Co-Pilot Interview: How B2B Podcasts Unlock Leads, Content, and Growth

HexaGroup: Let’s start at the beginning. When did you launch your first podcast?

Guillaume: The first official podcast I launched was in March 2022. It was called Corporate Treasury 101. Technically, the very first one was supposed to be a bouldering podcast with a friend of mine named Hussam, who later co-founded GHA with me. We recorded one episode, but it was never published. So the true start was March 2022.

HexaGroup: What made you want to start a podcast?

Guillaume: At the time, it was the fifth wave of COVID in Europe, and we were in lockdown. Hussam and I were a bit bored, honestly. Most people our age were doing online parties or social events, and we said, “Let’s start a podcast about finance.” We thought we were the cool kids.

I had been consulting in corporate treasury and noticed a gap in the market. There weren’t many places where professionals in the field could hear thoughtful conversations about the industry. So we thought, "Why not create the kind of content we wish existed ourselves?"

One big inspiration was Chris Williamson’s podcast, Modern Wisdom. After listening to that, we thought, “Let’s launch something and see what happens.” The rest is history.

HexaGroup: What were some of the biggest challenges when you first started?

Guillaume: There were two kinds of challenges: the ones we created ourselves and the ones related to the market. First, we had absolutely no idea what we were doing. A funny example: For the first 30 episodes, we thought we were recording with a microphone clipped to my MacBook. Later, we realized we had been recording the entire time through the MacBook’s internal microphone, which explains why the audio quality wasn’t great.

Beyond the technical learning curve, we also had to figure out a strategy. What format should the show have? What topics should we cover? Who should the guests be?

From a market perspective, most podcasts at the time were entertainment-focused and very “B2C.” We were trying to make podcasting work for B2B audiences. That meant asking questions like, “Will senior professionals actually listen to this?” “Can a podcast work in a niche industry?” and “How do we make it interesting enough?”

We were figuring it out as we went.

HexaGroup: You’re very much a pioneer of B2B podcasts. When you first began managing B2B podcasts, what value did you see them bringing to businesses?

Guillaume: There are really two types of value: short-term and long-term. For short-term value, if done correctly, one podcast episode equals one conversation with a potential client.

In B2B marketing, one of the hardest things is getting access to senior decision-makers. CFOs, CEOs, and executives are constantly being pitched. But when you invite them onto a podcast, it becomes a conversation instead of a sales call.

Six months after we started interviewing guests on Corporate Treasury 101, we were able to speak with some of the biggest players in the industry: top recruiters, conference organizers, Group Treasurers, Consultants... A few years later, we now talk to leaders at major banks like Bank of America and Citibank.

Over time, a podcast becomes a powerful content engine. One 45-minute conversation can turn into podcast episodes, YouTube videos, social media clips, SEO/GEO blog articles, newsletter content, and more.

If you consistently talk with people who represent your ideal customer about the topics your industry cares about, you begin to build authority. Eventually, people see your content everywhere and reach out themselves asking how to work together.

HexaGroup: Have you seen the value of podcasting change over time?

Guillaume: The core value hasn’t changed. A podcast still helps you have meaningful conversations with potential clients. If you publish one episode per week, that’s 52 conversations with potential clients every year.

What has changed is the way content is distributed. AI has made it easier than ever to produce and publish content, which means there’s a lot more noise. Because of that, positioning and content strategy matter more than ever. You need to think carefully about podcast positioning, topic selection, content repurposing, and audience engagement. Those elements will continue to evolve.

HexaGroup: Your podcast Consulting Leaders is now ranked in the top 5% globally. What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned as the host of a successful podcast?

Guillaume: Two things: consistency and access. First, podcasting rewards consistency above all else. There’s a famous stat that 90% of podcasts don’t make it past episode three, and most of the rest don’t make it past episode 20. If you publish more than 20 episodes, you’re already in the top 1% of podcasts by number of episodes. It doesn’t mean you’ll automatically have a huge audience, but it shows how hard it is for people to stay consistent.

Second, a podcast helps open doors. For example, about a year after launching Corporate Treasury 101, we were invited to attend the EuroFinance conference in Barcelona. While we were there, I approached the event team and asked to interview the managing director of EuroFinance. They said yes.

