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What is the best way to start raising capital? Joe May, securities attorney and founder of May Law Group, says don't ask investors for money at first. Ask them for feedback. Meet with people who actually write checks, learn what valuation and terms they expect, and ask who else you should talk to. When you launch, you go back to that list ready to close. In this episode of Test. Optimize. Scale., host Jason Fishman interviews Joe May, a securities and capital formation attorney who helps founders raise capital and stay compliant with the SEC. Before running his own law firm, Joe worked in startup operations, helped agency clients fundraise, and raised over $2 million for his own tech company. Questions this episode answers: How should founders start a capital raise? (Ask actual check writers for feedback, not money) Why should you ignore advice from people who only "know investors"? How many investors do you need to talk to? (As many as 300 to close 3 in today's market) How do you turn one feedback meeting into warm introductions? Why does the feedback phase take longer than the raise itself? (Six to eight weeks of feedback, then two to three weeks to close) Why can a wrong valuation kill a deal before the pitch? What three numbers do you need nailed before you launch? (Valuation, how much you're raising, and use of funds) Why is investment crowdfunding so powerful for consumer brands? (Customers become investors and promoters) Can investment crowdfunding be used for real estate? (Yes, up to $5 million a year, used to acquire properties and build toward a fund) What can you offer investors through crowdfunding? (Equity, debt, revenue share and more) How do you optimize a raise that isn't working? (A big enough investor list to recalibrate, and the same valuation every pitch) How do you scale a raise? (Prove results, then go back for bigger rounds and bigger checks) Connect with Joe May: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayjoseph/ May Law Group: https://maylawgrp.com Test. Optimize. Scale. is a weekly podcast from Digital Niche Agency covering growth marketing, capital raising, and business strategy, hosted by Jason Fishman. Subscribe for new episodes every week.

How do you grow one restaurant into a $100 million brand with 1,200 employees? David Dressler, co-founder of Tender Greens, started with a plan written into the company's name: 10 years, 3 guys, 30 restaurants. In this episode of Test. Optimize. Scale., host Jason Fishman interviews David Dressler, co-founder of Tender Greens, the fast casual restaurant brand he helped scale from a single 1,700-square-foot location in Culver City to a $100 million company. Tender Greens was named one of the ten best restaurant chains in the world by Condé Nast and one of the 25 most innovative consumer brands by Forbes. David now works as a trusted thinking partner to founders and executives, including leaders taking their organizations through AI transformation. Questions this episode answers: - How did Tender Greens start? (Three hotel colleagues, a friends-and-family raise of $1 million, and a lot of no's) - What was the idea behind Tender Greens? (Fine dining quality without the cost of fine dining) - What happened on opening day? (A line around the block, and no food left by 7 p.m.) - How did Tender Greens market itself before social media? (PR, local sponsorships, and "best of" lists) - How do you choose restaurant locations? (Four criteria, set before you fall in love with a building) - Why develop your own talent instead of hiring experienced chefs? - What is a leader's real job? (Make it easy for the team to do great work, and remove roadblocks) - When should founders bring in an advisory board and a C-suite? - How do you know when it is time to step aside as CEO? - Why is leadership lonely, and what can you do about it? - How should leaders optimize? (Ask the people doing the work, let them own the fix, then revisit it) - How should teams think about AI tools? (Move from doer to orchestrator and quality control) Connect with David Dressler: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidtdressler/ Website: https://daviddressler.co Newsletter: The Early Signal (weekly on LinkedIn) Test. Optimize. Scale. is a weekly podcast from Digital Niche Agency covering growth marketing, capital raising, and business strategy, hosted by Jason Fishman. Subscribe for new episodes every week.

