The Science of Scaling

<p>Each week, host Mark Roberge (Sr. Lecturer at Harvard Business School, Co-Founder at Stage 2 Capital, Founding CRO at HubSpot) talks with the most successful sales leaders in tech to find out the science behind scaling a company’s revenue and sales.</p>

Every Founder Needs To Sell w/ Frederic Kerrest (Co-Founder, Okta)

Get the Science of Scaling Database! Real Playbooks from Billion-Dollar Companies: ⁠⁠https://clickhubspot.com/scienceofscaling Every founder needs to sell. If you're not comfortable selling, then get comfortable. I see too many founders think that once they've secured the first revenue & gotten Series A they can hire a professional sales team. Wrong. Today's guest Frederic Kerrest (Co-Founder, Okta) tells us why it's so important for founders to be salespeople, and the when & how to start building your team. Use referral code: SOS to request your spot at this year's  ⁠⁠HubSpot AiSummit 2025⁠⁠ in San Francisco on June 11. The Science of Scaling is a HubSpot Media podcast in partnership with Hubspot for Startups// ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more about HubSpot for Startups⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ // Produced by Matthew Brown

06-11
35:04

Rule of 40 vs Grow At All Costs w/ Mark Wayland (CRO, Box)

Get the Science of Scaling Database! Real Playbooks from Billion-Dollar Companies: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://clickhubspot.com/scienceofscaling⁠⁠⁠⁠ When budgets are tight and every rep needs to perform, you need force multipliers, not more headcount. Sometimes you need Rule of 40 -- a private equity orientation that can still lead to great success for the founders, the executives, and the investors. Mark Wayland (CRO, Box) talk about how only a few months into his grow at all costs company he found himself with an activist investor and a pivot to Rule of 40. The Science of Scaling is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media in collaboration with ⁠HubSpot For Startups⁠ // Produced by Matthew Brown.

06-04
37:00

How to Pivot The Model, The Playbook & The Team When The Macro Changes w/ Carina Brockl (fmr. CRO, Aurora Solar)

Get the Science of Scaling Database! Real Playbooks from Billion-Dollar Companies: ⁠⁠https://clickhubspot.com/scienceofscaling You've navigated your company to unicorn status. Crack the champagne, ring the bell, and hang the banner. Only, months later the macro changes. Now, you need to pivot the model, pivot the playbook, and pivot the team. Today I'm joined by Carina Brockl, (fmr. CRO, Aurora Solar) who faced these challenging shifts and tells us how she navigated them. The Science of Scaling is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media in collaboration with ⁠HubSpot For Startups⁠ // Produced by Matthew Brown.

05-28
38:59

GTM in the AI Era w/ Andy Shorkey (CRO, Writer)

Get the Science of Scaling Database! Real Playbooks from Billion-Dollar Companies: ⁠⁠⁠https://clickhubspot.com/scienceofscaling There's tremendous conviction that AI is eating the software ecosystem. Well, today we speak with Andy Shorkey (CRO, Writer). Not only is he navigating all the complexities of bringing native AI products to market, he's also reinventing the way that go-to market is done internally in a far more efficient way in the post AI world. LINKS Exclusive ICP Expansion Guide: https://clickhubspot.com/ahk The Science of Scaling is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media in collaboration with ⁠HubSpot For Startups⁠ // Produced by Matthew Brown.

05-21
37:52

How to Cold Call When 90% Hang Up (Roleplay)

Get the Science of Scaling Database! Real Playbooks from Billion-Dollar Companies: ⁠⁠https://clickhubspot.com/scienceofscaling Send me your cold calls! Email us at TheScienceofScaling@gmail.com. I'll help you set more meetings &. we'll use your call in an upcoming video. So Producer Matthew fails at cold calling. But he learns the framework that actually works. *Stop freezing up on sales calls, get a script!* 🔗 https://clickhubspot.com/29868f I roped in Producer Matthew to actually try selling me a pizza. It was terrifying. But even if you're good at this, you get hung up on 90% of the time. I break down what makes effective cold calls work - from the opening line that gets you past those crucial first seconds, to handling objections without needing people to like you (apparently my people-pleasing instincts are a sales career killer). You'll learn Sam Nelson's proven framework that even Harvard Business School students use, why sounding like a "nervous 14-year-old" is actually better than sounding polished, and how to stay in the objection "flywheel" until you get that meeting. If you're still reading this, go ahead and drop a cold calling story in the comments. I'll be waiting!! Follow us on YouTube at The Science of Scaling: 🔗 www.youtube.com/@ScienceofScaling

