Best Mikkel Plæhn Podcasts (2024)

1
When volume won't cut it 30:57

1h ago30:57

30:57

There's a phase shift that happens to any b2b SaaS company. The shift away from volume to efficiency. When is it time to shift, and how do you go about it? That's what we discuss. (00:00) - Introduction (01:56) - Is volume still the thing? (07:04) - Shifting Focus away (13:00) - The Process (16:40) - Budget Reallocation Strategies (17:11) - Convers…

1
3 ways to stop indecision 30:46

4d ago30:46

30:46

You're not losing to competitors. You're losing to indecision, most often heard like this: "Sorry, it's not the right time. Let's reconnect". And it's no surprise, layoffs, budget cuts and more has led to a fear of messing up. We discuss three ways to overcome indecision. (00:00) - Introduction (04:26) - Sales Challenges and Indecision (05:58) - Ec…

1
Why BI Sucks 27:46

12d ago27:46

27:46

BI tools promised to solve the "data starved" teams, giving them access to make decisions. However, we see quite a few challenges that you should know. That's why we dive into our experience with business intelligence. (00:00) - Introduction (02:51) - The Challenges of BI Implementation (05:52) - The High Costs of BI Tools and Expertise (09:01) - T…

1
Hiring for the logo & other mistakes 33:30

19d ago33:30

33:30

It's time to talk about hiring for b2b SaaS. With the change from 'growth at all costs' to efficient growth, hiring is more important than ever. In the episode, we get into (00:00) - Introduction (02:41) - Why talk about hiring? (06:53) - It's time for the "suite and tie" folks (12:51) - Testcases are kinda useless (16:51) - What is it you're hirin…

1
Secrets to winning in hyper competitive markets 34:07

26d ago34:07

34:07

What can we learn from hyper competitive markets in SaaS? That's exactly what we asked in this episode. We get into the pitfalls and strategies you can use to do better against the competition. (00:00) - Introduction (03:44) - Hyper compeitive markets (06:12) - Pitfalls to watch out for (10:18) - Disruption happens (13:42) - What are folks gonna do…

1
NPS can't predict churn 29:38

1M ago29:38

29:38

No, net promoter score can't predict churn. We cover the alternatives in todays episode (00:00) - Introduction (04:14) - What is NPS and why does it suck? (10:22) - Predict & prevent churn (11:02) - Signals (16:13) - Customer vintages (21:32) - The process *** This episode is brought to you by Growblocks. Finding and fixing problems in your GTM sho…

1
Use this framework to run root cause analysis 32:52

1M ago32:52

32:52

Here's the method used by Toyota to run root cause analysis. It's called the 5M framework, and helps you look at problems from multiple angles - so you can prevent them from happening again. (00:00) - Introduction (03:56) - How Toyota would run RCA (04:50) - 5M overview (06:22) - Manpower (10:47) - Machinery (14:03) - Material (18:28) - Method (23:…

1
Why we think we need RevOps (and why we really need it) 33:40

2M ago33:40

33:40

We think we need RevOps because: Systems. Tools. Data.. And they all have merits, but, there's a few other yet very important reasons to bring RevOps on let alone have them in the first place. Listen in and find out! (00:00) - Introduction (03:47) - Why do we need it? (05:04) - "We gotta call someone" (11:55) - When is a strategic focus even needed…

1
Do you have one of these GTM problems? 30:01

2M ago30:01

30:01

There's 3 GTM problems we see over and over again - and they can totally be avoided. Listen to the episode to learn if you've got one of the problems. (00:00) - Introduction (02:09) - Calling out the problem (05:14) - 1: Everyone secretly knows (13:16) - 2: Acquisition is a mess (17:40) - Contingency planning (19:42) - 3: Blindsided by churn (21:36…

1
Friction by design 31:43

2M ago31:43

31:43

Focused on removing friction? In this episode we discuss when it might be worth it to add some friction instead. (00:00) - Introduction (08:36) - Just try creating one graph (15:44) - Why is there no pricing page?? (23:35) - Support friction *** This episode is brought to you by Growblocks. Finding and fixing problems in your GTM shouldn't take wee…

