Like Clockwork with Sam Goodner

Austin Tech Connect: The Podcast For The Austin Technology Ecosystem, Business Leaders, and Tech Entrepreneurs!

Austin Tech Connect is sponsored by Calavista Software: Software Development without the Drama.

In this episode of Austin Tech Connect, Thom Singers sits down with long-time friend and Austin tech leader, Sam Goodner. Sam arrived in Austin in 1992 after growing up in Europe and serving in the Swiss Army Special Forces. He cut his teeth at Dell, then co-founded what became Catapult Systems. Along the way he helped launch product companies like Inquisite, guided Catapult to be Microsoft’s top global partner, and sold the firm in 2013. After a family year of world travel, he returned to scale a parking technology company from early plateau to nine figures in revenue and a unicorn valuation as an investor and president.

Sam’s new book, "Like Clockwork, Run Your Business with Swiss Army Precision", captures the discipline behind those outcomes. We dig into his core theme of operational scalability, the moment every founder must move from hero mode to building systems that run without them. He shares the question he asks mentees at Capital Factory, what are you best in the world at, and why you cannot hire a sales team until you codify the part of the business that actually creates revenue. We walk through what a real sales playbook includes, target personas, how to get in the door, common objections, the follow up cadence, and what a winning proposal looks like.

Sam also talks about decentralized decision making, including a turning point when he stepped away for a family emergency and returned to find the company running better because leaders were truly empowered. The book is rich with Austin case studies, Randy Cohen at Ticket City and the power of an unforgettable first day experience, Deep Eddy’s brand ambassador playbook that scaled consistent execution at festivals, and BuildASign’s culture of giving back with free welcome home banners for military families, a program that became a defining part of who they are.

We widen the lens to community. Sam credits EO, YPO, Capital Factory, and yes, the Austin Technology Council, for the peer learning that served as his real world MBA. We agree that in an AI-driven world, human relationships are a top currency. Companies do business with people, not bots, and Austin’s future stays bright when leaders show up, share ideas, and collaborate.

If you are building in Austin, this conversation is a field manual for moving beyond hustle into durable systems and culture. Sam’s book is available now, including an audio version in his voice.

You can get a copy of Sam's book at this link: https://www.amazon.com/Like-Clockwork-Business-Swiss-Precision/dp/B0FLQK1Y8S?maas=maas_adg_9B76058E55B6D37D545B03D65E88C453_afap_abs&ref_=aa_maas&tag=maas