05-14
22:17

The Founder Selling to Professional Sales Transition w/ Dmitry Shevelenko (CBO, Perplexity)

Get the Science of Scaling Database! Real Playbooks from Billion-Dollar Companies: ⁠⁠https://clickhubspot.com/scienceofscaling Perplexity is attempting something no one thought possible: Challenging Google for search dominance.  Dmitri Shevelenko was advising five different orgs, before fully signing on to Perplexity. What energy and pull he found from this vision? And he unpacks how Perplexity successfully transitioned from founder selling to professional sales. The Science of Scaling is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media in collaboration with ⁠HubSpot For Startups⁠ // Produced by Matthew Brown.

05-07
39:59

The Day-One Enterprise Strategy w/ Ed Calnan (Co-Founder, Seismic)

Get the Science of Scaling Database! Real Playbooks from Billion-Dollar Companies: ⁠⁠https://clickhubspot.com/scienceofscaling Imagine passing $5 million with three customers. That is whale hunting. Going after big customers with big deals from day one isn't advisable. But sometimes it's the only path. Today, Ed Calnan (Co-Founder and Fmr. CRO, Seismic) walks us through how to get big account's attention, get through procurement, get through security, all solve for all the things that kill the startups that try this path. The Science of Scaling is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media in collaboration with ⁠HubSpot For Startups⁠ // Produced by Matthew Brown.

04-30
39:30

The Critical Importance of Focusing Your ICP w/ Dan Sperring (Founder, AlignICP)

Get the Science of Scaling Database! Real Playbooks from Billion-Dollar Companies: ⁠⁠https://clickhubspot.com/scienceofscaling   Companies with a very tightly defined ICP that is operationalized on the frontline spend 50% less on sales and marketing. They have CAC payback periods that are 24% shorter than the mean, and those ICP customers have a 425% higher expansion rate in the first 12 months compared to those that are not. Today Dan Sperring (Founder, AlignICP) explores how product success is often determined by specific use cases rather than customer demographics, and challenges the common startup approach of targeting broad markets too early. The Science of Scaling is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media in collaboration with ⁠HubSpot For Startups⁠ // Produced by Matthew Brown.

04-23
33:10

How to Close Your First Million Dollar Deal

Grab our guide to transform your sales approach: ⁠https://clickhubspot.com/zrjp The amount of personalization is off the charts. The amount of time and money you're willing to invest is enormous. Because it's a million dollar deal. I'll walk you through how to navigate complex Decision Making Units, adapt your entire sales playbook for enterprise deals, and implement advanced qualification frameworks that go way beyond the basics. I'll also reveal what the best enterprise sellers consistently tell me is their number one reason for winning deals. Whether you're trying to move upmarket or sharpen your enterprise sales approach, these frameworks will help you transform your business. Happy scaling, everyone! Check out The Science of Scaling YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@ScienceofScaling

04-16
24:43

Perfecting a Bottoms Up & Top Down Sales Motion w/ Chris Merritt (Founding CRO, Cloudflare)

Get the Science of Scaling Database! Real Playbooks from Billion-Dollar Companies: ⁠⁠https://clickhubspot.com/scienceofscaling  What if I told you to build the sales team that doesn't talk about price or packaging? That doesn't even do discovery or qualification on budget or authority on the first call? You'd think I'm crazy. Chris Merritt (Founding CRO, Cloudflare) built a sales team that's a peer to its very technical buyer, whose first and only objective is to answer the buyer's questions. He actually looked at the company's blog as inspiration on the type of salespeople he would hire and the type of sales culture he will build. The Science of Scaling is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media in collaboration with ⁠HubSpot For Startups⁠ // Produced by Matthew Brown.

