Belkins Podcast Podcast Por Michael Maximoff arte de portada

Belkins Podcast

Belkins Podcast

De: Michael Maximoff
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The Belkins Podcast tells the stories most business shows leave out. Hosted by Michael Maximoff (Co-Founder at Belkins), our podcast explores the messy middle of building and scaling B2B companies. You'll hear honest conversations with sales, marketing leaders and founders from some of the biggest names in B2B on tough calls, go-to-market pivots, and strategies that shape their approach to revenue growth. The Belkins Podcast doesn't follow a script.We're known for asking real questions and having the kind of conversations that make you rethink how you lead—whether you're building your first sales team or scaling to new markets. Especially now, as AI reshapes how we sell, market, and make decisions. So if you've ever wondered: What does it really take to grow a B2B business today? We ask the people doing it. 🎧 Follow the Belkins Podcast – the B2B podcast for sales and marketing leaders ⭐ Liked an episode? Share or leave a review—it helps more people find usBelkins 2017-2024 Economía Gestión y Liderazgo Liderazgo Marketing Marketing y Ventas
Episodios
  • Becoming the Brand Everyone Talks About, ex-CMO of Gong ($300M ARR)| Belkins Podcast Episode #23

    Becoming the Brand Everyone Talks About, ex-CMO of Gong ($300M ARR)| Belkins Podcast Episode #23
    Apr 10 2026
    What does it take to build a brand in B2B that people actually talk about? Udi Ledergor has a word for it. Courage. He was employee #13 at Gong. The first, and for a long time, only marketer. He joined when nobody had heard of them, with 11 paying customers and zero brand presence. By the time he stepped back, Gong was doing $300M ARR, had five of the Fortune 10 as clients, and had become one of the most recognisable names in B2B. He did it by building what he calls courageous marketing — the belief that attention only goes to brands willing to do something genuinely different. Not different for the sake of it. Different because playing it safe, copying competitors, and following the same templates everyone else follows is the surest way to be completely invisible. We sat down with Udi live in London, and the conversation went places we didn't expect. 🔑 What we get into: 🔹 The science behind great sales — why the best salespeople talk less than half the time, and what Gong's research revealed about the difference between winning and losing deals 🔹 How buyers actually decide in 2025 — 85% of the journey is done before they contact you. What that means for where you spend your marketing time and budget 🔹 Courageous marketing in practice — not as a concept, but as a series of real decisions Udi made at Gong that most marketers wouldn't have had the nerve to make 🔹 Creative teams and real results — why psychological safety without process accountability produces great ideas that go nowhere 🔹 Navigating uncertainty without losing focus — Udi has been through the dot-com crash, 2008, COVID, and the current cycle. His perspective on what you can and can't control is genuinely useful "I never really understood why B2B defaults to boring." — Udi Ledergor In this episode, we get into exactly how he built a $300M company by doing something about it. 00:00 - Intro: Udi Ledergor: The Marketing Mind Behind Gong 10:32 - Why Best Practices Produce Average Results 13:59 - Personalization, Relevance and What Buyers Actually Respond To 18:47 - Storytelling as a Business Weapon 39:42 - How to Build a Culture of Creative Experimentation 51:15 - Decision Making, Hiring and What to Build In-House 01:08:20 - Marketing Through Uncertainty, AI Disruption and Finding Balance 01:20:31 - What's next for Udi & Priorities About the Show What does it really take to grow a B2B business today? We ask the people doing it. The Belkins Podcast dives deep into the strategies, decisions, and behind-the-scenes insights driving real growth at top B2B companies. Each episode features candid conversations with industry heavyweights—CROs, CMOs, founders, and seasoned operators—who've navigated market downturns, scaled teams, and mastered the realities of revenue growth. You'll hear hard truths, unfiltered insights, and actionable tactics directly from leaders who've actually done the work. 🔔 Subscribe to never miss an episode. 💬 Enjoyed the conversation? Share it with your network and help spread real insights. ⭐ Leave a review—your feedback helps us keep bringing you valuable conversations. About our Guest Udi Ledergor is the Chief Evangelist at Gong, where he helped define and dominate the revenue intelligence category, taking the company from zero to hundreds of millions in revenue and achieving a multi-billion-dollar valuation. A five-time marketing leader at B2B startups, Udi is known for his bold, human-centric approach to branding and storytelling. An author, speaker, mentor, angel investor, and board member, Udi is also a passionate advocate for startups, storytelling, and creating unforgettable brand experiences. Udi joined Gong in 2016 as employee #13 and was the first of what is now a team of 60 talented marketers. Along the way, he contributed to taking Gong from a couple hundred thousand in revenue into a business making hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue. And so, you can imagine that Udi has a couple of priceless pieces of advice to share - advice you can implement to grow your own business. About the Host Michael Maximoff is the Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of Belkins, the #1 ranked B2B appointment-setting agency, recognized by Clutch, G2, and Inc. Over the past decade, Michael has built Belkins into one of the most respected voices in B2B sales and marketing, helping over 1,000 companies across 50+ industries achieve predictable, scalable growth. Known for his straightforward style, Michael hosts the Belkins Podcast to speak directly with top growth leaders and uncover what truly moves the needle today. 🔗 Connect with Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-maximoff/ 🔗 Learn more about Belkins: https://belkins.io 🔗 Learn more about Gong: https://www.gong.io 🔗 Connect with Udi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/udiledergor/
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    1 h y 27 m
  • The "Upmarket" Trap: What Actually Moves Enterprise Deals | Belkins Podcast Episode #22

