Podcasts about GTM

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Best podcasts about GTM

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Latest podcast episodes about GTM

The Twenty Minute VC: Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: From $2M ARR to $40M ARR: The Playbook | How to Use AI To Supercharge Your Sales Team | Why Pipeline Reviews are BS | The Sales Call Script that Closes 99% of Prospects and How to Hire the Best Sales Reps with Kyle Norton, CRO @ Owner

The Twenty Minute VC: Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2025 78:34


Kyle Norton is the Chief Revenue Officer at Owner.com, where he scaled revenue from $2M to $40M ARR in under 3 years while selling to one of the toughest markets: SMB restaurants. Before Owner, Kyle led sales at Shopify, where he helped architect one of the most operationally elite GTM orgs in SaaS.  Agenda: 00:00 – From Shopify to $40M ARR at Owner.com 06:40 – Why Founders Who Skip Sales Get Burned 11:50 – 90% Inbound, Then 70% Outbound — And Why Neither Is Enough 17:40 – How to Use AI in Sales to Massively Increase Outbound 24:30 – BDRs Don't Get Paid for Demos. Only Closed Revenue. 30:50 – The 3-Part Sales Scorecard That Replaced My Gut 36:20 – I Posted a Job on LinkedIn and Got 1,200 Applicants 42:15 – I Fired a Rep on Day 11. Here's Why. 49:40 – We Don't Do Pipeline Reviews. The Secret... 55:00 – The One Call Close Script That Wins in 99% of Cases 1:03:10 – Why YouTube Is Our Underrated Growth Weapon 1:14:30 – Sales Is a Personal Development Exercise Disguised as a Career 1:20:45 – The Night We Closed Until 1AM and Hit the Number  

Modern Startup Marketing
236 - Beyond JTBD: Your Customers Are Whole People So Why Isn't Your Research

Modern Startup Marketing

Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2025 10:25


Hey, it's Anna, and today I want to talk about something I've been quietly refining over the last five years, working with founders and marketing teams. It's called Whole-Person Customer Research and it's the foundation for how I help startups get clarity on their positioning, messaging, GTM and content strategy.For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com

Hirewell Recruiting Insights
Q2 Check-In: A Slower Start, Promising Momentum - The Hirewell Update

Hirewell Recruiting Insights

Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2025 14:10


In this quarterly update, Emily and Ryan hosted Hirewell CEO, Matt Massuci, where they dove into company-wide and practice-specific hiring trends from the start of 2025. While January and February lagged behind expectations—down 10% year-over-year—March brought a 25% surge, signaling renewed momentum. Executive search and interim hiring are on the rise, even as Solutions work has slowed. Despite external factors like Liberation Day causing brief delays, the last six weeks were the strongest of the year, especially the past two. Practice leads weigh in with mixed performance: CF and GTM are seeing higher deal volumes but softer billing, Industrial is driving growth through high-level searches, and Tech, while down, appears to be stabilizing. Net-net: 2025 began slower than 2024, but all signs point to a strong rebound.

Go To Market Grit
Inside Aurora's Push to Make Autonomous Trucking Real | Chris Urmson

Go To Market Grit

Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2025 90:38


Chris Urmson has spent the last 20 years pushing the limits of autonomous driving—first at Carnegie Mellon's DARPA Grand Challenge team, then as co-founder of Google's self-driving car project, now Waymo.On this week's episode, the Aurora CEO retraces that journey—from building robot cars in the desert to leading a public company pioneering driverless trucking.He shares why autonomy was always a matter of when, not if, how he handled a high-profile departure from Waymo, and what it takes to build at the intersection of deep tech, safety, and infrastructure.Now eight years into Aurora, Urmson says the future he's been chasing is finally within reach.Guest: Chris Urmson, Co-Founder & CEO of AuroraChapters: 00:00 Trailer00:43 Introduction01:59 FSD: are we there? 14:31 The competition, a million dollar check from LA to LV22:50 Dream like an amateur, execute like a pro32:30 Operate with integrity42:49 The future is here, unevenly distributed49:36 Underestimated decisions, minimizing regrets1:03:55 Retaining value1:16:45 Integrating self-driving1:28:20 Lifer1:29:25 Who Aurora is hiring1:29:53 What “grit” means to Chris1:30:15 OutroMentioned in this episode: Waymo, Google, Rivian, Dmitri Dolgov, Uber, Tesla, The DARPA Grand Challenge, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, United States Department of Defense, Carnegie Mellon University, Stanford University, FedEx, Werner Enterprises, Hirschbach, Schneider Electric, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Sebastian Thrun, Batman, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Anthony Levandowski, Donald Trump, Apple iPhone, Airbnb, Blackmore, Stripe, Titan, Ford, Volkswagen, RJ Scaringe, Peterbilt Motors Company, The Volvo Group, Continental AG, Dara KhosrowshahiLinks:Connect with Chris UrmsonXLinkedInConnect with JoubinXLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner Perkins

Welcome to TheInquisitor Podcast
Avner Baruch: Why Misalignment Is Killing Your Go-To-Market Strategy (and How to Fix It)

Welcome to TheInquisitor Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2025 62:26


In this episode, Marcus speaks with Avner Baruch about the invisible costs of misalignment in go-to-market functions and why focusing on traditional sales metrics like ARR and conversion rates often misses the point. Avner shares his journey into sales enablement and how it led him to develop a methodology called Project Moneyball, which digs beneath surface metrics to uncover the real issues. By factoring in soft skills, time management, and process adoption, this approach helps teams identify problems much earlier, often during onboarding, rather than waiting months for reports to catch up. Key Themes Explored:

State of Demand Gen
The Ugly Truth About Pipeline (Real Talk for GTM Teams Running on Broken Systems)

State of Demand Gen

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2025 43:11


This week on GTM Live, Carolyn sits down with Nick Flamini, host of the Sales Architecture Podcast, to explore the real reasons most go-to-market teams are still struggling—despite all the headcount, tools, and budget. They dig into the myth of “more BDRs = more pipeline,” and why most organizations are missing the data, architecture, and cross-functional alignment required to scale efficiently.Carolyn explains why “go-to-market bloat” is a symptom of deeper system issues, not bad people. She shares how Passetto is helping companies rethink how they connect marketing, sales, finance, and RevOps through a unified GTM data layer. Nick challenges the hype around AI in outbound, and the two unpack why trust, process, and measurement (not volume) are the levers that matter most.If you've ever questioned whether your CAC is actually sustainable, or felt stuck trying to prove marketing's impact, this episode is your blueprint.Key topics in this episode:Why most CRM data is unusable, and what to do about itThe epidemic of go-to-market bloat and over-hiringHow AI is flooding outbound and eroding trustWhy finance must own more of GTM efficiencyThe trap of MQL targets and performance by teamWhat it takes to build a real full-funnel revenue factoryThis episode is powered by ⁠Passetto⁠. We help high-growth and equity-backed companies turn GTM data into better decisions, faster. We unify your GTM and financial data, identify your growth levers, and help you scale. Part SaaS, part advisory. Visit ⁠passetto.com

Mastering Modern Selling
MMS #138 - Stop Blaming Sales, Build the System

Mastering Modern Selling

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2025 61:12


Leave your commentIn this powerful episode of Mastering Modern Selling, Tom Burton and Brandon Lee are joined by Alice Heiman, a strategic sales advisor to CEOs and host of Sales Talk for CEOs. Together, they explore a critical yet often overlooked truth: CEOs must be active participants in driving sales strategy, visibility, and culture within their companies.Far from being a back-office role, the CEO today is the face, voice, and momentum behind successful sales organizations especially in founder-led and early-growth companies. Alice shares rich insights and real-world examples on how CEOs either drive growth or unknowingly prevent it.The CEO as a Sales Driver, Not Just a Visionary CEOs must be involved in sales not just setting targets, but also shaping the narrative, supporting the team, and building credibility in the marketplace.Visibility is Vital CEOs who are absent from public view are losing deals before they even start. Being accessible and sharing insights humanizes the brand and draws in top talent and prospects.Stop Selling Like a Founder Many CEOs fail because they expect salespeople to sell like them. Alice explains why founder-led sales needs to evolve and how to create scalable processes that work for your team.Outdated Playbooks Are Hurting Sales The 2009 “Predictable Revenue” model doesn't hold up in a modern, buyer-first world. Alice encourages a fresh, audience-centric approach built on relationships and relevance.A New Go-To-Market Mindset CEOs need to focus on sustainable growth. That means investing in demand generation, customer journey mapping, and a real GTM strategy not just adding more salespeople.Modern selling isn't just the job of the sales team, it's a company-wide responsibility that starts at the top.If you're a CEO still hiding behind spreadsheets and silence, this episode will challenge you to show up, speak out, and open the doors only you can open. Don't miss out—your next big idea could be just one episode away! This Show is sponsored by Fist BumpYour prospecting partner to authentically fill your pipeline with ideal customers. Check out our Live Show Events here: Mastering Modern Selling Live ShowSubscribe to our Newsletter: Mastering Modern Selling Newsletter

The SaaSiest Podcast
183. Søren Schønnemann, CEO, Factbird - The Hidden Growth Lever: How Strategic Hiring Fueled €10M ARR

The SaaSiest Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2025 56:18


In this episode, we're joined by Søren Schønnemann, CEO, Factbird, the SaaS provider that helps manufacturers maximize their performance through manufacturing intelligence from Operator to Process Engineer to Plant Manager,  We talk to Søren about the hiring strategy and organizational evolution that he's taken the company on to support their rapid growth, from 8 to 90 people while going from startup to breaking 10m Euro in ARR in less than 4 years. Here are some of the key questions we address: - Why was his first 2 hires a Talent Aqcuistion specialist and a Sales Ops way before they had a commerial and GTM team in place? - How has his hiring philosphy evolved as the company needs evolved? - How do you balance the need for personal growth of staff vs the need of organization growth? - What have been some of the most tricky challenges through this growth spurt and how did they handle them? - Which are his biggest lessons learned from growing the organization at this pace, and what would he do differently next time? Tune in to learn how Søren and his team have supported the need of the organization with a unique look at who to hire at what point in time, spoiler alert it is not sales people to start with, to get to the 10m Euro mark.

Conversations with Women in Sales
203: From Construction Engineer to Successful 2x Company Founder, Tracy Young, TigerEye

Conversations with Women in Sales

Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2025 18:12


Tracy Young has been on our radar for some time, having co-founded PlanGrid (acquired by Autodesk) and now co-founder of TigerEye - a GTM modern analytics platform. As a successful co-founder, Tracy has a natural sales background combined with her engineer background - a powerful combination.  On the TigerEye website, the company's core values are: Wholehearted, Humility, Kaizen, Trust, and Simplicity. Tracy discusses how she leads the company and has battled in her own head what a construction CEO or a tech co-founder looks like. It looks like her: a petite, Asian woman.  Tracy belives that the focus on a great leader should not be whether they are masculine or feminine but rather how they build their team - they have a vision, they're authentic, genuine, and are great communicators who care.  Follow Tracy on LinkedIn More about Women Sales Pros - we have a website, we are on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.  Subscribe to our 2x a month news, and share the podcast with others! We'd love a 5 star rating and comments on iTunes if you are so moved! It really makes a difference.  subscribe: https://bit.ly/thewspnews Contribute: https://forms.gle/v9rRiPDUtgGqKaXA6 Past News Issues: bit.ly/past_news_issues https://womensalespros.com/podcast/   

The Engineering Leadership Podcast
The Startup Epoch: Rethinking Company Building & Defensibility in an AI World w/ Craig McLuckie #221

The Engineering Leadership Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2025 42:38


AI is reshaping the fundamental economics of startups—lowering product development costs, compressing GTM cycles, and rewriting the rules of competition. In this episode, Craig McLuckie (Co-Founder & CEO @ Stacklok, co-creator of Kubernetes) unpacks “the epoch of the startup,” a moment of massive disruption where fast-moving founders have a unique edge over incumbents. We explore how Craig is navigating this new era from rethinking cost structure, value capture, and defensibility to leveraging open-source, community, and asymmetric advantages as core pillars of Stacklok's strategy. Craig shares lessons from pivotal product shifts, frameworks for identifying moats, and the broader societal implications of AI-driven disruption. Whether you're leading a startup, pivoting in the face of AI, or thinking about your next big move, this conversation offers a strategic playbook for thriving in today's shifting landscape.How do you see AI reshaping the startup landscape? Join the discussion on our forum and share your insights, questions, and takeaways. ABOUT CRAIG MCLUCKIECraig is the CEO and co-founder of Stacklok, where his team is working to tip AI code generation on its side, from vertical, closed solutions to horizontal, aligned systems. Craig was previously CEO and co-founder of Heptio, which was acquired by VMware in 2018; he has also led product and engineering teams at Google and Microsoft. Craig is a co-creator of Kubernetes and he bootstrapped and chaired the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. xThis episode is brought to you by Side – delivering award-winning QA, localization, player support, and tech services for the world's leading games and technology brands.For over 30 years, Side has helped create unforgettable user experiences—from indies to AAA blockbusters like Silent Hill 2 and Baldur's Gate 3.Learn more about Side's global solutions at side.inc. SHOW NOTES:Why this moment is “the epoch of the startup” (2:03)How AI shifts startup economics: from cost structures to value capture (4:18)Why incumbents struggle during disruption—and how startups can win (8:17)The origin story behind Stacklok & lessons from Craig's pivot (11:04)Frameworks for identifying asymmetric advantages as a founder (14:48)How to map your unique asymmetric advantages to new opportunities and secure stakeholder buy-in (16:34)Rethinking defensibility & value capture in the AI era (16:29)How Craig applied cost, GTM & product perspectives to strategic pivots @ Stacklok (18:07)Building investment theses: Aligning cultural strengths & asymmetric advantages with evolving opportunities (20:05)Determining your startup's investment themes (22:53)Structuring experiments & validating opportunities (24:15)Defensibility & building community-driven moats in early ideation phases (26:54)Signals of early community-product alignment (31:24)Conversation frameworks to assess asymmetric advantages (32:22)Societal implications of AI disruption & the “startup epoch” (35:14)Rapid fire questions (38:12)This episode wouldn't have been possible without the help of our incredible production team:Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-HostJerry Li - Co-HostNoah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan's also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/