How much equity should a founder give away in a funding round? Eric Josovitz, founder and CEO of AdaptCFO, has a firm rule: never more than 30% per round. If you would need to give away more, go back and build more value first. In this episode of Test. Optimize. Scale., host Jason Fishman interviews Eric Josovitz, founder and CEO of AdaptCFO, a fractional CFO and accounting firm for founders. Eric served as fractional CFO for PrizePicks, has a client that recently had a $4 billion exit, and was head of finance at specialty pharmacy Encompass Rx, which grew from $100 million to $400 million in about a year and a half before selling to CVS. He also hosts the Growth Under Pressure podcast. Questions this episode answers: - How much equity should you give away per funding round? (No more than 30%) - What is the cheapest type of capital? (Grants, then debt. Equity is the most expensive.) - What happens when an early investor gets too much control? - Why is overvaluing your company dangerous? (It sets you up for a down round) - Why do the real KPIs start with your financial statements? - What does a five-year books cleanup and a six-figure IRS fine teach founders? - When should you raise capital? (Before you need it, and when investors are ready, not just when you are) - Why did Duolingo build users before monetizing? - How is scaling direct-to-consumer different from scaling B2B? - What is the difference between a real CFO and a bookkeeper? - How do you optimize when the numbers aren't working? (Coaching, practice, and realistic benchmarks) - How do you scale? (Pour into what works, cut what doesn't, and rebalance your spending buckets) Connect with Eric Josovitz: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josovitz/ AdaptCFO: https://adaptcfo.com Podcast:  @adaptcfo   Test. Optimize. Scale. is a weekly podcast from Digital Niche Agency covering growth marketing, capital raising, and business strategy, hosted by Jason Fishman. Subscribe for new episodes every week. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Preview: don't be afraid to start 0:13 - Who is Eric Josovitz? 1:24 - Pre-med, Division II football, and failing his first accounting class 2:24 - From public accounting to head of finance 3:21 - Encompass Rx: $100M to $400M and a sale to CVS 3:58 - Launching AdaptCFO: a new baby, a torn Achilles, and a career change in the same few weeks 6:54 - Why accounting and finance are the backbone of a business 8:03 - The five-year books cleanup and a six-figure IRS fine 8:33 - Why the real KPIs start with your financial statements 12:14 - Why fundraising can go wrong fast 12:45 - The 30% rule for every round 13:19 - Grants, debt, equity: ranking the cost of capital 16:22 - The early investor who got too much control 17:03 - Overvaluation and the down round trap 18:27 - Where marketing and finance have to meet 21:20 - Marketing is trial and error: why your budget needs flexibility 22:01 - PrizePicks and the Atlanta Braves partnership that wasn't in the budget 22:49 - The Duolingo lesson: build users before you monetize 25:13 - Mission first: why the CEO shouldn't focus on the metrics 26:42 - Raise before you need to: thinking like an investor 27:43 - The founder with three days of runway 28:18 - What a real CFO does 29:07 - Direct-to-consumer vs. B2B: where the capital goes 30:01 - Using benchmarks to allocate a raise 32:29 - What to test: honesty and vulnerability 35:02 - Keep it simple: the few channels that move the needle 37:10 - If you can't measure it, you can't optimize it 38:01 - How to optimize: coaching, practice, and realistic benchmarks 40:24 - Pricing, lifetime value, and the four Ps 41:06 - How to scale: pour into what works, cut what doesn't 42:54 - Rebalancing G&A, R&D, and sales and marketing 43:38 - Outsourcing admin to free up growth capital 44:57 - Final thoughts and where to find Eric

Looking for practical networking and relationship management tips that work? Karl Pontau says it does not matter if your business is B2B or B2C. It is really H2H: human to human. In this episode of Test. Optimize. Scale., host Jason Fishman, CEO of Digital Niche Agency (DNA), interviews Karl Pontau, human connection expert, host of the Human Connection Podcast (230+ episodes), and founder of Vouch Connections, a concierge networking firm for busy executives. At 15, Karl survived two malignant brain tumors, an experience that taught him what matters when everything is on the line: genuine human connection, honest communication, and showing up for each other. He now shares the proven relationship-building tactics executives use to drive relationship-driven revenue growth. Questions this episode answers: - What does H2H (human to human) mean in business? - Why does every business relationship need both "rebar" (mutually beneficial transactions) and "concrete" (personal connection)? - Why should you build relationships before you need them? - Why do people avoid networking? (Research by Boothby and Bohns, 2021: we underestimate how good interactions feel and overestimate the awkwardness) - What is the daily compliment habit and why does it work? - How did a law firm grow from zero to $3M by listening to callers for 10 minutes? - Why do founders feel empty after a successful exit? - How many relationships can one person realistically maintain? (Around 150, so prioritize a core group of 12 to 20) - How should you approach networking events? (Be the most interested person in the room, not the most interesting) - What is a better question than "How are you?" ("What has been a highlight of your week?") - Why are real relationships a competitive moat in the AI era? - How do you scale human connection without losing authenticity? Connect with Karl Pontau:  @TheHumanConnectionPodcast  https://thehumanconnectionpodcast.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kpontau/ Test. Optimize. Scale. is a weekly podcast from Digital Niche Agency covering growth marketing, capital raising, and business strategy, hosted by Jason Fishman. Subscribe for new episodes every week.

