#115 - Adam Jay - Founder and CEO of Adam Jay Consulting - Redefining Startup Success

In this episode of Revenue Today, Jared Robin and David Maxey, a GTM leader and the head of rev ops of the Americas at XM cyber, talks about the importance of having a transparent and comprehensive revenue model that connects leads to revenue. David explains how to avoid overhiring, over indexing on the wrong metrics, and wasting money on ineffective marketing programs. He also shares his favorite tools and resources for building and analyzing revenue models, such as SaaSGrid, Segment, and Heap.

David shares his wisdom and expertise on how to measure and improve your revenue performance using key metrics and KPIs. He also gives practical advice on how to socialize and align your revenue model with your entire organization, and how to deal with the challenges of change management. You will learn how to create a profitable and scalable SaaS business that delivers value to your customers and stakeholders.

Tune in to hear David’s tips and tricks for creating a sound revenue model that works for your company.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A sound revenue model connects leads to revenue transparently and comprehensively, addressing diverse stakeholder needs.
• Understanding market nuances, adjusting conversion rates, sales cycles, and pricing is crucial for go-to-market success.
• Focus on key KPIs like payback period, lifetime value, customer acquisition costs, retention, and expansion rates for revenue model health.
• Accurately attribute marketing efforts to revenue, with a clear lead capture process and ROI reporting for budget justification.
• Utilize tools like SaaSGrid, Segment, Heap, Growblocks, and BurnRate for streamlined data collection, integration, visualization, and optimization.
• A sound revenue model aligns your teams around generating revenue and value for your customers.
• Track and improve your average selling price, conversion rates, sales cycle, and ramp time to increase your revenue performance.
• Socialize and align your revenue model with your organization by presenting, communicating, and building relationships with the people involved.

QUOTES

• “When you over index on one particular metric, you end up looking at a system and thinking you’ve improved it when it’s not.”
• “When you have a fully transparent plan that has that all laid out to say this event produces these leads in the pipeline. Then when you go to cut it it’s a very easy conversation to say is this small savings here worth putting this amount of revenue at risk?”
• “Every single person that goes to a conference that’s running a booth is better off scanning 13 badges of people, that, they’ll start the sales process with six of them then scanning 300 badges and getting two out of it.”
• “If you mistreat your employees in the restaurant business, they will steal from you.”
• “Spend the extra time with the people, make sure that everyone is as comfortable as they possibly can be as they move forward.”

Connect with David Maxey in the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-maxey/

Ways to tune in:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/40b665df-1a4f-455a-a514-ef599fd1a106
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revenue-today/id1626063261
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38z3wZIAcpoAYF5LQ65xON
• Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmV2ZW51ZXRvZGF5LmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/6KEho9RSaHs

Leslie Greenwood is the founder and CEO of Chief Evangelist Consulting, a company that helps businesses and communities build and revamp their communities. She is also the co-founder of Wednesday Women, a platform that features and amplifies the profiles of women leaders.

In this episode of Revenue Today, Leslie Greenwood joins Jared Robin to discuss the power of unscalable activities in go-to-market strategies. She debunks the myth that everything needs to be scalable and shares examples of unscalable tactics that have had tremendous success. Leslie emphasizes the importance of human connection and intentionality in building relationships and creating evangelists. She also highlights the need for a holistic view of the community beyond demand gen and customer success.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Not everything needs to be scalable; unscalable activities can have a significant impact on building relationships and creating evangelists.
• Personalized gestures, such as sending gifts or acknowledging life moments, can turn customers into evangelists who promote your brand.
• Identifying internal evangelists, leveraging product usage data, and listening to customer feedback can help identify potential evangelists.
• Benchmarking referral data and tracking social mentions can provide insights into the impact of unscalable activities.
• The future of the community is promising, with a growing focus on strategy, intentionality, and creating meaningful connections.

QUOTES

• "Not everything needs to be scalable. We don't need to talk about scalability before even trying something." - Leslie Greenwood
• "We would find little nuggets about people, send them a t-shirt or a bottle of wine. Totally not scalable, but it drove so much business." - Leslie Greenwood
• "Creating evangelists is like a brand. It's going to take a while, but if you start there, you can see incremental improvements over time." - Leslie Greenwood
• "The human connection and being intentional are key in building relationships and creating evangelists." - Leslie Greenwood

Connect with Leslie in the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-greenwood/

Ways to tune in:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/40b665df-1a4f-455a-a514-ef599fd1a106
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revenue-today/id1626063261
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38z3wZIAcpoAYF5LQ65xON
• Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmV2ZW51ZXRvZGF5LmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/6KEho9RSaHs

Rebecca Marshburn is the Head of Community at Common Room. She has previously worked at Airbnb and AWS in content and community roles.

