Why AI Ads Are Making Platforms Rich—Not Businesses | FounderClosers EP. 53

In this episode of the Founder Closers Podcast, we sit down with Alex Lloro, founder of All Marketing Services, to break down what actually matters in marketing: revenue and profit.We go deep into the real relationship between marketing and sales, why most agencies obsess over the wrong metrics, how Google, Microsoft, and Meta ads really work, and what AI will (and won’t) replace in the next five years.If you’re a business owner, agency founder, or sales leader tired of vanity metrics like clicks and leads, this conversation will change how you think about growth.🎯 What You’ll Learn:-Why clicks, CTR, and leads don’t matter without revenue-How to align marketing and sales for real ROI-When Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, or Meta actually make sense-Why performance-only pricing often fails-The real impact of AI on marketing and sales-How bad sales processes destroy good marketing⏱️ Chapters00:00 – Why clicks, leads, and CTR don’t matter00:31 – Welcome to the Ground Up Podcast01:04 – Living in DC & Alex’s background02:02 – From Spain to the U.S.02:57 – What All Marketing Services actually does03:54 – Google Ads vs Microsoft Ads vs Meta05:09 – Why Microsoft Ads are underrated07:19 – Age demographics & ad platforms08:18 – LinkedIn targeting inside Microsoft Ads09:06 – How Alex built his agency09:19 – What makes his agency different09:47 – Where marketing stops and sales begins11:00 – Why CRM feedback to ads matters12:03 – Fewer leads, higher conversions14:20 – Why sales teams over-filter leads16:38 – Retainers vs performance-only pricing17:28 – Why performance-only models fail18:59 – Incentives, lead quality, and Google’s algorithms21:05 – The biggest bottleneck in Alex’s business21:25 – Why Alex still closes deals himself22:47 – Selling to CMOs vs business owners23:27 – SDRs, overseas teams, and sales structure25:52 – Why “nice” doesn’t work in sales27:13 – Call centers, intake teams, and trust28:02 – Why slow, quality growth beats scale29:34 – How AI is changing marketing31:56 – Why AI creates commodity businesses34:42 – The future of search & LLMs36:04 – Will ads exist inside ChatGPT?38:46 – The flood of bad AI tools39:19 – Why Alex stays service-focused40:05 – Final thoughts on AI and adaptation41:30 – The real cost of bad sales processes42:05 – Closing advice for founders & operators🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on:Marketing • Sales • AI • Lead Generation • Business Growth👍 Like | 💬 Comment | 🔁 Share if this episode helped you