GTM 113: Operator.ai, Solving the Great Ignore and GTMfund Incubating a Company with Mark Kosoglow and Max Altschuler

The GTM Podcast

#Business #Accountbasedsellingbestpractices #B2bsalesandmarketingalignment #Customersuccess #Leadgeneration #Salesdevelopment #Salesenablement #Saleshiring #Salesmanagement #Salesoperations #Salesprocess #Salespsychology #Salestechnology #Socialselling #Trading #Tech #Entrepreneur #GTMnow by GTMfund #CRM

40:34

We’ve turned intuition into a buzzword—flattened it into a slogan, a gut feeling, or a vague whisper we don’t always know how to hear. But what if intuition is so much more? What if it's one of the most powerful tools we have—and we’ve just forgotten how to use it? In this episode, I’m joined by Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir , Icelandic thought leader, filmmaker, and author of InnSæi: Icelandic Wisdom for Turbulent Times . Hrund has spent over 20 years studying and teaching the science and art of intuition through her TED Talk, Netflix documentary (InnSæi: The Power of Intuition), and global work on leadership, innovation, and inner knowing. Together, we explore what intuition really is (hint: not woo-woo), how to cultivate it in a culture obsessed with logic and overthinking, and why your ability to listen to yourself might be the most essential skill you can develop. In This Episode, We Cover: ✅ Why we’ve misunderstood intuition—and how to reclaim it ✅ Practical ways to strengthen your intuitive muscle ✅ What Icelandic wisdom teaches us about inner knowing ✅ How to use intuition during uncertainty and decision-making ✅ Why trusting yourself is an act of rebellion (and power) Intuition isn’t magic—it’s a deep, internal guidance system that already exists inside you. The question is: are you listening? Connect with Hrund: Website: www.hrundgunnsteinsdottir.com TedTalk: https://www.ted.com/talks/hrund_gunnsteinsdottir_listen_to_your_intuition_it_can_help_you_navigate_the_future?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare Newsletter: https://hrundgunnsteinsdottir.com/blog/ LI: www.linkedin.com/in/hrundgunnsteinsdottir IG: https://www.instagram.com/hrundgunnsteinsdottir/ Book: InnSæi: Icelandic Wisdom for Turbulent Times Related Podcast Episodes: How To Breathe: Breathwork, Intuition and Flow State with Francesca Sipma | 267 VI4P - Know Who You Are (Chapter 4) Gentleness: Cultivating Compassion for Yourself and Others with Courtney Carver | 282 Share the Love: If you found this episode insightful, please share it with a friend, tag us on social media, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform! 🔗 Subscribe & Review: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

about a year ago 38:49

MP3•Episode home

The current state of sales and marketing tech, with too much automation leading to spam and prospects tuning out messages.
The Great Ignore, the place we have reached where buyers are ignoring 90% of sales activity.
How basic contact and account data has become commoditized and no longer provides a competitive advantage.
The launch of Operator, its manifesto and mission.
The founding story and team behind Operator, including Mark and Max's history of working together.
Operator's unique approach to using AI for finding interesting insights to enable relevant, targeted outreach.
Incubating a company within GTMfund.

Highlights:
(4:00) Mark's background at Outreach and the early days of sales automation.
(6:41) The problem with relying solely on basic contact and account data for outreach.
(8:41) How Operator uses AI to find unique insights for personalizing outreach
(14:01) The vision for Operator: going from 20 sales touches to book a meeting back down to 2.
(27:58) The founding story of Operator and how the team came together.
(32:47) Comparing Operator's approach to other sales tech tools and their shortcomings.
(38:00) The dangers of AI-powered spam and the need for more targeted, relevant outreach.

Guest Speaker Links (Mark Kosoglow):
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkosoglow/

Host Speaker Links (Max Altschuler):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/maxaltschuler/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/

Sponsor:

Brought to you by Attention. Attention’s AI-powered call recording platform ensures that your deals are executed flawlessly. It records your calls, generates next-step summaries, action items, and even creates scorecards for every single call, so your reps can continuously improve. But that’s just the beginning. Attention’s generalized insights allow you to ask any question across all of your conversations - think of it like ChatGPT for your sales calls. Attention also lets you build automated workflows tailored to your needs. For example, if a customer mentions they’re at risk of churning during a call, Attention can automatically loop in a sales director and solutions engineer to ensure that customer receives the full white-glove treatment, reducing churn and keeping your business thriving. Attention is helping companies onboard reps faster, increase the productivity of their existing teams, and giving revenue leaders unparalleled visibility into their pipelines—all while automating those tedious manual tasks.

The GTM Podcast
The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.
Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.

577 episodes

GTM 113: Operator.ai, Solving the Great Ignore and GTMfund Incubating a Company with Mark Kosoglow and Max Altschuler

The GTM Podcast

80 subscribers

published about a year ago

MP3•Episode home

The current state of sales and marketing tech, with too much automation leading to spam and prospects tuning out messages.
The Great Ignore, the place we have reached where buyers are ignoring 90% of sales activity.
How basic contact and account data has become commoditized and no longer provides a competitive advantage.
The launch of Operator, its manifesto and mission.
The founding story and team behind Operator, including Mark and Max's history of working together.
Operator's unique approach to using AI for finding interesting insights to enable relevant, targeted outreach.
Incubating a company within GTMfund.

Guest Speaker Links (Mark Kosoglow):
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkosoglow/

Host Speaker Links (Max Altschuler):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/maxaltschuler/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/

Sponsor:

Brought to you by Attention. Attention’s AI-powered call recording platform ensures that your deals are executed flawlessly. It records your calls, generates next-step summaries, action items, and even creates scorecards for every single call, so your reps can continuously improve. But that’s just the beginning. Attention’s generalized insights allow you to ask any question across all of your conversations - think of it like ChatGPT for your sales calls. Attention also lets you build automated workflows tailored to your needs. For example, if a customer mentions they’re at risk of churning during a call, Attention can automatically loop in a sales director and solutions engineer to ensure that customer receives the full white-glove treatment, reducing churn and keeping your business thriving. Attention is helping companies onboard reps faster, increase the productivity of their existing teams, and giving revenue leaders unparalleled visibility into their pipelines—all while automating those tedious manual tasks.

577 episodes

All episodes

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 148: Winning Every Tech Shift from a 3X Founder (From Internet to AI) 54:31

3 days ago54:31

54:31

Sean Whiteley is a three-time founder and the Co-Founder of Qualified, the AI pipeline automation platform purpose-built for inbound GTM teams. Previously, he founded GetFeedback (acquired by Campaign Monitor) and Kieden (acquired by Salesforce), where he also served as SVP & GM. With over two decades at the forefront of tech’s biggest transformations—from on-prem to cloud to AI—Sean offers a rare, long-term view on how to build companies and go-to-market engines in the face of massive disruption. Discussed in this Episode: Why the speed of AI adoption outpaces every previous tech wave How the role of RevOps and team design is being reshaped by agentic systems Why today’s buyer journey is nonlinear, AI-assisted, and fully in control Tactical breakdown: how Sean mapped and tagged every task at Qualified for AI automation Why success teams must sit at the core of GTM strategy, not as an afterthought The most common GTM myth Sean is seeing today—and why it’s outdated The characteristics Sean looks for in long-term co-founders and GTM hires Highlights: 02:00 Sean’s journey through on-prem, cloud, and now AI 05:00 Ops leaders as the new AI orchestrators inside GTM teams 08:30 From workflows to autonomous agents: how org charts are shifting 10:30 The “two-way doors” mindset for fast experimentation 13:30 The future of GTM: agents, trust falls, and buyer-led journeys 15:00 From personalization to “relevance at scale” in modern marketing 18:00 AI unlocks speed and efficiency—how that reshapes CAC payback and TCO 24:00 How Qualified created internal AI blueprints across every team 28:30 Inside the AI SDR: replacing manual inbound sales with 24/7 automation 32:00 Success is not post-sales—it’s the center of the GTM experience 36:00 Reinventing yourself as a founder through three companies 39:30 What still hasn’t changed: customer value and trusted partnerships 47:00 GTM myth: “We control the buying process”—why that’s dead 51:00 Where Sean learns about AI: customer conversations > thought leadership Guest Speaker Links (Sean Whitely): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanwhiteley Qualified Website: https://www.qualified.com Host Speaker Links (Sophie Buonassisi): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiebuonassisi Newsletter: https://substack.com/@sophiebuonassisi Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow Twitter/X: https://x.com/GTMnow_ YouTube: @gtm_now The GTM Podcast (on all major directories): https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/ The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 147: RevOps Is a Hidden Growth Engine with Navin Persaud, VP of RevOps at 1Password 42:16

10 days ago42:16

42:16

Navin Persaud is the VP of Revenue Operations at 1Password, where he leads a 30+ person team supporting a GTM org of 450+. With over 20 years of experience across RevOps, SalesOps, and MarketingOps, including time at IBM and high-growth SaaS companies, Navin has built a reputation as one of the sharpest operators in the game. He’s known for building scalable systems, ruthless prioritization, and a clear-eyed view of how AI is reshaping operations. Discussed in this Episode: Why RevOps is the most essential team for scalable growth The real signs that it’s time to hire your first RevOps leader What AI is disrupting first in RevOps forecasting, enrichment, orchestration, and reporting The rise of GTM Engineers and the shift toward intelligence-layer operations Tactical frameworks for combining AI insights with human judgment How RevOps should evolve from executor to strategic growth partner Hiring advice: what makes a great early-stage ops hire and how to test for curiosity Highlights: 05:00 - The sports field analogy: building the GTM pitch, not just playing on it 07:00 - AI is both the scariest and most freeing technology in ops today 09:00 - GTM Engineers and the orchestration opportunity ahead 11:00 - Product-market fit is the right time to invest in RevOps 13:00 Forecasting, enrichment, and demand routing—where AI adds leverage 17:30 -Why dashboards are dying and how ops will move to real-time insights 27:00 - How RevOps became a central GTM function 30:00 - Advice for founders on when (and how) to bring in ops leadership 33:00 - “Perfection is the enemy of pace”—a RevOps mantra Guest Speaker Links (Navin Persaud): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/navinpersaud/ 1Password: https://1password.com/ 1Password Careers: https://1password.com/careers Host Speaker Links (Sophie Buonassisi): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiebuonassisi/ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@sophiebuonassisi Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/GTMnow_ YouTube: @gtm_now The GTM Podcast (on all major directories): The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 146: The Future of Search, AI, and Digital Presence with Mike Walrath, CEO of Yext 38:43

17 days ago38:43

38:43

Mike Walrath is the CEO and Chairman of Yext, a publicly traded digital presence platform that helps businesses manage and synchronize their digital presence across search engines, maps, apps, and voice assistants by ensuring that information like locations, services, FAQs, and brand content appears accurately and consistently wherever customers search. He also co-founded WGI Group, LLC, to provide growth capital to early and expansion stage startups in enterprise software, consumer internet and digital media industries. Previously, Michael was co-founder and Chairman of Moat Inc. which was acquired by Oracle in April 2017. In 2003, Michael founded Right Media - the world's first open exchange for digital advertising. He served as Chairman and CEO of the company until its acquisition by Yahoo! in July 2007. At Yahoo!, he was responsible for the operation of the global advertising marketplaces organization. Discussed in this Episode: Why marketers must now structure content not for humans, but for machines. How Yext evolved from managing listings to powering AI-ready data pipelines. Actionable steps SaaS companies can take to optimize for AI agents and search diversification. The role of hyperlocal data, competitive analysis, and personalized content in GTM strategy. Why software innovation must start with intelligence, not workflow. The decline of seat-based pricing and rise of outcome-based models. Highlights: [00:07:30] – How the iPhone created geo-aware fragmentation, and how Yext was born. [00:10:00] – Why Google still checks MapQuest (and what that means for SEO today). [00:11:30] – “We have to rebuild the digital presence for machines, not people.” [00:14:30] – The new battleground: how AI engines like ChatGPT shape discoverability. [00:18:00] – Practical data strategies for local businesses and SaaS marketers. [00:22:00] – Why structured data is the foundation of AI-first marketing. [00:26:00] – Bespoke GTM: why no two locations (or campaigns) should be the same. [00:29:00] – The shift from product-led to intelligence-led SaaS development. [00:31:00] – Seat-based pricing is dying – how to move to value-based contracts. [00:34:30] – Mike’s advice: get radically honest about macro changes, not just tactics. Guest Speaker Links (Michael Walrath): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-walrath-b63166/ Yext: https://www.yext.com/ Host Speaker Links (Sophie Buonassisi): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiebuonassisi/ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@sophiebuonassisi Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/ The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 145: What Happens When a CRO Owns the Entire Customer Journey, How to Build a Unified GTM Engine | Marcy Campbell 38:54

