Drift

Our guests' experiences, and their stories, are great. But for operators, we should know that numbers – proven approaches that yield tangible, measurable results – that’s what operators really want. Luckily for us, that’s exactly what our guest today brings. That guest is Jeremey Donovan, Executive Vice President of RevOps and Strategy for Insight Partners - a venture capital firm that specializes in scaling companies. Jeremey is well-positioned to help us bring data to the conversation of "what good looks like," and ultimately separate the practices from the best practices. In our conversation, Jeremey explains the methodology he used to create what he calls the Revenue Maturity Assessment across 122 companies, why some best practices make you a top performer and others don’t, and why of all things, he’s chosen to be a student of CROs. Like this episode?&nbsp;<a href="https://www.drift.com/operations/review" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Be sure to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️&nbsp;review</a>&nbsp;and share the pod with your friends! You can connect with Sean on Twitter @Seany_Biz and @DriftPodcasts, and Jeremey on LinkedIn.

Jeremey Donovan

EVP, RevOps and Strategy, Insight Partners

VP of RevOps & Strategy, Jeremey Donovan, divulges the data used to separate "best practices" from "practices" at top performing companies.


Separating Practices from Best Practices with Insight Partners' Jeremey Donovan

How Do You Decide What a "Best Practice" Is?

Our guests' experiences, and their stories, are great. But for operators, we should know that numbers – proven approaches that yield tangible, measurable results – that’s what operators really want.

Luckily for us, that’s exactly what our guest today brings. That guest is Jeremey Donovan, Executive Vice President of RevOps and Strategy for Insight Partners - a venture capital firm that specializes in scaling companies.


100 episodes of Operations! We are so grateful for the brilliant Operators who have been so generous with their time and their lessons on this show. After 100 episodes, we thought it was only fitting to look back at the top 10 lessons we’ve taken away from our guests, 5 from our first 50 episodes and 5 from the latest 50. So whether you’ve been with us from the beginning or you’re just checking out Operations for the first time, you're getting the best of the best in this one. Our 10 lessons come from the following guests:<ol><li>Brett Queener, Partner at Bonfire Ventures (<a href="https://operationspodcast.drift.com/public/13/Operations-43678/ec9f47e852" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Episode 3</a>)</li><li>Sylvia Kainz, Director of Global Productivity Partnerships at Airbnb (<a href="https://operationspodcast.drift.com/public/13/Operations-43678/16aa09b323" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Episode 9</a>)</li><li>Melanie Fellay, CEO and Co-founder at Spekit (<a href="https://operationspodcast.drift.com/public/13/Operations-43678/6c08b6e4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Episode 26</a>)</li><li>Rachel Haley, CEO and Co-Founder at Clarus Designs (<a href="https://operationspodcast.drift.com/public/13/Operations-43678/1852f612" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Episode 39</a>)</li><li>Karen Borchert, CEO and Founder at Alpaca (<a href="https://operationspodcast.drift.com/public/13/Operations-43678/d3ee5eda" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Episode 19</a>)</li><li>Allison Pickens, Former COO at Gainsight (<a href="https://operationspodcast.drift.com/public/13/Operations-43678/64669804" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Episode 72</a>)</li><li>Greg Callahan, Partner at Bain (<a href="https://operationspodcast.drift.com/public/13/Operations-43678/54af6e4d" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Episode 73</a>)</li><li>Mallun Yen, Founder and CEO at The Operator Collective (<a href="https://operationspodcast.drift.com/public/13/Operations-43678/01812e3d" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Episode 74</a>)</li><li>Marcela Piñeros, Global Head of Sales Enablement at Stripe (<a href="https://operationspodcast.drift.com/public/13/Operations-43678/83a794af" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Episode 77</a>)</li><li>Erol Toker, Founder and CEO at Truly.co (<a href="https://operationspodcast.drift.com/public/13/Operations-43678/47c32afa" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Episode 90</a>)</li></ol> Like this episode?&nbsp;<a href="https://www.drift.com/operations/review" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Be sure to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️&nbsp;review</a>&nbsp;and share the pod with your friends! You can connect with Sean on Twitter @Seany_Biz.

Erol Toker

Founder & CEO, Truly.co

Brett Queener

Partner at Bonfire Ventures

Allison Pickens

Former COO, Gainsight

Marcela Piñeros

Global Head of Sales Enablement, Stripe

Sylvia Kainz

Director of Global Productivity

Mallun Yen

Founder & CEO, The Operator Collective

Karen Borchert

CEO & Founder, Alpaca

Greg Callahan

Partner, Bain

Melanie Fellay

CEO & Co-Founder, Spekit

Rachel Haley

CEO & Co-Founder, Clarus Designs

To celebrate 100 episodes of Operations, Sean looks back at the top 10 lessons he's taken away from his operations-minded guests.


