Sam Blond is the former Chief Revenue Officer at Brex, where he scaled revenue from $1M to hundreds of millions in ARR. Prior to Brex, Sam served as VP of Sales at Zenefits, growing revenue from $1M to $70M in just two years. After his operating roles, Sam joined Founders Fund as an investing partner before leaving to co-found a new startup.Discussed in this Episode:Why investing early in sales ops and rev ops is critical for scaling revenue.How to generate demand through creative campaigns and a "concentric circles" approach.The risks of scaling sales teams too quickly based on flawed hiring models.What VCs look for in a compelling founder pitch, beyond just business metrics.Why focusing on generating pipeline is often better than optimizing conversions.How to leverage customer marketing and "raving fans" as an early acquisition channel.Highlights:[5:00] – Sam's incredible track record scaling Brex and Zenefits from $1M to $100M+ ARR.[13:58] – Outlining the most creative and successful demand gen campaigns run at Brex.[20:17] – The importance of sustaining a culture of creativity in marketing as you scale.[33:35] – Mistakes made at Zenefits: investing in rev ops too late, deprioritizing customer experience, hiring too fast.[43:45] – What VCs look for in founders when metrics alone aren't enough to get the deal done.[52:15] – One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Sam thinks is bull$***[60:21] – One thing that is working for Sam in go-to-market right now.Guest Speaker Links (Sam Blond):LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-blond-791026b/Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Sponsors:Brought to you by Flex. Flex is a finance super app built around a credit card with unique Net-60 day terms that enables businesses to make an investment today and pay it back 60 days later with zero percent interest. If your business growth is constrained by the cashflow you need for inventory, advertising, or something else, Flex could provide you with an interesting growth lever.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.

Ralph Barsi is the VP of Sales at Kahua, a leading construction management platform. Prior to Kahua, Ralph held executive roles at Tray.io and ServiceNow. While at ServiceNow, he built and led a team of 230 people across the globe, during thecompany’s growth from from $1 billion to over $4 billion in revenue. Prior to ServiceNow, Ralph was the VP of Field Operations at Achievers (acquired by Blackhawk Network) and the Manager of Sales Development at InsideView (acquired by DemandBase). Ralph serves as an advisor to go-to-market leaders at Aircover, Scale Venture Partners, TopHap, and others. He is also a growth stage investor with the GTMfund. Barsi dedicates much of his time serving others. In addition to his work at Kahua, Ralphmentors and advises a host of SaaS leaders and leadership programs.Discussed in this Episode:The importance of implementing systems and processes in sales and life.How frameworks like SCQA (Situation, Challenge, Question, Answer) and PAR (Problem, Action, Result) can improve communication.Strategies for delivering difficult messages, such as during a reorganization or reduction in force.The value of staying in touch with former colleagues and playing the long game in relationships.Tactics for maintaining a robust contact database and regularly checking in with people.How to motivate and guide reps who are facing a challenging selling environment.The significance of chronicling your work and keeping a record of your achievements.Highlights:(8:28) Introduction of the quote "Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets" by Edwards Deming.(14:33) Discussion on using frameworks to communicate effectively with a large or small audience.(24:27) Ralph's journey from Compliance360 to Kahua and the importance of maintaining long-term relationships.(31:55) The system Ralph uses to stay in touch with his extensive network of contacts.(35:41) Strategies for shifting focus and moving forward when facing challenges or setbacks.(41:45) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Ralph thinks is bull$***(48:15) One thing that is working for Ralph in go-to-market right now.Guest Speaker Links (Ralph Barsi):LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralphbarsiHost Speaker Links (Scott Barker):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/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.

Annelise Osborne is Chief Business Officer at Kadena, a Layer 1, POW blockchain where she is focused on upgrading finance. Annelise has 20 years of experience in traditional finance and seven years in digital assets. She is a thought leader, board advisor, university lecturer and author. Her book, From Hoodies to Suits: Innovating Digital Assets in Traditional Finance, hit shelves in June. Annelise holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in Economics from The College of William and Mary.Discussed in this Episode:The impact of cryptocurrency market fluctuations on the adoption of blockchain technology.How digital assets and blockchain are upgrading finance and why it matters for businesses.The changing demographics and demands of Millennial and Gen Z investors.The potential for blockchain to revolutionize the future of work and compensation.Advice for transitioning from traditional finance or software to a career in Web3.The importance of community building and learning from others in the blockchain space.Highlights:[3:47] – Annelise explains the relationship between blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.[11:10] – The archaic nature of traditional finance and the need for modernization.[18:01] – How companies can generate revenue and find opportunities in the Web3 space.[26:02] – The main themes of her book "From Hoodies to Suits." [31:49] – The potential for blockchain to democratize access to venture investing.[41:49] – How millennials invest differently and the future of fractionalized investments. [44:11] – Blockchain's ability to trace data and enable real-time performance-based compensation. [51:17] – One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Annelise thinks is bull$***[52:27] – One thing that is working for Annelise in go-to-market right now.Guest Speaker Links (Annelise Osborne):LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annelise-osborne-7611176/Book: From Hoodies to Suits: Innovating Digital Assets in Traditional FinanceHost Speaker Links (Scott Barker):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/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.