Can your company pass the 15-second test? Rod Turner says if you cannot explain your business in 15 to 20 seconds online, your capital raise will not work, no matter how strong the company is. In this episode of Test. Optimize. Scale., host Jason Fishman, CEO of Digital Niche Agency (DNA), interviews Rod Turner, founder and CEO of Manhattan Street Capital, the first dedicated Regulation A+ funding platform, live since June 2015. Rod is a seven-time tech startup veteran who was the 12th employee at Ashton-Tate (dBASE), built Norton AntiVirus from scratch at Symantec, took two companies through IPOs to NASDAQ, and suggested the concept the SEC later named "Test the Waters." Questions this episode answers: - What is Regulation A+ and why did Rod Turner call it the SEC's most pragmatic rule system? - Which industries raise capital most successfully online? (Real estate, biotech, med tech, and consumer-relatable technology) - Why do Main Street investors fund biotech companies that institutional investors pass on? - What is the 15-second explainability test for online capital raises? - What is "proof of life" and why do stagnant offering pages kill investor confidence? - Why do eye-to-camera founder videos convert investors? (Viewers feel they already know you) - How did Insitu Biologics convert 87% of its reservations into investments in three weeks? - How did a 7-second video ad cut one campaign's cost from $10 to $3.30 per $100 raised? - Can you raise your share price during a Reg A+ offering? (Yes, within SEC rules, and it rewards early investors while managing dilution) - How do direct listings work through Reg A+ when the IPO window is closed? (Newsmax's March 2025 Reg A+ IPO discussed) - How should issuers structure offerings so institutions can participate? (Bonus shares and parallel Reg D offerings) - Why should founders never prejudge which ad creative will convert? Connect with Rod Turner and Manhattan Street Capital: Website: https://www.manhattanstreetcapital.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodturner-msc/ CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Intro 0:38 - Who is Rod Turner and what is Manhattan Street Capital? 1:16 - From apprentice engineer at a UK nuclear power station to Silicon Valley 3:55 - Employee #12 at Ashton-Tate: 12 people to 2,000 and an IPO 4:39 - Building Norton AntiVirus from scratch at Symantec 5:22 - Why the Reg A+ rules impressed a seven-time startup veteran 6:26 - Founding the first dedicated Reg A+ platform in 2015 8:00 - Why Manhattan Street Capital skipped Reg CF and stayed boutique 11:29 - What differentiates the platform: tracking pixels, logic, and transparency 15:30 - Which verticals raise the most: real estate, biotech, and relatable tech 17:21 - Why Main Street investors fund biotech that institutions pass on 21:12 - The 15-second explainability test for online raises 23:24 - Proof of life: why stagnant offering pages lose investors 25:55 - Eye-to-camera founder videos and why they build trust 28:24 - Viral reach: the GolfSuites ads investors shared in droves 31:18 - How Rod suggested "Test the Waters" to the SEC 32:44 - The takeoff-speed problem: why tiny ad budgets never get airborne 34:12 - Insitu Biologics: 87% of reservations converted in three weeks 36:29 - Direct listings through Reg A+ when the IPO window is closed 38:01 - The Newsmax March 2025 Reg A+ IPO 39:52 - Cub Crafters, Red Bull, and 1.6 billion views 43:15 - Structuring offerings so institutions can invest 44:25 - Never prejudge your creative: the green company case study 47:08 - Optimization: the 7-second video ad that cut costs 3x 50:13 - Raising your share price mid-offering to reward early investors 53:04 - Why securities attorneys give contradictory answers on Reg A+ 56:49 - Where to find Rod Turner and final advice

How do the top crowdfunding campaigns raise millions while the bottom 50% stay stagnant? Cate Diaz and Devin Ambron have the data: their agency, Market Chemistry, has run just under 80 capital raises and helped startups secure over $225 million. In this episode of Test. Optimize. Scale., host Jason Fishman, CEO of Digital Niche Agency (DNA), interviews Cate Diaz and Devin Ambron, the team behind Market Chemistry, a fundraising firm based in Austin, Texas. Market Chemistry provides full-service fundraising and investor readiness materials for early and growth-stage startups, operating a 250,000-investor database and running Reg CF, Reg A+, and traditional rounds across the US and Canada. Questions this episode answers: What is investor readiness and what should founders prepare before a capital raise? What are the four core elements every crowdfunding pitch needs? (Mission and story, team, traction, use of funds) How do you create social proof for an investment campaign? (Pathos, ethos, logos framework) Why do cold email lists fail for investor outreach? (A 48,000-contact list produced near zero) What are the three rings of investor outreach? (Warm network, owned investor database, paid traffic) Why do founders misread advertising attribution on capital raises? (Multi-touch journeys, iOS tracking limits, modeled conversions) What is rejection data and how does it improve a campaign? What are the three levers of campaign optimization? (Message, audience, offer) How do you scale a raise once it starts working? (Lookalike investor matching, finding the thread, duplicating what converts) Why do overinflated valuations kill crowdfunding campaigns? Why can't marketing compensate for a weak offer? ("You can't optimize for trust") Connect with Cate Diaz and Devin Ambron: Website: mktchemistry.com Cate Diaz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catediaz/ Devin Ambron on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dambron/ Newsletter: Community Capital Club (link in the mktchemistry.com footer) Connect with Jason Fishman, host of Test. Optimize. Scale.: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jafishman/ Connect with Digital Niche Agency (DNA), the growth marketing agency behind this podcast: Website: www.digitalnicheagency.com Test. Optimize. Scale. is a weekly podcast from Digital Niche Agency covering growth marketing, capital raising, and business strategy, hosted by Jason Fishman. Subscribe for new episodes every week. