129 of the Best Sales Strategists, Entrepreneurs, and Podcasters to Follow Today

17 min readNov 21, 2016

At RepIQ we help you use smart data to improve your sales. So when we decided to start a blog, we wanted to take the same approach to creating our content. That’s why we’re going to create content which helps you make decisions that grow your business.

We thought a great place to start would be to share a complete list of thought leaders we turn to for industry insights, inspiration, and guidance.

We’ve organized the list into five sections: “Sales Professionals,” “Founders/Entrepreneurs,” “VCs/Angel Investors,” “Organizations,” and “Podcasts.”

In each section you’ll find links to thought leader’s Twitter accounts, blogs, and even some of our favorite articles, videos, and podcasts.

We’re curious: who did we miss? Who’s your go-to for industry updates, advice, or motivation? Let us know.

Sales Professionals

Anneke Seley: The author of Sales 2.0 and founder of Reality Works Group, Anneke Seley is a lifelong entrepreneur and inside sales expert. Follow her on Twitter for updates on inside sales, social selling, and digital marketing.
Aaron Ross: Founder of Carb and two-time author, Aaron Ross has great advice on career development and business growth. Aaron has spent his career teaching companies how to double (or even triple) their sales. You can visit his blog for tips on how to grow revenue fast.
Trish Bertuzzi: Author of The Sales Development Playbook, and well-known sales development thinker, Trish Bertuzzi tweets about personal development, sales strategy, and inside sales. Trish’s blog covers lots of great sales development topics. Checkout her post “What’s in a Name? The Differences Between Account-Centric and Account-Based Selling.”
Mark Roberge: Former CRO of HubSpot and best-selling author, follow Mark Roberge for tips on boosting sales, hiring the best employees, and more.
Bridget Gleason: Bridget Gleason is the executive advisor at Sumo Logic and tweets anything sales-related — from social media to productivity.
Steli Efti: Founder and CEO of Close.io and sales expert, Steli Efti tweets about ways to streamline your sales process and close more deals. Checkout his blog for awesome posts like “9 SaaS sales tips to close more deals in less time.”
Lori Richardson: Well-known sales strategist, Lori Richardson, wants to help reps score more sales. Her blog has plenty of helpful insights to inspire and improve your sales team.
Jill Konrath: Jill Konrath is a keynote speaker, sales acceleration strategist, and three-time bestselling author. Visit her blog for articles, videos, and more.
Steve Richard: Founder and CRO at ExecVision, Steve Richard consistently tweets helpful sales insights.
Barb Giamanco: Barbara is a social selling expert and active blogger. Visit her blog where she discusses the tough questions facing sales professionals. Don’t miss “Should Salespeople Create Their Own Content?”.
Scott Sambucci: Scott Sambucci is an author and the founder of SalesQualia. He also hosts a sales podcast.
Nancy Nardin: Featured on the Forbes Top 30 Social Selling list, Nancy is a must-follow for high-quality sales advice. She also runs a blog on her website “Smart Selling Tools.”
Kendra Lee: Kendra is a popular speaker and focuses on business growth. She also runs an active blog in her free time.
Mike Weinberg: Author of two bestsellers and lifelong entrepreneur, Mike Weinberg tweets about what he’s learned along the way. Visit his sales blog for tips and tricks of the trade.
Colleen Stanley: President of a sales development firm, Colleen has spent her career helping entrepreneurs build emotionally intelligent sales teams. Visit her blog to learn her methodology.
