GTM 118: 5 Must-Try PLG Tactics to Accelerate Growth with Kyle Poyar

Kyle Poyar is the Co-Founder and Operating Partner at Tremont, with over 8 years of experience at OpenView where he became a leading voice in the product-led growth (PLG) movement. Kyle shares his insights on the inevitability of PLG in an AI-driven future and reveals must-try tactics to accelerate growth using a PLG approach.

Discussed in this Episode:

• Why PLG is becoming inevitable, especially with the rise of AI in software
• Creative ways companies can build out their PLG motion
• How social proof and PLG are merging to influence buying decisions
• Advice for early-stage founders looking to set up a PLG motion
• The realities of working in venture capital and how to break into the industry

Highlights:

(4:22) The evolution of PLG from an investment risk to a critical strategy.
(9:10) Will the vast majority of software companies have a PLG motion in the future?
(18:56) Using product data for marketing purposes.
(21:17) Offering an affordable entry-level package to land and expand.
(23:44) The increasing importance of social proof in PLG.
(31:41) Advice for early-stage founders setting up a PLG motion.
(37:43) Kyle’s journey from consulting to VC and advice for breaking into venture.
(44:43) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Kyle thinks is bull$***(47:59) One thing that is working for Kyle in go-to-market right now.

Guest Speaker Links (Kyle Poyar):
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-poyar/
Newsletter: https://www.growthunhinged.com/

Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/

Sponsors:

• Brought to you by Attention. Attention’s AI-powered call recording platform ensures that your deals are executed flawlessly. It records your calls, generates next-step summaries, action items, and even creates scorecards for every single call, so your reps can continuously improve. But that’s just the beginning. Attention’s generalized insights allow you to ask any question across all of your conversations – think of it like ChatGPT for your sales calls. Attention also lets you build automated workflows tailored to your needs. For example, if a customer mentions they’re at risk of churning during a call, Attention can automatically loop in a sales director and solutions engineer to ensure that customer receives the full white-glove treatment, reducing churn and keeping your business thriving. Attention is helping companies onboard reps faster, increase the productivity of their existing teams, and giving revenue leaders unparalleled visibility into their pipelines—all while automating those tedious manual tasks.

The GTM Podcast
Features conversations with the top 1% of tech executives, VCs, and founders – the experts who have ‘been there, done that’ to build some of the fastest-growing software companies. Every week, a guest joins Scott Barker to dissect their stories – revealing what worked, what didn’t, and how things actually went down.

The post GTM 118: 5 Must-Try PLG Tactics to Accelerate Growth with Kyle Poyar appeared first on GTMnow.

GTM 116: The Future of SEO and AI’s Impact, with a $100M+ Product-Led SEO Framework with Eli Schwartz

Eli Schwartz is an SEO expert and consultant with over a decade of experience driving successful SEO and growth programs for both B2B and B2C companies. He has worked with major brands like Shutterstock, Gusto, WordPress, Quora, Mixpanel, and Zendesk to build and execute global SEO strategies that dramatically increase their visibility at scale. Previously, Eli led the SEO team at SurveyMonkey, growing organic search from nearly zero to one of the largest growth channels at the company.

Discussed in this Episode:

• The product-led SEO framework Eli used to drive SurveyMonkey from 0 to $100M+ in revenue.
• Why the old model of churning out SEO content is dead and how AI is disrupting the space.
• Eli’s journey from getting rejected at top tech companies to becoming a thriving consultant.
• The power of deeply understanding your target user and building products for their needs.
• Actionable advice for making the transition from operator to successful consultant.

Highlights:

(4:14) Building SEO products tailored to the user intent, not just keywords.
(8:19) How Zapier unlocked massive growth with a product-led SEO approach
(17:15) Why AI content generation is not a silver bullet – it still requires a purposeful strategy.
(22:54) Examples of Eli’s product-led SEO wins at SurveyMonkey, Tinder, and Coinbase.
(29:31) The biggest mistake people make with SEO is having a diminished understanding of what it can accomplish.
(41:28) Eli’s best consulting gigs came from job interviews where he got rejected.
(44:33) To succeed as a consultant, develop a niche specialty and have customer success stories.
(52:23) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Eli thinks is bull$***.
(54:49) One thing that is working for Eli in go-to-market right now.

