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    The Revenue Formula

    This podcast is about scaling tech startups. Hosted by Toni Hohlbein & Mikkel Plaehn, 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.
    enMikkel Plæhn119 Episodes

    Episodes (119)

    Why marketing gets screwed

    Why marketing gets screwed

    There are three ways marketing gets screwed - we discuss them all to help you unscrew marketing.

    In the episode, we get into:

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (02:05) - 3 reasons marketing gets screwed
    • (03:21) - Your deal or my deal
    • (13:28) - Make marketing do everything
    • (24:38) - We need it now

    New research: Did we lose GTM fit?

    New research: Did we lose GTM fit?

    Our friends over at winning by design is about to drop new research - suggesting that we might just have lost GTM fit.

    In todays episode, we discuss the research, and as usual what companies can do about it.

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (03:49) - Loss of go-to-market fit?
    • (06:25) - Why did we lose it?
    • (15:52) - What do we do now?
    • (17:11) - Cut strategically
    • (22:30) - Run a GTM diagnostic
    • (27:12) - Improve in increments

    You can find the research here.
    Also check out David Spitz

    Underdogs and perception (with Norman Rohr, VP Marketing at Capmo)

    Underdogs and perception (with Norman Rohr, VP Marketing at Capmo)

    Today we talk with Norman about two unconventional underdogs, Google and Uberall, and how they changed the perception.

    We get into:

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (02:13) - Meet Norman
    • (07:20) - Google, the underdog
    • (11:25) - People didn't care about search, but..
    • (20:26) - Uberall - another underdog
    • (27:14) - Because of us or despite of us
    • (30:17) - Beyond one tactic
    • (32:58) - Getting buy-in
    • (38:26) - Finding the right profile

    Sales reps spend just 28% of their time selling.. Or do they?

    Sales reps spend just 28% of their time selling.. Or do they?

    If sales reps only spend 1/3 of their time selling... What are they doing with their time? And how can you fix it?

    Also.. Maybe people don't know what selling entails? Irregardless, we dive into:

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (01:56) - Just 30% of time spent on selling?!
    • (06:43) - Find out the status
    • (11:21) - Eleminate
    • (15:38) - Delegate
    • (23:27) - Simplify

    Find the salesforce report on sales here.

    5 takeaways from 2023

    5 takeaways from 2023

    It's time to wrap the year - and what better way than to revisit some of the great conversations we've had with our guests.

    In this episode, you'll hear:

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (04:43) - Sales forecasts suck
    • (06:32) - RevOps aren't system admins
    • (09:13) - Jacco van der Kooij: Recurring revenue
    • (12:58) - Chris Walker: You're gonna cheat
    • (17:42) - Kyle Poyar: Raise the prices
    • (23:34) - Chris Orlob: Quotas
    • (27:11) - Udi Ledergor: Brand.. it's not what you think

    A better way to run your GTM

    A better way to run your GTM

    How do you get more predictive and more foresight? You make GTM forecasting a part of your rituals. 

    And that's exactly what we discuss in todays episode

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (03:42) - How to use a GTM forecast
    • (08:57) - Making it a ritual
    • (14:47) - Next quarter
    • (18:53) - Foresight in Marketing
    • (24:32) - A different view into sales
    • (29:20) - The forgotten child

    How Pleo drives hypergrowth (with Arun Mani, CRO at Pleo)

    How Pleo drives hypergrowth (with Arun Mani, CRO at Pleo)

    What does it look like inside the engine room of a hypergrowth company?

    That's exactly what we discussed with Arun Mani, CRO at Pleo.

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (01:43) - The atypical CRO
    • (04:40) - The pains of hypergrowth
    • (07:53) - Running a matrix Organization
    • (15:14) - Context switching
    • (17:26) - Managing the growth
    • (20:22) - The big problem: GTM execution
    • (32:11) - Believing in the goals

    A "good enough" GTM isn't enough

    A "good enough" GTM isn't enough

    Lots of succesfull companies were built on OK customers, an OK team and with an OK infrastructure. Today, that's not enough.

    We cover the latest benchmarks from OpenView, and discuss what it means.

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (01:49) - New benchmarks out - Execution is the problem
    • (05:00) - CAC:PB and ARR per FTE
    • (07:33) - Easy days are gone
    • (14:57) - Churn and burn
    • (22:38) - Teh People
    • (30:32) - Infrastructure

    Assess your GTM (with Anders Sogaard, Head of Analytics at Growblocks)

    Assess your GTM (with Anders Sogaard, Head of Analytics at Growblocks)

    Whether you've just started annual planning now or are already done (lucky you) - you should consider running an assessment of your GTM.

    It'll help you find problems you didn't even know about. That's why we brought in Anders who's done lots of those.

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (01:35) - Meet Anders
    • (03:04) - What it is and why it matters
    • (08:14) - When do you do it?
    • (12:21) - What does an assessment consist of?
    • (20:59) - Effectiveness framework
    • (22:39) - Reset of GTM fit
    • (24:17) - A problem we didn't know of
    • (28:07) - What are the steps?
    • (34:32) - How do you deliver it?

    Sales forecasts suck

    Sales forecasts suck

    Sales forecast have little to do with revenue growth. It's a great method for coaching and training - but not managing revenue growth.