In this episode of Revenue Today, Rebecca debunks the myth that community and go-to-market (GTM) strategies should be kept separate. She believes that community and GTM should intersect and work together to achieve better outcomes for both community members and business goals. By bringing community and GTM closer together, companies can build stronger partnerships and improve user experiences.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Community and GTM should not be kept separate; they should intersect and work together.
• Community can contribute to GTM goals by providing support, generating awareness, and increasing engagement.
• Key metrics for measuring the success of a community include community responsiveness, time to responsiveness, and the quality of answers provided.
• The dark funnel refers to unattributable community interactions and conversations that can influence GTM strategies.
• Building a community requires understanding the purpose of the community, identifying the target audience, and creating a value exchange for community members.

QUOTES

• "Community and GTM should intersect and come together for better outcomes." - Rebecca Marshburn
• "Don't build a community for someone, build a community with someone." - Rebecca Marshburn

Connect with Rebecca in the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccamarshburn/

Ways to tune in:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/40b665df-1a4f-455a-a514-ef599fd1a106
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revenue-today/id1626063261
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38z3wZIAcpoAYF5LQ65xON
• Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmV2ZW51ZXRvZGF5LmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/6KEho9RSaHs

In this episode of Revenue Today, Adam Jay,  the founder and CEO of Adam Jay Consulting and the host of the Revenue Reimagined podcast, discusses the common misconception that hiring a VP of Sales will solve all revenue problems for early-stage startups. He emphasizes the importance of building a solid sales process, understanding the ideal customer profile and buyer persona, and validating product-market fit before scaling the sales team. Adam also shares his insights on the future of fractional leadership and the need for responsible growth in the startup ecosystem.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Hiring a VP of Sales is not a solution to revenue problems without a well-defined sales process and understanding of the ideal customer profile.
• Founders should focus on building a solid sales process, validating product-market fit, and understanding their buyer persona before scaling the sales team.
• Fractional go-to-market leaders can help founders transition from founder-led sales by building out processes, validating assumptions, and hiring the right talent.
• The future of fractional leadership is promising, with more VCs recognizing the value and benefits of bringing in fractional leaders to help early-stage startups.
• Responsible growth and consolidation in the B2B tech space are expected, with companies focusing on building strong products and providing value to customers.

QUOTES

• "Hiring a VP of sales is not going to solve your problem. Hiring people and throwing people at the problem isn't going to solve your problem." - Adam Jay
• "You have to have that brain dump from the founder to build out the sales process. What I find happens is a lot of AEs will get hired and it's 'Oh, go sell.' That is not the sales process." - Adam Jay
• "If you are not passionate about what you are selling, I think it radiates. I think people can tell. I think it appears as if you're going through the motions." - Adam Jay
• "The best sellers genuinely believe in the product and the people they are selling to. There is a reason that I never went to sell paper clips for Office Depot because it would not excite me in the slightest." - Adam Jay
• "The future of fractional leadership is promising, with more VCs recognizing the value and benefits of bringing in fractional leaders to help early-stage startups." - Adam Jay

Connect with Adam in the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adambjay/

Ways to tune in:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/40b665df-1a4f-455a-a514-ef599fd1a106
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revenue-today/id1626063261
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38z3wZIAcpoAYF5LQ65xON
• Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmV2ZW51ZXRvZGF5LmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/6KEho9RSaHs

In this episode of Revenue Today, host Jared Robin interviews Lloyed Lobo, founder of Boast.AI, shares his insights on the power of community in building iconic brands. He debunks the myth that traditional marketing tactics are still effective and emphasizes the importance of building a community around a shared purpose. Lloyed highlights the key traits of successful communities, such as connection, autonomy, mastery, purpose, energy, and recognition. He emphasizes that community is not just a marketing strategy, but a business strategy that serves its members and creates impact beyond the product or service.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Marketing is becoming less effective due to increased costs and consumer fatigue with traditional tactics.
• Building a community is a long-term, sustainable strategy for building an iconic brand.
• Successful communities are built on connection, autonomy, mastery, purpose, energy, and recognition.
• The purpose of a community is to serve its members and create impact beyond the product or service.
• The best communities give members autonomy and recognize their unique strengths.

QUOTES

• "Brands of yesterday were built on what they told the world about themselves. Brands of the future will be built on what the community says about them."
• "The best brands know that customers are saying no to the old marketing. It's the same crap over and over again."
• "When people feel deeply attached to the purpose and they have autonomy, they do things like saving the company and organizing fundraisers for causes."
• "Community is not a marketing strategy. Community is a business strategy."
• "The best communities grant freedom and independence while encouraging responsibility."