David Greenberger leads CHEQ’s North America sales team. CHEQ is a cybersecurity platform primarily focused on protecting the Go-to-Market organization (preventing fake leads to sales team, skewed analytics from bots/malicious users etc). David is well-versed in building and perfecting Go-To-Market processes both from $0 and at 100 y/o companies. CHEQ is David’s 5th startup. Directly before CHEQ, David was in a leadership capacity at Hitachi Vantara, in the deep-enterprise Big Data / AI space. Prior to that he's built teams at Foursquare, Yext, Angi and Splash. Discussed in this Episode:The importance of trust in building effective go-to-market strategies.Navigating the transition from startups to large enterprises in sales roles.Strategies for hiring and developing sales talent with non-traditional backgrounds.The value of long-term relationships and "compound interest" in professional growth.Balancing internal and external relationships in large organizations.The resurgence of old-school, in-person tactics in modern sales approaches.Addressing challenges of invalid traffic and bots in digital marketing.Highlights:[13:35] – Insights on managing generational differences and career development in sales teams.[22:05] – David's experience transitioning from startups to a $90 billion organization.[25:50] – The story of a successful SDR who rapidly progressed to closing multi-million dollar deals.[37:49] – One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that David thinks is bull$***[40:04] – One thing that is working for David in go-to-market right nowGuest Speaker Links (David Greenberger):LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidgreenberger/Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Sponsors:Brought to you by Flex. Flex is a finance super app built around a credit card with unique Net-60 day terms that enables businesses to make an investment today and pay it back 60 days later with zero percent interest. If your business growth is constrained by the cashflow you need for inventory, advertising, or something else, Flex could provide you with an interesting growth lever.Brought to you by Orum. Orum is an AI-powered live conversation platform designed to supercharge sales activity, connect sales teams, and drive more revenue over the phone. Orum’s platform includes an AI-dialer that automates the manual aspects of calling and get sales reps into more conversations, a virtual sales floor for teams to build camaraderie and learn from one another, as well as analytics and coaching tools to help teams improve together.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.

Nick Dolik is a NYC-based investor, currently the Managing Director at TriplePoint Capital, and is focused on supporting founders and funding high-growth technology companies. Nick is passionate about entrepreneurship and has spent the past ~10 years backing various startups, including multiple unicorns.Discussed in this Episode:The current state of the financing environment for startups.Venture debt: what it is, how it works, and why it exists.Advantages of venture debt for founders and when to consider it.The importance of building long-term relationships in the venture capital world.Nick's unconventional path into venture capital and lessons learned.The value of getting "closer to the sun" when pursuing a career in VC.Common misconceptions about the founder-investor relationship.Highlights: [12:26] – The current financing environment for startups. [24:45] – Nick explains venture debt and its benefits for founders. [39:30] – Nick shares his journey from credit derivatives to venture capital.[47:22] – The importance of getting "closer to the sun" in pursuing a VC career.[51:30] – Advice for founders approaching their first fundraise. [59:41] – One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Nick thinks is bull$***[1:04:01] – One thing that is working for Nick in go-to-market right now.Guest Speaker Links (Nick Dolik):LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ndolik/Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Sponsors:Brought to you by Flex. Flex is a finance super app built around a credit card with unique Net-60 day terms that enables businesses to make an investment today and pay it back 60 days later with zero percent interest. If your business growth is constrained by the cashflow you need for inventory, advertising, or something else, Flex could provide you with an interesting growth lever.Brought to you by Orum. Orum is an AI-powered live conversation platform designed to supercharge sales activity, connect sales teams, and drive more revenue over the phone. Orum’s platform includes an AI-dialer that automates the manual aspects of calling and get sales reps into more conversations, a virtual sales floor for teams to build camaraderie and learn from one another, as well as analytics and coaching tools to help teams improve together.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.

In this milestone 100th episode, Scott is joined by Sophie Buonassisi, VP of Marketing at GTMfund and GTMnow and a key architect behind the media brand's growth. Sophie leads media, marketing and community across the fund and the media company. Discussed in this Episode:The evolution of GTMfund's media strategy to multi-channel brand.Insights on building a profitable media company within a venture capital firm.Key metrics and growth strategies for the GTMnow brand and assets.Lessons learned from acquiring and rebranding a media property.The power of community-driven content and in-person events.Highlights:2:45 - Reflecting on the podcast's journey.6:05 - Importance of in-person events.14:04 - Reacquiring Sales Hacker and rebranding it as GTMnow.16:15 - Content and metrics behind the media brand.23:48 - Failed experiments and learning experiences.28:34 - Leveraging ecosystem for distribution.34:01 - Importance of in-person feedback.36:39 - Content creation process and tools behind the media brand. 46:09 - Which episodes were the 10 podcast episodes!Guest Speaker Links (Sophie Buonassisi):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sophiebuonassisi/GTMnow Website: www.gtmnow.com/ Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Sponsors:Brought to you by Flex. Flex is a finance super app built around a credit card with unique Net-60 day terms that enables businesses to make an investment today and pay it back 60 days later with zero percent interest. If your business growth is constrained by the cashflow you need for inventory, advertising, or something else, Flex could provide you with an interesting growth lever.Brought to you by Orum. Orum is an AI-powered live conversation platform designed to supercharge sales activity, connect sales teams, and drive more revenue over the phone. Orum’s platform includes an AI-dialer that automates the manual aspects of calling and get sales reps into more conversations, a virtual sales floor for teams to build camaraderie and learn from one another, as well as analytics and coaching tools to help teams improve together.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.