    We discuss the limitations - and what you can do instead to manage revenue.

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (01:37) - The sales forecast
    • (05:49) - This is what the salesforecast is for
    • (08:21) - Tunnel vision
    • (11:56) - The GTM forecast
    • (17:00) - Building the GTM forecast
    • (20:11) - How do you put this together?
    • (25:05) - The rituals

    Check out the bowtie post Toni mentioned here.

    Driving change through RevOps (with Sandy Robinson, SVP of RevOps at Patra)

    Driving change through RevOps (with Sandy Robinson, SVP of RevOps at Patra)

    When there's an endless to-do list and lots of requests, how do you prioritize changes to the business? And how do you get those changes done?


    That's what we talked with Sandy Robinson (SVP of RevOps at Patra) about.


    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (04:52) - Meet Sandy
    • (13:35) - What was the purpose of RevOps?
    • (16:49) - Beneath the surface
    • (18:36) - Driving change
    • (21:44) - How do you manage change?
    • (26:16) - How do you know it worked?
    • (31:57) - How do you get to the solution?
    • (36:02) - Going up and down the hierachy
    • (42:05) - Communication is key


    Check out her show RevOps unboxed

    Beat and raise your targets

    Beat and raise your targets

    Ever wondered why some public tech companies beat target and raise guidance?

    Today we talk about the practise to follow in order to build a plan you can beat - so you can raise target and build momentum.

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (04:47) - It starts with targets
    • (07:30) - Confidence level and balance
    • (11:38) - Isn't it unambitious?
    • (13:33) - Give a different target to leadership
    • (18:53) - The plan for the rest
    • (25:16) - What goes on the dashboard?

    PS: Check out the ebook, "this is what strategic RevOps looks like"

    3 levers of customer growth (with Dan Steinman, Chief Evangelist at Gainsight)

    3 levers of customer growth (with Dan Steinman, Chief Evangelist at Gainsight)

    Hypergrowth comes from existing customers - and you have three growth levers to pull with customer success.

    We talked with Dan Steinman, Chief Evangelist at Gainsight about those levers.

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (07:00) - How do you grow through your customer base?
    • (10:16) - Why don't we celebrate customer revenue?
    • (13:04) - A leap of faith
    • (16:47) - CS and PLG
    • (20:20) - Don't raise prices, reduce discounts
    • (24:43) - What's the role of the CSM?
    • (29:58) - How to upsell
    • (33:11) - CSMs and discovery
    • (39:00) - CSMs and commissions
    • (42:57) - The product and the price

    Outbound is 3x harder

    Outbound is 3x harder

    Outbound is 3x harder than it used to be.

    We dig into what's happened, and what you can do to make it work.

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (01:30) - Challenges with outbound right now
    • (04:39) - The most prevalent channel
    • (11:08) - What it means now
    • (15:29) - Get the message right
    • (19:06) - Let's cut it
    • (25:46) - Are you still a fit?

    Sources
    Pipeline from sales development (Ray Rike)
    1000-1400 touchers per opp (Jeremy Donovan)

    Pricing as a growth lever (With Kyle Poyar, Operating Partner @ OpenView)

    Pricing as a growth lever (With Kyle Poyar, Operating Partner @ OpenView)

    There's a growth lever you should know about: Pricing.

    We geeked out on pricing with Kyle Poyar, Operating Partner at OpenView to lay out how you can grow through pricing.

    In the episode, we got into 👇

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (10:41) - The scary growth lever
    • (17:42) - The steps to change pricing
    • (25:02) - Where do you anchor pricing?
    • (27:07) - How do you stick the landing?
    • (30:55) - What about the customers?
    • (36:26) - Avoid these mistakes
    • (39:50) - Pricing on the website?

    Check out growth unhinged here.

    PLG is just another motion

    PLG is just another motion

    Product led growth (PLG) has been all the rage. But lately, a lot of things have happened in this space.

    Airtable "ditched" PLG and Insight Partners published some interesting stats comparing PLG with non-PLG companies.

    So today, we discussed PLG as another motion

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (02:39) - What's happened with PLG?
    • (11:56) - PLG.. just another motion?
    • (17:36) - Blending motions
    • (21:04) - PLG + Outbound

    The path to VP RevOps (with Sowmya Srinivasan, VP of RevOps at HubSpot)

    The path to VP RevOps (with Sowmya Srinivasan, VP of RevOps at HubSpot)

    What does the path to VP look like? What's the mindset, how do you impact the business - and what does strategy even look like?

    We talked with Sowmya about her experience becoming a VP of Revenue Operations.

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (02:55) - Sowmya's RevOps journey
    • (06:52) - What does it mean to have strategy in the title?
    • (09:09) - Unnoticed opportunities
    • (15:18) - The advantage of experience
    • (17:32) - Commercial or business background?
    • (21:52) - So how do you become strategic?
    • (27:04) - How do you go beyond tools?
    • (35:40) - A growth mindset

    9 ways to build a moat

    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

    Why you need a plan you can beat (with Dave Kellogg, EIR at Balderton Capital)

    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.

    4 Sales excuses to watch out for

    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