Podcasts about GTM

Episode 394 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Brian Stempeck, CEO & Co-Founder of Evertune. Think about how people search for things on the web now and GenAI's massive impact. A lot of people just go straight to different platforms like ChatGPT with the goal of just getting the answer to what they are searching for versus having to go to a website to find the details. This evolution matters and it matters a lot, especially if you are a brand or publisher. In the past, you had to worry about SEO to hopefully rank high in the Google search results. Now, the rules have changed and companies are trying to figure out what to do. Is your brand being mentioned in the LLMs? If so, what is being said? And if you ask multiple times, how does the response vary from the LLMs versus the consistency of the search results that you would get from Google. It's a wild wild west and this was the void that Brian recognized and led him down the path of starting Evertune, which helps companies build its brand presence for visibility in AI search. It's a category called GEO that being Generative Engine Optimization. The company recently announced a $15M Series A funding, led by Felicis Ventures, including returning investors Eniac Ventures, NextView Ventures, Roger Ehrenberg and others. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A discussion around the shift in consumer behavior and how they are looking for information in the world of GenAI. * Brian's background and getting his career started as a journalist and then working in consulting at Bain after business school. * How he got involved in The Trade Desk as employee #8 even without adtech or sales experience. * The full lifecycle story of The Trade Desk to an IPO in 2016 and how they differentiated from the competition. * How Brian's role evolved through the years at the company and how he gained a board seat. * His biggest lessons learned from his experience at The Trade Desk. * The background story of Evertune and what led him and his co-founders down the path of starting the company. * All the details of Evertune and how they are helping brands and agencies. * Advice for building out your GTM strategy and a key piece of advice for hiring salespeople. * And so much more!

For Bill McDermott, work has never been just a job.On this Labor Day rerun of Grit, first published Jan 9, 2023, the ServiceNow CEO reflects on what he learned from his earliest jobs and how he carried those lessons from a deli counter in Long Island to the boardroom of an $80B software company.We cover:Why Bill bought a deli when he was in high school — and how he competed against 7-Eleven (04:00)Interviewing at Xerox and wanting it more than anyone else (08:17)Unwavering optimism and being a source of strength for others (12:34)How a love of work has shaped Bill as a person (16:44)Facing challenges and keeping a promise to his father (22:00)Enjoying the present and keeping an eye on the future (30:01)Leaving Xerox for Gartner and learning from a tough experience (33:29)Sloan Kettering and Father Michael Judge (39:22)Following the “original dream” vs. building something new at ServiceNow (44:59)Losing an eye and getting a pep talk from two Medal of Honor winners (51:15)Why Bill started and ended his book with quotes from two Kennedys (01:01:21)Connect with BillXLinkedInConnect with JoubinXLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner Perkins

The Era of AI Agents in Marketing // MLOps Podcast #337 with Joel Horwitz, Growth Engineer at Neoteric3D.Join the Community: https://go.mlops.community/YTJoinInGet the newsletter: https://go.mlops.community/YTNewsletter// AbstractWe're entering a new era in marketing—one powered by AI agents, not just analysts. The rise of tools like Clay, Karrot.ai, 6sense, and Mutiny is reshaping how go-to-market (GTM) teams operate, making room for a new kind of operator: the GTM engineer. This hybrid role blends technical fluency with growth strategy, leveraging APIs, automation, and AI to orchestrate hyper-personalized, scalable campaigns. No longer just marketers, today's GTM teams are builders—connecting data, deploying agents, and fine-tuning workflows in real time to meet buyers where they are. This shift isn't just evolution—it's a replatforming of the entire GTM function.// BioJoel S. Horwitz has been riding the data wave since before it was cool—literally. He spoke at Spark Summit back in 2014 and penned a prescient piece for MIT Tech Review on data science and machine learning before they became boardroom buzzwords. A former big tech executive turned entrepreneur, Joel now runs Neoteric3D (N3D for short), a digital design and data growth agency that helps brands scale with smarts and style. When he's not architecting next-gen growth strategies, you'll find him logging long miles on the trail or coaching his sons' soccer and baseball teams like a champ.// Related LinksWebsite: https://www.neoteric3d.com~~~~~~~~ ✌️Connect With Us ✌️ ~~~~~~~Catch all episodes, blogs, newsletters, and more: https://go.mlops.community/TYExploreJoin our Slack community [https://go.mlops.community/slack]Follow us on X/Twitter [@mlopscommunity](https://x.com/mlopscommunity) or [LinkedIn](https://go.mlops.community/linkedin)] Sign up for the next meetup: [https://go.mlops.community/register]MLOps Swag/Merch: [https://shop.mlops.community/]Connect with Demetrios on LinkedIn: /dpbrinkmConnect with Joel on LinkedIn: /joelshorwitzTimestamps:[00:00] Joel's preferred coffee[00:53] Agentic workflows in marketing[04:26] Agentic AI vs big data[08:24] Creative outreach automation[13:08] LLMs in marketing optimization[17:36] Traffic relevance[23:36] End-to-end AI workflow[28:10] AI in task automation[32:08] AI systems architecting[38:00] AI vs Thought Leadership[43:10] AI as sparring partner[45:22] AI shifts human roles[48:23] Wrap up

saas.unbound is a podcast for and about founders who are working on scaling inspiring products that people love, brought to you by https://saas.group/, a serial acquirer of B2B SaaS companies. In episode #37 of season 5, Tim Heicks talks with Dave Boyce, EVP Product at Winning by Design, a global B2B revenue consulting and training company that enables recurring revenue teams to architect sustainable growth.--------------Episode's Chapters----------------0:00 - Introduction and Guest Background1:11 - Early Days in SaaS and Entrepreneurship3:13 - Evolution of PLG and Enterprise Software6:13 - Joining Winning by Design9:11 - Writing the PLG Book for the Masses12:19 - Consulting and Value Add for Companies16:00 - New Perspectives on PLG and Freemium23:06 - AI's Impact on GTM and Human Touch31:16 - AI Search and the Future of Discovery36:03 - Evaluating Companies for AcquisitionDave - https://www.linkedin.com/in/boycedave/Subscribe to our channel to be the first to see the interviews that we publish twice a week - https://www.youtube.com/@saas-groupStay up to date:Twitter: https://twitter.com/SaaS_groupLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/14790796

In this episode of Topline, hosts Sam Jacobs, Asad Zaman, and AJ Bruno dive into the question of whether we're currently in an AI bubble. We talk through key data points on valuations, venture capital's dry powder, and $3 trillion in projected data center investments. Is AI unsustainable hype, true long-term growth, or both at the same time? Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Sunday and Thursday. Don't miss GTM2025 — the only B2B tech conference exclusively for GTM executives. Use code TOPLINE for 10% off your GA ticket. Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! 00:00 The AI Bubble + Banter 04:56 Deep Dive into AI Investments 08:18 Defining and Understanding Market Bubbles 21:16 The Role of CEOs and Operators in AI 25:16 Future of AI and Market Predictions 38:31 AI Has a Marketing Problem 38:56 The Bubble and Big Tech 42:41 Valuation Trends in Startups 48:45 Bridge Rounds and Investor Strategies 53:22 AI Performance Metrics 01:04:04 Concluding Thoughts and Random Questions

Pour cette mini-série dédiée au tracking, j'accueille à mon micro un expert et passionné du sujet, j'ai nommé Romain Trublard, Consultant Sénior en Tracking et Analytics.Dans ce 3ème épisode, on aborde ensemble :Est-ce que Google Analytics 4 est conforme au RGPD ?La ruée vers les alternatives à Google Analytics 4 : Matomo, Piano Analytics, Piwik, Plausible, Simple Analytics et bien d'autresLa désillusion de Google AnlayticsLes 4 étapes pour bien suivre sa donnée

Patrick Spychalski, co-founder of The Kiln, joins to unpack the growing role of go-to-market engineering. From his early work creating content for Clay to founding one of the first GTM engineering agencies, Patrick explains how GTM engineering differs from RevOps, the core tools and workflows driving efficiency today, and why companies should focus on doing more with fewer - but smarter - systems.

In this episode of the B2B Go-To-Market Leaders Podcast, Vijay sits down with Maximilian Gartner, Head of Go-To-Market at Brightwave, to explore how GTM leaders can balance sustainable growth with predictable revenue, while staying rooted in authentic, founder-led perspectives.Max shares his journey from inside sales “boiler rooms” to leading GTM teams at high-growth companies, and how lessons from cold-calling, enterprise deal cycles, and sales leadership shaped his philosophy on customer-first GTM.They dive deep into:Why founder-led POVs are powerful in early stage, and how they must evolve as companies scale.The critical difference between predictable and sustainable revenue, and why ignoring sustainability leads to churn.Lessons from inside sales: why clarity and credibility in the first 10 seconds of a call are everything.A Brightwave GTM pivot that front-loaded product experience, shortened feedback loops, and tripled adoption.Why “knowing your customer” (KYC) at every level: user, manager, executive, is the ultimate GTM advantage.How doubt and imposter syndrome can be reframed as signals of growth.If you're leading sales, marketing, CS, or product, or simply curious about how GTM leaders scale customer-first strategies, this episode is packed with tactical insights and leadership lessons.Connect with Max Gartner on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/maximiliangartner/Connect with Vijay Damojipurapu on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijdam/Brought to you by: stratyve.com

#277 Growth | Dave is joined by Emma Robinson, Head of B2B Marketing at Canva, and Kristine Segrist, VP of Consumer Marketing at Canva. Together, Emma and Kristine lead the teams driving Canva's growth across both enterprise and consumer audiences, helping the company scale into a platform now used by over 95% of the Fortune 500.Dave, Emma, and Kristine cover:How Canva balances brand-building with pipeline accountability, and why they view brand investment as long-term growth.The playbook Canva uses to turn bottom-up adoption into enterprise deals, including how product signals guide upsell and expansion.How their team structure, data science investments, and creative bets (like the Love Your Work campaign) work together to scale B2B marketing without losing Canva's approachable brand identity.This episode offers a practical look at how one of the world's most recognizable platforms approaches B2B growth.Timestamps(00:00) - – Intro (03:48) - – Canva's marketing org structure (06:48) - – Blurring B2B and B2C (11:48) - – How Canva measures marketing impact (16:48) - – Turning free users into enterprise deals (21:48) - – Data science's role in marketing (24:48) - – Balancing brand bets with ROI (31:23) - – Inside the “Love Your Work” campaign (38:23) - – How Canva executes large campaigns (42:23) - – Building enterprise credibility and trust (45:23) - – FedEx case study on brand governance (49:23) - – Lessons from Google and Meta (53:23) - – Why creativity is a marketing superpower (55:23) - – Closing thoughts Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.comJoin the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterCheck out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership***Today's episode is brought to you by Walnut.Why are we pouring all this effort into marketing just to push buyers to a “request a demo” or “contact sales” button?Come on, today's buyers don't want to talk to sales right away. They want to explore your product themselves, see how it works, and understand its value before booking a meeting.That's where Walnut comes in.Walnut empowers marketers and GTM teams to create interactive, self-guided product experiences in minutes. Embed these experiences on your site, in emails, or anywhere in your funnel to let buyers engage on their terms, from awareness to close and beyond. That's the beauty of Walnut - you're getting a platform that your sales and CS colleagues can use to showcase the product too.And the best part? You get real intent data—see which features prospects love, where they drop off, and what's actually driving pipeline. Demo Qualified Leads are the new MQL.Over 500 companies, like Adobe and NetApp, use Walnut to drive 2-3x higher website conversion rates and 7 figures in pipeline on a yearly basis. So do you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product instead of hiding it behind another typical B2B CTA? Go check out Walnut.io. And if you tell them Dave from Exit 5 sent you, they'll build out your first demo for free!

In this episode of OnBase, host Chris Moody sits down with Phil Hernandez and Tina Katic-Michalos to explore how organizations can rethink their go-to-market strategies in the era of AI. They discuss the misconceptions surrounding AI adoption, the critical role of clean data, and how to maintain human connection while embracing automation.Phil and Tina share real-world insights from leading transformations across industries—covering everything from AI-native sales teams to alignment across marketing, sales, and customer success. They also highlight the importance of building customer journeys, experimenting with AI tools, and setting KPIs that truly drive impact.Whether you're navigating sales enablement, operational alignment, or the chaos of AI-driven change, this episode offers actionable steps to stay ahead.Key TakeawaysAI isn't a silver bullet: Without clean, structured data, AI only amplifies dysfunction. Human oversight is essential to make it effective.Customer journeys drive alignment: Mapping end-to-end journeys helps unify marketing, sales, and customer success around shared KPIs.AI must enhance—not replace—human touch: Leaders must balance automation with authentic connections to maintain trust.Becoming AI-native is critical: Teams need exposure, training, and comfort with AI before embedding it into processes.Focus on the right metrics: Identify true north-star KPIs and align the entire go-to-market team, avoiding vanity metrics.Experiment and iterate: With AI capabilities evolving rapidly, leaders should embrace experimentation and test new use cases.Quotes“If you haven't built out your customer journey, you don't know where AI fits. Start there, then enhance.” – Phil Hernandez“This is the perfect time to rethink GTM strategies—AI is still new, and the room for trial and error is huge.” – Tina Katic-MichalosBest Moments (02:26) – Why leaders must rethink go-to-market strategies now.(05:08) – Tina breaks down misconceptions: clean data and humans-in-the-loop.(09:20) – Phil explains balancing AI adoption with authentic human connection.(11:40) – Tina outlines how shared KPIs and customer journeys unite sales and marketing.(15:36) – Real-world example: AI-driven lead scoring boosts conversion by 30%.(19:12) – Phil on getting teams “AI-native” and overcoming resistance.(22:22) – Actionable steps: demos, data hygiene, experimentation.(26:29) – Phil's advice: focus on KPIs that truly matter, cut the noise.Resource recommendationsBooksAtomic Habits by James Clear – plus his insightful newsletter.Influence: Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini – a classic on understanding customer psychology.PodcastsMarketing SpeakShout-OutsStephan Spencer, SEO Expert, Author, and Speaker.Sara McNamara, Founding Revenue Operations & GTM Strategy Lead.Jason Lemkin, Sasstr founderBrian LaManna, Enterprise Account Executive, Gong.Kyle Coleman, Global VP Marketing, ClickUpAbout the GuestsTina Katic-MichalosTina Katic-Michalos is Sr. Director of Demand Generation at TaskUs, where she drives measurable growth by transforming complex revenue operations into streamlined, scalable systems. With more than a decade in B2B marketing, she has deep expertise in pipeline management and process optimization, consistently delivering outcomes that accelerate revenue performance.Connect with Tina.Phil HernandezPhil Hernandez is Vice President of Sales Services at TaskUs, bringing nearly 20 years of experience in shaping go-to-market strategy, designing organizational structures, and leading revenue growth. His background spans P&L ownership, forecasting, customer operations, and M&A integration, with a proven track record of building scalable organizations and driving long-term growth.Connect with Phil.

