In this episode of SaaS Fuel, host Jeff Mains sits down with Marlena Sarunac, co-founder of The Company Advice and marketing strategist for early-stage startups in complex, regulated industries like HealthTech, FinTech, and InsurTech. Marlena shares her "playbook nicely" approach—a proven framework that helps founders avoid reinventing the wheel while building go-to-market foundations that scale.

The conversation explores why letting products "speak for themselves" is a dangerous myth in today's saturated market, how to translate technical complexity into clear messaging that resonates, and why focus beats trying to appeal to everyone. Marlena reveals common messaging traps (including ChatGPT-generated clichés like "turning chaos into clarity"), the critical difference between selling to buyers versus users, and how to navigate pivots without losing credibility.

4:43 - The Playbook Nicely Approach

6:24 - Translating Complexity into Clarity

11:04 - Why "Product Speaks for Itself" is Dangerous

15:34 - Common Messaging Traps

17:42 - Buyers vs. Users

21:05 - Building Trust

22:51 - Navigating Pivots

24:53 - AI and the Human Spark

28:46 - Visual Identity Matters More Than Ever

32:06 - Brand Debt

39:18 - SEO/AIO Strategy

42:36 - Marketing as R&D, Not a Cost Center

Trying to sell to everyone dilutes your message and confuses the market. Get disciplined: focus on 1-3 buyer personas maximum. You can always expand later, but early-stage startups need clarity and traction, not broad appeal that resonates with no one.

Your buyers (decision-makers) and users (end-users) have different needs. Buyers care about business outcomes and ROI; users care about features and usability. Tailor your messaging accordingly: high-level benefits for buyers, detailed use cases and documentation for users.

Don't wait for perfection. Put messaging out there when you're "half comfortable," gather market feedback, and iterate quickly. Use flexible systems (landing pages, modular websites) that allow rapid updates without massive overhauls....

In this episode, Jeff Mains sits down with KG Charles-Harris, a serial entrepreneur who has founded six companies across industries ranging from genomics to AI. KG is the founder and CEO of Quarrio, a deterministic AI platform that solves a critical problem: getting accurate, consistent answers from corporate data in seconds instead of weeks.

KG shares his unconventional path to entrepreneurship, explaining how his companies emerge from late-night conversations with brilliant people who share a common problem. He breaks down the crucial difference between deterministic and probabilistic AI systems, making the case that when decisions involve real money, real lives, or real consequences, accuracy isn't optional—it's essential.

[0:00] Introduction to KG Charles-Harris and his multi-industry entrepreneurial journey

[1:18] How companies are born from conversations: The pattern behind KG's six startups

[2:30] The genomics company origin story: From 4:30 AM conversation to Norwegian startup

[3:28] Why Quarrio exists: Even data company CEOs can't get the data they need

[4:31] The Quarrio platform: 100% accuracy, plain language queries, auto-visualization

[5:27] Real-world impact: The $60M margin leak that took two quarters to find (would take 5 seconds with Quarrio)

[7:00] Deterministic vs. probabilistic AI explained: Why autopilots don't hallucinate

[11:30] The cycle time framework: Information → Decision → Action → Results

[13:00] Why ChatGPT's inconsistency is a dealbreaker for enterprise decisions

[18:30] Organizations as "decision-making machines" and democratizing decisions to every level

[20:30] The data explosion: Managing 300+ structured data sources in mid-sized enterprises

[23:00] Why Quarrio focuses on structured enterprise data (SAP, Salesforce, Oracle) instead of PDFs

[30:00] Go-to-market strategy: Why they started with Salesforce and sales teams

[32:30] The Salesforce incubation story: Free office space and immediate investment

[33:30] Team building philosophy: Surrounding yourself with people smarter than you

[37:00] Stewardship as core ethos: Taking care of family, team, customers, and partners

[38:30] The founder's dilemma: Resilience vs. delusion—knowing when to persist

[43:00] Where to connect with KG and learn more about Quarrio

In this episode, Jeff Mains sits down with Alistair Gordon, founder of Expertunity and author of "Master Expert," to explore why technical excellence alone isn't enough to drive career momentum and organizational impact.

Alistair reveals how subject matter experts (SMEs) can unlock influence without abandoning their technical edge through what he calls "expert ship"—a set of enterprise skills that translate expertise into clear business value. The conversation challenges the assumption that management is the only path forward for technical professionals and offers practical frameworks for founders looking to retain and grow top technical talent.

[5:00] - The leadership development gap: Only 11% of first-time leaders receive training in their first year, leaving 89% to sink or swim

[7:50] - Why "knowledge leader" failed: Technical experts don't want to be leaders—they want to avoid "useless meetings where nothing gets done"

[12:00] - The invisibility problem: Much of experts' work (like keeping email systems running) is completely invisible until something breaks

[14:30] - Expert as coach: The most transformational skill is learning to ask better questions before providing technical advice

[19:30] - The coaching paradox: Half of stakeholders love the questioning approach; the other half just want immediate answers

[23:00] - The negativity trap: Experts often spend 22 minutes explaining why something is difficult before mentioning it's actually a good idea

[29:00] - The promotion trap: Three out of four times, forcing technical experts into management roles is "a train wreck"

[40:30] - The remuneration shift: In successful tech companies, technical experts often earn more than leaders because they add more value

💡 "The era of people leaders dominating organizations is over. It's technical experts who are keeping the lights on and inventing the future." - @AlistairGordon

💡 "You can't teach a technical subject matter expert anything. They have to learn it. They have to want to learn it themselves." - @AlistairGordon

💡 "Most experts think their value should be obvious. But if your work is invisible and you can't describe it clearly, it won't be noticed." - @AlistairGordon

💡 "Career progress doesn't equal promotion. Most technical experts want to invent stuff that's cool and makes a difference—not fill in appraisal forms." - @AlistairGordon

💡 "The transition from individual contributor to first-time leader is the hardest transition in leadership—and it's five times harder for introverted technical experts." - @AlistairGordon

💡 "Find something positive to say first. Don't let technical complexities dominate the conversation before understanding what they're trying to achieve." - @AlistairGordon

Most leaders assume everyone wants career progression through management. Technical experts often want to build cool things that make a difference, not manage people. Ask what drives them before creating development paths.

Don't force technical experts into management roles they don't want. Establish technical career tracks with comparable compensation and recognition. The best chip designer at Nvidia isn't being "weighed down with management responsibilities."

Technical experts need coaching, stakeholder engagement, business acumen, and communication skills to translate their work into business value. These "enterprise skills" (not "soft skills") are what unlock their full