How I Got My First 100 Customers (From a Basement) | #1279

Most teams drown in features and dashboards, then wonder why demos don’t convert. Data helps you find the right buyer... but it’s story that makes them care. In this episode, Brandon Bornancin shows how top sellers turn product tours into three-act narratives where the buyer is the hero, the current pain is the conflict, and your solution is the resolution, with proof.You’ll learn a simple playbook you can use tomorrow: open with outcomes and stakes, name the real villain (switching costs, bad data, slow handoffs), tie features to a timeline of measurable wins, and close every loop with a next step on the calendar. Brandon breaks down how “persona follows process,” why receipts beat adjectives, and how consistent sharing (selfie, share, stream, with purpose) compounds trust and reach.

No virality. No connections. No fancy loft. Just an air mattress in a Newark basement, a $150K accelerator bet, and a 17-hour daily schedule split between building and selling. In this episode, Brandon Bornancin takes you inside the unglamorous year that turned zero revenue into the first 100 paying customers—and kicked off a path from $0 to $1M in 12 months.You’ll learn the exact system he ran: build in the morning, sell all day, ship at night. One ICP, one painful use case, one time-bound promise with fast proof. Brandon breaks down the pipeline math to 100 customers, the prospecting cadence that actually compounds, and the feedback loops that turned objections into product—fast.

You asked for honesty—then froze the room when an AE flagged a dead “hero” deal. Next week, the bad news vanished. In this episode, Brandon Bornancin breaks down how one meeting can train a team to hide risk, and how to rebuild a culture where truth beats theater.You’ll learn a simple framework to make honesty safe and accountable: embed real buyer signals (job changes, intent, site behavior) directly in the CRM, open every review with three risks to close, and publicly reward the rep who kills a zombie deal early. Brandon shows how to move activity vanity out of exec reviews, gate stage changes on Power, Process, and Proof, and turn “unkind truths” into faster decisions and cleaner pipeline.

Most sales orgs brag about being data-driven, then bury SDRs under forty-seven KPIs, endless meetings, overlapping territories, hope-based quotas, and tool sprawl. That’s not accountability. It’s anxiety by design.In this episode, Brandon Bornancin breaks down the five GTM design flaws quietly crushing performance and shows you what elite VPs do instead. You’ll learn how to cut to five controllable KPIs, replace meeting bloat with async updates, assign single-account ownership, rebuild quotas from real capacity, and collapse your stack so the next action lives in the CRM.Brandon lays out the templates, rules of engagement, and compensation tweaks that turn chaos into throughput... without burning out your best reps. 

Most “overnight successes” hide a decade of losses. Not luck. Not timing. Not shortcuts. They’re built on failure, debt, and the decision to keep going when everyone stops.In this episode, Brandon Bornancin unpacks the unglamorous stretch behind Seamless AI—shutting down startups, watching a $12M business vanish overnight, and digging out of nearly $200K in debt. You’ll learn the systems that turned chaos into compounding progress: how to set kill criteria, move fast on dead ideas, and rebuild with focus and discipline.Brandon reveals the mindset shifts that matter, the daily reps that stack results, and the packaging playbook that wins attention while your product catches up. Whether you’re a founder, executive, or sales leader, these operating principles shorten the learning curve and extend your runway when things go sideways.

In this episode, we dig into the underrated power of holiday prospecting and the strategies that help you dominate while others slow down. You’ll learn how to reach buyers when their schedules loosen, how to break through with timely messaging, and how to turn seasonal objections into booked meetings. We cover the best channels to double down on, what to say in your outreach, and the mindset that turns December into a secret sales advantage. Whether you want to finish the year strong or build unstoppable momentum for Q1, this episode gives you the exact plays to execute right now.

Most deals die from one thing. Not price. Not competition. Not timing. They die from a lack of urgency. In this episode, Brandon Bornancin breaks down the exact strategies top performers use to get prospects to move now instead of later. You’ll learn how to turn slow deals into fast decisions, create momentum in every conversation, and guide prospects toward action without pressure or gimmicks. Brandon reveals the psychology behind urgency, the language patterns that speed up deals, and the real triggers that get buyers to prioritize you over everything else on their plate. Whether you’re prospecting, running discovery, presenting demos, or closing, this is the skill that changes your win rate forever. If you want shorter sales cycles, faster decisions, and more closed won deals, this episode is a must listen. Tune in and learn how to master urgency.