24 days ago38:54

38:54

Marcy Campbell is the Chief Revenue Officer at AppFolio, where she leads sales and client services with a focus on delivering unified, end-to-end customer experiences. With over 30 years of experience scaling revenue teams across FinTech, SaaS, cloud computing, and communications, Marcy has held executive roles at Boomi and PayPal—where she led an 800+ person global team. Her deep expertise in aligning sales, customer success, and operations makes her a standout leader in the GTM space. What happens when a CRO owns the entire customer journey Discussed in this Episode: How AppFolio’s Unified Customer Experience (UCE) platform aligns marketing, sales, and customer service. The evolving role of the CRO and the importance of owning the entire customer journey. Why customer experience is a competitive differentiator in vertical SaaS. Tactical tips for early-stage startups on aligning go-to-market motion with product-market fit. The importance of cross-functional “stream teams” for accelerating GTM initiatives. How Marcy builds inclusive leadership cultures and mentors rising female leaders. Why how you make the number matters as much as making the number. Highlights: 10:30 The Chief Revenue Officer's (CRO) responsibility to understand and optimize the entire customer journey. 12:30 How the Unified Customer Experience (UCE) platform was formed and how it works. 16:00 End-to-end GTM orchestration across sales, marketing, product, and CS. 22:00 Results from the UCE initiative: accelerated deal velocity and customer retention. 26:30 Advice for startups: identifying your ICP and fixing pipeline fundamentals. 29:00 How to scale with customer empathy and GTM precision. 31:00 Advocating for women in sales leadership and building inclusive teams. 36:00 Marcy’s communication strategy for managing a 600-person org. 39:00 Marcy's favorite business leadership tactic: “Take a beat” before reacting. 40:00 What’s outdated: The belief that only numbers matter in sales. Guest Speaker Links (Marcy Campbell): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcyc/ Appfolio: https://www.appfolio.com/ Host Speaker Links (Sophie Buonassisi): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiebuonassisi/ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@sophiebuonassisi Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/ Twitter/X: The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 144: How AI is Rewriting Product and GTM Playbooks | with Oji Udezue (CPO - Typeform, Calendly) 58:30

4 weeks ago58:30

58:30

Oji Udezue was most recently Chief Product Officer at Typeform, where he led product strategy across the company’s growing suite of tools. Previously, he was CPO at Calendly, where he helped scale one of the most beloved PLG tools in the market. Before that, he was Head of Product for Creation and Conversation at Twitter, leading core features like Tweets, DMs, and Spaces. At Atlassian, he led all communication products, including the launch of Atlassian’s first post-IPO product. Oji also spent years at Microsoft, building foundational experiences across Windows, Outlook, Hotmail, and Internet Explorer. In addition to his product leadership, Oji is the founder of Kernel Fund, an early-stage fund supporting startups across Africa. He writes about product, growth, and leadership at his newsletter Product Mind and is the author of the upcoming book Building Rocketships —a guide for high-growth product teams. Discussed in this Episode: When to hire your first PM (and what to look for). Why great product teams include marketing from day one. A framework for picking winning startup ideas. How AI is changing how we build (not just what we build). What product leaders can learn from Microsoft’s Longhorn failure. Why 3x better isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s a must. Highlights: 04:52 – Why marketing is essential to product leadership. 12:02 – How AI is transforming the process of building products. 17:07 – Common product mistakes founders make early on. 24:16 – Building Rocket Ships: Why Oji wrote the book. 31:08 – Framework: Where to fish for unicorns. 33:17 – The “3x better” rule for product value. 37:07 – The challenge of true product differentiation. 39:22 – What Microsoft’s Longhorn failure taught Oji. 44:51 – When (and how) to hire your first PM. 48:31 – The importance of fast, early customer feedback. 54:46 – How AI is changing go-to-market strategy. 57:32 – Why marketers must master signal in a noisy world. Guest Speaker Links (Oji Udezue): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ojiudezue/ Kernel Fund: https://www.kernelfund.com/ Product Mind: https://www.productmind.co/ Building Rocketships (Book): https://a.co/d/0HGjf18 SubStack: https://ojiudezue.substack.com/ Host Speaker Links (Sophie Buonassisi): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiebuonassisi/ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@sophiebuonassisi Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com/ LinkedIn: https: The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 143: Why Most AI Messaging Fails and How to Actually Stand Out in a Crowded Market | Harmony Anderson 37:37

6 weeks ago37:37

37:37

Harmony Anderson is an entrepreneurial marketing leader with deep expertise in building global GTM strategies at growth startups. She is currently the VP of Growth and Marketing at Superhuman, the most productive email app ever made for teams. She has also led high-performing teams at Armada, Engine, Outreach, and ThousandEyes. She is deeply passionate about creating world-class marketing campaigns, leveraging data-driven strategies to accelerate customer acquisition, engagement, and retention. She also drives extreme rigor around operational excellence and efficiency, ensuring GTM teams execute with precision using repeatable and predictable playbooks. Discussed in this Episode: How to develop unique positioning and messaging for an AI company Why UGC matters for your brand and how to get users to create content about your product The impact of lightning marketing campaigns and follow-on 'thunder' campaigns Three core channels for launching a new B2B marketing program Highlights: 05:12 – The #1 mistake in AI messaging: sounding like everyone else. 07:24 – Use outcomes and data to differentiate your AI product. 11:06 – Why nailing 3-5 core use cases beats going broad or too niche. 12:38 – Turning website visitors into believers with demos and interactive content. 14:01 – How to keep up with a market that changes every week (hello, agentic AI). 15:08 – Building campaigns that fuel your narrative across every channel. 17:16 – Behind Superhuman’s most successful campaign ever: “New Year, New Inbox.” 20:04 – Unlocking 60% growth through user-generated content and affiliate advocacy. 21:38 – Why webinars and virtual events still drive real results (and feedback). 23:12 – How to keep your messaging fresh while staying focused. 25:11 – The difference between brand umbrella, campaign, and program — and why it matters. 27:02 – Harmony’s lean, high-impact program playbook for early-stage teams. 31:06 – Building a hype train: how to activate champions at launch. 33:01 – Hot take: marketing shouldn’t be measured by pipeline alone. 35:12 – Why NRR (not just pipeline) should be a marketing KPI. Guest Speaker Links (Harmony Anderson): LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/harmony-hickman-anderson Superhuman: superhuman.com Host Speaker Links (Sophie Buonassisi): LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sophiebuonassisi Newsletter: gtmnow.com/tag/newsletter Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: gtmnow.com LinkedIn: GTMnow X/Twitter: @GTMnow_ YouTube: The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 142: Why Most B2B Marketing Fails (And How to Fix It) with Udi Ledergor 56:47

6 weeks ago56:47

56:47

Udi Ledergor served as CMO during Gong’s rise from new SaaS startup to industry dominance. By building a playful, human-centric brand with a lighthearted tone, he captured buyers’ attention and dollars and turned them into raving fans. He helped Gong go from zero to hundreds of millions in revenue, while achieving a multi-billion-dollar valuation. His book Courageous Marketing is officially out and you can buy it below in the show notes. Discussed in this Episode: Why Marketing 'Best Practices' are broken for Brands that want to stand out. Marketers need to consider the long game and remember the 95/5 rule. When you should hire for experience versus potential. How to foster a culture of healthy risk-taking with your team. Highlights: 04:09 Udi's inspiration for writing his new book, Courageous Marketing. 06:02 The four most common reasons why marketing fails. 09:22 What marketers should be looking for when selecting a company to join. 13:55 The Problem with 'playing it safe' in B2B marketing. 23:07 How to market to both the 5% and the 95% of your buyers. 38:13 The Three Team Operating Principles for leading a bold and effective marketing team. Guest Speaker Links (Udi Ledergor): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/udiledergor/ Gong: https://www.gong.io/ Udi's Book, Courageous Marketing : https://mybook.to/courageousmarketing Host Speaker Links (Sophie Buonassisi): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiebuonassisi/ Newsletter: https://gtmnow.com/tag/newsletter/ Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/GTMnow_ YouTube: / @gtm_now The GTM Podcast (on all major directories): https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/ Sponsor: ZoomInfo’s GTM25 Virtual Conference—a free, half-day event on h The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 141: Timeless Growth Tips From a $7.4B Oracle Exit and Scaling Carta to $450M in Revenue | Jeff Perry 50:14

8 weeks ago50:14

50:14

Jeff Perry is a truly iconic revenue leader and the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at Carta, responsible for core software revenue across New Business, Upsell, Cross Sell, and Customer Success. Prior to Carta, Jeff led SMB Sales at DocuSign, and started his career at Oracle, where he rose from Strategic Account Manager to VP of Sales over a decade. Discussed in this Episode: How to turn coworkers into mentors—and why it matters. Moving from enterprise sales leadership to a startup environment. Why and when to build a solutions engineering team. The myth of the “18-month CRO lifespan.” Balancing empathy and accountability as a sales leader. Why automation isn’t always the best path forward. Highlights: 06:29 — Mentorship matters. Jeff breaks down how to find and approach mentors—even without a formal program. 12:42 — Lessons from selling servers that still apply to modern SaaS sales 15:02 — Leading through M&A: Inside the culture clash and how Jeff rebuilt a team post-acquisition. 19:07 — Carta’s GTM evolution: How Jeff scaled from one rep selling one product to multiple teams across three business lines. 28:34 — Scaling revenue from $20M to $450M: Advice for CROs entering growth-stage companies. 33:20 — Why “big company” people can thrive in startups—if they leave their playbooks behind. 36:15 — How to use PIPs to coach—not just cut—and what most orgs get wrong. 43:13 — Why the best sellers are quarterbacks, not lone wolves. 46:43 — Pick up the phone: Human connection wins in an era of AI and automation. Guest Links (Jeff Perry): LinkedIn: Jeff Perry Carta: carta.com Host Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: Scott Barker Newsletter: The GTM Newsletter Where to Find GTMnow (GTMfund’s Media Brand): Website: gtmnow.com LinkedIn: GTMnow Twitter/X: @GTMnow_ YouTube: @gtm_now Podcast: The GTM Podcast (available on all major platforms) Sponsor: Pursuit The best talent isn’t actively job hunting. Pursuit helps companies hire elite go-to-market talent on a non-retainer basis . As a key GTMfund partner, they equip sales and marketing teams with top performers. If you're hiring for sales or marketing roles, reach out to Pursuit at pursuitsalessolutions.com/gtm or message a GTMfund team member. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 140: How Microsoft Scaled from $600M to $5B: The Enterprise Playbook with Hayden Stafford 54:03

9 weeks ago54:03

54:03

Hayden Stafford is the President and Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at Seismic, where he oversees the global go-to-market (GTM) organization, including pre-sales, sales, customer success, services, partners, and more. Prior to joining Seismic, he served as President of Global Field Operations at Pegasystems. Before that, Hayden was Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, leading Global Business Applications (Microsoft Dynamics 365) for six years. Earlier in his career, he was an SVP at Salesforce and spent nearly a decade at IBM, ultimately serving as VP and Managing Director on Wall Street. Discussed in this Episode: What Satya Nadella taught Hayden about culture, clarity, and transformation at Microsoft. The exact playbook to move from SMB to enterprise—including partner enablement, segmentation, and incentive design. Why retention isn't just a CS metric—and how to build a sales team that cares about it. How to win in vertical SaaS, from breaking into financial services to owning the category. What it takes to close a $600M+ deal in the middle of a financial crisis. Highlights: 05:19 — How Satya Nadella sold his internal vision and rebuilt Microsoft’s culture from the ground up 13:13 — The partnership blueprint: how to scale with partners, not just transact with them 28:18 — Going deep in verticals: why Seismic dominated financial services while others avoided it 34:44 — How Hayden closed a $600M+ deal with Merrill Lynch after the 2008 crash 42:40 — Why retention should be part of your sales comp—and how to make it work 49:15 — The “Value Continuum”: a framework for aligning sales, services, and CS around business outcomes Guest Speaker Links (Hayden Stafford): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haydenestafford/ Seismic: https://seismic.com/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: https://thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website LinkedIn Twitter / X YouTube The GTM Podcast (on all major directories) The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 139: AI Agents Are Changing Everything — Microsoft’s VP of AI Agents on the New Era of Work and Software | Ray Smith 58:54

