Strategies for Building a Lean Tech Stack

Here's the tech stack I am using to bootstrap Attribution Academy and #Hubsessed. CRM: HubSpot Integration: Zapier Scheduling: Calendly Communication: Slack Graphic design: Canva Project management: Notion Meeting Recording: AskElephant Sales automation: PhantomBuster Content repurposing: SummarAIze Content generation: Google Gemini Video recording/editing: iMobie Focusee & Riverside LMS, website, marketing automation, newsletter, invoicing, payments: Kajabi All-in, this runs me a little under $350 per month, which means if I can sell 1 course per month, my tech spend is more than covered. This is by design. Here are some choices I made when setting it up this way: Make it a low risk venture: I'm not a salesperson at heart. So with low overhead, I don't need to chase aggressive sales targets just to keep the engine running. If I am having an off day, I can rest without worrying that I am risking the business. Leverage AI + automation as a force multiplier: This list of tools is curated to replicate the functions of a small team. If I can spend some time up-front to automate things like the podcast guest speaker onboarding I posted about earlier in the week, it's going to save me hours of time down the line so that I can use more of my time on strategic focuses. Use a "hub and spoke" strategy: I wanted to do as much as I reasonably could in a single platform, without sacrificing too much functionality. Is Kajabi the best marketing automation tool or payments platform? No. But it checked enough boxes that I was comfortable consolidating a bunch of functions into it, since I was going to be paying for it anyway as my LMS. You don't need a massive budget or a complex, custom-coded platform to build a scalable business. You need a strategic, lean, and highly automated system.

There is an app for that – right? Well, that’s not a good thing. Here’s what I mean: Technology should serve the goal of the organization, team, or individual. That is its only role. If we’re not careful, “tool sprawl” will eat away at the efficiencies technology promises. In today’s environment, a “tech stack” is inevitable. I know it’s not a popular stance, but I would much rather have a monolithic approach—one vendor to do everything. Every new piece of technology that you incorporate comes with the following baggage: Cognitive load: Every UX is different and requires thinking in specific ways. Often tools have their ways of structuring concepts and information. Switching between mental models is a burden on you, the user. Learning curve: Each tool will demand learning. If you have many different tools, the learning load will increase. Billing: There is administrative overhead that comes with any vendor relationship. The more you have, the more significant the overhead. Maintenance: All tools will require periodic updates. Supervising this effort is a time commitment from you or your team. Updates often break something. The more tools, the more review is needed. Integration: This is the big one. If you depend on integrating tools from different vendors, you will eventually be in a world of pain. I haven't found an integration that hasn’t demanded ridiculous attention. Because of these factors, I’m a tool minimalist. The fewer you can live with, the better. And if you can stay within the same vendor ecosystem, it’s best. So, instead of jumping into the next freemium offer that crosses your path, consider the impact of adding another tool to your stack. I admit, in some cases, the ROI is worth it. In most, it's not. What criteria do you apply to architecting your tech stack? Let me know in the comments!

Are you making the most of your tech stack, or is it slowly turning into a cumbersome burden? Before you add yet another tool to your arsenal, consider these crucial points to ensure you're optimizing, not complicating your workflow. 1) Assess Existing Tools: Start by examining the tools you already have at your disposal. Is there something in your current arsenal that can accomplish the same task, perhaps with a few upgrades or modifications? This can prevent unnecessary duplication and help leverage your existing investments. 2) Resource Availability for Management: Integration of a new tool isn’t just about the setup; it’s also about ongoing management. Consider whether your team has the capacity and expertise to handle this new tool. Think about maintenance, troubleshooting, and updates—do you have the necessary resources to manage these aspects when issues inevitably arise? 3) Consolidation Possibilities: Evaluate the potential benefits of consolidating multiple tools into a more comprehensive platform like HubSpot. Could replacing several specialized tools with one integrated system streamline operations and reduce costs? This step involves looking at how many tools you currently manage and whether a unified platform could simplify processes and bring about cost efficiencies. Taking the time to consider these aspects will help ensure that any new addition to your toolset is a decision that adds value and efficiency to your operations. Reflecting on these points provides a thoughtful approach to managing your technological resources effectively.

When your tech stack is a junkyard, it’s all too easy for your most qualified leads to slip through the cracks. A cluttered, over-engineered system not only hinders efficiency but can obscure those golden opportunities. Simplification is key to ensuring your top leads are clearly visible and easily actionable. Here’s how to simplify your process: 🗺️ Map Your Lead Journey: Simplify the lead journey map to easily track progress at each stage. 🚦 Set clear, simple stages & statuses in your sales funnel to track lead progress effectively. 🧹 Cleanse Your Data: Regularly clean and update your lead data to avoid clutter and confusion. Use automated tools like Insycle, RingLead, Ops Hub and more. 🔗 Integrate Wisely: Choose integrations that genuinely enhance your process, not just because they’re available. 🛠️Tool Audit: Periodically review your tools and eliminate those that add more complexity than value. 🗑️ Regularly declutter your page layouts to remove outdated or irrelevant fields. By embracing simplicity in your tech stack, you can bring clarity to your lead qualification process, ensuring those high-value leads receive the attention they deserve. #TechStackSimplicity #LeadManagement #EfficientProcesses 🌟

