Revenue on the Rocks

As we discussed in our last episode, we are taking a pause from Revenue on the Rocks while Ben is on paternity leave. During this time, we'll be sharing episodes from another podcast I am co-hosting: GTM News Desk with Mark Kilens.  GTM News Desk also talks about buyer-first best practices and interviews marketers who are experts in them in their day-to-day. Bryn Jones, co-founder of Partnerstack,...

As we discussed in our last episode, we are taking a pause from Revenue on the Rocks while Ben is on paternity leave. During this time, we'll be sharing episodes from another podcast I am co-hosting: GTM News Desk with Mark Kilens.  GTM News Desk also talks about buyer-first best practices and interviews marketers who are experts in them in their day-to-day.  In this episode, Ramli John, founder o...

As we discussed in our last episode, we are taking a pause from Revenue on the Rocks while Ben is on paternity leave. During this time, we'll be sharing episodes from another podcast I am co-hosting: GTM News Desk with Mark Kilens.  GTM News Desk also talks about buyer-first best practices and interviews marketers who are experts in them in their day-to-day.  In this episode, Roee Hartuv, founder...

As we discussed in our last episode, we are taking a pause from Revenue on the Rocks while Ben is on paternity leave. During this time, we'll be sharing episodes from another podcast I am co-hosting: GTM News Desk with Mark Kilens.  GTM News Desk also talks about buyer-first best practices and interviews marketers who are experts in them in their day-to-day.  In this episode, Mojo Founder Eric Hol...

As we discussed in our last episode, we are taking a pause from Revenue on the Rocks while Ben is on paternity leave. During this time, we'll be sharing episodes from another podcast I am co-hosting: GTM News Desk with Mark Kilens. GTM News Desk also talks about buyer-first best practices and interviews marketers who are experts in them in their day-to-day. In this episode, Camille Trent, Content...

As we discussed in our last episode, we are taking a pause from Revenue on the Rocks while Ben is on paternity leave. During this time, we'll be sharing episodes from another podcast I am co-hosting: GTM News Desk with Mark Kilens. GTM News Desk also talks about buyer-first best practices and interviews marketers who are experts in them in their day-to-day. In this episode, Keith Frankel, CEO of T...

As we discussed in the last episode, we are taking a pause from Revenue on the Rocks while Ben is on paternity leave. During this time, we'll be sharing episodes from another podcast I am co-hosting: GTM News Desk with Mark Kilens. GTM News Desk also talks about buyer-first best practices and interviews marketers who are experts in them in their day-to-day. In this episode, Product Growth Expert A...

Ben and I discuss why we're pausing the podcast a bit for his upcoming paternity leave and how he planned for his leave. We cover factoring paternity leave into revenue planning and hiring timelines, balancing team autonomy with structure during his leave, and initial nerves telling the team (despite everyone's full support). We also share that while Revenue on the Rocks is on a break, I'll be the...

Ben and I discuss how set 2026 revenue and pipeline goals at Navattic. We talk about working backwards from end-of-year goals, looking at historical data, and getting early input from tenured reps before finalizing numbers. Plus, different forecasting methods and breaking large goals into quotas per employee to make them realistic and attainable. I also talk about the quarterly marketing presentat...

Before the New Year, we hosted a LinkedIn Live featuring nine of our Navattic advisors reflecting on 2025's marketing wins, flops, and what they're carrying into 2026. We chatted about AI tool fatigue and underwhelming results from automated research platforms, clean data foundations before implementing AI, and figuring out what good marketing looks like before scaling. We also chat our focuses fo...

Ben and I discuss our 2026 predictions for B2B SaaS, but we let ChatGPT generate the first half of the list and gave our takes on its predictions. We cover whether usage-based pricing will actually replace subscriptions, if AI will make product differentiation impossible, the rise of micro tech stacks, and the pros and cons of being able to ship faster than ever with AI. Plus, we debate if 2026 wi...

