TFTSL Ep43 —John Yates and Gregg Bedol
Today in the Sky Lounge, we are joined by John Yates, a partner at Gunderson-Dettmer, and Gregg Bedol, founder of TractionBD. Their collaboration represents something rare: seasoned professionals using decades of hard-won experience to build something genuinely new.
John arrived in Atlanta in 1981, the same year IBM announced the PC and opened its architecture to software developers. For 44 years, he’s represented tech companies through every stage of growth, from garage startups to some of the largest companies in the country. Gregg’s path ran through Arthur Andersen’s consulting division, executive roles in tech companies, and multiple entrepreneurial ventures. They’ve been friends and neighbors for 35 years. The driveway conversations finally led somewhere.
The problem they’re solving is as old as professional services itself. For centuries, the model has been apprenticeship: find a mentor, learn for years or decades, hope they retire and hand you their book of business. It’s slow, uncertain, and increasingly rare. “”There aren’t as many people who want to help the next generation,”” as the conversation acknowledges. Most professionals find themselves having to scramble and make their own destiny.
John’s insight, refined over four decades, comes down to a simple equation: prospects plus actions equals clients. The catch? It takes an average of 7 to 10 actions to convert a prospect into a client. Most professionals give up after two or three because they can’t think of what else to do. You can only invite someone to play golf or attend a football game so many times.
TractionBD emerged from recognizing what AI suddenly made possible. Gregg describes it as “”putting John Yates in a box””—taking expertise that previously required decades to develop and making it accessible through software. The platform is voice-enabled and mobile-first because professionals don’t want to come back to a desktop and type into a CRM. “”That’s been there for years. It’s called CRM, and it doesn’t work,”” Gregg notes.
The distinction matters. Traditional CRMs are repositories for data, designed for marketing organizations and professional salespeople. TractionBD targets professionals who don’t sell to make a living—lawyers, accountants, consultants—people who deliver a service where selling is a necessary component. The tool handles the grindy parts: scanning business cards, building ideal client profiles, suggesting contextually appropriate actions, maintaining persistence without being obnoxious.
“”Business development is not an automated process. It’s a human-to-human process,”” Gregg emphasizes. The technology accelerates and enhances, but the core hasn’t changed. It’s still about relationships. Relationships drive revenue. The difference is that AI can now help you stay top of mind with a hundred people instead of ten, and it can craft messages that sound authentic because it learns your voice over time.
The conversation extends to Atlanta’s opportunity. John is working to establish the city as a hub for Applied AI, bringing together Fortune 500 headquarters, venture capital, Georgia Tech’s research capabilities, and a mayor who cares about technology. The Southeast is probably the fastest-growing area for tech in the country, but it requires intentional community building—something John has been doing since 1981.
What makes this collaboration work is the combination of deep domain expertise with genuine technical innovation. John knows what business development requires. Gregg knows how to build it. They’re old enough to have extensive networks and young enough to be building something new. The tools available now—AI, social media, mobile platforms—create advantages that didn’t exist even two years ago. Experience finally has the edge.
TFTSL Ep21 — James Rozich
In this episode of Tales from the Sky Lounge, Todd Merrill speaks with Adam Lehde, co-founder of Happen Technologies, about his journey in building a hybrid software development team that leverages talent from Ukraine. They discuss the cultural differences encountered while working with Ukrainian developers, the impact of remote work dynamics post-COVID, and the potential for a thriving startup culture in Ukraine as the country looks towards recovery from conflict. In this conversation, Adam Lehde shares his journey through mobile development, the challenges of cross-platform technology, and the importance of user engagement in apps. He discusses the balance between family and career, his transition to entrepreneurship, and how fitness plays a crucial role in managing stress. Adam also reflects on his travel experiences and the cultural insights gained along the way, emphasizing the value of community and personal growth.