Eran Aloni is the Executive Vice President of Product Strategy and Ecosystem at Gong.  He has been a leader at Gong for eight years, previously holding titles of Chief Customer Officer and Chief Operating Officer. What You Will Learn:Eran's career advice to younger go-to-market professionals. Two stages of AI advancements and which is more valuable. The role that data sets have in AI progressions. How to continuously solicit team feedback to level up as a leader. Highlights:(6:55) How AI solutions are still only scratching the surface in terms of driving deep, strategic value for customers.(10:00) The competitive advantage players have with their access to rich, proprietary data sets to train AI. (18:12) Eran's biggest personal surprise from growing with Gong has been constantly challenging himself to develop new skills as the company scales.(23:15) A story about early feedback Eran received as a young leader and how it shaped his future leadership.(28:19) Why having core operating principles permeate through all levels of an organization builds trust.(34:03) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Eran thinks is bull$***.(37:22) One thing that is working for Eran in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Link:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/eranaloni/Host Speaker Links:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Sponsor:Common Room enables you to turn any buyer activity into pipeline. It ingests all of your product usage data, intent data, social activity, community conversations, and CRM insights to automatically surface high-intent leads and timely, relevant context so your sales reps can convert more customers and hit revenue targets faster. You can try it for free today, or book a demo to go deeper at www.commonroom.io.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.

To cap off the year, we have another special episode. Be warned: It's a spicy one! At the end of every weekly podcast episode, host Scott Barker asks guests the same two questions. Last week, you heard the compilation of guest responses to the first question. This week, you’ll hear the compilation of their responses to the second question:What is one widely held belief that revenue leaders have that you think is bull$*** or no longer serving us?What You Will Learn:The perspectives of go-to-market leaders that are counter to many others.  Host Speaker Links:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarkerNewsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.comThe 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.

We have a very special episode this week. At the end of every weekly podcast episode, host Scott Barker asks guests the same two questions. Today, you’ll hear the compilation of their responses to one of the questions. Spoiler alert: you’ll get to tune into the other question next week, which is slightly spicier as it’s full of hot takes. What You Will Learn:What’s working and learnings for these go-to-market leaders. The questions that 50+ go-to-market leaders answer in this episode: What’s one tactic or strategy that’s working for you or the companies that you’re serving?If you can sum up your learnings in a few sentences, whether it’s something discussed on the podcast or general learnings you would want to impart in folks, what would those sentences be?Highlights:(2:36) The first question above.  (25:50) The adaptation to the question, which is question #2 above. Host Speaker Links:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarkerNewsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.comSponsor:Today’s episode is sponsored by Demandbase, Demandbase helps B2B companies hit their revenue goals using fewer resources. How? By using the power of AI to identify and engage the accounts and buying groups most likely to purchase. They combine your sales and marketing data with our validated B2B data and AI to create Account Intelligence that informs every step of your buyer’s journey. They deliver accurate company, contact, technographic, engagement, and intent data right where you work every day – CRM, collaboration tools, browsers, and more. Start spotting opportunities earlier and orchestrate smarter sales and marketing motions with Demandbase. See this live in action: https://www.demandbase.com/product-tour/sales-intelligence/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.

Daniel Weiner is a former agency executive turned Founder. He started YouShouldTalkTo in 2020 amidst the madness of the pandemic and 3 years later has turned it into a 7-figure business. He also hosts a podcast and private CMO dinners in Atlanta. Outside of work he enjoys all things food/cooking, playing basketball, and working on renovating his loft.What You Will Learn:How to assess what type of external support is the best fit is for you (agency/fractional/freelancer). Insight behind the story of founding a company during the 2020 pandemic. Why your network is your net worth and tactics for navigating business with this philosophy. Advice for posting on LinkedIn consistently. A playbook for vetting agencies upfront andmaking process as efficient as possible.Highlights:(3:18) Starting with a strong foundation in order to partner with external support.  (4:43) The danger of asking peers which agencies / fractional / freelancer partners they work with. (18:39) The two biggest mistakes that brands make. (22:22) The use case for fractional work compared to agency work. (28:04) Daniel's journey starting YouShouldTalkTo, which began in 2020.  (34:16) The biggest lesson learned in growing his business. (36:18) Advice for posting on LinkedIn, derived from three years of putting out content. (40:46) Tactical advice for vetting agencies upfront and how to make the process as efficient as possible. (48:16) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Daniel thinks is bull$***.(50:00) One thing that is working for Daniel in go-to-market right now.  Guest Speaker Link:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/danielweinerPodcast: podcast.youshouldtalkto.comWebsite: www.youshouldtalkto.com Host Speaker Links:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sophiebuonassisiNewsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.comSponsor:Today’s episode is sponsored by Flex, 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.

