The Revenue Formula

By Toni Hohlbein & Raul Porojan

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 ... more

5

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FAQs about The Revenue Formula:

How many episodes does The Revenue Formula have?

The podcast currently has 219 episodes available.

The Revenue Formula episodes:

May 20, 2025Burn the old playbook (With Jacco van der Kooij)
AI won’t fix your sales model if the foundation is broken. In this episode, Jacco van der Kooij explains why the old go-to-market playbook is collapsing—and what the new, AI-powered future actually looks like.

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(00:00) - Introduction
(02:32) - AI and the old playbook
(10:34) - The role of customers in growth
(25:56) - Human-Led Growth Powered by AI
(33:57) - AI Integration in Sales
(37:51) - The Future of AI in Business Operations
(46:09) - Wrapping up
(48:37) - On the next episode
...more
50min
May 13, 2025What you need to know about AI SDRs
Thinking about adding AI SDRs to your sales team? In this episode, we break down what actually works—and what doesn't—when implementing AI in your sales development process. From common onboarding mistakes to where AI truly shines (and stumbles), here’s what you need to know before you plug it in.
Articles mentioned in the episode:

11x CEO Hasan Sukkar steps down - https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/05/11x-ceo-hasan-sukkar-steps-down/
Artisan Raises $25M Series A - https://www.forbes.com/sites/dariashunina/2025/04/09/artisan-raises-25m-to-replace-repetitive-work-with-ai-employees/
11x.ai Review worth the hype? - https://saassalesdirector.medium.com/11x-ai-review-worth-the-hype-a33e89a9716f
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(00:00) - Introduction
(01:21) - Implementing AI SDRs
(03:51) - The state of AI SDR vendors
(05:58) - AI fatigue is real
(07:15) - The AI SDR in your funnel
(10:50) - Where the AI is actually better than your team
(13:03) - Onboarding and training AI
(20:04) - Project managing AI SDRs
(24:12) - Wrapping up
...more
26min
May 06, 2025RevOps to VP? Here's why you're not getting promoted
Why aren’t more RevOps leaders getting promoted to VP or CRO roles? In this episode, we break down the biggest career blockers holding Revenue Operations professionals back, from focusing too much on tooling to missing what execs actually care about.
(00:00) - Introduction
(03:00) - RevOps not getting promoted?
(05:40) - What does the CRO want to hear?
(13:57) - Sales experience in RevOps
(16:39) - The importance of relationships
(21:03) - Taking on orphan teams
(24:04) - The RevOps leader
(27:53) - RevOps, AI and transformational change
(31:08) - Final advice

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...more
33min
April 29, 2025How to build a $5M SaaS with 3 people and no VC funding (With Esben Friis-Jensen)
After building a successful VC-backed company, Esben Friis-Jensen took a different path — bootstrapping his next SaaS startup to $5M ARR with just a team of 3.
In this episode, he shares why he turned down venture funding, how he built an efficient, product-led growth engine, and lessons on scaling smart without sacrificing ownership or speed.
(00:00) - Introduction
(00:32) - Meet Esben Friis-Jensen
(02:30) - The Decision to Bootstrap
(06:27) - Product-Led Growth Strategy
(11:25) - Competing in a Crowded Market
(18:54) - The Role of AI in Business Operations
(22:08) - Efficiency and Execution in Small Teams
(27:48) - Making Tough Decision
(31:17) - Revenue Metrics
(32:10) - Speed of Decisions
(38:43) - Challenges and Benefits of Founder-Led Companies
(40:49) - Joining a Bootstrapped Company

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...more
44min
April 23, 2025Don’t Believe LinkedIn. Do This Instead.
If you're feeling anxious about AI. If LinkedIn's making you doubt your GTM. You need this episode.
We break down what’s real, what’s hype, and why boring execution still wins.
(00:00) - Introduction
(02:51) - Don't believe the LinkedIn echo chamber
(06:42) - Understanding Business Fundamentals
(12:09) - Stop comparing yourself to AI companies
(14:28) - Growing without outside capital
(17:15) - The Importance of First Principles Thinking
(24:13) - Focus on your team
(30:08) - Conclusion

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...more
31min
April 08, 2025Founders maze: A real look at a company in the making
No. This is not a tactical episode. But. You will get a real look inside of a company being created.
(00:00) - Introduction
(04:01) - Scar tissue
(09:31) - Feedback and Market Research
(13:28) - AI in Data Analysis and Future Prospects
(16:06) - AI's Growing Influence in Business
(18:06) - Exploring New Data Sources
(19:05) - Challenges and Opportunities in AI Adoption
(20:07) - Pivoting to Product Marketing Managers
(21:50) - VC Inbounds and Funding Decisions
(23:02) - Mickel's Departure and Reflections
(25:05) - Breakthrough in Data Integration
(27:26) - Introducing the GTM Graph
(30:55) - Use Cases and Applications
(36:31) - Call to Action and Conclusion

This episode is brought to you by Everstage - the highest rated Sales Commissions Platform on G2, Gartner Peer Insights, Trustradius with over 2,000+ customer reviews. Some of their customers include leading brands like Diligent, Wiley, Trimble, Postman, Chargebee etc.,
You can go to https://www.everstage.com/revenue-formula to check out Everstage and mention Revenue Formula to unlock a personalized Sales Compensation Strategy Session with Everstage’s RevOps experts—crafted for enterprise teams to maximize performance.