Jim Keenan: Jim Keenan is the CEO of A Sales Guy Inc. and runs a must-read blog about all things sales.
Max Altschuler: Max Altschuler is an author and the CEO of Sales Hacker.
Nancy Bleeke: Nancy is a sales conversation expert and blogger. Checkout her post “How Well is Your Team Equipped for the Sale After the Sale?”.
Jeb Blount: The founder of Sales Gravy and author of multiple books, Jeb considers himself an expert on human behavior in the workplace.
Brian G. Burns: Brian is the host of the podcast The Brutal Truth About Sales & Selling. His podcast covers B2B sales, social media, SaaS, startups, cold calling, and email marketing.
Deb Calvert: Deb Calvert has championed the idea of “putting people first.” She helps companies build strong sales teams by focusing on leadership development and productivity.
Paul Castain: Paul Castain is a sale coach, speaker, and podcaster. You can visit his website for blog posts and more.
Don Cooper: A sales trainer, keynote speaker, and coach for business owners, Don is a must-follow for daily sales tips. You can also visit his blog for his best sales insights. For an interesting read checkout “47 Things You Can Compete On Besides Price.”
Melonie Dodaro: Melonie is the author of bestseller The LinkedIn Code and a popular LinkedIn expert. In her blog, she writes about how you can use social media to sell more.
Colleen Francis: Colleen is a sales strategies and blogger. Follow her for great content and don’t miss her blog.
Gerhard Gschwandtner: Gerhard is the founder and publisher of Selling Power and Sales 2.0.
Jeffrey Gitomer: The so-called “King of Sales,” Jeffrey tweets out some top-notch content along with the occasional inspirational quote.
Peter Gracey: Peter Gracey is the CEO of QuotaFactory, a sales acceleration platform.
Tom Hopkins: Tom is a speaker, sales expert, and author. You can visit his blog to get some of his best sales tips.
Mark Hunter: Mark, a.k.a. “The Sales Hunter,” tweets motivation, tips, and sales training techniques. He also keeps an active blog with lots of insightful tips, checkout his post “10 Steps to Networking Effectively.”
Anthony Iannarino: Author of The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need, S. Anthony Iannarino also writes a unique, thought-provoking sales blog. Some of his best reads are “Salespeople Aren’t Lazy. They’re Poorly Led.,” “If You Don’t Like Prospecting, You Don’t Like Selling,” and “The Path to Mastery.”
Ron Karr: Author of bestseller Lead, Sell, or Get Out of the Way, Ron is a powerful voice in the sales theory community. His blog has a good mixture of articles and podcasts.
Mike Kunkle: Mike is a consultant for Brainshark and blogger. Read his post “Craft a Practical & Powerful Sales Value Proposition.”
Eric Lofholm: Eric is a motivational speaker and well-known sales trainer.
Paul McCord: Featured on the Forbes Top 30 Social Selling list, Paul has spent his career training B2B sales teams on effective prospecting techniques.
Heather R. Morgan: Heather R Morgan is an email marketing expert who runs a blog about cold emailing. Each of her posts give you helpful hints to help you improve your cold email strategy.
Andy Paul: A podcaster, bestselling author, speaker, coach, and advisor, Andy Paul is a lifelong entrepreneur. Visit his blog for popular articles and podcasts.
Jill Rowley: A social selling enthusiast, investor, professional speaker, and startup advisor, Jill Rowley also brings 16 years of SaaS experience to the table.
Tibor Shanto: Tibor Shanto is an award winning author, speaker, and B2B sales expert.
Elinor Stutz: An inspirational speaker, best selling author, and sales consultant, Elinor is a great to follow for inspirational quotes and leadership advice. She also writes an uplifting blog, checkout her post “Move from Fearful to Confident.”