04-09
32:00

Create a Billion Dollar Sales Culture w/ Greg Holmes (CRO, Zoom)

Get the Science of Scaling Database! Real Playbooks from Billion-Dollar Companies: ⁠⁠https://clickhubspot.com/scienceofscaling We all know Zoom. The company that helped society get through the global pandemic. But before they even had a dollar in revenue, Greg Holmes was the first sales hire and built the team. When Greg left the company, Zoom was valued at $140 billion. He credits his ability to build the foundational team in finding go-to-market fit as a key ingredient to that success. The team to accelerated finding how to build the methodology to support go-to-market fit. The Science of Scaling is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media in collaboration with ⁠HubSpot For Startups⁠ // Produced by Matthew Brown.

04-02
38:10

Predictable, Scalable, Revenue w/ Ron Gabrisko (CRO, Databricks)

Get the Science of Scaling Database! Real Playbooks from Billion-Dollar Companies: ⁠⁠https://clickhubspot.com/scienceofscaling Start the GTM section of your investor pitch deck with three words: Predictable, Scalable, Revenue. I don't know why it works so well. It seems so intuitive, but like every investor's like, "I love this guy! That's what I want." Yeah, , we all want that, but the question is how do you get there? So many startups get that wrong. They think it's a sales deck. They think it's a pitch deck. And in fact, that hurts the GTM system. So with the help of Ron Gabrisko (CRO, Databricks) we unpack how to build an effective sales playbook. The Science of Scaling is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media in collaboration with ⁠HubSpot For Startups⁠ // Produced by Matthew Brown.

03-26
35:56

Sales is Not Magic, It's Math w/ Loren Padelford (Founding CRO, Shopify)

Get the Science of Scaling Database! Real Playbooks from Billion-Dollar Companies: ⁠https://clickhubspot.com/scienceofscaling Index on impact, not work. Care about the impact people have, not the work they're doing. It's something too many sales leaders forget. Loren Padelford, who transformed Shopify Plus from zero to $1 billion in revenue in just seven years, is proudly a non-traditional sales leader. He positioned Shopify Plus as "anti-enterprise," instead looking beyond the current Fortune 500; saying "we want to build the next one." Loren also reflects on the personal toll that constant grind culture had on his personal life and relationships. Something I encourage every sales leader to hear and reflect on themselves. The Science of Scaling is brought to you by HubSpot Media in partnership with Hubspot For Startups // ⁠⁠Learn more about HubSpot for Startups⁠⁠ // Produced by Matthew Brown

03-19
38:17

How to Hire Sales Reps for AI Products w/ Lauren Nemeth (Fmr COO, Pinecone)

Get the Science of Scaling Database! Real Playbooks from Billion-Dollar Companies: ⁠⁠https://clickhubspot.com/scienceofscaling You're a CRO at a $4B company with 2,000 sellers. You've made it. Then comes an unexpected call: Want to lead sales at a 40-person team doing $25M? Most would laugh. Not Lauren Nemeth. As Twilio's sales leader, she saw something bigger in Pinecone - a chance to shape how AI transforms enterprise selling. From hiring algorithms to handling objections, she recognized that AI wouldn't just change tech sales - it would rewrite the entire playbook. The Science of Scaling is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media in collaboration with ⁠HubSpot For Startups⁠ // Produced by Matthew Brown.

03-12
37:05

AI Is Reshaping The Way We Prospect w/ Henry Schuck (Founder & CEO, ZoomInfo)

Get the Science of Scaling Database! Real Playbooks from Billion-Dollar Companies: ⁠⁠https://clickhubspot.com/scienceofscaling "I have an amazing idea for a startup." That goes through the mind of every entrepreneur. Step #1: Raise venture capital to fund it. Wrong. People are always shocked to hear that more wealth is created in non venture-backed startups than in venture-backed ones. But it's the VC backed ones that make the front page of TechCrunch. Today we're unpacking the blueprint to bootstrap an amazing company with Henry Shuck of ZoomInfo. And since Henry knows arguably the most in the world in the field of prospecting, we get into how AI will reshape it. Will it all be done by agents? Will humans have any role? The Science of Scaling is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media in collaboration with ⁠HubSpot For Startups⁠ // Produced by Matthew Brown.

