The IO Podcast: Investor + Operator

How To Build A World-Class Revenue Org with Mark Cranney, Former a16z Partner | IO Podcast Ep. 5

Nov 28, 2023

Learn from Mark Cranney, former a16z partner, as he shares his playbook for building world-class revenue organizations. Topics include finding sales leaders, hiring courageous team members, running a sales playbook, building cohesion through bootcamps, and avoiding common mistakes made by first-time founders.

55:37

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Episode guests

Mark Cranney

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Building a customized playbook is crucial for success in the revenue organization.

Investing in comprehensive training programs, like boot camps, can improve productivity and efficiency.

Deep dives

Importance of Building a Customized Playbook

Building and deploying a playbook specific to a company's needs is crucial for success. It is important to differentiate between running someone else's playbook and creating a customized one.

Introduction

3min

The Importance of Reference Checks

12min

Journey into the Tech Industry

2min

The Importance of Hiring a Head of Sales with Customizable Playbook

26min

The Importance of Inspecting, Understanding, and Self-Selecting in Sales

5min

Rapid-fire questions and valuable insights

8min

How did this small town farm kid go on to lead the revenue orgs for Silicon Valley's biggest companies? Mark Cranney credits his success to the lessons he learned growing up: work hard and run things efficiently. Mark shares the playbook he's used to build billions in pipeline through his career as an executive, sales leader and most famously as a partner at Andreessen Horowitz. If you're a founder, there's no better person to learn from than Mark.

Chapters

00:37 Introducing Mark Cranney

04:45 Find Sales Leaders Who Can Perform

07:03 What To Look For In Potential Hires

13:03 Find Courageous People To Join Your Team

17:07 The Sales Playbook - Are You Running It Or Can You Put It Together?

22:51 Putting Together The Revenue Org At SignalFx

25:15 How Mark Uses Company Bootcamps To Build Cohesion

31:47 Getting Everyone To Buy Into the Vision

37:25 Common Mistakes First Time Founders Make With Their Sales Org

48:27 Wrap up and Takeaways

Read 'Hard Thing About Hard Things'