Ralph Barsi

VP of Revenue Growth at Kahua • 3+ decades in tech • 5+ years advising growth stage startup founders • I teach what I learn (tweets are mine) 🇺🇸

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

Leading a team of people?
Reinforce the mission.

Communicate consistently.
A steady clip vs. a barrage.

Respect different learning styles.
Use email, record a video, create a slide.

House the comms in one place.
Time doesn’t scale but content does.

Expect regular updates from the team.
Raise standards.

Mental telepathy is unproductive and fruitless.
You’re a leader, so lead.

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

@dickiebush ROUTINES 🙂

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

You can't learn how to swim by reading how to swim. Apply what you learn today. Or drown.

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

SDR-AE interlock, in three moves:

1 - Meet twice a week. Twenty minutes. Agenda.
2 - Debrief after the call, while details are still warm.
3 - Log it online or it didn't happen.

Interlock isn't chemistry. It's cadence.

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

July 4, 2012.
A MAJOR malfunction happened in San Diego.
7,000 fireworks lit at one time.

The show ended in less than a minute.

It was scary and comical at the same time.

Sometimes salespeople light all their fireworks at once, too.

Without investing time and energy in researching or engaging their audience, they unleash an arsenal of ambiguous noise about their company,
products, and selves.

• They ramble without establishing conversation flow.
• They pitch right after connecting with us on LinkedIn.
• They email us despite our unsubscribes.

We smell it from a mile away.

Fireworks displays like those force us to roll-up the blankets, pack the bags, and head home.

Instead, we want space between each explosion and time to adore, process, discuss, and share the value…

https://t.co/0mRch4Wcc2

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

"I use Claude for everything."

That's not a flex. That's the tell.
Ask them how. Watch them stall.

Aware. Proficient. Native. Hire for native.

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

Where focus goes, energy flows.
Your team watches what you watch:

• Praise pipeline, they build pipeline
• Chase activity, they perform activity
• Obsess over deals, they hoard deals
• Ask about people, they grow people

If you chase two rabbits, both escape.

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

Presentation habits to steal from the greats:

- Give them something to do
- Repeat every question back
- Lift the energy two notches
- Speak to the back of the room
- Build slides people photograph
- Prepare like the room came to argue

Presence beats polish every time.

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

I just dropped my 2025 Annual Review.

• 29 years married
• 3 sons launched into new chapters
• 17 cities
• 2 continents
• 1,600 miles on a Peloton.

The hardest lesson?

Consistency isn't perfection.
It's returning to what matters. Again and again.

Full review: https://t.co/RDrRKtLcGd

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

Rest in Peace, Ozzy Osbourne. One of the all time greatest in my book. Saw him live twice - in January 1989 (with Anthrax) and October 1992 (with Alice in Chains).

Grateful he was able to perform in Birmingham earlier this month. A major influence on so many of us musicians.

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

Aging myself here, but 37 years ago today, I attended the Monsters of Rock concert at the now-defunct Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

Lineup:
• Van Halen
• Scorpions
• Kingdom Come
• Metallica
• Dokken

There are videos from the show on YouTube. I had just finished my junior year of high school and it was summer in the Bay Area. Van Halen opened with Summer Nights, while Metallica kicked things off with Creeping Death 😂.

Life was fantastic!

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

Haste makes waste.
Time is money.
Clarity wins.

What’s ONE small move YOU'LL make today to button up how you communicate?

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

6️⃣ Have an eye for your content
• Beautify charts and slides
• Calm colors > harsh reds 🔴
• Try: https://t.co/lJK1QCAEqK
• Study brands like Leica, Apple, & Ugmonk

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

7️⃣ Choose words wisely
• Drop filler: “like,” “right?”
• Say what you mean
• Use your words
• Hear them in your head first

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

5️⃣ Be kind to people
• Eye contact + a smile
• A simple “How are you?” goes far
• Everyone’s fighting quiet battles
• Kindness travels

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

We're moving too fast at work.
It's hurting our impact.

It happens to me and you.
Communication gets sloppy.

Standards get lowered.

Meaning gets lost.

Let’s fix it. 👇🏼

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

4️⃣ Give emails time
• Hack away the unessential
• Short words. Short sentences.
• Read: https://t.co/twj6m7MwrG
• Try: https://t.co/fmVHKsry9C

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

3️⃣ Add context to calendar invites
• What’s this meeting even about?
• Add purpose, agenda, outcome
• Short talks (10–15 mins) win
• Use tools like Calendly

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

2️⃣ Add space to long messages
• Walls of text = walls for readers
• Break paragraphs
• Use bullets or dashes
• Clear writing = clear thinking

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

1️⃣ Shorten links
• Paragraph-long links are painful
• Less is more
• Use https://t.co/zlI382al0f or tinyurl
• Hyperlink in emails, slides, decks

Keep it neat and clean.

[Ralph Barsi @rbarsi]

Slow down and simplify.

It saves time.
It saves money.
It protects brands and reputations.

Start here:
7 small shifts to tighten communication 🧵