stage-fit: the danger of hiring for tomorrow’s problems instead of today’s35:20 - The number 1 skill every commercial leader must have (hint: it’s not closing deals) Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

Too many founders stay in the CEO seat for too long. Often to the detriment of their company, their teams and themselves. It’s not about giving up. It’s about knowing when you are no longer the best person to lead the business into its next chapter. One example of a founder who knew the time was right and made that leap with clarity and intention is today’s Making The Grade guest, Robert Newry. After 11 years as CEO of Arctic Shores, Robert chose to step aside and take on a brand new role as Chief Explorer, allowing him to focus on the things that energise him most: thought leadership, customer evangelism and rethinking how we assess human potential. In this conversation, we explore what it really takes to scale a venture-backed company sustainably, and why sometimes the boldest thing a Founder can do is to let go. Whether you’re a founder thinking about what’s next for you, or you’re currently going through the trenches, fundraising, this episode is packed with lessons on resilience, reinvention and scaling wisely.  Episode Chapters:01:30 - Robert’s early failures and family roots in entrepreneurship03:50 - Learning from failure: Hong Kong’s startup mindset05:30 - The origin story behind Arctic Shores08:10 - Rethinking psychometrics: uncovering potential beyond the CV13:00 - Designing AI-resilient hiring tools in the age of ChatGPT18:00 - Why stepping down as CEO wasn’t a failure — but a growth move21:00 - Creating the role of Chief Explorer & transitioning out of CEO36:00 - What founders need to stop doing when they raise capital Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

While VC news often dominates the headlines, more often than not, the VC route isn’t the best fit for a business. So, what do you do if venture capital isn’t the right path for your start-up?In today’s Making The Grade episode, we’re unpacking the evolving world of start-up funding and why VC might not be the best fit for every founder or business. To help us do that, we’re joined by Eyal Malinger and Oren Peleg, the co-founders of Resurge Growth Partners - a new kind of investment firm pioneering a model they call venture equity, blending the best of venture capital and private equity to better serve ambitious, capital-efficient founders. From investor dynamics and growth expectations to exit strategies and go-to-market missteps, we’ll be challenging the traditional narrative and exploring what alternative paths to scale could look like in 2025 and beyond. Episode Chapters: 01:30 - From PE & Consulting to building a new investment model03:30 - The gap between VC expectations and real-world business performance  05:10 - Introducing Venture Equity & the huge opportunity it presents 10:30 - Funding beyond VC & the silent deal killers 18:10 - Lazy marketing, broken models & other founder mistakes 21:30 - The metrics that really matter 30:00 - What it takes to be a successful early-stage founder & what’s really at stake 34:15 - Where to start if you want a successful exit in 2025  Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

What does it really take to graduate from seed to exit in today’s start-up climate?In our first episode of our Making the Grade Podcast, we’re joined by serial founder and currently CEO of ESG Book, Justin Fitzpatrick, to unpack the real story behind startup growth. From the messy pivots, M&A strategies, co-founder dynamics, and what it really looks like when you fall off the VC track, Justin shares his first-hand experience of growing and exiting multiple businesses, and leaves us with plenty of practical advice to help you scale more wisely.Episode Chapters: 02:04 - Justin’s career journey as a serial entrepreneur 04:55 - From scaling pains to pivoting and product-market-fit reality checks 09:42 -  Finding the right co-founder 15:15 - Why poor win rates aren’t always a sales problem 17:34 - Building resilience as a CEO 21:41 - M&A lessons from the trenches & what makes an acquisition work 28:40 - Falling off the VC Track & finding alternatives 31:42 -  What founders actually need to graduate to the next round 33:54 - Why sustainable growth is smarter growth Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

Investors typically expect 8 out of 10 of the businesses they invest in to fail.Less than 1 in 100 start-ups manage to achieve funding beyond Series D or an exit.These humbling stats often leave founders less than optimistic. 😩So, how can building a successful business feel less like an uphill battle?And how can you scale a business with actual options to exit in 2025, and beyond?💥 To help us get answers to all of the above questions, and more, we’re excited to share the upcoming launch of our brand new podcast: Making The Grade.Every Thursday, you’ll be able to tune in and hear first-hand experiences from Founders, Investors and senior Go-To-Market Leaders as we explore the factors driving the decline in graduation rates.But we won’t just be discussing the obvious problems at hand.You’ll be leaving every episode with actionable insights, expert advice and hopefully, feeling a little bit more optimistic about thriving in a competitive market and scaling more wisely.Our first episode will launch next Thursday, July 31st. But until then, make sure you tune into our season trailer to get a preview of some of the fascinating conversations we had. Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade? If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to... ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube. See you again next week! 

Enjoyed today's episode of Making The Grade?  If you took something valuable from the episode, we'd love for you to...  ✔️ Leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform.  ✔️ Share your ideas or guest suggestions with us at podcast@scalewise.com ✔️ Stay in the loop with the latest from Making The Grade and ScaleWise by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube.  See you again next week!