Scott Barker’s Post

"So what do you look for in early-stage founders?" May Habib ...is my typical answer to that question. And then I'll go on to describe her qualities: 1. A force of nature - she runs a 1.9bn company, runs a family, splits time between London/NYC/SF and somehow finds time to speak at every conference. Just built different. 2. Grit - I don't think this can be taught, I think your life path teaches you this or it doesn't. It's clear that life taught her this early and it shows up in everything she does. She leads from the front and is still very much in the weeds every day. 3. Communication/Speed - it's always wild to me that the busiest people in the world are usually the fastest to respond. Of course you have to prioritize but if there's an intro/hire that will move the needle, she will respond in literally two minutes. Speed matters in this game. 4. Inspirational - I mean, have you ever heard her on a podcast or on stage? If not, just ask her team. People will run though walls for leaders like May. This also allows her to hire the best of the best. 5. Highly technical/expert in area they are building in - May is not a technical founder but she understands and can speak/distill down AI/LLMs and their business impact better than most ML/AI PHDs I've met. The list goes on and on...but I usually end with "oh and you should know within 15mins of the first meeting that you are talking to someone very very special". Of course, it takes a village to build a company like this so a huge congrats to the entire Writer team including our friends Arlen Plaister, Alex Wettreich and Brian O'Reilly. Reading this article the day after our we wrapped our big GTM retreat was the best feeling...the whole GTMfund team & network is incredibly proud to be an early supporter of Writer and we know they are just getting started! They say good things come in threes so 1. a successful retreat 2. this huge announcement 3. stay tuned for another big one coming very soon. LFG.

The third GTMfund retreat is officially in the books. These are the people (the incredible GTM operators, founders and investors) that make it all possible and I always love getting the squad together to learn, connect, laugh, do some fun activities and (try to) dance. A great recharge/refocus as we head into one of the more intense times in the fund’s history. Since we started this thing, every month has felt like the most important month but it’s very much game time for us right now and I'm thankful for this in-person reminder of why we do what we do. A huge thank you to everyone who came, spent their weekend with us and kept the vibes high the whole time. And a very special thank you to Sophie Buonassisi and Kiana Ghassemi for the tireless planning and flawless execution.

"Revenue is not the most important thing." That's what Allison Metcalfe told me on The GTM Podcast this week. Not what I was expecting to hear from someone who navigated a startup through a high-stakes merger and explosive growth. Here's how it unfolded: Allison joined LiveRamp in 2013 to build out their post-sales function. She thought she'd found her niche: helping startups scale at that critical tipping point. Then, just 6 months in, LiveRamp was acquired by Axiom. Imagine this: – A 30-person San Francisco startup – Average age: mid-20s – 100% digital data Merging with: – A 50-year-old Arkansas company – Average tenure: 20 years – 100% offline data management The culture clash was seismic. Allison's team doubled overnight. She joined the executive team for the first time. LiveRamp went from $20M in revenue to being part of a public company. But the biggest challenges weren't about numbers. They were about people. Allison's key learnings: 1. Titles don't equal roles. Same job titles masked wildly different responsibilities and approaches. 2. Isolation isn't integration. Keeping the teams separate created an "us vs. them" mentality. 3. Being liked ≠ being effective. Avoiding tough conversations to be the "cool boss" backfired spectacularly. 4. Radical candor is a gift. Those hard, explicit conversations upfront save everyone pain down the line. 5. Develop a leadership persona. Allison's "Sasha Fierce" (borrowed from Beyoncé) helps separate personal from professional in high-stress situations. The biggest lesson? "Focus on the outcome you want to achieve. Is your behavior aligned with that outcome?" It's not just about revenue. It's about building a team that can achieve those numbers sustainably and repeatably. Leadership isn't comfortable. It's about doing what's necessary, especially when it's hard. Listen to my full conversation with Allison on The GTM Podcast. Available wherever you get your pods 🎧