Top 10 Lessons From 100 Episodes Of Operations

100 episodes of Operations! We are so grateful for the brilliant Operators who have been so generous with their time and their lessons on this show.
After 100 episodes, we thought it was only fitting to look back at the top 10 lessons we’ve taken away from our guests, 5 from our first 50 episodes and 5 from the latest 50.


In Sales, it’s not hard to find people with opinions. Everyone has their own biases shaped by their own experiences, but give me a data-driven conclusion over a gut feel any day. Our guest on this episode, Michelle Vazzana, most certainly has the data to back up her findings. Michelle is the Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder of VantagePoint Performance, and the co-author of the upcoming book, The Sales Agility Code. So we're breaking down exactly how she arrived at her Sales Agility Code. In our conversation, Michelle teaches us about why there’s a negligible correlation between experience and expertise, the method behind how you “observe” agility, and how a company that adopted her new methodology went from closing 25% of forecasted deals to 54%. The Sales Agility Code comes out on May 2, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Agility-Code-Situational-Fluency/dp/1264965826" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">you can pre-order your copy today</a>! Like this episode?&nbsp;<a href="https://www.drift.com/operations/review" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Be sure to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️&nbsp;review</a>&nbsp;and share the pod with your friends! You can connect with Sean on Twitter @Seany_Biz and @DriftPodcasts, and Michelle on LinkedIn.

Michelle Vazzana

Chief Strategy Officer & Co-Founder, VantagePoint Performance

Michelle Vazzana explains the methodology behind her series of books, Craking the Sales Management Code, Crushing Quota, and upcoming Sales Agility Code. 


Why Agile Sales Reps Win More Deals with Michelle Vazzana

In Sales, it’s not hard to find people with opinions. Everyone has their own biases shaped by their own experiences, but give me a data-driven conclusion over a gut feel any day.

Our guest on this episode, Michelle Vazzana, most certainly has the data to back up her findings. Michelle is the Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder of VantagePoint Performance, and the co-author of the upcoming book, The Sales Agility Code. 

So we're breaking down exactly how she arrived at her Sales Agility Code. In our conversation, Michelle teaches us about why there’s a negligible correlation between experience and expertise, the method behind how you “observe” agility, and how a company that adopted her new methodology went from closing 25% of forecasted deals to 54%.


We’ve all at some point heard about or felt some flavor of imposter syndrome - that feeling where you are quite certain you don’t belong and you’re moments away from everyone figuring out you’re a fraud. After talking with today’s guest, I’m more convinced than ever that that hint of doubt, that nagging imposter syndrome, is actually a really good thing. Our guest today is Ping Del Giudice, Vice President of Revenue Operations at Leapsome. Ping was recently named to The Top 100 Revenue Operations Leaders of 2022, and still, even she experiences her own version of imposter syndrome. In our conversation, Ping and I talk about losing all of your institutional knowledge when you leave your job, the inherit vs. build decisions you have to make when joining a new team, and the major project she found herself signing up for on just her second day on the job. Like this episode?&nbsp;<a href="https://www.drift.com/operations/review" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Be sure to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️&nbsp;review</a>&nbsp;and share the pod with your friends! You can connect with Sean on Twitter @Seany_Biz and @DriftPodcasts, and Ping on LinkedIn.

Ping Del Giudice

Vice President of Revenue Operations, Leapsome

Ping Del Giudice explains how she, even as a VP of Revenue Operations, continues to experience imposter syndrome and what she's doing to overcome it.


Overcoming Imposter Syndrome as a New Operator with Ping Del Giudice

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome as a New Operator in a New Company

We’ve all at some point heard about or felt some flavor of imposter syndrome - that feeling where you are quite certain you don’t belong and you’re moments away from everyone figuring out you’re a fraud.
After talking with today’s guest, I’m more convinced than ever that that hint of doubt, that nagging imposter syndrome, is actually a really good thing.