Never miss a new episode, join our newsletter on revenueformula.substack.com
...more
39min
April 03, 2025LinkedIn blueprint: How SDRs can book more meetings (with Morgan Ingram)
If you're running outbound. If you're using SDRs. Or planning to. You've got to listen to this episode.
We got Morgan Ingram on the show, and he broke down his LinkedIn playbook to get replies at scale.
(00:00) - Introduction
(03:18) - Outbound Marketing and Career Choices
(06:16) - Optimizing LinkedIn Profiles
(07:45) - Common Mistakes in Outbound Messaging
(11:34) - Effective LinkedIn Connection Strategies
(17:58) - Using Videos and Voice Notes in Outreach
(19:41) - Humanizing Your Outreach
(22:35) - The Challenges of SDRing Outbound
(23:00) - Essential Tools for Effective Sales
(26:33) - Creative Sales Tactics: The Alley Oop Play
(31:35) - Pipeline Development Strategies
(36:04) - The Role of LinkedIn in Modern Sales
(40:03) - The Future of Email in Sales

This episode is brought to you by Everstage - the highest rated Sales Commissions Platform on G2, Gartner Peer Insights, Trustradius with over 2,000+ customer reviews. Some of their customers include leading brands like Diligent, Wiley, Trimble, Postman, Chargebee etc.,
You can go to https://www.everstage.com/revenue-formula to check out Everstage and mention Revenue Formula to unlock a personalized Sales Compensation Strategy Session with Everstage’s RevOps experts—crafted for enterprise teams to maximize performance.

Never miss a new episode, join our newsletter on revenueformula.substack.com
...more
48min
April 01, 2025Did Klarna really delete 1200 SaaS apps?
Over the last year or so, Klarna has been on a rampage to automate away. They've sliced tools, costs and staff. Begging the question...
Is this just a VC narrative or is there more than meets the eye?
(00:00) - Introduction
(02:44) - Klarna's Journey and Financials
(05:49) - AI's Role in Cost Reduction
(07:51) - Customer Service Innovations
(10:28) - Internal Knowledge Management
(13:47) - Introduction to Data Consolidation
(14:29) - Enterprise Search and Internal Tools
(15:20) - Klarna's Knowledge Graph and AI Integration
(16:38) - Deprecating Salesforce and Workflow Changes
(20:05) - HR and Employee Feedback Innovations
(25:51) - Build vs. Buy Debate

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...more
36min
March 27, 2025Last week in software: 11x, Deel, Rippling & spy-bound
We had to record this unusual episode. In what feels like a single day, a year's worth of drama has unfolded in software.
It almost seems like John Oliver would talk about it. But since he's busy, we decided to do an episode for him on 11x and the chaos that's emerging.
(00:00) - Introduction
(02:03) - Deel, Rippling and the spy
(05:35) - 11x
(08:13) - TechCrunch acquired
(09:33) - Fake Customers Controversy
(13:54) - Insane Churn Rates
(19:38) - Investor lawsuit? nope
(23:11) - Employees. Not happy.
(29:23) - Product Performance and Market Fit
(34:25) - Future Prospects and Challenges

Sources
Techcrunch on 11x
Hasan's post on X
AI SDR test
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...more
40min
March 25, 2025Your guide to getting AEs to self-prospect (finally)
Getting AEs to self-prospect is fun: AEs will complain, procrastinate, and straight up not do it.
In todays episode, we share some simple tricks to get account executives excited and motivated to self prospect (hint: it's about $).
(00:00) - Introduction
(03:12) - AI in Sales and Self Prospecting
(05:41) - Challenges of Self Prospecting
(07:57) - Incentives for Self Prospecting
(11:43) - Pipeline Generation and Commission Strategies
(16:53) - Navigating AE and SDR Roles
(17:43) - Impact of Self-Prospecting on Performance
(18:50) - Incentivizing Prospecting Targets
(23:01) - Team-Based Incentives and Collaboration
(26:33) - Testing and Adjusting Incentives
(28:34) - Simple and Effective Incentive Ideas
(29:52) - Visual and Tangible Incentives
(31:42) - Incentives for High-Value Deals

This episode is brought to you by Everstage - the highest-rated Sales Commissions Platform on G2, Gartner Peer Insights, Trustradius with over 2,000+ customer reviews. Some of their customers include leading brands like Diligent, Wiley, Trimble, Postman, Chargebee etc.,
You can go to https://www.everstage.com/revenue-formula to check out Everstage and mention Revenue Formula to unlock a personalized Sales Compensation Strategy Session with Everstage’s RevOps experts—crafted for enterprise teams to maximize performance.

Never miss a new episode, join our newsletter on revenueformula.substack.com
...more
35min

FAQs about The Revenue Formula:

How many episodes does The Revenue Formula have?

The podcast currently has 219 episodes available.

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