    The "Upmarket" Trap: What Actually Moves Enterprise Deals | Belkins Podcast Episode #22
    Feb 23 2026

    Companies go upmarket, hit three slow months, and decide the strategy “doesn’t work.”

    In this live episode, Yann (co-founder of Userled, former Salesforce enterprise seller) breaks down what enterprise deals actually look like up close: long stretches of silence that aren’t rejection, stakeholders who shape the decision without ever joining a call, and why “activity” can feel busy while the deal goes nowhere.

    You’ll also hear the less glamorous side: what founder life feels like when momentum disappears, why some teams survive the hard quarters (and others don’t), and how hiring for energy changes everything.

    Yann shares how Userled changed their ICP, survived two brutal quarters — then closed more in October–November than the rest of the year combined.

    We enjoyed this conversation. Hope you will too.

    🔑 WHAT WE COVER

    The enterprise sales playbook Salesforce actually uses — deep discovery, the "holodeck" method, and why the best reps never feel like they're selling
    Going upmarket in B2B: the real timeline — and 4 things you're probably not charging for (professional services alone adds 33% to deal value)
    What ABM really is — the one question you must answer before spending a dollar on account-based marketing
    The LinkedIn ABM tactic that drops ad costs from $10 to $2–3 per engagement — how to target 300 people inside a single account with messaging built around what's happening at that company right now
    AI in ABM: where it cuts content creation time by 70% — and where it's still mostly hype
    Hiring for energy, not just skills — why endurance and energy are harder to find than any technical skill, and the story that changed how Yann builds teams

    "Startups are built on momentum. And sometimes there is none. So what do you rely on?" — Yann

    About the Show

    What does it really take to grow a B2B business today? We ask the people doing it. The Belkins Podcast dives deep into the strategies, decisions, and behind-the-scenes insights driving real growth at top B2B companies. Each episode features candid conversations with industry heavyweights—CROs, CMOs, founders, and seasoned operators—who've navigated market downturns, scaled teams, and mastered the realities of revenue growth. You'll hear hard truths, unfiltered insights, and actionable tactics directly from leaders who've actually done the work.

    🔔 Subscribe to never miss an episode.
    💬 Enjoyed the conversation? Share it with your network and help spread real insights.
    ⭐ Leave a review—your feedback helps us keep bringing you valuable conversations.

    About the Host

    Michael Maximoff is the Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of Belkins, the #1 ranked B2B appointment-setting agency, recognized by Clutch, G2, and Inc.

    Over the past decade, Michael has built Belkins into one of the most respected voices in B2B sales and marketing, helping over 1,000 companies across 50+ industries achieve predictable, scalable growth. Known for his straightforward style, Michael hosts the Belkins Podcast to speak directly with top growth leaders and uncover what truly moves the needle today.