In this episode of Resilient Cyber, I sit down with Gianna Whitver and Maria Velasquez to chat about the state of marketing in the cybersecurity industry, as well as their popular event "Cyber Marketing Con"In this episode, we discussed:The background of the CyberMarketingCon and what led Gianna and Maria to co-found the event and communityWhere marketers typically fall short and what can be done to drive more effective marketing and selling to security practitioners and leadersWhat practitioners can learn their marketing peers when it comes to communication, empathy, story telling, and building relationshipsThe importance of marketing, brand and broader GTM for security vendors to stand out from their competitorsWhat to keep an eye out for at the upcoming CyberMarketingCon in December in Austin Texas

Pipelines are drying up. AI hasn't delivered the growth it promised. And the old playbooks like SEO and outbound just don't work the way they used to. We call it the great pipeline starvation, and in this episode we break down what's really happening, what it means for sales and marketing teams, and how companies are trying to adapt. This episode is brought to you by ZoomInfo, the Go-To-Market Intelligence Platform. ZoomInfo gives you high-quality B2B data and sales intelligence on in-market buyers across companies of all sizes, powered by AI-driven automation with integrated outreach tools to help your GTM teams build pipeline and close deals faster. Check them out at zoominfo.com/revenue-formulaWant to work with us? Learn more: revformula.io(00:00) - Introduction (02:10) - Pipeline starvation (05:22) - Breakout companies are dominating (06:50) - The cost of lead gen (15:54) - The role of AI in cost reduction (20:18) - The future of sales and marketing automation (27:10) - The impact of AI on job roles (31:05) - The limitations of AI in growth (35:21) - The augment Bucket: Enhancing roles (39:36) - Zero waste GTM (46:35) - Final thoughts (47:27) - Next week: Todd Busler on the rev tech industry

How do you win when your competitors are the biggest companies in the world?This week on Grit, Dropbox co-founder and CEO Drew Houston retraces the path from a bus-stop prototype to competing head-on with Google, Apple, and Microsoft.He explains why grit is “learning to run toward discomfort,” and the moments he realized founders keep going “for the love of the game.”Guest: Drew Houston, Co-Founder & CEO of DropboxChapters:00:00 Trailer00:52 Introduction01:35 Towards full autonomy16:20 Coming back to school21:45 Golden ticket to California25:23 No one's born a CEO28:15 Y Combinator and a co-founder37:53 The craft of being a great CEO53:41 Metabolizing the stress1:10:14 Tactical advices and frameworks1:27:48 Who Dropbox is hiring1:29:35 What “grit” means to Drew1:32:10 OutroLinks:Connect with DrewXLinkedInConnect with JoubinXLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins

Rob Biederman has sat on both sides of the table — first as co-founder and CEO of Catalant Technologies, and now as managing partner at Asymmetric Capital Partners. In this candid conversation, he explains why so much of the conventional wisdom around startups is actually counterproductive. He breaks down why design partners don't equal traction, why headcount growth is a vanity metric, and why Silicon Valley should stop romanticizing failure. He also shares how Asymmetric evaluates founders, what investors really care about, and the simple test every startup should use to prove they're solving a real problem. If you're a founder chasing milestones that look good on a pitch deck but don't move the business forward, this episode of Fund/Build/Scale is a reality check you won't hear anywhere else.   RUNTIME 43:43   EPISODE BREAKDOWN (2:46) “ We have a probably a couple points of differentiation with the broader market.” (4:46) “ Our happiest spot is kind of in the two-to-six million range for our first check.” (5:39) “ We want to get to know people probably a year or two before they're going to found so we can really see what they're about and really understand.” (7:20) “ I think we'd hire most of our founders as investors at our firm, if we had the chance.” (10:11) What makes a startup  relevant, credible, or just differentiated? (11:32) An easy framework for self-auditing your startup idea. (13:09) “ I think our industry kind of worships at the altar of failure a little too much.” (15:08) “ We don't actually really love backing people directly from really big companies.” (17:00) Rob explains why design partners are a distraction, not a path to real traction. (21:23) “ If you're gonna get one career, why not spend it trying to trick the world into doing something differently?” (24:17) One metric founders love that does not predict success from an investor's perspective. (25:08) Inside Asymmetric Capital Partners' four-step pitch review process. (27:27) Why the best data rooms are simple: “they have no spin.” (29:46) Rob describes how his firm's advisor partner model works. (31:49) The first step in GTM: “ get to the bottom of why your customer is buying from you.” (35:18) At the start, tell investors “everything you haven't figured out” so you can start planning. (38:17) “ If you don't tell your doctor the truth, what can they do for you?” (41:02) What he would do differently if he were launching a startup today. LINKS Rob Biederman Asymmetric Capital Partners Asymmetric FAQs Catalant Technologies Democratizing Care: Announcing our Investment in Counsel Health EvolutionIQ Raises $21M Series A To Deliver AI Based Claims Guidance Across The Industry SUBSCRIBE

#276 Career Growth | Dave is joined by Kady Srinivasan, CMO at You.com, an AI-first company building infrastructure for enterprise agents. Kady has led marketing at some of the world's most recognizable companies, including Dropbox, Klaviyo, and Lightspeed, where she scaled teams, drove massive revenue growth, and navigated ICP pivots. Now, she's bringing that experience into the fast-changing world of AI.Dave and Kady cover:How to evolve as a CMO across industries, personas, and business modelsThe three core systems CMOs need to scale teams and drive alignmentHow AI is reshaping marketing roles, workflows, and the skills future CMOs will needYou'll walk away with lessons you can apply to your own career, no matter what market or role you're in.Timestamps(00:00) - – Intro (03:03) - – From engineer to reluctant marketer (05:37) - – Gaming years and “coolest mom” cred (07:52) - – The story behind You.com's domain (09:31) - – Why she jumped into AI (12:00) - – Reinventing yourself as a CMO (14:00) - – Fundamentals that never change in marketing (16:13) - – Aligning marketing with company strategy (19:24) - – Pivoting the ICP at Lightspeed (22:26) - – Lessons on cross-functional alignment (25:08) - – Letting go to grow as a leader (27:53) - – Systems every CMO should set up (34:43) - – Why no single playbook works (36:24) - – How AI is reshaping marketing roles (51:04) - – Building an AI-first marketing org and closing thoughts Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.comJoin the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterCheck out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership***Today's episode is brought to you by Walnut.Why are we pouring all this effort into marketing just to push buyers to a “request a demo” or “contact sales” button?Come on, today's buyers don't want to talk to sales right away. They want to explore your product themselves, see how it works, and understand its value before booking a meeting.That's where Walnut comes in.Walnut empowers marketers and GTM teams to create interactive, self-guided product experiences in minutes. Embed these experiences on your site, in emails, or anywhere in your funnel to let buyers engage on their terms, from awareness to close and beyond. That's the beauty of Walnut - you're getting a platform that your sales and CS colleagues can use to showcase the product too.And the best part? You get real intent data—see which features prospects love, where they drop off, and what's actually driving pipeline. Demo Qualified Leads are the new MQL.Over 500 companies, like Adobe and NetApp, use Walnut to drive 2-3x higher website conversion rates and 7 figures in pipeline on a yearly basis. So do you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product instead of hiding it behind another typical B2B CTA? Go check out Walnut.io. And if you tell them Dave from Exit 5 sent you, they'll build out your first demo for free!

What does it take to steer a 3,500-person company into the age of generative AI? ZoomInfo founder and CEO Henry Schuck joins us to unpack the company's journey from data powerhouse to AI-first GTM platform, the cultural shifts that enabled it, and the hard-won lessons any leader can borrow. We explore how they reduced teams from 26 to 2 people using AI agents, why 2/3 of employees now use AI daily, and the critical role of data infrastructure in AI success.Subscribe to The Neuron newsletter: https://theneuron.aiLearn more about ZoomInfo: https://www.zoominfo.com

We ran the biggest public study on YC company's successes and failures in history. This is what we learned about the most prolific startup incubator in history.    Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Sunday and Thursday.   Don't miss GTM2025 — the only B2B tech conference exclusively for GTM executives. Use code TOPLINE for 10% off your GA ticket.   Subscribe to Topline Newsletter.   Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech.   Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast!   (00:00) - The Biggest Study on YC (00:40) - Personal Updates and Banter (03:47) - What Is Y Combinator? (04:24) - Our Research's Findings (06:26) - Advantages of Joining YC (10:40) - Challenges and Criticisms of YC (14:34) - Personal Experiences and Insights (29:47) - YC's Branding and Marketing Power (30:31) - YC's Expansion and Its Impact (31:16) - The Value of YC's Brand (34:04) - Dilution and Founders' Naivety (36:04) - Branding Lessons from YC (37:44) - Challenges and Opportunities for YC (46:17) - Chat GPT-5: Initial Impressions (50:31) - AI Companies and Market Dynamics (56:23) - Concluding Thoughts and Wins  

Spotlight Ten - From Saving Lives to 5M ARR - AI Sales, Founder Psychology and the Dark Side of Speed with Gaurav BhattacharyaSpotlight ten is a truly unique and insightful dive into building a SaaS venture and the 996 culture of Silicon Valley.Who is Gaurav?Gaurav Bhattacharya is a repeat B2B SaaS founder and Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree who's built, scaled, and exited startups before most founders finish their MVP. Currently the CEO of Jeeva.ai, he's leading the charge in automating outbound AI-powered SDR agents — helping B2B teams 2x their pipeline in half the time (and cost).Before Jeeva, he co-founded involve.ai, a customer intelligence platform that grew to 500+ companies and 1.1M users globally. He raised over $20M from top investors like Sapphire Ventures, Stanford University, and Gokul Rajaram — and hit $5M ARR in under 9 months with just 11 people.Gaurav's story starts even earlier, at 17, he co-built a radiology tool that the Indian government adopted nationwide to fight sex-selective abortions.He's been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, LA Business Journal, and top startup podcasts — and he's not here to preach theory. Gaurav brings real-world operator lessons, raw founder stories, and tactical GTM frameworks that listeners can steal and ship the same day.When he's not building, he's probably over-caffeinating, mentoring founders, or geeking out on outbound psychology.#techpodcast #ai #redefiningai #laurenhawkerzaferSubscribe to the channel and share what you enjoyed! Give us some stars and feedback in the review section!

Jamie Lee, seasoned revenue leader with over 25 years of sales and go-to-market experience, including roles as Chief Revenue Officer at Zesty and multiple GTM leadership positions. In this episode, Jamie Lee shares insights on navigating sales transformation, the importance of coaching, trust, and clear communication in sales teams, and how leaders can foster a growth mindset. He emphasizes the significance of foundational practices like OKRs, effective hiring based on humility, hunger, and smartness (EQ), and the critical role of leadership in developing high-performing teams. Jamie also discusses overcoming resistance to new technologies, the importance of time management for leaders, and the value of continuous learning. He advocates for leaders to lead by example, prioritize coaching, and build a culture of self-awareness and humility to drive sustainable growthIntroduction & Guest Background (0:00 - 0:09)Jamie Lee discusses his extensive sales and GTM leadership experience, including roles at Zesty and multiple CRO positions.Market Trends & Challenges (1:00 - 1:13)Insights on current market transformation, especially amid rapid AI growth and shifting team strategies.What Reps Seek in Roles (3:52 - 4:04)Coaching, trust, and clear communication are top priorities for high-performing salespeople.Embracing New Technologies & Growth Mindset (4:12 - 5:30)The importance of leaders modeling learning, supporting development, and fostering a growth mindset.Handling Resistance to AI & Change (6:07 - 8:06)Strategies for coaching team members hesitant to adopt new tools, emphasizing understanding motivations and fixed vs. growth mindsets.Leadership & Coaching Time Management (12:47 - 15:18)Overcoming excuses for lack of coaching; leaders should dedicate time to develop their teams and focus on hiring for humility, hunger, and EQ.Setting Effective Goals & OKRs (16:00 - 18:01)Using OKRs to align team efforts, focusing on inputs and actions that drive outcomes, and involving teams in goal-setting.Hiring with the Right Traits (21:36 - 25:54)Assessing candidates for humility, hunger, and smartness (EQ); practical interview questions and evaluation techniques.Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement (28:45 - 29:23)Jamie encourages ongoing learning, coaching, and community support to elevate the sales profession.

