Don’t Do That: Don’t Skip the Foundation to Chase Fast Growth with Mike Barrasso and David DeCelle, WealthReach

In this episode of Don’t Do That, Kelly sits down with Mike Barrasso and David DeCelle, co-founders of Wealth Reach, to break down how modern advisory firms should think about growth, prospecting, and technology. They explore the shift from passive referrals to proactive, data-driven outreach and why combining intent data with human follow-up is driving real results.

The episode features a powerful double “Don’t Do That”: don’t approach growth selfishly - focus on helping more people - and don’t skip the fundamentals by jumping straight into tactics without a plan. The takeaway is clear: sustainable growth comes from strong foundations, clear messaging, and disciplined execution, not shortcuts.

Kelly, Mike, & David cover:

00:00 Early traction and real results from Wealth Reach users (including a $500K win in week one) 
00:48 Introduction to Mike and David and their backgrounds 
02:53 Why Wealth Reach was built: “people in motion” vs. “money in motion” 
05:43 How website visitor identification and intent data work together 
08:59 Early results and what’s driving success 
10:14 Why phone outreach still wins when paired with digital 
11:17 The power of intent data in modern marketing 
13:11 The sales infrastructure gap in advisory firms 
14:21 How larger firms are building outbound teams 
17:12 Don’t Do That #1: Don’t approach growth selfishly 
20:59 Don’t Do That #2: Don’t skip planning or try to do everything at once 
22:25 Reframing growth around serving clients 
25:58 Why starting in the middle of the funnel fails 
27:16 Building a full funnel before scaling tactics 
30:34 Final takeaway: fundamentals first, then scale

About Our Guests:

David DeCelle is the Co-Founder of WealthReach and CEO of Model FA. David also co-authored Organic Growth Revolution with Dan Allison.

Mike Barrasso is the Co-Founder and CEO of WealthReach, an AI-powered organic growth platform purpose-built for RIAs and wealth management firms.

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