10 weeks ago58:54

58:54

Ray Smith is the VP of AI Agents at Microsoft. Previously, he was the Global VP of Product for SAP, CRM and Sales Cloud. Before that, he was the CEO and Co-Founder of DataHug, which was acquired by Calidus Cloud in 2016. Ray breaks down why the rise of AI agents is a tectonic shift, how businesses are already seeing ROI, and what it means for SaaS, team structure, and go-to-market strategies. He also shares real-world use cases from inside Microsoft and partner companies, plus how founders and operators can build or adapt in this new AI-native era. Discussed in this Episode: What exactly is an AI agent—and how is it different from bots or automation? Why traditional SaaS pricing models (like per-seat) don’t work in the agent era. How enterprise teams are already deploying autonomous agents in production. The emerging architecture of multi-agent workflows. Which skills will matter most in an agent-first world (hint: think like a GM or growth hacker). Highlights: 06:53 What makes an AI agent different from bots and automation—and why it matters now. 15:33 How AI agents are changing the role of traditional software tools and UI. 25:15 Why legacy SaaS pricing models don’t work for agents—and what comes next. 31:12 Inside Microsoft CoPilot: Real-world agent use cases across sales, support, and strategy. 37:42 The most valuable skills in the AI era—from delegation to agent orchestration. 51:42 Why agentic AI makes customer relationships and long-term value even more critical. Guest Speaker Links (Ray Smith): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raycsmith/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: https://thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/GTMnow_ YouTube: / @gtm_now The GTM Podcast (on all major directories): The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 138: The AI Advantage, Solving Sales & Marketing Alignment for Better GTM Execution with Jaleh Rezaei 54:23

11 weeks ago54:23

54:23

Jaleh Rezaei is the CEO & Co-founder of Mutiny, a company reimagining the B2B buying experience by transforming transactional relationships into meaningful connections through AI-powered personalization. Mutiny helps enterprises restore the human element in modern buying at scale, and is used by some of the fastest growing companies in the world including Amplitude, Snowflake and Qualtrics. The company is backed by Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, and CMOs of companies such as Uber, Condé Nast and Salesforce. Prior to Mutiny, Jaleh was the Head of Marketing and Business Development at Gusto, where she grew the company from 500 to 50,000 customers over 4 years. She was the Director of Product Marketing at VMware prior to Gusto. Discussed in this Episode: AI-powered personalization is reshaping B2B sales and marketing AI-driven lead scoring improves quality and targets high-value prospects AI anticipates and overcomes sales objections in real time Sales & marketing alignment: why it matters and how to achieve it The risks of AI-driven outbound and how to avoid common pitfalls Scaling 1:1 experiences efficiently with AI AI-powered buyer interactions and their impact on GTM strategies Highlights: 03:27 – Why AI innovation is game-changing for founders building and scaling companies. 06:49 – How 1:1 sales personalization drives 14x higher conversion rates. 10:45 – AI-powered hyper-personalization is reshaping enterprise sales. 16:30 – The biggest AI mistakes in sales and marketing. 20:55 – Scaling white-glove experiences across all target accounts. 24:45 – Why CRM data is a mess and how AI finally fixes it. 28:14 – A masterclass in sales & marketing alignment. 31:20 – The real reason sales and marketing clash (and how to fix it). 42:10 – The most valuable AI use cases for B2B sales teams. 47:30 – How AI is changing B2B buyer behavior and what sellers must do. Guest Speaker Links (Jaleh Rezaei): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jalehr/ Mutiny: https://www.mutinyhq.com/ The State of Sales & Marketing Alignment Report: https://www.mutinyhq.com/report Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: https://thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Find GTMnow (GTMfund’s Media Brand): Website LinkedIn Twitter/X [YouTube]( / @gtm_now) Podcast The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 137: The Biggest Business Turnaround You've Never Heard Of & The Growth Levers to Pull When Things Go Wrong | Cassie Young 56:24

12 weeks ago56:24

56:24

Cassie Young is a General Partner at Primary Venture Partners, a $1B AUM early-stage venture capital firm in New York that has backed category-defining companies such as Chief, Alma, K Health, Latch, Alloy, Dandy and Vestwell. Before joining Primary, Cassie was Chief Customer and Commercial Officer for Marigold (formerly known as CM Group), an Insight Partners roll-up of marketing technology software including Sailthru, Campaign Monitor, Delivra, Emma, Vuture and Liveclicker; Cassie assumed that role when Marigold acquired Sailthru, where she was Chief Revenue Officer. Prior to Sailthru, Cassie served as VP Marketing & Analytics at Gerson Lehrman Group ("GLG") and as VP Marketing & Growth for Savored (acquired by Groupon). Cassie's time in tech dates back to 2006, when she joined TheLadders.com as an early employee and managed marketing and analytics for the company's subscription business. She began her career as a tech and media analyst at Citigroup Global Corporate & Investment Bank. Discussed in this Episode: The turnaround story of Cassie’s time at Sailthru and overcoming scaling challenges. How to rebuild and regain customer trust after technical failures. The importance of leadership alignment and transparency during times of crisis. How to effectively use Net Promoter Score (NPS) and what it really tells you. The value and impact of Customer Advisory Boards (CABs) in driving customer-centric growth. Why executive compensation should align with key business metrics for better team alignment. Creative tactics like video mailers and regional user groups to engage customers and drive product adoption. Highlights: 07:53 What happens when commercial scale outgrows your technical scale. 15:53 Driving alignment through northstar metrics and incentives. 22:16 The best ways to measure customer trust. 34:10 Tips on setting up a Customer Advisory Board (CAB). 52:48 A fantastic multi-media mail campaign. Guest Speaker (Cassie Young): LinkedIn Primary VC Host (Scott Barker): LinkedIn Newsletter Find GTMnow (GTMfund’s Media Brand): Website LinkedIn Twitter/X [YouTube]( / @gtm_now) Podcast Sponsor: Pursuit The best talent isn’t actively job hunting. Pursuit helps companies hire elite go-to-market talent on a non-retainer basis . As a key GTMfund partner, they equip sales and marketing teams with top performers. If you're hiring for sales or marketing roles, reach out to Pursuit at pursuitsalessolutions.com/gtm or message a GTMfund team member. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 136: How Asana & Calendly Scaled: PLG to SLG Playbooks That Work | Jessica Gilmartin 59:07

12 weeks ago59:07

59:07

Jessica Gilmartin has nearly 20 years of go-to-market leadership experience, most recently serving as both the Chief Revenue Officer and Chief Marketing Officer at Calendly. Prior to that, she led marketing teams at an impressive array of companies, including Asana and Calendly. As the cherry on top, Jessica also built and sold a successful frozen yogurt chain in San Francisco. Discussed in this Episode: Taking an entrepreneurial approach to ownership in an organization The difficulty of selling to both midmarket and enterprise customers Cultivating a culture of creativity and approachability How to hire your first marketer Highlights: 06:29 How Asana moved from product-led growth to sales-led growth 18:00 Why refining your ICP is paramount for product-led growth 33:37 Fostering a culture of experimentation 40:23 Hiring your first marketer as a startup founder Guest Speaker Links (Jessica Gilmartin): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicagilmartin/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: https://thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/ The GTM Podcast (on all major directories): https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/ Sponsor: Pursuit The best talent isn’t actively job hunting. Pursuit helps companies hire elite go-to-market talent on a non-retainer basis . As a key GTMfund partner, they equip sales and marketing teams with top performers. If you're hiring for sales or marketing roles, reach out to Pursuit at pursuitsalessolutions.com/gtm or message a GTMfund team member. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 135: How Marketing Creates Million-Dollar Exits: 6 SaaS Success Stories | Katrina Wong 55:26

13 weeks ago55:26

55:26

Katrina Wong is the CMO of New Relic and a top marketing leader. She specializes in launching products, entering new markets, and scaling companies to the enterprise. With 15 years of experience at Twilio, Zuora, Salesforce, and SAP, she has led award-winning campaigns and helped six companies exit successfully. Discussed in this Episode: Why you should be using "marketing sprints" Importance of operational excellence and agility in marketing The role of marketing in preparing for a successful exit Is 'fire fast' the right approach for managing your teams Highlights: 07:08 Secrets to picking winners 09:30 Attaining operational excellence in startups 15:43 Marketing's role in successful exits 29:12 Transforming PIP programs for successful employees 31:26 Challenging the 'fire fast' mentality 35:20 The importance of team dynamics 40:24 Navigating getting acquired successfully 48:58 Tactics for modern marketing Guest Speaker Links (Katrina Wong): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrinawong11/ New Relic Website: https://newrelic.com/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: https://thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/GTMnow_ YouTube: / @gtm_now Sponsor: Pursuit The best talent isn’t actively job hunting. Pursuit helps companies hire elite go-to-market talent on a non-retainer basis . As a key GTMfund partner, they equip sales and marketing teams with top performers. If you're hiring for sales or marketing roles, reach out to Pursuit at pursuitsalessolutions.com/gtm or message a GTMfund team member. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 134: When to Hire Your First Sales Reps (And How to Get It Right) with Joe DiMento 56:55

14 weeks ago56:55

56:55

Joe DiMento is the Head of Go-To-Market & Industry Partnerships at Bain Capital Ventures. Previously, he was an operating partner at Fractal Software, helping launch vertical software companies and find product-market fit. Before that, he was the first non-founder seller at three startups, turning early traction into a repeatable sales motion. He began his career at Google and Bain & Company and holds an MBA from Stanford GSB. Discussed in this Episode: When to hire your first account executives Key traits to look for in early sales hires Structuring compensation for first sales reps Should you 'hire the buyer' to be your sales rep? Highlights: 05:03 When to hire your first sales reps. 13:17 Characteristics of top early-stage sales reps. 22:25 Designing a sales compensation plan. 31:55 Hiring for grit, curiosity & determination. 42:03 Fast-tracking your sales career. Guest Speaker Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joedimento/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: https://thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/GTMnow_ YouTube: / @gtm_now Sponsor: Pursuit The best talent isn’t actively job hunting. Pursuit helps companies hire elite go-to-market talent on a non-retainer basis . As a key GTMfund partner, they equip sales and marketing teams with top performers. If you're hiring for sales or marketing roles, reach out to Pursuit at pursuitsalessolutions.com/gtm or message a GTMfund team member. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 133: Build your AI Outbound Machine with ChatGPT | Jordan Crawford 1:05:48