According to research from Salesforce, 69% of sales reps say they’re overwhelmed by the number of tools they must use. So, how can you reimagine your tech stack and GTM strategy to maximize efficiency across your teams?Riley Rogers: Hi, and welcome to the Win-Win podcast. I’m your host, Riley Rogers. Join us as we dive into changing trends in the workplace and how to navigate them successfully. Here to discuss this topic is Kate Curtis, senior product Marketing manager of Enablement at Kevel. Thank you so much for joining us. Kate, I’d love if you could start just by telling us a little bit about yourself, your background, and your role at Kevel. Kate Curtis: Great. Yeah, so I’m Kate Curtis. I’m based out of Boston and working with enablement here at Kevel, which is a retail media cloud service platform, and I just recently came on, but I’ve had a very diverse background in terms of working in different companies in different verticals. I actually got my start out of college working in a box office for nonprofit arts, anywhere from opera, theater, dance, you name it. I think it was a masterclass in doing everything with nothing and it. Gave me the ability to think about how to sell things in a way that aren’t naturally able to sell when you can actually sell artistic creativity by showing people the possibility. That was one of the first lessons I got that got me hooked into enablement, and so how do we talk about things? Whether it’s about a product you’re selling or something, you’re convincing somebody to read a book. How do you talk about things in a way that catches them, that enlightens them, that brings value to them? It was a grassroots kind of situation where you had very little, very little money and had to get creative, and so I took those skills and. Started making my way into advertising, working for other ad tech companies like Criteo, Amazon, and now here at keval. And the uniqueness of it is everybody struggles with the same things no matter what your business is. RR: I love how you connected the dots from beginning to end working in a nonprofit initially and an arts focused nonprofit. You learn to be scrappy. You learn how to communicate with people well. You just have to. So I think part of the reason we’re excited to have you here is you have a really great wealth of experience. Kind of across a lot of different disciplines that we’re very excited to dig into. And on that note, we kind of have a lot of ground to cover today. So excited to jump right into it. So first question for you, as a marketing leader, what are some of the key go-to-market initiatives that you’re focused on driving for your business? KC: Yeah. If you ask any enterprise leadership, they’re going to say, sell, sell, sell. Get it out there. Get it in front as many people as possible. Get those dollars. A, B, C. Always be closing to me as somebody who comes from a background, particularly I am a child of two public school teachers. It starts with education. You can’t sell unless you believe in it yourself, unless you understand how it works. And that gives you the capability to be able to take a story to the table and solve for a customer. Tell them not just how the features and functionality work, but so what? What is this gonna do at the end of the day? So the real priorities for go to market is let’s start with educational foundation, and that’s whether you are building something out yourself internally, whether it’s coaching or you’re building out playbooks. Finding something to be able to reach a myriad of learning personalities so that they feel confident. Being able to understand themselves and tell their own story versus read off of let’s say a sales script or speaker’s notes on a deck. From there, it’s being able to give them something that they can take to a customer that isn’t built from within. And I say that by meaning. How do we keep whatever our content is, whether it’s a video, it’s a one pager, it’s a deck, what have you, how do we ensure that we are showing the value of product? But that’s not where the conversation starts. The conversation should start from how do we. Have those conversations with people to find out why we’re actually meeting today, and then being able to work backwards into the functionality of the platform where that. We bring in the education layer, right? That’s where we bring it in. We can sit here and talk hypotheticals of what you can solve for for a customer, but at the end of the day, you’ve gotta be able to show the proof. So if being able to allow people to feel confident to talk about something that they can solve for understanding a customer’s needs, and then being able to provide them that proof. Is something that we’ve really focused on. So how do we make sure they have the education? How do we make sure they have the go-to market right materials? And how do we make sure that they stay aligned and then continuously learning from them, from the data of did it work? ’cause we’re all making assumptions about what the market is like and who our customers are and what they’re struggling with. But if you don’t lean into the data and validate and challenge things, then it that go to market time is just gonna get longer. And less impactful. And at the end of the day, that dollar is gonna take much longer time to come in the door. And so really starting from the basics. RR: Yeah, I really admire that education first approach. I think that’s a great philosophy, but I know that it’s also kind of, it’s hard to drive at scale. You’re trying to do a lot of things to build confidence, to build that alignment, to get reps ready to go and sell meaningfully. And so I know that’s a big challenge that I’m sure you and literally everyone else is dealing with. So I know that one of the ways that you’re kind of combating that challenge is through. Go to market efficiency. I’ve seen you frame it as operating leaner, faster and smarter. So I’d love if you could walk me through the building blocks that you and any other GTM team would need to kind of bring that philosophy of efficient execution to life. KC: Yeah. Again, starting from. Getting it right from the start. So we started off, we’ve had enablement surveys running for the past couple of quarters internally to be able to understand where people are struggling, not just with content needs, but where they are lacking in feeling confident about certain messaging or products or ICPs. Really understanding across the board what are the big gaping holes, what are the areas that we can lean on the little less into, and. Starting off with something like that, to be able to kind of add that data to again, be able to not only just understand, but measure quarter over quarter is incredibly helpful to how we kinda got started in isolating what’s the biggest areas of opportunity versus long-term goals. And from there it was about, I heard loud and clear when I came in. I can’t find anything. I don’t know if it’s up to date. I don’t understand how to talk about it. I can’t find answers to my questions. And again. Tale as old as time. Everybody has that problem no matter how big and how much money you have in the bank. And so that’s where I lean into tools and that’s where I brought in Highspot, is the idea is like we need to start from a clean slate before we can even go to market. Otherwise we’re just gonna keep repeating the same issues over and over. So this was a great opportunity for us to kind of start clean and enter into a tool. I know that everybody and their mom has a thousand tools across the business, and the names just get funnier and funnier the more you adopt them. But the idea of this is what I was trying to impress upon them is we have so many rich channels of content, whether it’s discussions happening in Slack or it’s things that are happening in HubSpot, or you know, all this rich content built by multiple different departments living across the ether. And they’re so rich in what they can provide and insight and education and just quick answering of questions and being able to help our teams become strategic advisors versus salespeople. And so being able to ingest that into one tool rather than replicating another tool was a great opportunity to say, I’m gonna help you find what you need faster. That, and then as my customer got ’em. They said fantastic. And I’m not saying it’s easy as that to get a hundred percent adoption, but that the fact of the matter is of being able to give them back time into their week to do their job was problem one that we were solving for. The next was finding my champions. So finding those people. That’ll drink the Kool-Aid with me, and so I had a lot of one-on-ones, which is exhausting at first, but as we say in sales juice, it’s worth the squeeze. After we got started doing the one-on-ones people, it was like they saw the light, specifically looking at digital sales rooms, being able to have something that didn’t just benefit the salesperson but became an effective tool to help them. At when the deal was closed, to be able to hand that over to the existing business team and everything’s there, and they’re able to then build upon that and it becomes this one stop shop for a customer lifecycle versus these different stages that we see customers in. It becomes a partnership versus just a deal commitment. And then. I’m a mom, I realize I get my kid to do things when I, you know, reward them. So I actually started building out some spotlights. So most recently called out some of the, the salespeople that got really creative in the digital sales rooms about not just taking the. Templates I built out with some of our standard content, but really thought about it and really engaged with the tool. And out of the digital sales room was the first one they built 60% of the material was engaged with by customers. And to be able to see something like that where we’re still building materials in real time was incredibly. Informative and helps like to feed how we should start rebuilding these rooms. So showing their other sales team members look what they’re able to do and look at the conversations they’re able to elevate. Cited that little bit of competition with their other salespeople. But I, the, I created an award called, I Got 99 Problems, but a Pitch Ain’t Won. And now that is my enablement award I give out for spotlights that are all hands when I’m calling out people for certain things. And as cheesy as it is, you know, it brings people back into the conversation and people actually text and said, how can I get the next one? So it’s, it’s a lot of different ways of looking at it. Again, at the end of the day, yeah, they’re my teammate, but they’re also my customer. How am I gonna make them successful? What are the same discovery questions we ask? And then as I’m doing that, being able to champion that out. It’s being seen by other members of the business and they want their stuff seen too. So you’ve got product in there with like release notes, which, so we build out an RSS feed, so all the release notes are constantly feeding in there. Everybody is getting a benefit from it, depending on what. How they’re engaging with Highspot and we’re unsiloing all of this information and helping people find the answers, speak more confidently in real time, using AI to help make things faster and learning with data. ’cause data doesn’t lie. RR: Amazing. I love that you’re kind of marrying the functionality with the fun part of it, because that’s how you kind of drive adoption is you need to prove, hey, this helps your workflow and then also. You get a benefit by using it, and maybe it’s a little silly, but it’s also fun. I kind of wanna touch on something interesting you said, which is the struggle that so many teams face of dozens of tools with increasingly ridiculous names that your sellers all need to keep track of, click into, figure out. So I’d love to know a little bit more about what. The difference a unified platform makes for your team. So could you talk to me a little bit about how that centralized source of truth is improving efficiency and helping you better drive your initiatives? KC: Yeah. Great example is we have another tool that we use for our RFPs. So whenever a request for proposal comes in, there’s a whole other separate tool that most people don’t even know about and it actually is managed by a team of some of our engineers and it has over 2, 400. Questions asked by customers and RFPs with validated answers anywhere from the high level down to the nitty gritty. And so what I’ve done is I’ve connected that tool into Highspot, and so using copilot. People can go in and say, you know, what kind of ad formats can I use? And that’s probably not in a deck. It’s probably not in a one pager or maybe not into the detail or granularity you need. But because it can scrape that, it is able to scrape that data, give the information the answer back to the person in real time, and then point to the source. So if they need to dig in a little bit deeper, and what I like about that is the recommendations as well. So even if they’re answering a question, if I’m on a call with a customer. I guarantee you, no one on this team, unless they’ve been here for a while, could be able to answer that spitfire. The idea is that I’m enabling that person to find that question without having to go to a Slack and give that little intermission of time. That could be more conversation with the customer. They can find it in real time. They can provide the answer of the most basic level, and because it makes recommendations of other content that’s related to it, it helps them continue and evolve on that conversation In terms of discovery. So, okay, you’re looking for the different formats. Where do you typically like to serve your ads? What kind of ads do you like to serve? How do you like to do targeting? It helps to really drive the conversation and then at the same time, give you those things that you could put into the digital sales room. ’cause you know that that was impactful and maybe informative to them. So really thinking about where would I go for certain things that. Either people know about. So Slack, we are getting a little hacky and we are exporting some slack threads that are specifically around questions that come to our support teams. And so. As we can get that content in. It’s a little dirty because it’s an export from Slack, but the amount of conversations that are happening in there and dialogues about our customers and things that they’re asking about or struggling with, it’s such rich information that standardly wouldn’t exist in an enablement platform. And while it is not a deliverable, it is a resource. And so, you know, as people are having conversations, they’re able to find answers. They’re able to at the same time, educate themselves. Uh, in a self-service fashion, and it’s interesting to us to be able to go into those search channels and be able to see what people are asking so that we, it again helps us better understand where our content gaps are. Being able to reduce the amount of things that are open for you to be able to find what you need in a way that we keep it in controlled chaos, as I like to say, has been incredibly helpful. We were able to get answers to an RFP within the first week of launching Highspot. So it’s the idea of thinking out of the box of what this tool is meant to do in standard form of how we make sure people find content. I think it’s about how we make sure people find what they need. In real time and ensure that they’re confidently able to understand it and that we’re constantly looking for other areas to help feed into the platform and give them something that maybe they didn’t even know they were looking for. RR: Those are such great examples. I really enjoyed hearing about how you have created a space for so many conversations. That maybe would just happen in a little bubble, but now the entire organization has visibility into that, which is just incredible and I’m sure saves your engineering team and your support team a lot of time and a lot of slacks we’re working on it. I think that actually feeds very well into the next question, which is, you know, a key part of efficiency is alignment and synchronized collaboration. So I know you’re working closely with, like you said, product engineering, sales teams all across the organization. So beyond maybe what you’re doing so far in the platform, what are some best practices that you have for aligning GTM KC: teams? I think a really specific thing is kind of going back to what I mentioned at the beginning, is I did a road show before we signed and after we signed with key stakeholders from these teams, and none of them knew what Highspot was. So I was able to come in from an approach of what keeps you up at night, what are you struggling with, what can I help you with? What will make you look good? Again, the same thing. I would go to a customer. It doesn’t matter if it’s a car, if it’s hammer, if it’s software. The only reason I will come on board if it’s something that provides value or impact to me. So it was going to those teams and finding out. What are they struggling with? And a lot of it was they have so much documentation and so many things they want to get to everyone. But much like everybody, it lives on Google Drive or it lives in a doc portal that people don’t log into. It doesn’t give room for context or clarity. So again, like going to product and, and them saying, we have all of this stuff that’s out there that. Roadmaps and release notes that really could impact renewals or really could change the game in terms of customers that maybe didn’t think we were in the place right for them previously. But now we have all these things that we didn’t imagine. It’s being able to have those kind of things out there that help elevate the products and work that they’re doing. Going to our marketing team. I mean, you know, marketers, they are content churning themes. They are writing and delivering so much stuff and it just, you know, unless it’s through social channels or through campaigns, you don’t really have any data on that. So how can we start leaning into what’s working in marketing and not just elevate that to make sure it’s getting used, but get that feedback and more importantly. These are often the unsung heroes, right? The, the people who are creating content. There’s never a name on there that says Kate created that. They churn out the piece of content. It goes out there, it does what it does. And if it does well, then we celebrate as a team, which is great. But at the end of the day, I think we all like the validation of the work we do. And so I started another award called, um, I’m not just a Player. I crush a lot. And that’s for our content creators. And so it’s being able to go in and look at the content that, specifically I’m looking at digital sales rooms right now. One piece of content is being used very frequently and it’s being engaged with majority of the time. And it’s something that’s not even new and it’s actually a URL from our site, but it’s a blog post. And so being able to. Elevate that to that person who did that work a while ago that was probably long and forgotten and say, Hey, it’s still kicking and it’s doing well, is a really great opportunity for me to have that kind of buy-in from them too. Then the sales side. Honestly, getting that reporting metrics with pitches in digital sales rooms was the carrot on the stack. We are, you know, we’re in our, our business specifically is remote first, so we don’t have a sales floor. We have basically a tight network of salespeople that are extremely talented and very close knit, but they are across the world, and so being able to have. Something that they could learn off of each other and be able to get a little bit of a better understanding of how to direct their conversations. A better understanding of what works for different personas or markets to expedite that go to market and closing, uh, of deals faster that, I mean, it’s something they’ve never had before. It’s something that helps them become leaders within their own groups and being able to show them that value again, like. What keeps you up at night? The deal you’re struggling to curl? Yeah, let’s work on that. Let’s give you some space to be able to create a unique environment for your customer that becomes a collaboration and gives you insight and intel to how to better gauge the next conversation or prioritize your book of business. So really at the end of the day, it wasn’t about selling Highspot itself as a platform. It was about starting from how can I help you do better? What are you struggling with? And then mapping it back to the functionalities of Highspot and building out use cases for them and being able to say, we can deliver on this. And we do. And we are. RR: I gotta say, I love, as you’re explaining this, hearing the marketer brain churning of like, what stories am I gonna tell these folks to get them bought in? What is the value for you? How am I gonna tell this story? I see how it works. KC: It’s, it’s not rocket science. I wish I could come with a magic secret, but really we’re humans at the end of the day, and really, we are looking to, to prove our value and to excel at what we do. And so how can we find the unique ways to help people do that? RR: Yeah, and I think it’s that kind of empathy, that human first approach of like, I know that you’re just, you just wanna do a good job, and I’m here to help you do that. That’s gonna win. You buy in every single day more than any other strategy. KC: It’s the credit. I’m not coming here. To try to force this down your throat or make you do another tool. Let’s think differently about this. This is a partnership with us because when you do well, we all do well, which is cheesy as it sounds, but it’s true. RR: Yeah, absolutely. Switching gears a little bit, you kind of touched on this a little earlier, but I’d like to kind of dig into it because you know it wouldn’t be the Win-Win podcast if we didn’t talk about ai. So I’d love to know, a lot of businesses are, of course, using AI to improve efficiency, and I know that you’ve started to dabble in that a little bit with Highspot. So I’d love if you could kind of walk us through your current AI strategy and some of the ways that you’re using AI in Highspot to support your teams. KC: Yeah, we’ve just started again. We launched about end of June and then I went on vacation for two weeks ’cause that’s how you successfully kick off a new software. Um, but we launched in June and we launched with a very big launch event of a new product that we were rolling out with. So the timing was quite nice. And the idea behind this was, again, trying to, to show to the team that this isn’t a. Content repository. It’s not a dam, this is not a folder. Like this is going to be something that is we’re going to build on and teach as well. At the same time you’re gonna teach it. We started with leaning into, uh, just the search bar functionality, and that’s where I came in and started asking people in the surveys like, where do you go when you have a question? Don’t tell me a person’s name. Where do you go when you have a question? And really starting to source that kind of information to, to live out there. And sometimes it was. As we’d mentioned before, another platform that maybe this content lived in our support software, what have you, or maybe it was a Wiki, how do we start finding that information to be able to provide at the same time and answer those questions? And so starting really simplistic with that, it really is you got to breadcrumb people into a new platform. Otherwise they’re drinking from the fire hose and they’re not absorbing anything. To be able to solve for X pretty quickly. Was a nice way to start in. A, getting people to adopt the AI functionality of being able to surface information or content. B. Start teaching it. Vernacular and start giving the feedback of whether answers were right or not and start building that at scale. I then opened up into the full copilot feature and started showing them it’s smarter than chat GPT, because it’s really honed in only on us. So you know that your messaging is in there. And I was, don’t just ask a question of saying, what is yield forecast? Get that and say, okay. You can also do this, you can say, write a message to a retail persona, because we have our personas built into the platform, content across the board with bullet points of what the value props that are important to their outcomes. And in real time during the demo, it built the template for it. It was completely on point. I said, copy, paste that. Go BDR, go. And then from there it’s, it’s about leaning into where the AI copilot is within the tools itself. So. You know, if I am coming on board to Keble and I’m starting off, oftentimes people are gonna point you go look at these slides, go look at these PDFs, da, da, da. But having that copilot feature there to be able to ask a question rather than have to go to my manager and ask questions and it scrapes the content to be able to provide me an answer, is such an efficiency for that person to be, again, like self-service enabled, but also takes that kind of. I don’t wanna call it low value opportunity for a manager. It’s, it’s obviously they’re there for questions, but this gives it space for when they do have their one-on-ones to go into really distinct questions and really distinct trainings and coachings they need to be focusing on versus understanding a platform solution. And then from there that having that knowledge check that’s in there as well. Like that’s to me, another thing I don’t have to build out. As another training tool, like that’s a just off the bat kind of training tool. Those are the kind of things we’re currently leaning in. Again, we’re only almost two months in, but the fact of the matter is, is it’s already proving its value in terms of elevating what we are ingesting into the tool, into something that is solving for a problem. That has been on every single enablement survey since it started as one of the biggest issues is I need an education I can’t find. What I’m looking for. RR: Well, as you’re kind of iterating down the line, ’cause I know as you said, only like two months or so into this and there’s always room for improvement, figuring things out, all of that fun stuff. I’d like to know if you could share where you’re going. What do you think may be the next step in you and your AI vision, and how do you think that strategy might evolve over time? KC: It’s a really great question. We, as a company use AI to drive efficiencies at scale without taxing our teams. So finding business efficiencies, being able to build something more into AI within Highspot, that becomes almost like another me or another presence of a product engineer or you know, a sales. Guidance tool, which I know you guys are working on, I think soon we’ll be delivering. But how do we replicate support networks or feedback or guidance or recommendation? How do we elevate that and again, iterate? How do we constantly build on the value of this tool and how we are creating a smaller gap between the first start of a customer conversation? To not just closing of a deal, but how do we get smarter about what we’re saying? How do we get smarter about discovery questions? What are the hidden gems of things that we should be bringing up? How, how are we using AI to elevate our conversations, to onboard people faster, to really make sure that we are leaning in the right direction with the customer? And at the end of the day, showing the value. And you know, it’s sometimes hard in these situations to show value. It takes time, but what are the ways that we can show value? And I think a lot of the features that the AI even currently are doing are really starting to check that box. But I’m constantly, I am a self-proclaimed nerd. What more can we do? How can we get hacky with it? What are things that we can think about that are existing that we could think about from a different lens? And I really do think it’s about. Thinking in a world where I think a lot of us are still working remote or hybrid and we don’t have that sales floor, we don’t have our manager sit in two seats down. Product is not, you know, on the second floor, how do we create a situation where we can create a digital office or digital network where we’re able to have whatever content or information or what have you. ’cause we all know you can pretty much put darn near everything into a Highspot. How do we make it so that. It takes it off the paper. And how can AI help us with that? RR: Well, I really enjoyed that vision. I think you’re thinking about it from like every angle. I think you and the team are obviously doing some really cool things with Highspot so far that I feel like I haven’t heard from too many of our customers. You’re creating a really wonderful digital office, and so I can’t wait to see kind of how it evolves and gets more connected over time as you bring more things in. I would like to maybe, you know, we talked a little bit about the future and we jumped ahead. Maybe walk back a little bit into the past because. You know, you’re still early in your journey, like you said, but we’ve heard some really great things from your account team so far. For instance, after launching Highspot, you had it just one week. You had already driven 83% adoption. So I’d love to know, and I’m sure our listeners would love to know too, how did you do that? How did you drive such early adoption? How did you get reps excited? I know you touched on it a little bit, but if you have maybe like a, a step by step or anything for us. KC: So I will be completely honest that this is not my first rodeo. I actually, in working at Criteo, which is another ad tech company, I started off in sales there. I was an account strategist and we were working with large books of business and we were working with complex software that was constantly evolving and. Again, tale as old as time. Oh, this deck is outta date. God, you know, it’s, it’s that same thing, and I worked my way up into creating a head of enablement role for the idea that the same premise I began with is we need to declutter. We need to lean in technology that doesn’t duplicate, that uns silos and provides that layer of education, provides the clarity of the message and provides the trust in what you are sharing is accurate up to date and you feel confident in doing it. And so I rolled it out there. I think we had like 1200. People using it at that space that included more than sales. ’cause I will say I don’t see this as just a sales enablement platform. This is a unified space for a business. As I said, the adoption goes beyond the salespeople using it. It goes into the business. Aligning and using this as a single source of truth for how people are going to be approached with information or finance answers. And so that started there as well. And then, uh, my most recent company I work with was a company called Tulip. They are into another services software, and they had the same, it’s the same issue. It was a very complex product that was very niche for each customer, and it was a little wild west in terms of what content was being built. It wasn’t that it was wrong, it was just how are we learning from it? What if so-and-so’s got a deck that’s killing it and we’re not using it? And so being able to come to them and say, let’s create this as a collaborative space versus let’s, you know, it was a much smaller organization, so less of like wrangling the cats and more of like, let’s learn from each other and let’s, then that’s where the digital sales rooms really became key because there was so much information provided. How do you keep tabs on that? And again, here at Kevel it was, we’ve got a lot out there we’re, it was kind of a combination of the two actually. We’re a very niche platform that is wonderful in the fact that it’s flexible and allows the customer to do a thousand different things to solve for their problem, but that also means there’s a thousand different things you need to understand. So how do we get our hands around the thing and how do we learn from each other because we’re a smaller group. And so I think both from a background of sales. From a background of learning, those were the situations very different in terms of what we were going against. But at the end of the day, it really came down to that value prop is what keeps you up at night. And I know it sounds really simple, but I will constantly lean into that. It’s hard to do at scale, but I think you can find a couple of things, particularly looking at the larger business working at Criteo. It’s not different. How much money is in your bank, how, how, you know big your business is. We’re all going to try to service the same customers and we’re probably all struggling with similar things. So what can I do for you? That’s primarily been, and it’s, it’s, it’s a lot of upfront work, but once you get ’em, you get ’em and they believe in it, and then they become your champions. You’ve got a product that’s there for life. RR: Yeah. Well, thank you for breaking that down for us. I think, you know, sometimes with problems like these, it’s like this is such a big issue. I have no idea how I can even wrap my head around it. But just having that, what am I dealing with? Why is it an issue? Where do I wanna go? And just being able to walk through that kind of thought experiment is so helpful. KC: And don’t do it alone. Get that champion. I’m a one woman team and I have a kid, and she’s, she’s needy, so don’t do it alone. Find those champions, find those people that you know are trusted in their internal teams and have them be boots on the ground. RR: Absolutely. Aside from, you know, one week immediate, it feels like success for you guys. I’d love to know, since implementing Highspot, what. Business results have you seen, do you have any wins that you could share or accomplishments that you’re particularly proud of? KC: Yeah, our sales cycles are a little long, so it’ll be a little bit before we actually see kind of attributed revenue to things. But what I can see in looking at the data is I am seeing that people are engaging with multiple pieces of content that has never been engaged with before. We’re learning a lot from it. Primarily, I’ll say, being able to see the information from certain digital sales rooms of what customers are engaging with. And so we’re looking at those, not just the view through rates, but the multiple times viewing and the downloading. It’s giving us the ability to move faster in terms of, okay, they’re at stage one. This is what was impactful at stage one, everybody. Stage one. Let’s use these pieces of content to have these conversation. Okay, stage two, these are really helpful here and. Perfect for emea. I think without being able to present numbers quite yet, I can physically see these sales teams collaborating more and understanding what’s impactful at each stage to each customer to be able to. Streamline their conversations a little bit better to be able to have a little more outcome focused or feature focused ways of what’s important to them right now and what kind of collateral do they want to ingest at this point in the sales cycle. And I think ultimately my prediction is that this is going to help expedite the time to close of sale is because we’re going to get smarter about who cares about what. How they want to see that information. And then from there, being able to lean more into what actually moves along to a sale. Additionally, we’re from at least an internal standpoint, we’re seeing the engagement by the teams in terms of the content and how often they’re logging in. And we’ve seen a 25% increase in time spent in Highspot month over month. At this point. We know that there will be business results. But we know it’s not just about that. So we’re working our way there, but at the same time, while people are adopting it and we’re seeing that, we’re also still able to get those little learning insights that are going to help drive the business in incremental ways. And that’s been incredibly helpful to show to leadership as well, to be able to show them that they’re using the tool, customers are engaging in the tool, and we’re able to get that intel and be able to have these more fruitful conversations. And we’ll start seeing the benefits of this. The more we engage, the more we sound, the more we we dig in. RR: Well, I’m really glad to hear that you’re seeing those early wins that will over time compound into some of those things that you’re looking for, and you’re seeing those successes that you can take back and be like, look, we’re doing what we want to. It just takes a little time to build there, so we’ll have to check back with you down the line and see how things are going. I’ve just got one last question for you, which is that I’d love to know if you could share the biggest piece of advice you would have. For other marketing leaders who are looking to improve GTM efficiency and maybe find those hacky solutions for it. KC: Again, I’m not gonna blow your minds with this, but I think a lot of us tend to not engage with people so much as more as we used to when we were in offices, and I found that. People are most often, I mean, we’re always willing to talk about ourselves, right? And we most often will go to the negative of things that we are struggling with. And it really was sitting down with these either key stakeholders or these who I consider the sales team my customers. It’s really sitting down and having conversations with them. RR: Amazing. Well, I think, you know, you said it’s not mind blowing advice, but I think sometimes that’s what you need. You need the reminder that these are the things that work. Do them. Yeah. So I think that’s fantastic advice to close with. I have to say thank you so much for joining us. It has been such a pleasure to chat with you. Thank you. To our audience, thank you for listening to this episode of the Win-Win podcast. Be sure to tune in next time for more insights on how you can maximize anything that success with Highspot.

