The Scale Up Show

How do you grow like a VC-backed SAAS company without taking on investors? What are the secrets that SAAS CEOs have that the rest of us don't? Do you want to create a lifestyle business, a performance business, or an empire? How do you scale to an exit without losing your freedom?

Join the host Ryan Staley every Monday and Wednesday for conversations with the brightest and best SAAS Founders, CEOs, and Entrepreneurs to crack the code on repeatable revenue growth, leadership, lifestyle freedom and mindset.

This show has featured Startup and Billion Dollar Founders, Best Selling Authors, and the World’s Top Sales and Marketing Experts like Terry Jones (Founder of Travelocity and Chairman of Kayak), Gina Bianchini (Founder of Mighty Networks and prior Co-Founder with Marc Andreessen) and Harpaul Sambhi (Founder of Magical with a previous exit to Linkedin). This is where Scaling and Sales are made simple in 25 minutes or less.

Saas, Saas growth, Scale, Business Growth, B2b Saas, Saas Sales, Enterprise Saas, Sales, Business growth strategy, Founder, VP of Sales, CRO, Chief Revenue Officer, Technology, Leadership, CEO, Management, Hyper-Growth.

Last refreshed: August 19th, 2025 at 8:51 AM ⓘ

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Episodes

From Uni Drop out to Serial SaaS Founder: Darren Gallop Carbide Talks Security and AI

Darren Gallop is the founder and CEO of Carbide and joins the show to share his amazing backstory including his journey from a university dropout to creating a record company to becoming a serial SaaS founder! Darren also talks to Ryan about his opinion of AI, cyber security in business and shares the single biggest challenge Carbide is facing. KEY TAKEAWAYS Carbide's primary go-to-market strategy is traditional sales via both outbound leads and inbound content leads such as creating valuable SE...

Jun 27, 2023•40 min

How We Hit $30 Million ARR with only 4 sales Reps in 5.5 Years! Ryan's Talk at SaaS Open 2023

This episode is a recording of the talk Ryan recently gave at the 2023 SaaS open. Ryan talks through hitting $30mil in ARR and how you can apply it to your business in 2023, Ryan also gives tips on using podcasting as a pipeline and the internal use cases for AI. KEY TAKEAWAYS Look at your 5 biggest wins, 5 fastest wins and 5 biggest losses and you can learn quickly. After getting an initial large customer, Ryan and his team focused on expansion. The comp plan was planned purposely differently f...

Jun 25, 2023•23 min

Building a More Useful ChatGPT for Marketers & the Future of AI in Business

Yaniv is a silicon valley veteran, founder of content audience platform KeeWee and now Generative AI Writing tool Anyword. Working on LLMs and generative AI for more than 5 years, Yaniv shares his insights on growing a company in an emerging space, dealing with the rollercoaster of founder life, the seismic shifts industries can undergo overnight and his thoughts on the future of generative AI. Join Ryan and Yaniv as they break down one of the most exciting new technologies of the last decade an...

Jun 20, 2023•35 min

Revealing Productivity Hacks with Four Time Founder Brandon Metcalf CEO Place Technology

Brandon Metcalf is not just another entrepreneur, he is the CEO of not just one but three companies including Place Technology. Brandon is reimagining how businesses can operate and flourish in a technological world and talks about the unique things he is doing to be disruptive and change the space he is in. Brandon talks to Ryan about how he manages multiple companies including what he has learnt from each and also reveals the single best strategy for building and growing a business. KEY TAKEAW...

Jun 18, 2023•29 min

Owning the AI Algorithm to Unlock Trillions with Dr Cindy Gordon CEO and Founder of SalesChoice Inc

Dr Cindy Gordon is the CEO and founder of SalesChoice, an AI solution for B2B sales. Cindy has over ten years experience of working with AI and is doing some incredible work around leveraging AI software to predict revenue. She joins Ryan to talk about the work they are doing right now, what we may see in the future and the human side of AI. KEY TAKEAWAYS AI can have a place in behavioural insights, this is something Cindy is looking at and the many benefits it could have. SalesChoice has an aud...

Jun 14, 2023•27 min

How to Save 80% of Your Time with AI – Speaking to Manuj Aggarwal founder of TetraNoodle Technologies

Manuj Aggarwal is a founder and chief innovation manager at TetraNoodle, a data science and AI consulting company he is also a fellow podcasting hosting the podcast Bootstrapping Your Dreams. Manuj has over 15 years of experience in working with AI and talks to Ryan about how not to be fearful of new technologies and how you can embrace them in your business; saving you time, money and helping you grow. Manuj also runs through how Auto GPT works including the best value cases he can see. KEY TAK...

