The Revenue Room™, by H2K Labs

Heather Holst-Knudsen, CEO, H2K Labs
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Management
  • Updated Biweekly

Welcome to The Revenue Room™, brought to you by H2K Labs. Our podcast is designed for CEOs and their revenue-critical executive teams leading media, events, data/info, and marketplace businesses. We focus on boosting revenue, enhancing profitability, and elevating enterprise value. Each episode delves into cutting-edge data-driven strategies to accelerate revenue, manage risks, and establish scalable, predictable processes. We also discuss elevating revenue to the core of operational excellence, empowering you to consistently outperform your competitors. 

  1. Sep 22

    What Events Companies Get Wrong About Net Revenue Retention — with Indiya Okam, RX USA

    A customer spends $100,000 this year and $100,000 next year. Most event businesses call that retention. Indiya Okam calls it a question worth asking. Heather Holst-Knudsen speaks with Indiya Okam, Group Vice President of Sales at RX USA, about bringing healthcare-grade operating rigor into a relationship-driven events business. Indiya's background in mathematics and engineering shaped how she reads revenue, and she uses it to show why flat year-over-year spend often conceals contraction in the product mix. In this conversation: How to calculate net revenue retention in an events environment, and why product mix penetration matters more than the top-line numberWhy pipeline health is a strategic asset for sellers rather than an administrative taskMoving sponsorship from a production function to a co-selling function, and the effect on average customer valueThe leaky bucket problem, and why acquisition without retention puts teams on an expensive treadmillEarly churn signals that surface long before the show floorTreating event engagement data the way a media company would, and what that unlocksWhere to start when you are facing fragmented data, long-standing habits, and multiple revenue streamsConnect with Indiya Okam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/indiya-okam/ The conversation continues inside Revenue Room™ CXO, where CEOs and their revenue-critical teams come together to tackle growth, transformation, data strategy, and the evolving impact of AI on business performance. Learn more and apply: [link] Register for RevvedUP 2027, March 14-16 at The Vinoy in St. Petersburg, FL where 250+ CEOs and revenue-critical CXOs, like Indiya, will convene to discuss AI, Data & The Race to Enduring Enterprise Value. Subscribe for new episodes of The Revenue Room™, where revenue leaders come to grow. The Revenue Room™ is the show where CEOs and revenue-critical leaders in media, events, and data and information businesses share how they are acquiring, keeping, and growing customers more profitably and predictably. About Heather Holst-Knudsen Heather Holst-Knudsen is the founder and CEO of H2K Labs and Revenue Room™ Connect. A seasoned executive and operator across media, marketplaces, events, and technology, she specializes in digital transformation, data-driven growth, and customer-centric value creation. Heather shares her insights on multisided business models through The Revenue Room™. About Revenue Room™ CXO Revenue Room™ CXO is a private executive community for CEOs and revenue-critical C-Suite leaders navigating growth in the data and AI economy. Through curated peer discussions and strategy sprints, members tackle real-world challenges in revenue transformation, customer intelligence, and business model innovation. Learn more or apply for membership at https://www.revenueroomcxo.com/apply

    What Events Companies Get Wrong About Net Revenue Retention — with Indiya Okam, RX USA

  2. Sep 17

    Inside the "Terrapinn Brain": How One COO Cut £470K in SaaS and Shipped 13 AI Skills in 5 Weeks

    In this episode of The Revenue Room™ Podcast, Heather Holst-Knudsen speaks with Sharon Roessen, Chief Operating Officer at Terrapinn, about what disciplined AI transformation looks like once you strip away the hype and keep only the receipts. Sharon walks through the "Terrapinn Brain" — a three-layered knowledge architecture built to give Claude full business context — and the hard numbers behind it: £470,000 in SaaS renewals cut, 13 working Claude skills shipped in five weeks, and 100% adoption where previous AI rollouts stalled at 50%. Why Listen: Learn how to structure a company "brain" (core, functional, and brand layers) so AI produces credible, on-voice work instead of hallucinationsHear which SaaS tools Terrapinn eliminated and how renewal cycles drove the replacement roadmapUnderstand why AI exposes weak processes before it improves them — and how 18,000 analyzed sales calls triggered a full pricing overhaulDiscover the use-case-first rollout strategy that turned dormant users into buildersSee how AI fluency is becoming a non-negotiable hiring bar for new graduates — while making people more valuable, not redundantCONNECT WITH SHARON: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonroessen/ About Heather Holst-Knudsen Heather Holst-Knudsen is the founder and CEO of H2K Labs and Revenue Room™ Connect. A seasoned executive and operator across media, marketplaces, events, and technology, she specializes in digital transformation, data-driven growth, and customer-centric value creation. Heather shares her insights on multisided business models through The Revenue Room™. About Revenue Room™ CXO Revenue Room™ CXO is a private executive community for CEOs and revenue-critical C-Suite leaders navigating growth in the data and AI economy. Through curated peer discussions and strategy sprints, members tackle real-world challenges in revenue transformation, customer intelligence, and business model innovation. Learn more or apply for membership at https://www.revenueroomcxo.com/apply