Guest Speaker Links (Eli Schwartz):
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwartze/

Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/

Sponsors:

• HG Insights. Feeling that AI FOMO? You’re not alone. That’s why HG Insights created The Next Generation of Sales AI report — to calm the FOMO and help you bring AI to your GTM teams. It includes a breakdown of the Sales AI landscape, adoption of GenAI and Sales software across buyer groups. Plus, an analysis of the top 75 trending sales AI tools. Why HG Insights? Simple. They’ve been writing market reports for years as the pioneer of tech adoption and market insights. Trusted by GTM leaders at the likes of Snowflake Five9 and Google Cloud to improve GTM efficiency. Thinking about AI for your sales team but unsure where to start? This free and ungated report has you covered.

The GTM Podcast
Features conversations with the top 1% of tech executives, VCs, and founders – the experts who have ‘been there, done that’ to build some of the fastest-growing software companies. Every week, a guest joins Scott Barker to dissect their stories – revealing what worked, what didn’t, and how things actually went down.

The post GTM 116: The Future of SEO and AI’s Impact, with a $100M+ Product-Led SEO Framework with Eli Schwartz appeared first on GTMnow.

GTM 106: Mastering the Transition from PLG to PLS with Andrew Johnston

Andrew Johnston is currently the Head of Sales at Superhuman, where he leads the go-to-market strategy as part of the executive team. Previously, he built the Mid-Market and PLS motion at Scale AI and led the global sales team at SendGrid following its acquisition by Twilio and its IPO.

Discussed in this Episode:

• The key differences between product-led growth (PLG) and product-led sales (PLS).
• When and why companies should consider transitioning from PLG to PLS.
• The challenges of combining distinct sales teams during an acquisition.
• How to effectively enable sales reps during a product expansion.
• The importance of understanding your ideal customer profile (ICP) for successful PLS.
• Strategies for moving upmarket, such as implementing paid pilots.
• Creating career paths and incentives for sales reps in different segments.

Highlights:

(9:50) Andrew’s definition of product-led growth and how it differs from product-led sales.
(12:16) The triggers for considering a transition from a PLG to a PLS approach.
(25:00) The challenges faced when combining SendGrid and Twilio’s sales teams post-acquisition.
(32:49) How Twilio’s unique “estimated ARR” commission structure impacted sales behavior.
(35:55) Using SendGrid as a “trojan horse” to expand Twilio’s presence in customer accounts.
(42:00) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Andrew thinks is bull$***
(47:09) One thing that is working for Andrew in go-to-market right now.

Guest Speaker Links (Andrew Johnston):
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewfoxjohnston/

Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/

Sponsors:

• Brought to you by Apollo. Ever wonder what automating your entire outbound workflow could do for your revenue team? Apollo.io brings this to life by centralizing your entire go-to-market execution in one platform. Sellers using automation in their outbound efforts see a 70% increase in open rates and 4x more meetings booked while saving hours on manual, tedious tasks.
• Brought to you by IPS. Most recruiting firms fill an order, but IPS is a different breed of search firm. They dig into your business to understand its current state and the future vision and are relentlessly in pursuit of the very best leaders, sales people, marketers, and engineering talent out there. Whether you want advice, have one hard to fill role or a team buildout, we can’t recommend IPS enough.

The GTM Podcast
Features conversations with well-known tech executive, VC, and founders – the expert operators in the trenches who have ‘been there, done that’ to build some of the fastest-growing software companies. Every week, a guest joins Scott Barker to dissect their stories, revealing expert insights around what worked, what didn’t, and how things actually went down.

This podcast is produced by GTMnow, the media brand of VC firm GTMfund – sharing insight on go-to-market from working with hundreds of portfolio companies backed by over 350 of the best go-to-market executives.

The post GTM 106: Mastering the Transition from PLG to PLS with Andrew Johnston appeared first on GTMnow.