15 weeks ago1:05:48

1:05:48

Jordan Crawford is an AI innovator, the Founder of Blueprint, and one of the top go-to-market engineers working today. Jordan explains how to use AI tools like ChatGPT, Deep Research, and Claude to create your own AI workflow for prospecting accounts and creating highly targeted and extremely valuable messages for target decision-makers. Jordan demonstrates how to use the FIND (Focus, Investigate, Narrate, Deploy) process for your go-to-market strategy and how to speed this up with OpenAI's Deep Research AI tool. Jordan also shares the prompts and processes he uses when researching target accounts, messaging buyers, and driving revenue. Highlights: 08:12 Examples of messages that people would pay to receive 17:30 How tech is transitioning to an AI-empowered future 27:07 Using ChatGPT Deep Research to learn about customer segments 35:05 Maximizing your sales team's efficiency with AI 36:39 The importance of process over prompts 39:38 Deep dive into prompt engineering 50:00 Future of outbound sales Guest Speaker Links (Jordan Crawford): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordancrawford/ Jordan's AI course: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jordancrawford_the-299-agent-7-course-is-here-youll-learn-activity-7247669670940401665-xrjq/ Blueprint: https://blueprintgtm.com/ ChatGPT conversation from the episode (on Gaiia): https://chatgpt.com/share/67a2551e-af74-8004-81b8-b415d473ca72 Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/GTMnow_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTM_now The GTM Podcast (on all major directories): https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/ Sponsor: Superhuman We recently became a Superhuman customer, and the response across our GTMfund community Slack and social channels was a clear testament to how Superhuman has been a game-changer for efficiency among leaders and teams. Superhuman is generously offering the GTMnow community exclusive access to 1 month free on the platform. If you add any teammates in January to your team, they’ll get a free month too. To claim this offer, go to www.superhuman.com/gtmnow The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 132: The Rise of the Operator with Casey Woo + Special Announcement 49:08

16 weeks ago49:08

49:08

Casey Woo is the Founder and CEO of Operators Guild, an invite-only community for professionals in strategic finance and operations roles. He is also the General Partner and Founder of FOG Ventures. He is a seasoned, multi-stage operator, bringing over two decades of experience in investment banking advisory, public equity investing, high-growth operational and military leadership roles. His last role was the CFO of Landing, where he oversaw the company’s Finance, Legal and People operations. Prior to Landing, he served as the Global Head of Strategic Finance at WeWork. Discussed in this Episode: The rise of the operator How to communicate with CFOs and cross-functional teams What matters most to every CEO and founder How to recruit the top operators Why funding no longer has the impact it once did Highlights: 08:33 Building effective CFO-CRO relationships. 18:13 The role of cross-functional communication. 26:59 The commoditization of funding. 32:53 The rise top operators and how to recruit them. 38:33 The commoditization of technology in the age of AI. 44:31 The power of community and in-person events. Guest Speaker Links (Casey Woo): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseywoo/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/GTMnow_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTM_now The GTM Podcast (on all major directories): https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/ Sponsor: Superhuman We recently became a Superhuman customer, and the response across our GTMfund community Slack and social channels was a clear testament to how Superhuman has been a game-changer for efficiency among leaders and teams. Superhuman is generously offering the GTMnow community exclusive access to 1 month free on the platform. If you add any teammates in January to your team, they’ll get a free month too. To claim this offer, go to www.superhuman.com/gtmnow The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 131: Being CMO Under Marc Benioff of Salesforce, the Innovator's Dilemma and AI SDRs 56:06

17 weeks ago56:06

56:06

Kraig Swensrud is the Founder & CEO of Qualified where he provides crucial experience and entrepreneurial energy to create the future of enterprise sales tech. Prior to founding Qualified, Kraig founded GetFeedback which was successfully sold to SurveyMonkey. Kraig also led marketing as the CMO of Salesforce during very formative years of the company's history. Discussed in this Episode: The parallels between the disruption caused by SaaS and AI How pricing strategies are changing for AI products Why SaaS companies need to earning their renewals The impact of AI SDRs on your pipeline Highlights: 13:26 The importance of product marketing in the growth of Salesforce 20:17 Exploring the innovator's dilemma 25:59 The next generation of software & building for non-human users 39:05 Obsessing over your customers is key to success 46:44 Using the V2MOM framework to drive company alignment 50:43 The adage of 'hire fast, fire fast' is bs Guest Speaker Links (Kraig Swensrud): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kraigswensrud/ V2MOM Framework: https://www.salesforce.com/blog/how-to-create-alignment-within-your-company/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/GTMnow_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTM_now The GTM Podcast (on all major directories): https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/ Sponsor Offer: We recently became a Superhuman customer, and the response across our GTMfund community Slack and social channels was a clear testament to how Superhuman has been a game-changer for efficiency among leaders and teams. Superhuman is generously offering the GTMnow community exclusive access to 1 month free on the platform. If you add any teammates in January to your team, they’ll get a free month too. To claim this offer, go to www.superhuman.com/gtmnow The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 130: Scaling to Billions: How DocuSign, HubSpot & Canva Built Winning GTM Strategies with Rob Giglio, Canva’s CCO 1:00:14

19 weeks ago1:00:14

1:00:14

Rob Giglio is the Chief Customer Officer at Canva, where he oversees Canva’s sales and go-to-market functions. Rob brings to Canva over 20 years of industry experience leading and executing global marketing and sales initiatives. Rob joins Canva from HubSpot, where he was also Chief Customer Officer, and before that, he was the Chief Marketing Officer at Docusign. Prior to Docusign, Rob spent over ten years at Adobe, leading the global sales and go-to-market teams for their Digital Media Business Unit and holding responsibility for over $7B in revenue. Discussed in this Episode: Why B2B marketers should embrace the CPG tactic of "concept testing." How to embrace segmentation by differentiating your solution. Loyalty as a necessary part of every customer journey. Why substance beats sizzle every time in sales and marketing. Leading a large, remote-first team. Highlights: 06:07 - 3 lessons from B2C to that B2B marketing needs to learn. 12:25 - What is concept testing and how can marketers use it in B2B. 19:38 - Selling a massive transition to enterprise customers. 35:14 - How DocuSign overcame major user experience challenges. 39:50 - How HubSpot addressed issues with remote leadership. 44:34 - The importance of in-person interaction. 55:56 - The power in simplicity. Guest speaker links (Rob Giglio): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgiglio/ Host speaker links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/ X: https://x.com/GTMnow_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTM_now The GTM Podcast (on all major directories): https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/ Product GTMfund is Using: Superhuman " Most people know that I am almost always on, regardless of holidays, but I certainly am not checking email as much as I normally would. And this year I came back to work and had so many emails in my inbox… the number was scary. But since I started using Superhuman last quarter, I was able to get back to inbox zero within minutes. It helps me and the team be so much more productive. I don’t know how I didn’t start on Superhuman sooner. It was the most seamless onboarding experience - everything in my inbox synced within minutes. Superhuman works with your existing Gmail or Outlook accounts. New year, time to take back control - 2025 is the year of inbox zero. If anyone also wants to take back control of their inboxes and empower their teams to do so, check out Superhuman at superhuman.com/gtmnow " - Scott Barker The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 129: 6 Proven Tactics Driving B2B Growth 23:54

20 weeks ago23:54

23:54

There's a ton of talk about what isn't working today in go-to-market. However, companies are still finding ways to grow which means there a some things that are working. In this special episode, Scott Barker is looking at some of the big themes he's seen in how the top go-to-market leaders are driving growth today. You'll hear from founders, sales leaders, and marketing leaders from G2, CrunchBase, GitHub, TestBox, Atrium, Intellimize and Kahua. You'll walk away from this episode with some great ideas from top operators on how to increase revenue, align your teams, and make a huge impact for your company in 2025. Discussed in this Episode: How to build the habits and fundamentals for sustainably generating pipeline. The importance of in-person interactions for the development of your team. Taking a customer-centric approach in your go-to-market strategy. Changing how you talk about your company to resonate better with the C-suite. Why intentionally aligning your teams is worth the effort. How to capitalize on the returns that building strong relationships provide. Highlights: (3:22) The first theme: Getting back to the go-to-market basics. (6:56) The second theme: The importance of in-person interactions. (10:38) The third theme: Taking a customer-centric approach in your go-to-market strategy. (16:04) The fourth theme: Elevating the conversation to the C-level. (19:29) The fifth theme: Intentional alignment of your teams. (21:17) The sixth theme: Playing the long game. Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: https://gtmnow.com/tag/newsletter/ Product GTMfund is Using: Superhuman " Most people know that I am almost always on, regardless of holidays, but I certainly am not checking email as much as I normally would. And this year I came back to work and had so many emails in my inbox… the number was scary. But since I started using Superhuman last quarter, I was able to get back to inbox zero within minutes. It helps me and the team be so much more productive. I don’t know how I didn’t start on Superhuman sooner. It was the most seamless onboarding experience - everything in my inbox synced within minutes. Superhuman works with your existing Gmail or Outlook accounts. New year, time to take back control - 2025 is the year of inbox zero. If anyone also wants to take back control of their inboxes and empower their teams to do so, check out Superhuman at superhuman.com/gtmnow " - Scott Barker The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 128: The Death of Demos and Selling What Customers Actually Need with Fred Viet 49:37

20 weeks ago49:37

49:37

Fred Viet serves as the Chief Sales Officer at Aircall, overseeing global sales and playing a key role in scaling the company's reach over the last four years. With a background that includes leadership roles at AWS, Microsoft, and Lenovo, Fred brings a wealth of experience in building high-performing teams and driving revenue growth. Discussed in this Episode: The differences between selling in APAC and North America markets The evolving role of partnerships and channels in software sales Strategies for effective annual revenue planning The impact of AI on sales processes and team structures The future of SaaS pricing models and their implications for sales organizations Highlights: (3:29) Differences between selling in APAC and North America. (9:10) The importance of understanding your ICP in partnerships. (15:07) Advice on avoiding job-hopping early in your career. (19:59) The impact of AI on sales team structures. (24:34) The potential of AI to level the playing field for SMBs. (30:10) Mistakes to avoid in annual revenue planning. (35:46) The shift from demo-centric selling to value-based conversations (41:38) Strategies for aligning sales and marketing teams. (31:55) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Fred thinks is bull$***. (43:28) One thing that is working for Fred/Aircall in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (Fred Viet): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredviet/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: https://gtmnow.com/tag/newsletter/ Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/GTMnow_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTM_now The GTM Podcast (on all major directories): https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/ Product GTMfund is Using: Superhuman " Most people know that I am almost always on, regardless of holidays, but I certainly am not checking email as much as I normally would. And this year I came back to work and had so many emails in my inbox… the number was scary. But since I started using Superhuman last quarter, I was able to get back to inbox zero within minutes. It helps me and the team be so much more productive. I don’t know how I didn’t start on Superhuman sooner. It was the most seamless onboarding experience - everything in my inbox synced within minutes. Superhuman works with your existing Gmail or Outlook accounts. New year, time to take back control - 2025 is the year of inbox zero. If anyone also wants to take back control of their inboxes and empower their teams to do so, check out Superhuman at superhuman.com/gtmnow " - Scott Barker The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 127: B2B Bull$*** to Avoid 19:24

22 weeks ago19:24

19:24

Each week, host Scott Barker asks guests two key questions, and this week, we're diving into their responses to: What is one widely held belief that revenue leaders have that you think is bull$** or no longer serving us? Featuring hot takes from leaders at HubSpot, Brex, GitHub, and more, this compilation challenges the status quo and might just change how you think about volume vs. value, outbound sales, and hiring in 2025. Discussed in this Episode: The problem with putting too much weight on volume over value Is outbound actually dead Should you hire for specialized skills or domain expertise Highlights: (3:47) The first theme: value matters more than volume. (4:10) The importance of prioritizing value, not volume. (6:29) The second theme: the future of outbound. (7:12) Why sellers need to generate demand. (10:38) The third theme: hiring based on past experience. (11:46) Why you shouldn't hire a sales leader for their playbook. (15:44) Dennis Lyandres on what experience to look for when hiring. Episodes Mentioned: https://gtmnow.com/gtm-99-mastering-customer-success-in-ai-new-age-jon-dick/ https://gtmnow.com/scaling-to-100m-arr-with-creative-demand-gen-sam-blond/ https://gtmnow.com/gtm-98-from-ic-to-cro-at-git-hub-building-high-performing-revenue-growth-engine-elizabeth-pemmerl/ https://gtmnow.com/gtm-121-listening-to-customers-without-obeying-crunchbase-neal-patel/ https://gtmnow.com/gtm-110-vertical-saas-secrets-unlocking-growth-prices-law-dennis-lyandres/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: https://gtmnow.com/tag/newsletter/ Product GTMfund is Using: Superhuman " Most people know that I am almost always on, regardless of holidays, but I certainly am not checking email as much as I normally would. And this year I came back to work and had so many emails in my inbox… the number was scary. But since I started using Superhuman last quarter, I was able to get back to inbox zero within minutes. It helps me and the team be so much more productive. I don’t know how I didn’t start on Superhuman sooner. It was the most seamless onboarding experience - everything in my inbox synced within minutes. Superhuman works with your existing Gmail or Outlook accounts. New year, time to take back control - 2025 is the year of inbox zero. If anyone also wants to take back control of their inboxes and empower their teams to do so, check out Superhuman at superhuman.com/gtmnow " - Scott Barker The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 126: Reverse Engineering the Founder Journey: From Scaling Twitter Ads to $650M, 20 Years Operating, and a Webflow Acquisition | Guy Yalif 53:28

