Sales Pop! Podcasts

Irwin Hau, founder of Melbourne-based Chromatix and creator of the Trust and Authority framework, joins John Golden to explain why your website is your strongest sales tool and how to answer the four questions every visitor asks in the first three seconds. Drawing on 60,000+ website audits, Irwin shares the proof density principle, the focus trade-off most businesses get wrong, and why AI search makes web clarity more valuable than ever. Learn more at https://www.chromatix.com.au/.

Michael Hofer — CFO, M&A veteran, and founder of ByMichaelHofer — joins John Golden on Sales POP! to share hard-won lessons from 30+ international transactions, explaining why most deals fail during integration and how cultural alignment and strategic clarity matter more than financial engineering. He also walks through how AI is transforming finance functions in real time, from cutting forecasting time in half to accelerating due diligence that once took analysts a week. Learn more and connect with Michael at https://www.bymichaelhofer.com/.

Lane Kawaoka, real estate investor and fund manager behind a $2.1 billion portfolio, joins Sales POP! to break down The Wealth Elevator — his five-floor framework that guides accredited investors from rental properties through private syndications, tax strategy, and full financial freedom. Lane shares the exact investment philosophy shifts required at each stage of wealth, including why conventional retirement advice actively works against high-income earners. Explore Lane's resources and community at https://thewealthelevator.com/.

Gregory Kovsky, President and CEO of International Business Associates (IBA), joins host John Golden to share what business owners must know before selling — from defining exit objectives and cleaning up financials to navigating deal structures and building the right advisory team. With 32 years of M&A experience and over 300 transactions completed, Gregory brings a holistic, founder-first approach to every sale. Learn more at ibainc.com.

Mark Myers, founder of Tax Wise Partners and Tax Saving Architect, joins host John Golden to explain how high-income earners and business owners can legally reduce their annual tax bill by 30–60% using advanced planning strategies most CPAs never explore inside the 75,000-page tax code. From solar tax credits to pre-sale business structuring, Mark reveals the framework his firm uses to save clients more than a dollar in taxes for every dollar they invest in strategy. Learn more at taxwisepartners.com.

Sid Bharath, founder of Refound, joins Sales POP! host John Golden to explain why most corporate AI initiatives fail — not because of the technology, but because of missing change management and a lack of strategic ownership. Sid shares the audit-first framework Refound uses to map workflows, identify friction, and rebuild processes with AI at the core rather than layered on top. Learn more and book a free consultation at refoundai.com.

David Farrell, Sales Leader at Salesloft, joins John Golden to examine how AI is reshaping pipeline creation, deal execution, and revenue forecasting — without replacing the human trust factor that remains essential to closing high-value B2B deals. Drawing on 25 years of hands-on sales experience, David introduces his three-legged stool framework for diagnosing sales performance and makes a compelling case for why most organizations should buy purpose-built AI solutions rather than attempt to build their own. Learn more at https://www.salesloft.com/.

Richard Broo, project management turnaround specialist and founder of True North PMP Consulting, joins John Golden to expose the invisible forces that cause 19% of all projects to fail — from uncontrolled scope creep and unexamined assumptions to the hidden costs of leadership disengagement — and shares the 60-day triage and root-cause correction framework he uses to rescue initiatives that are over budget, behind schedule, or losing executive alignment. Learn more and book a free consultation at truenorthpmpconsulting.com.

Shabnum Bi, Founder and Director of Early Nurture Preschool in Birmingham, joins John Golden to discuss how she rebuilt an award-winning early years setting after forced liquidation — and why staying small, community-rooted, and hands-on is the strategy behind her Outstanding Ofsted rating and global recognition. Learn more at www.earlynurturepreschool.co.uk.

Lisa Pagotto, Founder & CEO of Crooked Compass, joins John Golden to discuss what happens when a business loses its founding purpose — and how to rebuild when everything collapses at once. Drawing on her Shark Tank Australia experience, a near-administration crisis, and a bold COVID pivot into private aviation touring, Lisa shares the leadership principles that have kept her business growing for over 12 years. Learn more at crooked-compass.com.

Sridhar Ravilla — fractional transformation executive and author of Transformation That Lands — joins John Golden to examine why well-funded enterprise transformations fail after strategy is approved, tracing the moment accountability quietly moves from named owners into committees, dashboards, and AI systems. Sridhar shares the resignation test, the deferral committee trap, and the 90-degree blind spot that AI leaves in every programme. Connect with Sridhar at linkedin.com/in/sridharravilla/.

