The Thread Podcast

Catherine Blackmore has spent nearly two decades building the programs that wrap around technology, from the early days of customer success in 2007 to her current role as Group VP of Customer Programs and Employee Success at Oracle . In this episode she sits down with Justin to unpack what the discipline got right, what it got wrong, and what survives the shift to AI. Catherine makes the case that...

Andy Mowat has run RevOps at four unicorns, and between every role he's gone out and built something new. His latest is Whispered , an AI platform that helps top GTM execs build their careers through shared insights, warm introductions, and access to the roles that never get posted. In this episode, Andy and Justin get into why the entire GTM tech stack is heading for a two-year rebuild, what...

Justin sits down with Nils Vinje , business growth guide and longtime customer success leader, to talk about the single biggest thing holding most growing companies back: everything still depends on the CEO. Nils spent the early part of his career on the leading edge of the customer success movement — convincing his first employer to ditch the "account manager" title back in 2011 — and h...

Justin sits down with Sanjay Pal , Worldwide VP of Professional Services at IBM, to explore what it really takes to lead services at global scale and why the role is more strategically important now than ever before. Sanjay draws on his journey from Cisco to Accenture to IBM to break down what has fundamentally changed about services delivery in the AI era, and what has stayed the same. He shares...

Justin sits down with Jessica Chiew , Global Head of GTM Strategy and Operations at Canva , to unpack what it really takes to evolve from a beloved PLG product into a full-fledged enterprise sales machine without breaking what made it great. Jessica shares how Canva navigates the complexity of multiple handoffs across a PLG-to-SLG journey, why time to value is everyone's job (not just CS), an...

Justin sits down with Allison Skidmore , Chief Customer Officer at Optimizely , the world's first operating system for marketing teams. Allison brings a rich perspective shaped by stints at Adobe, Stackla, Gigya, and SAP across Asia Pacific before landing in the US to lead customer success at Optimizely. This episode explores how AI is fundamentally reshaping the marketer's daily workflo...

Brent Krempges , Chief Customer Officer at Gainsight , joins the show to unpack the next evolution of Customer Success in an AI-first world. After 12+ years at Gainsight, from implementation to global pre-sales to CCO,  Brent shares how CS is shifting from seat-based software to outcome-driven operating models. We dive into AI-driven health scores, renewal agents, sentiment analysis, and the loomi...

In this episode of the Thread Podcast, Justin Vandehey sits down with Elizabeth Herbst-Brady , Chief Revenue Officer of Condé Nast , to explore how one of the world’s most iconic media companies is navigating transformation in the age of AI. Elizabeth shares lessons from her career spanning media, advertising, and technology, including leadership roles at Yahoo, Snap, and Viacom, and explains why...

In this episode of the Thread Podcast, host Justin Vandehey sits down with Neal McCoy , VP of Customer Success and Professional Services at BigCommerce , to unpack where customer value most often breaks down after a deal is closed — and how companies can fix it. Neal shares insights from nearly a decade building CS and PS at BigCommerce, explaining why customers don’t buy software to “solve proble...

In this episode of the Thread Podcast, Justin Vandehey sits down with Jared Myatt , Senior Director of Revenue Operations at Integrate , to explore what it really takes to scale RevOps over time. Jared shares his journey from early employee to RevOps leader, reflecting on key inflection points including acquisitions, private equity ownership, and enterprise growth. They discuss how the definition...

In this episode of the Thread Podcast, Justin Vandehey interviews Benjamin Roach , Director of Revenue Operations at Optio Incentives , to explore what it takes to build RevOps in the equity compensation and incentives space. Ben shares his “traditional” path from sales into RevOps, why he deliberately took a step back into a junior ops role, and how getting technical became a career unlock. They...

In this episode of the Thread Podcast , Justin talks with Tyler Will , VP of GTM Strategy & Ops at Intercom , about how modern revenue organizations are evolving in an era defined by AI, PLG-to-enterprise transitions, and go-to-market speed. Tyler shares his journey from economic consulting and Bain, to GTM leadership at LinkedIn, to now scaling RevOps at Intercom. He breaks down the key diffe...