    Inside the "Terrapinn Brain": How One COO Cut £470K in SaaS and Shipped 13 AI Skills in 5 Weeks

  3. Jul 29

    $101M, 27 People, Zero VC: How Tim Huelskamp Built 1440 Into America's Most Profitable Newsletter

    In this episode of The Revenue Room™ Podcast, Heather Holst-Knudsen sits down with Tim Huelskamp, Co-Founder and CEO of 1440, the daily newsletter serving nearly five million intellectually curious readers. After a decade in private equity, Tim built one of the most profitable media businesses in America—27 employees, $1 million in revenue per person, a $101 million valuation, and not a dollar of venture capital. He breaks down the flywheel behind it: a product readers love, advertising that delivers measurable ROI, and disciplined reinvestment into growth. Why Listen: Learn the unit economics of a profitable newsletter: $3–$4 subscriber acquisition, payback within quarters, and stacked profitable cohortsUnderstand why talent is the single biggest ROI in business—and how 1440 achieved 90%+ retention over five yearsHear how reader feedback became the roadmap for 1440 Topics, a human-curated, AI-enabled knowledge discovery productDiscover how to build a durable, founder-controlled company with non-dilutive financing and lean operationsGet Tim's contrarian take on AI: why human curiosity can't be outsourced to agentsCONNECT WITH TIM: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timhuelskamp/ About Heather Holst-Knudsen Heather Holst-Knudsen is the founder and CEO of H2K Labs and Revenue Room™ Connect. A seasoned executive and operator across media, marketplaces, events, and technology, she specializes in digital transformation, data-driven growth, and customer-centric value creation. Heather shares her insights on multisided business models through The Revenue Room™. About Revenue Room™ CXO Revenue Room™ CXO is a private executive community for CEOs and revenue-critical C-Suite leaders navigating growth in the data and AI economy. Through curated peer discussions and strategy sprints, members tackle real-world challenges in revenue transformation, customer intelligence, and business model innovation. Learn more or apply for membership at https://www.revenueroomcxo.com/apply

    $101M, 27 People, Zero VC: How Tim Huelskamp Built 1440 Into America's Most Profitable Newsletter

  4. Jul 22

    Stop Buying AI Tools. Start Buying Back Your People's Time.

    In this episode of The Revenue Room™ Podcast, Heather Holst-Knudsen sits down with Jay Lauf, Co-Founder of Charter and former founding publisher of Quartz. With two successful media exits under his belt and decades leading iconic brands like The Atlantic and WIRED, Jay shares why the biggest AI opportunity isn't buying more tools—it's redesigning how people work. From building indispensable media businesses to creating sustainable high-performance cultures, he offers practical lessons for CEOs navigating AI, leadership, and the future of work. Why Listen: Learn why 93% of AI investment goes into tools while only 7% goes into training, and why that imbalance is holding companies back.Discover how AI can increase productivity without increasing burnout by giving employees time back to focus on higher-value work.Hear why the future belongs to businesses that become indispensable, not just interesting, by earning meaningful, recurring attention.Explore practical leadership strategies from Charter, including no-meeting Fridays, manager user manuals, and using AI to improve quality rather than simply increasing output.Understand why founders often underestimate the human side of acquisitions, and how vision, leadership, and storytelling influence successful exits.CONNECT WITH JAY: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-lauf-b7452724/ About Heather Holst-Knudsen Heather Holst-Knudsen is the founder and CEO of H2K Labs and Revenue Room™ Connect. A seasoned executive and operator across media, marketplaces, events, and technology, she specializes in digital transformation, data-driven growth, and customer-centric value creation. Heather shares her insights on multisided business models through The Revenue Room™. About Revenue Room™ CXO Revenue Room™ CXO is a private executive community for CEOs and revenue-critical C-Suite leaders navigating growth in the data and AI economy. Through curated peer discussions and strategy sprints, members tackle real-world challenges in revenue transformation, customer intelligence, and business model innovation. Learn more or apply for membership at https://www.revenueroomcxo.com/apply

    Stop Buying AI Tools. Start Buying Back Your People's Time.