Jun 11, 2023•30 min

Building a BRAND NEW Category in Your Industry with Eric Olden of Strata Identity

Eric Olden is the CEO of Strata Identity, an identity management company. Eric is a serial entrepreneur and visionary and has been transforming the way businesses navigate the complex world of cloud and hybrid security systems, having previously worked in a senior role at Oracle he is now leading one of the most innovative companies in the tech space. Eric joins Ryan to talk about digital identity, creating a new category in his industry and how he came to create the holy grail of identity manag...

Jun 06, 2023•30 min

How to use Outbound Sales and AI in Your Business with Liam Patterson Founder and CEO of Bidnamic

Liam Patterson is the founder and CEO of Bidamic, a marketing tech platform that lets retailers unlock their full potential. Bidamic is the 4th company Liam has founded and he joins Ryan to talk all about his entrepreneurial journey and the amazing things he is doing in the e-commerce and marking space. Top topics include how AI is impacting business and how you can utilise it in yours, the power of outbound and Liam also reveals his single best strategy for growing a business. KEY TAKEAWAYS Bid...

Jun 04, 2023•26 min

How to Penetrate the Sports Market and Leverage Referrals with Angelina Lawton CEO and Founder of Sportsdigita

Angelina Lawton is the founder and CEO of Sportsdigita. A trailblazer in the sports world, Angelina has been named one of the 30 most powerful women in sport by Forbes! Angelina talks to Ryan about how she has transformed the way that over 450 of the biggest brands in the world market and sell, from massive sports brands to Fortune 500 companies and reveals how they generate referrals systematically as well as the lows and highs of her business journey. KEY TAKEAWAYS Inbound sales and referrals ...

May 30, 2023•31 min

How to Leverage LinkedIn for Revenue with Mike Montague of Sandler Training

Mike Montague is a fellow podcaster, author and the director of community at Sandler Training. He joins Ryan to talk about how he got started in marketing and his book as well as giving many online marketing tips for various platforms including LinkedIn and YouTube and also reveals the number one reason people don’t listen to your podcast! KEY TAKEAWAYS Mike was gifted with computers at a young age, he was programming from 8th grade! Mike got into internet marketing after creating and hosting a ...

May 28, 2023•34 min

Using AI to Solve Your Pipeline Problems with Gil Allouche CEO and Founder of Metadata

Gil Allouche from Metadata joins Ryan in this episode. Gil is the founder and CEO of Metadata, he came from a systems engineering background and then went into marketing where he worked on automation and creating a product leading to 5 patents in his technology. Gil talks to Ryan about many topics surrounding AI and automation including how his company solves the age-old problem of pipeline and why we shouldn’t be frightened of AI and instead embrace it wherever we can in business. KEY TAKEAWAYS...

May 23, 2023•21 min

Integrating AI into Every Day Business with AI Expert Alex Castro CEO and founder of M Corp

Alex Castro is the founder and CEO of M Corp. He is the creator of the REM score method and one of the best-selling authors in the AI space. Alex is uniquely placed to educate on AI having been in the space for over a decade and having a breadth of knowledge in Identifying how businesses can implement the world of AI. Alex talks to Ryan about how we can all utilise and integrate AI for use in day-to-day services and how we can push this further by using the web3 space and even creating NFTs. KEY...

May 21, 2023•37 min

Building an Emotional SaaS Tool with Drew D’Agostino of Crystal

In this episode, Ryan is joined by Drew D’Agostino of Crystal. Crystal is an emotional intelligence tool that leverages AI to create better conversations with clients, and prospects as well as internally with co-workers. Drew talks to Ryan about how he is approaching the business and what they are doing in the space including the journey to finding the perfect product-market fit and the uniqueness of building a SaaS tool that connects with people on an emotional level. KEY TAKEAWAYS Crystal’s pr...

May 16, 2023•31 min

Why Cybersecurity is a Human Problem and Talking Open Source AI with Casey Ellis of Bugcrowd

Casey Ellis is the CEO of Bugcrowd, a platform that connects users with digital locksmiths/hackers to help solve their problems, they also offer task service management and security consulting. Casey has 18 years of experience in the security space and has supported every type of client from small start-ups to large national corporations. Casey and Ryan have an in-depth conversation around AI and Security and Casey also talks about Bugcrowd's interesting combination business model, talks about m...

