Becoming CEO of a Startup He Didn't Start w/ Lucas Wilson, CEO at Signpost
Hello and welcome back to the Collin Cadmus Podcast. Today I’m joined by Lucas Wilson.
Lucas graduated from Indiana State University in 1997 and then spent the first 13 years of his career in the auto business leading operations and sales for several Ford dealerships, until eventually pivoting into the tech space in 2009 when he started in sales at AngiesList. Since then he climbed the executive ladder across a long list of companies including Monster, Main Street Hub, Homebase, ProSites, and many more, until landing his most recent and current position as CEO at Signpost.
I’ve interviewed many founders who started out as salespeople, but this is the first time speaking to someone who has been hired into a CEO position that comes from a sales background. I’ve known of Signpost for as long as I’ve been in sales, because we used to hire from the same pool of talent in NYC, and when I worked at Doctor.com we actually subleased one of our offices from Signpost. So I can say firsthand that they’ve always had a reputation of having a strong sales culture and it doesn’t surprise me they eventually hired a CRO to be their CEO.
Needless to say, I’m excited to get his thoughts on all that’s changing in B2B sales and more specifically to dive into what it’s like to go from leading a sales organization to leading an entire company.
Before we get started, if you’re watching on YouTube, please take a moment to subscribe to the channel, like the video, and leave us a comment if you have questions or feedback. If you’re joining us from Spotify or Apple Podcasts, please drop us a review and let us know what you think of the episode. This is much appreciated.
Without further adieu, let’s dive in and get his thoughts.
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TOPICS:
00:00:00 Intro
00:04:35 Outbound Sales
00:19:57 Growth-at-all-Costs
00:26:55 Sales Quota Attainment
00:47:26 AI in Sales
00:58:04 From Sales to CEO
01:05:21 Jobs at Signpost
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QUESTIONS:
1. Is outbound sales broken? What’s changed and what’s working?
2. How are you thinking about Growth-at-all-Costs vs efficiency and profitability?
3. What do you think is the reason for low sales quota attainment and how do you manage it at Signpost?
4. What’s your take on AI in sales over the next 5-10 years and how are you using it at Signpost?
5. What’s it like going from leading sales to being CEO?
6. What’s exciting at Signpost in 2025 and are you hiring?
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LINKS:
Signpost: https://www.signpost.com
Lucas on X: https://x.com/Luke_Wilson75
Collin on X: https://x.com/collincadmus
Modern Outbound System: https://www.collincadmus.com/the-modern-outbound-system
Sales Coaching: https://www.collincadmus.com/sales-coaching
Founder Coaching: https://www.collincadmus.com/founder-coaching
Collin Cadmus Podcast: https://www.collincadmus.com/podcasts/collin-cadmus-podcast
Revenue Growth Blog: https://www.collincadmus.com/blog
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Sit back, relax, enjoy the episode, and thank you for listening, viewing, and subscribing.
Available on: YouTube, Rumble, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