Connect with Lloyed in the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lloyedlobo/

Ways to tune in:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/40b665df-1a4f-455a-a514-ef599fd1a106
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revenue-today/id1626063261
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38z3wZIAcpoAYF5LQ65xON
• Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmV2ZW51ZXRvZGF5LmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/6KEho9RSaHs

In this episode of Revenue Today, host Jared Robin interviews Jillian Bejtlich, Head of Community at Calendly, debunks the myth that community can only live at the top of the funnel. She emphasizes the importance of community in the adoption and advocacy phases of the customer lifecycle, where cost savings and organic growth can occur. Jillian explains that the community should be aligned with both the organizational and customer needs to be successful. She also highlights the importance of listening and understanding the customer perspective when starting a community. Jillian shares her approach to resetting expectations and aligning community goals with the overall business strategy.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Community is not just for awareness and acquisition; it can have a significant impact on adoption and advocacy.
• Advocates are crucial for building a community; they can bring in their networks and help grow the community organically.
• To set up a community, start by finding your advocates and building meaningful relationships with them.
• Swag and gamification are not always effective motivators for community members; understanding their intrinsic and extrinsic motivators is key.
• ROI measurement for a community depends on the type of community and the available data, but NPS and attribution can be useful metrics.

QUOTES

• "Community is so much more than just awareness and acquisition. It can save you money and provide free advertising." - Jillian Bejtlich
• "If you start a community and it's not perfectly aligned between the organizational needs and the customer needs, you're not going to get to those last two phases of the customer lifecycle." - Jillian Bejtlich
• "Advocates are the people who will help you grow your community and bring in their friends and networks." - Jillian Bejtlich
• "Community is for conversation, collaboration, and connection. It's about giving people something they can't get anywhere else." - Jillian Bejtlich
• "Understanding churn metrics can help you proactively influence customer behavior and improve retention." - Jillian Bejtlich

Connect with Jillian in the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillianbejtlich/

Ways to tune in:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/40b665df-1a4f-455a-a514-ef599fd1a106
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revenue-today/id1626063261
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38z3wZIAcpoAYF5LQ65xON
• Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmV2ZW51ZXRvZGF5LmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/6KEho9RSaHs

In this episode of Revenue Today, host Jared Robin is joined by Christina Garnett, a community leader, advocacy strategist, and customer marketer. She is currently the Principal Marketing Manager, Offline Community and Advocacy at HubSpot.

Christina Garnett discusses the importance of building a community as part of a go-to-market strategy and debunks the myth of personal branding. She emphasizes the need to let go of narcissism and ego in order to create a thriving community. Christina shares examples of successful community building and advocacy strategies, such as HubSpot's Inbound Correspondents Program. She also highlights the impact of social media on personal validation and the importance of curating social feeds for a healthier online experience.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Building a community requires letting go of narcissism and ego to let others thrive.
• Personal branding should focus on providing value and showcasing unapologetic humanity.
• Advocacy and community building should prioritize customer needs and create spaces for connection and dialogue.
• Curating social feeds is essential for a healthier online experience and personal growth.

QUOTES

• "You have to let go of your narcissism and your ego in order to be a door instead of being the main character." - Christina Garnett
• "Your consumers can spot trends, and if they see the same thing over and over again, it becomes exhausting and has a negative effect." - Christina Garnett
• "Your personal worth should not be tied to social media validation. Seek validation outside of that." - Christina Garnett

Connect with Christina in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinamgarnett/

Ways to tune in:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/40b665df-1a4f-455a-a514-ef599fd1a106
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revenue-today/id1626063261
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38z3wZIAcpoAYF5LQ65xON
• Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmV2ZW51ZXRvZGF5LmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/6KEho9RSaHs

In this episode of Revenue Today, host Jared Robin interviews Morgan J Ingram, founder of Ascension Media Productions. Morgan shares his journey from being a sales rep to starting his own company and explains the concept of narrative-led growth. He discusses the future of sales and the potential impact of AI on the industry. Morgan also highlights the importance of building a strong personal brand.

Morgan emphasizes the significance of creating compelling content and building a personal brand in today's competitive market. He predicts that the future of sales will be driven by narrative-led growth, where companies focus on creating engaging shows and building a community around their brand. Morgan also discusses the potential of AI to replace manual tasks in sales, allowing sales reps to focus on high-value activities and increase productivity. He differentiates between content-led growth and narrative-led growth, emphasizing the importance of context and a consistent narrative in driving meaningful results. Lastly, Morgan shares the key to success and buying back one's time, which involves identifying and eliminating draining tasks and focusing on high-leverage activities that align with one's strengths.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Building a personal brand and creating compelling content is essential for success in today's competitive market.
• The future of sales will be driven by narrative-led growth, where companies focus on creating engaging shows and building a community around their brand.
• AI has the potential to replace many manual tasks in sales, allowing sales reps to focus on high-value activities and increasing productivity.
• It is important to differentiate between content-led growth and narrative-led growth. Content without context and a consistent narrative will not drive meaningful results.
• To achieve success and buy back your time, it is crucial to identify and eliminate draining tasks and focus on high-leverage activities that align with your strengths.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Buying Back Your Time and Evolving to 100% - Morgan J Ingram: “Life for me is an evolution of growing yourself to the highest potential and evolving with what the world offers you and experiencing it to the highest level... The only thing I care about is evolving myself to 100%. If I do that, all my other aspects of life will be focused on.”

