Channel: content People: Michael Houck, Blake Stewart Date: Approx 2026-08-13 Permalink: https://ryevalley.slack.com/archives/C07Q8FGH4CU/p1786628845304819
Signal
Blake confirmed to Michael that a $20k sponsorship package prospect decided to test with a single $2,500 placement first before committing. Invoice was sent. Emergent and Google invoices are outstanding but expected to arrive shortly.
Blake also flagged a structural problem with the sponsor pipeline: email outreach deliverability has declined (AI-email volume across the industry tightening filters), so he is shifting to LinkedIn outreach via Lemlist. Michael suggested exploring X DMs as an additional channel.
Key quote from Blake on why renewal is the core problem: “Featured Ads at 3K get like 50 clients on a good day. I’ve stopped sharing average clicks because it’s an immediate no. They’d rather go to Meta/Google. I’m using impressions as the main metric to sell.”
Pattern
Hard Calls sponsorship renewals are the core revenue vulnerability. Michael explicitly acknowledged this: “renewals are def the core thing, and that comes from better engagement, which will only come once these funnels are set up.” The implication is that sponsorship stability is gated on Hard Calls list quality/engagement improving post-rebrand.
Amounts to note
- $20k deal reduced to $2,500 test - invoice sent (as of approx Aug 13)
- Emergent and Google invoices outstanding
File financial specifics separately if exact amounts are needed for accounting.