The Revenue Formula

By Toni Hohlbein & Raul PorojanBusiness Management

The Revenue Formula episodes

March 11, 2025Killed by AI: What's happening with Chegg
With every new technology, there's a Kodak.. or Nokia.. For AI, that company is Chegg - a publicly traded, once highflying edtech company.
We break down the story of Chegg, and distill four learnings for GTM leaders.
(00:00) - Introduction
(02:02) - The Role of AI in Our Show
(05:34) - The Rise and Fall of Chegg
(07:59) - Chegg's Business Model and COVID-19 Impact
(13:44) - The ChatGPT Disruption
(16:39) - The Resilient Business: Surviving Disruption
(17:03) - AI's Impact on Incumbents
(18:33) - The Innovator's Dilemma
(20:29) - Opportunities for Change
(21:38) - AI Disruption in Various Industries
(24:05) - Strategies for Business Resilience
(26:15) - The Importance of Diversification
(27:50) - Facing the Reality of Disruption

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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36 min
March 07, 2025Your champion is probably fake (With Gal Aga)
Your main contact is not your champion. You champion might not be an experienced buyer. And the list goes on.
The problem is: not getting this right can really hurt your ability to bring in newbiz revenue.
That's why we invited Gal Aga from Aligned. Not only did he post a kick-ass meme on this problem, but he also has worked extensively with AEs and run into this problem too often.
(00:00) - Introduction
(01:56) - The Israeli Tech Ecosystem
(04:35) - Understanding the Role of a Champion
(08:15) - Champion Enablement Strategies
(13:27) - Multi-Threading in Sales
(18:08) - Executive Buy-In and Business Cases
(23:06) - Navigating Executive Involvement in Sales
(23:50) - Building Trust with Your Champion
(26:38) - Understanding Buyer Dynamics
(27:10) - The Role of Professional Buyers
(28:47) - Collaborative Decision Making
(29:15) - Avoiding Transactional Sales
(30:58) - Managing Internal and External Stakeholders
(31:38) - Modern Sales Strategies
(41:43) - The Future of Transactional Selling
(45:27) - Final Thoughts and Takeaways

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
47 min
March 04, 2025Don’t create another podcast: Lessons from 200 episodes
So we've crossed 200 episodes. And we felt like, as usual, doling out some advice - this time focused on the thing we spend a lot of time on... Podcasts. Specifcally this one.
If you've considered, or are constantly being suggested/told to do a podcast. This episode is for you. If not, maybe it'll just be fun to get a look under the hood. (and if nothing else? This episode also consist of non-work related conversation)
(00:00) - Introduction
(02:42) - Podcasting Journey and Milestones
(03:28) - Why You Shouldn't Start a Podcast
(04:07) - Challenges and Realities of Podcasting
(08:23) - The Effort Behind Consistent Content
(10:37) - Building Trust and Community
(16:58) - Reflecting on Past Guests
(17:33) - Becoming Part of the Creator Economy
(18:29) - Leveraging Influencer Partnerships
(19:59) - The Impact of Guest Episodes
(23:17) - Strategies for Growing the Audience
(24:29) - The Importance of Consistency
(28:31) - Effective Content Repurposing

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33 min
February 27, 2025How pitch narrowed their ICP and accelerated growth (with Ulrik Bo Larsen)
How's PLG different from outbound? We asked someone who's worked with both motions. And the interesting part?
They used a very simple trick to accelerate their PLG: Defining their ICP.
(00:00) - Introduction
(10:02) - Finding the ICP
(19:37) - Acquisition and Sales Strategy
(20:04) - Brand equity
(22:53) - Trigger for engaging
(25:55) - Self-Onboarding and Offboarding Dynamics
(28:44) - Outbound Strategies and AI-Enabled Lifecycle
(41:54) - Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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
43 min
February 25, 2025Growth envy: How Cursor got to $100M with 20 people
Growth envy. We've all been there. Another company just blows up in what feels like seconds.
Immediately you wonder, how could we achieve the same? Well, first step is understanding, and in this episode we break down the conditions that enabled Cursor to grow incredibly fast.
(00:00) - Introduction
(02:20) - Cursor and 0-100
(05:09) - The Power of Top Funnel
(11:56) - The Future of Code Writing
(12:10) - Teleportation and Sales
(12:49) - Understanding the Funnel
(13:05) - The Simplicity of PLG
(14:45) - Developer Tools and Market Size
(19:02) - Freemium Models in Enterprise Sales
(23:09) - Challenges of Rapid Growth
(27:05) - Retention and Competition

