Building A $25m Agency with Garrett Mehrguth of Directive

In this episode of Confessions of a B2B Entrepreneur, host Tom Hunt is joined by Tim Cakir, Founder of AI Operator, to deliver a masterclass on achieving operational efficiency through AI. Tim shares his journey from a growth consultant to an "AI-first" specialist, detailing how the real secret to growth lies in optimising systems and removing repetitive, boring tasks. He reveals that the biggest easy wins for B2B automation involve reporting, streamlining data access, and answering internal FAQs, offering a case study where a custom GPT saved field sales teams fifteen hours a month each. Tim tackles the fear of job redundancy directly, arguing that learning AI makes an employee "unstoppable," enabling a team of 75 to generate the output of 750. Furthermore, he delves into the transformative "agentic era," explaining how new tool-calling agents - which can perform deep research and run virtual computers - are allowing entrepreneurs to "vibe code" and build bespoke internal tools faster than ever before.

In this episode of Confessions of a B2B Entrepreneur, host Sam Winsbury is joined by Tom Hunt, Founder and CEO of Fame, who details the counter-intuitive strategy behind scaling his remote B2B podcast agency to over £4M ARR. Tom reveals how he obsessively focuses on client retention as the foundation for growth, enabling him to run a low-cost operational model (zero office, minimal ads) to ensure "no-brainer" client pricing. He explains his shift to a CEO role focused on strategic acquisitions and high-leverage problems, detailing his unique remote leadership approach: promoting the entire management team internally from entry-level. Crucially, Tom shares the biggest mistake that slowed his growth: a painful lack of focus from attempts to build software and expand service lines outside his core offering.

In this episode of Confessions of a B2B Entrepreneur, Tom Hunt speaks with Aditya Shivkumar, Co-founder of Resolve Disputes Online (RDO), about his transition from lawyer to global legal-tech founder. Aditya reveals how the analytical skills honed in litigation became the most valuable asset for their successful B2B pivot into Online Dispute Resolution (ODR). He shares the entrepreneurial mindset that allowed RDO to treat the COVID-19 crisis as a "watershed moment" for growth and securing funding. The conversation culminates with Aditya detailing how he applies Jose Mourinho's strategic 'Catenaccio' philosophy directly to winning high-value B2B contracts.

In this episode of Confessions of a B2B Entrepreneur, host of The Dojo Digest, Tom Voller is joined by Tom Hunt, Founder and CEO of Fame, to unpack the true blueprint for B2B success. They cut through the noise of saturated content, explaining why the most powerful strategy is to niche down as tightly as possible to win attention and reduce competition. Tom reveals the three non-negotiables for a podcast's growth and the critical role of employee retention, including the $50 "Fame Values Award," used to reinforce cultural alignment. Get the strategic playbook for turning content failure into growth data, straight from a founder who scaled his LinkedIn audience by 600% in a year.

In this episode of Confessions of a B2B Entrepreneur, Tom Hunt speaks with Koby Conrad about scaling Rupa Health from $5M to $75M by driving Negative CAC. Koby explains how he turned their media (podcast, Rupa University) into a profitable asset, not a cost center. The core strategy involved hiring superstar doctor-influencers as full-time employees with equity, rather than paying them small cash fees. This solved the influencer's biggest problem—audience monetisation—and ensured deep buy-in for the company's mission. He details how this focus on talent built immense trust and cut the blended CAC by two-thirds. Koby shares how he now applies this blueprint at his latest venture, the B2C health app Sunflower.

In this episode of Confessions of a B2B Entrepreneur, host Tom Hunt interviews Thibault Louis-Lucas (Tibo), the founder of Revid AI, Taplio, and Tweet Hunter. Tibo is now focused on growing five bootstrapped SaaS products concurrently, aiming for $100k MRR each. He shares his highly unconventional, "messy" approach to founder-led distribution, where he lets the environment and co-makers dictate his workflow, rather than sticking to a rigid plan. They discuss the power of his personal brand on X for growth and how he structures deals with "co-makers" who handle the building. Tibo reveals why he avoids hiring and instead maximizes freedom, utilizing AI tools to scale his output. His hyper-efficient, no-hiring model makes him a must-follow case study for the future of building B2B SaaS.

In this episode of Confessions of a B2B Entrepreneur, Tom Hunt shares his personal playbook for building a SaaS business that sells itself, drawing on key lessons from a recent guest interview. He explains why he's learned to prioritise product-led growth to avoid wasted effort and how to build a business that gets more valuable over time. The episode also breaks down the five-step 'Fame Flywheel' framework, reveals why customer and employee retention are the true foundation of sustainable growth, and exposes the biggest mistake most B2B marketers make with their content.

In this episode of Confessions of a B2B Entrepreneur, host Tom Hunt sits down with Sze Wong, a B2B entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience and co-founder of Zenith Venture Studio, to uncover the truth about building wealth in business. They discuss why a long-term approach to solving "unsexy" problems with powerful tech can lead to lasting financial success. Sze shares insights from his journey of building and selling multiple software companies, highlighting the importance of harnessing unstructured data and the future of AI in the B2B landscape.

In this episode of Confessions of a B2B Entrepreneur, host Tom Hunt welcomes the show's first-ever VC, Manish Patel of Nava Ventures. Manish provides a masterclass on fundraising and the realities of company building. He reveals why VC is the most expensive way to finance your business. He explains how VC is like "nitrous oxide," a fuel that makes you go fast, but is not for every company. You'll learn why "all revenue is not equal" and why the "art of the Series A" is a critical moment for a company's foundation. He also shares how a founder's vision can become diluted as they raise more capital. Discover the key questions to ask yourself before taking on a partner you're stuck with for life.

In this episode of Confessions of a B2B Entrepreneur, host Tom Hunt is joined by Vahagn Sarksyan, who leads marketing and sales at Krisp. Vahagn challenges the idea that marketing is a cure-all, explaining it's only an amplifier of a product's value. He reveals how a data-driven approach, using marketing insights, can directly influence the product roadmap and boost retention. The conversation also explores how Krisp used the ICE framework to prioritise ideas and created a new product category on G2. Finally, Vahagn discusses the shift from a product-led to a sales-assisted growth model for the enterprise market.