The hard skills are table stakes: ability to analyze data and turn data into insights The most important soft skill, and the x-factor in my opinion, is having a thick skin. This is a thankless role at times, where you get blamed when things are wrong but get minimal or no credit when the sales team is on track. It takes a certain type of personality to be okay with that. Other important soft skills are around stakeholder management, cross-functional collaboration, and executive presence. You'll be working directly with VPs across sales and other functions so you need to be able to have a point of view and share it articulately and succinctly, while also displaying empathy and compassion with the sales team. 

I view projects and priorities as "Big Rocks" and "Small Projects." The big rocks are foundational work streams for the business and will help drive the business forward. The small projects are also important but will be more of a "one and done" type of work. Big rocks should have one driver, and one person should be driving at most two big rocks a quarter. Big rocks also should not be rushed. I have seen many mistakes where if a big rock is not done well, the members need to go back and rip/replace it, which takes much more time and resources. Make sure you have the right stakeholders involved and timelines built for these. I also recommend you have experienced members driving big rocks. * Big Rock projects can be: setting up SFDC to measure bookings, territory planning, sales methodology, forecasting, standard metrics dashboards, annual planning, sales comp design, account hierarchies, etc. * Small Projects can be: deal approval matrix, ROE (rules of engagement) updates, SPIFF design, QBR templates, Sales playbooks, etc. Most of these can be quickly revised and updated as the business evolves. You should have a running list of small projects and prioritize every quarter. 

I like to think about KPIs for any revenue organization in a 3 P's framework : 1. Performance 2. Predictability 3. Productivity Performance: It's important to understand the performance trends of the company and the most common KPS in this category include: - ARR - Retention - Number of Customers (Existing + New Logos - Churned Logos) - Gross Margin. For each of these KPIs, I like to look at the numbers vs. goal, vs. last year (YoY) and vs last quarter (QoQ). These are the basic health markers of any company and ones that all revenue ops leaders should know by heart for their companies/business units. Predictability: For any company, it's important for a revenue org to be able to deliver a forecast. And Revenue Ops plays a big role in this process, working with sales leadership. Typically, I like to see: - Week 1 and Week 7 Currrent Qtr Fcs Accuracy - this is usually measured in % terms and is calculated using the final bookings or retention results divided by the forecast at the start and halfway points in the quarter. I am for at least 90% accuracy in Week 1 and 97% accuracy in Week 7. - Starting Qtr Pipeline Coverage - how much pipeline (signing in the same quarter) is needed at the start of each quarter to hit the bookings/revenue goals, usually represented in X.X coverage ratio form. This one is good becaause it combines your win/converstion rate with your team's ability to predict accurate close dates. For volume and velocity-based businesses, it's important to also note how much pipe gets generated and closed within the quarter and incorporate that component as a KPI. - Push Counter - how often are opportunities pushing from their original close dates in your CRM? If you see this number start to creep up over time, you're likely going to start to see some forecast accuracy challenges down the road. It means your team's pipeline hygeine is getting sloppy or deals in your market are becoming tougher to predict close timing, Productiviity (or Effiency): Over the course of 2022, many companies have made productivity and efficiency metrics a much bigger part of their corporate narrative. And I think a lot of companies will come out of this year in a stronger position because of it. To me, there's not just one or two metrics that can tell you how well a revenue engine is working. I think it takes a variety of productivity-related KPIs including: - % of AEs hitting quota (Attainment) - I like to use the rule of thumb that when 75% or more of your AEs are hitting 75%+ quota attainment, then you should hire more AEs. If you're not quite performing at those levels, there is more to do before you start hiring rapidly. - % of AEs winning a new opportunity (Participation) - It's important to look at what % of your sales team is getting a deal across the finish line each quarter (or every month for shorter sales cycles). - Win Rate / Close Rate - I prefer the $-based metric (win rate), especially if you're tweaking your ICP and trying to sell larger ASP deals. - Contacts per Qualified Opp - a good metric to dermine if you're single-threaded in your opportunities. More contacts on each opp almost always equals a higher conversion rate. Growth Efficiency - this metrics looks at how much incremental recurring revenue was generated from new investment in sales and marketing $ - Activity - I'm and old school guy in that I still llke to look at seller and SDR activity levels. You can't sell when you're not in front of customers and I think it's a good idea to hold revenue team members accountable to a set of activity metrics, including meetings held, pipeline generated, new accounts touched to name a few.