Marketing Operators
E060: Go-To-Market Strategy: How 9-Figure Brands Plan, Execute, and Post-Mortem Product Launches

Marketing Operators

Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2025 86:56


In this episode, we break down how we plan, execute, and analyze our go-to-market (GTM) campaigns. We walk through the full product launch process for our DTC brands, from the initial product brief to strategy development, creative asset production, cross-functional collaboration, and post-mortem analysis. We share how we tier our launches, how different teams contribute (from product marketing to paid media), and the systems we use to keep everything moving, including ClickUp, Figma, and Notion. We also review our go-to-market boards in real time, showing how we centralize assets, messaging, and strategy across every channel to run high-impact, cohesive campaigns.Finally, we dive into how we're starting to use AI, especially in copywriting workflows, and where human creativity still plays a critical role.If you have a question for the MOperators Hotline, click the link to be in with a chance of it being discussed on the show: https://forms.gle/1W7nKoNK5Zakm1Xv600:00 Introduction05:22 Defining Go-To-Market Strategies12:03 The Product Prequel Process17:15 Attribution Models and Their Impact20:22 Understanding Product Launch Tiers23:39 Collaboration Between Product and Marketing Teams29:12 Creating Cohesive Marketing Messaging35:46 The Role of Project Management in Marketing39:09 Post-Mortem Analysis for Continuous Improvement45:43 Centralizing Project Management Functions48:36 Go-To-Market Strategy and Execution55:27 Comprehensive Creative Briefs for Launches58:14 Centralizing Creative Assets01:02:56 Brand vs. Product Messaging01:05:39 Design Toolkits for Cohesive Branding01:11:02 Creative Problem Solving with Existing Assets01:15:24 Leveraging AI for Content Creation01:19:09 Establishing a Design System01:22:01 Iterating on Go-to-Market StrategiesOperators Exclusive Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/9operators/shared_invite/zt-2tdfu426r-TepSHJP~evAyDfR29U2qUw Powered by:Motion.⁠⁠⁠https://motionapp.com/pricing?utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast&utm_medium=paidsponsor&utm_campaign=march-2024-ad-reads⁠⁠⁠https://motionapp.com/creative-trendsPrescient AI.⁠⁠⁠https://www.prescientai.com/operatorsRichpanel.⁠⁠⁠https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=MO&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdescAftersell.https://www.aftersell.com/operatorsNorthbeam.https://www.northbeam.io/Subscribe to the 9 Operators Podcast here:https://www.youtube.com/@Operators9Subscribe to the Finance Operators Podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/@FinanceOperatorsFOPSSign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here: https://9operators.com/

Reserva de Maná
PUNTO DE LECTURA. Capítulo 28: La cultura del videojuego de GTM 113, Daredevil, Locke & Key, Tío Gilito, 4 Fantásticos

Reserva de Maná

Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2025 73:44


¡Bienvenidos a un nuevo programa de Punto de Lectura! En el capítulo de hoy os contamos qué nos ha parecido el número 112 de la revista GTM. Y reseñamos los siguientes cómics de Panini: Daredevil de Brian Michael Bendis #2, Locke & Key Integral #3, Tío Gilito y el secreto de Gilberto Oro, 4 Fantásticos de Waid y Wieringo, Maximum Berserk #11, Fumando juntos detrás del súper #3 y DC Finest. Batman: Año Uno y Dos. Esperamos que os mole. · Suscríbete a GTM aquí: https://gamestribune.com/#suscripcion

Go To Market Grit
From Scaling Cisco to Seeding AI: John T. Chambers on Speed, Strategy, and Reinvention

Go To Market Grit

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2025 87:08


John Chambers led Cisco through the rise of the internet—transforming it into the world's most valuable company at its peak.On this week's Grit, the former Cisco CEO unpacks how he scaled the business from $70M to $50B+, pioneered M&A as a growth strategy with 180 acquisitions, and built what many called the best sales force in tech.Now leading his own venture firm, Chambers shares how he's backing the next generation of AI-native startups.Guest: John T. Chambers, Former Cisco Executive Chairman & CEO, JC2 Ventures Founder & CEOChapters: 00:00 Trailer00:45 Introduction01:45 Track record, relationships, trust13:21 Acquisitions every year17:32 Product-focused24:40 Family, dyslexia, and without shame30:46 Wang Laboratories35:59 Ready being CEO40:17 Reinventing your business50:08 Numbers don't lie54:09 Sales calls and making mistakes56:20 Adapting leadership style1:06:32 Best leadership year ever1:13:35 A busy, exhausting schedule1:22:07 Candid with me1:25:21 What “grit” means to John1:26:43 OutroMentioned in this episode: John Doerr, OpenAI, Wang Laboratories, IBM, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Apple Inc., Meta Platforms, FMC Corporation, DuPont de Nemours, Inc., John Mortgage, Don Valentine, Sequoia Capital, Alcatel Mobile, Lucent Technologies, Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Inc., Rick Justice, Pankage Patel, Larry Carter, CNBC, Jim Cramer, George Kurtz, CrowdStrike, Randy Pond, Rebecca Jacoby, Mel SelcherLinks:Connect with JohnXLinkedInConnect with JoubinXLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins

Topline
E109: Burnout, Breakthroughs & the New Reality of GTM Leadership

Topline

Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2025 65:43


Sam Jacobs, AJ Bruno, and Asad Zaman confront the emotional weight and operational strain of leading through sustained GTM volatility. They reflect on the mental health toll of missed quarters, the pressure to perform under investor scrutiny, and the fine line between perseverance and sunk-cost thinking. The trio explores how founders can navigate uncertain markets with clear contingency planning, why Pavilion is betting big on small peer groups to improve retention, and what the recent wave of strategic M&A reveals about the shifting tech landscape.Thanks for tuning in!Join the revenue leaders redefining growth at Pavilion's CRO Summit 2025, which will be held on June 3rd at the Denver Art Museum. Register today.Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders, share insights, and keep the conversation going beyond the podcast!Subscribe to the Topline Newsletter to get the latest industry developments and emerging go-to-market trends delivered to your inbox every Thursday.Tune into The Revenue Leadership Podcast with Kyle Norton every Wednesday. Kyle dives deep into the strategies and tactics that drive success for revenue leaders like Jason Lemkins of SaaStr, Stevie Case of Vanta, and Ron Gabrisko of Databricks.Key Moments:(00:00) Introduction and Reflections on Past Guests(02:59) The Impact of AI on Education(05:56) Market Pulse Check and Economic Outlook(08:58) Navigating Challenges as Founders(11:55) Mental Health and Resilience in Business(15:04) Investor Pressures and Market Dynamics(17:48) The Importance of Adaptability in Entrepreneurship(20:59) Learning from Failure and Moving Forward(33:53) Revenue Growth and Business Optionality(34:56) Leadership Accountability and Personal Growth(36:24) Compassionate Leadership in Business(38:01) Optimism vs. Realism in Business(39:31) Market Trends and Business Strategy(42:04) Building Community and Crafting Business Assets(43:41) Market Dependency and Business Performance(46:47) The Importance of Team Building(47:15) M&A Activity and Market Dynamics

Renegade Thinkers Unite: #2 Podcast for CMOs & B2B Marketers
452: The New Rules of Marketing Team Design

Renegade Thinkers Unite: #2 Podcast for CMOs & B2B Marketers

Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2025 49:48


Marketing org charts may look innocent, but they're loaded with meaning. Split your team into “revenue” and “corporate” and you're sending a message, whether you mean to or not. Structure reveals philosophy. And in B2B, that philosophy had better be built for trust, speed, and results. In this episode, Drew Neisser is joined by Kelly Hopping (Demandbase), Lesley Davis (Waggoner Engineering), and Gary Sevounts (Simpplr) to discuss how they're shaping marketing teams that reflect clearer priorities, move in sync with the business, and operate at the pace growth demands. In this episode: Kelly built her team around one goal: earning sales love. It reshaped her team's structure, mindset, and KPIs.  Lesley explains how cultural clarity and cross-functional trust helped her team scale fast inside a complex org.  Gary shares how “Treasure Ops” became a full-funnel GTM engine, reviving stalled deals and tying ops directly to pipeline. You'll also learn:  Why your org structure should follow how your buyers engage  How AI is already shifting roles  How shared metrics and a single definition of success align marketing and sales  Tune in for a look at how marketing teams are being built to meet the moment!  For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcasts/ To learn more about CMO Huddles, visit https://cmohuddles.com/

Practical Founders Podcast
#144: From Founder-Led Sales to Scalable Go-To-Market in Vertical SaaS - Phil Stern

Practical Founders Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2025 58:20


Phil Stern is the operating principal of Mainsail Partners, a growth equity firm that invests in bootstrapped vertical SaaS companies. Mainsail offers deep operating support to the leaders in their portfolio companies to help them grow more efficiently. Phil leads the GTM operations team, helping their founders scale sales, marketing, and success teams.  Phil was an experienced SaaS sales leader at several companies before joining Mainsail to focus on helping their portfolio companies scale up to $30M ARR or more. Phil's team helps founders solve challenging problems with sales leadership, rev ops technology, compensation, marketing analysis and planning, and more with deep operational insights customized for each company.  In this episode, Phil discusses these important topics. The five keys  to hiring your first head of sales to graduate from founder-led sales to a scalable sales team How Mainsail specialists partner with founders and their leaders to help them solve their most important GTM problems quickly How Phil helps with due diligence on potential investments to assess the upsides and opportunities for revenue growth Why Mainsail is focused on vertical SaaS companies with founders who are experts in their domains Quote from Phil Stern, Operating Principal at Mainsail Partners “Hiring a first head of sales is typically one of the first roles we're going to hire. This sales leader needs to be willing to sell the product. You're not coming in at $5 million of ARR to be an armchair VP. You own part of the quota, you're going to cover for a rep at a trade show or on maternity leave, whatever it takes.  “You have to be willing to sell. So if you come in just to strategize and move chess pieces around, it's just not the job for you. “If you don't sell, you won't get close enough to the customer. For these customers in vertical end markets, you need to get close to them, learn from them, understand them, and speak to them.  “It's really back to a bootstrapper mentality. The CEO has been doing absolutely everything up and down the business. I'm asking a sales leader to do everything up and down the go-to-market.” Links Phil Stern on LinkedIn Mainsail Partners on LinkedIn Mainsail Partners website The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com.

CUENTOS DE LA CASA DE LA BRUJA
352 - Dignidad, de Pablo de Garay

CUENTOS DE LA CASA DE LA BRUJA

Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2025 23:55


Hoy os traemos una nueva coproducción de la revista GTM y los podcast El Vuelo del Cometa y Los Cuentos de la Casa de la Bruja. Un nuevo relato basado en un videojuego y escrito por Pablo de Garay. Como siempre en esta serie os invito a descubrir de qué videojuego se trata. Pabro de Garay: formado en psicología y criminología por curiosidad, lector voraz y escritor por pasión y librero de profesión. Apasionado de la literatura oriental y la ciencia ficción. Le podéis leer en la revista especializada en videojuegos GTM y en la antología Libélulas Negras. Algunos de sus relatos han sido radio ficcionados en podcasts de referencia en la narración de historias, como El vuelo del cometa, Noviembre Nocturno, Los cuentos de la casa de la bruja, Cuentos del bosque oscuro y Territorio Extrañer. Narración: Juan Carlos Albarracín Locución Sintonía: Antonio Runa Música: Epidemic Sound, con licencia Imagen de portada: Pixabay, con licencia https://pixabay.com/es/illustrations/muertos-vivientes-zombi-horror-8526488/ Los Cuentos de la Casa de la Bruja es un podcast semanal de audio-relatos de misterio, ciencia ficción y terror. Cada viernes, a las 10 de la noche, traemos un nuevo programa. Alternamos entre episodios gratuitos para todos nuestros oyentes y episodios exclusivos para nuestros fans. ¡Si te gusta nuestro contenido suscríbete! Y si te encanta considera hacerte mecenas desde el botón azul APOYAR y accede así a todo el contenido exclusivo. Tu aporte es de mucha ayuda para el mantenimiento de este podcast. ¡Gracias por ello! Mi nombre es Juan Carlos. Dirijo este podcast y también soy locutor y narrador de audiolibros, con estudio propio. Si crees que mi voz encajaría con tu proyecto o negocio contacta conmigo y hablamos. :) Contacto profesional: info@locucioneshablandoclaro.com www.locucioneshablandoclaro.com También estoy en X y en Bluesky: @VengadorT Y en Instagram: juancarlos_locutor Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals

Sales Leadership Podcast
Episode 313: David Knight, CEO of Avarra.ai - “Driving Range” Leadership

Sales Leadership Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 15, 2025 59:57


David Knight is the founder and CEO of Avarra.ai, an AI company that's arming sales teams with the kind of intelligence that turns potential into performance and guesswork into game plans. David has a 30+ year track record leading GTM teams and building revenue engines that don't just grow—they dominate. He's been instrumental in scaling MULTIPLE Billion Dollar recurring revenue machines at Market leaders like WebEx and Proofpoint. He's been in the trenches, in the boardrooms, and on the front lines of tech revolutions. In his leadership journey, David has learned the importance of creating teams that are “Customer Ready.” How elite leaders need to help create intentional improvement…not just incremental effort. Today David shares how elite leaders treat creating readiness in ways very similar to how elite golfers treat their driving range in an episode that will change how you think about “readiness.” You can connect with David on LinkedIn here. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrknight/) You can check out Avarra.ai here (https://www.avarra.ai/). For video excerpts of this and other episodes of the Sales Leadership Podcast, check out Sales Leadership United Here. (https://www.patreon.com/c/SalesLeadershipUnited) Be sure to check out the full video of this episode on our YouTube channel here.

