In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews William Gilchrist, former Google employee and CEO of Consig (also known as Konsyg), a sales‑as‑a‑service firm operating globally from Singapore. Gilchrist shares a formative childhood story about his fascination with China, which led him to move to Asia at 13 and build a 16‑year career there, illustrating the power of following early dreams. He explains Consig’s unique focus on real‑world sales execution, emphasizing that many leaders lack hands‑on selling experience. Gilchrist offers broad business advice: master your chosen craft, work for yourself mentally even while employed, and live fully without fearing unconventional goals. He recommends the book Cracking the Sales Management Code for sales metrics and pipeline management, highlighting that sales results stem from disciplined activity rather than manipulation. His favorite quote, from Isaac Watts, underscores the mind as the true measure of achievement. The episode concludes with his online locations: www.consig.com and www.konsyg.com.
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Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner and today's sponsor is Flipboard. Flipboard curates the world's stories so you can be smarter in your work, life, and play. Choose from thousands of topics to personalize Flipboard and get the latest stories from the best publishers and experts delivered to you 24/7. So You can get started now at flipboard.com. And now, let's jump into the episode. All right, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. Today, William Gilchrist with us. He is an ex-Google and current CEO of Consig, the world sales as a service group designed to provide sales mercenary work for technologies globally. So welcome to the show, man.
Hey Tyler, thanks a lot. Really happy to be here.
Of course, man. Happy to have you on. So the first one we got for you, the first one we ask on this show, William, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Everything has underlying message that's valuable, but I would say the main one is the reason why I'm out here in Asia. In particular, we're headquartered here in Singapore, but when I was 3 years old, living in Chicago, being born and raised, I— at 3 years old, my mom bought the World Book Encyclopedia Britannica series, and I was just always reading through those. It's encyclopedias, and I was able to look at the China edition and was reading a lot about China and obsessed with China, so much so that I had a Christmas list every year where I would have all these toys, but I said, look, you don't have to give me any toys, just give me a trip to China. So I kept getting toys every year, and then finally when I was 13, I was able to be a student ambassador and I was able to go to China alone 13 years old in '97 for the return of Chinese rule for Hong Kong. And it was the best experience of my life, and I told myself I'm going to work here no matter what. Everybody thought I was crazy, this guy from Chicago is wanting to live in Asia, live in China. And for sure, right when I graduated from college, all my friends went to go work for different banks and Lehman Brothers, which clearly That worked out. But all these different banks and I ended up going to China and just trying to figure it out after majoring in international relations. I said, okay, I'm done with the papers. I want to live it. I want to feel it and ended up moving to China. And then I told myself I'd be in Asia for as long as it takes. And it has changed definitions every year. And that was about 16 years ago. So I've been in Asia for about 16 years and The real message is like, look, you know, even your dreams, the 3-year-old boy or 3-year-old little girl, like whatever it is, whatever you want to do, just do it, focus on it, and it'll happen.
Yeah, man, it's an incredible story. I love it, man. So the next one I got for you is, what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Um, well, the most valuable The second piece I would say is that we are a focused sales organization, and there are not a lot of groups that do that. There are a lot of groups that develop software or marketing or advice or advisory. The expertise that I focus on and that my team focuses on is the idea of sales, revenue generation, which is actually quite rare. I've found plenty of leaders, CEOs of companies And even sales managers that just don't have sales experience, even in some of the most recognizable companies out there, you'd have a sales manager that's never actually sold anything themselves. They've always kind of provided management services or admin services. But the key thing is actually having that cold call approach experience, that, that real sales, kind of combining the idea of your personality with the value, with The skill set of actually selling something, I think, is invaluable for anybody.
And then what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific.
Well, keep good at your craft. I had the privilege of being around a really, really successful older gentleman when I was in Shanghai, and we were of course sharing a few drinks. This is about 15 years ago. And I said, how can I be you? And he said, well, me is kind of relative. He was a really high-up guy in Josefa. And he said, Well, are you into real estate? And I'm like, not really. He goes, well then you don't want to be me, you want to be you. So master whatever craft you want to do, whether it's dill pickles to marketing to being a garbage man. Be the best version of that you possibly can be. Learn everything about it, every little piece of information you can about it. Know more than anybody could possibly know about it and you will be successful in that and you will make money.
If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Primarily, don't work for a company. Work for yourself. That doesn't mean you can't go get a job. That means while you're in a company, don't just drink the Kool-Aid and go with what the company is doing. Be in the company and make yourself better at what you do. And then see what opportunities there are in that company. If not, go off to another company or start your own. Work for yourself mentally and don't expect a company to necessarily give you all the things that you need to live.
And then kind of going down a different path, in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Live your life to the fullest. No dream is crazy. No idea is crazy. Just go as far as you possibly can in whatever makes you happy, and that will work out for you fully.
And then what is the best book that you've read, and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Oh, I'm such a nerd. It would be Cracking the Sales Management Code, actually. It's a fantastic book about sales metrics. just things related to how to manage teams and how to develop sales pipelines. It's by Jason Jordan, so it's Cracking the Sales Management Code, and it's the secrets behind everything. And one of the key things that I learned is that nobody sells anything. You just do sales activity and then sales happens, but you can't necessarily make anybody do anything or manipulate anybody to do anything or force a sell. These are all things that are a result of really good sales practices and sales activity, and then sales just a result of that.
And then what is your favorite quote and why?
I don't know how to explain it, sorry. It's actually by Isaac Watts. It was, um, were I so tall to reach the pole or grasp the ocean with my span, I must be measured by my soul. The mind's the standard of the man. Where ultimately, no matter what you do, in the event that You, your mind, you apply your mind to something, you become great at something. Later on, people think that that was an impossible feat, but really, ultimately, it was your mind that did it. And we're all the same in this world, and we all have that same opportunity.
Amazing, brother. Dude, thank you so much for coming on. The last one I got for you before we let you go is, where can our audience best find you online?
Well, online, um, www.consig.com. You can find us in Singapore, Malaysia, throughout the US. We have operations globally and www.konsyg.com. K-O-N-S-Y-G.com.
