HNY 2025: The 5 Things I'll Focus On In Q1

You all have tons to catch up on after the holiday break, so I’ll keep this shorter (and no links while I’m on the go).

As B2B is poised to grow this year again, I’m mapping out the journey in a way I wouldn’t have imagined 5 years ago. But after the global pandemic, several wars, record high inflation rates, the first tech layoffs since the Dot com boom - and many more - we live in a new era requiring a new level of thinking.

Add AI to the mix: taking jobs, poluting the web, cluttering the communication channels.

I’m getting outside of my own comfort zone by pivoting into new areas of focus and investments in Q1, namely:

1. 1:1 Relationships

2. Directories

3. Strategic Growth Circle

4. Blogging/Essays

5. Volunteering

1. Relationships and face time

As a hardcore introvert (and someone scaling systems and frameworks), I’ve always optimized for reach when I can. Education is one handy example here: I was teaching classes of 20-30 people in 2006-2010, switching to universities and academies (100-200 people), online courses (500 people), then YouTube, and books.

But with mass-produced content all over the place (and limited attention), I’m moving back to unscalable systems:

Making personalized connections with real people - on-site events, lunches, dinners, meetups, 1:1 calls.

I authored a global async communication guide 3 years ago after living the async life for a while - and my consulting business is still async - but I’m stressing on account-based and relationship-based this year.

This post by Mani really resonated with me:

2. Directories

Education (social/blogs/PR) and services are both impacted by SEO updates, AI, and commodity businesses with race to the bottom.

Media companies will be on the rise. Directories are scaling well organically - and the system is working really well.

I’m quite passionate about scaling these.

You can see the list in my B2B Ecosystem portal.

3. The Growth Circle

When I launched the Strategic Growth Circle in November, it was an experiment at best. I didn’t expect the first 20 people to join - and we’re still just 1 churned member since.

I also didn’t expect agencies to jump in. This is technically “competition”, but practically, there’s plenty of fish in the sea and I’m happy to help however and wherever I can.

So I’m still growing the program and onboarding up to 10 new members in Q1. There’s a limit on how many new businesses I can study and familiarize myself with at a time, which is why I’m running smaller batches to get the ball rolling.

At $297/mo, it’s 1:1 async consulting with referral opportunities, additional listing campaigns, and access to 1-off booster services through my other businesses. I know how valuable this is and it also sparks joy working with passionate founders (B2B SaaS, services, traditional businesses, and consultants/investors).

4. Blogging/Essays

This is two-folded and I’ve been thinking about this for a while.

I used to blog heavily starting in 2006. Blogs were still a thing, SEO was easier, building relationships in comment boxes was a continuation of forums. Things changed and I shifted to social/email/content marketing vs. blogging.

Nowadays, I’m tired of all the clickbait with hooks and CTAs and boring frameworks. So I’ve been diversifying with some deeper thinking which clicks with some people.

I listened to a few podcasts with Jason Friedof Basecamp and Mark Manson, along with other authors. The power of writing is still stuck with me.

And some of the wpdrama in the WordPress community brought some bloggers back to life. And I’m planning to get back to writing less actionable, more deeper thinking type of content, something based on my observations and experience and point of view vs. generalized and dumb down framework copy that’s now produced by GPTs.

5. Volunteering

I’ve always been passionate about giving back, but any area of focus produces better results.

And losing my four-legged companion last month left a hole in my heart I can’t easily fill in. What I can do to carry the mission forward is help independent pet professionals, rescue/foster homes, and other devoted saviors and services in the space ran by individuals or SMBs who can’t afford digital presence (site, content, social) and can’t reach the right people.

This brought in Mara’s Angels the other day.

And with all the commoditization going on over the past few years in digital and tech, going back to humanity with priority is top of mind today.

No matter how 2024 went for you, I sincerely wish each and every one of you a prosperous, healthy, positive, and motivating 2025 ahead. Make the most out of the new year. And let this be the first of many, many consecutive years of success and making the world a better place.

Listing down the best ways to work with me this year:

🌐 Scaling WordPress past 100M views? DevriX provides martech retainers to SMEs, publishers, eCommerce, SaaS, and more. Our plans start from $1,200/mo to $40K/mo and we manage high-traffic platforms, B2B SaaS apps, partnership management solutions, supporting $10M - $250M businesses with scalability, custom funnels, CRO, big data augmentation, AI-driven processes, HubSpot workflows, programmatic SEO - and everything a modern business requires in digital in 2025.

🚀  Work 1:1 with me? At Growth Shuttle, I run two popular plans: Async Advisory for $3M - $30M founders and executive teams and the smaller Strategic Growth Circle for $100K - $500K entrepreneurs, agency founders, scale ups.

📈 International founder looking into US LLCs? Check out doola and their “Business in a Box” model. Suitable for both foreigners and US citizens and both for residents and non-residents.

📊 Into digital M&A? I work closely with Flippa’s marketplace. They offer a vast variety of online businesses for any buyer’s interest. Or if you’re ready for an exit, Flippa provides the tools to list your business and close the deal.

💼 Looking for investment opportunities? Check out SeedBlink and use Equity to manage your ESOP tables in-house.