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Who are Cate Diaz and Devin Ambron of Market Chemistry? 1:02 - Cate's origin story: from Austin startups to pitch decks that raised Texas's largest seed round 4:16 - Devin's background: storytelling meets fundraising operations 6:51 - What is investor readiness? Operating the raise so founders can run the business 8:54 - Why organizing your traction into one document changes how founders see their business 10:16 - What actually moves investors: the core four elements of every pitch 13:08 - The crowd effect: how popular sentiment accelerates campaigns 16:53 - The three rings of investor outreach: warm network, owned database, paid traffic 18:15 - Why cold email lists fail: the 48,000-contact list that produced nothing 19:28 - Pathos, ethos, logos: the framework for building social proof 22:50 - Making your message repeatable: why clarity spreads 25:29 - Why founders underestimate their warm network 27:54 - Attribution myths: why "ads aren't working" is usually wrong 33:03 - The rolling thunder technique: showing up everywhere at once 35:27 - Rejection data as diagnostics: what investor "no"s teach you 36:12 - The three optimization levers: message, audience, offer 39:54 - Scaling on proof, not hope: why volume amplifies whatever is already happening 43:37 - What founders should test before launching a raise 45:32 - The audience test that predicts top 1% campaigns 47:35 - Diagnosing a broken funnel: investor movement vs. marketing motion 50:12 - How to scale a working campaign: finding and duplicating the thread 52:57 - Lookalike investor matching and analyzing who actually invests 55:11 - The Tesla lesson: why your first investors aren't who you think 58:13 - Fair valuations: why overpriced deals flop with retail investors 59:27 - "You can't optimize for trust": building an audience before you need it 1:02:09 - Where to find Market Chemistry and final numbers: 80 raises, $225M+

What is the highest-returning ad channel most brands ignore? Podcast advertising. On average, podcast ads return 4.2x on ad spend, compared to roughly 3.6x for social media advertising, with TV and display lower still. Yet half of all podcast ad spots go unsold. In this episode of Test. Optimize. Scale., host Jason Fishman, CEO of Digital Niche Agency (DNA), interviews Cam Pritchard, CEO and founder of SpotsNow. SpotsNow is a podcast advertising marketplace that lets brands research shows, see which podcasts their competitors advertise on, plan a campaign in five minutes, and book host-read ads directly, the way Thumbtack simplified booking home services. Cam Pritchard is a former Thumbtack product manager who founded New Zealand's first textbook rental platform and worked with Travis and Jason Kelce on the fan engagement platform for their New Heights podcast before founding SpotsNow. Questions this episode answers: Why do podcast ads outperform social, TV, and display advertising? What ROAS can advertisers expect from podcast advertising? (Average: 4.2x) Why do host-read podcast ads convert better than produced ads? How did BetterHelp build its business on podcast advertising? (Roughly $100M per year in spend) How do audio pixels track podcast ad conversions to the dollar? What is the fastest way to plan a podcast ad campaign? (Five minutes on SpotsNow vs. a full day manually) How do advertisers buy unsold podcast inventory at a discount? (SpotsNow's last-minute booking model, similar to Hotel Tonight) Which industries advertise on podcasts? (Consumer brands, B2B SaaS, legal AI, fintech, retail) Why should B2B brands advertise on podcasts? (Executives and decision makers listen; companies like Vanta and Oracle buy the channel) How do you optimize a podcast ad campaign? (Portfolio approach: identify top-performing shows, cut underperformers, scale with lookalike shows) Why would a health brand like Oura Ring advertise on true crime podcasts? (Audience demographics beat category matching) Connect with Cam Pritchard and SpotsNow: Website: spotsnow.io LinkedIn:   / campbellpritchard   Connect with Jason Fishman, host of Test. Optimize. Scale.: LinkedIn:   / jafishman   Connect with Digital Niche Agency (DNA), the growth marketing agency behind this podcast: Website: www.digitalnicheagency.com Test. Optimize. Scale. is a weekly podcast from Digital Niche Agency covering growth marketing, advertising, capital raising, and business strategy, hosted by Jason Fishman. Subscribe for new episodes every week. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Who is Cam Pritchard and what is SpotsNow? 