1
Here's how Koen Stam use AI for sales coaching 42:05

2M ago42:05

42:05

Do you think this is an AI summary or not?: With AI tools, such as ChatGPT, sales teams can enhance coaching processes by creating personalized frameworks, generating data-driven insights, and fostering consistency for improved productivity and skill development. It is... But anyway, that's pretty much what we discussed with Koen - he's been using …

1
Rethinking comp plans 28:57

2M ago28:57

28:57

We're using comp plans from the 80s, and there's some problems with that. We discuss how SaaS has simply changed, and provide some important reflections you can use if you need to rethink your comp plans. (00:00) - Introduction (02:26) - We still get lots of questions about this (05:24) - Why everyone does comp plans (08:25) - The purpose of what c…

1
High velocity sales (with Frank Nardi) 45:50

2M ago45:50

45:50

Even if you don't run high velocity sales, there's much to learn from vendors who do. We talked with Frank Nardi (CRO at Cin7) about how they manage short sales cycles and proactively manage their funnel. (00:00) - Introduction (02:21) - Meet frank (06:02) - Tuning the engine (13:36) - Selling to SMB (21:56) - Short cycles, short term? (26:54) - Lo…

1
When deals die 31:06

3M ago31:06

31:06

Deals die. But more so today than previously. That's why we introduce a different analysis to understand why deals are dying - so you can fix it. (00:00) - Introduction (03:02) - Why deals are harder (04:46) - MEDDICC to diagnose performance (07:34) - Champion (11:12) - What's the pain? (14:35) - From pain to metric (17:29) - Who signs the deal? (2…

1
Why RevOps is broken (with Jeff Ignacio) 43:38

3M ago43:38

43:38

Is RevOps broken? And how do we fix it? Together with Jeff, we get into a bunch of the challenging areas of Revenue Operations and some of the steps you can take to improve it. (00:00) - Introduction (01:40) - Meet Jeff (03:45) - Glorified GTM IT (11:57) - Overinvesting (18:13) - The go to market plan (30:57) - Under- & overinvestment (34:25) - Get…

1
4 Outbound Mistakes 30:12

3M ago30:12

30:12

Is outbound dead? And if not, what are the biggest mistakes we've seen? That's exactly what we get into today (00:00) - Introduction (01:37) - "Outbound is dead? Bullshit." (05:46) - Can you even run outbound? (09:35) - What's changed? (12:28) - Mistake 1: Outsourcing (16:39) - Mistake 2: Not knowing the ideal talent profile (20:43) - Mistake 3: Sc…

1
WTF is PLS even? (with Jesus Requena, VP Marketing at Hex) 50:06

3M ago50:06

50:06

What is PLS? When does it make sense to use it? How do you get started? These are just a couple of the questions we asked Jesus who's been building PLG and PLS motions at Unity, Figma, Algolia and Hex. (00:00) - Introduction (00:57) - Meet Jesus (04:35) - PLG at Unity (05:45) - Solving a big problem (12:12) - Is this the right motion? (16:49) - Can…

1
Don’t have GTM visibility? 36:34

3M ago36:34

36:34

Everyone has a dashboard, a sheet, some reports - but still the number 1 problem we hear about? It's visibility into performance. So we discussed the problem, and what you can do about it. (00:00) - Introduction (02:16) - Why we get asked about visibility (08:58) - The problem with visibility (14:16) - Breaking down targets (17:48) - Having foresig…

1
Avoid this when scaling (with Mark Roberge, co-founder at Stage 2 Capital) 53:45

3M ago53:45

53:45

There's a few patterns to avoid when scaling sales. We walk through them together with Mark Roberge. (00:00) - Indtroduction (03:48) - Meet Mark (08:44) - The number 1 pattern of unnecessary failure (11:16) - Getting the right pacing (16:35) - Pushing back on the plan (25:39) - Why do we misunderstand capacity? (33:54) - The problem with commission…

1
RevOps needs to move 29:12

3M ago29:12

29:12

With everything that's happening, we discuss if it's time for RevOps to move away from the CRO. We get into (00:00) - Introduction (02:29) - Is it time to move? (08:30) - If the CRO doesn't get it.. (11:24) - Give CFO operational insights (16:54) - Commercial FP&A? (21:08) - The P&L of commercial (23:54) - Zero helpful advise You can find the CAC:P…

