There's a ton of talk about what isn't working today in go-to-market. However, companies are still finding ways to grow which means there a some things that are working. In this special episode, Scott Barker is looking at some of the big themes he's seen in how the top go-to-market leaders are driving growth today. You'll hear from founders, sales leaders, and marketing leaders from G2, CrunchBase, GitHub, TestBox, Atrium, Intellimize and Kahua. You'll walk away from this episode with some great ideas from top operators on how to increase revenue, align your teams, and make a huge impact for your company in 2025.Discussed in this Episode:How to build the habits and fundamentals for sustainably generating pipeline.The importance of in-person interactions for the development of your team.Taking a customer-centric approach in your go-to-market strategy.Changing how you talk about your company to resonate better with the C-suite.Why intentionally aligning your teams is worth the effort.How to capitalize on the returns that building strong relationships provide.Highlights:(3:22) The first theme: Getting back to the go-to-market basics. (6:56) The second theme: The importance of in-person interactions.(10:38) The third theme: Taking a customer-centric approach in your go-to-market strategy.(16:04) The fourth theme: Elevating the conversation to the C-level.(19:29) The fifth theme: Intentional alignment of your teams.(21:17) The sixth theme: Playing the long game.Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: https://gtmnow.com/tag/newsletter/Product GTMfund is Using: Superhuman"Most people know that I am almost always on, regardless of holidays, but I certainly am not checking email as much as I normally would. And this year I came back to work and had so many emails in my inbox… the number was scary. But since I started using Superhuman last quarter, I was able to get back to inbox zero within minutes. It helps me and the team be so much more productive.I don’t know how I didn’t start on Superhuman sooner. It was the most seamless onboarding experience - everything in my inbox synced within minutes. Superhuman works with your existing Gmail or Outlook accounts. New year, time to take back control - 2025 is the year of inbox zero. If anyone also wants to take back control of their inboxes and empower their teams to do so, check out Superhuman at superhuman.com/gtmnow" - Scott BarkerThe GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Scott Barker, GTMfund Partner, 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.

Fred Viet, Chief Sales Officer at Aircall, has a rich background in scaling sales at AWS, Microsoft, and Lenovo. He discusses the dynamic differences in selling between APAC and North America, emphasizing market fit and structured approaches. Fred highlights the shift from demo-driven selling to value-based conversations, the role of AI in enhancing sales processes, and effective annual revenue planning strategies. He also advocates for deep skill development over job-hopping and shares insights on aligning sales and marketing teams for success.

Revenue leaders need to rethink their beliefs! Discussions highlight the shift from valuing volume to prioritizing quality in sales leads. Outbound strategies face an evolution, with AI playing a crucial role in targeting. Hiring practices should focus on leadership skills and adaptability, rather than just specialized experience. Guests from top companies share insights that may reshape your approach to sales and leadership in 2025. It's all about generating real demand and fostering sustainable growth!

Guy Yalif is a seasoned B2B SaaS executive with over 20 years of go-to-market experience. As the co-founder and CEO of Intellimize (acquired by Webflow), Guy brings a unique perspective from his journey through iconic companies like Microsoft, Yahoo, and Twitter, as well as his background in aerospace engineering. Guy holds a bachelor's degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University and an MBA from Stanford University.Discussed in this Episode:Learnings from each major company in Guy's 20+ leadership career: Microsoft, Tradeweave (first employee and executive committee), Yahoo, Twitter, BrightRoll and Intellimize. Building 'opinionated products' and the importance of customer intimacyLessons learned from scaling Twitter's ad business from zero to $650 million in three years.The challenges and rewards of founding and growing a startup for nine years.Strategies for building relationships with PR outlets, reporters, and analysts.Highlights:(5:22) The power of customer intimacy in product development.(15:41) Scaling Twitter's ad business and managing hyper-growth.(26:54) The existential dread of being a startup founder.(37:56) Building relationships with PR outlets and reporters.(45:40) Debunking the myth of sacrificing personal life for startup success.(49:07) The effectiveness of small group events in go-to-market strategies.(31:55) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Guy thinks is bull$***(49:07) One thing that is working for Guy in go-to-market right now.Guest Speaker Links (Guy Yalif):LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gyalifHost Speaker Links (Scott Barker):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand):Website: https://gtmnow.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/Twitter/X: https://x.com/SalesHackerYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTM_nowThe GTM Podcast (on all major directories): https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/Resource we Recommend:HG Insights. Feeling that AI FOMO? You’re not alone. That’s why HG Insights created The Next Generation of Sales AI report — to calm the FOMO and help you bring AI to your GTM teams. It includes a breakdown of the Sales AI landscape, adoption of GenAI and Sales software across buyer groups. Plus, an analysis of the top 75 trending sales AI tools. Why HG Insights? Simple. They’ve been writing market reports for years as the pioneer of tech adoption and market insights. Trusted by GTM leaders at the likes of Snowflake Five9 and Google Cloud to improve GTM efficiency. Thinking about AI for your sales team but unsure where to start?The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Scott Barker, GTMfund Partner, 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.