This is a book that will never pop up on a "best of" list because it doesn't have the marketing behind it the popular business books have, but it's groundbreaking in it's concept around executional excellence. I've seen this work in the real world and it's one of my keys to success as a leader. Ken Carrig and Scott Snell researched companies in various markets and found a very interesting insight. What separated the highest performers and the lowest performers in most markets was not their strategy. In many cases they had the same, or very similar, strategies. The difference between them was how well they executed that strategy. This forms the basis of Scott's 4A framework for driving executional excellence: ✅ Agility - This is your proficiency at learning rapidly and responding to change. It's not new news to anyone that business is dynamic with market shifts constantly in motion. Those who learn from these shifts and take action on them the fastest will be operating like they are playing a game with cheat codes on. But there are no cheat codes and every team is capable of being more agile if they keep their eyes on the market and make an active effort to avoid getting complacent. ✅ Architecture - This is your infrastructure and supporting systems. It encompasses both they way you operate and the technology you employ. So many teams give very little thought to how work gets done. Any place where you can drive even the smallest operational efficiency will have a big impact if you combine enough of them. This is why I'm also bullish on tech stacks being as efficient and as simple as possible. If your team is spending more time managing the software than strategically deploying it to amplify their impact then that is a problem. ✅ Ability - This is the talent of your team and their collaborative capacity. This one is pretty simple. You can't have a top performing team unless you have top performing team members. You need a thoughtful system for evaluating talent and be prepared to offer above market compensation when you identify above market talent. Also, don't overlook the team's collaborative capacity. You can have superstars in every individual role, but if they don't work well together the collective efforts of the team will suffer making each team member a worse performer than if they were working on their own. ✅ Alignment - This is clear intent, high expectations, and accountability. This is a sneaky one where unless you're on top of all 3 of those elements you won't have true alignment. Things like OKRs, KPIs, and other goal setting systems lull teams into a false sense of security. They think they have alignment simple because these systems exist. Bad OKRs are about as useful as having no goals at all. Achieving alignment is not a once a quarter thing. It's a continuous effort to provide more clarity and hold people accountable. #leadership #management #books

Over the last several years, companies have thrown money and systems at every problem. It’s created an incredible amount of bloat in the tech stack with dozens of systems and tools. Revenue leaders can’t get the information they need because the data is contradicting itself.  So that tends to be when people throw their arms up and oversimplify. The pendulum swings back the other way, and revenue leaders are back trying to manage the business and forecast in spreadsheets. According to Salesloft’s Revenue Engagement Benchmark Study, 50% of revenue leaders say they still rely on spreadsheets to manage forecasts. But what happens then? You really don’t get enough data or get it in a timely manner, you completely lose insights into the deal stages and any context you need to make better decisions, and revenue leaders just end up winging it. It’s crazy and becomes uncomfortably reactive. The key is to create bookends in your tech stack with CRM – your system of record – on one side, and a system of action and engagement on the other side. This system of action must be designed and implemented in a manner that provides both insights regarding buyer behavior, while simultaneously guiding the sellers to the appropriate and proven actions that will maximize the potential outcomes. Simplify the tech stack and provide the sellers with a platform they can “live in” throughout the day that provides the data, insights, and tools to execute on all tasks throughout the customer lifecycle. That’s a lot of the reason we’re seeing companies now trying to strip down all of the bloat in their tech stack that’s been created over the past several years. They’re consolidating – not just for the cost savings – but for the sake of their process and being able to manage their business better with clean, integrated data and AI-powered seller workflows. #revenueorchestrationplatform #revtech #salestech #revops #cro

AI tools. CDPs. DAMs. Shiny objects everywhere. It’s easy to fall for the promise of more tech. But without a plan, that stack starts stacking you. MarTech only performs when every platform has a purpose, every user is accountable, and every dollar spent ties back to a strategic outcome. I’m joined by Kathie Johnson (formerly Sitecore) and Kris Salazar (Appcast, Inc) to talk about MarTech headaches, from stack bloat to AI overload to the brutal cost of tools no one’s using. Because building a smarter stack means cutting dead weight, keeping what helps, and making sure every platform has a champion who’s accountable for its impact. In this episode:  Kathie on using MarTech maps and AI to get a 30% efficiency boost  Kris on quarterly audits, tool ownership, and measurable outcomes  Why both agree that stack success starts with strategy and ownership Plus:  + What to look for in a tech audit  + Why data clarity is the key to real personalization  + How to avoid tech for tech’s sake  + The spending rule that keeps budgets balanced Tune in for a reality check on what it takes to make your MarTech stack deliver without adding more to the pile. Listen via the link in the comments.