May Habib is CEO and Co-Founder of Writer, the full-stack generative AI platform for enterprises. Writer empowers your entire organization to accelerate growth, increase productivity, and ensure compliance. May has worked in NLP and ML for 10 years, and before Writer, she founded and built Qordoba, a localization software company. She is an expert in AI-driven language generation, AI-related organizational change, and the evolving ways we use language online.She sits on the board of TechWadi, an organization that bridges MENA-based entrepreneurs with Silicon Valley-based VC and talent networks, and is a MELI Fellow with the Aspen Institute.May graduated from Harvard University and spends her time between San Francisco, where Writer is based, and London, where her two children live.What You Will Learn:May's perspective on the economy now compared to that of 2008/2009. Writer's decision to make PLG table stakes and how they leverage their motion to secure enterprise customers. AI use cases - what they are and how they continue to progress. Tips for recruiting the best possible team members and how patience factors into that. Career insight from years of operating. Highlights:(6:12) May’s learnings from Lehman Brothers and the economic crisis of 2008/2009.(14:11) How much attention the average business leader should spend thinking about AI and how much of a near-term impact AI will have.  (25:17) Writer's PLG motion, including self-serve and sales-assisted, and how it's used to turn small downloads into big enterprise accounts.(31:07) A consultative sales process and messaging considerations. (36:56) May's strategy for recruiting A players. (42:55) Personal career learnings distilled by May.Guest Speaker Link:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/may-habib/Host Speaker Links:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Sponsor:Today’s episode is sponsored by Flex, 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.

Ang McManamon is a tenured sales leader who puts culture first, helps build high-performing SaaS teams, and executes with urgency across all areas of an organization. She is currently the VP of Sales at Crunchbase, where she leads a high-growth team out of New York City. She previously served as a sales leader for Amazon, Knotel, and Stack Overflow.What You Will Learn:Retrospective sales career and overall career insight. Ang's 5 Ps: Professionalism, Preparation, Process, Performance, Play - and why they are important. Inspiration for women leaders and aspiring leaders.Go-to-market perspectives.Highlights:(9:28) Ang’s 5 Ps - 5 principles that make up her foundation, created to remind herself of who she wants to be and how she wants to lead to then expose team to them to make sure there is transparency and trust.(13:37) How to approach preparation, including in a remote-first workplace. (30:12) An impactful career story on becoming a strong woman leader. (38:43) Advice to women facing challenges with fellow women in the workplace. (40:28) What Ang would do differently now being able to reflect retrospectively on her career. (43:46) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Ang thinks is bull$***.(47:15) One thing that is working for Ang in go-to-market right now.  Guest Speaker Link:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angenyc/Host Speaker Links:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Sponsor:Today’s episode is sponsored by Flex, 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.

Mike Vichich is the Co-Founder and CEO of Wisely, which he successfully sold to Olo for $187 million in 2021. Currently contemplating his next move, it will involve embarking on the journey of being a second-time founder. With the experience of building Wisely under his belt, he is looking to avoid making mistakes from his first venture and avoid common traps. He resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan with his wife and three sons.   What You Will Learn:Insight on the behind the scenes to Mike’s journey building a company that sold for $187M. What worked and what did not in building Wisely. How to evaluate product-market fit from experience trying to find it for 4.5 years, including early indicators.  Tactics to encourage resilience and determination and how Mike maintained a strong mindset throughout the journey, even when times got tough. Highlights:(3:45) Evaluating entrepreneurial ideas, including Mike's process of moving from first-time to second-time founder.(6:33) Mike's entrepreneurial journey. (9:46) Differentiating product-market-timing fit from product-market fit.(14:58) The Wisely story - building and growing the company. (21:22) Balancing personal life and self-identity when cash is running out and times get tough. (28:54) Leveraging a network of decision making, rather than a hierarchy of decision making.(31:37) Defining moments and things that Mike got right while building Wisely. (38:41) First things Wisely did to accelerate growth once product-market fit was found. (47:05) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Mike thinks is bull$***.(51:49) One thing that is working for Mike in go-to-market right now. Guest Speaker Link:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mikevichich/Host Speaker Links:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Referenced Resource:Article by Jason Lemkin (SaaStr): The 48 Types of VP Sales. Make Deadly Sure You Hire the Right One. 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.