Founders/Entrepreneurs

Jason Calacanis: Founder of Engadget and Inside and well-known angel investor, Jason writes about technology and changing industry trends in his blog. Anyone working with an early-stage startup should take two minutes to read his post “How to land early adopters with Product Hunt.”
Dave McClure: Founder of 500 Startups and acclaimed “super angel investor,” Dave McClure writes about everything from changing technology to embracing diversity in the workplace in his blog “500 Hats.” Here, you’ll find a controversial post he wrote about the tech bubble.
Derek Sivers: Founder and former President of CD Baby, Derek Sivers uses his blog to teach others life-lessons he’s learned along the way. Checkout his post: “How to get rich.”
Arianna Huffington: Founder of The Huffington Post, founder and CEO of Thrive Global, and author of 15 books, Arianna Huffington has been ranked one of the most powerful women in the world by Forbes.
Marc Nager: Former CEO of Startup Weekend, Marc Nager tweets about startups, Silicon Valley, and the global economy.
Gary Vaynerchuk: Founder of Vayner Sports and life-long entrepreneur, Gary Vaynerchuk tweets inspirational quotes and useful information for business owners. He also hosts a unique video blog series titled “The #AskGaryvee Show.” In this episode he answers the question: “How safe would you play it when faced with the decision to quit your daytime job to be an entrepreneur?”.
Pat Flynn: Pat founded Smart Passive Income with the goal of helping others reach their entrepreneurial goals. He runs an active blog and a bunch of well-known podcast series including The Smart Passive Income Podcast, Ask Pat, and 1 Day Business Breakthrough.Seth Godin: Multiple time startup founder and 17-time author, Seth Godin keeps a collection of this personal thoughts, reflections, and entrepreneurial insights in his blog. Get inspired with this post “If not now, when?”.
Donna Harris: As the cofounder of 1776, Donna Harris tweets about all-things startup related.
Alexis Ohanian: Reddit cofounder and bestselling author, Alexis Ohanian tweets about changing industry trends.
Neil Patel: Entrepreneur, investor, and founder of Crazy Egg. Neil Patel writes about website optimization, SEO, social media and more in his blog.
Jonathan Fields: Jonathan Fields is the founder of Good Life Project and runs a podcast series titled “GLP Radio.”
Richard Branson: Founder of the Virgin Group and renowned entrepreneur and philanthropist, Richard provides a unique perspective on entrepreneurship. You can follow his blog, and for a quick inspirational boost checkout his post “My top 10 quotes on teamwork.”
Jason Fried: Basecamp founder and CEO, Jason Fried tweets about important industry updates and insights for entrepreneurs. In his blog, you’ll find important insights into how to build a startup. In his post, “Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisk,” Jason takes a unique perspective on being a risk-averse entrepreneur.
Tim Ferriss: Tim Ferriss is a best-selling author, investor, and creator of the award-winning podcast The Tim Ferriss Show.
Caterina Fake: Founder of Findery and active investor, Caterina Fake writes on entrepreneurship, women, and technology in her blog.
Gabriel Weinberg: Gabriel Weinberg is the founder of a unique search engine solution, DuckDuckGo.
Craig Newmark: As the founder of Craig’s List, Craig is a well-known entrepreneur and active blogger. His post “5 Ventures Founded by Women That You Should Check Out” is definitely worth a read.
Anil Dash: Two time startup-cofounder and active blogger, Anil Dash paints a unique perspective on startup culture and the technology industry. He blogs about the future of technology, diversity, and other topics he hopes will bring ethics to tech. If you have 10 minutes, checkout his thought-provoking piece “How do we reform tech?”.