In this episode, Jeff sits down with Noah Adelstein, who leads international growth at Rippling and hosts The GTM Engineer podcast. They unpack how Noah helped scale Rippling's Australia team from 10 to 80+, the evolving state of cold email, and how GTM engineers are reshaping the way we think about growth. Noah shares why marketers must obsess over follow-up as much as lead gen, how AI fits into outbound strategy (without going off the rails), and why constantly rethinking org structure may be the most underrated superpower in modern GTM.

#275 LinkedIn Strategy | In this episode, Dave is joined by Brad Zomick, a B2B marketing consultant and host who has helped founders and executives build their presence on LinkedIn. Together they break down why a strong LinkedIn strategy is no longer optional for founders, it's one of the most effective growth levers in B2B today.Dave and Brad cover:Why LinkedIn is still the best channel for founders to build authority, attract talent, and connect with customersHow to turn everyday founder communications into high-impact LinkedIn contentThe unexpected ROI of founder-led content, from recruiting and partnerships to real-time message testingIf you've been wondering how to turn LinkedIn into a real growth engine for your brand, this episode is your blueprint.Timestamps(00:00) - – Intro (03:48) - – Early days of LinkedIn (09:18) - – Building Drift with founder brand (15:18) - – Why every founder needs LinkedIn (19:18) - – The hidden ROI of posting (27:53) - – Dave's personal posting system (31:23) - – How to never run out of content (35:23) - – Unexpected benefits of being visible (39:53) - – Is it too late to start? (42:53) - – Who inspires Dave today (45:08) - – What's next for Exit Five (46:53) - – Closing thoughts Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.comJoin the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterCheck out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership***Today's episode is brought to you by Walnut.Why are we pouring all this effort into marketing just to push buyers to a “request a demo” or “contact sales” button?Come on, today's buyers don't want to talk to sales right away. They want to explore your product themselves, see how it works, and understand its value before booking a meeting.That's where Walnut comes in.Walnut empowers marketers and GTM teams to create interactive, self-guided product experiences in minutes. Embed these experiences on your site, in emails, or anywhere in your funnel to let buyers engage on their terms, from awareness to close and beyond. That's the beauty of Walnut - you're getting a platform that your sales and CS colleagues can use to showcase the product too.And the best part? You get real intent data—see which features prospects love, where they drop off, and what's actually driving pipeline. Demo Qualified Leads are the new MQL.Over 500 companies, like Adobe and NetApp, use Walnut to drive 2-3x higher website conversion rates and 7 figures in pipeline on a yearly basis. So do you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product instead of hiding it behind another typical B2B CTA? Go check out Walnut.io. And if you tell them Dave from Exit 5 sent you, they'll build out your first demo for free!

Thompson and Austin Hay, co-founders of Clarify, the startup that's pioneering the idea of autonomous CRM. Their vision? A CRM that actually does the work for sellers of driving outreach, managing pipeline, and surfacing insights without constant manual input. Patrick and Austin share: • Their journey from Iteratively, Ramp, and Amplitude to founding Clarify • Why the CRM market is ripe for disruption with AI • How Clarify's unique pricing model flips the script (free CRM, pay only when the AI agent works for you) • The concept of autonomous GTM teams and the rise of the Go-to-Market Engineer • Lessons in building culture, hiring talent, and embracing the “beautiful mess” of startups If you're a founder, sales leader, or builder rethinking your revenue stack and curious about how AI will transform the way teams sell, this conversation is a must-listen.

In this episode of Women in B2B Marketing, Jane Serra sits down with Sheevaun Thatcher, VP of Revenue Enablement at Demandbase, to unpack what enablement really means when done right.With decades of experience spanning pre-sales, sales, and enablement leadership, Sheevaun shares the lessons learned from building programs that actually move the needle on productivity, retention, and revenue influence. Far from “just training” or “content delivery,” her approach treats enablement as a true business within a business - complete with strategy, investors, and measurable outcomes.Jane and Sheevaun dive into:Sheevaun's career path from pre-sales into enablement and the lessons learned through each “version” of enablement she builtWhat revenue enablement really means (hint: it touches everyone who influences revenue, not just sales)The difference between being responsible to sales versus responsible for revenueThe five key questions that keep enablement focused on what matters mostThe four pillars of enablement: GTM clarity, aligned content, just-in-time training, and tribal knowledgeHow to align enablement with marketing and product to ensure content is actually adopted and useful in customer conversationsWhy “standard demos” and “budget questions” don't work - and better approaches to bothThe role of coaching, why high performers don't always make strong managers, and how to train managers to actually coachHow AI and just-in-time enablement are changing how sellers learn and apply skillsWhen a company is really ready for enablement (and why your first hire should be senior, not junior)Key Links:Guest: Sheevaun Thatcher – LinkedIn Host: Jane Serra – LinkedInSheevaun's LinkedIn Articles Mentioned:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/r2n4-enablement-keystone-sheevaun-thatcher-cpc-tsqcc/https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-5-fave-enablement-questions-sheevaun-thatcher-cpc-xr7gf/––Like WIB2BM? Show us some love with a rating or review. It helps us get these amazing women in front of the bigger audience they deserve.

Your funnel metrics are probably wrong. Not slightly off, but completely wrong. You're using Google Analytics for everything, your visitor counts include people logging into existing accounts, and you have no idea what your real conversion rates look like. In this segment from our data workshop, Claudiu from Inner Trends walks through the technical infrastructure needed to track each stage of your go-to-market funnel correctly - from accurate visitor counts to defining trackable events for your first strike moment. Key Highlights: 01:32: Why most teams don't own activation (and who should) 04:47: The 3 stages of visitor tracking - from Google Analytics to first-party data 08:09: Why your product database beats all third-party tools for signup tracking 09:14: The minimum requirements rule for setup completion 12:37: How to technically define your first strike event 17:46 Benchmarks every SaaS company should track Stop guessing at your data setup. Use this technical framework to build accurate tracking that actually reveals where your funnel breaks down. Resources:

In this insightful Podcast, Daniel Cummings, Chief Commercial Officer at PrecisionAQ, shares insights on leading a PE-backed GTM organisation through its first 100 days and beyond. He emphasises the importance of relentless execution, focusing on doing the work daily, and maintaining a "day one" mindset. Dan highlights the significance of clear goal-setting using OKRs, establishing strategic boulders, and maintaining transparency with dashboards that track progress.Daniel highlights the significance of clear goal-setting using OKRs, establishing strategic boulders, and maintaining transparency with dashboards that track progress.He discusses how to unify teams in a private equity environment by leveraging data, incentives, and a matrix organisational model that balances delivery and growth initiatives. Building a strong talent foundation and fostering a culture of continuous communication are also key themes.He stresses that the integration of AI into the go-to-market strategy, advocating for a people-centric approach to AI adoption, involving training teams to use AI tools effectively, and focusing on content creation and business insights. He advises managing team fears around AI by demonstrating its value and embedding it into daily workflows.Finally, Daniel underscores the importance of aligning with the board through consistent OKR reporting, presenting clear narratives, and setting strategic priorities to ensure sustained growth.0:00 - 1:14 Introduction & Guest Overview 1:14 - 6:17 First 100 Days Focus6:17 - 12:13 Building a Unified GTM & Talent 12:13 - 14:00 OKRs & Board Communication 7:12 - 10:17 Private Equity Context & Acquisition Journey 15:22 - 17:50 Team Structure & Collaboration25:12 - 29:01 AI Strategy & Modern GTM29:01 - 33:34 Managing AI Adoption & Team Fears

¡Bienvenidos amigos de Desde el Paddock! A un episodio cargado de historias, análisis y lo más relevante del automovilismo mundial.Iniciamos con una entrevista exclusiva a Piero Rodarte, piloto mexicano con una trayectoria internacional en categorías como Formula Ford 2000, Barber Dodge Pro Series, Formula 3 Española (P3), Turismos y Nascar. Piero nos comparte cómo pasó de las pistas a convertirse en ingeniero de carreras de Campos Racing, donde ha llevado a Ernesto Rivera al subcampeonato de F4, además de liderar el Máster en Motorsports Engineering que prepara a la próxima generación de ingenieros.Analizamos también el nuevo reglamento 2026 de la Formula 1, considerado el cambio más agresivo en décadas: autos más pequeños y ligeros, reducción de carga aerodinámica del 30%, neumáticos más angostos, aerodinámica activa con modos X y Z, y un aumento radical en el motor eléctrico, que ahora aportará hasta 470 caballos de fuerza. Todo bajo el marco de combustibles 100% sustentables y la llegada del Manual Override Mode, que sustituirá al DRS.Debatimos los pros y contras de esta revolución: ¿serán más competitivas las carreras o complicarán las estrategias de pilotos y equipos?En noticias, Christian Horner quedó oficialmente fuera de Red Bull tras más de 20 años al frente. Además, McLaren asegura que llegará sólido a 2026 gracias a la eficiencia de su auto actual, mientras Norris y Piastri siguen dando de qué hablar dentro y fuera de pista.Nos fuimos al SpeedFest Súper Copa 2025 en el Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, que se consolidó como una auténtica fiesta del automovilismo: más de 250 pilotos en acción, categorías como GTM, Fórmula 4 y TC2000, y un cierre espectacular con Mario Bautista en concierto.En la Formula E, la FIA reforzó la seguridad con un nuevo amortiguador en el volante que reduce en un 40% el riesgo de lesiones por impactos, y confirmó que la temporada 2025-26 será la última de los autos Gen3 Evo antes de dar paso a la era Gen4, con vehículos más rápidos y avanzados.En NASCAR, el tricampeón Matt Crafton anunció su retiro tras 26 años en las Truck Series, dejando su asiento a Ty Majeski. Además, se lanzó el NASCAR Channel en Roku, un servicio gratuito que ofrece carreras clásicas, documentales y podcasts para acercar aún más el deporte a los aficionados.Cerramos con dinámicas, simuladores y la interacción con nuestra comunidad que sigue creciendo episodio tras episodio.Sigue interactuando con nosotros para aparecer en la sección de #PreguntaleAMemo, donde tus preguntas serán respondidas por nuestros hosts con análisis directo, claro y al grano.Gracias por ser parte de Desde el Paddock. Recuerda seguirnos en todas nuestras redes para no perderte dinámicas exclusivas, anuncios y contenido que solo compartimos con nuestra comunidad.

