Mark Ghermezian co-founded Braze (BRZE) and led the company as it’s founding CEO, pioneering a new category. He is also the Founder and General Partner at m]x[v Capital, and Co-Founder and CEO of Gynger and Tildei, two companies that he incubated through the venture firm. He is a serial entrepreneur and successful investor with 20+ years of experience in founding, building, and investing in early-stage SaaS startups.

Discussed in this Episode:

• Learnings from growing Braze from 0 to IPO.
• The behind the scenes on incubating two companies.
• How to identify and hire problem solvers who can execute independently.
• The value of delegating effectively to scale and empower your team.
• Navigating the challenges of raising funding and finding product-market fit.
• Building a strong internal BDR team versus outsourcing sales efforts.
• The role of conviction and intuition in entrepreneurship and investing.

Highlights:
(7:10) The domino effect of luck, timing, and key decisions in Braze's success.
(21:55) Mark reflects on the humbling experience of taking Braze public and the role of his team.
(28:30) Advice for founders on structuring their cap table and choosing the right investors.
(36:41) Raising Gynger's Series A and how it differed from Braze's early fundraising.
(45:09) A pivotal moment in Mark's leadership journey and learning to delegate effectively.
(49:04) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Mark thinks is bull$***.
(51:44) One thing that is working for Mark in go-to-market right now.

Guest Speaker Links (Mark Ghermezian):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/markgher/
m]x[v Capital: www.mxv.vc/
Gynger: www.gynger.io/

Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/

Sponsors:

• Brought to you by Apollo. Ever wonder what automating your entire outbound workflow could do for your revenue team? Apollo.io brings this to life by centralizing your entire go-to-market execution in one platform. Sellers using automation in their outbound efforts see a 70% increase in open rates and 4x more meetings booked while saving hours on manual, tedious tasks.
• Brought to you by IPS. Most recruiting firms fill an order, but IPS is a different breed of search firm. They dig into your business to understand its current state and the future vision and are relentlessly in pursuit of the very best leaders, sales people, marketers, and engineering talent out there.

The GTM Podcast
Features conversations with the top 1% of tech executives, VCs, and founders - the experts who have ‘been there, done that’ to build some of the fastest-growing software companies. Every week, a guest joins Scott Barker to dissect their stories - revealing what worked, what didn’t, and how things actually went down.

This podcast is produced by GTMnow, the media brand of VC firm GTMfund.
Visit gtmnow.com to subscribe to the newsletter and other content resources.

As Upland's Chief Revenue Officer, Matt Breslin oversees customer success, demand generation and communications, sales, revenue enablement, and revenue analysis, supporting our Shared Services Organization. Matt has 25 years of experience in the software industry, most recently leading a $700 million business at Infor. Prior to that, he held senior leadership positions at SAP and Oracle, driving incredible results across the board. Matt started his career as a Certified Public Accountant for Price Waterhouse and Kraft Foods.

Discussed in this Episode:

• The importance of avoiding blind spots in the sales process and aligning the sales process with the customer's business pains and processes.
• Lessons learned from closing a multi-million dollar deal early in his career, including the value of attention to detail and building strong customer relationships.
• The benefits of focusing sales teams on specific sales motions, such as new logo acquisition or account expansion.

Highlights:
(14:10) Challenging the belief that 3-5X pipeline coverage is the answer to sales problems.
(18:44) The story of driving to a customer's child's soccer game to close a multi-million dollar deal.
(26:01) The biggest surprise when transitioning from an individual contributor to a leader.
(41:06) The importance of aligning sales teams to the right motions.
(44:16) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Matt thinks is bull$***.
(45:23) One thing that is working for Matt in go-to-market right now.