Eric Ries: As the author of The Lean Startup, Eric Ries takes to his blog to chronicle what he’s learned from witnessing startup success and failure firsthand.
Ali Brown: Ali has built a career on coaching and empowering businesswomen around the world. Ali’s podcast series, titled “Glambition Radio” features dozens of women entrepreneurs.
Derek Andersen: As the founder of Startup Grind, Derek Andersen has committed his life to educating and connecting entrepreneurs from around the world. Follow him for exciting industry updates and insights.
Brian Wong: Founder of Kiip and author of The Cheat Code, Brian is a young but impactful voice in the startup industry. Visit his LinkedIn page for posts on marketing, Millennials, and much more. Checkout his piece “Stop Marketing to Millennials. Start Marketing to the “Connected Generation.”
Joel Gascoigne: As the cofounder of Buffer, Joel Gascoigne is very active on social media. He tweets about startup life, content marketing, and all sorts of other useful information.
Brian Chesky: Brian Chesky is the cofounder and CEO of Airbnb and has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time.
Evan Williams: Ev Williams is the CEO of Medium, and you can follow him on Twitter for cultural insights and thoughts on current events.
Biz Stone: Three-time startup cofounder (Twitter, Medium, and Jelly), Biz Stone is a well-known entrepreneur. You can visit his blog for updates on his latest projects and insights into organizing and funding a startup. If you work at an early-stage startup, don’t miss “3 Ways to Keep Startup Engineering Simple.”
John Rampton: Founder of Due and active blogger, John Rampton offers invaluable insight into building a business. His blog contains everything from case studies, to opinion pieces, to useful resources like “Is Your Product Ready to Go Live? A Launch Checklist.”
James Altucher: James Altucher is a bestselling author and has founded over a dozens companies. He has an active blog and podcast where you can find interviews with other entrepreneurs and inspirational insights. Interested in doing a podcast? Start with James’ post “Why You Absolutely Must Do A Podcast.”
Dharmesh Shah: The founder and CTO of Hubspot and inbound marketing and sales SaaS blogger, Dharmesh Shah is a well-known entrepreneur. He tweets about updates on emerging technologies and helpful tips on how to successfully run a startup. In his blog you’ll find more information on technology. Don’t miss his post “The Free Growth Tools I Recommend For Modern Businesses to Grow & Scale.”
Eric Knopf: Cofounder at Webconnex, Eric Knopf tweets helpful tips for any small business owner. He also occasionally contributes to the Webconnex blog, writing about what he’s learned as a startup founder. Here he writes about how Webconnex successfully integrates remote work into their company culture.
Ramit Sethi: Ramit is the author of #1 New York Times Best Seller I Will Teach You To Be Rich and a well-known financial advisor. He tweets on business, money, psychology, and career success. Visit his blog for personal finance insights and tips on career development.
Martin Zwilling: A startup mentor, investor, and entrepreneur, Martin is a veteran of the technology startup industry. He’s also a very active blogger and writes about ways business owners can enhance operations, increase productivity, and help their companies succeed.
Roy Povarchik: An avid blogger, founder of Cariboo, and marketing consultant for startups, Roy Povarchik tweets and blogs about content marketing and growth strategies for startups.
Alex Turnbull: CEO and founder of Groove, Alex Turnbull tweets about everything startup-related from technology to funding. He is also an active contributor to Groove’s blog. If you have five minutes his post “How We Grew Our Business by Picking Up Scraps (And Stopped Leaving Customers on the Table)” is definitely worth a read.