    🔗 Connect with Michael: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/michael-maximoff
    🔗 Learn more about Belkins: https://belkins.io
    🔗 Learn more about Userled: https://www.userled.io
    🔗 Connect with Yann: https://www.linkedin.com/in/userled/
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    1 h y 18 m
  • Belkins’ Founders Open Up: Confronting Their Mistakes, Wins, and Regrets | Belkins Podcast Episode #21

    Belkins’ Founders Open Up: Confronting Their Mistakes, Wins, and Regrets | Belkins Podcast Episode #21
    Dec 31 2025
    For 10 years, Belkins’ founders never sat down on camera to talk honestly about what building this company has really cost them.Michael Maximoff and Vlad Podoliako have spent a decade building together. They took Belkins from zero to one of the world’s leading B2B lead generation agencies, built Folderly, and managed a portfolio of joint investments.On paper, the story looks perfect. But a portfolio of companies doesn’t show what it feels like to live through it.To close out one of the hardest years they’ve ever had, Michael and Vlad finally sit down — in person — to break the silence.This special episode isn’t about “how we scaled an agency.” It’s about what happens to two people when they spend a decade in hardcore mode: carrying a 300-person team, making painful decisions, holding impossible targets, and trying not to lose themselves (or each other) in the process.They talk about optimism turning into realism, when caring too much starts holding the company back, and why 2025 felt like a loss even with “good numbers.”If you’ve ever felt the weight of responsibility as a founder, co-founder, agency owner, or someone building ambitious things inside a B2B company, this conversation will hit home.In this episode, we unpack:🔹 Co-founder dynamics in real life — how Michael and Vlad actually work together, where they clash, and how they’ve stayed partners through years that didn’t feel like “wins.” 🔹 Naivety, loyalty, and letting go — when believing in people becomes a liability, how many second chances are too many, and what they’ve learned about making hard calls faster. 🔹 The cost of being “#1” — what it really took to build and keep a leading B2B agency while launching a product company in a crowded market. 🔹 Living in “hard-mode entrepreneurship” — why they see business like a video game with one life, bosses, grinding, side quests — and why they still choose to play it this way. 🔹 Seeing a whole year as a “loss” — why Vlad calls 2025 a losing year, why Michael still sees it as a foundation, and how that tension keeps the company moving. 🔹 Identity, ego, and who you become — the versions of themselves they had to let go over the last 10 years, what they miss, and why they still believe this journey is worth it.If you’re tired of polished “success stories” and want to hear what this life actually feels like from the inside, start here.Chapters:00:00 — Intro: Building Belkins & What Success Really Cost Us07:20 — The "Street MBA": Lessons We Learned the Hard Way11:55 — Optimism vs. Realism: How Leadership Changes You Over Time24:03 — Business on Hard Mode: Stress, Pressure, and Staying in the Game33:47 — One Company, One Bet: Choosing Between Belkins and Folderly36:29 — Trust, Expectations, and the Realities of Co-Founder Leadership49:48 — Rapid-Fire: Bootstrapping, VCs, Tools, and Startup Tradeoffs59:10 — The “Walk-Away” Question — What If It All Collapsed?01:07:00 — Was 2025 a Failure? Conflict, Perspective, and Resilience01:17:59 — Good CEO vs. Great CEO — Responsibility, Identity, and What Comes NextAbout the ShowWhat does it really take to grow a B2B business today? We ask the people doing it. The Belkins Podcast dives deep into the strategies, decisions, and behind-the-scenes insights driving real growth at top B2B companies. Each episode features candid conversations with industry heavyweights—CROs, CMOs, founders, and seasoned operators—who've navigated market downturns, scaled teams, and mastered the realities of revenue growth. You'll hear hard truths, unfiltered insights, and actionable tactics directly from leaders who've actually done the work.🔔 Subscribe to never miss an episode.💬 Enjoyed the conversation? Share it with your network and help spread real insights.⭐ Leave a review—your feedback helps us keep bringing you valuable conversations.About the HostMichael Maximoff is the Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of Belkins, the #1 ranked B2B appointment-setting agency, recognized by Clutch, G2, and Inc. Over the past decade, Michael has built Belkins into one of the most respected voices in B2B sales and marketing, helping over 1,000 companies across 50+ industries achieve predictable, scalable growth. Known for his straightforward style, Michael hosts the Belkins Podcast to speak directly with top growth leaders and uncover what truly moves the needle today.Connect with Vlad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiefdata/Connect with Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-maximoff/Check us out: https://belkins.io/
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    1 h y 23 m
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