As much as we want it to be, growth inside of companies isn't a straight line. And while I don’t think people are oblivious to that fact, we’re all still a little surprised when growth is harder than those beautiful up-and-to-the-right graphs might imply. So, how can we better prepare ourselves for the less pretty parts of that growth? Our guest today, Alastair Woolcock, has the answers. Alastair is the Chief Strategy Officer at Revenue.io, and he believes that growing companies face what he calls the walls and stalls of growth. In our conversation, Alastair teaches me about how to look out for these walls and stalls, the two "P" words that will help you to get through those walls faster, and why segmentation is the reason you’ll either quickly climb over a wall in your growth or be stuck languishing for quite some time. Like this episode?&nbsp;<a href="https://www.drift.com/operations/review" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Be sure to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️&nbsp;review</a>&nbsp;and share the pod with your friends! You can connect with Sean on Twitter @Seany_Biz and @DriftPodcasts, and Alastair on LinkedIn.

Alastair Woolcock

Chief Strategy Officer, Revenue.io

Alastair Woolcock shares what walls and stalls for growing companies mean, what they look like, and how to know when they're coming.


The Walls and Stalls of Growth with Revenue.io's Alastair Woolcock

As much as we want it to be, growth inside of companies isn't a straight line. And I don’t think people are oblivious to that fact, but we’re all still a little surprised when growth is harder than those beautiful up-and-to-the-right graphs might imply.

So how can we better prepare ourselves for the less pretty parts of that growth? Our guest today, Alastair Woolcock, has the answers. 


If you’re an operator, you can’t deny that you get some sick satisfaction out of untangling a ball of impossibly tangled lights. There’s something about being handed a problem that’s painfully broken, and fixing it. Our guest today, Navin Persaud, is someone who has found himself attracted to a specific type of operations pain for his entire career. Navin is VP of Revenue Operations at 1Password, and over the course of his career, he has developed a well-formed perspective on how to seek out and solve the pain that pops up inside of revenue organizations. In our conversation, we talk about optimizing for outcomes when solving pain, the mantra of the best Operations teams, and we talk about why operators don’t score goals, but collect assists. Like this episode?&nbsp;<a href="https://www.drift.com/operations/review" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Be sure to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️&nbsp;review</a>&nbsp;and share the pod with your friends! You can connect with Sean on Twitter @Seany_Biz, @DriftPodcasts.

Navin Persaud

VP of Revenue Operations, 1Password

VP of Revenue Operations at 1Password, Navin Persaud, shares how he seeks out, and solves, pain points at different revenue organizations. 


Why Operators are Attracted to Pain with 1Password's Navin Persaud

VP of Revenue Operations Explains Why Operators are Attracted to Pain

If you’re an operator, you can’t deny that you get some sick satisfaction out of untangling a ball of impossibly tangled lights. There’s something about being handed a problem that’s painfully broken, and fixing it. Our guest today, Navin Persaud, is someone who has found himself attracted to a specific type of operations pain for his entire career.


Product-Led Growth, or PLG, is about as buzzword-y a buzzword as you can find right now. But what does it take to actually run a real PLG motion at scale? For the answers, we’re turning to one of the most successful PLG companies you can find: Slack. Our guest on this episode is Namrata Ram, Slack’s VP of Sales Strategy and Operations. In our conversation, Namrata teaches us why scale and retention are the two foundational ingredients for PLG, when humans should and should not get involved in PLG motions, and if you stick around, you might be surprised to hear why Namrata says you shouldn’t be overly reliant on PLG itself. Like this episode?&nbsp;<a href="https://www.drift.com/operations/review" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Be sure to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️&nbsp;review</a>&nbsp;and share the pod with your friends! You can connect with Sean on Twitter @Seany_Biz, @DriftPodcasts, and Namrata on LinkedIn.

Namrata Ram

VP Sales Strategy and Operations, Slack

Learn how to operationalize a product-led growth (PLG) strategy from the woman who did it for millions of users at Slack.


What it Really Takes to Run Slack's PLG Motion with Namrata Ram

What Does It Really Mean to Have a Product-Led Growth (PLG) Strategy?

Product-Led Growth, or PLG, is about as buzzword-y a buzzword as you can find right now.
But what does it take to actually run a real PLG motion at scale? For the answers, we’re turning to one of the most successful PLG companies you can find: Slack. Our guest on this episode is Namrata Ram, Slack’s VP of Sales Strategy and Operations.


The world of operations isn’t always glamorous, but it’s the work that can make or break a company. Join Sean Lane, VP of Field Operations at Drift, every other Friday as he goes under the hood of how hypergrowth companies operate. Leave each episode with the operational tactics you need to scale growth and drive results at your company.

Separating Practices from Best Practices with Insight Partners' Jeremey Donovan

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Today's Host

Sean Lane

Today's Guests

Jeremey Donovan

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