VCs/Angel Investors

Jason Lemkin: Two-time startup founder and venture capitalist, Jason M. Lemkin has most recently committed his time to building SaaStr.
Rich Miner: Former Android cofounder, Rich Miner is now an investment partner on the Google Ventures team.
Brad Feld: Brad Feld is a managing director Foundry Group and avid blogger. His blog, “Feld Thoughts,” is a favorite among many entrepreneurs.
Shervin Pishevar: Founder of Sherpa Capital, Shervin Pishevar is a well-known super angel investor.
David Beisel: David Beisel is the co-founder of NextView Ventures. He tweets tips on running a startup and inspiration for entrepreneurs. He’s also an active blogger and writes about VC ventures and how to raise funding.
David Skok: David Skok describes himself as a lifelong entrepreneur gone venture capitalist and is with Matrix Partners. He has interests in technology, SaaS, and cloud-based software. His blog has lots of helpful information for entrepreneurs, like his post “Clarity of Message: Why You Need A Great Message & How To Create It.”
Eileen Burbidge: A self-proclaimed work and techaholic, Eileen Burbidge is a venture capitalist and founding partner at Passion Capital. Follow her for tweets on exciting technology innovations.
David Cowan: David is a venture capitalist with a unique twist — he focuses on space and cyber ventures. His blog is a goldmine of intriguing, diverse content. From space, to cyber security, to tips for entrepreneurs, David’s blog is a must-follow.
Ajay Agarwal: Ajay is an early-stage tech-focused VC and active blogger. He writes on everything from SaaS, to emerging markets, to creating an effective corporate culture. Checkout “How to create a billion-dollar SaaS company: Build a ‘system of record’.”
Balaji Srinivasan: CEO of 21 and Board Partner at a16z, Balaji S. Srinivasan is a well-known entrepreneur and investor.
Vinod Khosla: Vinod Khosla is a world-renowned serial investor and entrepreneur.
Christine Herron: Christine Herron is an early-stage investor and has helped grow over a half dozen startups. You can visit her blog for her thoughts on parenthood, women succeeding in business, and entrepreneurship.
Fred Wilson: A venture capitalist and avid blogger, Fred Wilson writes on just about anything. From entrepreneurial insights, to investment decisions, to current events, follow Fred’s blog for the latest updates.
Mark Suster: Two-time founder turned VC, Mark Suster is now with Upfront Ventures. He’s also an active blogger, checkout his post “Venture Capital is About Human Capital.”
Andrew Chen: Andrew Chen is a former venture capitalist who’s spent the more recent part of his career focused on writing. To date he’s written 500+ articles, many of which have been featured on The New York Times, Fortune, and the Wall Street Journal. Follow his newsletter for excellent insights into every part of business.
Jason Cohen: An investor, mentor, and four-time startup founder, Jason Cohen is extremely active in the startup community. In his spare time, he blogs about marketing and small business.
Bill Gurley: One of the top technology investors in the world and general partner at Benchmark, Bill Gurley is an important voice in the VC community. He also occasionally writes on his blog.
David Cohen: David is a serial investor at heart and the founder and managing partner at Techstars. You can follow his blog for thoughts on working with investors, raising capital, and building a network.
Semil Shah: An investor, writer, and founder of Haystack Fund, Semil has been an early investor in over 70 companies. On his blog he writes about the economy, his investment decisions, and projections for the future of startups.
Hunter Walk: Hunter Walk is a seed stage venture capitalist with Homebrew. He’s also an active blogger — view his latest posts here.
Tomasz Tunguz: Author of Winning With Data and venture capitalist with Redpoint Ventures, Tomasz is an avid writer and runs an awesome blog. Subscribe to his blog for data-driven posts answering some of the toughest questions facing startups: how to fund raise, manage effectively, and build team camaraderie. Don’t miss his short but intriguing post “The Customer Support Experience Of The Future.”
Jalak Jobanputra: Jalak is an investor, public speaker, and has been featured in Institutional Investor’s list of “Fintech’s Most Powerful Dealmakers of 2016.” You can visit her blog for a global perspective on investments, economics, and current events.
Andrew Parker: Andrew Parker is a venture capitalist with Spark Capital and an active blogger.
Charlie O’Donnell: A venture capitalist with Brooklyn Bridge Ventures and NY native, Charlie O'Donnell is very active with the NY startup scene. He writes about venture capital, seed investments, NY, and his hobbies in his blog.
Ben Horowitz: Ben is a venture capitalist, blogger, and author of The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers.
Chris Dixon: Chris Dixon has an impressive resume, having founded over half a dozen startups. He’s currently a partner at a16z. He also blogs regularly about technology, don’t miss “Eleven Reasons To Be Excited About The Future of Technology.”
Fred Destin: Fred Destin is a partner at Accel and has committed his career to helping grow innovative startups. Checkout his thoughts on startups in his blog, and read this post on startup culture.
Chris Sacca: Chris Sacca is a venture investor, company advisor, and entrepreneur. He manages a portfolio of over eighty startups ranging from early stage to mature companies.
Mark Cuban: One of the most well-known investors in the county, Mark Cuban is a lifelong entrepreneur and active investor.
Guy Kawasaki: Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist of Canva, a highly successful online design tool startup. He’s also the author of over a dozen books and an active blogger. His blog provides top-notch advice for startups, like his post “How to Pick Advisors.”

Organizations

500 Startups: 500 Startups is a seed fund and global network of startup founders, mentors, and investors. They also have an awesome blog. Don’t miss their post “The 4 Components of a Winning Direct Mail Campaign.”
Y Combinator: Y Combinator has a unique approach to seed funding: they fund startups in batches, sometimes of over 100 at a time. To date they’ve funded over 1,000 startups.
OPEN Forum: OPEN Forum is a great resource for any entrepreneur or small business owner. They create conversations between business owners, provide resources, and promote best practices. Their blog features pieces by investors, founders, and other thought leaders. “The Power of Non-Linear Thinking” is a short but powerful post.
Idealab: Idealab is the longest running technology incubator and has created over 150 companies.
The Lean Startup: Founded by Eric Ries, Heather McGough, and Melissa Moore, The Lean Startup helps entrepreneurs build better products through the Lean Startup methodology. You can find some great resources on their blog. “How To Empower Your Employees To Act Like Entrepreneurs” is a good quick read.
Bplans: Bplans is dedicated to teaching entrepreneurs how to plan, pitch, fund, and manage their business. Their website is packed with helpful resources, blog posts, and insights from small business owners.
Techstars: Techstars is a technology accelerator which has funded nearly 1,000 companies to date.
SaaStr: What once started as a blog has evolved into a global network of SaaS experts. Visit SaaStr’s website for Q&A’s, blog posts, and other helpful resources.