  5. Mar 12

    Why Your Next Revenue Stream Isn't More Content - It's Saving Your Audience Time

    In this episode of The Revenue Room™ Podcast, Heather Holst-Knudsen and David Newcorn, President of PMMI Media Group explore how B2B media companies can shift from chasing volume to delivering efficiency. Instead of overwhelming audiences with endless information, the winning strategy is helping professionals find the right insights faster and make better decisions with less friction. Why Listen: Learn why audience time is the most valuable currency in mediaUnderstand how B2B media companies can shift from content volume to decision valueHear how media platforms and trade shows work together to build stronger industry ecosystemsDiscover how trusted industry brands can create new revenue by reducing complexity for their audienceCONNECT WITH DAVID: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidnewcorn/ About Heather Holst-Knudsen Heather Holst-Knudsen is the founder and CEO of H2K Labs and Revenue Room™ Connect. A seasoned executive and operator across media, marketplaces, events, and technology, she specializes in digital transformation, data-driven growth, and customer-centric value creation. Heather shares her insights on multisided business models through The Revenue Room™. About Revenue Room™ CXO Revenue Room™ CXO is a private executive community for CEOs and revenue-critical C-Suite leaders navigating growth in the data and AI economy. Through curated peer discussions and strategy sprints, members tackle real-world challenges in revenue transformation, customer intelligence, and business model innovation. Learn more or apply for membership at https://www.revenueroomcxo.com/apply

    Why Your Next Revenue Stream Isn't More Content - It's Saving Your Audience Time

  6. Mar 5

    Why Traffic-Reliant Media is "Done For" (And Why Media + Events + Data Wins)

    In this episode of The Revenue Room, host Heather Holst-Knudsen sits down with Jacob Donnelly, founder of A Media Operator (AMO). They discuss why media business models built on algorithmic traffic are operating on borrowed time, and why anyone dependent on it is simply "done for". Between the threat of AI replicating "average" content and a shifting M&A landscape heavily influenced by Private Equity, the old publishing playbook is broken. Jacob reveals how the smartest CEOs are future-proofing their businesses by abandoning the mass-reach illusion and building a durable "three-legged stool": Media, Events, and Data. Why Listen: Learn why Artificial Intelligence makes "average" content obsolete, and why CEOs need to have hard conversations with PE owners about compressing short-term EBITDA to invest heavily in elite, proprietary content.Discover why publishers must prioritize the Lifetime Value (LTV) of their audience and treat advertising as a high-margin secondary model behind reader revenue—much like Uber's advertising model. Understand the current M&A market, why Private Equity buyers assign premium valuations to diversified media and event assets, and why pure-play event companies are leaving massive value on the table.Hear the hard truth on why the easiest way to make 7 figures is a media company, but the hardest way to make 8 figures is a media company.Find out why founder-led companies with clear-cut voices and rapid decisiveness drastically outperform executive-run media brands during times of industry disruption.About Heather Holst-Knudsen Heather Holst-Knudsen is the founder and CEO of H2K Labs and Revenue Room™ Connect. A seasoned executive and operator across media, marketplaces, events, and technology, she specializes in digital transformation, data-driven growth, and customer-centric value creation. Heather shares her insights on multisided business models through The Revenue Room™. About Revenue Room™ CXO Revenue Room™ CXO is a private executive community for CEOs and revenue-critical C-Suite leaders navigating growth in the data and AI economy. Through curated peer discussions and strategy sprints, members tackle real-world challenges in revenue transformation, customer intelligence, and business model innovation. Learn more or apply for membership at https://www.revenueroomcxo.com/apply

    Why Traffic-Reliant Media is "Done For" (And Why Media + Events + Data Wins)