Susan Friedman, founder of Aviva Publishing & Marketing, joins host John Golden to share why most nonfiction business books fail to generate results — and how a strategic shift toward niche marketing, bulk sales, and long-term promotion changes everything. With 30 years of experience and 18 books published, Susan gives authors a practical roadmap for turning their book into a business asset rather than a shelf trophy. Learn more and connect with Susan at https://avivapubs.com.

Andy Hedrick, Founder and CEO of Green Path Tech, joins Sales POP! to unpack the 2V2R Rapid Sales Growth System — a proven B2B framework built on one principle: Value and Verified Results must outweigh Risks and Resistors in every deal. Andy covers proof-of-concept selling, fractional resourcing, and using AI without losing buyer trust — drawing on 250+ projects and $500M+ in revenue growth. Learn more at https://greenpathtech.com/.

Tony Paquin, CEO and Co-Founder of iRemedy Healthcare and co-inventor of 12 AI and machine learning patents, joins Sales POP! to discuss how artificial intelligence is transforming healthcare procurement, eliminating supply chain risk, and redefining the future of sales. Drawing on 30 years of software and healthcare technology experience, Tony explains why experienced professionals are better positioned than ever to lead in the AI era — and why every business leader needs to act now. Learn more at iremedy.com.

Sai Dhanak, CEO and co-founder of Deduction, joins John Golden to explain how his AI-powered tax advisory service is solving the US CPA shortage by pairing AI agents with experienced human CPAs to deliver IRS-ready returns at a fixed price of $499 per year — with no upsells, no waiting weeks for a response, and unlimited advice year-round. Sai also shares his philosophy on the inaction trap, the art of the well-timed pivot, and why the collapse of the billable hour is coming for every professional service industry. Learn more at deduction.com.

Pricing and business development expert John Ray joins Sales POP! host John Golden to explain why hourly billing is the fastest path to commoditizing your professional expertise — and how consultants, attorneys, coaches, and fractional executives can shift to value-based pricing by mastering the art of the discovery conversation. John's framework centers on understanding how clients experience value, not just what they need delivered. Learn more and access free resources at https://www.johnray.co/

Kai Stone built a $297/month platform that's helped over 1,000 contractors scale with AI — and he did it from his mom's house. In this conversation with SalesPOP! host John Golden, Kai breaks down why most small businesses are losing leads to unanswered phone calls, how a simple AI text-back system changes the game, and why every contractor needs a personal brand (even if it's just a phone and $5/day). Plus: why searching for your business on ChatGPT matters as much as Google now.

Adnan Malik, co-founder and CEO of Softwarefinder, joins host John Golden to discuss why 70–80% of B2B software buyers end up dissatisfied — and how trust and human-driven consulting can fix that. Softwarefinder's pay-equal model removes financial bias from software recommendations, connecting buyers with the right solutions through trained consultants across 40+ verticals. Explore the platform and book a free consultation at softwarefinder.com.

Amir Berenjian, founder of REM 5 Studios, has put over 150,000 people into VR headsets — from pro sports fans at the Minnesota State Fair to UN policymakers experiencing polio vaccination campaigns in Zambia. In this conversation with SalesPOP! host John Golden, Brenian explains where immersive tech actually delivers marketing ROI, why $300 headsets are changing the game, and why spatial computing will become the primary way we interact with AI.

Guest: Steven Rosen, MBA — Founder of STAR Results and author of Focused: The Leadership Discipline That Protects Performance from Distraction A quick preview of our conversation with Steven Rosen. After 30 years coaching CROs and VPs of sales, Steven has a blunt message: if your numbers are off, stop looking at your reps and start looking in the mirror. Here's a taste of what he shared with John Golden. Key Takeaways: Most sales managers were promoted because they were great reps — then handed targets with zero leadership training. Performance doesn't collapse overnight. It erodes one small lapse at a time. The single best investment a company can make is teaching its managers how to coach. Quotes from Steven Rosen: "It doesn't collapse overnight. It erodes over time. There are leaks. Discipline is falling." "Performance breaks when standards stop being held — especially when you're under pressure." Listen to the full episode for Steven's complete framework on coaching, inspection, and the leade