REMASTERED:  Perfecting Your Sales Pitch, with John Livesay | (Selling, Networking, CEO, Engagement)

REMASTERED: Perfecting Your Sales Pitch, with John Livesay | (Selling, Networking, CEO, Engagement)

Author: Southwestern Family of Podcasts - Southwestern Family of Companies May 26, 2026 Duration: 17:16
As a funding strategist, John Livesay helps CEOs craft a compelling pitch that engages investors in a way that inspires them to join a startup’s team. He hosts The Successful Pitch podcast with investors from around the world. He is the Pitch Mentor at Startfast.net, the number one accelerator in Upstate New York. After a successful 20 year career in media sales with Conde Nast where he worked across all 22 brands in their corporate division [GQ, Vanity Fair, Wired, W and Vogue] and created integrated programs for clients such as Lexus, Hyundai and Guess, John won salesperson of the year in 2012 across the entire company. John’s book, The 7 Most Powerful Selling Secrets and has been translated into Spanish and Russian. John has a B.S in Advertising from the University of Illinois. Show Highlights: Not only do you need to have a solid pitch, you need to know the answers to the questions investors will ask you. @John_LivesayThe moment you lose credibility, the answer is no. @John_LivesayThe entire purpose of a sales pitch is to get people interested, not to over inform them. @John_LivesayInvestors invest in the jockey, not the horse. Your horse is the idea, but you make it happen. @John_LivesayThe two reasons people go out of business are 1) lack of customers 2) lack of funding @John_LivesayYour network is your net-knowledge. Who you know is everything. @John_LivesayThe more you understand the problem the more investors think you have the solution. @John_LivesaySell the problem before you sell the solution. @John_LivesayConfident people are quietly humble. Arrogant people are loudly braggadocios.When you become comfortable with the silence in your head, you become comfortable with the silence in the room. @John_Livesay The Action Catalyst is a weekly podcast hosted by Dan Moore, President of Southwestern Advantage, the oldest direct-sales company in America, and Partner with Southwestern Consulting. With more than 45 years in sales leadership and marketing management, Dan has a wealth of knowledge to share on how to make better use of time to achieve life, sales, and other business goals. Each week, he interviews some of the nation’s top thought leaders and experts, sharing meaningful tips and advice. Subscribe on iTunes and please leave a rating and review!

What does it take to move from thinking to doing, from planning to achieving? The Action Catalyst is a podcast built on the premise that real progress requires more than just motivation-it demands actionable insight. Each conversation features a different top leader or accomplished achiever, but the focus remains consistently practical: extracting the hard-earned lessons they learned on their way up. You’ll hear stories not just of success, but of the setbacks and plateaus that preceded it, with guests offering concrete strategies for navigating those inevitable challenges. This isn’t about abstract theory; it’s a resource for anyone feeling stuck in mediocrity or unsure of their next step in business, personal development, or their professional journey. The discussions are designed to help you uncover a more personal source of inspiration and then translate that into a clearer path forward. Tune in for a regular dose of candid advice and proven methods to help dismantle obstacles and reach your specific goals. The Action Catalyst is produced by the Southwestern Family of Podcasts, part of the Southwestern Family of Companies, and delivers these conversations with the understanding that sustained action is the most powerful catalyst for change. You’ll find each episode centers on a transferable idea or a shift in perspective that you can apply immediately, making the podcast a tool for ongoing education and self-improvement.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

The Action Catalyst
Podcast Episodes
CLIP:  Innovation Hesitation and the Aerodynamics of Creativity [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:13
Richard Braden and Dr. Tessa Forshaw, innovation educators from Stanford, explain how “innovation hesitation” holds people back, and explain how the tools of creativity are a lot like the ones you use to pilot an airplan…
CLIP:  Your Difference Is Your Destiny [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:28
DeVon Franklin—Hollywood producer, New York Times bestselling author, and leadership expert— explains how the things that make you UNcommon, are the very keys to your success....but getting comfortable with them is the c…
CLIP:  Don't Negotiate Like Elon Musk [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:40
Pay negotiation expert John Gates, explains why Elon Musk can afford to employ a very specific negotiation tactic which the average job seeker should very much NOT utilize...Hear John's full interview in his very special…
CLIP:  Conditioned Tendencies and Diminishers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:49
Preston Smiles, personal development leader, author, and speaker, breaks down the concepts of conditioned tendencies and diminishers, and how each one can lead to an incomplete understanding of our own control, and an in…
Act Your Wage, with John Gates | (Salary, Pay, Hiring, Negotiation) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:41
Pay negotiation expert John Gates, author of "Act Your Wage", shares proven salary negotiation strategies to help professionals increase compensation by 10–20% without risk or confrontation. Drawing on decades of experie…
CLIP:  Antipatterns and Artificial Ownership [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:51
Phil Le-Brun, former McDonald’s VP and International CIO and current AWS leader, shares how companies can avoid common “anti-patterns” like excessive bureaucracy and rigid structures, and defines what "artificial ownersh…