23 weeks ago53:28

53:28

Guy Yalif is a seasoned B2B SaaS executive with over 20 years of go-to-market experience. As the co-founder and CEO of Intellimize (acquired by Webflow), Guy brings a unique perspective from his journey through iconic companies like Microsoft, Yahoo, and Twitter, as well as his background in aerospace engineering. Guy holds a bachelor's degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University and an MBA from Stanford University. Discussed in this Episode: Learnings from each major company in Guy's 20+ leadership career: Microsoft, Tradeweave (first employee and executive committee), Yahoo, Twitter, BrightRoll and Intellimize. Building 'opinionated products' and the importance of customer intimacy Lessons learned from scaling Twitter's ad business from zero to $650 million in three years. The challenges and rewards of founding and growing a startup for nine years. Strategies for building relationships with PR outlets, reporters, and analysts. Highlights: (5:22) The power of customer intimacy in product development. (15:41) Scaling Twitter's ad business and managing hyper-growth. (26:54) The existential dread of being a startup founder. (37:56) Building relationships with PR outlets and reporters. (45:40) Debunking the myth of sacrificing personal life for startup success. (49:07) The effectiveness of small group events in go-to-market strategies. (31:55) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Guy thinks is bull$*** (49:07) One thing that is working for Guy in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (Guy Yalif): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gyalif Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/SalesHacker YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTM_now The GTM Podcast (on all major directories): https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/ Resource we Recommend: HG Insights . Feeling that AI FOMO? You’re not alone. That’s why HG Insights created The Next Generation of Sales AI report — to calm the FOMO and help you bring AI to your GTM teams. It includes a breakdown of the Sales AI landscape, adoption of GenAI and Sales software across buyer groups. Plus, an analysis of the top 75 trending sales AI tools. Why HG Insights? Simple. They’ve been writing market reports for years as the pioneer of tech adoption and market insights. Trusted by GTM leaders at the likes of Snowflake Five9 and Google Cloud to improve GTM efficiency. Thinking about AI for your sales team but unsure where to start? The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 125: From Flip-Flops to a $500M Exit as CRO, Secrets to Scaling with Martin Roth 1:02:49

25 weeks ago1:02:49

1:02:49

Martin Roth is the former CRO of Levelset, where he led the company from its first dollar in ARR to a $500 million acquisition by Procore in 2021. Currently, he's the founder of MartinRoth.com, specializing in helping startups scale from $1M to $10M in ARR. Martin brings a wealth of experience in building and scaling sales teams, developing effective go-to-market strategies, and navigating the challenges of startup growth. Discussed in this Episode: Martin's journey from selling flip-flops to leading a $500M exit The challenges and lessons learned in scaling Levelset from $1M to $25M+ ARR Insights on building effective sales playbooks and team structures The importance of in-person customer interactions in today's digital world Debunking myths about cold outreach and micromanagement in sales Highlights: (08:58) Building the first SaaS product and transitioning to recurring revenue. (14:58) The evolution of Levelset's sales motion and pricing strategy. (29:06) The importance of sales playbooks and codifying the sales process. (35:30) Optimal team structures for SMB sales organizations. (52:25) Why in-person sales environments are crucial for early-career development. (53:46) Debunking the myth that cold outreach is dead. (57:57) The effectiveness of in-person field events and road shows. (52:25) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Martin thinks is bull$***(57:57) One thing that is working for Martin in go-to-market right now Guest Speaker Links (Martin Roth): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinrothsaas/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: https://gtmnow.com/tag/newsletter/ Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand): Website: https://gtmnow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/SalesHacker YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTM_now The GTM Podcast (on all major directories): https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/ Resource we Recommend: HG Insights . Feeling that AI FOMO? You’re not alone. That’s why HG Insights created The Next Generation of Sales AI report — to calm the FOMO and help you bring AI to your GTM teams. It includes a breakdown of the Sales AI landscape, adoption of GenAI and Sales software across buyer groups. Plus, an analysis of the top 75 trending sales AI tools. Why HG Insights? Simple. They’ve been writing market reports for years as the pioneer of tech adoption and market insights. Trusted by GTM leaders at the likes of Snowflake Five9 and Google Cloud to improve GTM efficiency. Thinking about AI for your sales team but unsure where to start? The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 124: The State of Sales with Mark Kosoglow 53:34

26 weeks ago53:34

53:34

Mark Kosoglow is the Co-Founder and CEO of Operator.ai, a company incubated by GTMfund. Mark was employee #1 at Outreach and former SVP of Global Sales, where he helped grow the company from zero to over $200 million in revenue. He is joined in this special edition podcast episode by Max Altschuler, Founder and General Partner of GTMfund. Discussed in this Episode: The fallacy of "what got you here won't get you there" in revenue leadership. The current state of sales technology and its impact on buyer engagement. The vision for Operator and how it aims to revolutionize the sales process. The importance of personalization and relevance in sales outreach. Strategies for breaking through the noise and attracting buyers into conversations. Highlights: (1:35) Mark's journey from Outreach to founding Operator. (4:33) Challenging the notion of constantly changing leadership in growing companies. (10:00) The problem with current sales automation and AI strategies. (20:25) The concept of "the great ignore" in sales messaging. (24:11) How Operator aims to change the day-to-day activities of salespeople. (37:47) The importance of creativity, connection, and focus in sales. (45:48) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Mark thinks is bull$***. (47:48) One thing that is working for Mark in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (Mark Kosoglow) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkosoglow/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Product Recommendation: Apollo " The revenue tech stack is messy right now. If you are one of those leaders, I would recommend that you take a look at Apollo. Maybe you think you know Apollo, maybe you’ve taken a look at them in the past but I’ve looked under the hood recently and if your goal is to reduce and simplify your tech stack AND have best in breed data layered in with AI - they would be at the top of my list. There’s a reason Rippling and Stripe switched over. We worked with their team to create an interactive demo page. You can check it out at: https://www.apollo.io/gtm Almost all I hear these days is “we need to figure out how to best leverage AI in our sales process” and “how can we consolidate/simplify our tech stack.” With Apollo I believe you can accomplish both." - Scott Barker The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 123: Customer Experience Fuels Business Growth, Build a Customer-First Culture with Kim Peretti 56:27

26 weeks ago56:27

56:27

Kim Peretti is an experienced Customer Success executive with over 25 years in the technology industry. Her most recent role was as Chief Customer Officer at Klaviyo, where she transformed the customer success organization during the company’s hypergrowth, and played a key role in preparing the company for its IPO. Prior to Klaviyo she was the Group Vice President of Customer Success at DocuSign, where she built and lead successful strategies that delivered key customer outcomes and results. Kim's extensive background also includes leadership positions in Customer Success at renowned technology companies such as Adobe, Qlik, and Symantec. Her career reflects a strong commitment to driving customer impact and achieving business results. Discussed in this Episode: The importance of building a customer-first culture from day one Strategies for aligning sales, marketing, and customer success teams The role of data in understanding and driving customer health How to implement an effective voice of the customer program The misconception that customer success managers alone can solve churn The impact of shared compensation goals on cross-functional collaboration Highlights: (1:56) Kim's journey through top tech companies and the power of networking. (5:39) The importance of customer experience from the first marketing touch. (8:38) Shifting focus from new logos to customer retention and expansion. (15:10) Implementing shared compensation goals across teams. (20:37) Building a voice of the customer program. (35:17) The role of partnerships in customer success. (40:37) Using data to understand what makes customers healthy. (45:58) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Kim thinks is bull$***. (47:58) One thing that is working for Kim in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (Kim Peretti): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-peretti-2b719730/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: www.gtmnow.com/tag/newsletter/ Product Recommendation: Apollo " The revenue tech stack is messy right now. If you are one of those leaders, I would recommend that you take a look at Apollo. Maybe you think you know Apollo, maybe you’ve taken a look at them in the past but I’ve looked under the hood recently and if your goal is to reduce and simplify your tech stack AND have best in breed data layered in with AI - they would be at the top of my list. There’s a reason Rippling and Stripe switched over. We worked with their team to create an interactive demo page. You can check it out at: https://www.apollo.io/gtm Almost all I hear these days is “we need to figure out how to best leverage AI in our sales process” and “how can we consolidate/simplify our tech stack.” With Apollo I believe you can accomplish both." - Scott Barker The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 122: The 4 Ps of Sales Success: People, Process, Platforms, Performance with Phil Hernandez 43:53

27 weeks ago43:53

43:53

Phil Hernandez is the VP of Sales Services at TaskUs. He has spent the past 20 years skillfully building and transforming numerous Go-To-Market (GTM) teams. He possesses an unwavering commitment to mastering sales systems and demonstrates expertise in orchestrating organizational change aimed at cultivating high-performance revenue teams. His diverse industry background ranges from Tech/SaaS, Big Data, Adtech/Media, and CPG. He has implemented best practices in Startup, Scale Up, Public, and Private Equity operating environments as well as driving many transformational initiatives. As a revenue architecture expert, Phil specializes in operationalizing best practices and implementing scalable, data-driven solutions to elevate customer satisfaction throughout their buyer’s journey. Discussed in this Episode: The importance of cross-functional alignment in go-to-market strategies Balancing strategic planning with day-to-day sales execution Tactics for breaking down silos between marketing, sales, and customer success The myth of work-life balance and finding personal equilibrium Strategies for incentivizing sales teams and driving desired behaviors The danger of seeking "silver bullet" solutions in sales leadership Highlights: (2:49) Phil's journey from Coca-Cola delivery driver to sales leader. (9:41) Challenges in aligning different go-to-market functions. (14:12) Time-blocking strategies for sales leaders. (20:26) How TaskUs increased opportunity conversion 4x through better lead engagement. (24:20) Designing effective sales compensation plans. (32:33) The importance of focusing on micro-wins rather than silver bullets. (35:09) Phil's framework for evaluating go-to-market success: People, Process, Platforms, and Performance. (38:05) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Phil thinks is bull$***. (39:36) One thing that is working for Phil in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (Phil Hernandez): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hernandezphillip/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Product Recommendation: Apollo " The revenue tech stack is messy right now. If you are one of those leaders, I would recommend that you take a look at Apollo. Maybe you think you know Apollo, maybe you’ve taken a look at them in the past but I’ve looked under the hood recently and if your goal is to reduce and simplify your tech stack AND have best in breed data layered in with AI - they would be at the top of my list. There’s a reason Rippling and Stripe switched over. We worked with their team to create an interactive demo page. You can check it out at: https://www.apollo.io/gtm Almost all I hear these days is “we need to figure out how to best leverage AI in our sales process” and “how can we consolidate/simplify our tech stack” - with Apollo I believe you can accomplish both." -Scott Barker The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 121: Listening to Your Customers Without Obeying with Crunchbase's CRO Neal Patel 53:35

