Levon Adamyan started as a BDR, where he was making calls, sending emails, and doing outbound work that was manual, repetitive, and deeply inefficient.
Then he started a lead generation agency. Suddenly he had 25 fractional sales reps, and it hit him that this “legacy model” for outbound is not sustainable.
“The manual processes, workflows, for 25 people—it was genuinely absurd,” he said.
That realization led him to Keep and Float, where he spent years scaling GTM operations and building playbooks that 3-4X’d results. In the process, Levon learned that success doesn’t lay in hiring more reps or using more tools, but instead building repeatable, executable frameworks that work.
Those frameworks became Cleanlist.
The Real Problem: 3-6 Months to Nowhere
At most fast-growing companies that need to scale, the first step is of course hiring a head of sales. From there, teams bring on BDRs, followed by account executives, then eventually weeks—sometimes months—are spent building out workflows and playbooks that teams hope will work.
By the time everyone’s trained and systems are in place, three to six months have passed. And if things aren’t working? You’ve wasted salary, lost momentum, and are back to square one.
What’s worse is most of those playbooks never get formalized, living in spreadsheets or in one person’s head, which makes them nearly impossible to scale.
Levon saw this pattern everywhere, and he realized the issue was infrastructure, not hiring or tools.
The Cleanlist Solution: Playbooks as One-Click Plays
Cleanlist is an AI agent platform that turns your GTM playbooks into executable, repeatable systems.
But here’s the critical distinction: Cleanlist isn’t just throwing AI at the problem.
“All the other platforms, they give you a bunch of tools and they say ‘Go build,'” Levon said. “With Cleanlist, we are the builder. That house is being built hand-in-hand with you.”
Cleanlist starts by analyzing your data. It looks at your closed-won deals, closed-lost deals, open opportunities. It figures out what actually makes your business tick. Which companies are you winning? Which are you losing? Who should you prioritize?
Then it builds playbooks around that reality. For outbound, this includes which lookalike companies should you target? What funding stage converts best? What job titles? For your existing pipeline, which deals have 10X higher likelihood of closing?
It enables teams to essentially stop wasting time on low-probability opportunities.
The AI layer sits on top of that infrastructure, providing contextualization and intelligence that helps teams execute faster. But the foundation is the playbook, which is the human-designed system that actually works.
The Infrastructure-First Approach: Why AI Alone Fails
This is where Levon’s philosophy aligns perfectly with how Boast thinks about R&D tax credits (and how he explicitly stated it in the interview).
Most companies see “AI” as the solution. They think: “Just apply AI to our GTM problem and it’ll work.”
But that’s backwards.
“AI is the layer on top of the platform,” Levon explained. “It’s the contextualization layer that helps us make autonomous decisions or improve your workflows. But you don’t necessarily want AI doing everything A-Z.”
What you actually need is:
- Solid databases and schemas
- Documented playbooks that work
- Clear workflows that teams understand
- Systems that scale across team size
Then AI contextualizes all of that. It analyzes data. It runs agents. It makes decisions within a framework that humans designed based on years of experience.
It’s the same reason Boast combines AI-powered platforms with deep tax expertise. It’s why founders shouldn’t have to learn tax code themselves, but experts handling that layer while they focus on building their product.
In Levon’s words: “It’s not exactly the AI which is the special thing… it’s actually those underlying layers which will come regarding those workflows, playbooks, and how they all tie in together to actually give the AI what it needs to successfully operate.”
The Team: The Secret Ingredient
Levon built Cleanlist with Victor (childhood friend from Oakville), Sal, and Erwin (both from U of T). The four of them invested over $100K of their own money to get started.
“Nothing is ever gonna go the way you expect it,” Levon said. “Times that by 10, and that’s probably what it actually looks like.”
That resilience comes from having co-founders who’ve been through the trenches together. Not just as colleagues, but as people who can have hard conversations, trust each other’s expertise, and push through the tough times.
It’s also embedded in their culture. They adopted a practice from Float: Everything needs a memo. Every product decision and every strategic choice must be documented with data backing it up or clear market reasoning.
This isn’t vibes-based decision making, but rather deliberate, data-driven product thinking, which explains why they’re already tracking towards $100K MRR.
What’s Next
Cleanlist is aiming to be the next unicorn in the GTM space by being “the partner that builds the house” with their customers.
They’re expanding their playbook library, deepening their data analysis capabilities and making the AI layer smarter so it can make better autonomous decisions.
But the foundation remains: Deliver repeatable, executable GTM frameworks that work because they’re built on years of hands-on experience and validated by real business results.
Listen to the full episode to hear Levon’s complete journey, from BDR to lead gen agency founder to GTM operations leader to building Cleanlist. And his advice to founders: Don’t wait six months to hit your milestones. Hit your 12-month goals in one quarter.
About What the Tech from Boast
What the Tech features conversations with brilliant minds building transformative solutions. Hosted by Paul Davenport, Boast.AI’s Head of Content.
Learn More About Cleanlist AI
If you’re a go-to-market leader looking to scale your playbooks without building from scratch, visit Cleanlist AI. Available for SMB and mid-market companies.
Learn More About Systems Thinking and Go-To-Market Operations
Cleanlist is proof that the best GTM solutions combine deep domain expertise with technology. Just like Boast combines tax expertise with AIso your experts stay focused on what they do best.
We’ve helped 2,000+ companies across North America access $900M+ in non-dilutive R&D tax credits. The principle is the same: amplify your team’s expertise with strategic tools so they can focus on high-ROI work.
If you’re building a GTM-focused technology or scaling a sales operation:
- Boast partners with go-to-market leaders and operations teams
- We ensure your R&D investments in sales tech, marketing automation, and process innovation are properly captured for tax credit claims
- Section 41 (US) and SR&ED (Canada) both cover GTM technology development
Ready to build better GTM systems for your team?
Contact Cleanlist or Boast today.