  7. Mar 4

    Turning Your Passive Data Lake into an Active Revenue Stream

    In this episode of The Revenue Room™, host Heather Holst-Knudsen sits down with Max Gabriel, the Co-Founder and CEO of Markus AI. Drawing on his extensive experience as the former Chief Transformation Officer at Informa and leading tech transformations at Pfizer, Max discusses the monumental shift from the bloated "Tool Economy" of SaaS apps to the highly anticipated "Agent Economy". He shares the secrets behind building Informa's massive IIRIS data engine—which captured over 1.8 billion audience interactions—and how he empowers ordinary teams to achieve extraordinary things. Why Listen Discover the "Agent Economy": Learn why the era of overpaying for 15,000 fragmented SaaS tools is coming to an end, and how AI agents will soon orchestrate complex, multi-step workflows.Master Data Transformation: Uncover practical strategies for organizing siloed data, deploying data lakes, and balancing compliance with commercial revenue generation in complex enterprise environments.Leadership Insights: Find out how to inspire cross-functional teams and secure the top-down leadership buy-in required to execute massive tech projects successfully.The Future of Events: See how AI event crews are replacing clunky event apps to deliver intentional connections, contextual matchmaking, and actionable ROI for sponsors and attendees.CONNECT WITH MAX GABRIEL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxgabriel/ About Heather Holst-Knudsen Heather Holst-Knudsen is the founder and CEO of H2K Labs and Revenue Room™ Connect. A seasoned executive and operator across media, marketplaces, events, and technology, she specializes in digital transformation, data-driven growth, and customer-centric value creation. Heather shares her insights on multisided business models through The Revenue Room™. About Revenue Room™ CXO Revenue Room™ CXO is a private executive community for CEOs and revenue-critical C-Suite leaders navigating growth in the data and AI economy. Through curated peer discussions and strategy sprints, members tackle real-world challenges in revenue transformation, customer intelligence, and business model innovation. Learn more or apply for membership at https://www.revenueroomcxo.com/apply

    Turning Your Passive Data Lake into an Active Revenue Stream

  8. Feb 27

    How the Next Audience Is Rewriting the Media Business Model

    In this episode of The Revenue Room™ Podcast, Heather Holst-Knudsen sits down with Billy Carney, Co-Founder of RocaNews, to explore how a next-generation media company built for Gen Z turned social attention into owned revenue and profitability. Launched in 2020 as an Instagram experiment, RocaNews has grown to more than 3 million followers and subscribers across social platforms, newsletters, a gamified news app, and YouTube. With a lean team of roughly 11 people, the company became profitable in late 2024 and quickly crossed $1M in annual recurring revenue, challenging long-held assumptions about young audiences, subscriptions, and media economics. Why Listen This episode is essential listening for CEOs and media executives who are: Rethinking audience growth in a platform-first worldLooking to diversify revenue beyond advertisingExploring product-led growth in media and information servicesTrying to reach Gen Z without eroding brand trustBuilding sustainable, profitable media businesses in a data-driven economyConnect with Billy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billy-carney-02a041152/ If you’re a CEO, CRO, product leader, or media operator navigating the future of digital media, this conversation delivers practical insight into how new business models are being built from the ground up. About Heather Holst-Knudsen Heather Holst-Knudsen is the founder and CEO of H2K Labs and Revenue Room™ Connect. A seasoned executive and operator across media, marketplaces, events, and technology, she specializes in digital transformation, data-driven growth, and customer-centric value creation. Heather shares her insights on multisided business models through The Revenue Room™. About Revenue Room™ CXO Revenue Room™ CXO is a private executive community for CEOs and revenue-critical C-Suite leaders navigating growth in the data and AI economy. Through curated peer discussions and strategy sprints, members tackle real-world challenges in revenue transformation, customer intelligence, and business model innovation. Learn more or apply for membership at https://www.revenueroomcxo.com/apply

    How the Next Audience Is Rewriting the Media Business Model
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
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About

Welcome to The Revenue Room™, brought to you by H2K Labs. Our podcast is designed for CEOs and their revenue-critical executive teams leading media, events, data/info, and marketplace businesses. We focus on boosting revenue, enhancing profitability, and elevating enterprise value. Each episode delves into cutting-edge data-driven strategies to accelerate revenue, manage risks, and establish scalable, predictable processes. We also discuss elevating revenue to the core of operational excellence, empowering you to consistently outperform your competitors. 

Information

  • Creator
    Heather Holst-Knudsen, CEO, H2K Labs
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    59
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Revenue Room™, by H2K Labs
  • Show Website
    The Revenue Room™, by H2K Labs