We were still a relatively small podcast at the time, but the podcast itself created value for them. That’s the power of having something meaningful to offer.

HexaGroup: One of the key questions our clients have about launching podcasts is related to cadence. We emphasize consistency, which helps in so many ways—including landing the right guests based on their ICPs.

Guillaume: 100%. I agree with you. When you launch a podcast and build it up over six to 12 months, you have something of value that's very niche, but to anyone in that niche, it makes sense. It's much easier because you have something of value that you know people want.

HexaGroup: To make the most of a podcast, it’s critical to leverage numerous platforms. How do different platforms contribute to a podcast’s performance?

Guillaume: It depends on what you mean by performance. Different platforms contribute to performance in different ways.

For views, it’s YouTube. YouTube is incredibly strong for long-form content. In early 2025, YouTube reported more than one billion monthly podcast users.

For engagement, podcast platforms are key. Platforms like Apple Podcasts tend to have stronger engagement because people are actively listening rather than browsing.

For brand building, LinkedIn. For B2B companies, LinkedIn is one of the most powerful platforms for repurposed podcast content.

For business development, the platform doesn’t matter. The real value is the conversation itself. Often, the business impact happens before the episode is even published.

HexaGroup: Just like most things in today’s omnichannel landscape, the more platforms that share and promote your content, the better.

Guillaume: That’s correct.

HexaGroup: One of the key ways we like to leverage podcasts is for campaign content. Our clients are often technical in nature, with SMEs who have limited bandwidth for content creation. With the right guest strategy, a podcast episode is like an in-depth SME interview that produces dozens of pieces of content.

Guillaume: Yes. A single 45-minute conversation can easily generate 25 pieces of content.

This transforms into an audio episode on podcast platforms, a video episode on YouTube, an article for your website–SEO optimized if you do things right–clips for social media, and social media posts. Do that once per week, and you have a strong content strategy.

Podcasting can even integrate with existing marketing efforts. If you already publish blog articles, you can turn them into podcast discussions. If you have a strong social media presence, podcast clips can feed that audience.

HexaGroup: Exactly; that integration point is key. We not only integrate podcasts into our campaign content strategy but also leverage them for efforts like PR and SEO/AI visibility. They’re a great tool for brand awareness but go so far beyond that to also directly impact business development, like you mentioned earlier in our chat.

Given how podcasts have evolved already, especially as business development tools, how do you see the space continue to shift? What trends are on your radar?

Guillaume: When you look at the B2C space, major media companies are investing heavily in podcast partnerships. Streaming platforms, media networks, and podcast companies are collaborating more and more.

Historically, trends start in B2C entertainment before they move into B2B. The same thing happened with websites, social media, and video. I believe podcasting will follow the same path. We’re still early. My prediction is that in the future, as many companies will have podcasts as they currently have blogs.

HexaGroup: Is there a sense of urgency for launching a podcast? Have B2B companies already missed out on the early adopter advantage?

Guillaume: I think, like a lot of things, the best time to start was 10 years ago. If you did that, you would not have gained traction for five to six years because fewer people were listening to podcasts. But now you're rocking. And we have clients who do this, and now they are the number one influencer in their space. They're invited to all the conferences. They are paid very nice amounts of money for people to associate their brand with their podcast, to have them speak, and so on.

So yes, the best time to start was probably 10 years ago. But like many things, the second-best time is right now.

I don't think B2B companies have lost the early-adopter edge they could still have. When you look at the market and all your competitors, and check whether they have a podcast, you'll find that very few do. So yes, it's still a good time. It's still early. But it's not going to last forever.

HexaGroup: Across the B2B growth space, we’ve seen a shift toward B2C. The lines are blurring, especially in terms of a focus on the customer experience. Specifically for podcasts, what differentiates the B2B approach from B2C?

Guillaume: The main difference is audience focus. In B2C podcasting, the goal is reach; getting as many listeners as possible. In B2B podcasting, the goal is to be relevant. I’d rather have 300 CFOs listening every week than 100,000 random listeners.

B2B podcasts should prioritize niche audiences, education, and having meaningful conversations; quality over quantity.