Even with AI, sales still comes down to human connection. This week on Grit, Dan Lee shares how Nooks automates busywork like research and dialing for thousands of sales teams, letting reps focus on the conversations that close deals.He also shares his “do more with less” approach, why cold calls still convert, and how to maximize human impact alongside AI.Guests: Dan Lee, CEO and Co-founder of Nooks and Leigh Marie Braswell, Partner at Kleiner PerkinsConnect with Dan Lee: XLinkedInConnect with Leigh Marie BraswellXLinkedInConnect with JoubinXLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins

Vince Beese knows how to close. As a fractional CRO and author of Red Zone Selling, Vince helps early-stage startups and fast-growing sales teams stop spinning their wheels and start running the plays that actually move deals across the finish line.In this conversation, John and Vince ditch the fluff and dive straight into what separates elite sellers from the rest. From his days in enterprise sales to building scalable GTM systems, Vince shares hard-earned insights on:Why sales has swung too far into science—and what it takes to bring the art backHow top reps lean into friction instead of avoiding itWhy false confidence from a bloated pipeline is killing your forecastThe power of disqualifying early and oftenWhat sales leaders should focus on instead of just top-of-funnel metricsThey also unpack Vince's Red Zone Selling framework, breaking down how to qualify faster, sell smarter, and finish stronger—no matter your deal size or sales cycle.If you're in enterprise sales, trying to move upstream, or just tired of chasing unqualified leads, this is the episode to get you back to the fundamentals that win.Are you interested in leveling up your sales skills and staying relevant in today's AI-driven landscape? Visit www.jbarrows.com and let's Make It Happen together!Connect with John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows/Connect with John on IG: https://www.instagram.com/johnmbarrows/Check out John's Membership: https://go.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-membership?ref=3edab1 Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletterConnect with Vince on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vbeese/Check out Vince's Websites: https://www.vincebeese.com/ & http://redzoneselling.co/Get Vince's Book "Red Zone Selling: The Ultimate Playbook for High-Performing Enterprise Sellers" here: https://a.co/d/cbkoWT1

#274 Growth | In this episode, Dave is joined by Sean Lane, Founding Partner at BeaconGTM and RevOps expert, to talk about scaling RevOps in B2B. With over a decade of experience at Drift and other B2B SaaS companies, Sean shares actionable tips for marketers looking to align operations with business goals.Dave and Sean cover:How to build alignment between sales, marketing, and opsWhy early-stage companies must align operational complexity with their growth maturityHow continuous planning helps marketing and ops teams stay agile as business challenges come upTimestamps(00:00) - - Intro to Sean (07:11) - - Going From Founder Led Sales to Having A Professional GTM (09:52) - - How Ops Bridges Business Goals (13:42) - - How To Align Sales, Marketing, and Operations (17:51) - - Why You Need A Clear Marketing Strategy (20:17) - - How To Build A Partnership Between Marketing and Operations (26:41) - - Guidelines for long term vs short term budgeting and planning (32:19) - - Marketing's Role At The Bottom Of The Funnel (37:14) - - How To Get “Hand-raisers” For Your Product In The Customer Journey (41:06) - - Do Engaged Accounts Measure The Success Of Marketing? (42:56) - - Sean's Podcast ROI (45:12) - - AI Use Cases In Ops (50:14) - - How To Hire A Good Ops Person (53:42) - - Closing Remarks Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.comJoin the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterCheck out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership***Today's episode is brought to you by Walnut.Why are we pouring all this effort into marketing just to push buyers to a “request a demo” or “contact sales” button?Come on, today's buyers don't want to talk to sales right away. They want to explore your product themselves, see how it works, and understand its value before booking a meeting.That's where Walnut comes in.Walnut empowers marketers and GTM teams to create interactive, self-guided product experiences in minutes. Embed these experiences on your site, in emails, or anywhere in your funnel to let buyers engage on their terms, from awareness to close and beyond. That's the beauty of Walnut - you're getting a platform that your sales and CS colleagues can use to showcase the product too.And the best part? You get real intent data—see which features prospects love, where they drop off, and what's actually driving pipeline. Demo Qualified Leads are the new MQL.Over 500 companies, like Adobe and NetApp, use Walnut to drive 2-3x higher website conversion rates and 7 figures in pipeline on a yearly basis. So do you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product instead of hiding it behind another typical B2B CTA? Go check out Walnut.io. And if you tell them Dave from Exit 5 sent you, they'll build out your first demo for free!

Hedra CEO Michael Lingelbach breaks down how his generative video app went from zero to millions of users and an eight-figure run rate in months — then deliberately slowed down to rebuild a V2 that enterprises would pay for. We dig into the prosumer-to-pro upsell, why free users are a false signal, and how a creator-seeded launch can outpull ad spend. Michael shares the GTM that signs enterprise contracts every few days with no outbound, the exact moment he killed feature churn to ship a real workflow, and what to hire (and fire) in the first 10 people. If you're building AI or any early product, this is a must-listen blueprint on getting from hype to revenue.Why You Should ListenHow Hedra hit an 8-figure run rate in months — with a prosumer → enterprise wedgeThe “free user” trap: why signups ≠ demand and how to price for painWhen to pause growth to build V2 that actually sells (workflow > tech demo)A creator-led launch playbook that drives virality without paid influencersHiring early: bring in a talent lead fast, staff for speed, survive co-founder changesKeywordsAI video, generative AI, product market fit, Hedra, Michael Lingelbach, creator tools, PLG, enterprise SaaS, go to market, startup growth00:00:00 Intro00:02:25 Why he built his own proprietary models00:10:19 Target use cases faceless channels marketers podcasts00:15:31 Early hiring lessons00:38:00 Free vs paid00:51:03 V2 launch and shift to enterprise 00:53:46 Hitting eight figure run rate and scaling GTMSend me a message to let me know what you think!

Send us a textOn this episode, Kristina Jaramillo and Eric Gruber talk ABM with Aura Lupascu - ABM leader at the supply chain tech company, Icron.   When you listen to this episode, you'll learn:1. The collaboration with sales that is needed to drive revenue growth with ABM --- and how ABM cannot be done in pockets and reactive, like ABM was done at one of Aura's past companies.  2. How your ABM programs should have an impact beyond sourcing the pipeline.3. The problem with 1:1 hyper-personalization with accounts that haven't proven they are worthy of the white-glove care and attention. You'll learn about an account-based GTM where there is a personalization journey.  4. The challenges the teams face with 6sense, including the fact that the platform only defines the total relevant market and not your ICP, and that intent data is speculative. 5. How Icron is lacking POV content and how it's limiting the success of Icron's program. You'll learn how many content marketers are great at creating account awareness, thought leadership content, but they lack the knowledge and know-how to create content that drives stage progression, enables buyers, and supports sales. 

3 multi-millionaire founders give their practical insights on how to prepare for the rise of AGI and super intelligence. Thanks for tuning in! New episodes of Topline drop every Sunday and Thursday. Don't miss GTM2025 — the only B2B tech conference exclusively for GTM executives. Elevate your 2026 strategy and join us from September 23 to 25 in Washington, D.C. Use code TOPLINE for 10% off your GA ticket.  Stay ahead with the latest industry developments and emerging go-to-market trends with Topline Newsletter by Asad Zaman. Subscribe today.  Tune in to The Revenue Leadership Podcast every Wednesday, where host Kyle Norton talks with real revenue operators and dives deep into what it takes to succeed as a modern revenue leader. You're invited! Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders, share insights, and keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! This episode is sponsored by UserEvidence. Want to know what actually moves the needle on trust? Download The Evidence Gap, a data-backed report on the customer proof that drives real results. Get it now at userevidence.com/evidence. Key chapters: (00:00) - Introduction (00:38) - Podcast Welcome and Host Introductions (00:48) - Episode Overview and Topics (01:39) - Personal Updates and Anecdotes (05:57) - AGI and Super Intelligence Are (maybe) Here (10:58) - AI's Impact on Business and Employment (14:17) - Is It Overhyped? (26:23) - Future of Middle Management (31:09) - Where Will AI Fit In? (38:14) - We're Robbing Young People (39:02) - The Grind Score: Measuring Work-Life Balance (42:36) - The Future of Work and AI's Impact (50:21) - Go-To-Market Tech Landscape and Consolidations (01:02:12) - Listener Question: Moving to Philadelphia

If your sales and marketing teams feel like they're running different races, this episode will show you the framework to fix it – fast.We break down the exact sales and marketing alignment framework we use with revenue leaders to unite GTM teams, reduce wasted spend, and win more deals. You'll see why the old playbooks like Predictable Revenue create silos – and how our “Circuit” model hardwires sales, marketing, and customer success into one connected system.We'll walk you through cataloguing the market to capture first-party intent, feeding that intelligence into marketing for targeted trust-building campaigns, and closing the loop with customer success so deals stick and expand.Tune in and learn:+ Why most GTM teams are misaligned – and the root cause+ How to capture first-party market intelligence that makes marketing commercially viable+ The step-by-step framework for aligning sales, marketing, and customer successThis is a must-watch if you lead sales, marketing, or customer success and want a system that unites your teams around the same revenue goal.Want access to the GTM Map that's blurred out? Register for our next webinar:

Enterprises are rethinking go-to-market from the ground up. And the foundation is clean, unified, orchestrated data. In this episode, Brian Aggerbeck shares how leading companies are using Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) to build centralised architectures that fuel GTM at scale, without adding more tools or noise. From composable systems to AI-readiness, this is a masterclass in what's next for RevOps, data leaders, and modern growth teams.

Bryan Murphy, CEO of Smartling, confronts a $40 billion industry stuck in the slow lane, the world of translation. Most companies still handle translations like it's 1999: manual, expensive, and painfully slow. Bryan saw AI as the game changer that could rewrite the rules, but integrating it wasn't a walk in the park. He shares how Smartling harnessed AI to not just cut costs and speed up translation but to finally boost quality close to human-level precision without losing control over brand voice or nuance. Yet, making this leap meant upheaval: reorganizing teams, hiring AI experts, and establishing ruthless R&D discipline to separate winning ideas from distractions. Thanks for tuning in! New episodes of Topline drop every Sunday and Thursday. Don't miss GTM2025 — the only B2B tech conference exclusively for GTM executives. Elevate your 2026 strategy and join us from September 23 to 25 in Washington, D.C. Use code TOPLINE for 10% off your GA ticket. Stay ahead with the latest industry developments and emerging go-to-market trends with Topline Newsletter by Asad Zaman. Subscribe today. Tune in to The Revenue Leadership Podcast every Wednesday, where host Kyle Norton talks with real revenue operators and dives deep into what it takes to succeed as a modern revenue leader. You're invited! Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders, share insights, and keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Key chapters: (00:00) - Introduction to Bryan Murphy and Defining the Translation Challenge (02:30) - The Hidden $40B Translation Market and Its Untapped Potential (04:00) - The Evolution of Translation Services: From Manual to AI-Driven Automation (06:00) - Early AI in Translation: Faster and Cheaper, But Not Yet Better (08:00) - Defining Quality: The MQM Standard and Bridging AI-Human Gaps (09:20) - Human-in-the-Loop AI: Boosting Translator Productivity Tenfold (10:30) - Full AI Translation Approaching Human Grade: The Game Changer (11:45) - The Future Mix: Human Expertise vs. Automated Scale in AI Translation (13:00) - Unlocking Market Expansion Through Improved SEO and Digital Footprint (15:00) - The Moment of Truth: Recognizing GPT's Impact and Rolling Out Rapid Innovation (16:30) - Founder's Speed: Breaking Plans and Aligning Teams for Urgent AI Adoption (18:00) - Overcoming Organizational Challenges: From Excitement to Structured Execution (20:00) - R&D Reimagined: Timeboxing Experiments With Clear Metrics to Avoid Spinning Wheels (22:00) - The Discipline of “Customer-First” in AI Development and Roadmapping (24:00) - Leadership Lessons: Listening Without Losing Vision Amidst Painful Change (26:00) - Winning Customer Trust: Betting On Proofs of Concept Against Skeptics (28:00) - Personal Insights: Favorite Leadership Books and the Role of Intellectual Curiosity (29:30) - Staying Sharp: Daily Reading and Customer Conversations as Strategic Tools (31:00) - Managing Stress and Longevity: The Art of Mental Compartmentalization for Founders (32:30) - Final Thoughts: The Unseen Power of Humility in Leadership and Continual Learning (33:00) - Wrap-up and Invitation to Follow Smartling's AI-Empowered Evolution

Episode Summary: Rebecca Shaddix joins Erin and Ken to blow up tired go-to-market tropes and rewrite what it means to lead with product marketing in an AI-native era. She shares the frameworks behind “acceptable mistakes,” why critical thinking is the superpower in a world of noisy AI outputs, and how to avoid chasing 80 experiments that go nowhere. If you're a CMO, PMM, or founder trying to separate signal from AI hype, this is your roadmap. About Our Guest: Rebecca Shaddix is the Head of Product & Lifecycle Marketing at Garner Health, Forbes contributor, and GTM strategy pioneer. She's built GTM engines for high-growth SaaS and EdTech, founded Strategica, and is known for making complex data actionable (without losing trust or speed). Her frameworks are shaping the new AI playbook for marketers who want repeatable results, not just activity. 00:59 Ken's AI Sandwich Framework 04:26 Erin's AI-Powered Book Series 07:10 Interview with Rebecca Shaddix 08:24 Rebecca on Acceptable Mistakes in AI Implementation 17:44 AI's Impact on Product Marketing 23:30 Balancing AI Training and Deep Research 28:41 AI Tools and Budget Constraints 30:32 Navigating the Rapid Evolution of AI in Business 30:59 Balancing Risk and Reward in AI Tool Selection 32:44 Effective Team Collaboration and AI Integration 37:08 Building Trust in AI Insights 45:15 The Future of Product Marketing 54:13 Lightning Round and Final Thoughts   Quote of the Episode: “Trust in AI starts with transparency and ends with collaboration. Bring your teams in early, and let them own the process.” – Rebecca Shaddix

#273 Leadership | Matt is joined by Rachel Weeks, a veteran B2B marketing leader with over 20 years of experience guiding companies through acquisitions, layoffs, and tech disruption. Rachel has led both corporate and field marketing teams and is passionate about recognition-driven team cultures that retain and empower top talent.Matt and Rachel cover:How to build a recognition strategy that actually improves retention (without needing a big budget or fancy platform)Why employee motivation dips during times of stress, layoffs, or AI disruption and what great leaders do differentlyThe role of marketing in internal culture: from branding the program to building peer-driven engagementWhether you're managing a small team or leading an entire department, this episode is packed with practical insights to help you build a culture where marketers feel valued, motivated, and ready to stay.Timestamps(00:00) - – Intro (03:48) - – Rachel's background and leadership lens (06:18) - – What actually makes a recognition program work (08:48) - – How marketing supports internal culture building (11:48) - – Recognition during org changes, stress, and funding rounds (14:48) - – The impact of AI on morale and motivation (18:18) - – What happens when recognition disappears (20:18) - – The “10 minutes by Friday” habit (22:48) - – Easy, no-budget ways to recognize team members (25:48) - – Performance-driven vs. values-driven recognition (30:53) - – Monetary vs. non-monetary rewards (and what people really want) (34:23) - – Recognition vs. pay raises: what the data says (38:23) - – Why people leave even when they're paid well (42:23) - – How to ask for (and give) better feedback (47:23) - – Using AI to create space for strategic work (54:23) - – Final thoughts on leadership, retention, and culture Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.comJoin the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterCheck out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership***Today's episode is brought to you by Walnut.Why are we pouring all this effort into marketing just to push buyers to a “request a demo” or “contact sales” button?Come on, today's buyers don't want to talk to sales right away. They want to explore your product themselves, see how it works, and understand its value before booking a meeting.That's where Walnut comes in.Walnut empowers marketers and GTM teams to create interactive, self-guided product experiences in minutes. Embed these experiences on your site, in emails, or anywhere in your funnel to let buyers engage on their terms, from awareness to close and beyond. That's the beauty of Walnut - you're getting a platform that your sales and CS colleagues can use to showcase the product too.And the best part? You get real intent data—see which features prospects love, where they drop off, and what's actually driving pipeline. Demo Qualified Leads are the new MQL.Over 500 companies, like Adobe and NetApp, use Walnut to drive 2-3x higher website conversion rates and 7 figures in pipeline on a yearly basis. So do you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product instead of hiding it behind another typical B2B CTA? Go check out Walnut.io. And if you tell them Dave from Exit 5 sent you, they'll build out your first demo for free!

