The Revenue Formula

By Toni Hohlbein & Raul PorojanBusiness Management

The Revenue Formula episodes

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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44 min
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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31 min
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.

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39 min
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.

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48 min
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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36 min
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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40 min
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
35 min
March 20, 2025How to scale past $10M ARR and more (With Maja Voje)
How to scale past $10M ARR. GTM Engineering. How AI is changing the game and much much more.
We got Maja Voje, also known as the GTM Strategist, to join us and share her thoughts on this and more.
(00:00) - Introduction
(02:34) - Challenges in Scaling Beyond 10 Million
(03:30) - Inbound Marketing Struggles
(04:50) - Outbound and ABM Strategies
(07:05) - AI SDRs and Personalized Outreach
(11:52) - Navigating LinkedIn's Compliance Issues
(13:53) - Humanization vs. Automation in GTM
(19:21) - Adapting to AI in Product Market Fit
(21:54) - Revisiting Messaging and Pricing Strategies
(25:38) - Outcome-Based Pay in the Workforce
(26:33) - Understanding Value Metrics
(27:55) - Pricing Experiments and Strategies
(36:49) - Adopting AI in the Workforce

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
44 min
March 18, 2025The Red Bull playbook tech companies should steal
Usually, we share advanced analysis to run, cases of amazing tech companies, or something else.
Today, we're talking about an energy drink. Stay with us because this potent drink can teach tech a lot about advertising.
(00:00) - Introduction
(02:26) - Energy Boosts and Red Bull
(14:29) - Red Bull's Media Empire
(17:34) - Examples of Media and Community Acquisitions
(19:15) - Red Bull's Endless Content Stream
(24:20) - Red Bull's Stratosphere Jump
(26:21) - Outrageous Marketing Stunts
(29:00) - Local and Grassroots Marketing Efforts
(31:57) - Takeaways for Software Companies
(32:21) - Creative Marketing Examples in Software

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35 min
March 13, 2025Your guide to killing Zendesk (with Marty Kausas, co-founder & CEO at Pylon)
If there's something we all love, it's to root for david beating goliath.
And right now, there's a small team doing just that. Pylon, led by Marty Kausas, is going head to head with Zendesk.
Naturally, we asked Marty to share their playbook.
(00:00) - Introduction
(01:17) - The Motivation Behind Building Pylon
(01:52) - The Journey to Becoming A-List
(02:19) - Board Games and Strategic Thinking
(04:16) - Targeting a Massive Market
(09:46) - Building the First Product
(11:42) - Competing with Giants
(18:59) - Product Development and Marketing Strategies
(26:35) - Embracing a Heavy Debate Culture
(29:24) - Leveraging LinkedIn for Business Growth
(38:22) - Scaling Sales and Hiring Strategies
(42:31) - Navigating AI in Customer Support
(47:59) - Reflecting on Business Learnings and Future Plans

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51 min