29 weeks ago53:35

53:35

Nealesh Patel is the Chief Revenue Officer at Crunchbase, an AI-powered platform that helps over 80 million dealmakers discover and prioritize the right opportunities using best-in-class company data. With over 25 years of experience in the tech industry, Neal has a proven track record of executing progressive growth strategies, landing innovative partnerships, developing revenue streams, and building winning teams. As the leader of Crunchbase's go-to-market functions, and the de facto general manager of its data licensing business, Neal has a cross-functional and holistic understanding of how to provide value to customers and generate revenue. Under his leadership, Crunchbase has more than 4X'd its unique users, increased its annual recurring revenue by over 75x, and secured partnerships with large brands like S&P, LinkedIn, Meta, Oracle, NASDAQ, Amazon, and Snowflake. Neal is also an active board member, advisor, and investor in several high-growth startups. Discussed in this Episode: The importance of listening to customers without blindly obeying their requests How Crunchbase adapted to the rise of ChatGPT and generative AI The value of conducting ongoing customer tours to inform product development and strategy Insights on career growth and taking risks in professional development The future of sales management in the age of AI and rev tech platforms Highlights: (03:45) The concept of "listening to customers without obeying" (09:12) Crunchbase's response to the release of ChatGPT (13:58) Developing predictive signals using Crunchbase's proprietary data (19:32) Career advice: The importance of curiosity and authenticity (22:15) Taking risks and daring to be "stupid" in your career (25:37) The ongoing need for human sales managers in the age of AI (30:42) Why traditional sales playbooks may become obsolete (34:21) Institutionalizing customer tours as a core business practice (37:55) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Neal thinks is bull$*** (39:47) One thing that is working for Neal in go-to-market right now Guest Speaker Links (Neal Patel): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nealeshpatel/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Sponsors: Apollo . The revenue tech stack is messy right now. All the leaders that I’m talking to are reevaluating their stacks from the ground up. Do we really need ten different solutions? If you are one of those leaders, I would recommend that you take a look at Apollo. Maybe you think you know Apollo, maybe you’ve taken a look at them in the past but I’ve looked under the hood recently and if your goal is to reduce and simplify your tech stack AND have best in breed data layered in with AI - they would be at the top of our list. There’s a reason Rippling and Stripe switched over. We worked with their team to create an interactive demo page - you can check it out at: https://www.apollo.io/gtm The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 120: Avoid the AI Sales Skills Atrophy Trap with Peter Kazanjy 51:12

30 weeks ago51:12

51:12

Pete Kazanjy is a serial founder, and seasoned early stage Saas executive, advisor, and investor. He currently leads Atrium, makers of sales performance management software to help organizations measure and improve sales performance. Previously, he founded TalentBin, a talent search engine and recruiting CRM that was acquired by Monster Worldwide in 2014. Pete also authored Founding Sales , a startup sales handbook, and established Modern Sales, the nation’s largest community for sales operations, leadership, and enablement. Modern Sales is an invite-only community with over 30,000 members from 10,000+ sales organizations focused on peer education in sales operations and management. Discussed in this Episode: The impact of zero interest rate policy on sales performance and buyer behavior The importance of accountability and performance management in sales The role of AI in sales and potential risks of over-automation Strategies for effective sales management in the current economic climate The value of "back to basics" approaches in sales, including pipeline generation Highlights: (5:59) Analyzing the drivers behind decreased sales performance in software companies. (11:03) The evolution of sales management roles and responsibilities. (17:58) The importance of accountability in sales management. (22:32) Potential risks of AI automation in sales skills development. (26:45) The need for rigorous performance management across all levels of sales. (34:35) Implementing "PG Tuesday" as an effective pipeline generation strategy. (31:55) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Peter thinks is bull$***. (34:26) One thing that is working for Peter in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (Peter Kazanjy): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kazanjy/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Sponsors: Brought to you by Attention . Attention’s AI-powered call recording platform ensures that your deals are executed flawlessly. It records your calls, generates next-step summaries, action items, and even creates scorecards for every single call, so your reps can continuously improve. But that’s just the beginning. Attention’s generalized insights allow you to ask any question across all of your conversations - think of it like ChatGPT for your sales calls. Attention also lets you build automated workflows tailored to your needs. For example, if a customer mentions they’re at risk of churning during a call, Attention can automatically loop in a sales director and solutions engineer to ensure that customer receives the full white-glove treatment, reducing churn and keeping your business thriving. Attention is helping companies onboard reps faster, increase the productivity of their existing teams, and giving revenue leaders unparalleled visibility into their pipelines—all while automating those tedious manual tasks. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 119: Design Products Backwards From GTM: Lessons from Scaling to $1B+ with David Knight 51:06

31 weeks ago51:06

51:06

David Knight is the Co-founder and CEO of Avarra, an AI-powered platform that simulates human-to-human interactions to accelerate sales onboarding and training. With over 30 years of experience scaling companies from tens of millions to billions in revenue, including WebEx and Proofpoint, David brings a unique perspective on the intertwined nature of product and go-to-market. Discussed in this Episode: The power of AI simulations in providing experiential learning for sales reps. Designing products backwards from the go-to-market motion. Strategies for aligning product and sales teams to drive revenue growth. Rethinking ramp time: it's about at-bats, not arbitrary time periods. Shifting perspective from the sales funnel to the buyer's journey. The future of AI in sales training and enablement. Highlights: (02:24) Simulating human-to-human interactions with AI avatars. (07:44) Creating a fun, engaging environment for sales training. (13:26) Designing products from the go-to-market motion backwards. (19:32) Helping sales leaders win deals as a product leader. (27:08) Listening for pain points, not feature requests, from customers. (31:07) Completely changing the go-to-market motion at Proofpoint. (37:43) Aligning motivations between product and sales teams. (38:43) Rethinking the sales funnel as a buyer's journey. (41:50) Building customized simulations for qualified prospects. (34:55) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that David thinks is bull$***. (41:50) One thing that is working for David in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (David Knight): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrknight/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Sponsors: HG Insights . Feeling that AI FOMO? You’re not alone. That’s why HG Insights created The Next Generation of Sales AI report — to calm the FOMO and help you bring AI to your GTM teams. It includes a breakdown of the Sales AI landscape, adoption of GenAI and Sales software across buyer groups. Plus, an analysis of the top 75 trending sales AI tools. Why HG Insights? Simple. They’ve been writing market reports for years as the pioneer of tech adoption and market insights. Trusted by GTM leaders at the likes of Snowflake Five9 and Google Cloud to improve GTM efficiency. Thinking about AI for your sales team but unsure where to start? This free and ungated report has you covered . The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 118: 5 Must-Try PLG Tactics to Accelerate Growth with Kyle Poyar 55:01

31 weeks ago55:01

55:01

Kyle Poyar is the Co-Founder and Operating Partner at Tremont, with over 8 years of experience at OpenView where he became a leading voice in the product-led growth (PLG) movement. Kyle shares his insights on the inevitability of PLG in an AI-driven future and reveals must-try tactics to accelerate growth using a PLG approach. Discussed in this Episode: Why PLG is becoming inevitable, especially with the rise of AI in software Creative ways companies can build out their PLG motion How social proof and PLG are merging to influence buying decisions Advice for early-stage founders looking to set up a PLG motion The realities of working in venture capital and how to break into the industry Highlights: (4:22) The evolution of PLG from an investment risk to a critical strategy. (9:10) Will the vast majority of software companies have a PLG motion in the future? (18:56) Using product data for marketing purposes. (21:17) Offering an affordable entry-level package to land and expand. (23:44) The increasing importance of social proof in PLG. (31:41) Advice for early-stage founders setting up a PLG motion. (37:43) Kyle's journey from consulting to VC and advice for breaking into venture. (44:43) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Kyle thinks is bull$***(47:59) One thing that is working for Kyle in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (Kyle Poyar): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-poyar/ Newsletter: https://www.growthunhinged.com/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Sponsors: Brought to you by Attention . Attention’s AI-powered call recording platform ensures that your deals are executed flawlessly. It records your calls, generates next-step summaries, action items, and even creates scorecards for every single call, so your reps can continuously improve. But that’s just the beginning. Attention’s generalized insights allow you to ask any question across all of your conversations - think of it like ChatGPT for your sales calls. Attention also lets you build automated workflows tailored to your needs. For example, if a customer mentions they’re at risk of churning during a call, Attention can automatically loop in a sales director and solutions engineer to ensure that customer receives the full white-glove treatment, reducing churn and keeping your business thriving. Attention is helping companies onboard reps faster, increase the productivity of their existing teams, and giving revenue leaders unparalleled visibility into their pipelines—all while automating those tedious manual tasks. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 117: From 0 to Acquisition in 3.5 Years Through Community-Led Growth with Cliff Simon 50:29

33 weeks ago50:29

50:29

Cliff Simon is the CRO of Carabiner Group, a part of SBI Growth, an advisor, and fractional executive for several high-growth start-ups, where he utilizes his expertise in all things GTM and RevOps. He is an active leader in multiple GTM communities. With almost two decades of broad technology experience, he has anchored GTM teams in SaaS & Service industries including consulting, network & communications, software, e-commerce, and supply chain. Having worked in both Fortune 20 and High-Growth Startups, Cliff prefers the fast pace and the ability to deliver significant impact that comes with working in the startup space. Cliff is a recipient of the 2024 Modern Sales Leader award from HubSpot and a 2024Top 50 CRO to Watch by Pavilion. Discussed in this Episode: The power of community-led growth in driving customer acquisition and revenue. Lessons learned from growing and selling a bootstrapped services business. Navigating the challenges of rapid growth, including hiring and managing cash flow. The importance of RevOps and when to invest in a full-time RevOps hire. Predictions for the future of go-to-market, including the rise of micro-businesses and AI. Highlights: (15:43) Driving growth through community involvement and providing value. (22:58) Hiring challenges during rapid growth. (27:34) Identifying potential acquirers and navigating the acquisition process. (33:00) Lessons learned from the acquisition and what Cliff would do differently. (38:27) Predictions for the future of SaaS businesses and go-to-market. (42:16) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Cliff thinks is bull$***. (44:55) One thing that is working for Cliff in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (Cliff Simon): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cliff-simon Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Sponsors: Brought to you by Attention . Attention’s AI-powered call recording platform ensures that your deals are executed flawlessly. It records your calls, generates next-step summaries, action items, and even creates scorecards for every single call, so your reps can continuously improve. But that’s just the beginning. Attention’s generalized insights allow you to ask any question across all of your conversations - think of it like ChatGPT for your sales calls. Attention also lets you build automated workflows tailored to your needs. For example, if a customer mentions they’re at risk of churning during a call, Attention can automatically loop in a sales director and solutions engineer to ensure that customer receives the full white-glove treatment, reducing churn and keeping your business thriving. Attention is helping companies onboard reps faster, increase the productivity of their existing teams, and giving revenue leaders unparalleled visibility into their pipelines—all while automating those tedious manual tasks. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 116: The Future of SEO and AI's Impact, with a $100M+ Product-Led SEO Framework with Eli Schwartz 59:58

33 weeks ago59:58

59:58

Eli Schwartz is an SEO expert and consultant with over a decade of experience driving successful SEO and growth programs for both B2B and B2C companies. He has worked with major brands like Shutterstock, Gusto, WordPress, Quora, Mixpanel, and Zendesk to build and execute global SEO strategies that dramatically increase their visibility at scale. Previously, Eli led the SEO team at SurveyMonkey, growing organic search from nearly zero to one of the largest growth channels at the company. Discussed in this Episode: The product-led SEO framework Eli used to drive SurveyMonkey from 0 to $100M+ in revenue. Why the old model of churning out SEO content is dead and how AI is disrupting the space. Eli's journey from getting rejected at top tech companies to becoming a thriving consultant. The power of deeply understanding your target user and building products for their needs. Actionable advice for making the transition from operator to successful consultant. Highlights: (4:14) Building SEO products tailored to the user intent, not just keywords. (8:19) How Zapier unlocked massive growth with a product-led SEO approach (17:15) Why AI content generation is not a silver bullet - it still requires a purposeful strategy. (22:54) Examples of Eli's product-led SEO wins at SurveyMonkey, Tinder, and Coinbase. (29:31) The biggest mistake people make with SEO is having a diminished understanding of what it can accomplish. (41:28) Eli's best consulting gigs came from job interviews where he got rejected. (44:33) To succeed as a consultant, develop a niche specialty and have customer success stories. (52:23) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Eli thinks is bull$***. (54:49) One thing that is working for Eli in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (Eli Schwartz): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwartze/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Sponsors: HG Insights . Feeling that AI FOMO? You’re not alone. That’s why HG Insights created The Next Generation of Sales AI report — to calm the FOMO and help you bring AI to your GTM teams. It includes a breakdown of the Sales AI landscape, adoption of GenAI and Sales software across buyer groups. Plus, an analysis of the top 75 trending sales AI tools. Why HG Insights? Simple. They’ve been writing market reports for years as the pioneer of tech adoption and market insights. Trusted by GTM leaders at the likes of Snowflake Five9 and Google Cloud to improve GTM efficiency. Thinking about AI for your sales team but unsure where to start? This free and ungated report has you covered. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 115: Lessons from CS to CRO and How Customer Stories are Your Most Powerful Growth Lever with Allison Metcalfe 53:36

