Get Vertical with Mike McCalley on MarketScale | B2B Expert Content

Creator Hubs›Get Vertical! with Mike McCalley

Vertical market strategy and B2B growth insights from Mike McCalley.

Get Vertical with Mike McCalley is a B2B strategy podcast focused on vertical market expansion and the specific growth decisions facing leaders in niche industries. Mike McCalley draws on direct operator experience to surface the insights most useful to executives pursuing vertical-specific revenue growth. The channel is built for B2B leaders who need more than generic strategy advice.

5 episodes

Channel Brief·Get Vertical! with Mike McCalley · 5 episodes

Updated May 15, 2023

Sales and systems break before people do.

Get Vertical argues that pricing, discounting, content, and leadership failures stem from tool and process gaps, not talent. Each episode pairs a practitioner with data to prove the point.

Get Vertical advances a single, repeating thesis: when organizations struggle with sales, pricing, content, or growth, the root cause is almost always a broken tool or process, not bad people. The channel grounds this argument in interviews with practitioners (Ben Millar on AI content creation, Darren Doyle on pricing discipline, Dan Adams on leadership type-casting) who share real examples of how fixing systems upstream prevents costly people churn downstream.

Drawn from Get Vertical! with Mike McCalley and Dan Adams… and 3 more →

“Discounts are often used as a lazy fix for other problems in an organization, rather than fixing the underlying issues.”
Darren Doyle, Sales Xceleration, Episode 5

By the numbers

53%

senior leaders self-identified as builders, only 32% by subordinates

32%

subordinates identifying senior leaders as builders versus 53% self-identification

different AI models Graibox uses for long-form content creation

What the channel argues

InsightGraibox uses six different AI models to create long-form, customizable, SEO-friendly content.→

DataOnly 53% of senior leaders self-identify as builders; subordinates rate only 32% as builders.→

InsightAI text generation produces predictable failures: made-up case studies, fake statistics, competitor promotion without human oversight.→

InsightThe 5Ys root-cause tool identifies whether problems stem from people, process, or tool gaps; fix tools first, then process, then people.→

InsightNon-adopters will not survive organizational change; laggards may eventually become supporters if systems support them.→

What you'll learn

•Why discounting feels urgent but masks deeper pricing, training, or compensation structure failures that compound over time.

•How AI content tools augment writer productivity by generating briefs, not finished copy, and why human review catches fabrications AI systems default to.

•What leadership type misalignment looks like: a gap between how leaders see themselves and how teams perceive them, tied to growth expectations.

•How the 5Ys methodology distinguishes fixable tool problems from process design flaws from irreversible people mismatches.

What to do about it

→Before cutting price or replacing salespeople, audit your pricing communication, compensation structure, and sales training for process and tool gaps using the 5Ys.

→Deploy AI content generators as brief-and-outline engines that feed human writers, not as finished-copy replacements; mandate fact-checking and personal experience injection.

→Survey your leadership team using a framework like Builders/Remodelers/Decorators/Realtors to expose perception gaps between self-assessment and subordinate experience, then target process changes.

Who and what shows up

Ben Millar

President, Graibox

Explained how AI models generate content briefs for agencies and identified known AI failure modes: fabricated case studies, fake statistics, competitor promotion.

Darren Doyle

Outsourced Revenue Growth Partner, Sales Xceleration

Articulated how discounting masks deeper organizational problems in pricing, process, and compensation; advocated for the 5Ys root-cause methodology.

Dan Adams

Founder and President, The AIM Institute

Conducted leadership research defining four leader types and revealed a critical gap: 53% of leaders self-identify as builders, but only 32% are perceived that way by subordinates.

Questions this channel answers

Why do organizations reach for discounting to fix sales problems?

Discounts are a lazy, visible fix when the real issues are broken training, poorly structured compensation, or lack of pricing discipline in the sales process.

Get Vertical! with Mike McCalley and Darren Doyle: Part … →

How can you know if AI-generated content is safe to publish?

Personal experiences, case study verification, and proofreading to catch made-up statistics and competitor promotions before publishing. AI predicts the next word; humans must verify facts.

Get Vertical! with Mike McCalley and Ben Millar: Part 2 →

What makes some leaders drive growth and others hold companies back?

Leaders who are builders (only 53% of senior leaders) create higher growth expectations; subordinate perception matters more than self-assessment, signaling a communication or style gap.

Get Vertical! with Mike McCalley and Dan Adams: Part 1 →

When is it a tool problem versus a people problem in an organization?

Use the 5Ys to trace root cause. Tools fail first and are easiest to fix, then process, then people. Non-adopters will not change; laggards may come around with proper support.

Get Vertical! with Mike McCalley and Darren Doyle: Part … →

Best place to start

Get Vertical! with Mike McCalley and Darren Doyle: Part 1Introduces the channel's core claim: discounting is a symptom, not a cure. Frames the entire thesis on sales and systems.

Get Vertical! with Mike McCalley and Dan Adams: Part 1Provides the hardest data: the 53% vs. 32% leadership perception gap, quantifying misalignment between self-assessment and organizational reality.

Topics:AI content generation and SEOPricing and discounting strategyLeadership type frameworksSales process disciplineOrganizational change management

Themes:Systems before talentRoot cause over symptom treatmentAI as amplifier, not replacement

Industry context

Middle market business leaders are increasingly focused on practical AI adoption and measurable business impact rather than speculative applications, signaling demand for systems-based approaches to technology deployment.

Middle market leaders confident in economy, focus on practical AI adoption (cpapracticeadvisor) ↗