According to research from McKinsey, companies that invest in comprehensive training programs see 21% higher productivity and 22% higher profitability. So how can you build effective training programs that drive measurable business impact at your organization? Riley Rogers: Hi, and welcome to the Win-Win podcast. I’m your host, Riley Rogers. Join us as we dive into changing trends in the workplace and how to navigate them successfully. Here to discuss this topic are Jonathan Biebesheimer and Andy Knight, sales Enablement Managers at ServiceTrade. Thank you both for joining us. As we’re getting started, I’d love if we could just start by talking a little bit about who you are, what your background is, and what your role is at ServiceTrade. So Jonathan, if we wanna start with you.  Jonathan Biebesheimer: Yeah, sure. So thanks for having us. Here. So I’ve been in business for a little over 30 years now. Started my career owning and running technology startups, then switched over to a gig at Lexus Nexus where I was on the sales organization. I was a seller quota caring seller for a number of years, and then shifted over to sales enablement and then that led me to joining ServiceTrade about four years ago. So I’m currently a sales enablement manager, along with my colleague Andy.  RR: Amazing. Andy, I’ll pass it off to you. Andy Knight : Yeah, thank you so much Riley. Super excited to be here. I’ve been in sales in a variety of roles for about 15 years, give or take. I’ve been in enablement for about five of those years, made the shift after finding really just a lot of personal and professional fulfillment from helping people do their job better. I’m also part of the enablement team here at ServiceTrade. I’ve been here only since April of this year, so a little newer, but. A lot has happened in that time.  RR: Wonderful. Well thank you for those overviews. I think we’ve got a lot to dig into, and I know we have quite a lot to talk about today. So, Jonathan, question that I’ll start with you. Over the past four years at ServiceTrade, I know that you’ve focused on enabling your sales teams to succeed, as we all are trying to do. I’d love to know how you’ve seen the enablement function at Servicer evolve in that time, especially as AI is becoming much more prevalent in GTM workflows. JB: Yeah, so when I started the company was about half the size it was today and. One of the things that attracted me about ServiceTrade when I started interviewing was they, I could tell they had a very enablement culture. Right. They understood they were doing a lot of training, they were doing a lot of coaching. They understood the importance of supporting the sales organization, but they really had no structure or dedicated resources. Right? And so that’s what I was brought on. To help with. I had built a program in prior job, so it was kind of a rinse and repeat to some. I enjoyed it so much. Lemme do it again. And so, you know, it’s been kind of a classic, slowly over time building our program, what we’re able to deliver to the revenue organization, what things we’re involved in, what things we consult on. So it’s been kind of a slow, steady progress. I mean, we’ve obviously focused on the highest impact things. Another thing, you know, and in our team of two, I was a team of one for a while. So as a small team, I think one of the things you have to think about is just capacity. Like what do you do? How much do you do? We’ve always had kind of a good, better, best approach. You know, we always try to deliver high quality work, but we’ve got 10 things we’ve gotta do. You know, can we what? What can we deliver in those 10 areas knowing that when we have time, we’ll go back and, you know, kind of make ’em better. AI is interesting. I think it’s helped in that regard. You know, it’s helped us be able to accelerate certain things. So what I would, you know, call a quote unquote good deliverable AI can sometimes make that a good and a half or better, right? Just because of its nature. It’s also interesting, you know, I’m sure this is not unlike a lot of companies has. Definitely, I mean, it’s going so fast, but it feels like in the past few months, especially. It’s really shifted from just being kind of this fad to more of an expectation right? Across all departments, including ours. And so one of the things that Andy and I find ourselves asking ourselves a lot is we look at new projects or we talk about getting, you know, going from good to better to best thing is, you know, how can we use AI to help us there with those things? I mean, it’s fascinating where AI is gonna go. Who knows? But it’s definitely playing a larger role in, in the things that we do in a voting role. RR: Yeah, it’s definitely a big question mark, but I think, you know, technology is always one of those things that you need to work with and learn to work with, and I know that’s kind of one of the evolutions actually, that you’ve seen at ServiceTrade, which is that you played a pretty key role in the decision to invest in an enablement tool. I’d love to know maybe why you thought that technology was kind of necessary to your work, and then maybe how as you were evaluating solutions in the market, you eventually made that solution to choose Highspot. JB: So when I came in, as I said, there was really not a program per se. And so one of the things I was asked to do was just kind of observe for the, my first two weeks, kind of, you know, see what the revenue organization was doing, see what sellers were doing, see what the gaps were. It became, I, I know it was probably day three. I’m like, oh my God, this content is just, it’s a nightmare. I mean, it’s a classic. Situation where content was in like 17 different places floating around in Slack. Nothing was governed. Branding was, you know, so I kind of jotted down on my, you know, high priority list. You know, we need a content management system. So two other things I noticed. One was that, you know, when I joined the company, they were at kind of an interesting shift. They were kind of in that stage where they were from being a startup to a scale up. Right. And so there was a lot of institutional knowledge, things that were in people’s heads. And so when I came on board, the um, the volume of, of conversation in Slack just blew me away. I’m like, what are all these people talking about? And when you started to dig into it, you were realizing that sellers were asking, you know, more tenured sellers, everything about the business. And so it became very clear that that wasn’t gonna scale. And so again, a system, you know, ultimately at the, a Highspot, it was a very, I don’t wanna say easy, but it was a, a very impactful, you know, business case for me to say, look, if you guys wanna scale, you need to get this knowledge outta people’s heads. We can’t have sellers living in Slack. They need to have a place to go. The other thing that was interesting is that, you know, again, I deployed these systems in prior roles. They were enabled, but they didn’t really understand the capabilities of what enable enablement technologies could do. Right. And so when I came in, they. I don’t wanna say they were antiquated, but they, they were not as progressive as they could be from a technology perspective. And they weren’t. Even, some of ’em, we weren’t even aware of some of the other capabilities Highspot had to offer, you know, pitching for example, you know, as new things have have come out, like remix, you know, those types of concepts to me, I was like, oh, it’s. That’s table stakes and they didn’t have it. Right? So the business case for me was, again, I won’t say it was easy, but it was very well supported, creating a foundation to get, you know, content under control. Get that institutional knowledge documented, and give their sellers a leg up on competition. Right? You know, other competitors I knew they didn’t have, you know, a system like a Highspot. So if we could implement Highspot, we could not only get information better under control, but we can give our sellers, you know, more modern tools to sell against our competition. RR: Yeah, that all makes sense. I’m really excited to kind of dig into how that vision is going so far. I know we talked a little bit about content, so I’d like to switch gears a little bit and touch on training. To your point of Highspot did a lot more than maybe some of the other tools in the market. Andy, I’d love to know from your perspective, because you have quite an extensive background in sales training, as you mentioned a little bit, if you could. Walk us through some of the core components of your strategy for sales training, and then maybe, if at all, if you’re using AI in there, I’d love to know. AK: Yeah, definitely. We are, we’re using AI in, in really every facet of enablement at this point in terms of kind of the core components of, you know, sales training here at ServiceTrade and, and how we like to run things. I’m a big framework guy. I love a model. I love a framework. I love an acronym, right? So there’s a framework called addie. Those individual letters stand for analyze, design, develop, implement, and evaluate. That’s really at the core of our sales training here. Whenever we get a request for, you know, whether it’s a product launch or a new competitor Intel that we’re surfacing, anything along those lines. Our first step is gonna be analyzing the problem and understanding. To Jonathan’s point, what do we currently have that’s available in Highspot? What are our cross-functional partners currently saying? How can we implement a lot of the content that we already have to fold into a live training where we’re doing things like. Lectures. We’re doing things like role plays. We’re doing things like take home exercises. All of that facilitated through Highspot, so that’s a big piece of it. I have a personal framework as well. I call it my three Cs rule. Every training that we develop in design is gonna make our sellers more comfortable, more capable, and more confident, and the ways that we go about and really utilize those things and to, to Jonathan’s point, AI just makes it all so much easier. We can take. Compilations of conversations, of real conversations that our sellers are having, create scenarios using AI that are similar but not the exact same scenarios to kind of play off of. We’re able to use, you know, Highspots coaching and training capabilities to generate rubrics to say how someone should respond to an objection, how someone should position a capability to give a, a seller real time and immediate feedback on how they are responding to that. So it’s some really powerful stuff. RR: Yeah, I think we’re well on the same page. I’m also a fan of frameworks. I’m also a fan of alliteration, so I love the three Cs, the comfortable, capable, confident. That’s wonderful. Thinking about that strategy, I’d love to know how your mapping your approach to Highspot, especially knowing that you’ve recently migrated to your point, learning and coaching into the platform. So I’d like to hear from both of you how that has been going and maybe how it’s better then or different from what you’ve done in the past. JB: Yeah, I think we can tag team this. I’ll give a little bit of the history. I mean, when I came on board, they did not have a, any learning management system at all. They did have a, a master spreadsheet that was, I don’t know, like 400 rows long. It was very tactical. It was to some degree, there was almost no method of madness. It took me, there’s kind of weeks to understand what it was. It was very tactical and you know, ultimately there was. No way to track it, right? There was a wave where they were hiring dozens of people and just blind. So one of the things I did just kind of conceptually, even before we got some technology into place, was to try to reverse engineer it, right? Try to understand what the sales leaders were working towards in terms of outcomes or moments, you know, that the sellers needed to be prepared for. And that took, uh, quite a while. It’s kind of a classic thing before you introduced technology to just kind of get a step back and just wire frame this thing. Just that alone took a while and kind of culturally making that shift to get sales leaders to, to start thinking about, okay, well yeah, you could teach ’em that in week one, but you know, they’re, they’re not gonna be on a, that kind of call until week seven. So do, do we really need to prioritize it? So that was a lot of, you know, work. We did start as quietly, we did start with a different LMS at, at the beginning just because of our needs at the time and, and where the LMS was. But I say this with all honesty. I mean, even though we made that decision at that point, I made it very clear to my leader. That every time we came up renewal that I wanna reevaluate, I want training and content to be in the same platform. The reality is that, you know, the two systems kind of worked together, but they really didn’t. It was disjointed. It was a lot of cumbersome work. We didn’t have a lot of good visibility. Timing was perfect. ’cause this is where Andy came in. We finally made the decision, got buy-in to make the transition over to Highspot, and sure enough, I talked to Annie, he is like, oh, guy, I, I’ve got experience with that. I’m like, well, guess what? You’re hired. So, so Andy came in at a perfect time and then I’ll, I’ll kind of turn it over to you. I mean, you’ve been mostly involved in kind of that migration from where we were to where we’re today, so I’ll let you kind of take it from here. AK: Yeah, I mean, Jonathan said it perfect my, I think, second interview before deciding to join ServiceTrade. We talked about migrating onto to Highspot is both our LMS and our content repository, and. I’d already had green flags, and that was the final one for me. Okay, let’s do it. I’ll sign the offer today. It is a completely different experience today than what ServiceTrade was previously. We have really a centralized experience. We’ve created all of our processes and all of our training and coaching and content with that user experience in mind, we have. A really, really positive user experience. It gives us a really great opportunity to get insight into things that are and are not working. It gives us just that one stop shop. All roads lead to Highspot, however you wanna say it. Everyone knows that everything they need to do their job effectively lives with high. RR: Amazing. Well, I love that kind of serendipitous story of how it worked out so well for you guys. I’m also very happy that you’re able to escape the spreadsheets. It sounds like it’s going really well. I know one of the initiatives that you guys are focused on has been kind of defining what good looks like for your sales team. Andy, can you tell us a little bit about that initiative and then how you. Build that. What good looks like into your programs? AK: Yeah, Riley definitely. So it’s an ongoing program for sure. I think that is one thing that I’ll be working on forever. I think people will always want to understand what sellers are doing that are helping them be successful. What techniques are they employing? What content are they utilizing? Things like that. I’m a big basketball guy, Riley. I am an elder millennial, so I think that LeBron James is better than Michael Jordan. And I always say that people want to be LeBron James. They want to understand who is the LeBron of ServiceTrade, how can I emulate those behaviors, those attitudes, those practices, things like that. And there really is so much value in learning from each other versus learning from enablement. We are a really important function, and we do provide a lot of really valuable information, but at the same time, we’re not in the seats that our sellers are, and we don’t have that experience that they do. So as much value as I can provide as a coach. A player coach can provide even more value and deployed in the right way. So from my perspective, Riley, the how we build these programs and what we’re really focused on doing is finding things like the internal collateral that are our top performers are, are constantly referencing, right? We’re finding examples of calls where they’re handling a tough objection really, really well. We’re finding those examples of behaviors that we want people to emulate through things like enabling mutual action plans through using digital rooms, things like that, and it’s really about providing the space for our teams to have those conversations and making sure that. They know that they’re empowered to share things that are working well and to be the LeBron to be that coach for other people. And so it’s an ongoing initiative. We’re certainly not done. We do a lot of things with like peer showcases, for example. If we get a really good deal, we have a really tough client, a really, really powerful proposal template deck that was used, we’ll share that out. We want that shared. We want people to know not only that it exists, but we wanna celebrate the wins with our teams and highlight those sellers that are really performing really well. RR: Yeah. I love that you’re. Building so intentionally with their needs in mind and recognizing that maybe it’s not a top-down mandate of here’s what you need, but rather how can I help you be your best? JB: And kind of back to the question of shifting and having content and training and coaching and everything Andy talked about all on platform is just been, I mean, it’s been a day we’ve been waiting for, right? You know, how can we wrap? Guidance. How can we wrap success just in one page or play or whatever, you know, whatever, however we surface it. Just being able to create that world around any given topic has just been huge for us. And it’s, it helped a lot of sellers. I mean, one of the challenges I think everyone has is just getting sellers to connect dots, right? And so we, you teach ’em a concept and they’re like, okay, I get it. Well, do you really? And then they hear another seller, you know, have a call and like, oh, okay. Right. And so we’re, we’re able to join more of those moments. In Highspot, which has just been huge for us. RR: You know, that actually ties in pretty well to the next question I had for you actually, which is, you know, thinking of creating that unified experience. I’d love to know maybe how that’s helping you foster a culture of continuous learning and motivating your sales teams to continue enhancing their skills, continue developing their knowledge over time. I know that’s never easy, but it seems like maybe this is helping it be a little bit easier. JB: Yeah. To me, the, the, you know, you’re right, Andy’s got more experience in kind of a learning coaching world that I do. But one of the things that I’ve learned from him since he’s been on, and, and the further I get into it, I’ve tried to get more in tune with, I mean, yes, you need to create these programs, but I’ve been trying to think more about, uh, just individual, like what is their definition of achievement? What is their definition of, of success? Right? And I’ve recognized over my career, it could be very different from seller to seller to seller. Right. There’s some sellers that are very monetarily motivated. There’s some sellers that are very, you know, have a certain status in the company. There’s others that just, they want to be good coaches. Right? And so, one of the things I’ve personally tried to do is through courses we create, or courses that I’m involved in, is, is try to make that connection with the learner. Sometimes even flat out asking like, you know, what are you hoping to get out of this? Just have them say, well, I, I’d really like to be able to do blah, whatever that is cool. That’s why you’re here as a, you know, a teacher or as a coach, that’s what I’m gonna help you do. The other thing that I’ve always tried to do it is a little bit more. In the things that I deliver, but I think I approach learning in this way, making it accessible. To sellers, I think is really important, right? Giving ’em a space to feel comfortable, to be vulnerable to, you know, to make mistakes. I mean, I did a a week long training where half of my stories were about like my failures, right? And it’s all kind of weird. But again, we had some junior sellers, some sellers at first sale job outta the gate, letting ’em understand, look, you’re gonna make some mistakes. It’s okay. 55 years old, I haven’t dropped off the face of Earth yet. Like, but you’ll learn from ’em, right? And giving sellers that space in that session, as soon as I started talking about that, sellers would open up a little bit more and they, and they, they’d start sharing their stories, not just all the negative, but you know, here’s what I learned, kind of making the environment comfortable. To learn and grow and just keeping people focused on, look, this will help you by whatever definition of success or achievement you have. That’s why we’re here. RR: Amazing. Andy, anything you would wanna add to that one? AK: No, I, I would just say that that last piece about making learning accessible to different learners at different stages is so important and we’re doing. Constantly evolving how we deliver training as well. Whether it is like a live virtual session, whether it is, you know, that just in time training through Highspot, short little micro explainer videos, things like that. Being able to meet people where they’re at, I think is a big piece of that. RR: Gotcha. Well, it certainly seems like you guys are doing the right things. Um, looking at the numbers, I can see that you’ve already achieved a really remarkable 93% recurring usage of the platform and are seeing some pretty early wins with training in Highspot. So Andy, I, I’d love to know from your perspective, how are you driving that adoption? What are some best practices you can share with our audience? AK: Yeah. You know, Riley, it’s so funny you say that, that 7% actually is the thing that bugs me. I want a hundred percent so bad. Um, we’re, we’re really proud of that number though. We, we joke with Kayla and Chris, our CSM team all the time that we do want it to be at a hundred percent. I, I think I said it earlier, we’ve created this feel here that all roads lead to Highspot. Everything that, that anyone needs to do their job effectively, they’re gonna be able to find that. And I think the thing that made that most impactful here is not just that it was myself and Jonathan, the enablement team sharing that information, but we made it a point really early on in this sort of Highspot adoption phase to get buy-in from our executive sponsorship as well. We wanted our CRO to understand why we’re investing in this tool, what it means for us. What it means for our sellers, what it means for him as an executive. So getting that executive buy in early on really helped to spread the message internally really organically that this tool is going to be very powerful for these different reasons, for these different audiences, and being able to really kind of customize and tailor. The solution of Highspot has made that adoption so high. We are really pushing again to get it at a hundred percent. We’d love to see that if, if it even is possible. But again, it’s, and being able to prove and hear from people that they find what they need, they’re using like instant answers in Highspot, for example, getting that AI response from content that we’ve uploaded into Highspot. Really powerful stuff, and so just sellers using it and being able to see it for themselves, I think is the final piece of that. RR: Thinking of other future goals, especially knowing Andy that you came in kind of to run this show, a little bit of this transition to training in Highspot, I’d like to know if you could share how you plan to measure success of this new training rollout, and then maybe a little bit from both of you what you’re hoping to achieve now that you have everything consolidated in the platform. AK: Yeah, definitely. So in terms of measuring success, I mentioned frameworks. Another one, a Kirkpatrick Model of evaluation is something that a mentor of mine from my previous role has, has really just ingrained in, into, to my brain. Essentially it looks at four different levels of responsiveness to training. The first being a, a reaction. It’s like a survey. Did you like the training? The second being learning, that’s typically like a quiz something or an assessment following a session, then into behavior. That’s is the, the seller, the individual contributor, applying that into their role. Finally, it’s the results. Are we seeing the action, you know, the, the results from that action, the business impact, things like that. So that’s our model. That’s how we evaluate things. We do pre and post session surveys. How do you feel about. Doing a podcast before the podcast, now that you’ve done the podcast, how do you feel now? Right? Things like that to capture the pre and post training lift. We also look for, obviously, the learning results assessments. Are we completing these, number one, and are we completing them to pass at a certain score? And then we’re looking into, you know, obviously how that impacts sellers going to market, speaking to customers. Even internally, how they’re sharing their best practices, things like that. So in the future, I mean, especially with, you know, digital rooms, that’s been a big push for us. The past couple weeks. We’re gonna see a lot more Highspot speaking to business impact, which is I think the thing that maybe we’re missing right now, that last piece of the Kirkpatrick evaluation model. So from a future state, that’s the thing I’m really, really excited about. JB: Yeah, I’ll agree. I think to date a fair bit of our focus has just been on utilization. Just get people into, and maybe a few months ago we were on with our CSM team and they were talking about where you want to go. And we realized, you know, now we have people here in Highspot. Now how are they using Highspot? Are they using it well? How can they use it better? And to Andy’s point, our feedback today has been anecdotal. And so we’ve got the enterprise, I think it’s, what’s that? Enterprise Plus platform or the data lake. Um, so we’ve got means and APIs, the future state is gonna start aligning it. I know you’ve have really some of those business outcomes. Those are the things that we’re gonna start looking at, right? So it’s great, you know, to any point a seller goes through course check ace, the role play check. Okay, now what does that mean in the real world? How, how did it affect his quota? How did it affect, uh, you know, the deal size? All of those things are, are where we’re hoping to go next. You know, with, with a lot of the things that we’re looking at. RR: Yeah, I’m curious to know too, then thinking just of in that future state and the plans that you guys are laying, I’d like to know both of your thoughts on kind of the role that you see AI playing in these ongoing evolutions. To your point of, you know, you never fully reach good. You’re always on a course towards it. So how do you see AI helping you get to those better training and coaching programs? Uh, Jonathan, I’ll kick it over to you first. JB: Yeah. This is Sunday. Andy and I talk about a lot. As we get more into it, I mean, everyone’s learning. One of the things that we’re trying to understand is AI can do a lot. And so one of the questions is, you know, what can an AI do? And then the next question we’re asking ourself almost more is, what should AI do? There is another, a lot Annie talk about. There’s another thing that we’re, we’re starting to see as it relates to AI versus our, our, our sales leaders. Andy, do you wanna talk about that a little bit? AK: Yeah. So one sort of big thing that we’ve been looking to tackle Riley is call coaching and, and being able to take this huge number of calls, minutes, hours of conversation and identify what of that should be coached, that, how to coach to it. So as a part of that, we’ve. Recently in partnership with our Rev ops team, developed essentially a, a scorecard tool that rates and reviews every call over a certain threshold time amount that our sellers partake in, and they get an, an automated scorecard every day of all of their calls from the previous day. Some really incredible insight from that, some amazing data to parse through that and, and surface that for, for coaches and for managers. But the important piece to Jonathan’s point is, is then the human element of taking that output from ai. And incorporating that feedback, understanding the context of a conversation, the context of a deal, the experience of a seller, things like that, and provide that sort of human emotional element to the AI output. That’s where I think is, is like the biggest next step for us and how we want to move forward. How can we use AI as a way to facilitate and make things like call review and call coaching efficient versus completely replacing it? Is you need that human emotional aspect to still provide that co coaching context. So it’s to Jonathan’s point, kind of marrying the two together, if that makes sense. RR: Yeah, absolutely. And I think it’s so important to take that kind of intentional, really thoughtful approach of, yes, there’s so much possibility here, but how can we use things in a way that really benefits our sellers? So I love that you guys are taking that angle on it. Moving from kind of future state to where we are now. I’d love if you could share any business results. Wins, things that you’re really proud of that you’ve achieved recently. Anything you could share with our audience? AK: Yeah, I’ll, um, I’ll take one. So, as you noted earlier, ri I’m pretty new to the role. I’ve been a large part of like, onboarding and, and moving things into Highspot. Um, we were able to reduce the time of our onboarding. It was between five and six weeks, depending on the role, all the way down to three to four weeks, depending on the role. Just from incorporating Highspot. We don’t have that disjointed. LMS and content repository experience anymore. Again, just having everything in one place has allowed us to reduce that time to get a new seller on the phone, which we’re hoping eventually will lead to reduced time to ramp, increased profitability, higher average deal size, all those things that we’re looking for for success metrics. But we’re really proud of the work that Highspot Hass been able to help us do just from an onboarding standpoint so far. JB: Yeah, and as I mentioned, it’s, this is another area where we’re still somewhat anecdotal, but I’ll, I’ll add to that. I mean, we are seeing in the evidence of just like Slack messages, you know, reps booking demos faster than any reps we’ve ever hired, you know. First deal close, first demo, whatever it is. Some of those moments, we’re seeing those much, much faster than we’ve seen in the past. One of the things that we saw, we were looking at one of the newer business outcome scorecards on, I think it was a play, and we pulled it up and, and, and I kind of looked at it for a minute and the, the light bulb went on for us. We’re like, wait a minute. The highest users of this play, this cannot be a coincidence. The highest, highest users of the plays were our top performers for that quarter. Right. And so again, we just kind of bumped into that and that’s why we’re so excited about kind of taking this next step towards just better analytics and understanding and, you know, all that kind of good stuff. But it was, to some degree, it was, it was, you know, it was cool to see and, and very kind of reassuring that our hypothesis was right. You know, the tool is designed to do certain things and the things that you say it does, it does it. And oh yeah. By the way, if you’ve used it and you use it really well and you use it often, you’ll be successful as your job. RR: Amazing. Well, I know we’ve talked about a lot. So I’ll close this out with a, hopefully a simple question. So for each of you, if you could share one, maybe two key lessons you’ve learned from your experience, building effective training, coaching enablement programs, what would it be? AK: Yeah, so I’ll, I’ll give you kind of two answers. RiIey, the only framework that I haven’t been able to mention today that I did want to also bring up, that’s pretty funny, right. Uh, I love action mapping. It’s a part of the ADDIE framework that I mentioned earlier in the analyze portion. This is really early on when someone comes to you and they say, Hey Riley, we need training on X, Y, Z. Getting into and really understanding that problem from an action mapping perspective, which means what is the ultimate end result that someone needs to do? Okay, now what practice activities will inform that action? What information is needed to inform those activities to lead to that action? And then the, ultimately the business goal from that, if you start with that, if that’s your first conversation. Outside of, you know, who needs to be involved in this project? Nine times outta 10, you’re gonna get a really, really good end result, and you’re gonna have a really, really powerful enablement motion. And then my last piece, I think this is probably more important, is to just always lead with empathy. It can be really easy in this seat to just focus on enablement, but we have to remember that our clients or our sellers, what we’re doing really exists to serve them and to help them do their jobs better. And so leading with that understanding and just being empathetic towards what they’re doing on a daily basis, and to your point, how can we make that easier for them? What can we do that’s gonna make their lives better doing that? RR: Amazing. Jonathan, I’ll pass it over to you. JB: I think the thing I’ve come to realize is probably the most important is, is making sure sellers are learners or whoever understand the why. Right. Not just from a training itself, like these little learning objectives, but as they go through any given training in whatever shape and form, do they truly understand the why? Why is it important that you’re talking about this thing? Why is it important that you’re asking this question? Why is it important that you’re listening for this thing? What I see a lot is that sellers will go, especially junior ones, you, the more tenured you get, start to get a little better. There’s a lot of the junior sellers, you can just tell that they’re not in their heads. And then you hear ’em on calls. They’re not coming from a place of conviction. They’re not coming as a, you know, to some degree, a business coach to these prospects who’ve never bought software like ours before and need that kind of help, right? They’re not comfortable asking challenging questions, right? Because they don’t understand the why. RR: I think that’s fantastic advice and I think it’s really great advice to close on. I gotta say thank you, both of you for joining us. This has been a really wonderful conversation and I’m sure our listeners will agree. JB: Well, thank you for having us. We really appreciate it. AK: Yeah, thank you, Riley. This has been awesome.  RR: To our audience, thank you for listening to this episode of the Win-Win podcast. Be sure to tune in next time for more insights on how you can maximize enablement’s success with Highspot.

