Scouting for Growth

• Mark Stern: Transforming Customer Journeys with Physical-Digital Experience Design for Growth

  On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Mark Stern, founder and CEO of Custom Box Agency, an award-winning boutique specializing in bringing digital offers to life through innovative offline ‘box experiences.’ Today, he’ll share how he made the leap from corporate to startup life, offer practical tips for integrating physical touchpoints into a digital world, and discuss the secret sauce behind building high-impact customer journeys. I can’t wait to dive into his wealth of knowledge. KEY TAKEAWAYS When I mixed physical and digital together with my publication called ‘Entrepreneur Elements’ I people started posting unboxing videos, which a digital-only product can do. Everyone who received the product became an ambassador and lots of organic traffic was being created as a result. During Covid the virtual event game became bloody red, in terms of competition, because everyone became a virtual event expert overnight. But the boxes, and how we were approaching this to get results faster, was an unknown, exciting realm which I went 100% in on and the business skyrocketed from zero to a million in the first year just by pivoting and focussing on this opportunity. What we include inside our boxes is a welcome note, a getting started guide – which, for me is the most powerful sales pieces to orient people on the journey that they’re about to start and see your universe, a journey map – a visual depiction of the recipe that’s going to get you the result, then all the tools and resources. This isn’t SWAG (Stuff Without A Goal), think of it a product development and who we can truly get into your programme and give people the incentive structure to want to take one step at a time. I love data, so I can engineer feedback loops to say, once you’ve hit a certain milestone, how can I get you to provide me with the information I need so 1, I can celebrate you, but 2, it also gives me good intel to make the product you’re making better. BEST MOMENTS ‘In the online space done beats perfect. I approach the standards of the online realm in a corporate way; the client’s either ready or not ready at all.’ ‘If you have a digital product, you have to compliment it with something physical because physical can tap into other modalities and senses that digital can’t.’ ‘It’s not about you, it’s truly about your customers and their needs.’ ‘Boxes can be a tool to take what you’re already talking about/teaching, or the service you’re providing and making it easier for people to have the breakthrough in the tangible way the a digital-only product just can’t.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Mark Stern is an accomplished serial entrepreneur and the visionary behind Custom Box Agency, an award-winning experience design firm headquartered in Austin, Texas. Leveraging his background as a top-ranked strategy consultant at Deloitte, Mark has guided major retail and lifestyle brands through transformative growth initiatives. He holds an MBA from Duke University and has been recognized as a Forbes Next 1,000 Entrepreneur, as well as featured in Joey Coleman’s bestselling book Never Lose an Employee Again.Mark’s passion for merging the physical with the digital underpins his signature approach of crafting “offline-meets-online” experiences. By moving beyond standard swag and focusing on strategic box campaigns, Mark’s team has successfully launched 100+ direct mail initiatives—boosting conversions, slashing churn, and extending customer lifetime value. As a mentor at SXSW, sought-after keynote speaker, and champion for innovative entrepreneurship, Mark remains dedicated to helping businesses of all sizes adopt experience design as a powerful lever for growth. Email ABOUT THE HOST Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner. Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Facebook TikTok Email Website This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

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• Colin Hirdman: LinkedIn Growth Hacks, AI and Ethical Automation (Ethical Automation)