Martin Roth is the former CRO of Levelset, where he led the company from its first dollar in ARR to a $500 million acquisition by Procore in 2021. Currently, he's the founder of MartinRoth.com, specializing in helping startups scale from $1M to $10M in ARR. Martin brings a wealth of experience in building and scaling sales teams, developing effective go-to-market strategies, and navigating the challenges of startup growth. Discussed in this Episode:Martin's journey from selling flip-flops to leading a $500M exitThe challenges and lessons learned in scaling Levelset from $1M to $25M+ ARRInsights on building effective sales playbooks and team structuresThe importance of in-person customer interactions in today's digital worldDebunking myths about cold outreach and micromanagement in salesHighlights:(08:58) Building the first SaaS product and transitioning to recurring revenue.(14:58) The evolution of Levelset's sales motion and pricing strategy.(29:06) The importance of sales playbooks and codifying the sales process.(35:30) Optimal team structures for SMB sales organizations.(52:25) Why in-person sales environments are crucial for early-career development.(53:46) Debunking the myth that cold outreach is dead.(57:57) The effectiveness of in-person field events and road shows.(52:25) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Martin thinks is bull$***(57:57) One thing that is working for Martin in go-to-market right nowGuest Speaker Links (Martin Roth):LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinrothsaas/Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: https://gtmnow.com/tag/newsletter/Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand):Website: https://gtmnow.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/Twitter/X: https://x.com/SalesHackerYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTM_nowThe GTM Podcast (on all major directories): https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/Resource we Recommend:HG Insights. Feeling that AI FOMO? You’re not alone. That’s why HG Insights created The Next Generation of Sales AI report — to calm the FOMO and help you bring AI to your GTM teams. It includes a breakdown of the Sales AI landscape, adoption of GenAI and Sales software across buyer groups. Plus, an analysis of the top 75 trending sales AI tools. Why HG Insights? Simple. They’ve been writing market reports for years as the pioneer of tech adoption and market insights. Trusted by GTM leaders at the likes of Snowflake Five9 and Google Cloud to improve GTM efficiency. Thinking about AI for your sales team but unsure where to start? The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Scott Barker, GTMfund Partner, 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.

Mark Kosoglow is the Co-Founder and CEO of Operator.ai, a company incubated by GTMfund. Mark was employee #1 at Outreach and former SVP of Global Sales, where he helped grow the company from zero to over $200 million in revenue. He is joined in this special edition podcast episode by Max Altschuler, Founder and General Partner of GTMfund. Discussed in this Episode:The fallacy of "what got you here won't get you there" in revenue leadership.The current state of sales technology and its impact on buyer engagement.The vision for Operator and how it aims to revolutionize the sales process.The importance of personalization and relevance in sales outreach.Strategies for breaking through the noise and attracting buyers into conversations.Highlights:(1:35) Mark's journey from Outreach to founding Operator.(4:33) Challenging the notion of constantly changing leadership in growing companies.(10:00) The problem with current sales automation and AI strategies.(20:25) The concept of "the great ignore" in sales messaging.(24:11) How Operator aims to change the day-to-day activities of salespeople.(37:47) The importance of creativity, connection, and focus in sales.(45:48) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Mark thinks is bull$***.(47:48) One thing that is working for Mark in go-to-market right now.Guest Speaker Links (Mark Kosoglow)LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkosoglow/Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Product Recommendation: Apollo"The revenue tech stack is messy right now. If you are one of those leaders, I would recommend that you take a look at Apollo. Maybe you think you know Apollo, maybe you’ve taken a look at them in the past but I’ve looked under the hood recently and if your goal is to reduce and simplify your tech stack AND have best in breed data layered in with AI - they would be at the top of my list. There’s a reason Rippling and Stripe switched over.We worked with their team to create an interactive demo page. You can check it out at: https://www.apollo.io/gtmAlmost all I hear these days is “we need to figure out how to best leverage AI in our sales process” and “how can we consolidate/simplify our tech stack.” With Apollo I believe you can accomplish both."  - Scott BarkerThe GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Scott Barker, GTMfund Partner, 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.

Kim Peretti, a seasoned Customer Success executive with over 25 years in tech, shares her insights on building a customer-first culture. She emphasizes the importance of aligning sales, marketing, and customer success teams to foster business growth. Kim discusses the role of data in understanding customer health and encourages companies to shift focus from acquiring new customers to retaining existing ones. She also highlights the value of shared compensation goals in enhancing collaboration and dispels the myth that customer churn is solely the responsibility of customer success managers.

