

The Revenue Formula
Toni Hohlbein & Raul Porojan
This podcast is about scaling tech startups.
Hosted by Toni Hohlbein & Raul Porojan, together they look at the full funnel.
With a combined 20 years of experience in B2B SaaS and 3 exits, they discuss growing pains, challenges and opportunities they’ve faced. Whether you're working in RevOps, sales, operations, finance or marketing - if you care about revenue, you'll care about this podcast.
If there’s one thing they hate, it’s talk. We know, it’s a bit of an oxymoron. But execution and focus is the key - that’s why each episode is designed to give 1-2 very concrete takeaways.
Hosted by Toni Hohlbein & Raul Porojan, together they look at the full funnel.
With a combined 20 years of experience in B2B SaaS and 3 exits, they discuss growing pains, challenges and opportunities they’ve faced. Whether you're working in RevOps, sales, operations, finance or marketing - if you care about revenue, you'll care about this podcast.
If there’s one thing they hate, it’s talk. We know, it’s a bit of an oxymoron. But execution and focus is the key - that’s why each episode is designed to give 1-2 very concrete takeaways.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 24, 2023 • 35min
9 ways to build a moat
The most durable companies have built a strong moat around their business.While many things can be copied, we dive into some of the things that aren't so easy to copy - giving you a competitive advantage.(00:00) - Introduction
(03:45) - 1: Lock-in
(06:10) - 2: Complex implementation
(08:46) - 3: Integrations
(11:52) - 4: Increased usage
(17:04) - 5: Ecosystem
(20:51) - 6: Enterprise
(25:36) - 7: Brand
(28:08) - 8: Multiyear
(30:46) - 9: Economic moat

Oct 19, 2023 • 47min
Why you need a plan you can beat (with Dave Kellogg, EIR at Balderton Capital)
We grilled Dave Kellogg on planning in this episode.We get into why you shouldn't get any surprises, why you need a plan you can beat - and how to approach building a solid plan for next year.(00:00) - Introduction
(04:15) - What sets great team apart right now
(06:03) - Are you up to par?
(10:02) - What can we learn from the dot com bust?
(15:32) - What's a good number?
(18:38) - Why you need to raise on an aggresive plan
(22:10) - Planning requires discipline
(27:04) - Assumptions
(32:41) - Getting ahead of plan
(34:12) - RevOps as the partner
(39:09) - Allocating resources
(44:07) - From plan to execution
You can find Dave's blog here.

Oct 17, 2023 • 29min
4 Sales excuses to watch out for
Today we walk through the top 4 excuses Toni has heard (and used) when hitting target gets difficult.While some are BS, a few actually reveal important insight.Today we get into 👇(00:00) - Introduction
(01:50) - They're just lazy
(10:09) - These opportunities are terrible...
(16:31) - These inbounds...
(20:56) - Just give me this one thing

Oct 12, 2023 • 42min
How to build RevOps for hypergrowth (with Sean Lane, Founding Partner, Minot Light Consulting)
From employee #75 to helping Drift become an over $1B valuation company, Sean Lane knows a thing or two about hypergrowth.In this episode, we talk to Sean about his RevOps journey and how to create a strategic team in fast-growing companies. Don't forget to listen to Operations with Sean Lane and check out his new company Minot Light Consulting.(00:00) - Introduction
(00:42) - Meet Sean
(01:30) - How Sean got into RevOps
(07:09) - Expectations and misconceptions of RevOps
(09:41) - What does "Strategic" RevOps actually mean?
(15:59) - The fiscal year flip
(26:07) - Planning is hard
(33:22) - What does a high-growth RevOps team look like?
(36:06) - Talking with your peers
(41:52) - Wrapping up

Oct 10, 2023 • 30min
Don't use benchmarks like this
Benchmarks are generally speaking not really helpful. And unfortunately, many are using them the wrong way - causing a lot of problems.That's why we discussed benchmarks - and when it does make sense to use them (and how)(00:00) - Introduction
(04:01) - Benchmarking
(06:40) - Misled by benchmark
(11:51) - People ratios
(16:40) - Pipeline coverage
(20:13) - Same metrics, different meaning
(22:25) - The only good thing

Oct 5, 2023 • 50min
Cultivating an efficient GTM engine (with Sam Jacobs, Founder & CEO of Pavilion)
How do you cultivate an efficient GTM engine? And what has Sam learned from building Pavilion and the community?In the episode, we get into:(00:00) - Introduction
(05:48) - Culture and challenges
(09:40) - The curated signs of an efficient gtm engine
(16:29) - AEs = more revenue?
(19:42) - Why sales gets all the love
(24:28) - Alignment
(30:48) - Free money created bad behaviour
(32:32) - Going broad vs specific (TAM)
You can check out GTM23 here and Pavilion here.

Oct 3, 2023 • 29min
Buy software like this
Software is bad. It makes RevOps look like system admins. But also, software is also good. In fact, it's very much needed.That's why we decided to cover how to approach buying software. In the episode, we cover:(00:00) - Introduction
(02:51) - Buying software
(04:40) - Text book purchase
(10:30) - The wrong way to do it
(11:10) - Forcing function
(20:15) - Making the deal

Sep 28, 2023 • 43min
Do this to lift sales performance (with Chris Orlob, CEO at pclub.io)
What can you really do to lift the performance of your sales team? That's exactly what we discussed with Chris Orlob, who was part of taking Gong from $200K to $200M in ARR.In the episode, we get into:(00:00) - Introduction
(02:44) - Why quota attainment is down
(06:06) - Why sales takes longer today
(08:32) - How do you solve the problem?
(10:48) - What does good look like?
(12:56) - Discovery: Understanding the need behind the need
(17:48) - Mutual action plan
(20:00) - Understanding intent
(25:37) - Dealing with finance and other stakholders
(30:39) - Making the case
(34:53) - Quota - raise or decrease?
(39:23) - Q5 deals
References:Matt Green on quota attainmentJacco van der Kooij on Solving underperformanceAnd of course pclub.io

Sep 26, 2023 • 29min
The Biggest blindspot of revenue operators
There's a big blindspot in commercial teams. And it'll limit your ability to grow - it's your product.Here's what we got into 👇(00:00) - Introduction
(01:08) - Product market fit
(05:19) - The blind spot
(07:59) - Why it matters
(09:38) - The first question: Do I have product market fit?
(15:01) - Talking with authority
(16:38) - Product limited
(19:04) - When PMF is moving
(23:27) - Changing your own perception
(25:32) - Look with innocent eyes

15 snips
Sep 21, 2023 • 39min
Strategic Execution with RevOps (With Shantanu Shekhar, Sr Director GTM Ops @ Gong)
While many wants to be strategic... the first step is understanding how to take a strategy to plan to execution.That's exactly what we discussed with Shantanu, Senior Director of GTM Operations at Gong.(00:00) - Introduction
(01:35) - The path to RevOps
(06:55) - The Role of RevOps
(10:05) - Common misconceptions of RevOps
(13:06) - What does strategy really mean for RevOps?
(16:46) - Strategy in practise
(22:54) - First principles
(28:22) - Proactive vs Reactive
(31:21) - Compartmentalization
(36:18) - Practical advise to get strategic