  On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Colin Hirdman, the antidote to automated mediocrity. As a lifelong entrepreneur and co-founder of Monkey Island Ventures, he has spent two decades scaling SaaS tools, digital agencies, and now Rainmaker – a ‘white-glove’ service that ethically automates LinkedIn outreach to turn connections into revenue. Colin discusses Rainmaker’s ‘Authentic Engine’ framework: 10-30% connection rates, campaigns tailored to micro-audiences, and why human-driven strategies still dominate AI in B2B growth. As well as why he targets 25 people/day — and how even solo founders can replicate this, the ‘criminal justice grad’ who turned entrepreneur, accidently and sold his first startup days after college, and LinkedIn’s automation guardrails: What’s ‘ethical’ vs. what gets you banned. KEY TAKEAWAYS I’ve done a lot of growth hacking through email and LinkedIn, but I got better results through LinkedIn and ended up building out a software and process for myself. Rainmaker was born through me making it available to other businesses. But, you don’t need me or rainmaker to do any of the things we discuss on this podcast, you can do it manually. You have to be authentic on LinkedIn, both as yourself as well as the brands you represent. You should also have an educational mindset – no one wants to be sold to on LinkedIn, but almost everyone is willing to be educated – and an experimentation mindset, trying different features and functions of LinkedIn, stack the things that work and set aside the things that don’t. Understand the pains an barriers that you prospects are trying to overcome and know what it is that you can teach them. Growth hacks: LinkedIn Events – if you have a direct competitor, industry or organisation putting on a LinkedIn Event that your business solves for, if you attend that event you can see everyone else who attended that event and create a prospects list. Use people who are big in your area as proxies – use people’s open connections to see all first connections to her, second connections to you and is in your area, and begin connecting to them Building out your first connections is critical. I reach out to 15 people per day Monday-Friday during normal working hours. That gives you 500 people per month, which is below LinkedIn’s limits. Typically, you’ll get a 20% connection rate. Within 30 days of sending an invite, and they haven’t connected, withdraw the invite. It’s good hygiene, but after 3 weeks you can reach out to them again. Everything you do after that only gets better and has bigger possibilities as your audience grows. BEST MOMENTS ‘There’s lots of opportunity to engage with you prospects on LinkedIn in ways that are valuable for relationship building and set you up as a thought leader.’‘People undervalue the value of being a first connection, when you’re a first connection you can see all kids of information about them, direct message them, and use other features and functions to engage with them.’‘I typically build my audience through Sales Navigator – a tool within LinkedIn that allows you to hone in on audiences..’‘If you’re using automation that is in any way inauthentic it won’t work, you wouldn’t immediately set up a meeting with someone you just met, I wish people would stop, it’s lazy.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Colin Hirdman is a lifelong entrepreneur, startup advocate, and visionary behind Rainmaker, a platform revolutionizing LinkedIn’s growth strategies through its "Authentic Engine." As co-founder of Monkey Island Ventures, a venture studio launched in 2007 with childhood friends, Colin has spent nearly two decades fostering tech innovation and scaling ventures like SaaS tools, digital marketing agencies, and software development firms. His passion lies in unlocking the power of authentic relationship-building—evidenced by Rainmaker’s mission to help founders, coaches, and sales teams expand their networks, generate leads, and close deals ethically on LinkedIn. A Minnesota native, Colin’s journey began with selling his first startup (launched just days after college) and evolved into mentoring entrepreneurs through actionable strategies like LinkedIn automation, audience targeting via Sales Navigator, and educational outreach. His philosophy blends authenticity, experimentation, and a focus on solving audience pain points—principles he shares as a board member of MNblockchain and a sought-after voice in B2B growth. When not advising startups or hosting LinkedIn livestreams, Colin champions the entrepreneurial spirit, proving that even a criminal justice graduate-turned-accidental-founder can redefine 21st-century scaling. Catch his insights on turning connections into revenue—no bots or spam required. LinkedIn ABOUT THE HOST Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner. Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Facebook TikTok Email Website This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

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  47:15
• Gia Laudi: Why B2B SaaS Leaders Must “Forget The Funnel” and Embrace Customer-Led Growth

