Scale: An OX7 Partners podcast

Data shows that over 70% of B2B buyers want to understand what you offer before they ever agree to a phone call.Dave looks at how lofty value propositions can work against your business, discussing:The incumbent illusion: Why trying to copy the abstract branding of PwC or Salesforce is a structural death trap for mid-market firms who lack global market saturation.The buyer's trigger: How to move past the generic "Start with Why" obsession and align your invisible expertise with the explicit, real-world challenges buyers actually face.A quick test anyone can run: A 5-second diagnostic to find out if your business messaging is completely impenetrable to your prospects—and to the AI models scraping the web to research your category.

Data shows that up to 80% of Account-Based Marketing programs fail to meet expectations.Dave strips away the illusions actively undermining modern targeting, discussing:Why chasing a fixed list of dream logos can be closer to gambling than strategic targeting.The immense risk of using Generative AI to fake human intimacy with discerning B2B buyers who can smell synthetic content a mile away.The critical difference between Key Account Management and why marketing must tailor to the shared challenge.

Making things has never been easier, but deciding what is actually worth making has never been harder.When driving, long-term growth - clarity is everything. Yet many teams are disoriented by their own internal data filters. Dave strips away the six cognitive biases actively undermining effective strategy, discussing:Why high-profile giants repeatedly misread temporary market distortions as permanent shifts in realityThe immense risk of navigating by vibe rather than objective data, The difficulty of stripping emotion out of your strategy.

In this opening episode, Dave Heywood sets the scene for the podcast.Drawing on a decade spent in the guts of businesses moving from startup to scale-up, and the growth pains from come with it, Dave shares what actually happens when a company tries to grow and professionalise.We look at why the 'osmosis' of the early days evaporates, why your sales message has gone off the boil and how an intelligence 'black hole' in your CRM is forcing your team to work ten times harder than they should.