0:49 - From New Zealand's first textbook rental platform to Thumbtack 2:02 - Working with Travis and Jason Kelce on the New Heights fan platform 2:59 - Why half of all podcast ad spots go unsold 4:17 - Why host-read podcast ads convert better than other ad formats 6:16 - How BetterHelp built its business on $100M a year in podcast ads 7:48 - Why trust is the marketing currency of the AI era 9:23 - How SpotsNow turns podcast ads into direct response advertising 10:54 - Buying unsold premium podcast inventory at last-minute discounts 12:05 - How audio pixels track podcast ads to the dollar 15:14 - How to plan a podcast ad campaign in five minutes 16:47 - Why instant booking changes podcast advertising 18:54 - Are podcast ads better for prospecting or mid-funnel? 20:50 - Podcast retargeting and B2B lead identification 23:00 - The portfolio approach to buying podcast ads 26:02 - Which industries advertise on podcasts: consumer, SaaS, legal AI 28:16 - Podcast ad ROAS vs. social, TV, and display: the numbers 29:57 - How to run your first podcast ad test campaign 33:17 - How to optimize a podcast ad campaign that is underperforming 35:32 - How to scale podcast advertising with lookalike shows 37:21 - Why Oura Ring should advertise on true crime podcasts 39:13 - Where to find Cam Pritchard and SpotsNow

If AI does not understand what you do, who you do it for, and the value you bring, it cannot recommend you. And if it cannot recommend you, you are invisible. Loralyn Mears, PhD, is the founder of STEERus and the author of Misinterpreted, a book about the hidden risk making brands and leaders invisible in the age of AI. Her career spans genetically engineering mosquitoes to fight malaria, the dot-com era in Silicon Valley, leadership roles at Fortune 100 companies, and more startups than she can count. The through line: taking complex concepts and making them simple enough to act on. In this episode, Loralyn breaks down why the game has changed from Google search to AI search, and what brands need to do right now to be understood, recommended, and chosen. What We Cover: Why the average American communicates at a fourth-grade reading level and what that means for your messaging The Microsoft study showing we get distracted 187 times per day The UDA framework: Understand, Decide, Act, and why buyers get trapped in the zone of chaos and confusion Why "invisible brands don't make money" in the age of AI search SEO vs. AEO vs. GEO: what each one actually does Signal distortion: the next evolution beyond generative engine optimization Why AI search interprets what it thinks you want while Google search just finds words Why pivots, rebrands, and category creators confuse AI the most The role of reviews, Google Business Profile, and third party validation in AI visibility Clarity, consistency, context, evidence, trust, and restraint as the pillars of being understood How to test, optimize, and scale your brand's interpretation over time Connect with Loralyn Mears: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loralynmears/ Podcast: Small Business Stories

A 30-minute fix increased one company's revenue by $25M ARR. Hunter Harris has exited four companies and now helps Series A B2B SaaS startups fix the system problems slowing their engineering teams down. Hunter led product engineering at Silverpop, IBM, SalesLoft, Calendly, and Sendoso before founding Hunter Software Consulting. In this episode, he shares the through line of his entire career: most teams do not have a talent problem, they have a system problem and a strategy problem. He walks through the small changes that create disproportionate business impact, and how AI, done right, is unlocking hidden revenue. What We Cover: - Hunter's path from mowing lawns to exiting four companies - The one-line code change that increased revenue by $25M ARR in 30 minutes - The dashboard fix that catastrophically dropped churn and support tickets - Why simple Continuous Integration changes let one team release 1200% faster - Why slow engineering is riskier engineering, and how fast feedback loops fix it - The XY problem: why teams solve the wrong problem and miss the real one - Communication as the foundation of both code and leadership - Niceness versus kindness and how to have the hard conversations - Why AI scales off what you already have, good and bad - Fighting AI's verbosity bias and the vicious cycle that degrades output - Why you should think about tokens in terms of time, not cost - Building a library of AI skills and composing them into workflows - How a self-referencing loop cut Hunter's token costs by more than 99% Connect with Hunter Harris: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhunterharris/ Website: huntersoftwareconsulting.com Podcast:  @BuildandBreakThroughPodcast   CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Intro 1:00 - Hunter's background and the entrepreneurial streak 3:00 - Boy Scouts, Eagle Scout, and a foundational operating system 4:00 - Georgia Tech, the fiscal crisis, and a pivot to Japanese 5:30 - Teaching in South Korea and building for the Japanese government 8:00 - The crime tracking database that saved thousands of man hours 10:00 - Silverpop, Skunkworks, and the IBM acquisition 13:00 - Getting rocket-shipped through engineering roles 15:00 - SalesLoft: core values and the scalability of communication 16:00 - Calendly, commoditization, and seeing the writing on the wall 18:00 - Sendoso and the GDPR compliance sprint 20:30 - The self-service dashboard that crushed churn 22:00 - The one-line code change that added $25M in revenue 25:00 - Starting Hunter Software Consulting 26:00 - Why AI averages a 20% efficiency gain and how one client hit 1200% 27:00 - Why slow engineering is riskier and feedback loops are the key 30:00 - Who is your customer? Rethinking the definition 33:00 - What separates high-performing dev teams from stuck ones 36:00 - The high-horsepower, misaligned person problem 38:00 - Niceness versus kindness and the hard conversation 40:00 - Communication all the way down: from code to AI to leadership 42:00 - The misuses of AI and avoiding AI slop 44:30 - Verbosity bias and the vicious cycle that degrades AI output 47:00 - Tokens as time, not cost, and the Eisenhower matrix 49:30 - Test: just start using AI and get the reps 51:00 - Optimize: teaching your agent to build skills 55:00 - Scale: composing skills into workflows and self-improving loops 58:00 - Cutting token costs by more than 99% 1:00:00 - Where to find Hunter and the Build and Break Through podcast