1
How Paddle scaled with outbound to $100M (With Harrison Rose) 45:45

3M ago45:45

45:45

Paddle scaled with one motion: outbound. They were incredibly focused on one ICP, and ended up developing a three folded funnel. (00:00) - Introduction (01:58) - Meet Harrison (06:28) - Figuring out how to sell (12:24) - How they scaled (15:11) - Changing the target customer profile (19:09) - Not running out of market (25:27) - RevOps - the secret …

1
Making metrics matter 34:18

3M ago34:18

34:18

If you want to operate SaaS effectively - you need to know how metrics are constructed, and when to use them. Sounds obvious, but many many folks struggle with this, so we walk through two simple frameworks. (00:00) - Introduction (03:08) - Pain with metrics (05:54) - The reality level (10:16) - It takes time to move metrics (14:58) - Metrics tree …

1
Scale efficiently with RevOps (With Jeremey Donovan) 49:44

4M ago49:44

49:44

We asked Jeremey: How does RevOps help businesses right now switching from growth at all costs to efficient growth? We got into a bunch - how prospects are like fish. Will AI help?. A "moneyball" approach to hiring - and much much more. (00:00) - Introduction (02:49) - Fish are like prospects (04:49) - Meet Jeremey (06:13) - What does efficient gro…

1
To grow faster, talk with this team 31:43

4M ago31:43

31:43

We all want to grow faster, but there's a pretty important team to work with to do that - finance. We get into how finance looks at the GTM and much much more (00:00) - Introduction (02:32) - Look at the cash being burned (07:26) - Asset or liability (11:29) - What it means for the GTM team (13:32) - Not running out of money (22:43) - What finance …

1
+$100M & how Outreach got there 42:05

4M ago42:05

42:05

A pivot. One motion - and relentless focus. That's just some of the ingredients Manny Medina shared on how Outreach grew to $100M and beyond. In the episode we get into: (00:00) - Introduction (02:13) - Meet Manny (03:45) - Outreach's first motion: Outbound (09:30) - Outbound isn't dead (12:22) - AI changing the outbound game (16:14) - Scaling at 0…

1
Do less = get more deals 35:02

4M ago35:02

35:02

Everything has been cut and more will be cut. Cost is more expensive, we need to be super efficient but we still want growth. Phew.. What are we to do? Less, that's what. In this episode, we walk through what you can do less of, and how it'll help you grow (faster). (00:00) - Introduction (02:37) - We're starting to do less (05:47) - More deals wit…

1
The SaaS Reset and what's next (with Jacco van der Kooij) 1:03:46

4M ago1:03:46

1:03:46

SaaS is being completely reset following the era of growth at all costs. But what's happening, how can you adapt and what's to come? This is exactly what we discuss with Jacco van der Kooij, founder of Winning by Design. (00:00) - Introduction (01:03) - Meet Jacco (05:02) - Pricing is no longer sust nable (07:51) - We're in a moment of change (13:4…

1
Lowering payback isn't the problem 30:15

4M ago30:15

30:15

The one metric that shouldn't go up and to the right is CAC Payback, and it's doing exactly that. Rather than trying to fix CAC, there's another solution. (00:00) - Introduction (02:53) - CAC Payback (05:59) - Look beyond CAC:PB (09:13) - Drawback of CAC:LTV (10:50) - How do you get there? (15:00) - The other thing is product (19:20) - What have yo…

1
How Synthesia blew past 50K customers (With Steffen Tjerrild, co-founder & COO/CFO) 41:19

4M ago41:19

41:19

How do you get to this first million in revenue? And what does the journey past 10 look like? That's what Steffen from Synthesia shared with us. In the episode, we got into: (00:00) - Introduction (02:28) - Meet Steffen (03:47) - The backstory (09:58) - The first million (service revenue) (14:27) - The first first million (subscriptions) (19:11) - …

1
4 ways to fix NRR 32:17

4M ago32:17

32:17

It's no longer land and expand - it's land and maintain. But what can you realistically do to fix your NRR? In this episode, we share 4 practical tips that'll help (00:00) - Introduction (04:27) - Expansion ladder (11:32) - What have you done for them lately? (16:38) - Involve the customer (20:35) - Take a hit on newbiz MRR (27:05) - Tripple down o…

