WMYT - What makes YOU Tick? Tech Leaders Career Stories

Most revenue challenges don’t start with sales. They start at the system level. In this episode of Making Revenue Tick, I sit down with Mark C. Ward, Founder at Revenue Arc and author of Sales Turnaround, to unpack why so many companies stall between $3M and $30M ARR, and why the default “hire harder, sell harder” mindset rarely fixes the real issue. Mark has spent the last two decades helping com...

Most startups don’t have a GTM problem. They have an alignment problem. A structure problem. A people problem. In this episode of What Makes You Tick, Richard Washington sits down with B2B marketing heavyweight and CMO advisor Philippe Ruttens to expose the 5 silent killers of go-to-market success — the ones that never show up in pitch decks or playbooks, but quietly derail growth. This isn’t armc...

What does it really take to raise $20M in today’s market? How do you turn a childhood obsession with gaming into a world-class cybersecurity company? And what actually matters when you're scaling a startup from the ground up? In this episode of What Makes You Tick, Ido Shlomo, CTO and co-founder of Token Security, breaks down the mindset, lessons, and leadership evolution behind one of the mos...

Most sales teams are flying blind. In this episode of Making Revenue Tick, Richard Washington sits down with Rachit Kataria - Co-Founder of Centralize and Y Combinator alum to unpack why traditional CRMs are failing revenue teams, and how Centralize is building an entirely new category around visibility, relationships, and deal execution. Rachit’s journey from Meta engineer to startup founder is g...

Most startups get sales, hiring, and brand-building completely wrong. They think sales is about selling. It’s not. They think hiring experience guarantees success. It doesn’t. They think brand is just marketing. That’s a mistake. In this episode of What Makes You Tick, Gal Aga, CEO at Aligned joins Tolu and I to break down the hard truths about scaling revenue teams, building a category-defining b...

How to Build a Sales Machine from $0 to $25M ARR | Scott Leese on Making Revenue TickMost founders don’t start a company because they want to. They start because they have to. They’re fed up with how things are, they see a problem that shouldn’t exist, and they go all in to fix it. But the reality is... Building a great product isn’t enough. You have to learn how to sell and SCALE.That’s where Sco...

Not Everyone Should Be a Founder—Here’s Why Intrapreneurs Win Big 🚀 The latest episode of What Makes You Tick is LIVE, and this one’s a game-changer. Tolu sat down with Rich Patterson—a GTM powerhouse who’s built and scaled revenue teams at high-growth startups. He ran his own company for 10 years, led sales teams at Groupon and beyond, and knows what it really takes to drive success—whether you'...

How do you go from leading revenue teams to building a startup from scratch? Jordan Kennedy, CEO & Co-Founder of Jump, shares his raw and honest founder journey—from balancing family and entrepreneurship to rethinking go-to-market strategies. Questions We Answer in This Episode: 🔹 How do you transition from a revenue leader to a founder? 🔹 What are the biggest mistakes founders make when sca...

How do founders go from selling their first deals to building a scalable sales engine? Why is go-to-market fit just as important as product-market fit? How can founders replace cold outreach with high-converting partnerships? If you’re a B2B SaaS founder trying to scale revenue to $10M ARR and beyond... but don’t have a background in sales, this episode is for you. Meet Jess Schultz, Founder &...

Most salespeople focus on go-to-market. But what about Go-To-Network? 🤔 In this episode, we sit down with Stephen Oommen—a sales leader, keynote speaker, and networking expert—to talk about why your network is your biggest revenue driver and how most people are getting it wrong. Stephen has built a career on building authentic connections that drive real impact. From tech sales to leadership, his...

How do you go from marketing to CRO? 🤔 Jona Koekelcoren shares his career journey from marketing consultant to Chief Revenue Officer, where he now leads sales teams and drives revenue growth. If you're in B2B sales, SaaS, or marketing, this episode is packed with insights on high performance, mental toughness, and sales strategies that actually work. 🔥 In this episode, we cover: ✅ High performa...

Have You Seen the DAMNING Salesforce State of Sales Report?"84% of sales reps didn’t meet their quotas last year, and 67% expect to miss them this year."(Shocking, right?)I had questions - and I needed answers! Why are MOST sales teams underperforming? What can leaders actually do to fix it? Why do teams fail, even with talented people? Is it bad leadership, poor morale, or something deeper? And h...

