Social isn't B2B + leadership in peace vs. downturn

As I’m spending the week in Seattle for business, my reflections revolve around key takeaways from the state of digital marketplaces (including social networks) + spending 2+ days with veteran executives with different leadership styles, including inspiration from Ben Horowitz and one of his books.

(And if you’re exploring a US LLC formation + bookkeeping, doola can help).

Is social media a B2B medium?

My detailed post includes an analysis on Pike Place Market as an exemplary marketplace - a food market with coffee shops and restaurants, clothes, books, artisan crafts, and many more goods and items you can acquire.

All driven by quality and sales volume, with both steep costs (rent) and staffing (full-time staff on-site) + delivery/logistics daily to ensure the model works.

This isn’t much different from TikTok shop ads or Meta DTC ads on Facebook and Instagram, selling physical goods and dropshipped items, or other “direct to consumer” online products - books, infomercials, courses.

The growing attempt for service/freelance sales has been apparent over the past 5 years - from ghostwriting to development and marketing solutions, cold outreach, virtual assistant, and anything you can think of.

This model isn’t known to scale in this environment.

And social media attention is going down already - seeing its peak in 2022 and decreasing since then.

I touched on this model in previous newsletter issues, including:

• “Niching down and looking for non-scalable channels as a priority” - exemplifying higher competition in commodity roles, automation with AI, and certain segments seeing higher attention than others

• “Special CEO edition: for current CEOs and aspiring leaders” - disclosing a summary of many CEO conversations, fears, concerns, and worries in this market today

RevOps leaders have been raising the flag since 2023

If you go back in time, very few services have been successfully deployed in similar marketplaces as products have dominated. Professional services were usually pitched differently.

Similar to other high-traffic channels such as TV or radio ads, or even newsletter/podcast sponsorships, where direct-to-consumer or high-volume, generic, low-cost solutions have dominated the market. Even if you see Squarespace Super Bowl ad, it’s still a reflection of a cheap “do-it-yourself” “replacing humans” proposition.

As the hockey stick model of 2018-2022 broke in early 2023 for businesses going through transformations optimized for profitability, we saw that CAC paybacks have been mostly negative. With average paybacks of 4, 5, 6 years for contracts churning in 2-3 years, the numbers didn’t make sense.

Since then, we have an influx of AI slop and global penetration of pitches with AI content and deep fakes, auto replies and comments, and lower quality than ever.

The approaches we’ve been taken for the past nearly 3 years have deviated further away from social. I’ve written a handful of articles and newsletters since on the GTM channels that keep delivering value over time.

While some have adapted to the new mediums, most haven’t. And this appetite for experimentation or speed of augmentation are one of the qualities that differentiate leaders.

Peacetime vs. Wartime CEOs

I spent the last few days with some incredible executives with an outstanding track record, along with fractional consultants and intrapreneurs. All great in their own ways, with unique strengths and unmatched expertise in their corresponding areas.

Initiatives discussed in different calls, meetings, and conversations varied from daily hackathons to weekly tests to $50K MVPs to $1M pilots to $10M+ initiatives to 9-figure growth plans, along with a myriad of different configurations.

Companies going through different stages often require different CEOs, too - as some leaders are great from 0 to 1, others in scaling a small PMF business to $10M, some operationalizing up to $100M, and some in the next stage toward a billion in ARR through IPO or private equity.

But while this idea of different stage CEOs is somewhat popular by now, I revisited a Ben Horowitz bestseller in the right state of mind to differentiate peacetime CEOs from wartime CEOs.

📝 Most business literature is produced in times of peace

There are thousands of leadership and management guides from executive leaders, management consultants, popular authors, life coaches, and business influencers like Gary Vee. Most have been advocating “servant leadership” practices, or other variations of management obeying teams entirely, revolving exclusively around staff and team happiness.

