Inside the Funnel

Ivan Bulaev has run channel, partnerships and direct sales teams at HPE, Kaspersky, AWS and now Autodesk. In this episode, he tells Richard Lane why the word ‘channel’ barely gets used any more - and what’s replaced it.

You'll hear how Autodesk structures its ‘sales pods’ to run an 800-account territory without losing control, why AI has already made up 90% of the buyer's mind before a seller says a word, and why chasing the big global system integrators too early is one of the most expensive mistakes a vendor can make. Ivan also shares a Dutch saying about trust that's stuck with him ever since he first heard it - and it sums up partner relationships better than any playbook.

Whether you're building your first partner programme or rethinking a mature one, this conversation gives you a sharper way to think about who you sell with, not just who you sell to. Listen to the full episode to hear it all.

Most marketing teams have never had more data. Most are still struggling to turn it into a decision anyone can act on by Friday. In this episode of Inside the Funnel, Richard Lane sits down with Mark Boothe, CMO at Domo - and a company that's both a durhamlane customer and a durhamlane supplier - to unpick what's actually changing when revenue teams go "AI-native," and what's just noise.

Mark talks about the data foundation that has to exist before any AI initiative is worth funding, the two hires who reshaped Domo's approach to AI enablement (one found via a LinkedIn message he almost ignored), and the numbers behind it - including a seven-figure weekly pipeline number he attributes directly to AI. He's just as direct about where it goes wrong: tools handed to teams with no plan, "AI slop" clogging inboxes, and the difference between using AI and being AI fluent.

If you're a CMO, a revenue leader, or anyone tired of watching AI get bolted onto a broken process, this is 30 minutes that will change what you do on Monday morning.

In this episode of Inside the Funnel, Richard Lane sits down with Vincent Chapus, veteran sales leader and co-founder of Palladio GTM, to cut through the AI noise and get specific about what's working.

Vincent has built SDR teams from scratch at PayPal, Oracle and TIBCO. Now he helps companies stop buying tools in silos and start engineering their go-to-market from end to end. The centrepiece of that work? Orchestration - using platforms like Clay to connect signals, enrich data, and get the right information in front of the right rep at exactly the right moment.

This episode covers what the 'silent killer' of SDR productivity really is, why 20% of your CRM probably isn't your ICP, how AI agents are already doing the work of research teams, and whether B players can genuinely become A players with the right system behind them. This is your honest case to doing more with less.

Most outbound teams are running before they've walked.

Tom Stearns and Peter Cleary - co-authors of Graphic Sales: How to Build a Prospecting Playbook - join Richard Lane to talk about why the thinking has to come before the sequencing, how the right playbook becomes the foundation for AI, onboarding and rep performance, and what it took to write a sales book that actually works differently.

If you're building or leading an outbound team, this one's worth your time.

In this episode of Inside the Funnel, Richard Lane sits down with Rosanne Darrow, VP of Marketing and Communications at Siemens Healthineers, to unpack how one of the world’s largest healthcare organisations is rethinking demand generation - and what it takes to drive commercial impact at scale.

Rosanne has spent over 20 years at Siemens, leading marketing across global and regional roles. Her focus today is simple: drive demand, enable sales, and deliver measurable commercial results.

But in a market that’s changing fast, that’s easier said than done.

Buyers are more digital-first than ever. In fact, 62% of medtech buyers now prefer a rep-free experience at the early stages of their journey.

At the same time, sales teams are under pressure to focus on high-value conversations - not chasing unqualified leads.

So how do you bridge that gap?

In this conversation, Rosanne shares how Siemens Healthineers shifted from a volume-driven marketing model to a more structured, end-to-end demand engine - one that prioritises qualification, nurtures opportunities properly, and delivers real pipeline impact.

We get into:

• Why traditional MQL models were breaking down — and frustrating sales teams
• How SDRs became a critical layer between marketing and sales
• The role of digital-first buying behaviour in reshaping go-to-market strategy
• How to prove a new model internally without disrupting your sales team
• What “good” looks like when it comes to alignment, content, and customer journeys

If you’re still measuring success

To mark both the 50th episode of our podcast and 15 years of durhamlane, Richard Lane and Lee Durham break down the lessons that have shaped their approach to outbound.

From spreadsheets and cold calls to AI and global SDR programmes - this is the thinking behind the results.

What you'll learn:

• Why mindset beats tools - every time
• The difference between activity and pipeline that converts
• Why cold calling still works (despite what people say)
• How to build SDR programmes that actually perform
• Why better questions outperform better pitches
• The real role of AI in outbound sales
• What separates meetings from real opportunities

In this episode of The Insiders, Richard Lane is joined by Jessica Cook, Head of Marketing at Vector, to explore why storytelling has become one of the most powerful growth levers in modern B2B marketing.

From building pipeline without a traditional demand gen function to creating a brand that genuinely resonates with marketers, Jessica shares practical insights from her journey leading marketing at a fast-growing SaaS business and why content is no longer a “nice to have”.

The conversation covers brand, content, leadership buy-in and what it really takes to stand out in a crowded market.

1. Why there is no marketing without content
2. How storytelling is shaping the future of marketing leadership
3. Growing pipeline through brand-led activity
4. What most companies get wrong with swag and brand experiences
5. The role CEOs play in successful marketing strategies
6. Building demand by understanding your audience deeply

Sales coaching is widely recognised as one of the strongest drivers of performance, yet for many sales teams, it’s falling short.

In this episode of The Insiders Podcast, Richard Lane is joined by Kevin Beales, Founder & CEO of My Sales Coach, to unpack the findings from the State of Sales Coaching 2026 report - one of the largest surveys of its kind.

Together, they explore why sales leaders believe coaching is improving, while sales reps report the opposite; how deal reviews are being mistaken for coaching; and what organisations can do to build a coaching culture that actually delivers results.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

1. Why 40% of salespeople say they’re rarely coached or not coached at all
2. The growing gap between leader intent and seller experience
3. Why pipeline and deal reviews are being labelled as “coaching”
4. The role of peer coaching and why it’s massively underused
5. What sales teams really think about AI coaching tools
6. How the best organisations measure coaching impact beyond short-term revenue

What does it really take to build a high-performing marketing team?

In this episode of The Insiders, Richard Lane speaks with Jessica Gilmartin, former CRO and CMO at Calendly, about the foundations of marketing team performance. From hiring the right people and owning your data, to working effectively with sales and prioritising revenue over vanity metrics, Jessica shares practical lessons from scaling marketing teams at companies like Calendly, Asana and Google.

If you’re responsible for marketing performance or building a team that drives revenue, this episode is well worth a listen.

In this episode of The Insiders, Richard Lane is joined by James Donaldson, Founder of Stakki to explore how AI is reshaping the sales tech landscape and what it means for sellers.

James shares why tool overload has left sales teams distracted, why data quality is now the biggest barrier to predictable revenue, and how AI can help reps spend more time doing what they’re actually hired for: speaking with customers.

They also dive into the rise of CRM-embedded AI, the shift towards consolidated tech stacks, and how sales teams can balance human-first selling with smarter automation. If you’re planning your GTM strategy for 2026, this episode is packed with clarity and practical direction.

1. How AI entered the sales process and what’s changed
2. Why automation alone isn’t solving pipeline problems
3. The true bottleneck: unstructured, ageing CRM data
4. Why it’s “crazy to pay SDRs not to talk to people”
5. The rise of revenue orchestration inside the CRM
6. Predictions for 2026: consolidation, cleaner data, smarter coaching
7. What leaders should prioritise before implementing new tools