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
32 min
February 20, 2025When unicorns become zombies (With Roee Hartuv)
There are 1000s of privately held unicorns. But for many of them, they will truly struggle to make a meaningful exit.
We discuss why together with Roee.
(00:00) - Introduction
(02:25) - Understanding Zombie Unicorns
(04:30) - The Rise and Fall of Valuations
(06:33) - VC Expectations and Company Growth
(12:01) - The Fragility of High Valuations
(15:17) - Current Market Trends and Valuations
(19:35) - The Rise of Zombie Unicorns
(20:18) - Down Rounds and Valuation Challenges
(20:51) - Future of Unicorns and IPOs
(26:48) - Impact on Revenue Leaders
(32:06) - Pricing and Packaging Strategies
(35:39) - Concluding Thoughts and Future Outlook

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
37 min
February 18, 2025Reporting to the CEO - here's what we've learned
Are you about to report to the CEO? Are you already?
In todays episode, we share our experience reporting to the CEO.
(00:00) - Introduction
(03:51) - Our first CEO
(07:10) - Benefits and Challenges of Reporting to the CEO
(13:03) - Effective Communication and Management Strategies
(20:16) - Deliver 100% of your commits

This episode is brought to you by Fullcast, the only AI-powered platform that streamlines your entire sales lifecycle — from plan to pay. With modules like territory and quota management, routing, and capacity planning, Fullcast adapts to your unique needs — whether you need one solution or an all-in-one platform.
Ready to see the difference? Visit Fullcast.com and mention the Revenue Formula Podcast to unlock an exclusive premium gift, just for listeners!
Never miss a new episode, join our newsletter on revenueformula.substack.com
30 min
February 13, 2025No more free trials (Chris Pasquier from Slite)
Free trials don't work for AI products - so... what do you do?
That's what we asked Chris, CEO and founder of Slite.
(00:00) - Introduction
(03:36) - Challenges in Selling AI
(04:53) - Introduction to Slite and Super
(06:31) - AI Implementation and Use Cases
(08:50) - Customer Onboarding and Trials
(10:15) - Why can't we just do freemium
(13:10) - Overcoming AI Adoption Barriers
(22:15) - Future of AI in Business

This episode is brought to you by Fullcast, the only AI-powered platform that streamlines your entire sales lifecycle — from plan to pay. With modules like territory and quota management, routing, and capacity planning, Fullcast adapts to your unique needs — whether you need one solution or an all-in-one platform.
Ready to see the difference? Visit Fullcast.com and mention the Revenue Formula Podcast to unlock an exclusive premium gift, just for listeners!
Never miss a new episode, join our newsletter on revenueformula.substack.com
40 min
February 11, 2025SaaS was dead last week, but now it's back.
Wrappers are dead. LLMs are dead. SaaS is dead. The application layer is dead.
It's moving pretty fast still in AI, and we thought it was time to take stock of what we know right now.
(00:00) - Introduction
(01:03) - OpenAI's Superbowl Ad Breakdown
(02:29) - The Role of AI in Modern Life
(03:16) - Teasing Future Content
(03:50) - The Fast-Paced World of AI
(05:35) - Understanding GPT Wrappers
(07:40) - Hype vs. Reality in AI
(10:04) - The Evolution of Solutions
(14:22) - Consumer Perception of AI
(16:25) - AI's Role in Problem Solving
(17:47) - The Commoditization of AI
(18:50) - Cloud Providers and AI Models
(20:39) - The Future of AI Investment
(22:31) - Challenges in AI Implementation
(28:51) - Skepticism and Realities of AI

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
February 06, 2025You have no moat (With Bethany Stachenfeld)
If 4 developers at a unicorn got a $1m check, could they copy your feature? Well, yes. We discussed why this question is stupid, and how to build true competitive advantages.
(00:00) - Introduction
(02:11) - Remote Work and Team Dynamics
(02:47) - Exploring New Features and Innovations
(04:59) - Customer Experience and Building a Moat
(15:05) - Sticky Features and User Retention
(17:52) - Salesforce and the Challenges of Switching Providers
(18:34) - Bad Industry Practices and Network Effects
(19:38) - Building Ecosystem Benefits and Integrations
(20:38) - Strategic Partnerships and Preferred Partners
(23:34) - Customer Feedback and Product Development
(27:27) - Efficient Growth and Competitive Advantages
(33:23) - Outbound Marketing Strategies

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
40 min