Good Advice: Do Business Better with Blake Binns
#496 - Abhi Yadav Talks AI Driven Marketing and iCustomer

Good Advice: Do Business Better with Blake Binns

Play Episode Listen Later May 15, 2025 34:18


AI is being used for all sorts of things that don't move the needle for a business. But is there untapped potential in the world of GTM and marketing? We talk with Abhi Yadav who is using AI as a core piece of his business, iCustomer, and how they are using it to better understand and segment their customers.  This episode is sponsored by Duncan & Stone. Do you want to capture what matters with your loved ones? Check out their amazing journals and other products at their website: https://www.duncanandstone.com/   If you like the episode, feel free to subscribe or follow the podcast for more content. We also have a Patreon where you can support the podcast at Patreon.com/GoodAdvice.

Sunny Side Up
Ep. 532 | Winning with Go-to-Market Strategy

Sunny Side Up

Play Episode Listen Later May 15, 2025 29:30


Episode SummaryIn this episode, Host Chris Moody is joined by Eric Feige to discuss how businesses can win with go-to-market (GTM) strategies by setting realistic digital transformation goals, fostering cross-functional alignment, and leveraging tools like Demandbase for scalable growth. Eric's breadth of experience—from entrepreneurship to consulting with Fortune 500 companies—offers unique perspectives on the practical steps organizations can take to achieve revenue growth, avoid common pitfalls, and innovate without unnecessary risk. Eric also shares advice on using AI and composable technology to accelerate success in go-to-market strategies.Key TakeawaysCross-Functional Collaboration is Essential: GTM success requires alignment across sales, marketing, technology, and compliance teams, with a clear P&L owner driving the effort.Set Realistic Digital Transformation Goals: Break down large initiatives into achievable milestones that deliver short-term wins and lay the foundation for long-term growth.Leverage Tools to Scale Without Additional Labor: Platforms like Demandbase help integrate insights, streamline workflows, and enable scalable, personalized outreach without adding overhead.The Importance of Beacon Projects: Start with “beacon projects” that showcase clear value across teams and convert skeptics into advocates for change, aligning everyone on revenue objectives.AI as a Catalyst for Personalization: While AI can help optimize content and enable hyper-personalized messaging, its impact is amplified when integrated with robust go-to-market platforms.Quotes"AI enables us to scale personalization, but success still lies in orchestrating the right data, systems, and teams."Best Moments (03:30) – The Foundations of Cross-Functional GTM Success(08:40) – Setting Realistic Digital Transformation Goals(13:10) – Tools for Scalable Revenue Growth(19:50) – Introducing Beacon Projects(26:25) – AI's Role in GTM TransformationResource RecommendationsBooks:Beastie Boys Book by Michael DiamondAbout the GuestEric Feige is a seasoned leader and digital transformation expert with experience as a venture-backed entrepreneur, digital strategist, and head of digital at top organizations like Deloitte, KPMG, JP Morgan, and Prudential Financial. As the Managing Director at VShift, Eric helps businesses unlock sustainable revenue growth by aligning digital goals with cross-functional collaboration across sales, marketing, and technology teams.Website: ⁠https://www.vshift.com/⁠⁠Connect with Eric⁠.

Ground Up
168: From Wishful Thinking to Predictable Growth: Conversion Modeling for Realistic Forecasts With Bec Henrich, Traction Complete

Ground Up

Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2025 27:26


Databox is an easy-to-use Analytics Platform for growing businesses. We make it easy to centralize and view your entire company's marketing, sales, revenue, and product data in one place, so you always know how you're performing. Learn More About DataboxSubscribe to our newsletter for episode summaries, benchmark data, and moreIn this episode of Metrics & Chill, Jeremiah sits down with Bec Henrich, Head of Marketing at Traction Complete, to talk about forecasting that actually works. Instead of reverse-engineering aggressive revenue targets, Bec explains how to build forecasts grounded in real funnel data—so your team can aim high without burning out.You'll learn:How to model accurate and predictable conversion rates How to avoid “wishful thinking forecasts” The importance of clean, standardized data in your CRMHow to factor in seasonality to avoid mid-quarter surprisesTips for getting Sales and RevOps aligned on forecast assumptionsMore about:Traction Complete: https://tractioncomplete.com/ Databox: https://databox.comSubscribe to the newsletter: https://databox.com/newsletter

Modern Startup Marketing
234 - Listen To Your Top 3% Superconsumers And Find What's Weird (Christopher Lochhead)

Modern Startup Marketing

Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2025 55:11


Christopher Lochhead is 3X Silicon Valley public company CMO, the father of category design, and makes content for entrepreneurs and marketers with a different mind.I invite Christopher on the show to talk about certain topics but I always know we will be twisting and turning to other topics which is why it's so fun to hang with him.Listen to these other episodes if you want more with Christopher:Ep. 44 - Why 98% Of Startups And Marketers Waste Their Time Ep. 108 - Why Most Content Is 100% Content Free And How Non Obvious Ideas HelpEp. 136 - Why Treating Your Creative Marketing Like It's Not Tied To Revenue Will Get You More RevenueHere's what we cover:Politics;Israel war;Terrorism;Disagreements are healthy;What does customer obsession mean, really;Why customers are the most important part of GTM;How can Marketing build respect from Sales and Engineering;Examples of how customers help startups build to their next level of growth;Which customers are most important for customer research;What you should look for when analyzing customer research (HINT: it's not what you think);Why it's important to learn about how customers use your product as part of their products ecosystem, desires and preferences.Christopher on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/christopherlochheadCategory Pirates: www.categorypirates.comFor more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠

Lessons In Product Management
Bridging the Gap Between Product Management & Product Marketing with Daria Love, Director of Product Marketing at the Trans.eu Group

Lessons In Product Management

Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2025 47:28


Category Visionaries
John Lee, CEO & Founder of Safire: $11 Million Raised to Accelerate Defense Electrification Technology

Category Visionaries

Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2025 31:08


Safire is pioneering advanced electrification solutions for defense applications, transforming how military operations are powered in austere environments. With $11 Million in funding and over $7 million in government contracts secured just this year, Safire is developing revolutionary technology to make batteries safer and more efficient for defense applications. In this episode of Category Visionaries, I spoke with John Lee, CEO and Founder of Safire, to learn about the company's journey from a core nanoparticle technology to a full suite of defense electrification products that are changing how soldiers operate in the field. Topics Discussed: Safire's revolutionary silicon nanoparticle technology that transforms lithium-ion batteries into "non-Newtonian fluids" that solidify upon impact The company's evolution from core R&D to developing multiple defense products, including tactical electric dirt bikes, battery-infused body armor, and deployable microgrids The process of securing government contracts and navigating defense appropriations The importance of building relationships with end users in the military and understanding their needs John's background as a Navy contracting officer and former head of government contracts at Palantir Safire's approach to brand development as part of their path to becoming a unicorn   GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Put mission first to attract talent and customers: John's commitment to protecting lives became his driving force after his experience procuring counter-IED jammers that saved soldiers' lives. He explains, "I couldn't really do anything besides, whatever I do, I want to help protect and save lives." This clear mission has helped him attract talent, customers, and investors who share this vision, demonstrating how a compelling purpose can accelerate GTM efforts. Listen to customer needs before defining your product roadmap: Rather than forcing a single-product strategy, Safire let customer requirements guide their development. As John noted, "We really focused on customer first. And if the customer said, I want you to be just one product company... that may have been okay. But that's not what the customer was asking for." By building solutions to address real military needs, Safire has secured multiple contracts across different applications. Use government R&D contracts as a runway to production: Safire strategically leveraged Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts to fund their early development while creating a path to larger production contracts. John advises, "It's really important to understand... all the effort it takes to go from the R&D contract into production into program of record and [to] prepare for it." He warns against the "if I build it they'll come" mentality that leads many startups to fail. Invest in lobbying early for long-term ROI: The company prioritized hiring lobbyists immediately after raising their seed round. John revealed, "The $4.5 million contract that we just got awarded last month came from our lobbying efforts... from two and a half years ago. And that was the very first third-party payment I was making as soon as we raised our seed round." This demonstrates how early investment in government relations can deliver substantial returns for defense tech companies. Brand sophistication matters in defense tech: Breaking with industry norms, Safire invested significantly in professional branding before their Series A. John explains this decision: "Every unicorn status company had a great brand before they became a unicorn status company... When we're walking through four-star generals and three-star generals into our offices, into our skiffs... we want to be trusted and we also want to be seen as a sophisticated, responsible contractor." This approach has helped them stand out in an industry where branding is often neglected.   //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co

SmartBug on Tap
Cracking the AgeTech Market: GTM Strategies for Innovation and Adoption

SmartBug on Tap

Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2025 28:39


The senior tech industry is rapidly growing, with new innovations designed to improve the lives of older adults, caregivers, and healthcare providers. But how do you successfully market and sell senior tech solutions to a diverse audience that includes seniors, adult children, and healthcare professionals? SmartBug Media's AgeTech expert, Tonia Speir, joins host VP of Marketing Paul Schmidt to break down: ✅ What AgeTech is and the biggest misconceptions about seniors and technology ✅ The decision-making process in AgeTech purchases: seniors, caregivers, and adult children ✅ How to build trust and drive adoption in an industry where security and usability are top concerns ✅ The best marketing channels and go-to-market (GTM) strategies for reaching this unique audience ✅ How AgeTech startups can differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded market If you're working in senior tech, digital health, or healthcare marketing, this is for you. Paul Schmidt: pschmidt@smartbugmedia.com Tonia Speir: tspeir@smartbugmedia.com Relevant Resource: https://www.smartbugmedia.com/senior-tech-growth-powered-by-hubspot

SmartBug on Tap
Strategic Spending: AgeTech GTM Strategies for Paid Media Success

SmartBug on Tap

Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2025 32:10


Dive into how AgeTech companies can build effective, ROI-driven paid media campaigns—even with a lean marketing budget. SmartBug's Senior Sales Executive, Tonia Speir, sits down with Briana Greer, Director of Paid Media at SmartBug, to explore how to prioritize platforms, optimize spend, and avoid common pitfalls in early go-to-market (GTM) efforts. Whether you're targeting adult children, seniors, caregivers, or B2B buyers such as healthcare professionals or senior living execs, this conversation offers a blueprint for smarter advertising decisions.

Go To Market Grit
How Matt Murphy Made Marvell Essential to AI and Cloud

Go To Market Grit

Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2025 85:07


Matt Murphy transformed Marvell from a broad-based chip supplier into a $100B data infrastructure leader—powering the rise of AI, cloud, 5G, and custom silicon.On this week's Grit, the Marvell CEO shares how he refocused the company's strategy, led major acquisitions like Inphi ($10B) and Cavium ($6B), and positioned Marvell at the center of the next era of compute.He also reflects on lessons from his father, a longtime CEO, the discipline of running 90 miles a week, and how staying steady through industry cycles has set him apart.Chapters:00:00 Trailer00:47 Introduction03:00 Huge company, taking the long view10:28 Market cap shift to big tech14:44 The data infrastructure opportunity20:30 Massive economic opportunity31:33 Semiconductor industry and geopolitics40:46 Taiwan and Moore's Law 44:05 Getting hammered down 50%47:05 Silicon Valley51:15 All in despite risks55:37 The CEO checkbox1:01:22 Email from Matt, subject: Grit1:07:35 The higher you go1:15:44 Who Marvell is hiring1:20:14 What “grit” means to Matt1:24:40 OutroMentioned in this episode: Jim Cramer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), Maxim Integrated, Mattel, Inc., Cisco Systems, Inc, Juniper Networks, Meta Platforms, Amazon.com, Inc., Cavium, Inc., Inphi Corporation, Aquantia Corporation, Mellanox Technologies, Nvidia Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, OpenAI, Anthropic, John Chambers, Facebook, Spotify, Airbnb, Google, Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, Intel Corporation, Robert Norton Noyce, Gordon Moore, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD), Andrew "Andy" Stephen Grove, Bloomberg, Intuit Inc., Lip-Bu Tan, Sehat Sutardja, Whay S. Lee, Starboard Value, Rick Hill, Novellus Systems, Inc., Michael Strachan, Deloitte & Touche LLP, Apple Inc., Steve Jobs, Chris KoopmansLinks:Connect with MattLinkedInConnect with JoubinXLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins

State of Demand Gen
The Hidden Systems Behind REAL Product-Led Growth (with Wes Bush)

State of Demand Gen

Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2025 47:27


Most SaaS teams claim they're “doing PLG,” but very few are doing it well. This week on GTM Live, Carolyn and Trevor sit down with Wes Bush, CEO of ProductLed, to unpack why product-led growth often fails—and what to do about it. They explore why PLG isn't just a pricing model or trial strategy, but a deep, systems-level shift that most teams underestimate.Wes shares the “PLG iceberg” framework: how surface-level features (like a free trial) are only a fraction of the equation, and what's really beneath the waterline. Carolyn draws parallels to GTM systems and explains why execution gaps usually stem from unseen issues like misaligned metrics, siloed teams, or weak infrastructure. Trevor reveals why so many companies stall out after initial traction and how to diagnose whether PLG is truly viable for your product and team.If your version of PLG starts and ends with a self-serve signup, this conversation will change your thinking.Key topics in this episode:Why most PLG initiatives stall or fail to scaleThe “iceberg” analogy for understanding real PLG systemsHow internal misalignment derails otherwise solid PLG ideasWhy surface-level success metrics are misleadingWhat CEOs and GTM leaders get wrong when trying to “go PLG”What foundational systems need to be in place before you can succeed with PLG

fwd: thinking, a b2b marketing podcast
Why Most “Simple” GTM Ops Projects Aren't Simple

fwd: thinking, a b2b marketing podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2025 28:33


On today's episode Charlie and Crissy are discussing how they have been seeing an uptick in companies wanting to take on more GTM Ops projects and invest in their GTM Ops foundation. Then they discuss how many stakeholders request "simple" projects from the GTM ops team or from consultants and why those simple projects really aren't simple. Atleast, for most organizations.