HexaGroup: What are some best practices you’ve found for using B2B podcasts to generate leads?

Guillaume: We have found four ways to help our clients sign deals thanks to a B2B podcast. Number one is turning guests into clients. For example, you have a clear ICP, and you create a podcast concept that makes sense for them to say yes to come on the show as a guest. Once the relationship is built, you're like, “Hey, John, this was great. How can I help?” That's avenue number one.

The second is guests referring clients. Building those relationships and then asking, “ Do you know people who could be great guests or who could use our services?” Guests referring you to new clients is also a huge way to get leads.

The third way—turning content into clients—takes a bit more time. But once you start building the brand, influence, and audience we discussed earlier, it comes down to classic marketing funnels. You create podcast content and repurpose clips that reach lots of people and keep them interested. You have a call-to-action to listen to your long-form episode, and then in that episode, you have another call-to-action to download a lead magnet or something of value, and then you reach out to them, nurture them, and get them on a call.

The fourth way, which is not a direct way to get leads, but something that we like to use a lot for some specific pieces of content, is to record some targeted pieces of content on the podcast—case study episodes with clients, specific niche topics.

And then you use this as part of your marketing funnel. This is back to the idea of embedding the podcast strategy into the overall marketing ecosystem. Have the founder, an expert at your company, or a highly skilled technician discuss a specific problem your clients typically face. With that, you have a piece of content that is non-pushy, non-salesy, that you can use as part of your funnel when you’ve clearly identified a problem with your clients.

HexaGroup: What advice would you give a B2B leader who is hesitant to start hosting a podcast?

Guillaume: There is hosting the podcast itself, but there is also making sure that you're going to get results from it. At the end of the day, people get much more motivated to do the stuff and actually stay consistent with it if they see results.

So, everything we discussed so far: Be crystal clear on the ICP and the decision-maker you want to get into a conversation with. Conduct content and market research to understand what your ideal customer profile cares about, struggles with, and wants to achieve. Then, stay consistent with it and market it properly.

Now, as far as recording the episodes themselves, remember you won’t be perfect on day one. Nobody becomes a great interviewer immediately. Focus on a few basics. Know your ideal audience, understand the problems they care about, stay consistent, and keep conversations natural and as unscripted as possible.

HexaGroup: This is all great to keep in mind. And luckily, there are partners now like GHA and HexaGroup to help companies launch, produce, and promote podcasts—one testament to how important podcasts are now for B2B companies.

Speaking of which, what are some of your favorite podcasts to listen to? Any ones that we and our clients should have on our radars?

Guillaume: So Modern Wisdom, which we already talked about, is absolutely amazing. Chris Williamson is the host.

The Game from Alex Hormozzi is where I get most of my business education. Build with Leila Hormozzi, his wife, is also very valuable. That’s more on the operations side.

HexaGroup: From a listener's perspective, what sort of techniques or skills have you been able to translate from listening to these podcasts to the production of your own B2B podcast?

Guillaume: So, the higher the level of quality, the more likely your content has a chance to pick up, especially in a day and age where everybody is doing content.

If you look at Modern Wisdom, they deliver the highest-quality video possible. 

Ensuring you have high-quality audio and video is key, as you want to repurpose the content.

And then it's interviewing skills, listening to literally hours and hours of episodes, and seeing how Chris and Stephen Barlett from The Diary of a CEO ask questions and actively listen.

Also, asking follow-up questions. The reason I like Chris that much is that he asks great follow-up questions.

When I listen to a podcast and the guest answers a question, I have follow-up questions in my head that I wish I could ask. When the host asks that very question, I'm like, this is gold.

So put yourself in the shoes of the person you're trying to reach, and constantly bear in mind the objective.

Ask questions from a listener’s perspective, “What would they be getting?” “What's the reason they're listening?” If you do that, you'll position the content to make it easier for them to keep listening. You build trust, build authority, and eventually they can become a lead.

HexaGroup: Thanks for all those insights, Guillaume. We look forward to producing more B2B podcasts with GHA in the coming months and ensuring that those podcasts are part of an integrated, growth-driven strategy for our clients.

Learn more about B2B podcasts as growth drivers >