During Sean's most recent operating role he spent 4.5 years as SVP, Global Sales at Klaviyo. He helped scale the sales organization from 15 to 300 people, while growing annual recurring revenue from $25m to over $450m.  Prior to Klaviyo, Sean served in enterprise sales roles at Localytics, Yammer (acquired by Microsoft for $1.2B) and SuccessFactors (IPO & acquisition by SAP for $3.4B). He was one of the first few reps hired at Yammer to sell into the Fortune 500, responsible for closing some of their largest, 7-figure contracts. In 2022 Sean made the switch from operator to investor, currently serving as Managing Partner at Perkins Cove Partners. Over the last few years he has advised and invested in many B2B SaaS companies, particularly focused on helping with Go-To-Market. What You Will Learn:The importance of leveraging your connections.Strategically pulling in every sales team within your org to orchestrate deals.How to hire the best AE’s for your company.How to be an effective storyteller.Optimizing different parts of your funnel in order to extract incremental dollars.Highlights:(2:57) Sean Marshall’s success attributor.(5:35) Moving up to enterprise from a PLG focused company.(9:36) Starting sales conversations - effectively positioning enterprise reps. (14:10) Knowing when you’re ready to go upmarket.(19:28) The makeup of enterprise pods that were set up at Klaviyo.(22:05) Why CSM’s should be apart of the early deal cycles and not just post sales.(23:45) A pivotal story that led Sean into Sales.(29:39) How to evaluate an AE effectively in an interview. (34:09) What it means to be a strong story teller.(39:00) How to create a more efficient sales engine. (47:35) Always offer your customers optionality.(50:18) The importance of leveraging your referrals in a sales cycle.Guest Speaker Links:Sean’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanmarshall82/Sean’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeanMarshall1Host Speaker Links:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Referenced Resource:An article by Andy Raskin: The Greatest Sales Deck I've Ever SeenThe 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.

Scott Gifis is currently the CEO at NoFraud, formerly the President and COO at frame.io (bought by Adobe) and prior to that, he was the president at AdRoll for 6 years.  Scott is an experienced executive operator, investor, advisor, and board member with a proven track record of building and scaling great companies, globally, from near zero to $100M plus. Today Scott advises for nearly a dozen SaaS companies.What You Will Learn:Stop and celebrate your wins.The power of your influence.Unlocking team building successfully as a leader.Knowing when to part ways with your early employees.When to bring on a COO / Head of RevOps and the common pitfalls.Highlights:(4:51) balancing work / life priorities. (10:03) Impactful moments in Scotts career that led him to run large behemoths. (16:01) Flying back to his younger self.(22:18) Knowing where your influence affects your employees.(29:32) The best team building strategies. (42:48) When to bring on a COO / Head of RevOps. (54:37) The problems with hiring an enterprise leader to run your startup.Guest Speaker Link:Scott's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottpgifis/Host Speaker Links:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/ Our SponsorToday’s episode is sponsored by Demandbase, Demandbase helps B2B companies hit their revenue goals using fewer resources. How? By using the power of AI to identify and engage the accounts and buying groups most likely to purchase. They combine your sales and marketing data with our validated B2B data and AI to create Account Intelligence that informs every step of your buyer’s journey. They deliver accurate company, contact, technographic, engagement, and intent data right where you work every day – CRM, collaboration tools, browsers, and more. Start spotting opportunities earlier and orchestrate smarter sales and marketing motions with Demandbase. See this live in action: https://www.demandbase.com/product-tour/sales-intelligence/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.

Sophie Buonassisi is the Vice President of Marketing at GTMfund, overseeing GTMnow - the media arm of the GTMfund brand - and the internal community. She’s passionate about empowering go-to-market leaders and founders with access to insight through GTMnow’s channels, like this podcast, the newsletter, and more. Before joining the GTMfund team, she built and scaled GTM at a predictive conversion optimization company. She enjoys advising SaaS companies as they build out and optimize their marketing and overall GTM strategies.What You Will Learn:How to be proactive with your references.The need for speed throughout your interview process.Showcasing skill and character effectively.Highlights:(3:45) Who’s Sophie and how she ended up at GTMfund.(6:31) How Sophie stood out during an application process of 400+ people.(11:15) How to be proactive about finding a new role when you haven’t identified what that role is exactly.(17:21) Knowing how to navigate the interview process systematically.(22:41) How to leverage your community to endorse you.(26:49) How to effectively nail a take home assignment.(32:30) The importance of understanding your future employer deeply.(35:35) How to hit the ground running before your start date.(40:05) Top tips for landing page conversion optimization.Guest Speaker Link:Sophie's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiebuonassisi/Host Speaker Links:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Sponsor:Today’s episode is sponsored by Demandbase, Demandbase helps B2B companies hit their revenue goals using fewer resources. How? By using the power of AI to identify and engage the accounts and buying groups most likely to purchase. They combine your sales and marketing data with our validated B2B data and AI to create Account Intelligence that informs every step of your buyer’s journey. They deliver accurate company, contact, technographic, engagement, and intent data right where you work every day – CRM, collaboration tools, browsers, and more. Start spotting opportunities earlier and orchestrate smarter sales and marketing motions with Demandbase. See this live in action: https://www.demandbase.com/product-tour/sales-intelligence/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.