The GTM Podcast

Helping founders with GTM Strategies and teaching sales reps how to earn the right to ask questions, which questions to ask, and when is the primary driver for Richard Harris. He brings 20+ years of experience, having done all the roles - SDR, AE, Manager, Director, VP of Sales, and Director of Sales Ops - to the table. His client list includes Zoom, Salesforce, Gainsight and 80+ SaaS start-ups. He is also the Co-Founder of Surf and Sales as well as the host of the Surf and Sales Podcast. What You Will Learn:Key strategies for handling sales negotiations, including preparing for negotiations with procurement departments, and delivering pricing effectively. Perspective on the future of AI in the sales industry.Common mistakes that Richard sees founders make and how to avoid them. The importance of sales coaching and role playing. Highlights:(5:13) Unveiling Richard's book: The Seller's Journey.(10:51) The art of negotiation: engaging with procurement.(19:52) Understanding pricing and commercial terms.(21:47) The art of negotiation: offering discounts. (25:31) The future of sales in the age of AI. (31:26) Common mistakes founders make and how to avoid them.(36:44) The importance of training and role playing in sales.(34:55) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Richard thinks is bull$***.(36:39) One thing that is working for Richard in go-to-market right now.Guest Speaker Links (Richard Harris):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rharris415/Phone Number: 415-596-9149 Book: www.thesellersjourney.co/the-sellers-journey-free-previewBook (Amazon): www.amazon.com/Sellers-Journey-Guidebook-N-T-ebook/dp/B0CV32BJ5K Surf and Sales Podcast: www.surfandsales.com/the-surf-sales-podcast Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Sponsor:Today’s episode is sponsored by Wiza. If you’ve used big-name prospecting tools before, you know that they all share one, massive problem: bad data. These tools are built on static databases, playing cat-and-mouse to keep up with job titles changes, employee turnover, and bouncing emails. As sales professionals and operators ourselves, we needed more. So, we built Wiza, the only prospecting platform that sources and verifies its data in real-time, the moment it’s requested, using LinkedIn as its source of truth.Wiza offers an accuracy-obsessed B2B contact database with 99% coverage of LinkedIn profiles as well as a powerful Chrome extension that works on LinkedIn and with Sales Nav. If you’re struggling with inaccurate data from clunky database tools, try Wiza for free today at wiza.co - and see why 300,000+ GTM professionaThe GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast 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.

Alexa Grabell is the Co-Founder and CEO of Pocus. Pocus is mission control for your pipeline. Pocus brings together product usage and other intent signals (customer, community, marketing data) to surface top leads, enabling reps to act fast. Alexa’s passion for democratizing data for go-to-market teams began when she led sales strategy & operations at Dataminr, where she built internal solutions to power sales teams with data.What You Will Learn:The evolving landscape of go-to-market strategies, including the concept of Go-to-Market 5.0.The significance of shifting from traditional 'predictable revenue engines' to data-driven, personalized, and intention-focused go-to-market strategies to enhance sales effectiveness.The critical role that data plays in tailoring sales approaches, and how certain companies have successfully implemented these strategies to achieve remarkable growth.The importance of incorporating automation and artificial intelligence in sales processes to increase efficiency and relevance in customer interactions.Strategies for fostering a strong, values-based company culture that supports innovative go-to-market strategies and empowers decision-making grounded in both data and intuition.Insightful advice on the initial hiring of salespeople, emphasizing the need for alignment with the company's culture and go-to-market vision.Highlights:(4:52) The story of how Alexa met her co-founder, Isaac, and the importance of picking the right co-founder. (6:38) The concept of go-to-market 5.0, including jobs to be done.  (12:48) Examples of companies that are doing a good job of figuring out which signals they should care about and what the playbooks are from there that they should run. (20:40) Getting to go-to-market fit and the importance of taking advice as a data point. (26:00) Demanding excellence while fostering an enjoyable experience, and Pocus' company values and expectations. (30:12) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Alexa thinks is bull$***.(32:12) One thing that is working for Alexa in go-to-market right now.Guest Speaker Link:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/alexagrabell/ Blog Post: www.pocus.com/blog/building-your-signal-based-gtm-tech-stackHost Speaker Links:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/Sponsor:Today’s episode is sponsored by Wiza. If you’ve used big-name prospecting tools before, you know that they all share one, massive problem: bad data. These tools are built on static databases, playing cat-and-mouse to keep up with job titles changes, employee turnover, and bouncing emails. As sales professionals and operators ourselves, we needed more. So, we built Wiza, the only prospecting platform that sources and verifies its data in real-time, the moment it’s requested, using LinkedIn as its source of truth.Wiza offers an accuracy-obsessed B2B contact database with 99% coverage of LinkedIn profiles as well as a powThe GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast 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.

Andy Jolls, a marketing executive, discusses his journey into AI and generative AI. The podcast delves into AI's impact on go-to-market, approaches for AI implementation, tactical use cases in marketing such as SEO strategy development and analyzing data using AI tools.

