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The Revenue Formula

Toni Hohlbein & Mikkel Plaehn

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This podcast is about scaling tech startups. Hosted by Toni Hohlbein & Mikkel Plaehn, together they look at the full funnel. With a combined 20 years of experience in B2B SaaS and 3 exits, they discuss growing pains, challenges and opportunities they’ve faced. Whether you're working in RevOps, sales, operations, finance or marketing - if you care about revenue, you'll care about this podcast. If there’s one thing they hate, it’s talk. We know, it’s a bit of an oxymoron. But execution and foc ...
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If a masters degree for b2b SaaS existed, it'd look like this. GTM Live is a weekly show for members that focus on driving revenue growth at B2B SaaS companies. If you're a revenue leader, CRO or RevOps pro - this is for you.
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Kyle is back on the show - this time we grill him on category creation, and finding a problem to market instead. He should know, he saw a category and problem get created at Clari, and is running the playbook again at Copy.ai. (00:00) - Introduction (02:45) - The TLDR of Kyle's presentation at Exit5 (03:27) - Are you differentiated? (06:44) - How a…
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Here's two guys without a job doling out their top 3 career hacks. Don't worry, they had jobs when they used the hacks - and some of them they just observed. But they had one thing in common: They worked. Give it a listen and use it to guide your teams or your own career trajectory. (00:00) - Introduction (03:52) - 1: Chaos is a ladder (10:47) - 2:…
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Do you need an AI strategy? Do AI SDRs work? And if they don’t, what does? This and more we talk about with Andy Mowat (00:00) - Introduction (05:47) - RevOps vs GTM Ops and retitling (11:10) - AI Usecases in the GTM (12:18) - The main sales usecase (14:15) - AI SDRs: Efficiency vs. Conversion (19:02) - AI that actually works in sales (23:06) - AI …
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Growblocks is done, but we're continuing the podcast - so we thought we'd share some of the things we've learned along the way in this episode. (00:00) - Introduction (02:43) - Growblocks shutting down (03:36) - Why it didn't work (04:36) - The people we were selling to (07:56) - Internal Selling and Champion Challenges (13:16) - Category Creation …
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Need to be more efficient in your GTM? Then it's time to get serious about your burn rate. In this episode, Mikkel and Toni break down some tactics you can start now to get your finances in line. (00:00) - Introduction (02:42) - Reducing Burn (09:02) - Mastering Payment Terms for Cashflow (12:07) - Strategic Pay Raises and Salary Bands (14:32) - Ef…
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Between bad leaver clauses, dilution and liquidation preferences, we're willing to bet most folks out there don't understand their warrants. And who can blame them? In this episode, we break down the complexities of warrants in compensation packages and answer the question: Are they worth it? Or are they just a scam? (00:00) - Introduction (02:13) …
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What if we told you there are 7 simple mistakes companies make over and over again? From the misalignment between sales and marketing to the mishandling of inbound leads, Eddie Reynolds joins us to shed light on why these mistakes happen, and how to avoid them. (00:00) - Introduction (04:16) - Transition to SaaS Companies Discussion (05:10) - The I…
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Do you recognize this in yourself or someone else: You're working hard. More than what's required. You're rxtremely busy, but at the end of the week, you're just not sure what you actually got done. Yes, that really hurts. And eventually, you'll burn out. The solution? Getting productive as F... (00:00) - Introduction (02:29) - Stress, burnout and …
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Whether you're a new CRO, VP of Marketing, or RevOps, if you want to earn your title, you'll want to onboard quickly and drive results early. But that's usually easier said than done. In this episode, we give you 3 things you should do when starting a new organization to bring value from day 1. (00:00) - Introduction (01:09) - How to onboard yourse…
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Yes. Tenure for tech is relatively bad when comparing to other industries. But is that a problem? And if so, how do we fix it? This and more we get into in todays episode (00:00) - Introduction (02:41) - After 3 years, half your team has moved one (07:02) - Boomers, millenials and different tenures (12:18) - The problem short tenure creates (13:10)…
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What does it take to build a succesful salesteam? And what does it take to replicate it? That's what we talk with Collin Cadmus about. (00:00) - Introduction (04:08) - Sales Success and Product Quality (09:28) - Identifying a Great Product (14:54) - Building a Strong Sales Team (20:55) - Replicating Successful Sales Teams (21:36) - Setting Attainab…
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When folks run outbound, they eventually also run inbound. But should those motions really be separate? What would happen if they were merged? And what problems would it resolve? This and more we discuss in todays episode (00:00) - Introduction (00:42) - Hunting Challenges and Reflections (02:43) - Transition to Business Discussion (02:59) - Outbou…