35 weeks ago53:36

53:36

A transformational leader who specializes in data driven GTM, Allison Metcalfe has had a non-traditional path to the C Suite - starting in Account Management, and being a leader in the evolution of Customer Success, Allison has held a variety of leadership roles across sales and operations in some of Silicon Valley’s most successful companies including Jigsaw (acquired by Salesforce), Demandbase, Quotient (NYSE: QUOT) and Liveramp (NYSE: RAMP), which went from $30M to $500M in revenue and IPO under her tenure. Discussed in this Episode: Allison's non-traditional journey from customer success to CRO. The importance of building a strong post-sales function early on. Balancing product-led growth with an enterprise sales motion. The qualities that make an effective modern CRO. Leveraging customer stories as a powerful growth lever. Lessons learned from LiveRamp's explosive growth and acquisition by Acxiom. Highlights: (2:13) Choosing companies based on people and gut instinct. (7:40) The transition from purely product-led growth to supporting an enterprise sales motion. (11:52) The risk of neglecting your core customers during growth. (16:31) Operationalizing the transition from self-service to enterprise. (23:55) Lessons learned from LiveRamp's acquisition by Acxiom. (28:14) Overcoming the desire to be liked as a leader. (35:25) Beyoncé's "Sasha Fierce" persona as a leadership tool. (39:16) The role and skills required of a modern CRO. (45:18) The importance of separating new logo sales from account management. (48:29) The power of word-of-mouth and focusing on customer outcomes. Guest Speaker Links (Allison Metcalfe): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonmetcalfe/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Sponsors: HG Insights . Feeling that AI FOMO? You’re not alone. That’s why HG Insights created The Next Generation of Sales AI report — to calm the FOMO and help you bring AI to your GTM teams. It includes a breakdown of the Sales AI landscape, adoption of GenAI and Sales software across buyer groups. Plus, an analysis of the top 75 trending sales AI tools. Why HG Insights? Simple. They’ve been writing market reports for years as the pioneer of tech adoption and market insights. Trusted by GTM leaders at the likes of Snowflake Five9 and Google Cloud to improve GTM efficiency. Thinking about AI for your sales team but unsure where to start? This free and ungated report has you covered. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 114: Audience-First GTM, Fueling Startup Growth via LinkedIn with Adam Robinson 1:00:00

35 weeks ago1:00:00

1:00:00

Adam Robinson is the Founder/CEO of Retention.com and RB2B. Adam bootstrapped Retention.com to $22m ARR in 4 years by helping ecommerce stores identify their anonymous website visitors and send them triggered emails. He launched RB2B in March of 2024 to help SaaS companies identify anonymous website visitors and see their LinkedIn profiles in Slack for free! Adam lives in Austin, TX with his wife Helen and daughter Emma. Discussed in this Episode: Building demand and an audience before creating a product, rather than the traditional approach of building a product first. The power of a founder's personal brand and thought leadership to drive growth, especially in the early stages. The shifting landscape of B2B marketing and sales, and why every SaaS founder will need to build an audience via organic social media to succeed. Persevering through major challenges and low points as a founder, and how these moments can lead to breakthroughs. Highlights: (1:09) The experience of people feeling like they know you from your content. (2:27) Shifting from searching for demand to building demand, then building a product to match. (5:25) Why LinkedIn content creation is an efficient growth engine for startups. (13:29) Factors that led to Adam's LinkedIn content resonating and driving massive growth. (20:56) Swapping value with other founders by cross-pollinating audiences. (22:25) Feeling like content creation is work, not play, and how to build the habit. (30:33) The story of Adam's entire codebase being deleted right before an acquisition. (32:32) Hitting rock bottom with a failed product launch and discovering the next opportunity. (53:36) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Adam thinks is bull$***. (56:17) One thing that is working for Adam in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (Adam Robinson): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/retentionadam Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Sponsors: Upland Altify . A leading provider of AI-enhanced sales solutions, Altify is designed to help revenue teams work smarter. This Salesforce-native suite of sales solutions empowers seller productivity, streamlines workflows, and uncovers hidden opportunities – all leading to significant revenue growth - learn more . Vanta . With Vanta Questionnaire Automation, go-to-market teams can complete security reviews up to 5 times faster, helping you close deals in less time than ever. Over 8,000 global companies use Vanta to streamline security questionnaires and close deals fast. Experience Questionnaire Automation with a self-guided product tour, no sign-up required, at vanta.com/gtmnow . The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 113: Operator.ai, Solving the Great Ignore and GTMfund Incubating a Company with Mark Kosoglow and Max Altschuler 38:49

36 weeks ago38:49

38:49

Mark Kosoglow is the Co-Founder and CEO of Operator.ai, a company incubated by GTMfund. Mark was employee #1 at Outreach and former SVP of Global Sales, where he helped grow the company from zero to over $200 million in revenue. He is joined in this special edition podcast episode by Max Altschuler, Founder and General Partner of GTMfund. Discussed in this Episode: The current state of sales and marketing tech, with too much automation leading to spam and prospects tuning out messages. The Great Ignore, the place we have reached where buyers are ignoring 90% of sales activity. How basic contact and account data has become commoditized and no longer provides a competitive advantage. The launch of Operator, its manifesto and mission. The founding story and team behind Operator, including Mark and Max's history of working together. Operator's unique approach to using AI for finding interesting insights to enable relevant, targeted outreach. Incubating a company within GTMfund. Highlights: (4:00) Mark's background at Outreach and the early days of sales automation. (6:41) The problem with relying solely on basic contact and account data for outreach. (8:41) How Operator uses AI to find unique insights for personalizing outreach (14:01) The vision for Operator: going from 20 sales touches to book a meeting back down to 2. (27:58) The founding story of Operator and how the team came together. (32:47) Comparing Operator's approach to other sales tech tools and their shortcomings. (38:00) The dangers of AI-powered spam and the need for more targeted, relevant outreach. Guest Speaker Links (Mark Kosoglow): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkosoglow/ Host Speaker Links (Max Altschuler): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/maxaltschuler/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Sponsor: Brought to you by Attention . Attention’s AI-powered call recording platform ensures that your deals are executed flawlessly. It records your calls, generates next-step summaries, action items, and even creates scorecards for every single call, so your reps can continuously improve. But that’s just the beginning. Attention’s generalized insights allow you to ask any question across all of your conversations - think of it like ChatGPT for your sales calls. Attention also lets you build automated workflows tailored to your needs. For example, if a customer mentions they’re at risk of churning during a call, Attention can automatically loop in a sales director and solutions engineer to ensure that customer receives the full white-glove treatment, reducing churn and keeping your business thriving. Attention is helping companies onboard reps faster, increase the productivity of their existing teams, and giving revenue leaders unparalleled visibility into their pipelines—all while automating those tedious manual tasks. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 112: The Ultimate MarTech Guide and the Great Contraction with Austin Hay 1:12:10

36 weeks ago1:12:10

1:12:10

Austin Hay is the Co-Founder of Clarify, a new intelligent CRM built as a platform that developers love. He is also a Partner and MarTech Teacher at Reforge, as well as a MarTech Advisor and GTM Investor at HBE Ventures. With a background leading marketing technology teams at high-growth startups like Ramp, Branch, and mParticle, Austin brings a wealth of expertise on the evolving MarTech and RevTech landscape. Discussed in this Episode: The current state of MarTech and RevTech, and why we're headed for a "great contraction" after years of expansion. The future of CRMs and what a next-gen system should look like to unify data and provide more out-of-the-box functionality. Advice for founders and leaders on being selective with tools, focusing on a few things done well, and the importance of treating people with respect. Austin's journey building Clarify and his perspectives on brand, culture, and community. Highlights: (5:46) Why the MarTech and RevTech space is a "mess" right now. (13:05) Fundamental building blocks for an effective GTM tech stack. (21:15) The problem with how most companies are assembling their RevTech stack today. (36:45) The future of CRMs as systems of action, not just systems of record. (44:48) The most impactful lesson from Austin's career on how to treat people when they leave your company. (52:25) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Austin thinks is bull$***. (59:18) One thing that is working for Austin in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (Austin Hay): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinahay/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Sponsors: Brought to you by Upland Altify . A leading provider of AI-enhanced sales solutions, Altify is designed to help revenue teams work smarter. This Salesforce-native suite of sales solutions empowers seller productivity, streamlines workflows, and uncovers hidden opportunities – all leading to significant revenue growth - learn more . Brought to you by Vanta . With Vanta Questionnaire Automation, go-to-market teams can complete security reviews up to 5 times faster, helping you close deals in less time than ever. Over 8,000 global companies use Vanta to streamline security questionnaires and close deals fast. Experience Questionnaire Automation with a self-guided product tour, no sign-up required, at vanta.com/gtmnow . The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 111: Behind the Scenes on Apollo.io's PLG Funnel, Leveraging AI, and Redefining Sales Success with Leandra Fishman 53:09

38 weeks ago53:09

53:09

Leandra Fishman is the Chief Revenue Officer at Apollo.io , a leading go-to-market solution for sales and marketing teams. Apollo.io is one of the fastest-growing companies in SaaS, with 9x ARR growth since 2021 and currently valued at $1.6 billion. Leandra brings over 30 years of experience to Apollo.io. Most recently, Fishman was the CRO at Intercom, which during her tenure ranked No. 35 on the 2022 Forbes Cloud 100 List with over $200 million in annual revenue. Previously, as the SVP of Sales and Success for SendGrid, she led the company through a successful IPO and helped double its market cap in its first year as a public company. As an executive consultant, she has executed projects ranging from developing sales and marketing strategies for startups to creating business plans and serving in an advisory role for venture capitalist firms and board members. Discussed in this Episode: Apollo's product-led growth (PLG) model and how it enables a great customer experience. Balancing self-serve and sales-assisted motions to drive growth across segments. The role of AI in enhancing sales productivity rather than replacing salespeople. Advice for salespeople on redefining success and being kind to yourself. Leandra's unconventional journey to becoming a CRO and lessons learned along the way. Highlights: (10:25) The power of Apollo's PLG model in driving growth. (13:13) Balancing self-serve and sales-assisted motions. (18:01) How larger deals can come through with minimal sales interaction in a PLG model. (23:47) The future of AI in sales as an enhancement rather than replacement. (29:46) Leandra's journey from starting in sales to becoming a CRO. (44:15) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Leandra thinks is bull$***.(49:30) One thing that is working for Leandra in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (Leandra Fishman): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leandra-fishman/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Sponsors: Brought to you by Upland Altify . A leading provider of AI-enhanced sales solutions, Altify is designed to help revenue teams work smarter. This Salesforce-native suite of sales solutions empowers seller productivity, streamlines workflows, and uncovers hidden opportunities – all leading to significant revenue growth - learn more . Brought to you by IPS . Most recruiting firms fill an order, but IPS is a different breed of search firm. They dig into your business to understand its current state and the future vision and are relentlessly in pursuit of the very best leaders, sales people, marketers, and engineering talent out there. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 110: Vertical SaaS Secrets and Unlocking Growth with Price's Law with Dennis Lyandres 1:04:16

39 weeks ago1:04:16

1:04:16

Dennis Lyandres is currently an Advisor at Iconiq Growth. Before that, Dennis spent 8.5 years with Procore during which time Procore grew from $10m to over $900m+ in revenue and went public on the NYSE. Dennis started at Procore as EVP of Sales in 2014, before moving to the CRO role in 2018 where he was responsible for driving revenue across all customer-facing functions including Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, Rev Ops, Procore.org and Business Development. Before joining Procore, he held various sales and sales management roles at Cloudera and Pentaho. Discussed in this Episode: Applying the concept of Price's Law to identify and maximize the impact of top talent in an organization. Go-to-market strategies for vertical SaaS companies to win in their market, such as going hyperlocal and focusing on multi-product. The importance of hiring for potential and experience with scale over domain expertise. Personal growth lessons on reframing your relationship with drive and ambition. Highlights: (13:23) Applying Price's Law to identify and maximize top talent. (18:13) Overcoming HR pushback on programs for top performers. (28:35) Rallying the whole organization around key customer accounts. (32:02) Go-to-market strategies for vertical SaaS: going hyperlocal and focusing on multi-product. (55:15) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Dennis thinks is bull$***. Guest Speaker Links & Referenced Resource (Dennis Lyandres): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dlyandres ICONIQ Report: Sales Leadership, A Hiring Blueprint Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Sponsors: Brought to you by Upland Altify . A leading provider of AI-enhanced sales solutions, Altify is designed to help revenue teams work smarter. This Salesforce-native suite of sales solutions empowers seller productivity, streamlines workflows, and uncovers hidden opportunities – all leading to significant revenue growth - learn more . Brought to you by Vanta . With Vanta Questionnaire Automation, go-to-market teams can complete security reviews up to 5 times faster, helping you close deals in less time than ever. Over 8,000 global companies use Vanta to streamline security questionnaires and close deals fast. Visit vanta.com/gtmnow to learn more. Brought to you by IPS . Most recruiting firms fill an order, but IPS is a different breed of search firm. They dig into your business to understand its current state and the future vision and are relentlessly in pursuit of the very best leaders, sales people, marketers, and engineering talent out there. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 109: Behind the Scenes on Building Braze and Incubating 2 Companies with Mark Ghermezian 55:11

40 weeks ago55:11

55:11

Mark Ghermezian co-founded Braze (BRZE) and led the company as it’s founding CEO, pioneering a new category. He is also the Founder and General Partner at m]x[v Capital, and Co-Founder and CEO of Gynger and Tildei, two companies that he incubated through the venture firm. He is a serial entrepreneur and successful investor with 20+ years of experience in founding, building, and investing in early-stage SaaS startups. Discussed in this Episode: Learnings from growing Braze . The behind the scenes on incubating two companies. How to identify and hire problem solvers who can execute independently. The value of delegating effectively to scale and empower your team. Navigating the challenges of raising funding and finding product-market fit. Building a strong internal BDR team versus outsourcing sales efforts. The role of conviction and intuition in entrepreneurship and investing. Highlights: (7:10) The domino effect of luck, timing, and key decisions in Braze's success. (21:55) Mark reflects on the humbling experience of taking Braze public and the role of his team. (28:30) Advice for founders on structuring their cap table and choosing the right investors. (36:41) Raising Gynger's Series A and how it differed from Braze's early fundraising. (45:09) A pivotal moment in Mark's leadership journey and learning to delegate effectively. (49:04) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Mark thinks is bull$***. (51:44) One thing that is working for Mark in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (Mark Ghermezian): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/markgher/ m]x[v Capital: www.mxv.vc/ Gynger: www.gynger.io/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Sponsors: Brought to you by Apollo . Ever wonder what automating your entire outbound workflow could do for your revenue team? Apollo.io brings this to life by centralizing your entire go-to-market execution in one platform. Sellers using automation in their outbound efforts see a 70% increase in open rates and 4x more meetings booked while saving hours on manual, tedious tasks. Brought to you by IPS . Most recruiting firms fill an order, but IPS is a different breed of search firm. They dig into your business to understand its current state and the future vision and are relentlessly in pursuit of the very best leaders, sales people, marketers, and engineering talent out there. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 108: From CPA to CRO - Lessons from a 25-Year Software Sales Career with Matt Breslin 52:05

41 weeks ago52:05

52:05

As Upland's Chief Revenue Officer, Matt Breslin oversees customer success, demand generation and communications, sales, revenue enablement, and revenue analysis, supporting our Shared Services Organization. Matt has 25 years of experience in the software industry, most recently leading a $700 million business at Infor. Prior to that, he held senior leadership positions at SAP and Oracle, driving incredible results across the board. Matt started his career as a Certified Public Accountant for Price Waterhouse and Kraft Foods. Discussed in this Episode: The importance of avoiding blind spots in the sales process and aligning the sales process with the customer's business pains and processes. Lessons learned from closing a multi-million dollar deal early in his career, including the value of attention to detail and building strong customer relationships. The benefits of focusing sales teams on specific sales motions, such as new logo acquisition or account expansion. Highlights: (14:10) Challenging the belief that 3-5X pipeline coverage is the answer to sales problems. (18:44) The story of driving to a customer's child's soccer game to close a multi-million dollar deal. (26:01) The biggest surprise when transitioning from an individual contributor to a leader. (41:06) The importance of aligning sales teams to the right motions. (44:16) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Matt thinks is bull$***. (45:23) One thing that is working for Matt in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker (Matt Breslin): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-breslin-09a4354/ Sponsors: Brought to you by Apollo . Ever wonder what automating your entire outbound workflow could do for your revenue team? Apollo.io brings this to life by centralizing your entire go-to-market execution in one platform. Sellers using automation in their outbound efforts see a 70% increase in open rates and 4x more meetings booked while saving hours on manual, tedious tasks. Brought to you by Vanta . Your deal is almost closed, and all that’s left is the security review. But when it comes to those lengthy security questionnaires, the endless back and forths can often cause deals to stall out, leaving your deal at risk and dollars on the table. With Vanta Questionnaire Automation, GTM teams can complete security reviews up to 5X faster. Over 8,000 global companies use Vanta to streamline security questionnaires and close deals fast. Register for an upcoming webinar with live Q&A here . Brought to you by IPS . Most recruiting firms fill an order, but IPS is a different breed of search firm. They dig into your business to understand its current state and the future vision and are relentlessly in pursuit of the very best leaders, sales people, marketers, and engineering talent out there. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 107: Fueling Growth with AI-Powered Marketing Experiments | Adriana Gil Miner 44:37

42 weeks ago44:37

44:37

Adriana Gil Miner is CMO at Iterable, the AI-powered customer communication platform. Passionate about customer engagement, her leadership has contributed to Iterable's success in helping brands like Redfin, Priceline, and Volvo deliver individualized, harmonized and dynamic communications at scale. Prior to her role at Iterable, Adriana held influential senior leadership positions at Tableau, where she significantly contributed to the company's remarkable growth from $250 million to over $1 billion, culminating in the successful Salesforce acquisition. Her leadership also left an indelible mark on Qumulo, a data storage startup, and Artefact, with its spinoff—10,000ft—acquired by Smartsheet in 2019. Gil Miner’s 20+ years of marketing experience span prominent names like American Express, Digitas, and Weber Shandwick. Discussed in this Episode: Leveraging AI and ChatGPT for creative, high-volume ad testing and optimization. The importance of post-sale marketing and customer lifecycle management. Applying B2C marketing strategies to enhance B2B customer engagement and retention. Emerging B2B marketing trends, including SMS as a core communication channel. Building authentic influence through community, word-of-mouth, and organic channels. The declining relevance of traditional PR and analyst relations in the face of digital influence. Highlights: (13:45) Using ChatGPT to generate and test 300+ ads, breaking demo request records. (20:25) The untapped potential of post-sale marketing and customer lifecycle in B2B. (25:30) SMS predicted to become a key B2B engagement channel. (29:56) Iterable's marketing team now has a dedicated expansion pipeline goal. (33:39) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Adriana thinks is bull$***.(36:47) One thing that is working for Adriana in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (Adriana Gil Miner): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/agilminer/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Sponsors: Brought to you by Apollo . Ever wonder what automating your entire outbound workflow could do for your revenue team? Apollo.io brings this to life by centralizing your entire go-to-market execution in one platform. Sellers using automation in their outbound efforts see a 70% increase in open rates and 4x more meetings booked while saving hours on manual, tedious tasks. Brought to you by IPS . Most recruiting firms fill an order, but IPS is a different breed of search firm. They dig into your business to understand its current state and the future vision and are relentlessly in pursuit of the very best leaders, sales people, marketers, and engineering talent out there. Whether you want advice, have one hard to fill role or a team buildout, we can't recommend IPS enough. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 106: Mastering the Transition from PLG to PLS with Andrew Johnston 51:27

42 weeks ago51:27

51:27

Andrew Johnston is currently the Head of Sales at Superhuman, where he leads the go-to-market strategy as part of the executive team. Previously, he built the Mid-Market and PLS motion at Scale AI and led the global sales team at SendGrid following its acquisition by Twilio and its IPO. Discussed in this Episode: The key differences between product-led growth (PLG) and product-led sales (PLS). When and why companies should consider transitioning from PLG to PLS. The challenges of combining distinct sales teams during an acquisition. How to effectively enable sales reps during a product expansion. The importance of understanding your ideal customer profile (ICP) for successful PLS. Strategies for moving upmarket, such as implementing paid pilots. Creating career paths and incentives for sales reps in different segments. Highlights: (9:50) Andrew's definition of product-led growth and how it differs from product-led sales. (12:16) The triggers for considering a transition from a PLG to a PLS approach. (25:00) The challenges faced when combining SendGrid and Twilio's sales teams post-acquisition. (32:49) How Twilio's unique "estimated ARR" commission structure impacted sales behavior. (35:55) Using SendGrid as a "trojan horse" to expand Twilio's presence in customer accounts. (42:00) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Andrew thinks is bull$*** (47:09) One thing that is working for Andrew in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (Andrew Johnston): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewfoxjohnston/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Sponsors: Brought to you by Apollo . Ever wonder what automating your entire outbound workflow could do for your revenue team? Apollo.io brings this to life by centralizing your entire go-to-market execution in one platform. Sellers using automation in their outbound efforts see a 70% increase in open rates and 4x more meetings booked while saving hours on manual, tedious tasks. Brought to you by IPS . Most recruiting firms fill an order, but IPS is a different breed of search firm. They dig into your business to understand its current state and the future vision and are relentlessly in pursuit of the very best leaders, sales people, marketers, and engineering talent out there. Whether you want advice, have one hard to fill role or a team buildout, we can't recommend IPS enough. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 105: Scaling to $100M ARR with Creative Demand Gen and Hiring Discipline with Sam Blond 1:09:16

44 weeks ago1:09:16

1:09:16

Sam Blond is the former Chief Revenue Officer at Brex, where he scaled revenue from $1M to hundreds of millions in ARR. Prior to Brex, Sam served as VP of Sales at Zenefits, growing revenue from $1M to $70M in just two years. After his operating roles, Sam joined Founders Fund as an investing partner before leaving to co-found a new startup. Discussed in this Episode: Why investing early in sales ops and rev ops is critical for scaling revenue. How to generate demand through creative campaigns and a "concentric circles" approach. The risks of scaling sales teams too quickly based on flawed hiring models. What VCs look for in a compelling founder pitch, beyond just business metrics. Why focusing on generating pipeline is often better than optimizing conversions. How to leverage customer marketing and "raving fans" as an early acquisition channel. Highlights: [5:00] – Sam's incredible track record scaling Brex and Zenefits from $1M to $100M+ ARR. [13:58] – Outlining the most creative and successful demand gen campaigns run at Brex. [20:17] – The importance of sustaining a culture of creativity in marketing as you scale. [33:35] – Mistakes made at Zenefits: investing in rev ops too late, deprioritizing customer experience, hiring too fast. [43:45] – What VCs look for in founders when metrics alone aren't enough to get the deal done. [52:15] – One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Sam thinks is bull$*** [60:21] – One thing that is working for Sam in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Links (Sam Blond): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-blond-791026b/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker): LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Sponsors: Brought to you by Flex . Flex is a finance super app built around a credit card with unique Net-60 day terms that enables businesses to make an investment today and pay it back 60 days later with zero percent interest. If your business growth is constrained by the cashflow you need for inventory, advertising, or something else, Flex could provide you with an interesting growth lever. The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth. Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.…

The GTM Podcast

1
GTM 104: Winning with Systems and Relationships in Sales Leadership with Ralph Barsi 52:13

45 weeks ago52:13