Hosted by Mike Parsons Apollo Advisors · 🇺🇸 US · EN · 25 episodes
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Hosted by Mike Parsons, each episode explores the systems, strategies, and decision-making behind predictable growth in an AI-powered world. Mike is an AI-driven Growth Marketing Strategist whose career blends technology, creativity, and growth. His journey began in 1997 when he launched Australia’s first internet radio station, which led to work across Europe and Silicon Valley, a Guinness World Record, building and selling startups, and advising founders on growth and innovation. Today, Mike coaches finalists in the Australian Technologies Competition and the World Cup.
Mike Parsons Apollo Advisors hosts The Growth Engine, a business show with 25 episodes published.
Most startups don’t fail because they can’t get their first customers.They fail because they can’t build a repeatable system to get the next 90.In this episode of The Growth Engine Podcast, Mike Parsons breaks down one o
Most startups don’t fail because they can’t get their first customers.They fail because they can’t build a repeatable system to get the next 90.In this episode of The Growth Engine Podcast, Mike Parsons breaks down one o
Most founders think they have a conversion problem.So they optimise:* pricing* onboarding* landing pages* ads* funnels* featuresBut what if the real issue is deeper?In this episode of The Growth Engine, Mike Parsons brea
Why Customers Don’t Buy (And the Simple Test You’re Missing)Customers aren’t buying.And most founders think it’s because of:– the product– the pricing– the marketingIt’s not.👉 The real reason is simpler — and harder to
After reviewing 400+ startup pitch decks as part of global competitions, one pattern became clear: Most founders are pitching the wrong thing. They talk about product features… But investors are listening for something c
Most startup go-to-markets don’t fail because of bad products.They fail because founders try to do too much, too early — with no system.In this episode of The Growth Engine, Mike Parsons breaks down why GTMs fall apart —
Before You Raise Funding: 10 Legal & Financial Fixes Every Startup NeedsRaising startup funding isn’t just about traction or pitch decks. Investors, acquirers, and enterprise customers will look deep into your legal stru
What if your startup raised $2 million… hired a team… launched the product… and still didn’t have product-market fit?In this episode of The Growth Engine, Mike Parsons breaks down the case of a fictional AI startup that
Fictitious AI looks like a dream startup. An ex-OpenAI researcher. A serial founder with exits. A strong product. Early traction and growing interest. And yet the company cannot execute consistently. Deadlines slip. Deci
Episode 16 — The AI Startup That Loses Money Every Time You Use ItThis startup looks perfect.Customers love it.Usage is exploding.Investors would absolutely take the meeting.There’s just one problem: every time a custome
Why do some companies grow every month… while others live deal-to-deal?Most founders think they have a growth problem.In reality, they have a system problem.Leads come in — then stop.Sales spike — then disappearMarketing
Are We Building the Right Product? | Product Validation for Startups (15 Tests)Most startups don’t fail because they can’t build.They fail because they build the wrong thing—too confidently, for too long.In this episode
Most startups don’t fail because the product is bad. They fail because the business model breaks when growth begins. In this episode, Mike Parsons walks through ProductBooks — Business Model Fit Evaluator, the third stag
Product-market fit is one of the most misunderstood — and most critical — milestones in building a successful startup. Many founders ship great products, but still struggle to answer the real question: do customers actua
Learn how to validate a startup idea in 5 minutes using AI and a proven problem–solution fit framework.In this episode of The B2B Growth Engine, Mike walks through a custom GPT that helps founders quickly assess whether
Most people assume B2B buying is rational and B2C buying is emotional. The data says the opposite. In this episode of The B2B Growth Engine, Mike Parsons breaks down a key Gartner insight showing that emotional connectio
In this episode, we break down the 11 greatest challenges in creating a growth strategy—the same structural blind spots that stall founders, GTM teams, and SaaS companies again and again. After building hundreds of Growt
In this episode, Mike Parsons dives into why messaging matters — and why unclear messaging can slow growth, lengthen sales cycles, and kill conversions. Mike shares research showing that unclear messaging can increase cu
Nearly 42% of startups fail simply because they never achieve product–market fit. They build a product… but not for the right customer.In this episode, Mike Parsons unveils a free AI tool that helps founders, marketers,
In this episode, Mike Parsons dives into one of the most powerful levers in B2B growth — defining your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Using the free Ideal Customer Profile GPT by Apollo Advisors, you’ll see how to turn yo
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The Growth Engine is hosted by Mike Parsons Apollo Advisors. The show is categorised under business (marketing) and has published 25 episodes.
The Growth Engine has published 25 episodes.
The Growth Engine regularly covers business, marketing. It sits in the business category, with a marketing focus.
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Episodes of The Growth Engine average 15 minutes. a focused format where a clear narrative arc and tight preparation matter most.
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