  On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Georgiana ‘Gia’ Laudi, a strategic advisor, keynote speaker, and co-founder of Forget The Funnel, a consultancy focused on helping B2B SaaS companies drive predictable, recurring revenue through a truly customer-led approach. In this episode, Gia and I will explore why so many companies get stuck throwing “spaghetti at the wall,” instead of researching who their best customers really are. We’ll look at the common pitfalls teams face when relying solely on funnel-based thinking—plus the steps any organization can take to cultivate a thriving, customer-centric culture. Gia will also share highlights from the remarkable work she’s done with various SaaS brands, as well as tips you can put into practice right away. KEY TAKEAWAYS Two years after drafting up a customer experience map for our company, through the lens of the customer, we grew revenue by 900%. We’d aligned the team and the company, and it facilitated more streamlined conversation, more alignment, more understanding cross-departmentally making things much easier. It gave us a tool and a shared language for operationalising around customer experience. A big reason for forgetting the funnel and leveraging a more customer-led approach is through the lens of recurring revenue businesses. Even if you don’t have a recurring revenue business model most businesses agree that customer retention, expanding existing accounts vs finding new customers contains a lot of value. This serves all kinds of businesses very well. Customer research is often equated with long, drawn-out projects that are very costly and leave you with more questions than answers. There’s a lot of resistance when we use the term ‘customer research’, we tend to use the term ‘customer insights’. We use targeted, streamlined and intentional research via ‘jobs to be done’ which reveal meaningful patterns from as little as 10-12 people which can identify what leads people to seek your business out. Not all customers are created equally, you shouldn’t try to serve every customer, narrow your focus on who really, really cares about the problem that you solve, has a high willingness to pay, deeply understands the value in what you provide and would sing your praises from the mountain tops. BEST MOMENTS ‘If you orient your operations around the customer experience it becomes easy to make all kinds of decisions.’ ‘Existing customers are worth more and are less costly to us as a business vs finding new customers.’ ‘Your relationship with your customer does not end with the purchase, it begins with the purchase.’ ‘Early stage companies should focus on one customer and do a really good job, later stage companies shouldn’t conflate all customers into a homogenous group but think of segmentation in a meaningful way so you can still provide high-converting and resonating experiences even for multiple segments.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Georgiana (“Gia”) Laudi is a strategic advisor, keynote speaker, and co-founder of Forget The Funnel, a consultancy specializing in customer-led growth for B2B SaaS companies. With over 20 years of experience in marketing and product strategy, she’s helped high-growth businesses such as Unbounce, Calendly, and Sprout Social deepen customer insights, align teams around customer value, and drive predictable, recurring revenue. As co-author of the book “Forget The Funnel,” Gia advocates a practical, step-by-step approach to uncovering why the best customers buy—and how to ensure more of them succeed post-purchase. Based in Montreal, Gia is passionate about turning real customer needs into clear messaging, frictionless onboarding, and expansion strategies that empower businesses to scale sustainably. She joins Scouting for Growth to share her journey, discuss common growth pitfalls, and offer actionable tactics any organization can use to become truly customer-led. LinkedIn ABOUT THE HOST Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner. Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Facebook TikTok Email Website This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

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  47:49
• Ron Rock: Why Ohio is the Ultimate Launchpad for International Startups

  On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Ron Rock, Managing Director for the Financial Services Sector at JobsOhio. When you think "FinTech hub," your mind might automatically jump to Silicon Valley or New York. But there’s a powerhouse in the heartland that's giving these coastal giants a run for their money: Ohio. In our conversation today, we'll unpack why Ohio – a state that puts you within a two-hour flight of 75% of the U.S. and Canadian financial services industry – might just be the strategic move your startup needs to make. KEY TAKEAWAYS Ohio has the 4th largest financial services economy in the US, so if you’re looking for partnerships, the market, people that’ll have a conversation with you, the operating costs will be a lot less than they are on the coasts in New York and California. If you’re a graduate in IT thinking about going into an IT profession, maybe it’s time to think about financial services. If you can do that kind of developing, programming or coding there’s a lot of opportunity in InsurTech and FinTech. There are a few different pillars you have to have for growth. The first is the economy in the state, which we do. Then, you have to have the ecosystem of players – the investors, large companies, startups that have found footing, and then the talent in that ecosystem has to be there as well. When we look at the talent that needs to fill the jobs of the future in financial services, we have to make sure the curriculums are up to par, including AI and low-code environments. We’re not a one-size-fits-all, we have programmes that didn’t fit earlier stage companies. We looked at that and how we could support formally and informally and now we have 3 innovation across the state. These give support whether that’s proximity to other innovators to incentives like JobsOhio growth Cap to support earlier state companies. BEST MOMENTS ‘London and Mid-Western states have similar mentalities with amicable relationships. We find a way to make something happen.’ ‘Startups have found footing in Ohio because of the climate we’re in, we don’t have large catastrophes or losses, so if you’re testing a new product or company you have that in your favour.’ ‘Ohio is a microcosm of a larger market, almost like a sandbox in which you can pay before you launch.’ ‘I call myself a connector, or facilitator, it’s the core of my job. I have to know the industry but I’ll never get deep into knowing exactly what the industry is doing. So I stay in my lane and make connections to the right individuals, listen to companies, and introduce people.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Ron Rock is a forward-thinking business management executive and Managing Director of JobsOhio’s Financial Services Sector. With over two decades of experience spanning financial services, insurance, economic development, and process improvement, Ron is renowned for creating and executing strategic growth plans that boost market share, elevate customer loyalty, and broaden service offerings. A dynamic leader, innovator, strategist, and connector, Ron bridges the gap between traditional institutions and emerging technology ventures. He regularly partners with founders, investors, and corporate stakeholders to identify opportunities for expansion into Ohio—home to the nation’s fourth-largest financial services economy. Under Ron’s guidance, JobsOhio provides tailored incentives and support, empowering promising fintech and insurtech startups to flourish while meeting the needs of major banks and insurers throughout the state. Known for his collaborative style and commitment to continuous innovation, Ron’s work centers on connecting bright ideas with meaningful partnerships, ultimately creating jobs and sparking economic growth. His deep understanding of market dynamics, coupled with his emphasis on data-driven strategy, has positioned him at the forefront of Ohio’s rise as a nationwide hub for financial technology and insurance innovation. LinkedIn ABOUT THE HOST Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner. Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Facebook TikTok Email Website This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