Ben and I discuss our experience launching a new product line at Navattic and going after a new persona as part of the launch. We share how we tried to navigate making a big product bet while still not losing focus on our existing business and customers. We chat about how the team managed morale during uncertain times, leadership's role of standing firm on strategic decisions, and being honest abo...

We're joined by guest Niall Sullivan to discuss why MQLs (at least the traditional way of defining MQLs) suck and how to shift to more demand gen and buyer-friendly marketing practices. We chat about: • Moving away from gating content and focusing on educating buyers • Measuring marketing's impact through pipeline and revenue metrics instead of MQLs • Showing more product details and UI to help bu...

I do an "ask me anything" style interview to ask Ben questions about his career and journey at Navattic. We reflect on hosting this podcast, changing from an IC to a manager, and how our approach to sales and marketing has changed over the past few years. And share our favorite drinks from the season. I drink rosé 🍷 Ben drinks Miller Lite 🍺

Our advisor and product marketing expert, Yi Lin, interviews Ben to explore the relationship between product marketing and sales. She asks about sales reps' day-to-day, what makes top performers stand out, and how product marketers can support sales beyond decks. We also talk about why product marketers struggle more with sales (apparently more than product teams), collateral for sales reps, and h...

Ben does an "ask me anything" style interview to ask me questions he's always wanted to know about marketing. We talk about what makes each marketing role hard, debate whether sales or marketing should own outbound, and share our thoughts on personal LinkedIn branding for founders and sales reps. Ben and I were being uncreative and both just drank water

Ben and I discuss our recent sales kickoff (SKO) in Dallas and Natalie's transition to a product marketing role at Navattic. We cover why you should bring marketing leadership to SKOs. My presentation about my role leading product marketing role at the SKO and why the company decided to make this transition at this stage of growth. Plus Ben's experience planning and executing his first full SKO, w...

Ben Pearson and I chat about how we built a sales process focused on buyer experience at Navattic. I interview Ben on how he developed his sales philosophy when he joined the company and the balance between creating a winning culture and doing what is best for prospects. We also go into why we don't use traditional sales methodologies, how we hire for autonomy and high standards, and why Ben is ob...

Ben Pearson and I kick off 2025 by chatting about our predictions and observations for B2B buying, marketing, and sales this year. We discuss topics like LinkedIn's evolution, the future of PLG motions (expanding beyond just free trials), how marketing may change with the rise of specialized freelancers, customers getting involved earlier in the buyer journey, and if competitors will ever join tog...

Ben and I reflect on our first customer event in New York City (if you didn't listen to our last episode we talked about planning the event in that one). We discuss what made it different from typical B2B conferences like an intimate venue, not too packed agenda, and customer-only attendees. We share the event's impact, like positive feedback from attendees and how that helped inform our 2025 even...

Ben and I discuss planning and hosting our upcoming first-ever customer event for Navattic in New York City. We chat about how we got early customer feedback to help set the event agenda and how we made it different than most user conferences. I talk about practicing throwing smaller events leading up to it and lessons learned during previous events. And Ben asks how marketers show ROI for custome...

Ben Pearson and I discuss our experience hiring at startups and our stories of how we got hired at Navattic. We cover why you want to love the product/problem at a startup, approaching startups proactively, and how to show passion and adaptability in the hiring process. We also get into the differences between hiring for sales and marketing roles. And try to offer advice for both job seekers and h...

One month after our freemium launch, Ben Pearson and I deep dive into the highs and lows of the launch. We discuss everything from celebrating the small wins, challenges when managing a team transitioning to PLG, selling experimentation, and adapting to a new unknown GTM motion. Plus how we both felt emotionally pre and post-launch week and how we handled the excitement and stress. I drink tea 🫖...

In our season three premiere we announce that we launched a Product-Led Growth (PLG) motion at Navattic. We discuss our initial reservations, what we've learned, and the freakouts we both had while introducing a freemium plan. We also talk about how to align the sales team and leadership to adapt to selling to PQLs (product-qualified leads). Plus why we adopted PLG (even though we had a successful...