Do you have any advice for a junior who is a first revenue operations hire?

A junior hire who is the first Rev Ops hire is an exciting role to be. They will lay the foundations for the company to grow and scale.

However, this is also a chaotic role. At such an early stage, the company likely has gaps in processes, systems, tools, training and reporting, just to name a few areas. The first Rev Ops hire will be pulled in multiple directions to close those gaps.

Here's some advice I would share with them:

• Be intentional about the mix of your time spent between "run" and "build" work. While "run" work is fundamental, it is through "build" work that you will bend the growth curve of your company.

• Build for scale. Most companies regret choices they made when they were small (e.g. how to design their Go-to-Market data architecture to offer users real-time, high-quality data), as they chose solutions that worked fine for a $50M company but are extremely taxing for a $1b company. Always ask yourself, "if we were 20x larger, would I be happy with this solution?".

• Embrace the struggle. The first 2-3 years will be difficult, but if you excel at your role and the company is successful, the job will look and feel a lot different and bigger after that initial period.

• Learn every single detail and aspect of the Rev Ops function and get your hands dirty. This unique context will set you up for success even after the initial phase of scaling.

In addition to what I included above in my answer to the question about being your company’s first rev ops hire, if you’re junior, I would also focus heavily on learning. Consider joining industry groups like Modern Sales Professionals. Network with others in your industry and ideally try to find a mentor. Look for resources and books. The Revenue Operations Manual by Sean Lane and Laura Adint is a great starting point.