GTM 75: The AI Evolution: Cross the Chasm of First to Future Iterations with Gong’s EVP Eran Aloni

Eran Aloni is the Executive Vice President of Product Strategy and Ecosystem at Gong.
He has been a leader at Gong for eight years, previously holding titles of Chief Customer Officer and Chief Operating Officer.

What You Will Learn:

• Eran’s career advice to younger go-to-market professionals. 
• Two stages of AI advancements and which is more valuable. 
• The role that data sets have in AI progressions. 
• How to continuously solicit team feedback to level up as a leader. 

Highlights:

(6:55) How AI solutions are still only scratching the surface in terms of driving deep, strategic value for customers.

(10:00) The competitive advantage players have with their access to rich, proprietary data sets to train AI. 

(18:12) Eran’s biggest personal surprise from growing with Gong has been constantly challenging himself to develop new skills as the company scales.

(23:15) A story about early feedback Eran received as a young leader and how it shaped his future leadership.

(28:19) Why having core operating principles permeate through all levels of an organization builds trust.

(34:03) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Eran thinks is bull$***.

(37:22) One thing that is working for Eran in go-to-market right now. 

Guest Speaker Link:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/eranaloni/

Host Speaker Links:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/

Sponsor:
Common Room enables you to turn any buyer activity into pipeline. It ingests all of your product usage data, intent data, social activity, community conversations, and CRM insights to automatically surface high-intent leads and timely, relevant context so your sales reps can convert more customers and hit revenue targets faster. You can try it for free today, or book a demo to go deeper at www.commonroom.io.

The GTM Podcast
Don’t miss The GTM Podcast dropping every Tuesday discussing true stories and experiences including trials and tribulations in the Go-To-Market world.

The post GTM 75: The AI Evolution: Cross the Chasm of First to Future Iterations with Gong’s EVP Eran Aloni appeared first on GTMnow.

GTM 65: Consultative Selling Mastery, and The Positive Snowball Effect of Building Strong Relationships with Zach Lawryk

Zach Lawryk is currently the Head of Global Solutions Consulting at Rippling, previously the VP of Solutions Consulting at Slack, Director of Sales Engineering at Box, and really began his career in tech at Salesforce as a Sales Engineer in 2005.

What You Will Learn:

• The importance of building long-term relationships at work.
• The beginning of SaaS SE’s.
• How the SE/SC role will evolve with AI.
• Knowing when to bring in SE’s as a founder.

Highlights:

(3:41) How Zach has successfully landed at powerhouse companies and how to identify those companies.

(8:16) Zach’s snowball effect of building relationships in the workplace.

(11:10) The energy you put out always comes back to you.

(19:30) When the sales engineer role got pioneered.

(21:43) The SE/SC role evolving with AI.

(29:11) AI experiments that Rippling is currently running.

(34:49) When to invest in solution engineers.

(37:30) Benchmark for the bump in win rate after bringing in SC/SE’s.

(42:07) Gauging the complexity high water marker.

(44:35) Practicing transparency with the value you provide.

(48:07) The power of video content that Rippling is currently leveraging.

Guest Speaker Link:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zlawryk/

Host Speaker Links:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/

Our Sponsor
Today’s episode is sponsored by Demandbase, Demandbase helps B2B companies hit their revenue goals using fewer resources. How? By using the power of AI to identify and engage the accounts and buying groups most likely to purchase. They combine your sales and marketing data with our validated B2B data and AI to create Account Intelligence that informs every step of your buyer’s journey. They deliver accurate company, contact, technographic, engagement, and intent data right where you work every day – CRM, collaboration tools, browsers, and more. Start spotting opportunities earlier and orchestrate smarter sales and marketing motions with Demandbase. See this live in action: https://www.demandbase.com/product-tour/sales-intelligence/

The GTM Podcast
Don’t miss The GTM Podcast dropping every Tuesday discussing true stories and experiences including trials and tribulations in the Go-To-Market world.

The post GTM 65: Consultative Selling Mastery, and The Positive Snowball Effect of Building Strong Relationships with Zach Lawryk appeared first on GTMnow.