Podcasts

This Week in Startups: Created by Jason Calacanis, This Week in Startups has featured hundreds of entrepreneurs. This Week in Startups lets you learn first-hand from the stories of founders from companies like Slack, Trello, DoorDash, and many more.
Mixergy: Another entrepreneur-focused podcast, Mixergy features in-depth interviews with hundreds of founders. Don’t miss one of its all-time most popular episodes, an interview with Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, the co-founders of Airbnb.
Startups for the Rest of Us: Hosted by Mike Taber and Rob Walling, Startups for the Rest of Us aims to help entrepreneurs learn to launch awesome products. With a combined 20 years software entrepreneurship experience, Mike and Rob have a lot to offer in the way of industry best practices. Some of their most popular episodes include “When to Consider Outside Investment for Your Startup,” “Seven Catastrophically Common Launch Mistakes,” and “12 Rules for Building Your First Profitable Startup.”
The Full Ratchet: The Full Ratchet was created by Nick Morgan, the co-founder and Managing Director of New Stack Ventures and Moran Capital Partners, when he first became interested in angel investing. His podcast covers everything investor-related, including interviews with successful investors. Checkout his episode “Building an Investor Brand.”
Entrepreneur on Fire: Brought to you by John Lee Dumas, Entrepreneur on Fire (or EOFire for short), is an award-winning podcast which has featured over 1,500 entrepreneurs.
Stanford’s Entrepreneurship Corner: This podcast covers any and all topics related to entrepreneurship, startups, and running a small business. Don’t miss the episode “Why Company Culture is Crucial,” featuring Dharmesh Shah, the co-founder and CTO of HubSpot.
How to Build a Rocketship: This podcast covers everything from startup funding, to growth, to developing culture, to improving sales, and basically anything a founder might want to know. Hundreds of big-name entrepreneurs have been interviewed on the show, including Andrew Chen, Gabriel Weinberg, and Jason Cohen.
Foundation: Foundation features high-quality interviews with dozens of successful founders. Don’t miss an interview with Biz Stone.
Product People: Hosted by Justin Jackson, Product People focuses on great products and the people who created them. Product People covers everything SaaS, startup, and tech related.
Beyond the To-Do List: Created and hosted by Erik Fisher, Beyond the To-Do List features secrets from productive people, and aims to help listeners achieve good work life balance.
1 Day Business Breakthrough: Also known as “1DayBB,” this podcast features conversational, unscripted interviews with entrepreneurs. Hosted by Chris Ducker and Pat Flynn, the show covers topics like discovering your personal brand, using a virtual assistant to increase productivity, and much more.
Traction: TheTractionShow explores the origins of successful startups. If you’re interested in learning how founders came up with ideas for companies like thredUP, NextView, and more, then Traction is the podcast for you.
SaaStr: SaaStr’s podcast series has the best advice in the SaaS industry and features dozens of founders, CEOs, and other thought leaders.
The Startup Chat: Hosted by Hiten Shah and Steli Efti, the startup chat goes in-depth on all the toughest questions facing founders. Checkout some popular episodes like “How to Create a Winning Startup Culture,” “Cold Calling 101 for Founders,” and “How to Relaunch Your Website.”
ConversionAid: ConversionAid host and creator, Omer Khan, is focused on helping software entrepreneurs create software that sells. Listen to the episode “How to Boost Your SaaS Growth with Content Marketing — with Garrett Moon.”
The Twenty Minute VC: The Twenty Minute VC features interviews with VCs and covers everything VC-related.

We hope you found this list useful. Don’t forget to bookmark this page so you can refer back to it anytime.

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