Amit Pande is CMO and EVP of Strategy at Aviso AI, a leading revenue intelligence platform. Previously, Amit led marketing efforts at startups like Tact AI (1st AI Assistant for Sales backed by AWS, Microsoft, and Salesforce), HP Inc (next-gen computing) and Spire AI (Human Capital SaaS). In a prior life, Amit also led product and UX teams at Yahoo and Oracle. Amit is a Stanford GSB alumnus and has served on its alumni board, and has also studied human-computer interaction and engineering at the University of Minnesota. He is a coffee loving techno-humanist, loves sci-fi and graphic novels, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.What You Will Learn:Challenges of entering crowded markets with large incumbents. Repositioning and reframing to differentiate from incumbents.Using events as a way to engage with customers and drive conversations.Building a successful marketing strategy with limited funding.Finding true north and surrounding oneself with inspiring ideas and people.Highlights:(13:38) Changing narrative and playing field to differentiate from incumbents.(21:12) Changing the playing field in a competitive market.(22:15) Competitive strategies against industry giants.(23:09) Strategies for hacking events to drive conversations.(27:49) Building a winning marketing strategy with a small budget.(35:57) Advice for startups entering a market with established incumbents.(43:00) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Amit thinks is bull$***.(45:45) One thing that is working for Amit in go-to-market right now.Guest Speaker Link:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/amitpande/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 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.

Max Altschuler is the Founder and General Partner of GTMfund, an early-stage fund focused on B2B SaaS startup backed by the world’s best tech GTM leaders. Previously, he was the Founder and CEO of Sales Hacker, a global digital media company that he grew and successfully sold to Outreach in 2018. He then took over as VP of Marketing for rapidly growing Outreach. In 2023, Max acquired the company he once founded, SalesHacker, bringing it under the GTMfund umbrella and rebranding it as GTMnow. Max has been published by Forbes, Inc., HBR, MIT Review, Time, Salesforce, and Nasdaq, and was named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices for Sales and Crunchbase’s 25 Sales Leaders to Follow. He is the author of three books and multiple Wiley publications, including bestselling books Hacking Sales and Career Hacking for Millennials.What You Will Learn:A recap of GTMfund's in 2023, reflected upon by both Max and Scott. Max's 2024 predictions, from topics like remote work to the mergers and acquisitions. Identification of the major beneficiaries of the AI revolution.The changing landscape of VC and go-to-market. Highlights:(00:33) GTMfund's recent team offsite in Scottsdale.(02:18) Reflecting on GTMfund's 2023 year.(04:30) Predictions for remote work in 2024.(05:15) Impact of remote work on different roles.(07:34) The future of offshoring.(09:34) Acceleration of mergers and acquisitions.(13:02) Which two companies Max predicts will be the first to IPO. (16:15) The biggest winners of the AI revolution in 2024.(20:34) The flight to quality in Venture Capital.Guest Speaker Link:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/maxaltschuler/Website: www.gtmfund.com/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 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.

Leena Joshi, Co-Founder & CEO of CloseFactor, shares insights on go-to-market motions, building a top-down sales strategy while maintaining a bottoms-up approach, and the importance of hiring the right salespeople. Highlights include maintaining focus on the ICP, the value of curiosity and a beginner's mindset, and using outbound motion through inbound tracking. She also discusses the convergence of sales, marketing, and customer success in the SaaS industry and the significance of product and marketing alignment.

Mike Molinet is the Co-Founder of Branch (branch.io), where he was COO and President, leading the company to $100M in ARR. He oversaw all things GTM there, including G&A and Product. Now, he is the Co-Founder of Thena (thena.ai), a seed-stage startup backed by Lightspeed and First Round, where they're helping companies service and engage their customers in Slack. After taking Branch to $100M, he's doing it all over again, this time with a lot of learnings.What You Will Learn:The different micro-phases within each stage of growth (0-1M ARR, 1-10M ARR, etc) and how leaders need to level up and adapt through each one.Hiring the right roles at the right time - AES vs leaders.Maintaining an open and learning mindset even with growing success.Relinquishing control as you scale while still providing oversight.Balancing product requests from large customers vs your overall roadmap.Highlights:(7:21) How your success comes from the people you hire and retain. (9:10) Evolving through micro phases through rapid growth. (15:50) Threading the needle on when to ask design partners for money in the early 0 to $1M stage. (23:11) Heuristic framework of evaluation for taking on bespoke build requests. (31:29) How hiring great people makes you feel excited to relinquish control.(43:20) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Mike thinks is bull$***.Guest Speaker Link:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mikemolinet/Website: www.thena.aiHost 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 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.

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 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.

This lively discussion features go-to-market leaders boldly challenging outdated beliefs in revenue leadership. They critique the effectiveness of traditional go-to-market strategies, urging a reevaluation of outbound sales and personal branding. Misconceptions around sales practices and community engagement are also tackled, stressing the need for collaboration and legal insights. Industry experts highlight the importance of personal connections and adaptability, paving the way for more authentic community building in business.

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 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.