This narrative is popularized for several reasons:

1. It’s generally accepted by a larger crowd (by definition, most people are employees vs. CXOs and owners, therefore models supporting staff happiness are favored - this is why social and democratic parties are always among the top 2 picks in most cycles)

2. This narrative helps push more sales and views - supporting that utopian world where everyone is happy and bubbly and work happens on autopilot and everyone works on what they’re excited (you don’t hit bestsellers with unpopular opinions)

3. In times of economic prosperity, headcount alone is an important driver and churn is expensive. This is where revenue is growing almost on autopilot for the majority of the businesses, competition is steep, and teams should indeed be made happy more than not

4. Similar research and allotting time for business/management analysis is always conducted in times of peace - when businesses are growing and can afford L&D budgets, PR, documenting, upgraded operational structures. All of these buckets are immediately halted when businesses go down and have to be saved creatively

I feel this is a valid concern and I’ve felt this firsthand before - in corporate training sessions or executive meetings ignoring the P&L as a source of truth, beating the same bush despite business outcomes. Layoffs in 2023-2024 have surprised tens if not hundreds of millions of people, while the reality is that businesses weren’t sustainable in their shape and form before, and any market tightening has severe impacts on seemingly successful businesses.

Now, leadership for teams isn’t as thoroughly discussed over the past year and a half, because most “successful” leaders have turned into a more autocratic leadership model, or a purely transactional leadership style. If these styles don’t ring a bell, I have a detailed guide on leadership styles on my blog.

Covering these isn’t popular. It’s not convenient, it doesn’t improve one’s lifestyle directly, it isn’t supporting work-life balance, doesn’t lead to Instagram photos or stories from beaches or travel selfies. This is why fewer sources discuss that - and Ben’s book is a good reminder on the first principles in business: if the P&L is healthy and businesses are blooming, then rewards can follow over time, otherwise, funding partial lifestyles in times of economic downturn has never been sustainable in the first place.

Mario

📚️ Books I read this month

• “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz (65% in)

• “The Sweaty Startup” by Nick Hueber (85% in)

• Ray Dalio’s “How Countries Go Broke: The Big Cycle” (55% in)

• The FP&A Handbook: Mastering Financial Planning & Analysis (40% in)

• “Revenue Architecture” by Jacco van der Kooij (55% in)

• “Hooked” - on habits and cues and product alignment (50% in)

• “The Sales Acceleration Formula” ✅ 

• I have 2 more in the backlog, one on RevOps and one for sales leaders, coming soon as I catch up on the list above!

📰 On branding and customer experience. Or how I spent over $250 visiting the Pike Market Starbucks location.

📰 ABM isn’t stalled; the translation is. Convert goals into CAC, payback, and $/account the board can approve - see the framework in my post.

🔖 Improve email delivery with caching. Smarter caching methods cut latency in high-volume email systems and improve responsiveness.

🔖 FinTech expands microfinance access. Mobile-first tools and automation help lower microfinance barriers for underserved U.S. entrepreneurs.

🔖 AI sharpens compliance workflows. Real-time tools improve compliance efficiency and reduce risk across regions.

🔖 Consultants play bigger role in fraud defense. IT advisors now help strengthen digital safeguards for growing businesses.

🔖 Lower risk in CRM rollouts. A phased approach and start-to-finish buy-in improve CRM outcomes and reduce costly setbacks.

🔖 Use your morning to train focus. Try proven rituals that boost brain clarity before the start of your workday.

🔖 Gucci finds new value in its archives. A long-dormant design trove drives a $10B brand revival through heritage reinvention

🔖  Identify the beliefs holding you back. This method helps executives spot and change thought patterns blocking growth.

📰 U.S. may supply Tomahawk missiles. Trump hints at sending Tomahawks to Ukraine if talks collapse in Trump’s proposal.

📰 Investors eye trade de-escalation. Market watchers see tariff rhetoric as negotiation tactics in futures rebound analysis.

📰 OpenAI teams up with Broadcom. Custom AI hardware plans aim to advance data center performance in strategic collaboration.

📰 China defies U.S. rare earths. Beijing vows retaliation after 100% tariff threat in trade dynamics review.