In this episode of Women in B2B Marketing, Jane Serra chats with Ashley Artrip, GTM Engineering Manager at Clay, author of Career Design, and host of Career Advice You Never Got, to demystify one of the fastest-emerging roles in revenue: go-to-market engineering.Ashley shares her unconventional path from career coaching and entrepreneurship to helping companies architect systems that accelerate growth and create better buying experiences. From her work at Clay (where GTM engineering was born) to her own startup journey, she reveals why intentionality and creative problem-solving are at the heart of every successful go-to-market motion.Jane and Ashley cover:What GTM engineering actually is – and why it's not just “rev ops with a new name”How to design systems that reduce friction across marketing, sales, and customer successReal-world examples of value-led prospecting from brands like Canva and VantaWhy GTM engineers need both systems chops and business acumenThe role AI plays in building smarter, more efficient revenue processesWhen to hire your first GTM engineer (and when to recognize you already have one)How to approach tools like Clay without falling into “blank canvas syndrome”The career skills that make great GTM engineers – and how to build themKey Links:Guest: Ashley Artrip – LinkedIn Host: Jane Serra – LinkedInAshley's Newsletter: Engineering Revenue - a GTM engineer's playbook for success, written by Ashley Artrip.Ashley's Book: Career Design: Design Your Career to Change Your Life by Ashley Artrip, published December 2022.Ashley's Podcast: Career Advice You Never Got - a career‑transition playbook hosted by Ashley Artrip, tackling all those questions you wish you'd been told. Clay University / GTM Resources: Clay University and blog for learning GTM and Clay tools.––Like WIB2BM? Show us some love with a rating or review. It helps us get these amazing women in front of the bigger audience they deserve.

