How is Close doing so well in the CRM space against such big competitors?
The answer: focus.
Instead of chasing enterprise clients or trying to build a CRM that does everything from web hosting to calendaring, Steli Efti focused on sales teams at small and mid-sized businesses. And he built a product with a tight set of features focused on more client conversations and less data entry.
Steli Efti is the co-founder and CEO of Close, a CRM platform designed to eliminate manual data entry and make sales more human and efficient. Before launching Close, he co-founded Elastic Sales (a sales-as-a-service agency) and SwipeGood (a charitable micro-donation startup)
Fun fact—he once said he spent six years following up twice a year to finally buy the domain close.com.
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#2275 He’s doing SEO on ChatGPT
Have you noticed how AI search results are now linking to websites?
Today’s guest runs an SEO agency that helps his clients’ sites show up in those chat responses.
I invited Chirag Kulkarni founder of Taco to talk about how he’s doing it and how he built his agency.
Chirag Kulkarni is the founder and CEO of Taco, an AI-powered SEO firm helping brands dominate emerging search platforms. Chirag and his team are building Taco into the go-to partner for companies navigating the shift from Google to generative search.
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#2274 1440: $20+mil / year newsletter
After closing a company that failed, Tim Huelskamp decided to keep it simple. He launched an email newsletter that briefed smart people about the day’s top news.
Today his company, 1440, has over 4 million subscribers and generates over $20 million in annual revenue
Tim Huelskamp is the co-founder of 1440, the fact-focused daily newsletter. Tim and his team are building 1440 into a trusted source for intellectually curious readers who want an inch-deep, mile-wide view of the world.
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#2273 What happened to our partnership?
Before I partnered with Jesse Pujji, we were buddy-buddy. Texting all the time. When we got started, we got excited about the world of possibilities for our company.
Now? Something is missing.
I asked him about it. And about where he put his money, why he’s not launching more companies now, what he’s building with AI, and more.
Jesse Pujji is the founder of Gateway X, the venture studio. Jesse & Andrew are building Bootstrapped Giants, a resource for ambitious, unfunded founders.
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#2272 Aux: >$10mil advising private equity
When Kasey Grelle heard that private equity companies paid marketing agencies to evaluate companies they wanted to buy, she spotted a business opportunity. That realization became Aux Insights, the firm that’s become “the office of the CMO” for private equity companies. Listen to how they got clients & built their business.
Kasey is a former reporter who founded Aux Insights, a global advisory firm that acts as the office of the CMO for private equity firms, specializing in digital growth strategy and marketing diligence. When she’s not scaling businesses, she’s up before dawn at 4 AM, savoring the quiet magic of early morning work before the chaos of her three-kid household kicks in.
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Colombia