Itay Golan is the CEO of Deals Agent and a former bank executive with 15 years of experience across the deal lifecycle at firms such as DealLogic, S&P Capital IQ, and Bloomberg. In his second appearance on Test. Optimize. Scale: Itay breaks down how agentic AI is leveling the playing field in capital markets, allowing small banks and funds to compete with the bulge bracket for deal origination. This is a deep look at how AI is moving from a novelty layer atop financial data to a mission-critical, revenue-generating tool that tells bankers where their next deal will come from. What We Cover: - Why most deal origination today runs on Rolodexes and league tables instead of strategy - How Deals Agent uses a proprietary model, not a wrapper on Claude or ChatGPT - 15 years of banker interviews and workflows trained into a vertical AI model - Why data privacy matters: no data leakage, no training your competitors - A live demo: comparing your deals against peers and finding origination targets - How AI surfaces the hot sectors, geographies, and deal types worth your resources - Guardrails against hallucination and why every insight comes with sources and confidence levels - Why the ECM and IPO space was untapped white space for agentic AI - What this means for advisory fees, access, and who wins mandates in five years - Lessons on pivoting: from productivity tool to revenue-generating platform - Why every "no" from a customer is a signal to iterate, not quit - How to identify your ICP and scale strategically Connect with Itay: Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itaygolan/ Subscribe to Test. Optimize. Scale. for weekly conversations on growth marketing, business strategy, and what is actually working right now. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Intro 1:00 - Itay's second appearance and the through line from crowdfunding to AI 2:30 - Democratizing deal access for small banks and funds 4:00 - Why Deals Agent is a proprietary model, not a ChatGPT wrapper 6:00 - 15 years of banker workflows trained into the model 7:30 - The data privacy advantage: no leakage, no training competitors 10:00 - Turning behavioral data into origination insights 11:30 - Human vs. AI: productivity gains and a whole new capability 13:00 - Guardrails against hallucination, sources, and confidence levels 15:00 - Live demo: comparing your deals against peers 17:00 - Finding and qualifying origination targets in real time 18:00 - The competitive landscape and where Deals Agent fits 20:00 - Why M&A and ECM are ready for AI now 22:00 - What this means for funds, fees, and access in five years 25:00 - How long Deals Agent has been in development 26:00 - Advice for founders and banks: go for it and act now 28:00 - First mover advantage and the cost of waiting 29:00 - Pivots: from analyst tool to revenue-critical platform 31:00 - Why listening to the market beats being married to your idea 33:00 - Scaling strategically and identifying your ICP 36:00 - Where to find Deals Agent and final thoughts

Most founders chase cold leads while their strongest growth channel sits untouched, the clients they already love. Referral expert Jeff Borschowa shows how to turn your top clients into a referral network that brings you more of the same. On this episode of Test. Optimize. Scale., Jeff Borschowa joins host Jason Fishman, CEO of Digital Niche Agency (DNA), to break down how real referral partnerships get built. Jeff grew his professional services firm by doubling it three years in a row with no ad spend, all from a handful of strong referral relationships. He shares how to find the right partners, how to ask without being pushy, why the most trusted networkers avoid referral fees, and a simple top-10-client exercise you can run this week. What you will learn: - Why referred clients stay longer, spend more, and trust you faster - How to spot a good referral partner with the lunch test - Where to find partners by looking upstream from your clients - How to clone your top three or four clients - How to network at a conference without a booth - Conversation starters that work even if you are an introvert - Whether to pay referral fees, and what they really cost you - The top-10-client call that restarts your referrals Chapters: 00:00 Why most founders ignore referrals 01:57 Doubling a business 3 years straight with no ad spend 05:30 Who makes a good referral partner, the lunch test 08:33 Upstream vs downstream, where to find partners 11:37 The shortcut, clone your best clients 13:00 Networking at a conference without a booth 15:46 Conversation starters for introverts 21:30 Getting partners to send you more referrals 32:23 Should you pay referral fees 37:55 The charity donation trick and your chamber 40:11 The first test, call your top 10 clients 45:42 How to scale referral partnerships 47:18 Where to find Jeff Mentioned in this episode: The Go-Giver and Endless Referrals by Bob Burg Connect with Jeff Borschowa: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-borschowa/ Pharos Business Services: https://pharosbusiness.com Podcast: The Lighthouse Sessions About the show: Test. Optimize. Scale. is hosted by Jason Fishman, CEO of Digital Niche Agency (DNA), an investor and customer acquisition agency. Each episode features operators and founders on what to test, what to optimize, and when to scale. Subscribe for new episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@DigitalNicheAgency/ New here? Start with this one: https://youtu.be/JTB2Nh3NMec?si=5oz4oX4k2W-WYZIY #ReferralMarketing #Networking #BusinessGrowth