The tenants of successful business partnerships/co-founder relationships (2/2): __________ Pace Matching This one is critical and I think this is one of the main reasons partnerships fail. In my last post, I talked about how differences are a good thing BUT there is one area that you need to be almost the exact same on: pace of execution. Everyone has a different pace of work, some more methodical, some in big sprints, some grinding it out little by little. I don’t think there’s a right/better pace but for a successful partnership to work but you need to be in lock step with how quickly ideas turn into plans and plans turn into action. I don’t think this one is necessarily innate so you can learn from each other & make adjustments over time but, if you don’t get pace aligned, friction will form fast. __________ Acknowledging Seasons There are seasons of human life that businesses are not immune to. People go through big exciting life events, tragedies happen, mental/physical health can decline, etc. Life is complex and does not care about your company’s one singular mission. You need to be able to acknowledge these seasons and give each other space/grace when life happens. This one is really built off of #1: Trust (see last post).  Trust that in this season maybe you need some extra breathing room and they’ll have to pick up the slack and trust that in the next season they may need you to play the leading part. There’s no keeping score, no tit for tat, just an understanding that you will have their back when they need you and they will have yours when you need them. __________ Evolution Over the years people change a lot.  They learn, grow, evolve. Their personal goals and aspirations shift. I think the healthiest relationships act as mirrors to our highest selves and help us evolve. The people in your life that you are closest with, should see you not as you were, or even who you are today but rather who you can become.  Sounds a little trite/corny I know. But I do think it’s true and sometimes you may need to assist them in updating their mirror of you. You help them update that mirror first through action and then through communication. That reflection is earned, not given.  But if you’re lucky enough to have that reflection from a few key folks in your life, it’s a f*kn superpower that acts as an accelerant to you becoming that future version of you. The 6 pillars include: 1. Trust = Speed 2. Embrace Differences 3. Communication ≠ Connection 4. Pace Matching 5. Acknowledging Seasons 6. Evolution * I went deeper on the top three in my previous post yesterday. It's a good day to be a day, let's rock.

Max Altschuler and I have been working together for seven years as of yesterday. Here are a few things I've learned over those years about successful partnerships/co-founder relationships, broken into 6 pillars (1/2): 1. Trust = Speed 2. Embrace Differences 3. Communication ≠ Connection  4. Pace Matching 5. Acknowledging Seasons 6. Evolution __________ Trust = Speed Trust takes a long time to build but once the foundation is there, it allows you to move much quicker towards your end goal. A big part of the reason why long term partnerships start to really compound is the fact you’re not pouring any energy into proving your worth, showing your work, who is getting credit for what, being liked, playing politics etc. All of those things are massive productivity sucks that don’t move the needle in any way. With true trust, you get all that energy back to put towards high output activities. __________ Embrace Differences You are different people. You’ve had different life experiences, you have different views, you have different skill sets. That’s a good thing. Without healthy debate/conflict, what’s the point of being in a partnership? You need to be able to disagree and disagree often. It’s in the disagreement that completely new ideas will form that will bring you closer to the correct path forward. When you know your own weaknesses/blindspots and you know their weaknesses/blindspots (and vice versa) - you can quickly stress test the areas you know they may not be thinking about yet. At the same time, acknowledge them but don’t spend too much time focusing on their perceived weaknesses. That is a quick path to frustration. Instead spend that energy helping them unleash their strengths to their full capacity. __________ Communication ≠ Connection You may talk every single day through calls, emails, texts, slacks and feel very aligned on the business but that’s not enough. Just the other day a team member asked two very specific questions to both of us separately via Slack and got almost word for word the same answer to both Qs. That’s great! It shows we’re aligned on how we’re seeing the world right now at the firm. But, I’ve learned over time there are two diff types of alignment 1. business alignment 2. personal alignment. The second bucket often gets ignored in the chaos of building a business. As time passes, small frustrations build, things are left unsaid and little resentments can fester. Every few months, you need to check-in on the personal alignment front to get everything on the table that’s outside of the business (that may be affecting it). LI character limit won't allow me to go deeper on the final three (which I believe to be critical): pace matching, acknowledging seasons and evolution but I'll share my thoughts on those three tomorrow. Here's to the next 7 years...just getting started.

It’s Dreamforce week and the sheer size/power/influence of Salesforce is evident for everyone to see, so why would anyone dare to take on this behemoth in 2024? I recently chatted with Austin Hay, Co-Founder of Clarify, about his audacious move into the CRM space. His story might change how you think about the future of revenue tech. Here's why Austin decided to build a new CRM from the ground up: 1. The Integration Gap: After 10 years in MarTech and time at RAMP, Austin saw firsthand how existing CRMs struggle to unify marketing and sales data. The data models just weren't built for it. 2. The Developer Disconnect: "The world's best talent is writing in languages that are much more consumable like JavaScript and Python." Not Salesforce's Apex. Austin wants to build a CRM developers actually love. 3. The B2B2C Evolution: More companies are becoming B2B2C, but most CRMs aren't designed for this hybrid model. Austin saw an opportunity to build for the future. 4. The AI Reality Check: While everyone's talking AI, Austin's focused on practical automation. "We're actively not talking too much about AI because we don't want to overhype people." Actions speak louder than buzzwords. 5. The Operator's Frustration: Anyone in Silicon Valley has probably heard that nobody really loves their Salesforce instance, but it's not because Salesforce is a bad company or has a bad product. When people say that, they're expressing their frustration that things just haven't changed. Austin wants to build a CRM operators actually enjoy using. The CRM of tomorrow isn't just about better features. It's about: - Being an extension of your brain - Unifying MarTech and RevTech - Handling unstructured data from multiple channels - Automating next steps/actions, not just suggesting them One of my fave lines from my convo with Austin:  "The next wave of operators is coming and we just want to be prepared to help those people." Tune into my full conversation with Austin on the future of CRM on the latest episode of The GTM Podcast.