My recommendation to anyone trying to craft a good 30/60/90 day plan is to first read the book The First 90 Days (https://www.amazon.com/First-Days-Updated-Expanded-Strategies/dp/B00CH7FE1O/ref=sr_1_1?crid=332LCCJEJ62Z8&keywords=first+90+days&qid=1678744873&sprefix=first+90+day%2Caps%2C111&sr=8-1) It is an incredible guide to how you prioritize your time coming into and during your first 90 days in any new role. Revenue Operations specific tasks are not as relevant as understanding what actions anybody should be taking during this time and then fitting your role-specific needs within that framework.

This is a non-trivial topic since Revenue Operations is often a "recommender" in many decisions, as opposed to a "decider". The "dual mandate" of the Revenue Operations function is: 1. Grow revenue faster 2. Make the go-to-market resources more productive I believe best-in-class Revenue Operations teams should have a seat at the table, with direct influence on the outcomes above. With that in mind, Revenue Operations should be accountable for: 1. Revenue growth, addressable market penetration, market share expansion 2. Revenue/ FTE, FTE HC growth vs revenue growth Since an important part of the function pertains to running effective operations, it should also be accountable for: * Plan and forecast accuracy * Rep quota attainment distribution (50/50 or equivalent philosophy) * % account transitions y/y (lower is better)

Prior to joining Adobe, I worked as an economic consultant specializing in antitrust and competition. Like most consultants joining fresh out of undergrad, I saw consulting as a stepping stone and a great opportunity to learn a lot while figuring out what I wanted to do long term. At the time I was debating three exit ops: (1) get an MBA, (2) get a PhD in economics and become a professor, or (3) work in tech. After working for two years, the third option appealed to me most because it represented the most choice, and in some ways, almost a round two of consulting - a great place to learn a ton of useful skills while figuring out what I enjoy long term. In the absence of clarity, pick a direction that seems reasonable and figure it out along the way. That's advice a lot of mentors have given me. Most of us don't know what we "really" want to do, so prioritize learning and give yourself the best shot possible to keep growing. That's what attracted me the most about my current role. Although Adobe is an old organization (as far as tech companies go), the team I'm in is relatively new and growing quickly. There's a ton of whitespace, a ton of new challenges, and consequently a lot of opportunities to grow. That said, it's not all work, all hustle, all the time. Within tech, Adobe has a strong reputation for promoting work-life balance and in my experience, that's been true. As an example, Adobe has company wide week-long shutdowns in the summer and winter, true time off to unplug where since everyone's offline, there's no pressure to still work/check emails. Put those things together and this role felt like the perfect launchpad into the next stage of my career, balancing both career growth and personal well-being. I loved how one Exponent article put it, "One of the best parts of a BizOps role is that you can be like a chameleon—morphing and changing to address the most critical needs of a business. [...] You get enormous visibility into how a company thinks from the top down. How each team sets priorities can help you see how a business is growing and preparing for the future." On vision, the one-liner is to be true strategic partners rather than simply data aggregators. Internally, we call the latter function "reporting the news" where traditionally, ops has been focused on running day-to-day operations - things like measuring and reporting pipeline, tracking deals, etc. These are are vital functions and necessary for running the business, but the vision is to go one step further and think of ways to also change the business. It's the difference between just reporting pipeline coverage vs. coming up with initiatives to improve pipeline coverage (by increasing generation, conversion, quality, etc.). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Footnote: on why an MBA and a PhD didn't make sense for me after consulting * On (1), I felt that getting an MBA felt pre-mature without first working in a different industry and getting broader functional exposure. I also didn't have a clear idea of what I would be doing the MBA for and didn't have a strong vision of what I wanted to do afterwards. It simply felt like something I "should" do. I know many people who have gone straight into their MBA after consulting and done very well, but it didn't feel right for me. * On (2), I don't know that I've completely thrown out the idea of becoming a professor. I've always loved teaching/mentoring and there's something quite appealing about living out in a college town and being able to teach and study and research things you love. But I'm not convinced I love economics (or any subject frankly) enough to devote 5 years of grad school and the rest of my immediate future to it.