ZoomInfo Labs Podcast
Databricks VP of GTM Strategy & Planning Sid Kumar

ZoomInfo Labs Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2025 40:58


Sid Kumar, Area Vice President of Go-to-Market Strategy and Planning at Databricks, joins the ZoomInfo Labs Podcast to break down the modern GTM org. From building global sales systems to operationalizing AI across workflows Sid brings lots to learn from.We dive into lessons Sid has carried from HubSpot, AWS, and CA Technologies, why a connected GTM is the future, and how to treat go-to-market like a product that's always evolving.In this episode, you'll learn:Why GTM should be treated like a product—not a processHow to scale go-to-market systems globally without losing local nuanceThe right way to experiment with AI across sales, marketing, and CSHow GTM architects can unify data, workflows, and outcomesFor more from ZI Labs, visit ⁠www.zoominfo.com/labs⁠ Ben on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/bensalzman Millie on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/milliebeetham

Ahead of the Game
How to Go to Network (Not Market)

Ahead of the Game

Play Episode Listen Later May 11, 2025 49:21


In this episode of the DMI podcast, host ⁠Will Francis⁠ speaks with ⁠Mark Kilens⁠, CEO and co-founder of ⁠Tack⁠, a community and consultancy focused on helping companies go to market. Mark shares a fresh perspective on how go-to-market strategies must evolve by putting people, not companies, at the heart of everything. From building trust to leveraging networks over traditional channels, Mark offers plenty of insights that challenge the status quo and equip marketers to thrive in a rapidly changing landscape. Mark's top 3 insights:Focus on People-First GTM built around relationships, storytelling, and partnerships.Build an owned audience through value-led content and free tools, not just blog posts.Prioritize network leverage over channels: think people, places, and brands as your new marketing reach.Timestamps0:00:25 – What is People-First Go-To-Market (GTM)?0:03:02 – Common challenges: Positioning and Ideal Customer Profiles0:06:54 – The importance of ecosystems and partnerships0:09:47 – Distribution leverage and marketing in noisy environments0:12:31 – Channels vs. Networks: A mindset shift0:18:24 – The role of AI in GTM strategy and marketing careers0:23:56 – Why build a community? The power of owned audiences0:27:58 – Using free tools to deliver value and collect data0:34:00 – Real-world client scenarios and solutions Tack provides0:36:38 – The over-reliance on paid media and what to do instead0:41:23 – What product metrics reveal about GTM effectiveness0:42:27 – Mark's GTM checklist: ICPs, messaging, networks0:45:45 – Career reflections and advice for marketers-----------------------The Ahead of the Game podcast is brought to you by the Digital Marketing Institute and is available on our ⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠.Check out the DMI's extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, webinars, guides, templates, and more! ⁠⁠⁠⁠Join for free today⁠⁠⁠⁠.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review so others can find us!

MarTech Podcast // Marketing + Technology = Business Growth
Why AI in GTM presents massive opportunities

MarTech Podcast // Marketing + Technology = Business Growth

Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2025 16:19


Co-founder & CEO Daniel Saks from Landbase, a leading agentic AI platform for go-to-market strategies, delves into the vast opportunities presented by AI in GTM. Discover how Landbase's GTM-1 Omni suite, powered by specialized AI models, streamlines sales and marketing workflows to enhance lead generation and conversion at scale. Explore the vision shared by a team of seasoned founders and operators to revolutionize go-to-market processes through automation, unification, and optimization. Show NotesConnect With: Daniel Saks: Website // LinkedInThe MarTech Podcast: Email // LinkedIn // TwitterBenjamin Shapiro: Website // LinkedIn // TwitterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Revenue Generator Podcast: Sales + Marketing + Product + Customer Success = Revenue Growth

Co-founder & CEO Daniel Saks from Landbase, a leading agentic AI platform for go-to-market strategies, delves into the vast opportunities presented by AI in GTM. Discover how Landbase's GTM-1 Omni suite, powered by specialized AI models, streamlines sales and marketing workflows to enhance lead generation and conversion at scale. Explore the vision shared by a team of seasoned founders and operators to revolutionize go-to-market processes through automation, unification, and optimization. Show NotesConnect With: Daniel Saks: Website // LinkedInThe MarTech Podcast: Email // LinkedIn // TwitterBenjamin Shapiro: Website // LinkedIn // TwitterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Win Win Podcast
Episode 117: Breaking Down Silos To Drive GTM Success