Why should we be afraid of AI? - Morgan J Ingram: "You should be afraid because you won't know you're talking to AI. Think about it. Companies are going to be like, Ah, I don't want to spend money on travel. I don't want to spend money on hotels. So what if I just have an AI bot that literally sounds like my top rep... They're closing deals... and they're going to log everything in the CRM because they do it as soon as the conversation is over… this is why you should be afraid, because you're not going to know."

Connect with Morgan in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morganjingram/
• Website: https://ampcreative.io/

Ways to tune in:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/40b665df-1a4f-455a-a514-ef599fd1a106
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revenue-today/id1626063261
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38z3wZIAcpoAYF5LQ65xON
• Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmV2ZW51ZXRvZGF5LmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/6KEho9RSaHs

In this episode of Revenue Today, host Jared Robin interviews Lindsay Cordell, the GTM Analyst and Founding Partner at Go-To-Market Partners. With a background in revenue operations, Lindsay has extensive experience in helping companies optimize their go-to-market strategies and improve their overall efficiency.

Jared and Lindsay discuss the importance of a collaborative approach to go-to-market (GTM) and debunk the myth that GTM should be solely owned by the marketing department. Lindsay emphasizes the need for alignment and equal involvement from all departments, including sales, marketing, product, customer success, and revenue operations. She also highlights the challenges faced by companies in the current economic climate and provides insights on how to recalibrate and focus on efficient growth.

Takeaways

• GTM should be a collaborative effort involving all departments, not just marketing.
• Efficient growth is more sustainable and desirable than artificial growth.
• Companies should focus on their ideal customer profile and prioritize segments that are still able to spend.
• Agile marketing and quick adaptation to market changes are crucial for success.
• Revenue operations play a critical role in ensuring alignment and efficiency across all GTM teams.

Quote of the Show

"Cutting inefficiencies in your GTM system requires equal involvement from all departments." - Lindsay Cordell

"Focus on efficient growth rather than artificial growth for long-term success." - Lindsay Cordell

"Agile marketing and quick adaptation to market changes are crucial for success in the current economic climate." - Lindsay Cordell

Connect with Lindsay in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsaycordell/
• Website: https://gtmpartners.com/

Ways to tune in:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/40b665df-1a4f-455a-a514-ef599fd1a106
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revenue-today/id1626063261
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38z3wZIAcpoAYF5LQ65xON
• Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmV2ZW51ZXRvZGF5LmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/6KEho9RSaHs

In this episode of Revenue Today, host Jared Robin interviews Meghan Keaney Anderson, Head of Marketing at Jasper, one of the fastest-growing companies in AI. With her background as the VP of Marketing at HubSpot, Megan brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the table. She is known for her insights on revenue growth and customer expansion strategies.

Meghan discusses the potential impact of AI on search engine results pages and the implications for organic search traffic as an acquisition channel. She advises go-to-market leaders to diversify their acquisition sources and be prepared for changes in search behavior. The conversation also delves into the use cases of AI in enterprise-level go-to-market strategies, including localization and content generation. Additionally, Meghan and Jared Robin touch on the potential impact of AI on various aspects of business, the need for responsible implementation, and the challenges faced by AI companies in the market.

Takeaways

• Success is not just about net new revenue, but also about customer expansion within the existing base.
• AI has the potential to transform everyday business operations and optimize marketing strategies.
• We need to be cautious about over-reliance on AI and ensure responsible implementation.

Quote of the Show

"AI is more or more like a petri dish than it is a math equation in that we don't always know how it got to the conclusion that it got to. There's a big push right now to build more explainability into AI. We should be able to root back the decisions that AI made to get to that conclusion, and we can't today. I think that that could be a point of weakness or failure for it in the future. I think that explainability is important." - Meghan Keaney Anderson

Connect with Meghan in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghankeaney/
• Website: https://www.jasper.ai/

Ways to tune in:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/40b665df-1a4f-455a-a514-ef599fd1a106
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revenue-today/id1626063261
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38z3wZIAcpoAYF5LQ65xON
• Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmV2ZW51ZXRvZGF5LmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/6KEho9RSaHs