Hiten Sonpal is the CEO of RISE Robotics and a robotics industry veteran with over 20 years of experience. He helped generate $2B in revenue and ship 9M units at iRobot, and now leads the company behind the Beltdraulic system, a patented fluid-free alternative to traditional hydraulics that operates at 75% efficiency versus hydraulics' 25%. In this episode, Hiten covers the technology, the commercialization strategy, the defense contracts, and the crowdfunding playbook that made RISE Robotics the #1 Regulation Crowdfunding campaign of 2025 according to KingsCrowd. What We Cover: - How robots deployed at Ground Zero on 9/11 shaped Hiten's entire career - Why hydraulic systems are 75% inefficient and what that costs operators every day - How Beltdraulic enables drive-by-wire control and fully autonomous heavy machinery - Predictive maintenance: how RISE monitors belt health in real time to eliminate unplanned downtime - The MVP framework: desirability, feasibility, and viability for deep tech products - Why mid-market customers beat enterprise for early-stage startups - The Tesla stepping stone strategy: start niche, expand to adjacent markets - RISE's first commercial customer in oil and gas and the Air Force $3M contract extension - How RiISE raised $5M from over 2,500 investors and was named the #1 Reg CF campaign of 2025 by KingsCrowd - The three-channel marketing approach: retargeting, new investor acquisition, and earned media - Why crowdfunding investors are also becoming product customers - What founders need to know before launching a Reg CF campaign Connect with Hiten Sonpal: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiten-sonpal/ RISE Robotics: https://www.riserobotics.com/ Invest: https://invest.riserobotics.com/ Subscribe to Test. Optimize. Scale. for weekly conversations on growth marketing, business strategy, and what is actually working right now. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Intro 1:30 - How Hiten got into robotics as a kid in India 4:00 - 9/11 and the robots deployed at Ground Zero 7:00 - iRobot: $2B in revenue and 9M units shipped 9:00 - Why robotics companies fail to make it from research to commercialization 11:00 - The MVP framework: desirability, feasibility, and viability 15:00 - Why mid-market beats enterprise for deep tech startups 18:00 - The hydraulics problem: 25% efficiency and unpredictable failures 22:00 - How Beltdraulic works and why it enables machine autonomy 25:30 - Fluid-free: predictive maintenance and the end of unplanned downtime 28:00 - Rise's first commercial customer in oil and gas 31:00 - Scaling strategy: the Tesla stepping stone approach 34:00 - The Air Force $3M contract extension for munitions handling 36:30 - Why Rise chose Reg CF over traditional VC 40:00 - Testing the waters: $800K in interest in Q4 2024 42:00 - The $5M raise: what worked and what surprised them 45:00 - The three marketing channels behind the campaign 49:00 - 20x ROAS and how they think about spend efficiency 52:00 - What founders should do before launching a crowdfunding campaign 55:00 - Where to find Rise Robotics and how to invest

-Jeff Coleman has been running Google Ads campaigns since 2004, back when clicks cost 25 cents and keywords were king. In this episode, Jeff breaks down exactly how search advertising has changed, what most campaigns are getting wrong right now, and the proven approach his team uses to build consistent lead engines for service businesses. If you are spending money on Google Ads or thinking about it, this one will save you a lot of wasted budget. What We Cover: - Why persona research matters more than keyword research before you ever launch - How to use AI to pull out what your existing customers actually value about your business - The messaging shift that lifted one client's click-through rate by 2-3% and conversion rate by 6-7% - Why Google's "exact match" is not what it used to be and how to protect your budget Negative keywords: why top campaigns have 1,000+ and what happens when you skip this step - The conversion tracking mistake that trains Google to send you the wrong leads - A/B testing timelines, how many ad variants to run, and when you have enough data - Landing page fundamentals that move conversion rates - How to scale Google Ads spend without destroying your cost per lead - Google vs. Microsoft Ads and when each makes sense - Real benchmarks: click-through rates, cost per lead, and landing page conversion rates for 2026 Connect with Jeff Coleman: Website: factorfour.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffcoleman21/ Connect with Digital Niche Agency: Website: www.digitalnicheagency.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-niche-agency/ Subscribe to Test. Optimize. Scale. for weekly conversations on growth marketing, business strategy, and what is actually working right now.