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  30:18
• Alon Kaufman: Unlocking the Future of Privacy Preserving Data Collaboration

  On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Alon Kaufman, CEO and Co-Founder of Duality Technologies, a company that is revolutionising the way organisations collaborate on data while preserving privacy and security. During today’s conversation, we’ll explore the vision behind Duality Technologies, the real-world problems it is solving, and how organisations can future-proof themselves against risks by adopting privacy-preserving technologies. We’ll also dive into Alon’s inspiring journey as a technology leader and his perspective on the ethical and strategic aspects of data collaboration in the age of AI and Big Data. KEY TAKEAWAYS Combining and enhancing data sets is becoming more and more challenging in a world where privacy, security, regulations and data protection are becoming more critical. This is a good thing. What inspires us at Duality is to find a way to allow organisations to unlock the challenges around working together on data in a way that both protects the data and allows you to get the utility out of it. At the source of Duality is: How can we work on data sets without leaking or sharing the data. That’s where homomorphic encryption comes in. This allows us to work on and analyse data while it remains protected or encrypted. Two companies each have a list of customers and they both want to understand how many customers they have in intersection. The way you did this before is for company A to disclose it’s list of customers to company B which does the analysis and fins the intersection or go to a trusted third party. With duality, the two companies can use our software platform to run a computation that comes up with the intersection without either company seeing each other’s data. We all want our governments and law enforcement to be able to do their work, but we don’t want them to pull in every data point that we leave outside. Duality allows law enforcement investigations to run queries and analytics only on data that is allowed and only giving the insights that are needed. Government and healthcare – where data sets are large an sensitive – are big places where Duality has been successful. BEST MOMENTS ‘In order to get the most value out of data, the more you can bring data sets together and enhance them the better off you are.’ ‘Duality’s mission is to run AI data science analytics on data sets that cannot simply be centralised, and doing it where ethe data is while making sure the data isn’t exposed, privacy isn’t leaked or challenges of data localisation and regulation are not violated.’ ‘Companies that already know to work on their own data, and control it, can now go to the next step and do it in a collaborative way.’ ‘Insurance companies need to work together around fraud because the fraudsters utilise the fact different companies don’t talk and will attack one and then the other because they know the level of data shared between them is limited.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Alon Kaufman is the CEO and Co-Founder of Duality Technologies, a pioneering company at the forefront of data encryption and privacy technologies. With over 20 years of experience in technology leadership, Alon has a rich background that spans across Big Data, Data Science, Machine Learning, and Cybersecurity. As a thought leader, Alon frequently speaks on topics related to Big Data, Cybersecurity, and Innovation. He is committed to advancing the conversation around data privacy and security. LinkedIn ABOUT THE HOST Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner. Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Facebook TikTok Email Website

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  46:38

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