Jon Dick is the Global SVP of Customer Success at HubSpot where he’s focused on helping millions of organizations grow better. Prior to customer success, Jon led marketing teams at HubSpot, Trunk Club, and Klout. He has a background in improvised comedy and earned his MBA from the Harvard Business School.Discussed in this Episode:The rising importance of customer success in the age of AI and efficiency.Balancing proactive and reactive strategies to serve 200,000+ customers.The evolution of content marketing from "clicks to conversations".Choosing people over product and finding passion in your work.The power of generalists and the pitfalls of over-specialization in CS.Go-to-market tactics that are working for HubSpot, from chatbots to intent data.Highlights:3:22 - John's experience with improv comedy and how it applies to business.9:45 - Is an MBA still relevant for today's fast-changing market?13:44 - The new age of customer success and rising importance of AI.18:49 - Balancing proactive and reactive strategies to serve 200,000+ HubSpot customers.24:25 - The shift from "clicks to conversations" in content marketing.34:29 - The power of working with people you like and Jon's HBS reunion story.42:09 - Structuring customer success teams for series B companies.48:15 - One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Jon thinks is bull$***: obsessing over lead volume instead of lead value.50:49 - One thing that is working for Jon in go-to-market right now: leveraging chatbots and intent data to drive conversions.Guest Speaker Links (Jon Dick):LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jondick/Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Sponsor:Brought to you by Demandbase. Demandbase helps B2B companies hit their revenue goals using fewer resources by using the power of AI to identify and engage the accounts and buying groups most likely to purchase. Their account-based technology unites sales and marketing teams around insights that you can understand and facilitates quick actions across systems and channels to deliver big wins. It’s flexible, scalable ABM built for you.Brought to you by Orum. Orum is an AI-powered live conversation platform designed to supercharge sales activity, connect sales teams, and drive more revenue over the phone. Orum’s platform includes an AI-dialer that automates the manual aspects of calling and get sales reps into more conversations, a virtual sales floor for teams to build camaraderie and learn from one another, as well as analytics and coaching tools to help teams improve together.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.

Elizabeth Pemmerl currently serves as GitHub’s Chief Revenue Officer, where she oversees all facets of the company's go-to-market strategy and customer engagement, including sales, support, and operations. She joined GitHub in 2015 after a career in the public sector, and has since held leadership roles in nearly all aspects of GitHub’s enterprise business.Discussed in this Episode:The journey from individual contributor to CRO and the lessons learned along the way.The impact of AI on GitHub's business and the future of software development.Strategies for pricing new products and cross-selling within an existing customer base.Insights on hiring, retention, and the power of promoting from within.Highlights:(9:13) Transitioning from IC to sales leadership and driving a forecast cadence.(18:20) Navigating the acquisition of Semmle and lessons learned in M&A.(25:58) Advice for startups on pricing strategy and identifying core buyer personas.(30:58) The future of AI in business and the emergence of the Chief AI Officer role.(42:08) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Elizabeth thinks is bull$***.(44:07) One thing that is working for Elizabeth in go-to-market right now.Guest Speaker Links (Elizabeth Pemmerl):LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-pemmerl-9172485/Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Sponsor:Brought to you by Demandbase. Demandbase helps B2B companies hit their revenue goals using fewer resources by using the power of AI to identify and engage the accounts and buying groups most likely to purchase. Their account-based technology unites sales and marketing teams around insights that you can understand and facilitates quick actions across systems and channels to deliver big wins. It’s flexible, scalable ABM built for you.Brought to you by Orum. Orum is an AI-powered live conversation platform designed to supercharge sales activity, connect sales teams, and drive more revenue over the phone. Orum’s platform includes an AI-dialer that automates the manual aspects of calling and get sales reps into more conversations, a virtual sales floor for teams to build camaraderie and learn from one another, as well as analytics and coaching tools to help teams improve together.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.

Experienced sales leader Robert Brooks IV discusses training sales teams for technical buyers, applying neural networks to sales, turning around challenging relationships, and scaling revenue. Highlights include SpaceX case study and importance of empathy in successful sales.

The podcast features Kelly Hopping, CMO at Demandbase, discussing the three pillars of a modern go-to-market strategy and aligning sales with marketing. They delve into creating cohesive customer journeys, the importance of feedback loops, and leveraging AI for marketing strategies. Kelly also shares insights on achieving work-life balance in the marketing industry.