The Revenue Leadership Podcast with Kyle Norton

E46: The RevOps Mind Behind Owner.com’s Billion-Dollar Valuation: Steve Dinner

Sep 10, 2025

Steve Dinner, the VP of RevOps at Owner.com and a seasoned sales leader, delves into the art of building effective revenue operations teams. He highlights the importance of empathy and trust over mere automation, sharing insights on using ride-alongs as a secret weapon. The conversation also covers agile frameworks, strategic hiring tips for CROs, and the critical role of collaboration in aligning business objectives. Steve's blend of experience offers valuable lessons for anyone involved in scaling high-growth revenue teams.

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INSIGHT

Stay Rooted In Revenue Leadership

Steve says staying rooted as a revenue leader prevents RevOps from becoming detached tool management.
He treats RevOps as part of sales leadership to prioritize business outcomes over tech for tech's sake.

ADVICE

Be Present With Frontline Teams

Spend 30–40% of your scheduled week in frontline rituals and manager conversations to stay connected to reality.
Use that time to surface problems and avoid losing sight of business outcomes while building systems.

ADVICE

Solve For Outcomes, Not Requests

Ask stakeholders what outcome they want and why before building technical solutions.
Prioritize winning big where it matters and accept imperfect quick fixes elsewhere to build trust.

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In this episode, host Kyle Norton (CRO at Owner.com) sits down with his longtime colleague Steve Dinner, VP of RevOps at Owner.com. Together, they unpack how to build a revenue operations team that drives real business outcomes rather than just managing tools and processes. Steve shares lessons from his journey to becoming a world-class RevOps leader, and highlights why empathy, trust, and business alignment matter more than endless automation. The conversation touches on why ride-alongs are one of Steve’s secret weapons, agile frameworks for RevOps, and what CROs should look for when hiring their first operations leader. Packed with insights from two seasoned operators, this episode is a must-listen for CROs, RevOps leaders, and anyone scaling high-growth revenue teams.

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Episode Chapters & Timestamps

(00:00) Introduction & Kyle sets the stage
(01:25) Steve’s background and path into RevOps
(03:50) The importance of blending sales leadership with RevOps thinking
(07:20) Empathy, rep experience, and solving business problems beyond tech
(11:50) Winning big vs. losing small
(19:15) Why trust and collaboration matter in cross-functional partnerships
(23:55) Ride-alongs and staying connected to frontline reps
(37:10) Transitioning RevOps to agile methodology
(51:00) How CROs should think about hiring their first RevOps leader
(1:05:10) Building the CRO–RevOps partnership and avoiding “yes/no” traps
(1:13:20) Advice for new heads of RevOps
(1:17:00) Hardest leadership lessons learned