03-05
40:53

How to Build Your MVP & Sales Playbook At The Same Time w/ Mike Gamson (Founding CRO, LinkedIn)

Get the Science of Scaling Database! Real Playbooks from Billion-Dollar Companies: ⁠https://clickhubspot.com/scienceofscaling There's a connection few founders make — customer interview best practices & deciding what product to build are almost exactly the same as building your sales playbook. Those best practices should influence your zero to one minimal viable product design. And during that stage, not only are you figuring out your MVP, you're actually building your sales process. There are so many companies where you look back at the foundational times, and they followed this process. Today we will unpack one of 'em with Mike Gamson from a little company you've all heard of, called LinkedIn. The Science of Scaling is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media in collaboration with HubSpot For Startups // Produced by Matthew Brown.

02-26
38:30

Live at INBOUND 2024: How to Use Inbound Selling to Increase Revenue w/ Donald Kelly (Founder, The Sales Evangelist)

New season coming soon! Until then, enjoy this tactical conversation I had with Donald Kelly (Founder & Host, The Sales Evangelist). We pack more knowledge inside 25 minutes than most sales leaders get in a month -- including performance diagnostics, addressing stakeholder interests, pricing models, and attuning sales rep mindsets. We always love to hear from you so reach out to us at podcasts@hubspot.com or send me a note on LinkedIn.

12-17
29:33

Q&A | How Do You Solve for a Siloed Marketing and Sales?

Are marketers just doing a bunch of arts & crafts? Are salespeople spoiled brats? I don't want to offend anyone, but I think most folks would chuckle at this: Sales and marketing leaders don't naturally get along. So what's the solve for a siloed marketing and sales? Let's talk through some key steps towards holding everyone accountable to meeting our revenue goals: Team communication responsibilities Identify how much pipeline and revenue comes from Marketing Defining a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) Sales has tof ollow up quickly with a high degree of personalization Establish an Service Level Agreement (SLA) Grab the 3 Steps to a Perfect Pitch guide here https://clickhubspot.com/pitch

08-29
10:25

Q&A | What Is Mark Reading, Watching, and Listening To?

You wanted to know about me?! I'm flattered, humbled, and happy to share what's been inspiring me lately. Everything from my favorite comedians to my thoughts on the Innovator's Dilemma. I want to know what you're wondering about! Submit your question at podcasts@hubspot.com, dropping a note on LinkedIn, or leaving a comment on Spotify. Grab the 3 Steps to a Perfect Pitch guide here https://clickhubspot.com/pitch

08-22
09:44

Q&A | How Can Sales Culture Be Influenced From the Top Down?

Today's listener Q&A is all about scaling your culture. We want to move GTM and sales away from an uncontrollable art form to a data-driven, predictable process. And that starts at the top. Our questions is -- "How can sales culture be influenced from the top down?" Here's what you can expect: "Scalable Visibility" through inspecting every aspect of your GTM Effective coaching strategies for your sales team Hiring high-quality, best fit candidates through training and certification How to create a predictable process by identifying leading indicators I want to know what you're wondering about! Submit your question at podcasts@hubspot.com, dropping a note on LinkedIn, or leaving a comment on Spotify. Grab the 3 Steps to a Perfect Pitch guide here https://clickhubspot.com/pitch

08-15
11:27

Lean Item

like

05-23 Reply

SULINE LANIE

"The Science of Scaling" refers to the systematic approach and strategies involved in expanding and growing a business or project. Scaling is a critical phase in the life cycle of any venture, and it involves increasing its capacity, reach, and impact. CC: https://yallaabudhabi.ae/

11-11 Reply

Recommend Channels