Win Win Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2025


According to research from the CMO Council, 63% of marketers say they are under extreme pressure to deliver improved revenue outcomes. So how can you leverage your tech stack to enhance collaboration across GTM teams and drive impactful results? Shawnna Sumaoang: Hi, and welcome to the Win-Win podcast. I’m your host, Shawnna Sumaoang. Join us as we dive into changing trends in the workplace and how to navigate them successfully. Here to discuss this topic is Andrea Bras, VP of product marketing at Viant Technology. Thanks for joining, Andrea! I'd love for you to tell us about yourself, your background, and your role.  Andrea Bras: Wonderful. Well, thank you Shawnna for having me. I’m excited to talk about my journey at Viant and as we’ve continued our partnership with Highspot. So, as you mentioned, I’m vice president of product marketing at Viant Technology. We are an AI powered DSP or demand side platform built for CTV or Connected Television. What we do is we help marketers to connect with their consumers. Through planning, through execution, through measurement of their advertising media in the most engaging ways using our technology. So I’m actually coming up on my tenure anniversary, so it’s just, wow, it’s almost mind blowing. It’s been such an amazing journey here. VT is such a pioneering, innovative company and we’re never left bored or wondering what’s next, right? So prior to joining VT, I’ve actually been in digital marketing for, geez, almost 25 years now. Actually, I joined when it was actually still known as online marketing. If anyone in your audience can remember that. But what I’ve been fortunate enough along my journey is to really wear a lot of hats and be exposed to a lot of different types of companies. So I’ve worked with the small startups, local retail, all the way up to big global corporations. I’ve also worn a lot of hats. So I’ve sold advertising. I have bought advertising. I’ve developed partnerships, thinking about the consumer in mind, and it’s really positioned me very well in what I believe. Is a perfect mixture of all of that background to bring me to my best results as a product marketer. And so our role here in product marketing at Viat is we really sit at the intersection of all of the orgs in the company. We provide support to all of them, but primarily sales and product. We sit within the marketing team and it’s our job to really look for the best things that all these teams are working on in order to craft. Really amazing and compelling positioning and messaging. We developed the go-to-market solutions and the content. We support the product launches, and of course we manage and work through all the sales enablement technology. We, of course, have chosen Highspot, which we love. And that brings me here today, and I’m excited to discuss more with you, Shawnna. SS: Likewise, we are lucky to have you on this podcast. Given that you are a seasoned marketing leader, I’d love to understand what are some of the key go-to-market initiatives that you’re focused on driving for the business this year, and how does your enablement tech stack help support these efforts? AB: Well, that’s a great question. And you know, given where we sit in the org, we have our hands in pretty much everything, but we really do have some very key go-to-market initiatives. We’re highly focused on, as I mentioned in my intro. Connected television is something that is our most important focus and for good reason. I mean, when you think about the power of TV and what that does for advertising, and you’re converging it with the power of digital and the ability to understand and message the performance of your advertising. It’s such an exciting thing and we’re doing a great job of really building the technology to support that in the best ways, as well as the partnerships. I mean, we’re getting to work with some of these greatest streaming platforms. Think Disney, think Paramount. And so we’re working really hard on how do we showcase how easy it is to build these upper and lower funnel opportunity that CTV brings based on campaign objectives. So there’s a lot of education that comes in mind, or that we have to work with our consumers and our clients just so they can really understand the huge opportunity in front of ’em. So that keeps us very busy. The other thing that really is related to CTV, but it’s our recent Iris TV acquisition. So for those of you who may not be familiar, Iris TV has really built their tech. To standardize contextual, the opportunity to present ads contextually AC interoperable across all of these various streaming platforms. So think cooking shows and what that could mean across not just one cooking show, but all of the great content cooking shows across numerous streaming platforms. And that really brings such value because now you’re layering in the ability to capture the consumer in the right mindset. So that just, you know, it’s an organic content experience and we’re really excited about that. And then of course there’s Viant AI. So we launched Viant AI. It was hugely successful last part of last year. And man, it’s just so exciting ’cause we have on this hand, CTV and all the great things coming there, part of our direct access program. But then over here we’ve got this whole new realm of innovation with AI. I know you guys lean in really heavily, which we’re excited about. So we’re just really. Keeping close to our technology teams and watching the innovation develop and keeping track of that. Of course, to make these launches successful and keep our go-to market as top-notch as possible, you need a unified go-to-market alignment as your company’s very familiar with, and that’s where Highspot has just been an absolute game changer for us. When I think about where we were before, I mean, we had really legacy tech and we did our best, but you can only do so much. Right? I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of stories from your clients. When we brought on Highspot, a couple of really magical things happened for us. One, we had to sit and think about our content strategy, right? You know, before we would organize it, but we didn’t really think about what it was. And you know, due to how you build and develop the platform, it’s really exciting because. You’re thinking, okay, what are our buckets of content, right? So we had to think, okay, well there’s storytelling content. And then it’s like, well, we also have all these different product releases that come. So you have product overview, right? And you know, verticals, channels, you name it. So we had to take the time and effort to really build this out. And then we wanted to also put it around a wonderful launch, give it a big stage. So put us a little bit under a time crunch, which was probably a blessing in disguise because we had to work. In fact, our Highspot onboarding rep, who was amazing, he told us we were one of the fastest launches. So I don’t know if that still holds true, but from contract signing, I think we signed the contract in late October, and then we had this up and running in January. So for all of you who either are planning a launch or thinking about launching or maybe haven’t signed up yet, there’s a lot you can do to get up in front of it. For us, it was a combination of having a pilot team as we were building, getting their feedback along the way. Then we did a soft launch just to get the logistics outta the way, get people using it so that when we did our big launch at our annual Viant Con, where we dedicated two hours and actually. Flew the Highspot rep out to help us launch this. We had a such a meaningful two hour session. Honestly, we still hear great feedback about that launch. It really helped us get started with Highspot in a big way. SS: I love that. And you, you touched on the importance and the critical nature of alignment. What are some of the common pitfalls that organizations might encounter when aligning go-to-market teams to execute these key initiatives and, and how can they avoid them? AB: Yes, that is absolutely critical and we have really face several and overcome. And of course, Highspot has been a great tool in helping us do so. You know, when we first started, when I first started Viant, we were a smaller corporation. It was pretty easy to stay on top of your priorities and kind of know how to manage your workload. But as you’re rapidly growing or expanding or adding teams. The more support you’re providing and the more awareness that the functions across the org understand about what you can bring, that starts to change. You start to get all of these demands, and the lack of prioritization isn’t because there’s no priority. It’s that idea that if everything’s high priority, then there’s no high priority, right? So. That helped us realize, okay, we’ve gotta do a better job. And luckily we, our Chief Product Officer, he came from a very big tech company and you know, they were very used to juggling prioritization of high needs across the org. So he shared the tips and tricks that he’s done and I was able to add on the marketing lens. And so the end result is we meet monthly with the C-Suite across every function. They have a chance to see transparently all of our projects. They can prioritize their departments, so they get to own that, and then they also see where their priorities fall in our holistic view. So it’s been a game changer and it’s really helped us. So, you know, everybody will probably look a little different, but it’s been hugely valuable. And I’d say the other things to keep an eye out for is whenever you introduce anything new you’re gonna have change management. There’s always challenges with that. So really just, you know, the Highspot team was great helping us understand the win-win value for our sellers and other stakeholders. So just getting ahead of that, working through those, of course, defining SWIN lanes, if there’s any blurred lines or confusion, you’re gonna have people stepping on each other’s toes. Just really getting in front of all that business. So, and then I’d say the last thing, and you guys are great for this, is really having technology partners that have support teams. Because what’s great about Highspot is we have that ongoing support. So we’re always working as treating you as a partner, but then we’re also, we have the ability to tap and, you know, level up the support as needed. And that’s come in handy several times. So these are just some of the things that can help you get in front of some of the challenges with alignment. SS: I think those are, that’s phenomenal advice for our audience. And you actually also recently established multiple committees to support your go-to-market engine. Can you share more about that journey and the impact that it’s had so far? AB: Thank you for asking. That’s a great question. We have put a lot of work, so yes, we have launched or about to launch, actually three distinct committees started out as one, but we landed on three. And I’ll tell you why. Rewinding back last year as we launched last January, I forgot to mention, of 2024. And so, you know, as you’re ramping up, you’re kind of learning the process, you’re getting best practices, you’re building out the platform, all the things you’re doing in the first year. And one thing I also forgot to mention, which I will touch on in our discussion is engagement metrics. So you’re kind of getting your feet wet there. That has been another game changing element with the Highspot platform. What is really critical, and I can’t stress this enough, to your audience, is getting that co-ownership across your key stakeholders. Especially, you know, think sales leadership, right? You need that co-sponsorship. So while we have support, sales leadership is busy, they’ve got big goals to crush, right? We were thinking, how do we get in front of them? How do we really show them how much opportunity there is for them to really move the needle using this technology and get them closer to it? So the other thing obviously is the feedback loop. We really wanted a good feedback loop. So we’re like, how do we do it in an organized way, make good use of their time? And so when we started to build a list, it became very big. And then we had all these objectives. So that’s why we broke it into three. And so at first we had the executive, and that’s really pointing back to that co-ownership. Getting them bought in. Um, we are creating compelling metrics that I know will raise their eyebrows, so I’m getting that ready, leading into our executive committee. And so really just letting them know the awareness, showing them some things to get them excited and asking for their hand and driving adoption with their teams. Then we’ll have the, what we’re calling the steering committee. And this is really your kind of more short term strategy. Your operational managers that, you know, they can help us really drive that lower funnel strategies and behaviors from their teams. And then of course, the cross functional stakeholders think Salesforce, rev ops training, having really valuable discussions. And then of course, the action committee, which is gonna be our day-to-day users. So that allows us to capture what’s working, what’s not, and just your general feedback of what’s going well. And of course we’ll do this quarterly. We don’t wanna take up too much time and use kind of a waterfall effect. So we’re really excited. And I know my boss, our chief marketing officer, he’s leaned in totally, which is gonna be tremendously successful, and he’s gonna help co-run the agenda with me for the executive. So more to come. Exciting stuff. SS: I absolutely love it. And I think, you know, for our audience listening, it’s a really great strategy to deploy within your organization if it makes sense for you. But I think it’s a great initiative. AB: And one thing I’ll add on to that really quick, I would say really what we wanna do with this is ensure we’re coming in loaded with a heavy agenda. Of meaningful content. So prep, prep, prep, that’s, and so, you know, whoever you can pull in to help you make the best use of the time, I highly encourage that. SS: Yeah, absolutely. I think it’ll be extremely valuable on both sides, so that’s fantastic. Now, you’ve touched on this. I. Actually quite a bit throughout our conversation already, but I’d love to hear your perspective on what would you say is the unique value of a unified platform when it comes to maximizing go-to-market effectiveness and, and really improving collaboration. AB: You know, I can’t saying praises enough at Highspot. It has really elevated us in that way, which was beyond my wildest dreams. Like I saw the opportunity and just seeing it play out has been just a wonderful experience. Starting for foremost with just product marketing’s needs. The consistency that we’re able to. Foster across teams now in this unified platform is when I think about what we used to have to do when we had a logo change or we had, you know, some sort of, we had to manually do all of these things and now we can just do bulk updates or folks would share decks, you know, that they had out market. And I’d see just content with old branding or just really, really just. Horrible things, you know, make you cringe. I don’t see that anymore. You know, it’s so exciting because now they know that the best content’s there and so there’s no dependency on these old things or an inability to find the stuff they need. So it’s very rare that I find anything that’s off brand, if at all. So that consistency and governance is huge. Obviously, probably more importantly is what it’s doing for our sellers. I mean, when you think about the time they save now, they’re in there, they’re in and out, they’re experts, you know, they love it. We hear nothing but great feedback. The amount of time it takes ’em to build compelling content, find what they’re looking for, and all of that has been second to none. And then the ease of pitching it out. Really the ones, we wanna get more adoption of this looking ahead, but the ones that are even leaning into client metrics and things like that, I mean, it’s just been a phenomenal result. Again, that brings me to engagement metrics that’s really closing the loop and having that single source of truth really just makes a huge, huge difference. So what we’re seeing is we’re breaking down silos. We’re having really meaningful conversations, unlike we used to with our partner teams. Everybody’s able to use it in different ways, so it’s really just driving faster, smarter, go-to-market execution, and we love it. SS: Well, I love that. Now, you’ve talked about the partnership that you’ve had with Highspot, and I know that VT recently partnered with our professional services team on an initiative to begin leveraging Highspot AutoDocs. Can you share a little bit about how you’re utilizing AutoDocs to streamline workflows and improve effectiveness? AB: I’m really glad you asked about that, Shawnna, because this is one of our most recent and most exciting efforts leveraging Highspot technology. So we call our version of AutoDocs Pitch Builder just to create some, you know, fun for the sales reps, make it easy for them to understand what it does, and it really has helped us. Where we elevated with the one unified repository, it’s helped us take it even further. And what I mean by that is due to the nature of our clients and the businesses we serve. The content we build serves different purposes. You know, if you think about advertising, everybody needs to advertise their business. So I think automotive companies, retail companies, travel and tourism, pharma, you know, so we build content that way. We have vertical, we have channels, we have measurement. There’s a whole vast array. And you know, the reps are really good at building these custom stories, but feedback we were getting is, you know, I’m still struggling even in the remix experience to know where to go to find the best content and all these things. So. Pointing to your Highspot Spark conference. I like to get as much of my team up there as possible. You guys do a fantastic job with that. So last October we were there and I had a member of my team and he’s like, Hey, you know, he sat in one of the focused AutoDoc sessions and he says, I really think that we were getting ready to launch our new general presentations and we were taking a new approach this year. And he is like, I think that what Highspot has with AutoDocs would really help sales team with this. You know, in my head I’m thinking, oh my gosh, there’s no way we’re gonna be able to launch that, you know, by the time we need to roll this out in a month, you know? And he’s like, no, no, no. I think he’s like, let me talk to the team. I really think we can. So I’m like, okay. But in my mind I’m thinking, oh, it’ll be summer. You know? There’s no way. Long story short, he worked with our ongoing support team and they connected him with the professional services you guys provided. Put together a case and I was blown away. We were able to deploy through the help of your team. You know, we could have built it ourselves, but it would’ve taken a long time. We never would’ve met our deadline. And it was just such great work. And what this does now is it creates this really easy pathway for sellers to, you know, pull in the problem statements from a choice of things that, a choice of problem statements based on where their discovery questions, take them with their clients, and then choose, you know, the right core messaging. Choose the right verticals, choose the channels, all within this visible, easy. And you, you have this structured framework. So think about it as a new seller, you can go in there and it. Immediately, that’s valuable trust. You can trust you’re building a deck that matches the company positioning. And then on top of that, the loose feedback I can give you was what I have heard is it used to take our sellers at least 30 minutes, probably an hour to build a reasonable deck. And those are probably our season one, probably up to ours. We just ran the numbers leading up to this podcast. On average, our sellers that use Pitch Builder are building their decks in 3.2 minutes. SS: That’s amazing. AB: Right? That’s what we said. So the combined learning of the Highspot Spark Conference and understanding new releases you guys had coming, having my team there, understanding, bringing that idea to it, and then leveraging a professional services, they did a superb job, just was a perfect blend. SS: Amazing. Well, I’ll be sure to pass that along to our professional services team. I’m sure they’ll be glad to hear that. Now as we talk about improving effectiveness, another way a lot of businesses are starting to think about optimizing effectiveness is through ai, and I know Viant actually recently won in AI Excellence Award, so congratulations on that. What are some of the key ways that you’re leveraging AI to support your go-to-market teams? AB: That’s a wonderful question, and thank you. We’re truly honored to have received that recognition for AI excellence and kudos to the team here at Viant across the board. It’s just been such a wild ride. We are leaning heavily into AI, as I know Highspot is, and so what we’re trying to really do is focus on all the wonderful feedback we’re getting from our clients. From our Viant AI solution, how easy it’s, you know, done for them and really capture the wins there and understand how do we transition that into internal wins within our org. And we’re doing it across the board, but specifically for product marketing. I’m leaning in heavily with any tools and resources we have that can help us do better quality work, do it faster, just make it easier, all those things that AI brings. And so I’ve tasked my team, we’re kind of on the forefront of this. We’re already, we’re using ChatGPT on the regular. We’re using our own by AI on the regular, but we wanna get better and we wanna continue to explore that. So I’ve tasked my team with leaning into things like co-pilot with Highspot. Okay, how do we tap that? How do we do more with that? Another thing that we’re leaning in on, and I have another person on my team who really, I am very lucky here, very specializes in billing the bots and things so. When due to how technical our products are, obviously we have our initial storytelling and the benefits and all the buzzy stuff, but as you build relationships with clients, as you probably well know, you get those deeper questions about technology. And so we have a lot of just kind of fragmented FAQs, docs that support launches. So he had the idea of saying, Hey, we should probably get those FAQs into a chat bot so sellers can just get in there and ask questions and not have to search for these random docs. Kind of scattered throughout. And then we’re like, how do we get that where our sellers go in the Highspot platform or leverage something like copilot. So we’re just kind of dipping our tone, a lot of waters, but we’re excited. We’re thinking about calling it pitch aid just to kind of go with the theme, and we’ll probably take it even above and beyond. We’re building out personas, so we’re trying to think about. All the ways that we want to create this value that our sellers can tap when they’re making their pitches and make it very easy for them to just do a q and a chat style function. So, you know, we look forward to partnering closer with you in our AI journey. SS: I love that. I think that’ll be amazing for your reps and your sellers. Now, to shift gears a little bit, what are some of your best practices for measuring the impact of your programs on your go-to-market performance? AB: That is probably one of my favorite questions because it’s a combination of solving a huge need that I didn’t ever think would get solved, as well as just a journey that’s new for me. So it’s exciting in its own right. So we are leaning really heavy into, okay, how do we really make sense of this gold data we’re getting from you? Engagement data, right? So I like to quote my boss, he always says, okay, don’t boil the ocean. You just gotta get started, right? So that’s what we’ve done through the last year. We were kind of, you get these really fun insights. You’re like, oh, that’s such a cool insight. And you’re like, okay, well what do we do with it? Right? So you’re, you go through this journey. But we really started to nail down how do we need to think about this? And so. We started to realize it’s like, okay, we have the sales engagement data and then we have our client engagement data, so how do we wanna start thinking about that? And then there’s really kind of the two big buckets of how we apply those layers is one for product marketing. Direct control is governance, right? And content management. So, okay, based on our sales and our clients are engaging pitches, digital rooms, you know, views, downloads, et cetera. And then, you know, what does that tell us about our content and how we should be managing it? And one thing that’s so exciting that I’ll share our most recent learnings from this effort, you know, we’re used to working through our roadmap. We get these initiatives, requests, you know, executive asks all of those things. We’re now really shifting how we make and build our roadmap. We’re still gonna do all that, of course. But now we have this new opportunity with this kind of engagement data to say, hey, there’s these materials that get used all the time. So we do a monthly report to our executive team, just of the high level metrics I just mentioned. And we started seeing this one brochure we built. It’s our differentiators brochure, which, you know, it’s a good piece. But we originally built it two or three years ago and we’ve refreshed it once. We were seeing that thing in the top five every month and often the top position every month with both sales and client engagement data. And we’re like, holy moly, this thing is on fire. Right? So what we’re doing now is it is now part of our ongoing strategy and we’re gonna look to the top 20%, right? Driving all engagement data. To make it a proactive part of refreshing and keeping it the best capable content on an ongoing basis, whether that’s monthly or quarterly. So that’s how we’re changing and shifting based on governance. The other side of the hat is really the behaviors, right? And we don’t directly control that, but what we’re trying to do is leverage data in a way. Now we can really showcase how this data can drive the behaviors we want from the team and then inspire our sales leaders and executive team to embrace that and leverage it, right? So we’re, we’re building out that platform. So more on that, but it’s really so exciting because, you know, we used to have to rely solely on maybe an annual survey we would send to sales, hey, you like what we’re doing right? And maybe you get 10%, 20% responding or just kind of ad hoc, scattered feedback. And now we really just have this objective, trustworthy data we can work off of. SS: I love that. Since launching Highspot, what results have you seen on that front and are there any key wins or notable business outcomes you can share? AB: So as part of leaning in more, like I said, we’ve already learned so much, and then now also in preparation to make these committee our kickoff sessions as valuable as possible and really go out with a banging. I had this hypothesis and I said, and I felt pretty good about it. Because you see the names of the people driving new business and you recognize those names from users in Highspot. And I started thinking, I said, I really think Highspot drives new business. So I tasked my systems and analytics team. I’m very fortunate. And product marketing, if you were in a product marketing team, if you can have an analytics team, it’s really valuable. So I test ’em to say, okay, how do we drive the correlation between Highspot engagement? And revenue outcomes. And we started with kind of looking at a quadrant. We said, okay, let’s look and do the old quadrant on Highspot engagement, users usage to revenue outcomes, and kind of map out those so we can think through different use cases there to start and then really start to see the correlations. So the big great things is you start to see these stories emerge naturally. And they dug in and there’s another persona team who came from another big tech and has regression analysis and all this. So lucky me, they were able to drive that. When you take a user of Highspot or a non-user, I would say someone like one of our sellers that’s not really using Highspot, and you layer on the best Highspot engagement activities, you have an opportunity to enhance their new business by 29%. And now I’m sure there’s other variables. You know, I’m sure the Highspot users that are active, Highspot users probably are good at going after new business. But the bigger picture there is, is think about that. If we even get 10%, 15% of the movable middle and the bell curve, just doing the things that are right, think about how you can move the needle. So we took that same lens, or we put it across total revenue, connected to engagement, and then also incremental increases with existing business. And every single one had really remarkable results. New business being the top. So. Just huge insights. We’re gonna definitely debut that to our executive team and get them excited and, and then lean in, hear their questions, and work with our sales enablement and training teams to say, okay, here’s those behaviors that we should start to reinforce. SS: Amazing results, though. Amazing results now. I appreciate you joining this podcast so much. I’ve learned so much from you already, and it is amazing to be able to talk to another strong female marketing leader. So I really appreciate your time and I noticed that you were recognized for the Los Angeles Times Inspirational Women’s List in 2024. So I have to say, this might be one of my favorite questions of the entire podcast, but what is one piece of advice that you would share? With other women looking to develop as leaders to drive impact for their organization. AB: Well, thank you so much for that question. I will tell you it was such an honor. I mean, I was so humbled and grateful to the LA Times Studio for that recognition. And it was such a journey and just so wonderful. But you know, back to your question, you know, as you go through your career journey, you see different types of leaders and you see what works and what doesn’t work. What inspires you individually? What inspires teams? And some of the takeaways that I’ve kind of compiled and really showcased as part of panel I got to participate on last November was how you need to lead authentically. And what I mean by that is. You can’t adopt someone else’s leadership style exactly, because it may not fit you. You have to understand your natural way of inspiring people because you get more as a leader by inspiring people than mandating them to do things, right? Not saying mandates don’t have their place where they’re needed, but when you’re inspiring people and getting them excited about the work they do, it’s gonna have such an impact, and you can’t do that unless you’re your authentic self. It’s kind of hard and as a woman, you probably know this, it can even be harder sometimes because the, the standard kind of tried and true leadership that have been staples don’t always come off authentically when you’re a woman leader. So, you know, we know the age old challenges that come with that. So how do you, I’ve really studied and done a lot of psychology reading and stuff like how do I foster the best. Kind of leverage my quality traits. And that leads me to the second part that’s really important. I was lucky enough in my earlier I was, when I was working at one of the larger corporations, they put us through this exercise, and if you can do this anyway, if you haven’t already, we did strengths finders, which I thought was so great, but I’m sure there’s lots of tools out there. And you kind of learn about your own unique strengths. And it’s kind of eye-opening ’cause you know, but you don’t. But when you see ’em in front of you and then you start to read what they are, you think they nailed it, right? And so when you can understand those things about yourself, you start to position yourself to be where you do well, right? Because you know that about yourself. And then you can kind of channel those and then work on the areas where maybe aren’t as easy. That’s also really helpful as a leader when you’re building teams, you know, it’s not getting the same cookie cutter employee. You have to build these energies together. Right. And it’s really a combination of different types. Of strengths. And so when I have a position to fill, I’ll look at the current team and I’ll say, okay, what, what are my strengths on there? What’s missing? What can I do better? And I will design the whole process around that. When I’m looking for a candidate, I’ll say, you know, I’ll design the interview questions, I’ll design the job role, all of it. And that’s how you get kind of a well-oiled machine. So that’s a big thing. And then of course, just in mentorship, you know, embrace mentorship. It’s so important to build future leaders. Help them understand the grace in getting out of a job they hate, you know, and finding that place where, you know, we’re always gonna have projects that aren’t fun, but if you really hate your job every day, it’s, you know, I always advise young people coming up like, don’t be afraid to make a move. It’s okay, whether it’s another department or another company, you know, you’re only gonna do yourself justice by getting yourself where you belong. So, yeah, it’s really. Tailoring your support for the unique mentorees that you have. We have a regular intern program, so I get interns every year and it’s really great. I learn and get a lot of great feedback. So, you know, I guess I’ll say, you know, to sum it all up, lead with authentic behavior and purpose and clarity, and you’ll drive impact and really focus on driving the young future leaders of America. SS: I love that advice and it resonates a lot with me, so I really appreciate this, Andrea, thank you so much for joining us on this podcast today. AB: My pleasure. Thank you so much for having me, Shawnna. SS: 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 success with Highspot.

Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast
Revenue and Retention: Why Customer Success Is Key to Sustainable Growth

Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2025 28:29


"Most companies focus on acquiring new customers, but in recurring revenue businesses, 70–90% of revenue comes from existing customers. If you're not investing in retention and expansion, you're leaving your biggest growth lever untapped.” Roee Hartuv In this episode of Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast titled, Revenue and Retention: Why Customer Success Is Key to Sustainable Growth host Kerry Curran is joined by Roee Hartuv, Head of Revenue Architecture at Winning by Design, to unpack a mindset shift that B2B companies must embrace to grow sustainably: true revenue growth doesn't end at the closed-won stage—it begins there. Drawing from his experience advising recurring revenue businesses around the world, Roee breaks down how the traditional go-to-market model focused almost entirely on new acquisition—is no longer enough. He introduces the “bowtie” framework, a more holistic approach to GTM that prioritizes retention, expansion, and customer lifetime value. Throughout the conversation, you'll learn: Why 70–90% of recurring revenue comes from existing customers—and why most companies are underinvesting in that opportunity How customer success can become a strategic growth engine not just a support function Why expansion is more efficient than acquisition, and how to resource accordingly How to structure high-performing CS pods to support mid-market and enterprise clients Ways to equip account managers with the mindset and messaging to grow accounts without sounding “salesy” The critical role of marketing in supporting post-sale growth, from product updates to thought leadership And why companies should stop thinking of GTM as a funnel and start treating it as a bowtie This episode is a must-listen for marketing, sales, RevOps, and customer success leaders who are ready to drive sustainable revenue growt not just this quarter, but long-term. If you're serious about building a revenue engine that lasts, this one's for you."

The Agile World with Greg Kihlstrom
#673: Predictive and proactive customer experiences, with Vinod Muthukrishnan, Cisco

The Agile World with Greg Kihlstrom

Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2025 28:51


Customer expectations have skyrocketed—people now demand instant, personalized, and seamless interactions across every touchpoint. But are companies truly meeting these expectations, or are they still stuck in reactive customer service models? What if AI could completely transform the customer experience into something proactive, predictive, and even empathetic? Joining me today is Vinod Muthukrishnan, VP & COO of Webex Customer Experience at Cisco. Vinod is a leader in the future of customer experience (CX), helping organizations use AI to anticipate customer needs, deliver seamless automation, and create personalized interactions at scale. Vinod Muthukrishnan is the VP & COO for the Webex Customer Experience Business Unit, overseeing Go To Market, Customer, and Business Operations. In this role he collaborates with Cisco field teams, partners, and customers to deliver innovative solutions. His passion lies in creating products that solve real customer pain points and providing a seamless customer experience. He also values building strong communities, teams, culture, and operating rhythms.Previously, Vinod spent three years in Enterprise AI at Uniphore, a Cisco Investments Portfolio Company, where he developed a product enabling Citizen Developers to create AI and automation solutions. He managed Uniphore's customer functions, including Delivery, Technical Support, Customer Success, and AI consulting, helping enterprises align their business goals with AI roadmaps.Vinod was also VP & COO at the Webex Contact Center Business Unit during a period of significant growth and innovation. During his tenure at the BU, the IMI CPaaS business was acquired, and Webex Contact Center was launched. These two initiatives now serve as the foundations of the Webex Customer Experience Business Unit. Vinod oversaw all GTM functions.He joined Cisco when his startup, CloudCherry, was acquired in 2019. As Co-Founder and CEO of CloudCherry, he and his team developed a Customer Experience Platform that became Webex Experience Management. They also built the foundations of the Customer Journey Data Service, essential to the Webex Portfolio today.Coming from a military family, Vinod began his career in the Merchant Marine at 18, becoming a certified First Officer with Maersk Line and sailing to over 60 countries. He later joined the founding team at MarketSimplified, which introduced mobile trading to major brokerages like TD Ameritrade and OptionsExpress. RESOURCESCisco: https://www.cisco.com Catch the future of e-commerce at eTail Boston, August 11-14, 2025. Register now: https://bit.ly/etailboston and use code PARTNER20 for 20% off for retailers and brandsOnline Scrum Master Summit is happening June 17-19. This 3-day virtual event is open for registration. Visit www.osms25.com and get a 25% discount off Premium All-Access Passes with the code osms25agilebrandDon't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.showCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

MarTech Podcast // Marketing + Technology = Business Growth
How Agentic AI Will Transform Sales & Marketing

MarTech Podcast // Marketing + Technology = Business Growth

Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2025 17:18


Co-founder & CEO of Landbase, Daniel Saks, delves into the transformative impact of Agentic AI on sales and marketing strategies. Discover how Landbase, the world's first agentic AI platform, revolutionizes go-to-market processes with its GTM-1 Omni suite. Gain insights from Daniel Saks on leveraging AI to automate, unify, and optimize sales and marketing workflows for scalable lead generation. Show NotesConnect With: Daniel Saks: Website // LinkedInThe MarTech Podcast: Email // LinkedIn // TwitterBenjamin Shapiro: Website // LinkedIn // TwitterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Revenue Generator Podcast: Sales + Marketing + Product + Customer Success = Revenue Growth

Co-founder & CEO of Landbase, Daniel Saks, delves into the transformative impact of Agentic AI on sales and marketing strategies. Discover how Landbase, the world's first agentic AI platform, revolutionizes go-to-market processes with its GTM-1 Omni suite. Gain insights from Daniel Saks on leveraging AI to automate, unify, and optimize sales and marketing workflows for scalable lead generation. Show NotesConnect With: Daniel Saks: Website // LinkedInThe MarTech Podcast: Email // LinkedIn // TwitterBenjamin Shapiro: Website // LinkedIn // TwitterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Proptech Espresso
Anthemos Georgiades - Improving the Rental Experience Through Transparency

Proptech Espresso

Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2025 42:00


How does proptech differ for asset classes depending on the customer needs and expectations? Has AI adoption and development todate been more front-of-house or back-of-house? Why are American management consulting firm jobs so sought after by recent university graduates in the UK? What was it like working on a consulting engagement for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London? How did experiencing corporate bloat while on engagements as a management consultant translate into a bias for operating very lean at Zumper? What led Anth to explore entrepreneurial ideas around real estate and technology? Why is hiring the first technical team member so difficult for a non-technical founder? What lessons did Anth learn about online marketplaces from studying the success of Craigslist? Why is it important to make sure you are building a business based on a full solution and not just a feature? What are some brutal learnings for the early GTM efforts of Zumper? Why is professionalization of multi-family still in its early days with lots of innovation still to happen? What consumer AI usage change is now emerging with ChatGPT's recent rollout of real-time web crawls?Anthemos Georgiades - CEO and co-founder of Zumper, joins Proptech Espresso to answer these questions and discuss the difficult evolution he had to work through as a startup CEO once Zumper crossed the $10M ARR level and why this critical leadership change is something that isn't taught at business school. 

Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast
AI + EQ + GTM: The New Growth Equation for B2B Leaders

Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2025 35:38


"If done right, AI will actually make us more human. It handles the busy work and surfaces real-time insights—so GTM teams can focus on what really drives revenue: building relationships, solving real problems, and creating long-term customer value." That's a quote from Roderick Jefferson and a sneak peek at today's episode.Hi there, I'm Kerry Curran—Revenue Growth Consultant, Industry Analyst, and host of Revenue Boost, A Marketing Podcast. In every episode, I sit down with top experts to bring you actionable strategies that deliver real results. So if you're serious about business growth, find us in your favorite podcast directory, hit subscribe, and start outpacing your competition today.In this episode, titled AI + EQ + GTM: The New Growth Equation for B2B Leaders, I sit down with keynote speaker, author, and enablement powerhouse Roderick Jefferson to unpack the modern formula for revenue growth: AI + EQ + GTM.We explore why traditional sales enablement isn't enough in today's landscape—and how real go-to-market success requires alignment across marketing, sales, and customer success, powered by emotional intelligence and smart technology integration.Whether you're a CRO, CMO, or GTM leader looking to scale smarter, this episode is packed with real-world insights and actionable strategies to align your teams and drive sustainable growth.Stick around until the end, where Roderick shares expert tips for building your own AI-powered revenue engine.If you're serious about long-term growth, it's time to get serious about AI, EQ, and GTM. Let's go.Kerry Curran, RBMA (00:01)Welcome, Roderick. Please introduce yourself and share your background and expertise.Roderick Jefferson (00:06)Hey, Kerry. First of all, thanks so much for having me on. I'm really excited—I've been looking forward to this one all day. So thanks again. I'm Roderick Jefferson, CEO of Roderick Jefferson & Associates. We're a fractional enablement company, and we focus on helping small to mid-sized businesses—typically in the $10M to $100M range—that need help with onboarding, ongoing education, and coaching.I'm also a keynote speaker and an author. I actually started my career in sales at AT&T years ago. I was a BDR, did well, got promoted to AE, made President's Club a couple of times. Then I was offered a sales leadership role—and I turned it down. I know they thought I was crazy, but there were two reasons: first, I realized I loved the process of selling more than just closing big deals. And second, oddly enough, I wasn't coin-operated. I did it because I loved it—it gave me a chance to interact with people and have conversations like this one.Kerry Curran, RBMA (01:16)I love that—and I love your background. As Roderick mentioned, he does a lot of keynote speaking, and that's actually where I met him. He was a keynote speaker at B2BMX West in Scottsdale last month. I also have one of your books here that I've been diving into. I can't believe how fast this year is flying—it's already the first day of spring!Roderick Jefferson (01:33)Thank you so much. Wow, that was just last month? It feels like last week. Where is the time going?Kerry Curran, RBMA (01:45)I appreciate your experience for so many reasons. One is that—like we talked about before the show—my dad was in sales at AT&T for over 20 years. It paid for my entire education. So we were comparing notes on that era of innovation and what we learned back then.Roderick Jefferson (02:02)Thank you, AT&T!Kerry Curran, RBMA (02:13)So much of what you talked about on stage and wrote about in your book is near and dear to my heart. My background is in building integrated marketing-to-sales infrastructure and strengthening it to drive revenue growth. I'm excited to hear more about what you're seeing and hearing. You talk to so many brands and marketers—what's hot right now? What's the buzz? What do we need to know?Roderick Jefferson (02:44)A couple of things. The obvious one is AI—but I'll add something: it's not just AI, it's AI plus EQ plus IQ. Without that combination, you won't be successful.The other big theme is the same old problem we've always had: Why is there such a disconnect between sales and marketing? As an enablement guy, it pains me. I spent 30 years in corporate trying to figure that out. I think we're getting closer to alignment—thank you, AI, for finally stepping in and being smarter than all of us! But we've still got a long way to go.Part of the issue is we're still making decisions in silos. That's why I've become a champion of moving away from just "sales enablement."Yes, I know I wrote the book on sales enablement—but I don't think that's the focus anymore. In hindsight, “sales enablement” is too myopic. It's really about go-to-market. How do we bring HR, marketing, product marketing, engineering, sales, and enablement all to the same table to talk about the entire buyer's journey?Instead of focusing on our internal sales process and trying to shoehorn prospects into it, we should be asking: How do they buy? Who buys? Are there buying committees? How many people are involved? And yes, ICP matters—but that's just the tip of the iceberg. It goes much deeper.Kerry Curran, RBMA (04:44)Yes, absolutely. And going back to why you loved your early sales roles—it was about helping people. That's how I've always approached marketing too: what are their business challenges, and what can I offer to solve them? In your keynote, you said, “I want sales to stop selling and start helping.” But that's not possible without partnering with marketing to learn and message around the outcomes we drive and the pain points we solve.Roderick Jefferson (05:22)Exactly. Let's unpack that. First, about helping vs. selling—that's why we have spam filters now. Nobody wants to be sold to. That's also why people avoid car lots—because you know what's coming: they'll talk at you, try to upsell you, and push you into something you don't need or want. Then you have buyer's remorse.Now apply that to corporate and entrepreneurship. If you're doing all the talking in sales, something's wrong. Too many people ask questions just to move the deal forward instead of being genuinely inquisitive.Let's take it further. If marketing is working in a silo—building messaging and positioning—and they don't bring in sales, then guess what? Sales won't use it. Newsflash, right? And second, it's only going to reflect marketing's perspective. But if you bring both teams together and say, “Hey, what are the top three to five things you're hearing from prospects over and over?”—then you can work collaboratively and cohesively to solve those.The third piece is: let's stop trying to manufacture pain. Not every prospect is in pain. Sometimes the goal is to increase efficiency or productivity. If there is pain, you get to play doctor for a moment. And by that, I mean: do they need an Advil, a Vicodin, a Percocet, or an extraction? Do you need to stop the bleeding right now? You only figure that out by getting sales, marketing, product, and even HR at the same table.Kerry Curran, RBMA (07:34)Yes, absolutely. I love the analogy of different levels of pain solutions because you're right—sometimes it's not pain, it's about helping the customer be more efficient, reduce costs, or drive revenue. I've used the doctor analogy before too: you assess the situation and then customize the solution based on where it “hurts” the most. One of the ongoing challenges, though, is that sales and marketing still aren't fully aligned. Why do you think that's been such a persistent issue, and where do you see it heading?Roderick Jefferson (08:14)Because sales speaks French and marketing speaks German. They're close enough that they can kind of understand each other—like ordering a beer or finding a bathroom—but not enough for a meaningful conversation.The core issue is that they're not talking—they're presenting to each other. They're pitching ideas instead of having a dialogue. Marketing says, “Here's what the pitch should look like,” and sales replies, “When's the last time you actually talked to a customer?”They also get stuck in “I think” and “I feel,” and I always tell both groups—those are the two things you cannot say in a joint meeting. No one cares what you think or feel. Instead, say: “Here's what I've seen work,” or “Here's what I've heard from prospects and customers.” That way, the conversation is rooted in data and real-world insight, not opinion or emotion.You might say, “Hey, when we get to slide six in the deck, things get fuzzy and deals stall.” That's something marketing can fix. Or you go to product and say, “I've talked to 10 prospects, and eight of them asked for this feature. Can we move it up in the roadmap?”Or go back to sales and say, “Only 28% of the team is hitting quota because they're struggling with discovery and objection handling.” So enablement and marketing can partner to create role plays, messaging guides, or accreditations. It sounds utopian, but I've actually done this six times over 30 years—it is possible.It's not because I'm the smartest guy in the room—it's because when sales and marketing align around shared definitions and shared goals, real change happens. Go back to MQLs and SQLs. One team says, “We gave you all these leads,” and the other says, “Yeah, but they all sucked.” Then you realize: you haven't even agreed on what a lead is.As a fractional enablement leader, that's the first question I ask: “Can you both define what an MQL and SQL mean to you?” Nine times out of ten, they realize they aren't aligned at all. That's where real progress starts.Once you fix communication, the next phase is collaboration. And what comes out of collaboration is the big one: accountability. That's the word nobody likes—but it's what gets results. You're holding each other to timelines, deliverables, and follow-through.The final phase is orchestration. That's what enablement really does—we connect communication, collaboration, and accountability across the entire go-to-market team so everyone has a voice and a vote.Kerry Curran, RBMA (13:16)You're so smart, and you bring up so many great points—especially around MQLs, SQLs, and the lack of collaboration. There's no unified North Star. Marketing may be focused on MQLs, but those criteria don't always match what moves an MQL to an SQL.There's also no feedback loop. I've seen teams where sales and marketing didn't even talk to each other—but they still complained about each other! I was brought in to help, and I said, “You're adults. It's time to talk to one another.” And you'd think that would be obvious.What I love is that we're starting to see the outdated framework of MQLs as a KPI begin to fade. As you said, it's about identifying a shared goal that everyone can be accountable to. We need to all be paddling in the same direction.Roderick Jefferson (14:16)Exactly. I wouldn't say we're all rowing yet, but we've definitely got our hands in the water, and we're starting to go in the same direction. You can see that North Star flickering out there.And I give big kudos to AI for helping with that. In some ways, it reminds me of social media. Would you agree that social media initially made us less social?Kerry Curran, RBMA (14:27)Yes, totally agree. We can see the North Star.Roderick Jefferson (14:57)Now I'm going to flip that idea on its head: if done right, I believe AI will actually make us more human—and drive more meaningful conversations. I know that sounds crazy, but I have six ways AI can help us do that.First, let's go back to streamlining lead scoring. If we use AI to prioritize leads based on their likelihood to convert, sales can focus efforts on the most promising opportunities. Once we align on those criteria, volume and quality both improve. With confidence comes competence—and vice versa.Second is automating task management. Whether it's data entry, appointment scheduling, or follow-up emails, those repetitive tasks eat up sales time. Less than 30% of a rep's time is spent actually selling. If we offload that admin work, reps can focus on high-value activities—like building relationships, doing discovery, and closing deals.Kerry Curran, RBMA (15:59)Yes! And pre-call planning. Having the time to prepare properly makes a huge difference.Roderick Jefferson (16:19)Exactly. Third is real-time analytics. If marketing and ops can provide sales reps with real-time insights—like funnel data, deal velocity, or content performance—we can start making decisions based on data, not assumptions or feelings.The fourth area is personalized sales coaching. I talk to a lot of leaders, and I'll make a bold statement: most sales leaders don't know how to coach. They either use outdated methods or try to “peanut butter” their advice across the team.But what if we could use AI to analyze calls, emails, and meetings—then provide coaching based on each rep's strengths and weaknesses? Sales leaders could shift from managing to leading.Kerry Curran, RBMA (17:55)Yes, I love that. It would completely elevate team performance.Roderick Jefferson (18:11)Exactly. Fifth is increasing efficiency in the sales process. AI can create proposals, contracts, and other documents, which frees up time for reps to focus on helping—not chasing paperwork. And by streamlining the process, we can qualify faster and avoid wasting time on poor-fit deals.Kerry Curran, RBMA (18:58)Right, and they can focus on the deals that are actually likely to move forward.Roderick Jefferson (19:09)Exactly. And sixth—and most overlooked—is customer success. That's often left out of GTM conversations, but it's critical. We can use AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants to handle basic inquiries. That frees up CSMs to focus on more strategic tasks like renewals, cross-sell, and upsell.Let's be honest—most CSMs were trained for renewals, not selling. But cross-sell and upsell aren't really selling—they're reselling to warm, happy customers. The better trained and equipped CSMs are, the better your customer retention and growth.Because let's face it—we've all seen it: 90 days before renewal, suddenly a CSM becomes your best friend. Where were they for the last two years? If we get ahead of that and connect all the dots—sales, marketing, CS, and product—guess who wins?The prospect.The customer.The company—because revenue goes up.The employee—because bonuses happen, spiffs get paid, and KPIs are hit.But most importantly, we build customers for life. And that has to start from the very beginning, not just when the CSM steps in at the end.Kerry Curran, RBMA (20:47)Yes, this is so smart. I love that you brought customer success into the conversation. One of the things I love about go-to-market strategy is that it includes lifetime value—upsell and renewal are a critical part of the revenue journey.In my past roles, I've seen teams say, “Well, that's just client services—they don't know how to sell.” But to your point, if we coach them, equip them, and make them comfortable, it can go a long way.Roderick Jefferson (21:34)Absolutely. They become the lifeblood of your business. Yes, you need net-new revenue, but if sales builds this big, beautiful house on the front end and then customers just walk out the back door—what's the point?And I won't even get into the stats—you know them—about how much more expensive it is to acquire a new customer versus retaining one. The key is being human and actually helping.Kerry Curran, RBMA (21:46)Exactly. I love that. It leads perfectly into my next question—because one of the core components of your strategy and presentation was the importance of EQ, or emotional intelligence. Can you talk about why that's so critical?Roderick Jefferson (22:19)Yeah. It really comes down to this: AI can provide content—tons of it, endlessly. It can give you all the data and information in the world. But it still requires a human to provide context. For now, at least. I'm not saying it'll be that way forever, but for now, context is everything.I love analogies, so I'll give you one: it's like making gumbo. You sprinkle in some seasoning here, some spice there. In this case, AI provides the content. Then the human provides the interpretation—context. That's understanding how to use that generated content to reach the right person or company, at the right time, with the right message, in the right tone.What you get is a balanced, powerful approach: IQ + EQ + AI. That's what leads to truly optimal outcomes—if you do it right.Kerry Curran, RBMA (23:19)Yes! I love that. And I love every stage of your process, Roderick—it's so valuable. I know your clients are lucky to work with you.For people listening and thinking, “Yes, I need this,” how do they get started? What's the baseline readiness? How do they begin integrating sales and marketing more effectively—and leveraging AI?Roderick Jefferson (23:34)Thank you so much for that. It really starts with a conversation. Reach out—LinkedIn, social media, my website. And from there, we talk. We get to the core questions: Where are you today? Where have you been? Where are you trying to go? And most importantly: What does success look like?And not just, “What does success look like?” but, “Who is success for?”Then we move into an assessment. I want to talk to every part of the go-to-market team. Because not only do we have French and German—we've also got Dutch, Spanish, and every other language. My job is to become the translator—not just of language, but of dialects and context.“This is what they said, but here's what they meant. And this is what they meant, but here's what they actually need.”Then we dig into what's really going on. Most clients have a sense of what's “broken.” I'm not just looking for the broken parts—I'm looking at what you've already tried. What worked? What didn't? Why or why not?I basically become a persistent four-year-old asking, “Why? But why? But why?” And yes, it gets frustrating—but it's the only way to build a unified GTM team with a shared North Star.Kerry Curran, RBMA (25:32)Yes, I love that. And just to add—sometimes something didn't work not because it was a bad strategy, but because it was evaluated with the wrong KPI or misunderstood entirely.Like a top-of-funnel strategy did work—but the team expected it to generate leads that same month. It takes time. So much of this comes down to digging into the root of the issue, and I love your approach.Roderick Jefferson (26:10)Exactly. And it's also about understanding that every GTM function has different KPIs.If I'm talking to sales, I'm asking about average deal size, quota attainment, deal velocity, win rate, pipeline generation. If I'm talking to sales engineering, they care about number of demos per deal, wins and losses, and number of POCs. Customer success? They care about adoption, churn, CSAT, NPS, lifetime value.My job is to set the North Star and speak in their language—not in “enablement-ese.” Sometimes that means speaking in sales terms, sometimes marketing terms. And I always say, “Assume I know nothing about your job. Spell out your acronyms. Define your terms.”Because over 30 years, I've learned: the same acronym can mean 12 different things at 12 different companies.The goal is to get away from confusion and start finding commonality. When you break down the silos and the masks, you realize we're all working toward the same thing: new, long-term, happy customers for life.Kerry Curran, RBMA (27:55)Yes—thank you, Roderick. I love this. So, how can people find you?Roderick Jefferson (28:00)Funny—I always say if you can't find me on social media, you're not trying to find me.You can reach me at roderickjefferson.com, and you can find my book, Sales Enablement 3.0: The Blueprint to Sales Enablement Excellence and the upcoming Sales 3.0 companion workbook there as well.I'm on LinkedIn as Roderick Jefferson, Instagram and Threads at @roderick_j_associates, YouTube at Roderick Jefferson, and on BlueSky as @voiceofrod.Kerry Curran, RBMA (28:33)Excellent. I'll make sure to include all of that in the show notes—I'm sure this episode will have your phone ringing!Thank you so much, Roderick. I really appreciate you taking the time to join us. This was valuable for me, and I'm sure for the audience as well.Roderick Jefferson (28:40)Ring-a-ling—bring it on! Let's dance. Thank you again. This was an absolute honor, and I'm glad we got the chance to reconnect, Kerry.Kerry Curran, RBMA (28:59)For sure. Thank you—you too.Roderick Jefferson (29:01)Take care, all.Thanks for tuning in. If you're struggling with flat or slowing revenue growth, you're not alone. That's why Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast brings you expert insights, actionable strategies, and real-world success stories to help you scale faster.If you're serious about growth, search for us in your favorite podcast directory. Hit follow or subscribe, and leave a five-star rating—it helps us keep the game-changing content coming.New episodes drop regularly. Don't let your revenue growth strategy fall behind. We'll see you soon!