Jack Hoss is the owner of RealDealCrew and host of the RealDealCast podcast, with over 850 episodes recorded. In this episode, Jack breaks down how he flips houses in the Fargo/Moorhead market, how he uses AI to underwrite multifamily deals, and the local SEO strategy that keeps his business visible and competitive online. If you're a real estate investor, operator, or entrepreneur looking to put AI to work in your business, this one is packed with practical takeaways you can use right now. What We Cover: - Jack's house flipping approach in Fargo/Moorhead targeting 250-300k ARV properties - How he builds every deal around a 20% return target - Using AI to underwrite multifamily properties faster and smarter - The AI phone receptionist setup that handles inbound calls automatically - Google Business Profile and Bing Business Profile as a local SEO foundation - How Jack uses Claude Projects to get consistent outputs and avoid AI slop - Why he recommends Claude's Cowork feature and OpenAI Codex - Lessons from 850+ podcast episodes on what actually moves the needle Connect with Jack Hoss: RealDealCast Podcast:  @RealDealCast   RealDealCrew: https://realdealcrew.com/ Connect with Jason Fishman: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jafishman/ Connect with Digital Niche Agency: Website: www.digitalnicheagency.com Subscribe to Test. Optimize. Scale. for weekly conversations on growth marketing, business strategy, and what is actually working right now. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Intro 1:30 - Meet Jack Hoss and Real Deal Crew 4:00 - House flipping in the Fargo/Moorhead market 8:30 - Targeting 250-300k ARV and why 20% returns is the number 13:00 - Using AI to underwrite multifamily properties 18:00 - The AI phone receptionist setup 22:30 - Local SEO: Google Business Profile and Bing Business Profile strategy 27:00 - Claude Projects and how to avoid AI slop 32:30 - Claude Cowork and OpenAI Codex recommendations 37:00 - Lessons from 850 podcast episodes 41:00 - Where to find Jack

Most real estate agents are grinding for now buyers and now sellers. The agents who actually build wealth are doing something completely different every single day. Kevin Cahill has been a managing broker since 1999, recruited and trained thousands of agents across multiple states, co-founded REALean Real Estate (saving sellers over $4 million in commissions), merged into eXp Realty, and built Realty Funnels, a SaaS marketing and automation platform designed to help agents attract sellers and scale with intelligent systems. In this episode: The 6-12-18-6 daily action framework every agent (and entrepreneur) should follow Why top-of-funnel awareness is your insurance policy for future years of success How to position yourself so clients think of you the moment a real estate need arises The automated 2-year follow-up campaign inside Realty Funnels and how it works Why niche down to grow rich applies to every service business How to do a mindset and environment audit that actually moves the needle Time blocking, calendar discipline, and the rule: if you must erase you must replace How to scale through time leverage and geographic reach Why direct response marketing changed everything for Kevin early in his career Connect with Kevin: Website: realtyfunnels.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/realestatebrokerstrategist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@realtyfunnels About Kevin Cahill: Kevin Cahill brings nearly three decades of experience across every layer of residential real estate. Beginning his career in 1999, he has built a track record spanning top-tier home sales, multi-office brokerage leadership, and proptech innovation. He has recruited, trained, and managed thousands of agents across multiple states and co-founded REALean Real Estate alongside his wife Lisa Cahill, CPA. In 2023 they merged their brokerage operations into eXp Realty. Kevin also co-founded Realty Funnels, a SaaS platform helping agents attract home sellers and scale with smart marketing systems. About Test. Optimize. Scale.: Hosted by Jason Fishman, Test. Optimize. Scale. is the podcast for entrepreneurs, marketers, and founders who want to grow smarter. Every episode breaks down the strategies, frameworks, and real-world lessons behind successful brands, campaigns, and capital raises. CHAPTERS 0:00 Introduction 1:14 Kevin's background: from food service to real estate since 1999 2:56 What good customer service actually looks like in 2026 5:28 How to become top of mind before clients are ready to buy or sell 8:14 "My success is in direct proportion to the number of people who think of me" 9:51 The full marketing funnel in real estate: awareness through advocacy 11:34 Why top-of-funnel awareness eliminates the lead roller coaster 12:57 Branding versus direct response and why you need both 15:08 Showing up every day and putting in the reps 17:43 Why now is the best time to grow a business with digital tools 19:24 The 6-12-18-6 daily action framework explained 23:17 What happens when agents commit to the 6-12-18-6 28:07 Realty Funnels and the automated 2-year follow-up campaign 31:14 Four emails a month: seasonal and educational messaging 32:12 Why 90% of salespeople never follow up (and where the deal actually happens) 33:15 Niche down to grow rich: picking your ideal client avatar 37:25 Test, optimize, scale applied to real estate 40:17 Mindset and environment audit 41:55 Time blocking and calendar discipline 43:44 If you must erase you must replace 44:02 Auditing energy drains and staying in your strength zone 47:35 How to find mentors and coaches who are a few steps ahead 51:09 Scaling through time leverage and geographic reach 54:06 Where to find Kevin and final thoughts 55:30 Why direct response marketing changed everything early in Kevin's career