026: Unveiling the Secrets to Remarkable Valuations with Santosh Sharan

Ten Years In The Making

When B2B companies find themselves trapped in a cycle of stagnation, one name stands out: Santosh Sharan.

Santosh is the president & COO of Apollo.io, the Co-CEO of ContactOut and a current consultant and advisor for me at Retention.com. He has worked with more than 15 B2B companies in major operating roles, including helping ZoomInfo grow from $8M ARR to $100M ARR and helping Apollo.io grow from $10M ARR to a $1B valuation.

Today, Santosh is here to unveil the invaluable lessons entrepreneurs can glean from his extraordinary journey, including the transformative mindsets that distinguish companies bound for mediocrity from those destined for remarkable success.

You’ll also hear Santosh discuss the dangers of success-induced confirmation bias, why entrepreneurs need to embrace S-curve growth over linear growth, and how to hack your thinking to orient away from fear and into an abundance mindset.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

✅ What entrepreneurs can learn from businesses that have gone from stagnation to explosive growth.

✅ How expectations of linear growth can create a limiting mindset.

✅ The 4 four categories winning teams must form to unlock exponential growth.

✅ The No. 1 killer of good ideas — and how to avoid it.

Key Takeaways with Santosh Sharan

• What can entrepreneurs learn from businesses that have gone from stagnation to explosive growth?
• The business model MailChimp used to grow from 85,000 to 450,000 users in one year.
• Why "technology does not equate to success" — and what variable to focus on for scaling instead.
• The catch-22 of how success can kill creativity and throttle growth potential.
• How Apollo, Lusha and ZoomInfo each leverage their superpowers to create success in different ways.
• How expectations of linear growth can create a limiting mindset.
• The correlation between company growth and personal growth.
• Understanding the universal law of the S-curve and how it applies to both success and stagnation for a business.
• Why raising billions of dollars can actually reduce a company's freedom to invest.
• How the "winner-take-all model" has made its way from sports, music and movies into the B2B space.
• The 4 four categories winning teams must form to unlock exponential growth.
• Why who you're saying "no" to matters more than who you're saying "yes" to.
• The No. 1 killer of good ideas — and how to avoid it.

Want the Full Show Notes?

To get access to the full show notes, including audio, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit Retention.com/26

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