Go To Market Grit
HubSpot CEO on the Future of SaaS, AI, & Leading Through Change

Go To Market Grit

Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2025 77:15


From a 350-square-foot home in South India to leading HubSpot, a $30B CRM powerhouse, Yamini Rangan's journey is nothing short of remarkable. In this episode, Yamini shares how she's guiding HubSpot through a post-pandemic shift toward product-led growth, the hard-won lessons behind building go-to-market alignment, and why human-centric leadership is her edge in an AI-first world. Plus, her take on why data is the new battleground in tech.Chapters: 00:00 Trailer00:52 Introduction02:22 Fire in my belly10:06 Constraints12:19 Peak performance16:38 Helping while in sheer panic21:43 The general ethos30:14 Customer value36:08 Excited and scared47:25 Becoming CEO54:19 Feeling behind1:01:51 Very lonely1:05:34 Losing credibility1:08:42 Slowing down, sitting still1:12:31 No patience to finish a book1:15:39 Who HubSpot is hiring1:15:54 What “grit” means to Yamini1:16:45 OutroMentioned in this episode: Sequoia Capital, Carl Pieri, Brian Halligan, Zoom Workplace, Meta Platforms, Google, Anthropic, Microsoft, Salesforce, Blockbuster Video, BlackBerry Limited, Axon Enterprise, Netflix, Snapchat, Harvey, Dharmesh Shah, Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid, Sapiens: A Brief History of HumankindLinks:Connect with YaminiXLinkedInConnect with JoubinXLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins

Legally Speaking Podcast - Powered by Kissoon Carr
The Human Edge in Legal Tech: Scaling Smarter with AI & Empathy - Dan Sharp & Neil Weitzman - S9E09

Legally Speaking Podcast - Powered by Kissoon Carr

Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2025 47:00


On today's Legally Speaking Podcast, I'm delighted to be joined by Dan Sharp and Neil Weitzman.Dan is the President and CEO of Infoware, Word LX, where he understands for law firms, time and reputation is everything. As CEO, Dan helps law firms automate and simplify document creation to protect their brand.Neil is the CRO of Infoware, Word LX and the founder of Weitzman GTM, a GTM advisory building efficient GTM motions resulting in full pipelines and recurring revenue through people, processes and platforms. Neil brings 25 years off learning with B2B SaaS, technology and data business - helping lead companies through different growth stages.So why should you be listening in? You can hear Rob, Dan and Neil discussing:- Challenges in the SaaS Legal Market- The Importance of Human Connection- Effective Go-To-Market Strategies- The Use of AI in Sales and Marketing- Change Management in Law FirmsConnect with Dan here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dansharp1Connect with Neil here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilweitzman/

Ops Cast
How to Streamline GTM Execution with Garrath Robinson and Sebastian Hidalgo

Ops Cast

Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2025 48:54 Transcription Available


Text us your thoughts on the episode or the show!Join us as we welcome back Garrath Robinson and first-time guest Sebastian Hidalgo from RevXcel for a deep dive into what it really takes to execute a go-to-market (GTM) strategy effectively today. Spoiler: it's not just about tactics or tools—it's about speed, trust, and team unity.Garrath and Sebastian challenge the old playbook of siloed teams and rigid strategies, and instead offer practical insights into how GTM execution needs to evolve to match buyer behavior and internal team dynamics. From sales being the true face of the brand to using frameworks like STRIKE and SWAT to stay agile, this conversation is packed with hard-earned lessons and bold takes.

ZoomInfo Labs Podcast
Atrium Co-Founder Pete Kazanjy

ZoomInfo Labs Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2025 39:13


Today's guest is Pete Kazanjy, founder of Atrium, creator of Modern Sales Pros, and author of Founding Sales.We explore how Pete accidentally became an enterprise sales leader, why systems thinking is the next sales superpower, and what the rise of GTM architects means for the future of revenue teams. In this episode, you'll learn:Why founder-led sales is still the foundation for scalable GTMHow to turn sales strategy into a repeatable, data-driven systemWhat skills GTM leaders need to thrive in an AI-driven worldHow to operationalize cross-functional programs with consistency and trustPete brings sharp insights and a systems-driven mindset that will resonate with GTM leaders, RevOps pros, and anyone looking to design smarter GTM.For more from ZI Labs, visit ⁠www.zoominfo.com/labs⁠ Ben on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/bensalzman Millie on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/milliebeetham

Audience 1st
Successful Cybersecurity Marketing with Qualitative Buyer Data and Brain Power

Audience 1st

Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2025 44:45


In this provocative and no-fluff episode of Keyboard Samurai, host, Wil Kluv, sits down with Dani Woolf and Ben Siegel to unpack what's broken in how cybersecurity vendors go to market and how to fix it using real buyer data and a deeper understanding of human psychology. Dani and Ben, co-founders of CyberSynapse and veterans of cybersecurity GTM, break down why so many tech marketers are stuck in echo chambers, how pressure from investors leads to safe (but disconnected) strategies, and why most teams are making decisions without actual buyer validation. They explore the psychological barriers to change, why the “herd mentality” is sabotaging innovation, and how to replace opinion with evidence through first-party qualitative research. They also take on the traditional analyst model, offering sharp critique and a more human, scalable alternative rooted in community-sourced insight.

State of Demand Gen
Exposing the Attribution Lie That's Costing You Millions

State of Demand Gen

Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2025 58:41


Everyone's analyzing win rates, but too few teams are asking the harder question: how did that opportunity even begin?This week on GTM Live, Trevor and Carolyn break down the most overlooked stage in go-to-market: what happens before a lead becomes a lead. They unpack why early-funnel signals (the ones that come before forms, meetings, or MQL scores) are where your growth strategy is made or broken.They explain why it's not enough to measure performance after the fact, and how traditional attribution misses the hidden work happening in the earliest phases of pipeline creation. Carolyn explains how early signal data is shaping a new standard for pipeline visibility, and Trevor shows how to connect that data to real decisions: budget, headcount, channels, and more.If your GTM reporting starts at the opportunity stage, you're already behind.Key topics in this episode:Why traditional approaches to attribution often tells a false storyWhy marketing and sales leaders need to rethink “first touch” and “last touch” measurementWhat happens when early-stage activity is left out of pipeline ROI modelsHow to expose the invisible work that actually drives revenueThe GTM gaps that surface when ops teams aren't tracking signalsThe early indicators that help you scale GTM programs with confidenceThis episode is powered by Passetto. We help high-growth and equity-backed companies turn GTM data into better decisions, faster. We unify your GTM and financial data, identify your growth levers, and help you scale. Part SaaS, part advisory. Visit passetto.com

Rooted in Retail
Retail, Resilience, and Remembrance

Rooted in Retail

Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2025 32:35


What happens when you lose a business partner who was also your closest collaborator and friend? In this powerful episode, Michelle shares her journey through the retail world, her deep partnership, and how she's navigating growth and grief after losing her business partner.From building lasting rep-retailer relationships to finding strength in memory, this conversation is a tribute to purpose-driven business and human connection.If you're a brand founder, rep, or retailer looking to deepen your partnerships and build a resilient business, Michelle's story and insight will guide you with authenticity and heart.[3:25] Michelle's retail journey[5:02] What is a go-to-market (GTM) strategy?[6:41] The unique relationship between reps and retailers[9:03] Top tips to help strengthen rep and retailer partnerships[14:26] Talking about Barbie (her partner)[19:04] After Michelle's loss and moving forward[21:24] Honoring Barbie's memoryJoin the Rooted in Retail Facebook Group to continue the conversation Get your ticket to EVOLVE 2025 - $200 off when you use the code rooted Join our newsletter for all the latest marketing news for retailers Show off your super fandom by getting your Rooted in Retail Merch!

Watt It Takes
Shayle Kann, Managing Partner, Energy Impact Partners

Watt It Takes

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2025 64:10


There are a handful of people in the clean energy and infrastructure world whose knowledge and voices serve as guiding lights. Shayle Kann is one of those people. Known for his deep expertise, unique perspective, and distinct voice, Shayle has covered and shaped the energy transition for years.While regular listeners will know, we typically feature startup founders. But Shayle's long-standing influence—from GTM and The Interchange to EIP and Catalyst—made it a true pleasure to turn the mic around.This episode, recorded in front of a live, sold-out audience at SF Climate Week, marked Shayle's first time as our guest, though he's no stranger to the show. For the first few years of Watt It Takes, starting in 2017, when every episode was recorded in front of a live audience, Shayle would kick off each conversation by setting the industry context and introducing our guest.In this episode, we trace Shayle's journey, starting with his roots in Madison, Wisconsin, and share how his entrepreneurial spirit and compelling storytelling abilities have been instrumental in his rise as a leader.On a personal note, I've known Shayle for nearly a decade. He has been a colleague and a friend, and I'm excited for him to tell his story.SponsorsThis live recording, and this next season of Watt It Takes, is brought to you by our lead sponsor, HSBC Innovation Banking who is proud to bank some of the most exciting companies pioneering the technologies of tomorrow.With specialist financing support, deep understanding of the challenges, and a global network across more than 50 markets, they help clients scale breakthrough innovations, and take them to the world.So, if you're looking for early-stage funding, or well on your way to FOAK, click the link in the show notes to learn how HSBC Innovation Banking can help on the next stage of your journey.About Powerhouse Innovation and Powerhouse Ventures Powerhouse Innovation is a leading consulting firm connecting top-tier corporations and investors, including corporate innovation teams, CVCs, and pensions with cutting-edge technologies and startups that meet their specific criteria for engagement. Powerhouse Ventures backs entrepreneurs building the digital infrastructure for rapid decarbonization. To hear more stories of founders building our climate positive future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

The Sales Development Podcast
Sales Tech Deep Dive 6Sense

The Sales Development Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2025 37:42


In this episode of Sales Tech Deep Dive, David Dulany and Nicolas de Kouchkovsky sit down with Latané Conant, CRO of 6sense, for an eye-opening conversation on how AI is reshaping the sales and marketing landscape. From the origins of 6sense as a predictive data company to its transformation into a full-stack GTM platform, Latané Conant walks through the evolution of customer engagement, account intelligence, and workflow automation. They explore the rise of autonomous sales plays, the role of AI agents in prospecting, the shifting expectations of BDR teams, and how brands must adapt in a world of zero-click content and dark funnels. This session also demystifies misconceptions about 6sense's capabilities, cost structure, and impact — and offers a practical look at how GTM leaders can stay competitive in the era of unpredictable revenue.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-sales-technology-podcast--1947957/support.

Go To Market Grit
From White House to Wall Street: David Rubenstein

Go To Market Grit

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2025 71:10


David Rubenstein helped pioneer modern private equity—building The Carlyle Group into a $400B global investment firm from a modest D.C. office and a relentless fundraising streak. But beyond PE, his legacy spans presidential libraries, historic American artifacts, and a lifelong obsession with civic contribution.In this episode, David shares how he raised billions without a background in finance, why owning a baseball team was more than just a trophy purchase—and what building true generational success really means beyond wealth alone.Chapters:00:00 Trailer00:53 Introduction01:40 Family, wealth, class14:40 Happiness disparity and longevity19:25 I need more to give away more25:04 The relentless fundraiser 33:53 Kids and travel36:06 No track record, the great white buffalo38:59 Business and politics43:53 Fired from Washington45:52 Fundraising, presidents, podcast guests48:04 Private equity and sports53:44 Expenses — no charges55:49 Waking up with energy 57:26 Preserving copies1:02:05 Organizational architecture1:03:41 Bury me in my plane1:08:11 Not a big luxury spender1:10:32 What “grit” means to David1:10:50 OutroMentioned in this episode: Andrew Rubenstein, Stanford University, Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, Warren Buffett, Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), Procter & Gamble Company, Forbes 400, Duke University, University of Chicago, Harvard Corporation, Johns Hopkins University, California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, Jimmy Carter, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Smithsonian Institution, National Gallery of Art, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Arianna Huffington, Xi Jinping, Hank Greenberg, Stephen A. Schwarzman, Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Baltimore Orioles, Fred Trammell Crow, Harlan Crow, National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), Arctos Partners LP, Anthropic, Magna Carta Libertatum, Declaration of Independence, Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln, US Constitution, National Archives, Lincoln Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Mount Vernon, Monticello, Montpelier, Mark Cuban, Paul McCartneyConnect with David:X: @DM_RubensteinConnect with Joubin:X: @JoubinmirLinkedIn: Joubin MirzadeganEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.comkleinerperkins.com