The RevOps team is structured to operate as a strategic function to bridge the gap between sales, marketing and customer success teams. Within APAC, the RevOps team is structured by various countries within which HubSpot operates (for eg, there is a RevOps team for Japan), to build relevant expertise & in-depth knowledge of the micro & macro drivers of each country to drive impact. This APAC RevOps team structure follows the same structure as how other teams in APAC are structured. Underpinning this structure is strong collaboration within the local & global RevOps team to share best practices and build a culture of learning from each other. By optimizing strategy, operations and processes, the success of RevOps team is measured through the role played in accelerating revenue growth (relative to planned revenue growth) and consequently growing % revenue contribution of APAC business to the global HubSpot business. Please feel free to reach out to me directly via LinkedIn message if you would like to discuss this further.

RevOps professionals have a lot to offer other parts of the business. They have valuable experience driving GoToMarket strategies, improving processes, leveraging technology to improve productivity, using data to tell stories, and much more. These are valuable skills that are easily transferrable to other parts of the business. In high-growth SaaS companies, bookings are king. As a result, sales/marketing typically gets the majotiry of budget for tools & tech. RevOps professionals can take the great experience they get in sales/marketing and apply it to other parts of the business that typically don't have similar resources. In fact, I am in the process of taking many of the best-practices we've implemented in sales/marketing and applying them to our customer implementation team.

Setting targets or key KPI’s without enough insights is definitely a tricky task. Here are some steps I would recommend - 1. Research, research, research - conduct market analysis, understand demographics, customer profile, and any unique factors to consider. Understand the competitive landscape - products, services, offerings, market cap.. And leverage any case studies to understand challenges to consider and factor in. 2. MVP - Minimum Viable Plan - Focus on the key items , basically anything that directly aligns with business goals. Design the initial KPIs with intent to learn and tweak. 3. Be agile and iterate - Be ready to experiment and pilot - test different approaches, learn what works best. Have a clear cadence for review and be ready to adjust based on progress and learnings. Embrace failure, KPI’s may at-times require revision or maybe even reboot. 4. Leverage Experts & embrace local talent: As I learned from Jeetu Mahtani, Hubspot Alum, in a recent GTM podcast , having team members who are familiar with the local culture and business practices can be invaluable. Leverage them and learn from them 5. Set Directional Targets : Instead of precise numbers, setting targets around ‘improving by X%’ or ‘reducing by Y%’ is a completely reasonable approach. Remember, Progress over perfection! Good Luck!

The data on this type of dashboard is truly only as good as the input from the sales reps. The most effective way to get this data moving, with accuracy is to hold accountability via the sales leadership team. Opportunity stage progression measurement (aka "deal cycle time") should be a part of a quarterly forecasting motion. To hold sales reps accountable, leaders should work with their team to identify stuck deals that have the potential to make it into the quarter (or any time period) for closure. When the rep talks about a deal closing but the data doesn't match the narrative, the leader needs to push their rep to get into Salesforce and update the opportunity. To supplement this, you can put some visuals on your dashboard around number of deals in a given stage and average time spent. This will spark the "why" questions around how things can move faster and uncover the any data related issues.