AI is transforming marketing — making alignment between product, marketing, and sales more critical than ever. In this episode of Talking Too Loud, Amplitude CMO Tifenn Dano Kwan shares how she bridges team cultures, drives trust, and uses deadlines to turn the GTM tug-of-war into growth.Links to Learn More:Follow Tifenn Dano Kwan on LinkedInFollow Savage on LinkedInSubscribe to Talking Too Loud on WistiaWatch on YouTubeFollow Talking Too Loud on InstagramFollow Talking Too Loud on TikTokLove what you heard? Leave us a review!On AppleOn Spotify

Are you wondering why Your SaaS GTM Isn't Working, And How to Fix It with Operational Discipline? In today's competitive business environment, success depends not just on great products, but on how effectively you bring them to market. Yet, many companies struggle with go-to-market (GTM) strategies that fall apart under pressure. Why? Because marketing and sales often operate in silos, pulling in different directions instead of working as a unified force. Think of it this way: marketing should act as the recon team, gathering intelligence, identifying opportunities, and setting the stage. Sales, on the other hand, is the strike team—responsible for execution and closing. When these two functions are misaligned or overloaded with conflicting motions, the result is confusion, inefficiency, and missed revenue. In this episode of the Grow Your B2B SaaS Podcast, Joran Hofman sits down with Head of GTM Garrath Robinson to explore why most GTM strategies fail—and how a disciplined, military-inspired approach can help businesses stay focused, aligned, and ready to win.Key Timecodes(0:00) – The Battlefield of Business(1:12) – Meet Garrath Robinson: From Combat Veteran to Growth Architect(1:39) – GTM Gone Wrong: Real-World Horror Stories(5:52) – What Is a Go-To-Market Motion, Really?(7:17) – When Motions Collide(8:33) – Leadership Fails and GTM Breakdown(13:26) – Inside the Strike Operating System(19:51) – Signal Calibration: Finding What Really Moves the Needle(22:47) – Marketing 2.0: From Arts & Crafts to Operational Powerhouse(26:09) – Avoiding the GTM Trap: Common Pitfalls to Watch For(31:43) – Give It Time: The Patience Behind Real Transformation(33:16) – The People Behind the Process(35:12) – Garrath's Golden Rule: Discipline Over Dollars(36:41) – Building the Future: Gut Instinct, Fundamentals, and Human Connection(39:33) – Scaling Revenue: From 0 to $10K MRR and Beyond(44:15) – Wrapping Up: Key Takeaways + Connect with Garrath Robinson

In this episode of Coach to Scale, we sit down with Sriharsha "Sai" Guduguntla, co-founder of Hyperbound, to unpack one of the most pressing challenges in revenue leadership: the coaching crisis. Despite billions invested in enablement tools, most frontline managers still spend less than 5% of their time actually coaching, and it's costing teams deals, confidence, and retention. Sai shares how Hyperbound is redefining sales practice by enabling reps to roleplay high-stakes calls, objections, and negotiations using AI before they ever speak to a real prospect.Sai and host Matt Benelli explore why traditional training doesn't stick, how to coach the iPhone generation, and why AI-driven feedback is the key to scalable performance improvement. From building reps' confidence to reducing CAC, shortening ramp time, and even coaching managers themselves, this conversation delivers practical insight for CROs and GTM leaders committed to leveling up their teams. If you think having Gong means you're coaching, think again.Key Takeaways1. Coaching is broken, and leaders know it.Most frontline managers spend less than 5% of their time coaching, and even if they admit it's not enough, despite having tools like Gong or Chorus.2. Owning tools doesn't mean using them.Just because you've bought sales tech doesn't mean your team is getting value from it; usage and enablement are two different things.3. Reps are practicing on real prospects, and that's a problem.Without structured practice environments, reps learn in live selling situations, losing deals and confidence in the process.4. AI enables real, scalable practice.Hyperbound uses AI to let reps roleplay discovery, objections, and negotiations with instant feedback, so they improve before going live.5. Training decay is real 87% is forgotten in a month.Sai shares how Hyperbound clients are replacing costly SKOs and one-off trainings with ongoing practice that reinforces key skills year-round.6. Feedback should be immediate, not delayed.Instead of waiting weeks for one-on-one feedback, reps using AI tools can instantly iterate and refine their performance after each session.7. AI coaching is objective and data-backed.AI removes bias by evaluating reps consistently, benchmarking them against top performers, and identifying real improvement areas.8. Confidence is often the root blocker to performance.A lack of confidence, not skill, is what holds many reps back from picking up the phone; Hyperbound helps reps build that confidence safely.9. Managers need coaching too.Hyperbound doesn't just coach reps, it also trains managers by simulating coaching conversations and giving feedback on their effectiveness.10. Culture matters more than tools.Without leadership buy-in and a true coaching culture, even the best tools won't lead to behavior change; some orgs just aren't ready.

What if your tools shared context like your team does?This week on Grit, Shishir Mehrotra shares how the Coda and Grammarly collaboration unlocks context as a “superpower,” reflects on his early days at Google and YouTube, and hints at a future where tools anticipate intent and amplify how we work.He also shares how this paves the way for agent-based workflows and AI-native communication, beginning with Superhuman's email experience.Guest: Shishir Mehrotra, co-founder of Coda and CEO of GrammarlyConnect with ShishirXLinkedInChapters: 00:00 Trailer01:24 Introduction02:09 Zoo vs safari12:02 A TV ahead of its time21:25 Product decisions31:25 The data behind the algorithm37:26 The AI native productivity suite48:06 Agents are digital humans57:55 Pressure trade-off1:12:50 Insulated from judgment1:25:19 Who Grammarly is hiring1:25:51 What “grit” means to Shishir1:29:30 OutroMentioned in this episode: YouTube, Ray William Johnson, Spotify, Twitch, MTV, Chris Cox, Facebook, TikTok, Google TV, Centrata, Google Chrome, Android, Gmail, Microsoft, Super Bowl, Mosaic, Panasonic, Sony, Susan Wojcicki, Rishi Chandra, Apple TV, Amazon Firestick, Comcast, LoudCloud (Opsware), Quest Communications, AT&T Southwestern Bell, Salar Kamangar, Patrick Pichette, Eric Schmidt, OpenAI ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Platforms, Sundar Pichai, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Hamilton, Reid Hoffman, Sam Altman, Tesla, Waymo, Airtable, Notion, Max Lytvyn, Alex Shevchenko, Superhuman, Duolingo, Luis von Ahn, Khan Academy, MrBeast, Facebook Messenger, Snap (Snapchat), WhatsApp, Google+, Meta LLaMa, Satya Nadella, Tim Cook, Daniel GrossConnect with JoubinXLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins

In this weeks' Scale Your Sales Podcast episode, my guest is Monica Stewart.   Monica is a transformational GTM Consultant with 15+ years of experience, empowers B2B startup founders to achieve sustainable success on the journey from $1-$10M ARR.   In today's episode of Scale Your Sales podcast, Monica shares valuable insights on why the jump from $1M to $10M in annual recurring revenue is more challenging than many anticipate. She outlines the critical stages of growth, the risks of scaling too soon, and the importance of staying focused on proven strategies. Monica also emphasizes the need for strong alignment between product, marketing, and sales, while offering practical advice on benchmarking, system scalability, and making the right hiring decisions—particularly when considering candidates from larger organizations.   Welcome to Scale Your Sales Podcast, Monica Stewart.     Timestamps: 00:00 Startup Growth Challenges 05:20 Understanding Go-to-Market Strategy Components 07:22 Optimizing Sales Funnel Efficiency 09:33 Optimizing Team Performance & Growth 15:23 Adaptive Startup Development Strategy 18:34 Adapting Strategies for Modern Success 22:32 Prioritize Customer Success for Growth 23:54 Optimizing Customer Retention Cycle 26:57 Prioritize Buyer Experience 32:25 Crucial: Benchmark Job Requirements     https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-stewart/ https://www.instagram.com/monicastewartsales/     Janice B Gordon is the award-winning Customer Growth Expert and Scale Your Sales Framework founder. She is by LinkedIn Sales 15 Innovating Sales Influencers to Follow 2021, the Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Customer Experience Nov 2020 and 150 Women B2B Thought Leaders You Should Follow in 2021. Janice helps companies worldwide to reimagine revenue growth thought customer experience and sales.   Book Janice to speak virtually at your next event: https://janicebgordon.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/janice-b-gordon/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaniceBGordon Scale Your Sales Podcast: https://scaleyoursales.co.uk/podcast More on the blog: https://scaleyoursales.co.uk/blog Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janicebgordon Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScaleYourSales And more! Visit our podcast website https://scaleyoursales.co.uk/podcast/ to watch or listen.

#272 Presentation Skills | Matt is joined by Vincent Pierri, a speaking coach who helps executives and marketers craft compelling, high-stakes talks. With a background as a pastor and public communicator, Vincent has developed a repeatable framework that helps B2B marketers improve how they show up in front of a room, whether it's a conference keynote, a boardroom pitch, or a weekly team update.Matt and Vincent cover:The 4-part framework behind talks that stick: Tension, Trust, Teaching, TakeawayHow to pick the right topic for your talk (and avoid cramming in too much)Why authenticity and simplicity matter more than slide design, and how to keep your delivery grounded and effectiveWhether you're prepping for Inbound, Exit Five's Drive, or just your next big internal presentation, this episode will help you nail the structure and mindset behind a talk that resonates.Timestamps(00:00) - - Intro (02:58) - - Vincent's unusual path to speaking coach (06:48) - - Why marketers need this framework (not just keynote speakers) (09:28) - - The first step: pick one real person you want to help (12:38) - - How to narrow your talk down from too many ideas (15:48) - - The 4-part structure: Tension, Trust, Teaching, Takeaway (18:38) - - Why your talk should start with a problem (not your points) (20:13) - - How to build trust by showing vulnerability (23:18) - - The 3 Cs: Catchy one-liner, Creative analogy, Concrete example (30:23) - - How to make your points memorable (and not Googleable) (33:28) - - Why authenticity beats sounding “smart” (35:38) - - What a strong closing takeaway looks like (38:53) - - When (and how) to start practicing your delivery (40:08) - - Why you should build your talk before your deck (42:33) - - How many slides is too many? (46:23) - - Connecting without slides: lessons from the pulpit (48:38) - - Final advice for marketers prepping talks this fall Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.comJoin the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterCheck out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership***Today's episode is brought to you by Walnut.Why are we pouring all this effort into marketing just to push buyers to a “request a demo” or “contact sales” button?Come on, today's buyers don't want to talk to sales right away. They want to explore your product themselves, see how it works, and understand its value before booking a meeting.That's where Walnut comes in.Walnut empowers marketers and GTM teams to create interactive, self-guided product experiences in minutes. Embed these experiences on your site, in emails, or anywhere in your funnel to let buyers engage on their terms, from awareness to close and beyond. That's the beauty of Walnut - you're getting a platform that your sales and CS colleagues can use to showcase the product too.And the best part? You get real intent data—see which features prospects love, where they drop off, and what's actually driving pipeline. Demo Qualified Leads are the new MQL.Over 500 companies, like Adobe and NetApp, use Walnut to drive 2-3x higher website conversion rates and 7 figures in pipeline on a yearly basis. So do you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product instead of hiding it behind another typical B2B CTA? Go check out Walnut.io. And if you tell them Dave from Exit 5 sent you, they'll build out your first demo for free!

Sam Jacobs, Asad Zaman, and AJ Bruno and CEOs who are fundamentally changing how they are hiring and firing because of AI. These are the jobs that will and won't exist in the next 12 months, and our real-world insights on what CEOs are looking for out of their talent base.    Thanks for tuning in! New episodes of Topline drop every Sunday and Thursday.   Don't miss GTM2025 — the only B2B tech conference exclusively for GTM executives. Elevate your 2026 strategy and join us from September 23 to 25 in Washington, D.C. Use code TOPLINE for 10% off your GA ticket.   Stay ahead with the latest industry developments and emerging go-to-market trends with Topline Newsletter by Asad Zaman. Subscribe today.   Tune in to The Revenue Leadership Podcast every Wednesday, where host Kyle Norton talks with real revenue operators and dives deep into what it takes to succeed as a modern revenue leader.   You're invited! Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders, share insights, and keep the conversation going beyond the podcast!   This episode is sponsored by UserEvidence. Want to know what actually moves the needle on trust? Download The Evidence Gap, a data-backed report on the customer proof that drives real results. Get it now at userevidence.com/evidence.   Key chapters: (00:00) - Winners and Losers in AI (00:38) - The White Collar Bloodbath (03:30) - These 3 Jobs Won't Exist (25:10) - These 3 Jobs WILL Exist (& bets we're making) (42:50) - Jobs & People We're Hiring Right Now (59:05) - What is Surprising About Your Life Today?

Nobody told startup founders building credibility felt this messy. Evan Huck, CEO and co-founder at UserEvidence (ex-SurveyMonkey, TechValidate), pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to turn verified customer proof into actual demand. Forget the fairytales: from wrestling with cold starts in outbound sales to playing the long game with brand, Evan's war stories are pure fuel for GTM teams tired of overnight success myths. Thanks for tuning in! New episodes of Topline drop every Sunday and Thursday. Don't miss GTM2025 — the only B2B tech conference exclusively for GTM executives. Elevate your 2026 strategy and join us from September 23 to 25 in Washington, D.C. Use code TOPLINE for 10% off your GA ticket. Stay ahead with the latest industry developments and emerging go-to-market trends with Topline Newsletter by Asad Zaman. Subscribe today. Tune in to The Revenue Leadership Podcast every Wednesday, where host Kyle Norton talks with real revenue operators and dives deep into what it takes to succeed as a modern revenue leader. You're invited! Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders, share insights, and keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Key chapters: (00:00) - Kicking Off with Evan Huck's Unfiltered Startup Journey (02:00) - From Jackson Hole to the Boardroom—Finding Balance at Altitude (03:25) - Scaling Amid the Chaos: Inside User Evidence's Wild Year (04:31) - Ground Up: Sales Chops from SDR to CEO (05:30) - When to Cash Big Checks: The Secret Life of Enterprise AEs (06:54) - Startup Beginnings During Lockdown: Why Evan Built in 2020 (07:54) - Betting It All on Brand: Lessons from the Sweat Equity of Positioning (09:31) - Eight Quarters of Crickets: What Brand Investments Really Look Like (10:38) - Beyond Quick Hits: Convincing Investors Brand Pays (11:13) - Narrow the Bullseye: How ICP Discipline Elevated Growth (12:30) - Cracking the Enterprise: Creative Tactics That Actually Work (13:51) - CEO Hustle: Late Night DMs That Drove Real Results (14:59) - Slack Communities: Where Startup Deals and Credibility Are Born (16:00) - Talent Magnetism: Building Teams That Actually Like Each Other (18:00) - Smart Hires, Right Sequence: Why Product Marketing Came First (19:14) - Customers as Growth Catalysts: The Power of Advocacy (20:39) - Leadership Style: Why “Chill, Humble” Beats High Drama (22:07) - Book Rec for Founders: Patagonia's Blueprint for Sustainable Culture (22:43) - Wrapping Up: Truths, Tactics, and Takeaways for GTM Leaders

This week on GTM Live, Carolyn and Trevor sit down with Mark Turner, VP of Revenue Operations at Demandbase, to break down how RevOps leaders can build aligned systems, drive better GTM execution, and measure what actually matters.Mark shares how his early background in FP&A shaped his leadership approach, bringing a data-first, analytical mindset to RevOps that balances strategic planning with operational precision. He also unpacks what it really takes to build a unified data layer across the GTM org, and why consistent definitions and connected systems are key to moving fast and measuring effectively.Key topics in this episode:How FP&A experience gives RevOps leaders a strategic edgeHow to build a unified data layer across GTMWhy sourced attribution models fall shortWhat sales velocity tells you that pipeline doesn'tWhere AI and automation are most impactful in RevOps todayHow to enable expansion and cross-sell without clunky handoffsThis episode is powered by Passetto, a GTM advisory and software company helping B2B teams build Revenue Sciences™, a measurable system that uncovers bottlenecks and data gaps, transforming go-to-market into a closed-loop engine for confident, scalable growth.

Ivan Zhao joins Joubin Mirzadegan on Grit to break down how the company's minimalist design became a strategic edge in a world overwhelmed by bloated software. He shares why the AI agent still hasn't arrived, and how Notion's modular approach might be the closest thing to making it real.Guest: Ivan Zhao, co-founder and CEO of NotionMentioned in this episode: Fuzzy Khosrowshahi, Airbnb, Sequoia Capital, Linear, Figma, Apple, Things, Microsoft, BMW, Lumiere, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Rippling, Matt MacInnis, Inkling, Steve Jobs, Douglas Engelbart, Alan Kay, Bill Gates, OpenAI ChatGPT, Y Combinator, Andrej Karpathy, Toby Schachman, Simon Last, Spotify, SlackConnect with Ivan ZhaoXLinkedInConnect with JoubinXLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins