The Debate is Over: HubSpot vs. Salesforce | Ryan Gunn | #chadtpodcast Ep. 36

You might be looking at your CRM wrong.Chad interviews Ryan, a longtime HubSpot operator and Head of RevOps at FirstTouch, about why HubSpot wins for many SMB to mid-market companies. Biggest qualities are usability, faster onboarding, and a unified data platform across marketing, sales, and service—contrasting Salesforce’s enterprise customization and governance strengths. Ryan explains his education business Hubcessed (newsletters, bootcamps, and an attribution course) and how First Touch integrates with HubSpot workflows to operationalize human-in-the-loop LinkedIn outreach so reps approve queued messages inside contact records while RevOps scales plays like webinar follow-up and engagement-based targeting, working alongside Sales Navigator. They discuss AI noise, the need to clean data and processes before AI, emerging CRM automation via call-context tools like AskElephant, using Claude MCP connectors across tools, LinkedIn automation safety, and why attribution is inherently imperfect but directionally useful to prove marketing’s revenue impact.---Ryan Gunn is the Head of RevOps for FirstTouch Ryan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanagunn/ ---Chad's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadtabary/Book an appointment with Chad: https://chadtabary.youcanbook.me/00:00 Why HubSpot Wins00:43 Marketing Ops Origins01:46 Salesforce Dream Stack04:01 One Platform Promise04:57 iOS vs Android Debate06:21 Hubcessed Training Business08:49 First Touch RevOps Role11:02 Who Its For12:13 Human in Loop Workflow15:37 Plays Webinar and Engagement16:47 Sales Navigator Integration17:40 Defining Social Strategy19:00 HubSpot Migrations and Mistakes21:13 Enterprise Scale Reality22:45 HubSpot Pitch for CEOs24:48 Specializing as RevOps25:53 Freelance Market Dynamics28:31 CRM Competition Landscape29:02 AI Noise and Opportunity31:06 AI CRM Hype Check33:31 Data First Then AI34:58 Note Takers Inside CRM37:28 Call Prep and Follow Up38:29 Podcast CRM Workflow41:30 Claude MCP Connectors45:18 Agentic Daily Task System48:39 Automating Busywork Scripts51:00 Why AI Sounds Generic53:12 LinkedIn Automation Safety56:05 Attribution Compass Not Map59:06 Where to Find Ryan