The Goats of Growth

Chris Smith is the Chief Revenue Officer of Aqua Security, the largest pure play cloud-native security company.  In this episode we discuss Aqua Security's role in the cloud security market, their strategy for becoming the category leader, and the importance of having a strong playbook for sales and marketing. Chris emphasizes the importance of understanding customers' needs and conducting user interviews to inform marketing, messaging, sales playbook, competitive landscape, and product direction. He also shares his approach to conducting interviews and managing employees.    Cllick here to learn more about Customer Conversation and how Revenue Leaders buy technology to enable their teams' success. 

This is preview of Jeff Oh's episode, part of the 'Customer Conversation' premium subscription. In this episode, Jeff Oh, the VP of Sales at DMI, a global leader in digital innovation and transformation, discusses DMI's tech stack and the decision criteria they used to choose these vendors over others. Jeff emphasizes the importance of having a long-term strategy when choosing a software solution.  https://glow.fm/thegoatsofgrowth-customerconversations/

Today we have on Enfusions CRO, Steven Bachert. Enfusion is the flexible, modern framework for investment management operations that gives fund managers the freedom to perform. Link to Customer Conversations In this episode Steven and myself discuss: How to overcome the challenges in software adoption and IPO.  The importance of adapting your playbook for each new opportunity. The significance of storytelling and data-driven forecasting in preparing for an IPO. The complexities of market analysis and how to navigate them. How confidence and crafting the right story will help you when taking your company public. All that and more in this episode.  

My guest today is CRO, Rachel Bates.  Customer Conversations Link In todays episode we discuss - The power of customer focus and strong employer branding. Lessons on building and managing international sales teams from industry experts How to balance enterprise Sales and product led growth. How to execute innovative approaches to employee retention. Sharpening the company's narrative and vision through the process of presenting to investors. All that and more on today's episode.  https://thegoatsofgrowth.com/ 

Show link to 'Customer Conversations'. https://glow.fm/thegoatsofgrowth-customerconversations/. My guest today is Kevin Warner who is the CEO and founder of Leadium, which is a agency to help you find prospects, automate outbound, and grow your pipeline. Today we discuss: - How an outbound agency can stand out in a crowded market. Developing the right skill set for providing a great service in a people driven sales business. Why it's crucial to understand the mechanics and analytics behind email, phone, and linkedIn campaigns. The importance of building an effective enterprise-grade sales strategy. How to successfully optimize outbound sales tools. Why its important to recognize the value of non-tech businesses in B2B sales.

Tyler Barron, Chief Revenue Officer at Encapture, joined me for this weeks episode to discuss the importance of listneing to your customer. Encapture is the intelligent document automation platform that helps companies be more efficient and customer-centric. In this weeks episode we discuss and cover: How to successfully pivot sales strategy and still increase revenue amidst market uncertainty. How to build trust and credibility with your CEO and Board Why empowering sales team and focusing on customer language leads to success. When and how to identify and harness individual motivation for optimal performance. The link between balancing people, customers, and market trends. Creating innovative solutions and seeing the positive impact they have on people and businesses. All that and more in this episode. 

My guest today is Sarah Milby, CEO and Founder of Valor Performance, a leadership and performance mindset coaching platform that helps empower executives, managers and teams with data-driven, high performance coaching. In todays packed episode we discuss various topics such as: The importance of adaptive leadership for navigating change and stress in the modern workforce. How a gap in sales leadership inspired Sarah's performance mindset coaching. Overcoming entrepreneurial insecurities and having the self confidence to move forward despite criticism from others. Leveraging scenario planning to drive business Objectives and decision making. How overcommunication and transparency can be the key to building trust during times of crisis. All that and more in this episode. 

In todays episode you'll hear my interview with William Crowder, Managing Partner of Aperture Venture Capital, which is a VC for the multicultural mainstream that backs founders that leverage financial innovation to help individuals and businesses thrive. In todays episode we discuss: How Aperture's engagement model is driving startup success with strategic and operational support The missed opportunities due to the lack of diversity in the investment industry Securing investments through strategic connections and engagement The importance of venture capital firms as a source of knowledge and connection for startups to thrive. Why founders need to make investors aware of the problem their company is solving and how it plans to do so. What he calls the "magic email" All that and more on in this episode. 

In todays episode we have back on the show, for a second time, Stephen Messer, serial entrepreneur and the Cofounder of Collective[i]. To find out all about that company, go back and listen to episode # 107. In today's episode, however,  we will be discussing his previous company, LinkShares, an affiliate marketing service provider that got acquired by Rakuten for a cool $425M What to listen for: The opportunity he saw to build a network-based approach to winning a new kind of market How to convince big brands to do something they've never done before The role "first principles" played in their strategic thinking and what "first principles" is The technology they pattented that was vastly different than anything that had been developed at the time to track who was affiliated with which sales What he calls "insane" as it pertains to the way VC's look at AI model metrics The 2 things he said you must possess if you're going to be a disruptive company  The struggle they had to endure to keep going and where they found the strength The moment that turned everything in their favor Where he was when the money hit the bank All that and more on this episode.  Stephen was also kind enough to give me a private on AI training to break down what goes into business intelligence, machine learning and deep learning.  To access the training click on this link.  https://youtu.be/aiKrAENS22c 

My guest today is Ethan Schechter, VP of Sales of Snyk, which empowers the world’s developers to build secure applications  In todays packed episode we discuss - Convincing Organizations to Prioritize and Invest in New Solutions. - Why Winning Ugly is Sometimes the Key to Success in Early Stage Startups. - Hiring Key Players for a Strong Foundation. - Balancing Priorities of Sales Training and Enablement with Rapid Expansion. - Transparency and Confidence in Upselling Your Product. - The Importance of Honest Communication in Third and Fourth Line Leadership. All that and more in this episode!