Episode Summary In this episode of the Thread Podcast , host Justin Vandehey sits down with John Queally , Senior Director of Revenue Operations at Clari , to explore how RevOps is evolving in the age of AI, and what it really means to build a data-driven go-to-market organization. John’s career spans consulting, analytics at JP Morgan , leadership roles at American Express and Qualtrics , and now...

In this episode of the Thread Podcast , host Justin Vandehey sits down with Max Mozes , Director of Revenue Operations at Walmart for Business , to unpack what it takes to build a world-class B2B motion inside one of the world’s largest retail organizations. Before joining Walmart, Max carried a quota as a seller, scaled local business teams at LevelUp (acquired by Grubhub for $400M), and held key...

In this episode, Chantel Hirschel, Director of Revenue Operations at Sana, discusses the unique challenges and opportunities in the healthcare industry, particularly in revenue operations.  She shares insights on transitioning from traditional B2B SaaS to healthcare, the importance of HIPAA compliance, and the role of AI in rev ops. Chantel also offers advice for aspiring leaders in the field, emp...

In this episode of the Thread Podcast, host Justin Vandehey speaks with Larry Peters, the Chief Revenue Officer of World of Dance.  They discuss Larry's extensive background in sales and marketing within the sports and entertainment industries, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer needs and the role of practice in sales.  Justin and Larry explores the integration of AI in sale...

Summary In this episode of the Thread Podcast, host Justin Vandehey speaks with Kara Brown, founder and CRO of Lead Coverage, about her journey in the supply chain industry, the importance of go-to-market strategies, and the impact of AI on sales technology. Kara shares insights from her book, 'The Revenue Engine,' and discusses the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in achieving si...

In this episode of the Thread Podcast, host Justin Vandehey speaks with Karan Singh, SVP of Go-to-Market Strategy and Operations at LaunchDarkly. They discuss Karan's extensive background in various tech companies, the evolving role of AI in sales, and the importance of human connection in go-to-market strategies.  Karan emphasizes the need for productivity over leanness in sales organization...

In this episode of the Thread Podcast, host Justin Vandehey introduces his co-founders Jeremy Vandehey and Samuel Kenney as they discuss their journey in building Thread, a company focused on enhancing the go-to-market strategy for sales teams. The conversation explores the challenges of acquiring the first customer, aligning sales operations, and the importance of technology in sales. They delve...

In this episode of The Bridge , Justin sits down with Jessica Collier , CEO of Spot , and founding partner of All Turtles, to explore her journey from academia to building one of the most thoughtful AI-driven tools in the HR tech space. Jessica was the first UX writer at Evernote , where she helped shape user experiences through words before it was a recognized craft. She later went on to co-found...

Brett Beveridge , Founder & CEO of T-ROC , joins the show to share his journey from bouncer and bartender to building one of the largest retail operators in the U.S. We dive into: How he started selling cell phones out of a van and took Let's Talk Cellular public before selling to Nextel What’s fueled his 20+ year run building T-ROC His take on when to expand product lines — and when to s...

Tessa Brown, Co-Founder and CEO of Germ Network, joins the show to talk about,  - Tessa's journey from Stanford writing professor to startup founder, the dangers of social platforms designed to maximize exposure, and why privacy should be the default, not the exception. - How Germ lets users create multiple, compartmentalized identities - The flaws of phone number–based messaging and the case...

Jared Robin , Co founder of RevGenius and Audience Haus, joins the show to talk about Jared's first sales job, cold calling office managers at FedEx to building a fashion blog with 10K monthly subscribers. The art of audience building, and how a LinkedIn group chat turned into an engaged 50,000 community  What does it take for a B2B company to successfully build an audience Reflecting back on...

Chris Andrew , Co founder and CEO of Scrunch AI , joins the show to talk about The evolution of search and consumer shift toward finding answers with AI. Building a marketing platform for an AI first customer journey. The opportunity for AI and Scrunch to audit search and help brands manage their identities in the era of AI. Reflecting on Chris leaving Intuit to work for Clara Shih at Hearsay, and...

Tatiana Fofanova, CEO and Co Founder of Koda Health, joins the show to talk about From pediatrics to entrepreneurship, and Tatiana's experience as a founder in residence at Texas Medical Center (TMC) The intersection of the law and health, and building an advanced care planning tool that is patient centric. Becoming "patient zero" for Koda Health after being hit by a car and getting...