Building High-Performance Cultures with Paul Capombassis

Jun 5, 2025

Join Paul Capombassis, Chief Revenue Officer at MongoDB, as he shares his expertise in building high-performance sales cultures. Discover why he favors hiring disruptors over domain experts and the vital role of leadership authenticity. Paul reveals transformative initiatives like BDR to CRO and emphasizes the need for adaptability in fast-growing companies. Dive into the significance of structured career development and the importance of consistent leader enablement to boost team performance and drive growth.

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INSIGHT

Hiring Disruptors vs Experts

MongoDB prioritized hiring disruptors over domain experts to quickly scale and challenge the market status quo.
They created a meritocratic BDR to CRO program to develop talent internally with aggressive growth goals.

ADVICE

Hire for Challenge and Coachability

Focus on hiring reps with intelligence, desire, and coachability over those from mature companies used to 'flip deals'.
Seek challenger reps who can disrupt long-standing industry norms to succeed in disruptive sales.

INSIGHT

Overcoming Incumbent Resistance

Convincing entrenched users to switch from legacy solutions is a 'religious battle' requiring technical champions.
Sales must overcome resistance from incumbents comfortable with longstanding system use.

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In this episode of the Revenue Builders Podcast, hosts John McMahon and John Kaplan are joined by Paul Capombassis, Chief Revenue Officer at MongoDB. They discuss Paul's extensive career from PTC to MongoDB, focusing on his strategies for creating high-performance cultures in sales. Paul shares his approach to hiring disruptors over domain experts, the importance of developing leaders from within, and the transformational programs like BDR to CRO that MongoDB has implemented. The conversation also highlights the critical role of adaptability, the significance of leadership authenticity, and the necessity of consistent leader enablement. This episode is rich with insights on how to elevate sales teams and drive company growth.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Learn more about Paul Capombassis:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-capombassis-3684b211/

Read Force Management’s Guide to Embedding AI In Your B2B Sales Organization: https://hubs.li/Q03ldrzD0

Download the CRO Strategy Checklist: https://hubs.li/Q03f8LmX0

Enjoying the podcast? Sign up to receive new episodes straight to your inbox: https://hubs.li/Q02R10xN0

HERE ARE SOME KEY SECTIONS TO CHECK OUT

[00:01:59] Building a High-Performance Culture at MongoDB
[00:04:45] Characteristics of a Disruptor in Sales
[00:06:56] Challenges of Selling Disruptive Technology
[00:16:11] Importance of Leadership and Enablement
[00:21:57] Adapting to Change in a Fast-Growing Company
[00:23:58] Coaching and Developing Leaders
[00:30:21] Adapting Leadership for Business Growth
[00:31:56] The Importance of Authentic Leadership
[00:33:32] Recruitment and Enablement Strategies
[00:34:40] Domain Expertise vs. Scaling with Hunters
[00:38:22] Leader Development Programs
[00:41:51] Challenges in Assessing Team Strengths
[00:47:06] Second Line Leadership Responsibilities
[00:50:23] Inspiring Through Authenticity

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

"When you lead with authenticity, the value that you get out of that and your organization gets out of that is it's game-changing."

"Every time you make a hire... it's a million-dollar bet that you're taking."

"Change requires discipline. And discipline is really hard."

"High-performing companies set up a great enablement program, not just for your ics, but especially for leader enablement."

"Great leaders today are the best coaches."

"The best leaders today are the ones that can connect technical capabilities to business outcomes."