I’m a GTM nerd. Every time we can get our hands on some unique GTM data, have the time to analyze it, pull it all together and publish it - I still get really excited to share it. This week we’re launching 'The State of GTM Jobs: Sales'. What does the data say about the commonly debated 'death of the SDR'?  What’s the average tenure of a sales leader in this environment?  What sales roles are orgs still actively hiring for? A big thank you to Jason S. for providing the data for this. If you want to check out the State of GTM Jobs publication, join 52K+ GTMnow subscribers who read The GTM Newsletter weekly. 🤓✍️

Lots of laughs. Lots of hugs. Lots of great conversations about the future of revenue generation. Lots of damn good humans came out to celebrate the launch of Operator with the GTMfund team at SaaStr this week. The room was buzzin and I know the whole team left feeling even more energized to bring back meaningful connection into the sales profession. A big thank you to everyone who came out to support - game on.

She never planned on a career in sales. Leandra Fishman, CRO at Apollo.io, started at the very bottom, battling imposter syndrome at every step. But Leandra had a secret weapon: her intention to serve and add value. She believed that with the right attitude, hard work, and genuine desire to help, good things would follow. And they did. Leandra's journey to CRO wasn't conventional, but it was built on three core principles: 1. Trust in yourself 2. Focus on helping customers solve problems 3. Build good relationships She chased value, not money. And guess what? The success (and the money) followed. But it wasn't all smooth sailing. Anyone can agree that sales is an emotional rollercoaster: - The high highs of winning deals - The low lows of rejection - The constant pressure of hitting numbers Leandra's advice? "The lesson is in the experience, not the outcome." Lost that 7-month sales process? "Think about what you learned, not what you lost." As a leader, Leandra takes full accountability. When her team struggles, she looks inward first. "What have I done to help these teams be successful?" Even as a CRO, she's still in the trenches: • Jumping on customer calls • Handling escalations • Attending impromptu forecast meetings Why? Because that's where the magic happens. It's how you stay connected to your customers and your team. But perhaps Leandra's most powerful lesson is how she reframes success: "Did I do the things I could control to the best of my ability today?" Your "best" might change from day to day. But giving 100% of whatever you've got? Over the long haul, that's always enough. In a competitive world that's all about hitting one single number, Leandra reminds us: It's not about being perfect. It's about consistently showing up, solving problems, and adding value. That's how you build a lasting career. That's how you become a CRO. That's how you win in sales - and in life. Listen to the full episode on The GTM Podcast.

I’ve been in sales in some way/shape/form my entire career. I’ve sold everything from: - golf/spa packages - moving services - travel packages - laundry subscriptions  - payment processing software - digital asset management software  - media sponsorships - sales engagement software - a new VC fund’s vision None of those things were ever easy to sell. It was always a grind. But what kept me going was this constant loop in my head that said: “There is someone out there right now that has the problem that my solution provides. They need me and all I need to do is find them.” As the internet exploded and software became more prevalent, their promise was that it would now become easier to find these people that needed our products/services. And for a short time it did… But then everyone started having access to the same tools and the same data so our buyers quickly became exhausted/overwhelmed and even IF, against all odds, you were able to find that person who needed your solution: they started to tune us all out. And we entered into “The Great Ignore”. If you’ve been in a revenue role over the last 5 years, I know you’ve felt it too. Operator was created to address this very disconnect. Unlike other tools that require users to know what to do or what to look for, Operator takes the time to understand the user of its product. The platform doesn’t just provide data, it tailors insights and recommendations that are relevant to both the user and their buyer every step of the process. Operator is purpose-built to turn flat, commoditized data into dynamic, 3D insights. We teamed up with co-founder Adam Meyer (design engineer and 0-1 builder) and co-founder Mark Kosoglow (Outreach employee #1 and former SVP of Global Sales) to create Operator alongside an insanely talented team, Pleasant Middelhof, Jeremy Jonas , Carl Gunderson - the first company incubated inside GTMfund with backing from our partners at Primary Venture Partners. Let's bring back what makes sales the greatest profession on earth: real people building real connection to help each other solve real problems. And today it feels more relevant than ever to say...we're just getting started!