Tara Clever is the Chief Revenue Officer at MarginEdge, a restaurant management and bill payment platform that leverages automation and AI to streamline restaurant operations. Under her leadership, MarginEdge has marked its 10-year anniversary by reaching major milestones, including onboarding its 10,000th restaurant customer and expanding its AI-powered product offerings. Tara brings a unique blend of sales, operations, and marketing experience, with a background in DTC and B2B growth, and focuses on customer-centric alignment and operational clarity to drive scalable go-to-market outcomes.

Restaurant tech is evolving fast, but building a real revenue engine in this space takes more than just clever software. It requires understanding the operators behind the businesses, the shifting market, and where growth can either leak or accelerate. So what actually separates companies that scale from those that stall?

For Tara Clever, the key lies in treating marketing and sales as one unified system, not two separate worlds. Drawing from her DTC growth instincts, she explains that revenue only works when every part of the funnel stays aligned and accountable. Her perspective shows how obsessing over customer feedback, human connection, and pipeline fluency can turn restaurant technology into something that truly drives lasting business impact.

In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, host Alex Gluz is joined by Tara Clever, Chief Revenue Officer at MarginEdge, to discuss building revenue engines in the restaurant technology space. They explore aligning sales and marketing, applying DTC funnel discipline to B2B growth, and creating fast customer-driven feedback loops. Tara also shares why scalable human connection matters even more in an AI-powered world.

Angela Earl is the Head of Marketing at Darrow AI, a B2B SaaS company specializing in leveraging artificial intelligence to deliver actionable insights and drive revenue growth for technology organizations. With over 20 years of experience in the tech sector, Angela is a seasoned go-to-market leader who has built high-performing teams and contributed to the success of multiple high-growth software companies. As an author and advisor, she focuses on culture, transparency, and revenue performance, and often emphasizes the importance of communication and trust in achieving organizational goals.

Revenue issues rarely begin with the numbers themselves. They usually show up earlier as misalignment, cautious conversations, or teams operating from entirely different assumptions. Does predictable growth depend less on new tools or processes and more on a culture of trust and communication?

According to Angela Earl, a seasoned go-to-market leader, the answer lies in transparency. She believes revenue performance improves when teams feel safe being honest about risks, gaps, and what's actually happening in the pipeline, rather than presenting overly optimistic forecasts. When transparency becomes the norm, pressure turns productive, decisions get clearer, and revenue stops breaking down at handoffs.

In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, host Alex Gluz is joined by Angela Earl, Head of Marketing at Darrow AI, to discuss building a revenue culture rooted in transparency and alignment. They explore how culture directly impacts forecasting accuracy, why trust matters more than polish in pipeline reviews, and where revenue breakdowns really occur between teams. Angela also shares advice on using technology as an accelerator, not a fix, for culture and strategy gaps.

Alex Gluz is the Founder and CEO of Digital Marketing at T.A. Monroe Digital, an agency that specializes in helping B2B and SaaS companies perfect every step of their sales funnel. With years of experience in the industry, Alex creates systems and frameworks for scalable, profit-driving B2B digital marketing strategies, frameworks, and executions to drive ROI. Alex is also the host of the Revenue Engine Podcast, a show highlighting the top leaders in technology and marketing.

Businesses today face the challenge of balancing rapid growth with the increasing demands of trust-building, personal branding, and AI-driven innovation. While these elements have the potential to significantly accelerate business success, missteps can hinder progress, especially when companies fail to effectively integrate them into their strategy. So how can businesses harness these powerful tools to drive long-term growth and success?

From building authentic relationships to embracing AI technology, leaders in this episode share invaluable insights on how to navigate these challenges. Mark Stiltner explains how AI can optimize marketing strategies, particularly in account-based marketing (ABM), making campaigns more efficient and impactful. Patrick Ferdig emphasizes the importance of trust in business relationships, highlighting how consistency and reliability build the foundation for long-term partnerships. Sylvia LePoidevin discusses the shift in branding, where individual employees are becoming the face of companies, using their personal influence to elevate the brand's message and connect more authentically with audiences. Kristin Oelke highlights how combining financial insights with a strong customer base provides a clearer picture of a business's future trajectory. Meanwhile, Usman Sheikh dives into the world of agentive AI, exploring how intelligent bots can transform sales processes by automating key tasks and generating measurable outcomes.

In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, Alex Gluz reflects on his insightful conversations with Mark Stiltner, Patrick Ferdig, Sylvia LePoidevin, Kristin Oelke, and Usman Sheikh. These industry leaders uncover the power of trust, personal branding, and AI in driving business growth. Together, they offer practical strategies for leveraging these tools to create scalable, sustainable success in today's competitive market.