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That's not the number I have. How did you calculate it? What field did you use!!?. Data promises amazing insights and great decision making. But more often than not, we tend to not trust the data. That's why we talk about data trust with Lindsay. (00:00) - Introduction (02:24) - Data Trust Issues (03:56) - Common Data Quality Problems (11:27) - Imp…
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Yes, customer success should be a profit center. But for many companies, it's just not. In this episode, we discuss why that's the case - and why it's not just a quick fix. We do share some tips to make it a profit center though. (00:00) - Introduction (03:01) - Challenges in Customer Success (05:18) - The Reality of Upselling (08:22) - Cultural Di…
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The fastest growing companies use growth models. You probably already have one - but is it fully built out? Does it really work? In this episode, we talk with Anthony who's build quite a few. (00:00) - Introduction (02:43) - Diving into Growth Modeling (11:39) - Challenges and Pitfalls in Growth Modeling (16:08) - Understanding Pipeline Needs (17:3…
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Yes, inflation can be boring. No, you can't ignore it even in the GTM teams. We discuss what problems inflation is creating - and what to do about it. (00:00) - Introduction (01:20) - SaaS and GTM inflation (06:18) - Rising Costs and Business Adjustments (09:57) - Understanding Value Pricing in SaaS (11:00) - Check your T&Cs (13:50) - Using Price I…
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Will AI replace your sales team? Can it? Should it? What is AI even? This and much more, we talk with Kyle Coleman about. He's CMO at copy.ai, so he knows a thing or two about AI. (00:00) - Introduction (02:38) - AI in Sales: Initial Thoughts (03:26) - What's AI changing right now? (04:30) - Challenges with AI SDRs (07:24) - Future of AI in Sales (…
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What does a SaaS company, an airline and an oatmilk company have in common? They're challenger brands. And it can be a pretty powerful strategy you can take as a brand. We run through real examples and much more (00:00) - Introduction (02:10) - Challenger Brands... what is it? (03:50) - Salesforce vs. Siebel: The Ultimate Challenger Brand (09:55) -…
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The majority of revenue comes after the initial sales. A 5% lift in retention can lead to a 20-95% increase in revenue. But most companies neglect the customer side - so we need a new playbook. That's exactly what we talked about with Sid Kumar, VP of GTM Strategy & Planning at Databricks. (00:00) - Introduction (02:23) - Meet Sid (03:05) - The Nee…
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If you're north of $5M ARR, 40% of new revenue should come from existing customers. Are you seeing enough revenue from expansion? Even if you're getting expansion, maybe you can get more - we talk about a few ways to achieve it. (00:00) - Introduction (02:34) - Why does expansion matter? (05:45) - Challenges with Expansion (08:19) - Strategies for …
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Thought experiment: What would happen if you put RevOps in charge in sales? Well, we spoke Ryan from QuotaPath who started in RevOps, and now also runs sales. And there's a few interesting learnings you shouldn't miss (00:00) - Introduction (01:30) - Meet Ryan (02:02) - Transition from RevOps to Sales Leadership (03:52) - What we think sales is and…
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It's planning season again. The most agonizing process for GTM teams needing to plan their targets. We discuss how b2b SaaS teams should go about it. (00:00) - Introduction (01:34) - The Annual Plan: A Recipe for Disaster (02:37) - The CFO owns it (07:43) - The most important plan (12:43) - Multi year planning (18:30) - Resource Allocation: Balanci…
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PLG sucks. Especially if you don't know what you're doing. Too many people assume you just turn on the self-serve button and watch the money roll in. And they couldn't be more wrong. In this episode, we talk with Wes Bush, Founder of ProductLed.com, about everything you need to know about PLG and what you need to do to run it right. (00:00) - Intro…
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Are you "on the bench" looking for a new job in b2b SaaS?. Not sure how to know if the next place is a fit for you? We share a few things to ask, analyze and get in the process. (00:00) - Introduction (01:02) - Navigating the Job Market (02:29) - People on the bench (06:26) - The first thing to think about (09:02) - Pressure test the stats (12:36) …
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Plenty of reps aren't making quota - but there are some very simple reasons why we see again and again and again. We talk about the three reasons - and the best part? You can fix them. (00:00) - Introduction (03:03) - Sales Challenges and Observations (05:18) - Problem 1: Lots of MQLs that go no where (16:21) - Problem 2: Wrong meetings booked (19:…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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:…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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 …
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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 …
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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 …
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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…
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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 …
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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…
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