📰 Caterpillar buys RPMGlobal. The mining equipment leader boosts autonomy software in acquisition details.

Open compute project advances. New infrastructure standards aim to cut AI data center costs in ecosystem vision.

📰 LegalOn hits ¥10B ARR. Japan’s fastest AI startup scales with lawyer-built tools in growth milestone.

📰 Nvidia backs 100 AI startups. Chip maker’s investments span robotics and infrastructure in top bets breakdown.

📰 Goldman acquires Industry Ventures. The $965M deal highlights rising secondary market liquidity in alternative exits trend.

📰 China forces EV design shift. New safety rules may lead Tesla to redesign door handles in regulation impact.

📰 Veo 3 outperforms Sora 2. Google’s tool leads in quality and authenticity over OpenAI in video production test.

📰 London finance hires AI pros. Banks chase specialists as fintech roles surge in hiring trends.

📰 Canva boosts global storytelling. New creative hire aims to unify messaging across markets in expansion plans.

📰 Marketers eye AI KPIs. Brands track mentions and sentiment over clicks in performance metrics.

Let’s see the latest offers from Flippa. Don’t forget to sign up for their newsletter for daily/weekly/monthly offers like these.

B2B SaaS Business: A profitable 9-year-old Australian SaaS platform with 83% profit margins and consistent ARR. Ranks #1 in SERPs for its niche and supports 317 active subscribers. Monthly profit of AUD $11.8K and strong recurring base - reduced to $290,257 (down 29%).

English Tutoring App: A 5-year-old, high-growth EdTech platform with $350K ARR, 150X overall growth, and 1,000+ paying students. Enjoys ~35% margins and 260K social followers, primed for global expansion - reduced to $453,000 (down 23%).

Electronics Review YouTube Channel: A 3-year-old, US-based review channel generating $26K+ monthly profit with 97% margins. Monetized across multiple revenue streams with a 116K+ subscriber base and 763 videos - asking price: $715,000.

Amazon FBA Cycling Brand: An 8-year-old UK-based FBA storefront in the sports and outdoor niche. Generates £171K TTM revenue with £63.6K profit and a strong 37% margin. Features 10K+ reviews and international reach across the UK, EU, and US - priced at $948,227.

B2B Weather Forecasting SaaS: A 24-year-old API platform powering enterprise weather insights for 150 clients and 4.3M+ yearly visitors. With just 1% churn and $23K monthly profit, this legacy SaaS demonstrates remarkable retention and long-term value - asking price is $10,900,000.

Online Ticket Marketplace: An 8-year-old secondary ticket marketplace operating across Europe. Generates €68.8K monthly profit with strong industry partnerships and repeat traffic - listed at $12,250,000.

Working with me

Here are the main projects I focus on:

🌐 Scaling $30M - $100M+ companies on top of WordPress. DevriX provides full RevOps consulting + delivery with GTM enablement for PE-backed portfolio companies, traditional tech, healthcare, finance, and professional service businesses pacing toward revenue growth initiatives. Our standard retainers between $10K and $40K include revenue lifecycle services for marketing and sales leaders, FP&A for financial teams, pipeline enrichment through websites and dozens of lead sources, automations and delivery integrations, CRO and ongoing testing, product delivery and platform integration solutions, and more through our consulting solutions.

🚀 1:1 Consulting. At Growth Shuttle, I run two popular plans: Async Advisory ($3,500/mo) for $3M - $30M founders and executive teams and the smaller Strategic Growth Circle ($997/mo) for $100K - $500K entrepreneurs, agency founders, scale ups.

📈 Building US LLCs from Europe. I help European and Asian founders scale faster through doola and their “Business in a Box” model. Also suitable for US citizens (given their bookkeeping solution), but in very high demand across Europe.

📊 Post-Merger Integration. I support M&A initiatives through Flippa’s marketplace. Working closely on PMI initiatives for PE companies and fast-growing startups integrating new companies within their portfolios, enabling data pipelines, and securing more deals through my personal network.