Welcome back to the show. I appreciate you being here. As we head into Thanksgiving, I want to talk about something that can transform your motivation, your mindset, and your go to market strategy. That thing is gratitude.Gratitude is more than a feeling. It is energy. It is fuel. It is a tool you can use to execute at a higher level. When you apply gratitude with intention, you unlock clarity, momentum, and positive action.Today, I want to share how gratitude can help you stay motivated, how it can help you get unstuck, and how it can improve the way you serve your customers. Let’s get started.⸻Gratitude as FuelGratitude shifts your focus. When you feel grateful, you stop thinking about what you lack. You start noticing everything you already have. That shift builds momentum. It creates internal power that drives your next move.When you feel tired or stuck, pause for a moment and ask yourself a few questions:What am I thankful for right now?Who in my life gives me strength?What opportunities do I have that I might be overlooking?Every time you return to these questions, your mindset resets. You move from limitation to possibility. You stop spiraling and start executing.⸻Gratitude Creates MotivationGratitude protects you from burnout. It keeps your energy focused on progress. When you look for what is working, your brain becomes more solution oriented. You begin to believe again. You remember that the next call matters. The next conversation matters. The next customer matters.When gratitude becomes a habit, your motivation becomes more consistent. You show up stronger. You think more clearly. And your team feels that energy too. People want to work with someone who radiates belief and positivity.⸻Gratitude and Customer ObsessionGratitude makes you care deeply about the people you serve. When you build from gratitude, you do not see your customers as numbers. You see them as partners who trust you.This mindset creates a powerful advantage in your go to market strategy.A grateful business becomes a customer obsessed business.You start asking new questions:What pain are they experiencing?What friction can I remove for them?What outcome can I help them achieve faster?How can I make their day easier right now?Gratitude turns selling into serving. And serving always wins.⸻Using Gratitude to Break Through StagnationEveryone experiences moments where they feel stuck. That is normal. But here is the truth. You cannot feel stuck and grateful at the same time. These two states cannot exist together.So the next time you feel stuck, do something simple. Write down ten things you are grateful for. Include people. Include lessons. Include challenges. Include anything that has shaped you.You will feel your energy shift. You will feel clarity return. Gratitude opens the door. Action takes you through it. And momentum carries you forward.⸻Thanksgiving MessageBefore we close, I want to say thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your support. Thank you for following along on this journey over the years.I am truly grateful for you. Your time. Your trust. Your belief. Your commitment.None of this happens without you.I hope you and your loved ones have a great Thanksgiving filled with joy, connection, and rest. Remember what you are grateful for. Let that gratitude guide your decisions and your actions in the weeks ahead.Thank you again for being here. Keep going. Keep serving. Keep selling. Keep believing.Happy Thanksgiving.

Every business remembers the grind of getting the first 100 paying customers. It’s the hardest stretch, the messiest chapter, and the moment where most founders quit. But if you get this part right, everything after becomes easier. In this episode, Brandon Bornancin shares the exact playbook he used to go from zero to a hundred paying customers and then scale far beyond. You’ll learn how to validate your idea, build demand before the product is even ready, create offers people actually buy, and use simple outreach strategies to close your first wave of customers fast. Brandon breaks down the channels that work, the scripts that convert, and the moves founders must make in the early days to build momentum, revenue, and trust. Whether you’re launching a startup, a side hustle, an agency, or a new product, this playbook will give you the blueprint to get your first 100 paying customers without guesswork. If you want the clearest path from idea to income, don’t miss this one.

Most salespeople are sitting on a superpower and don’t even know it. Cold email is still the fastest way to fill your pipeline, book meetings, and generate revenue, yet almost no one uses it the right way. In this episode, Brandon Bornancin breaks down the special cold email formula he has used to book thousands of meetings and build a nine-figure business. You’ll learn how to write subject lines that get opened, hooks that grab attention in seconds, and messages that turn total strangers into high-intent prospects ready to talk. Whether you’re an SDR, AE, founder, or entrepreneur, this formula will become your new sales superpower. If you want more meetings, more pipeline, and more revenue, don’t miss this one. Tune in, take notes, and unlock the cold email formula that can transform your sales forever. Thank you to our sponsor Seamless.AI - Find and close more sales with AI. Get started for free at Seamless.AI.