1
If your messaging sucks, listen to this (with Anthony Pierri, co-founder at Fletch) 49:52

5M ago49:52

49:52

How often do you visit a SaaS website and have literally no clue what they do despite multiple attempts? We'll, that's a surefire way to decrease your overall performance. So we invited Anthony from Fletch to help fix it - we focused on the difficulties especially surrounding being multi-product or segment. (00:00) - Introduction (01:33) - Meet Ant…

1
How to build & scale outbound 33:19

5M ago33:19

33:19

Whether you're at $2, $10 or $20M ARR - if you want to add outbound as a motion, this episode is for you. We dive into the sequence here: (00:00) - Introduction (05:55) - 0-$1M - Founder led (09:55) - How to assess it (12:29) - $1-2M - The first SDRs (20:59) - $2-10M - Many SDRs (28:51) - +$10M - The factory Mentions Sam Blond & Ashley Kelly discus…

1
100%+ growth YoY, here’s how Walnut run their GTM (With Catie Ivey, CRO at Walnut) 42:32

5M ago42:32

42:32

How does a company scale after raising funds? And what changes are necessary to maintain a stellar go-to-market? That and much more we discussed with Catie Ivey, CRO at Walnut. (00:00) - Introduction (00:48) - Meet Catie (05:05) - The setup (10:03) - Finding GTM fit (15:38) - Scaling outbound (18:07) - The rituals (27:43) - The culture of problem s…

1
This won't scale 36:30

5M ago36:30

36:30

There's a lot of things you couldn't scale - until today. In this episode we discuss how AI can remove some of your limiting beliefs and let you scale things that you couldn't before. (00:00) - Introduction (04:27) - It's all focused on output (08:01) - Quality increase for SDRs (13:37) - Faster ramp (20:04) - AEs: Ramp, training & research (28:59)…

1
4 Signs your GTM is broken 34:47

5M ago34:47

34:47

Is your GTM broken? What do you even look for? Why does it matter? That's just some of the points we cover in this episode. Besides giving you four clear things to look out for - we also share some solutions. The outcome? You should see improved performance & efficiency. (00:00) - Introduction (03:09) - The stakes (08:35) - Disconnected operations …

1
How to manage multiple GTMs in SaaS (With Dave Boyce) 43:46

5M ago43:46

43:46

Is it time to add another GTM? Dave told us before recording "not until after $10M ARR". So of course, we discussed that and much more. We went through the process of establishing different Go-To-Market (GTM) strategies - including the importance of testing and tailoring strategies to match audience behavior, considerations when transitioning from …

1
4 signs you're losing product-market fit 31:42

5M ago31:42

31:42

Even in good times, you're slowly falling out of PMF. Inspired by Jason Lemkin, we dive into the signs you need to watch out for, to avoid losing product-market fit. Sure, you might have been hired after PMF was achieved - but it's still your problem, especially if you're in the go-to-market team. In the episode, we get into: (00:00) - TRF - 088 - …

1
The top 1% of sales teams do this (with Kevin Dorsey, SVP of Sales & Partnerships at Bench) 43:44

5M ago43:44

43:44

Here's the thing. Most content focus on what the top 1% of sales reps do. While that's great - we seek to understand what the top 1% of sales teams are doing. How do they operate? How are they managed? This and more we discuss with Kevin "KD" Dorsey, SVP of Sales and Partnerships at Bench. (00:00) - Introduction (01:51) - Meet Kevin KD Dorsey (03:3…

1
Ask this before raising quotas 30:05

6M ago30:05

30:05

Thinking about raising quotas? Or being forced to? Then there's a couple of questions you need to ask yourself first. Because if you can't answer them, you'll be in trouble when the sales team asks them. (00:00) - Introduction (03:07) - Do we raise quotas (08:30) - How do you even dare to raise quotas? (10:52) - How many make quota? (13:56) - What …

1
Surprising insights from 2.5 IPOs (With Robin Daniels, CBPO at LMS365) 48:31

6M ago48:31

48:31

What does it take to make it to IPO? What happens inside the company to the build up? Those were just some of the things we talked with Robin Daniels about. And he knows, because he's taken part in 2,5 IPOs. (00:00) - Introduction (02:15) - Meet Robin (02:17) - Meet Robin Daniels (03:04) - 1 week out (12:06) - 1 out of 100 went to IPO (15:35) - Bar…