Guest Speaker (Matt Breslin):
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-breslin-09a4354/

Sponsors:

• Brought to you by Apollo. Ever wonder what automating your entire outbound workflow could do for your revenue team? Apollo.io brings this to life by centralizing your entire go-to-market execution in one platform. Sellers using automation in their outbound efforts see a 70% increase in open rates and 4x more meetings booked while saving hours on manual, tedious tasks.
• Brought to you by Vanta. Your deal is almost closed, and all that’s left is the security review. But when it comes to those lengthy security questionnaires, the endless back and forths can often cause deals to stall out, leaving your deal at risk and dollars on the table. With Vanta Questionnaire Automation, GTM teams can complete security reviews up to 5X faster. Over 8,000 global companies use Vanta to streamline security questionnaires and close deals fast. Register for an upcoming webinar with live Q&A here.
• Brought to you by IPS. Most recruiting firms fill an order, but IPS is a different breed of search firm. They dig into your business to understand its current state and the future vision and are relentlessly in pursuit of the very best leaders, sales people, marketers, and engineering talent out there.

The GTM Podcast
Features conversations with the top 1% of tech executives, VCs, and founders - the experts who have ‘been there, done that’ to build some of the fastest-growing software companies. Every week, a guest joins Scott Barker to dissect their stories - revealing what worked, what didn’t, and how things actually went down.

This podcast is produced by GTMnow, the media brand of VC firm GTMfund.
Visit gtmnow.com to subscribe to the newsletter and other content resources.

Adriana Gil Miner is CMO at Iterable, the AI-powered customer communication platform. Passionate about customer engagement, her leadership has contributed to Iterable's success in helping brands like Redfin, Priceline, and Volvo deliver individualized, harmonized and dynamic communications at scale. Prior to her role at Iterable, Adriana held influential senior leadership positions at Tableau, where she significantly contributed to the company's remarkable growth from $250 million to over $1 billion, culminating in the successful Salesforce acquisition. Her leadership also left an indelible mark on Qumulo, a data storage startup, and Artefact, with its spinoff—10,000ft—acquired by Smartsheet in 2019. Gil Miner’s 20+ years of marketing experience span prominent names like American Express, Digitas, and Weber Shandwick.

Discussed in this Episode:

• Leveraging AI and ChatGPT for creative, high-volume ad testing and optimization.
• The importance of post-sale marketing and customer lifecycle management.
• Applying B2C marketing strategies to enhance B2B customer engagement and retention.
• Emerging B2B marketing trends, including SMS as a core communication channel.
• Building authentic influence through community, word-of-mouth, and organic channels.
• The declining relevance of traditional PR and analyst relations in the face of digital influence.

Highlights:
(13:45) Using ChatGPT to generate and test 300+ ads, breaking demo request records.
(20:25) The untapped potential of post-sale marketing and customer lifecycle in B2B.
(25:30) SMS predicted to become a key B2B engagement channel.
(29:56) Iterable's marketing team now has a dedicated expansion pipeline goal.
(33:39) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Adriana thinks is bull$***.(36:47) One thing that is working for Adriana in go-to-market right now.

Guest Speaker Links (Adriana Gil Miner):
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/agilminer/

Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/

Sponsors:

• Brought to you by Apollo. Ever wonder what automating your entire outbound workflow could do for your revenue team? Apollo.io brings this to life by centralizing your entire go-to-market execution in one platform. Sellers using automation in their outbound efforts see a 70% increase in open rates and 4x more meetings booked while saving hours on manual, tedious tasks.
• Brought to you by IPS. Most recruiting firms fill an order, but IPS is a different breed of search firm. They dig into your business to understand its current state and the future vision and are relentlessly in pursuit of the very best leaders, sales people, marketers, and engineering talent out there. Whether you want advice, have one hard to fill role or a team buildout, we can't recommend IPS enough.

The GTM Podcast
Features conversations with the top 1% of tech executives, VCs, and founders - the experts who have ‘been there, done that’ to build some of the fastest-growing software companies. Every week, a guest joins Scott Barker to dissect their stories - revealing what worked, what didn’t, and how things actually went down.

This podcast is produced by GTMnow, the media brand of VC firm GTMfund.
Visit gtmnow.com to subscribe to the newsletter and other content resources.