Phil Hernandez is the VP of Sales Services at TaskUs. He has spent the past 20 years skillfully building and transforming numerous Go-To-Market (GTM) teams. He possesses an unwavering commitment to mastering sales systems and demonstrates expertise in orchestrating organizational change aimed at cultivating high-performance revenue teams. His diverse industry background ranges from Tech/SaaS, Big Data, Adtech/Media, and CPG. He has implemented best practices in Startup, Scale Up, Public, and Private Equity operating environments as well as driving many transformational initiatives. As a revenue architecture expert, Phil specializes in operationalizing best practices and implementing scalable, data-driven solutions to elevate customer satisfaction throughout their buyer’s journey. Discussed in this Episode:The importance of cross-functional alignment in go-to-market strategiesBalancing strategic planning with day-to-day sales executionTactics for breaking down silos between marketing, sales, and customer successThe myth of work-life balance and finding personal equilibriumStrategies for incentivizing sales teams and driving desired behaviorsThe danger of seeking "silver bullet" solutions in sales leadershipHighlights:(2:49) Phil's journey from Coca-Cola delivery driver to sales leader. (9:41) Challenges in aligning different go-to-market functions. (14:12) Time-blocking strategies for sales leaders. (20:26) How TaskUs increased opportunity conversion 4x through better lead engagement. (24:20) Designing effective sales compensation plans.(32:33) The importance of focusing on micro-wins rather than silver bullets.(35:09) Phil's framework for evaluating go-to-market success: People, Process, Platforms, and Performance. (38:05) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Phil thinks is bull$***.(39:36) One thing that is working for Phil in go-to-market right now.Guest Speaker Links (Phil Hernandez):LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hernandezphillip/Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Product Recommendation: Apollo"The revenue tech stack is messy right now. If you are one of those leaders, I would recommend that you take a look at Apollo. Maybe you think you know Apollo, maybe you’ve taken a look at them in the past but I’ve looked under the hood recently and if your goal is to reduce and simplify your tech stack AND have best in breed data layered in with AI - they would be at the top of my list. There’s a reason Rippling and Stripe switched over.We worked with their team to create an interactive demo page. You can check it out at: https://www.apollo.io/gtmAlmost all I hear these days is “we need to figure out how to best leverage AI in our sales process” and “how can we consolidate/simplify our tech stack” - with Apollo I believe you can accomplish both." -Scott BarkerThe GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Scott Barker, GTMfund Partner, 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.

Nealesh Patel is the Chief Revenue Officer at Crunchbase, an AI-powered platform that helps over 80 million dealmakers discover and prioritize the right opportunities using best-in-class company data. With over 25 years of experience in the tech industry, Neal has a proven track record of executing progressive growth strategies, landing innovative partnerships, developing revenue streams, and building winning teams. As the leader of Crunchbase's go-to-market functions, and the de facto general manager of its data licensing business, Neal has a cross-functional and holistic understanding of how to provide value to customers and generate revenue. Under his leadership, Crunchbase has more than 4X'd its unique users, increased its annual recurring revenue by over 75x, and secured partnerships with large brands like S&P, LinkedIn, Meta, Oracle, NASDAQ, Amazon, and Snowflake. Neal is also an active board member, advisor, and investor in several high-growth startups.Discussed in this Episode:The importance of listening to customers without blindly obeying their requestsHow Crunchbase adapted to the rise of ChatGPT and generative AIThe value of conducting ongoing customer tours to inform product development and strategyInsights on career growth and taking risks in professional developmentThe future of sales management in the age of AI and rev tech platformsHighlights:(03:45) The concept of "listening to customers without obeying"(09:12) Crunchbase's response to the release of ChatGPT(13:58) Developing predictive signals using Crunchbase's proprietary data(19:32) Career advice: The importance of curiosity and authenticity(22:15) Taking risks and daring to be "stupid" in your career(25:37) The ongoing need for human sales managers in the age of AI(30:42) Why traditional sales playbooks may become obsolete(34:21) Institutionalizing customer tours as a core business practice(37:55) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Neal thinks is bull$***(39:47) One thing that is working for Neal in go-to-market right nowGuest Speaker Links (Neal Patel):LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nealeshpatel/Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Sponsors:Apollo. The revenue tech stack is messy right now. All the leaders that I’m talking to are reevaluating their stacks from the ground up. Do we really need ten different solutions? If you are one of those leaders, I would recommend that you take a look at Apollo. Maybe you think you know Apollo, maybe you’ve taken a look at them in the past but I’ve looked under the hood recently and if your goal is to reduce and simplify your tech stack AND have best in breed data layered in with AI - they would be at the top of our list. There’s a reason Rippling and Stripe switched over. We worked with their team to create an interactive demo page - you can check it out at: https://www.apollo.io/gtm The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Scott Barker, GTMfund Partner, 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.

Peter Kazanjy, a serial founder and SaaS executive, shares his insights on sales performance management. He discusses the effects of zero interest rates on buyer behavior and emphasizes the need for accountability in sales management. Kazanjy highlights the risks of over-reliance on AI, warning against skills atrophy among sales teams. He advocates for a 'back to basics' approach, focusing on pipeline generation and rigorous performance management to adapt to current economic challenges. His expertise offers valuable strategies for navigating today’s sales landscape.