1
When nobody owns GTM 34:20

6M ago34:20

34:20

Who really owns GTM, and what are the symptoms when you don't really have someone leading it? This and much more we discuss in todays episode (00:00) - Introduction (03:06) - Who owns your GTM? (04:42) - The RevOps hype (08:45) - Conequence 1: Marketing produced more low quality MQLs (13:48) - Account management upsell (15:03) - Who moved the chees…

1
WTF is nearbound? (With Jill Rowley, GTM Advisor at Stage 2 Capital) 38:29

6M ago38:29

38:29

What is Nearbound really? How can you use it, and should you? Those are just some of the questions we asked Jill Rowley who's currently building this new category. (00:00) - Introduction (01:15) - Meet Jill (03:11) - How she stumbled into marketing automation (05:27) - Social selling (07:53) - Surround strategy (11:29) - Nearbound.. What is it? (16…

1
How to enter a new market (in a scrappy way) 29:08

6M ago29:08

29:08

How do you expand to a new market? When is the time right? How do you not burn a ton of cash? That's exactly what we discuss in todays episode (00:00) - Introduction (01:40) - Scrappy international (04:04) - Why should you even cross the border? (08:24) - Start with reps (10:26) - Opening up locally (14:04) - When is it time? (20:53) - Finding arbi…

1
Returning to face-to-face (With Thomas Hansen, President of Amplitude) 45:11

6M ago45:11

45:11

In this episode, we sit down with Thomas Neergaard Hansen, President at Amplitude, to delve into the critical role of face-to-face interactions in today's customer-centric world. (00:00) - Introduction (01:25) - Meet Thomas Hansen (11:07) - People have forgotten about face-to-face (17:58) - The customer-centric market motions (32:59) - Build the pr…

1
Why your GTM needs a digital twin 33:16

6M ago33:16

33:16

How do the biggest engineering projects in the world avoid potential disasters? They create a digital replica to address problems before they become problems. Stealing from the world of engineering, in this episode, we walk you through how you can create a digital twin of your GTM engine in order to help you focus on execution. (00:00) - Introducti…

1
5 types of ROI (With Sangram Vajre, Co-founder & CEO at GTM Partners) 49:02

6M ago49:02

49:02

There are 5 kinds of ROI software provides - and understanding the difference is critical. With Sangram, we discuss that and much more (00:00) - Introduction (01:32) - Say hello to Sangram Vajre (04:48) - Buyers and ROI (07:10) - 5 types of ROI (10:41) - The ROI of slack (17:36) - What ROI do we provide? (21:18) - Changing ROI profile (30:26) - ROI…

1
3 signs sales is broken 32:05

6M ago32:05

32:05

Having talked with lots of companies, we're still being asked how to make sales work, or at least work better. So today, we dive into the top 3 signs that sales is broken - and what you can do to fix it. (00:00) - Introduction (02:53) - The signs (05:08) - Trust and accountability (11:22) - Commitment (17:08) - Conflict (27:00) - Bonus: Bowtie…

1
Why marketing gets screwed 34:01

7M ago34:01

34:01

There are three ways marketing gets screwed - we discuss them all to help you unscrew marketing. In the episode, we get into: (00:00) - Introduction (02:05) - 3 reasons marketing gets screwed (03:21) - Your deal or my deal (13:28) - Make marketing do everything (24:38) - We need it nowBy Growblocks

1
New research: Did we lose GTM fit? 34:10

7M ago34:10

34:10

Our friends over at winning by design is about to drop new research - suggesting that we might just have lost GTM fit. In todays episode, we discuss the research, and as usual what companies can do about it. (00:00) - Introduction (03:49) - Loss of go-to-market fit? (06:25) - Why did we lose it? (15:52) - What do we do now? (17:11) - Cut strategica…

1
Underdogs and perception (with Norman Rohr, VP Marketing at Capmo) 42:06

7M ago42:06

42:06

Today we talk with Norman about two unconventional underdogs, Google and Uberall, and how they changed the perception. We get into: (00:00) - Introduction (02:13) - Meet Norman (07:20) - Google, the underdog (11:25) - People didn't care about search, but.. (20:26) - Uberall - another underdog (27:14) - Because of us or despite of us (30:17) - Beyon…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Mikkel Plæhn Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide