Richard Gibson

📢 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁: 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 & 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 For our September Forum, we are excited to welcome Ryan Walsh, Founder & CEO at RepVue! RepVue is the world's largest sales organisation ratings platform. 225,000+ B2B sales reps share real data on quota attainment, earnings and what it's actually like to sell somewhere, which makes it one of the few honest views of the sales talent market we have. In this session, we'll look at the state of sales talent and how to benchmark compensation at software companies. Areas we will cover include: ✅ What RepVue's data is showing right now - quota attainment, comp trends, and where the market has shifted in the last 12 months. ✅ How to benchmark your own comp plans against the market, and what to do when the numbers say you're off. ✅ What candidates are researching before they ever hit apply, and how sales org sentiment affects who you can realistically hire. This event is being held: 📅 Wednesday, September 16th ⏰ 12pm to 12.30pm EST Want to attend? Register here: https://luma.com/nk8f92l8 or reach out to Helen Dwyer for more information! Strive is proud to be a Co-Founder of The Launch Collective: A 650+ strong Community of Internal GTM Recruiters at SaaS Vendors and VCs. 🚀 You can reach out to the team here: www.scalewithstrive.com #thelaunchcollective #repvue #scalewithstrive #compdata

5

📢 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁: 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 & 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 For our September Forum, we are excited to welcome Ryan Walsh, Founder & CEO at RepVue! RepVue is the world's largest sales organisation ratings platform. 225,000+ B2B sales reps share real data on quota attainment, earnings and what it's actually like to sell somewhere, which makes it one of the few honest views of the sales talent market we have. In this session, we'll look at the state of sales talent and how to benchmark compensation at software companies. Areas we will cover include: ✅ What RepVue's data is showing right now - quota attainment, comp trends, and where the market has shifted in the last 12 months. ✅ How to benchmark your own comp plans against the market, and what to do when the numbers say you're off. ✅ What candidates are researching before they ever hit apply, and how sales org sentiment affects who you can realistically hire. This event is being held: 📅 Wednesday, September 16th ⏰ 12pm to 12.30pm EST Want to attend? Register here: https://luma.com/nk8f92l8 or reach out to Helen Dwyer for more information! The Launch Collective is proud to be co-founded by Strive - GTM Talent Partner, your go-to partner for GTM teams transforming the way sales and tech leaders connect with world-class talent 🚀 You can reach the team here: www.scalewithstrive.com This event is sponsored by RepVue: RepVue helps companies attract, acquire, and retain the best sales talent by putting your sales organization in front of the 225,000+ B2B sales reps who use our platform to research employers before they apply. Learn more here! #thelaunchcollective #repvue #scalewithstrive #compdata

8

Good discovery means the buyer does most of the talking. If you are talking for much more than a fifth of the call, you are probably pitching rather than discovering. Gong analysed more than 519,000 B2B sales calls and found that successful discovery calls tended to include 11 to 14 questions, asked throughout the conversation rather than all at the start. Record your next call and listen back. How much time did you actually spend asking questions and following up, versus explaining the product? You may find you were doing more talking than you thought.

6

Why do so many CROs have such short tenures? The average CRO tenure is just 18–24 months. In enterprise SaaS environments where sales cycles alone can span 12–18 months, that often isn’t enough time to generate clear proof points - positive or negative. In her latest article, Lucy Brealy, Partner at Renovata, examines why CRO tenures are so frequently cut short and why this creates a misleading picture of success or failure. She explores: 🔸 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗖𝗥𝗢 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 🔸 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿-𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁 𝗖𝗥𝗢 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 🔸 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 🔸 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗿𝗲 🔸 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝗥𝗢𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 Short tenure doesn’t automatically indicate weak leadership. For founders, CEOs, and investors, the challenge is distinguishing between CROs who genuinely haven’t made the grade - and those whose progress was undermined by timing, structure, or context. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gJGVvNjF #CRO #SaaS #RevenueLeadership #PrivateEquity #GTM

15

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝗼-𝘁𝗼-𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆. In our latest Masterminds episode, we spoke with Neeraj Saxena, Founder of GTM Vantage, about how information overload has changed buyer behaviour, making sales cycles longer and focused positioning more important than ever. Neeraj explains why successful GTM strategies still begin with deep customer understanding and a clearly defined Ideal Customer Profile. Many founders slow their growth by targeting too many segments too early, instead of focusing on the intersection of real market opportunity, strong differentiation and genuine customer need. We also discuss why founder-led sales often become a bottleneck as companies grow and why scalable GTM requires clear processes, delegation and consistent messaging across channels. A key takeaway: if founders fix just one GTM mistake early, it should be finding the right ICP. Because conversations like this are too valuable to stay buried inside a long podcast, we’ve distilled the sharpest insights into a concise carousel designed for fast, practical learning. If you’re a founder, CXO or operator navigating the tension between growth, margins and cash pressure, this episode offers a grounded, experience-backed lens on what sustainable scaling actually looks like not just on paper, but in real life. Let’s connect and explore how we can help your teams grow with clarity and confidence. #ScalingUp #Leadership #SuccessAlchemists Ajay Hiraskar (he/him) Vikram Panjwani N Dharmadhikari Lakshmy S Nair Ashima Gupta Sandesh Banger Sangeeta Acharya Kavita Lakshman Puja Datta Barori Nimisha Sainani Geetha Nair Rahul Chaure Harjinder Kohli (Bobby Kohli) Ashutosh Sharma

8

How do great sales teams master their approach to 😳 aware vs 🙈 unaware buyers? There are lots of differences in how you sell to both types of buyers. And one powerful way your reps can practice any sales scenario. 👇 👇 👇 https://lnkd.in/dVjw8pSe #AI #sales #learninganddevelopment #digitalhumans #innovation

7

Daily quality conversations with buyers (where at least one piece of qualifying or disqualifying information is learned) have dropped 55% from 8 to 3.6 per rep since 2014. Discover how to refocus seller prospecting time on developing quality opportunities: https://gtnr.it/4mlxeqM #GartnerSales #CustomerAcquisition #B2B

2

The way sales teams manage leads is shifting faster than most realize—and the latest wave is coming from AI-generated hyper-personalization combined with automation. For decades, CRMs and sales systems have focused on quantity: more leads, faster follow-ups, broader outreach. But that model has run into diminishing returns. Buyers are overwhelmed with generic emails and robotic touchpoints. The missing element? Real-time, genuinely personalized interactions that feel natural and targeted. Recently, a viral use case emerged from combining AI agents with automation platforms like n8n and Zapier. These workflows don’t just push contacts through a standard funnel. Instead, they tap into AI models to analyze lead behavior, track social signals, and generate unique, context-aware messages instantly, then automatically trigger the right sales action. What changed is the accessibility of AI at scale. Earlier, personalized outreach required enormous time and manual effort. Now, thanks to AI’s ability to process vast data sets and generate natural language in seconds, sales teams can deliver the right message—at the right moment—without lifting a finger. Founders and operators should see this shift as an opportunity to rethink their lead gen strategies. The challenge isn’t just capturing leads but nurturing relationships with a level of personalization previously reserved for top-tier salespeople. With tools like n8n connected to AI-driven content generation, you can build workflows that read emails, interpret sentiment, and follow up only when the lead contextually needs it. This reduces noise and boosts genuine engagement. Imagine a SaaS company using a workflow where every incoming demo request triggers an AI agent that scans the requester’s LinkedIn, recent company news, and industry trends. Within seconds, it drafts a tailored onboarding email referencing the requester’s exact pain points and recent developments. That email sends out automatically, saving hours of manual drafting while feeling deeply personal. This trend matters now because buyer expectations have evolved. They want speed, relevance, and authenticity—all at once. Businesses that don’t leverage AI-enhanced automation risk falling behind competitors who can deliver that seamless, smart experience at scale. Are your sales systems ready to move beyond mass outreach and truly adapt to personalized AI-powered automation? How might that change the way your team wins new business?

4