What if you could walk into any negotiation - whether it’s for your salary, a job offer, or even a critical business deal - and know you’re about to win? That’s exactly the kind of confidence Jacob Warwick instills in his clients, and in this episode, he’s sharing the secrets with you. Jacob Warwick isn’t just another "career coach". He’s the go-to strategist for executives navigating high-stakes...

Tolu and Richard reflect on 18 months of the What Makes You Tick: Tech Leaders Career Stories podcast. Only this time we're together, in the STUDIO! 18 months of speaking with 55 of the best tech leaders in the world. The Intrapreneurs driving growth in some of the most innovative companies on the planet. Across our main pod, WMYT, and our Masterclass specials - Making Revenue Tick, we've learned...

In This Episode: What’s stopping your SaaS startup from breaking through the Series A/B barrier? Assumptions. They’re the silent killers of growth, the cracks in the foundation that can stall even the most promising businesses. In this episode of Making Revenue Tick, Joseph Jenkins and I break down the 5 most common assumptions holding early-stage SaaS companies back—and how to fix them. We dig in...

In this episode of What Makes You Tick, Abi Williams - a dynamic Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) who’s led growth at Oracle, LinkedIn, Meta, and Udemy - shares her journey, her mission, and her belief that leaders can grow revenue while building a people-first culture. About Abi WilliamsAbi started her career in sales, quickly learning that success isn’t just about hitting numbers - it’s about solving...

Startups don’t win without intrapreneurs. These entrepreneurial-minded sales leaders thrive in resource-strapped environments and know how to turn chaos into clarity. I’ve been in those roles for 16 years, and now I dedicate my time to helping founders find the right intrapreneurial talent to scale. That’s why I created Making Revenue Tick: Masterclass Edition—to break down the mindset, stories, a...

Startup Masterclass: Breaking Through Growth Plateaus to $100M ARR. Truth: Most startups don’t fail from lack of funding—they plateau because they lack the systems and strategy to scale sustainably. Reaching $100M ARR? It’s a dream for many, but only 1.2% of funded startups make it. Why? ➡️ Stagnation. Misaligned teams, over-reliance on founder-led sales, and scattered go-to-market strategies all...

60% of first-time sales hires fail - and the cost of getting it wrong could sink your startup. But what if you could avoid the most common mistakes and hire a team that drives real growth? This episode is your roadmapIn this episode of Making Revenue Tick, our Masterclass edition, Richard Washington teams up with Dan Hurwitz, a veteran CRO and startup advisor, to tackle a critical growth challenge...

“If you're a company that's looking for the top, top salespeople, you may want to be a little bit adaptable in your process - or maybe even let the salesperson drive it.”Whether you're a company looking to hire the best in the market, or a person looking to nail their job search - this episode is for you! In this episode of Making Revenue Tick, host Richard Washington talks with Ben Ag...

Ever wondered how to get paid what you’re actually worth in tech? This man can help you negotiate like a pro. In this episode of What Makes You Tick, Devon Hennig covers his story in the world of executive negotiation, sharing the lessons he learned the hard way as he climbed from small-town Saskatchewan to the tech boardroom. Best selling Author of the Senior Compensation Bible, and Founder at Bo...

In this episode of What Makes You Tick, James Bissell, founder of The Revenue Enabler, cuts through the fluff on why most sales teams fail—and how to turn it around fast. If your team’s stuck on low attainment, lost in endless tasks, or missing the mark with customers, James breaks down what’s really holding them back.👉 What You’ll Learn:Why teams without a real playbook keep missing targets (and...

In this episode of What Makes You Tick, we explore the story and career of Neetha Ratakonda, founder of BigLittle.ai. She shares how her startup is tackling two of the biggest challenges facing businesses today: inefficiency and sustainability. 🚀What makes Neetha tick? It’s her relentless focus on reducing waste—both in business processes and in our environment. With billions wasted annually due...

Truth: Your pipeline doesn’t need more opportunities - it needs better discovery. In this episode of our Masterclass Edition "Making Revenue Tick", Richard Washington sits down with Michael Muhlfelder, a 36-year B2B sales warhorse, to challenge the 3-5X pipeline myth and explore why fixing discovery and qualification is the key to boosting sales performance. Michael has led sales at Orac...

In the latest What Makes You Tick episode, André Bressel brings powerful insights on aligning revenue teams and building communities to drive sustainable growth.💡 "What makes me tick? Building things—whether it’s businesses, communities, or teams—and helping others grow alongside that process."Here’s what else André covers on the pod...🧠 Breaking down revenue silos to create unified, h...