GTM 163: From $2M to $50M ARR to Unicorn: How Owner Scaled with AI & Talent Density | CRO Kyle Norton
The GTMnow Podcast
Intro
This chapter chronicles the rapid growth of a SaaS company from $2 million to over $50 million in annual recurring revenue. It delves into the challenges faced during early stages and the strategic decisions that paved the way for sustainable success.
Kyle Norton is the Chief Revenue Officer at Owner, the fast-scaling restaurant SaaS platform valued at over $1B. Since joining from Shopify, Kyle has helped grow the company from $2M to $50M+ in ARR by instilling a high bar for sales talent, building RevOps early, and driving a disciplined go-to-market strategy. A podcast host himself, Kyle shares deep expertise on sales hiring, leadership, and GTM AI, while keeping his focus on building a generational company.
Discussed in This Episode
- Why Kyle let go of half the sales team just 45 days in
- The importance of setting a high bar for sales talent and cultural fit
- Investing in RevOps and data foundations far earlier than conventional wisdom
- How to reduce churn by narrowing ICP and saying no to misfit customers
- Lessons from running hiring retros to assess interview process effectiveness
- The balance between remote vs. in-office roles for scaling GTM teams
- How Owner approaches AI in go-to-market, starting with data over “shiny tools”
- Kyle’s leadership philosophy: servant leadership and building for growth
Episode Highlights
00:44 — Owner’s journey from $2M ARR to unicorn
02:01 — Kyle explains why he fired half the sales team just weeks into the role
04:56 — Why Owner set a sky-high bar for early sales hiring
08:13 — Kyle’s case for bringing in RevOps “too early” and why it paid off
12:39 — Reducing churn by saying no to 30% of potential customers
15:57 — Why hiring fit matters more than a candidate’s “pedigree”
21:49 — What Kyle learned from running hiring retros on interview data
30:25 — Owner’s AI GTM transformation: starting with third-party data
48:34 — Kyle’s take on the remote vs. in-office debate for sales teams
54:53 — His leadership philosophy: servant leadership + relentless coaching
59:19 — Kyle’s essential reading list for sales leaders
This episode is brought to you by our sponsors:
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Guest Links
- LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylecnorton/
- Podcast: https://therevenueleadershippodcast.com/
The GTMnow Podcast
The GTMnow 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.
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