May 14, 2023•42 min

AI for Every Day Communication and Every Consumer with Suman Kanuganti of Personal AI

Ryan is joined by two-time venture-backed entrepreneur and AI enthusiast Suman Kanuganti. Suman was also recently awarded Forbes 40 under 40 and is the co-founder of Personal AI. Personal AI is a unique and personal AI model to aid and communicate with one another. Suman talks to Ryan all about his vision for the company including why he chose the b2c market and to be venture-backed as well as the value he sees it bringing to everyday consumers now and in the future. KEY TAKEAWAYS Personal AI is...

May 09, 2023•38 min

Creating Endless Possibilities in Everyday Business with AI: Speaking to AI Expert Eric Daimler

Eric Daimler is the chair, CEO and co-founder of Conexus AI. He also sits on numerous boards and is a leading expert in the field of robotics and AI. He joins Ryan to talk about the revolutionary things Conexus are doing in the world of AI, how you can set up AI in your own company and how he thinks AI will create endless possibilities for humanity and the world we live in. KEY TAKEAWAYS Conexus was originally bootstrapped, funding its MVP and explorations before attracting funding to hire staff...

May 07, 2023•40 min

Leveraging AI and Combatting Churn in Your SaaS Business with Jonathan Fishbeck Founder and CEO of EstateSpace

Jonathan Fishbeck is the founder and CEO of Estate Space, the no1 cloud software for ultra-high net worth market individuals, to manage non-financial assets. Jonathan is a three-time founder and has been serving the luxury market for over a decade! Jonathan reveals what led him to decide to serve such a unique market and the challenges he has faced including how they combatted churn. Jonathan and Ryan also talk about how to leverage AI in your SaaS business. KEY TAKEAWAYS Jonathan was surrounded...

May 02, 2023•29 min

$0-$50 Million by Unlocking the Secrets to Product Market Fit with Adam Robinson Founder and CEO of Retention

Adam Robinson is the founder and CEO of Retention, a platform built to increase retention, re-engage audiences and 10x abandonment revenue. He joins Ryan to talk about finding the sweet spot in a marketplace, how he took Retention from 0 to $50 million in 3 years with zero funding and the secrets to finding the perfect product market fit. KEY TAKEAWAYS Starting to build a Shopify app that focuses on large stores An agency partnerships operation has been essential in Retention’s growth generating...

Apr 30, 2023•45 min

Creatively Applying AI in Your Business with Aaron Schoenberger of Soteria Intelligence

Aaron Schoenberger is the founder and CEO of Soteria Intelligence an AI software business featured by both the BBC and The Guardian. Aaron has a patent on deep learning based on social monitoring and has been in the AI space for over 5 years. In this episode, he reveals what’s possible right now in the AI space and shares how you can apply these learnings to your business both creatively and effectively. KEY TAKEAWAYS Soteria Intelligence has primarily been self-funded, bootstrapping its way to ...

Apr 25, 2023•30 min

Why AI Will Overtake Software in 5 Years PLUS Measuring Value and Designing Pricing with Steven Forth CEO and Co-Founder of Ibbaka

Steven Forth is the co-founder, managing partner and CEO of Ibbaka, a software company which helps companies design their pricing and how to then communicate that pricing and its value across the entire customer journey. Named one of the top ten pricing authorities in the world by Open View Venture, Steven joins Ryan to talk about all things pricing including how he has helped both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies drive returns and increase profits through pricing. Steven also reveals his fra...

Apr 23, 2023•35 min

What If Chat GPT Ran a Company? With Joao Ferrao Dos Santos Founder of Underdog Founders

Ryan is joined by Joao in this episode. Joao is currently in the middle of a social experiment, where he has made Chat GPT the CEO, co-founder and creator of a company! He talks to Ryan all about the method to building this experiment including the challenges and what has surprised him along the way. Joao and Ryan also talk about the wider conversation on AI including the effect it may have on various industries as well as the human impact. KEY TAKEAWAYS After seeing the concept of using CHAT GB...

Apr 18, 2023•43 min

Why You Should Democratise Your Product with Tom Albert CEO and Founder of Measured Risk

Tom Albert is the founder and CEO of measured risk, which helps triangulate risk with advanced data science technology. He has worked with the NSA, Department of Defence and has gone on to be a top 5% sales producer for Oracle and developed an AI engine that can see most of the information on the internet from social media to the dark web! He joins Ryan to talk about all this, including being featured on the show Unicorn Hunters and more in this unique and varied episode of The Scale Up Show. KE...

Apr 16, 2023•37 min

From Sales Rep to Boostrapped SaaS founder: Jesse Ouellette founder of Leadmagic

Ryan is joined by bootstrapped SaaS founder Jesse Ouellette in this episode. Jesse talks about how the pandemic presented the perfect opportunity for the creation of Leadmagic, a website identification tool and talks about how you can turn your knowledge into revenue as well as what 99% of companies are missing in their outbound email activity. KEY TAKEAWAYS It was after losing his job and feeling frustrated that Jesse decided he wanted to run something of his own. He started off consulting and ...

Apr 11, 2023•35 min

Using AI to Reduce Churn with Dorian Selz of Salesforce Backed Company Squirro

Dorian Selz is a three time-founder and the CEO and co-founder of Squirro, a semantic enterprise business platform helping other businesses with their decision making. He joins Ryan to discuss the benefits of AI, particularly how it can be used to reduce churn in a business. Dorian also reveals the top 3 reasons people leave your service and why Squirro wouldn’t be where it is today without the backing of Salesforce and clients such as The Bank of England. KEY TAKEAWAYS Squirro uses outbound and...

Apr 09, 2023•39 min

How to Create a $100 Million Company without Taking on Institutional Investment with Ed Vincent founder of Festival Pass

Ed Vincent is the founder of the subscription-based live-events SaaS platform Festival Pass. He joins Ryan to talk about some ground-breaking concepts including how to integrate Amazon primes business model and NFTs into your business to create your own capital! Ed also discusses the alternatives to raising capital through venture capitalists and what this looks like in reality as well as reveals the biggest mistakes people make with subscription-based businesses. KEY TAKEAWAYS Festival Pass use...

Apr 04, 2023•35 min

Using Open Source to Bootstrap from $0 to $3million with Kiran Kumar Vangaveti Founder and CEO of BluSapphire

Kiran Vangaveti is the founder and CEO of BluSapphire, a SaaS provider for Cyber Security. Kiran joins Ryan to talk about how he bootstrapped his way from 0 to $3million ARR, building on his 24 years of experience working in several fortune 100 companies. He talks about the founding principles of creating BluSapphire and the steps they took to build a capital-efficient company using an open-source model. KEY TAKEAWAYS BluSapphire have seen an ROI of over 400% and has a current ARR of 3 million w...

Apr 02, 2023•31 min

Leveraging Alternative Data for Fast Growth with Jordan Hauer Co-Founder and CEO of Amass Insights

Jordan Hauer is the co-founder and CEO of alt-tech company Amass Insights as well as co-founder of crypto-enabled marketplace Big Data Protocol. Jordan was one of the pioneers in email transaction data, a lead technologist at a multi-billion-dollar equity fund and was identified as one of New York’s top CEOs in the analytics space! Jordan joins The Scale Up Show to talk to Ryan all about his unique perspectives and alternative ideas on leveraging and developing data as well as the growth and exp...

Mar 28, 2023•32 min

How to Build AI into Your Business or Risk Obsoletion with Paul Roetzer CEO and Founder of Marketing AI Institute

Paul has been in the AI space for over 12 years now and in this conversation with Ryan he talks about all things AI, from the tools you need for your business to how to capitalise on AI in the most innovative and growth-focused ways. KEY TAKEAWAYS Marketing AI Institute is a media and education company that focuses on building an audience that can be monetised They focus on a SAAS-like model for their education arm of the company, built around subscriptions Paul knew he could uniquely offer a ma...

Mar 26, 2023•33 min

Leveraging Referrals Alongside AI to Create Exponential Growth! with Muhammad Younas CEO and CoFounder of vFairs

Muhammad Younas is the CEO and founder of VFairs, a software for events business which he bootstrapped from zero to $30 million. Muhammad talks to Ryan about leveraging customer service, chat GBT and referrals to create both a premium for his product and exponential growth! KEY TAKEAWAYS Word of mouth has always been at the forefront of vFairs marketing and growth strategy Muhammad takes the hospitality side of events seriously, he has always recognised the importance of everything being perfect...

Mar 22, 2023•35 min

Crushing Market Leaders One Referral at a Time with Jon Darbyshire CEO and Co-Founder of SmartSuite

Jon Darbyshire is the CEO and co-founder of SmartSuite, a b2b, no code, data management programme that competes with the likes of airtable to become the number 1 tool for business! Within the first week of launching, Jon and his team brought in over 400 paying customers and growth has continued on this trajectory for the next 3 years. He talks to Ryan all about how he made this happen and the steps you can take to leverage his knowledge and replicate his success. KEY TAKEAWAYS Jon previously fou...

Mar 20, 2023•31 min

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