Beyond Revenue – Narratives of Revenue Leaders [with Michael Jäger]

Cremanski and Company
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20 minutes. One GTM leader. Real wins, real fails, zero filler. Beyond Revenue is the weekly show for B2B leaders who want practical insight from the people actually in the arena, across sales, marketing, RevOps, and the C-suite. Host Michael Jäger keeps it honest and specific so you leave every episode with at least one thing worth trying. Like what you hear? Follow the show, share it with your team, and leave us a rating ✨ Want to submit a guest speaker request or be invited on the show yourself? Get in touch at: beyondrevenue@cremanski.com

  1. 4d ago

    Building the Agent-Powered GTM Organisation - with Rayson Chia

    Using ChatGPT and Claude for one-off tasks? That's what almost everyone is doing. Bur building an organization that actually runs on agents? Not so many have mastered this one yet. Rayson Chia, RevOps Lead at Packmatic, joins Michael Jäger to look at what is needed to move a GTM org from scattered AI tool use to a coherent, agent-powered system built on a clean data foundation and real onboarding. In this episode: ✌️ Win #1 — The deterministic data foundation: why Rayson built a clean, single-source-of-truth data warehouse before touching AI, and why messy CRM fields turn into AI's guessing game. ✌️ Win #2 — Onboarding agents like new hires: the context layer Rayson built to teach AI not just what the business has, but why it works that way. 🌱 Fail — The one-person second brain: Rayson encoded his own knowledge and his team's into the agent's context layer, centralizing his own blind spots instead of the company's actual knowledge. Whether you're building your first agent or trying to scale past scattered AI use cases, this episode gives you a concrete playbook for what actually needs to be true before AI can help your GTM team. Connect with Rayson: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raysonchia/ 🎙️ Beyond Revenue is hosted by Michael Jäger, Managing Partner at Cremanski & Company. New episodes every Friday. ⏱️ Episode's timestamps 00:00 — Intro & Rayson's background 02:39 — Icebreakers: the GTM task he'd hand to AI first 04:12 — The most overhyped AI use case in revenue teams 04:50 — The biggest misconception about AI agents 05:52 — Win #1: The deterministic data foundation 10:09 — Win #2: Onboarding agents like new hires 12:07 — Building the context layer, the "second brain" 13:04 — The fail: building a personal brain, not a company brain 15:17 — The fix: department leads, monthly reviews 16:01 — The stack: Claude Code and a vault of MD files 16:15 — Build it in the LLM or keep it portable? 17:31 — Advice for teams just getting started 19:52 — Key takeaways 21:30 — Where to find Rayson

    Building the Agent-Powered GTM Organisation - with Rayson Chia

  2. Sep 25

    Building Go-To-Market for GovTech with Ellen Lina Schmitt

    The public sector looks too slow and too bureaucratic for most B2B sales teams. So how do you actually build a go-to-market motion that works there? Ellen Lina Schmitt, CRO at Ayunis, a GovTech company, and former builder of Personio's public sector, nonprofit, and education arm, joins Michael Jäger to break down how she scaled that arm from zero into a 35 person team that helped Personio reach 1.6 million managed employees. In this episode: ✌️ Win #1: Narrowing the ICP to Germany's municipal level, where local self-government lets each city procure software on its own and cuts the sales cycle. ✌️ Win #2: Building a shared mission, "enabling better public organizations," to get top AEs excited about selling into an unglamorous industry. 🌱 Fail: Chasing government tenders like a consultant instead of picking up the phone, and winning nothing until the team switched motions. Whether you're eyeing the public sector or scaling GTM into any hard to sell vertical, this episode gives you a concrete playbook for getting the ICP and the team right. Connect with Ellen: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenlinaschmitt/ 🎙️ Beyond Revenue is hosted by Michael Jäger, Managing Partner at Cremanski & Company. New episodes every Friday. 🕦 Episode's timestamps 0:00 Intro and background 04:27 What the Silk Road taught her about public sector risk 09:44 The first shock of consulting to software sales 11:32 Win #1: Narrowing the ICP to municipal government 15:34 Win #2: Building a shared mission 18:23 The fail: chasing tenders instead of the phone 20:08 Recap and key takeaways 23:40 Where to find Ellen

    Building Go-To-Market for GovTech with Ellen Lina Schmitt

  3. Sep 18

    Building a Human Brand in an AI-Saturated Market - with Maren Kaspers

    Every AI company sounds the same right now. So how do you actually get noticed — and trusted — in a market where every vendor is running the same playbook? Maren Kaspers, VP Marketing at Octonomy and all-bound GTM leader owning both marketing and the SDR team, joins Michael Jäger to break down the ALL-BOUND model: how to fuse pipeline ownership under one roof, rebrand your way out of a noisy category, and treat every failure as fast, cheap data. In this episode: ✌️ Win #1 — Look at what everyone else does, then do the opposite: how spotting a sea of identical competitor branding at a trade show led to a rebrand and a bold public claim that got Octonomy's booth noticed. ✌️ Win #2 — All-bound: why marketing owns the SDR team, and how that single structural call has kept sales and marketing aligned and pipeline on target every quarter. 🌱 Fail — Booking events that didn't convert: why Maren sends teams to events that flop, and treats it as the cost of moving fast. Whether you're building a brand in a noisy AI market or rethinking how sales and marketing should split pipeline ownership, this episode gives you a concrete playbook for standing out without losing the human touch. Connect with Maren 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maren-kaspers/🎙️ Beyond Revenue is hosted by Michael Jäger, Managing Partner at Cremanski & Company. New episodes every Friday. ⏱️ Episode's timestamps 00:00 — Intro & Maren's background at Octonomy 00:47 — Octonomy overview: an all-bound company in a noisy AI market 03:00 — Rapid fire: the employer-branding lesson that still applies today 05:25 — Building a human brand in an AI-saturated market 09:02 — Win #1: differentiating Octonomy's brand at a crowded trade show 14:57 — Win #2: all-bound — why marketing owns the SDR team 19:13 — The fail: booking events that didn't convert 21:27 — Key takeaways 23:14 — Where to find Maren

    Building a Human Brand in an AI-Saturated Market - with Maren Kaspers

  4. Sep 11

    The Niche Famous Framework: Becoming the Obvious Choice Before Anyone's Buying - with Tycho Luijten

    Cold outbound is annoying and inbound alone is slow. So how do you become the obvious choice before a prospect even starts looking? Tycho Luijten, CEO and co-founder of Dapper — a 70 person B2B marketing agency in Rotterdam and Lisbon behind a Wolf of Wall Street parody that reached millions of views — joins Michael Jäger to break down the NICHE FAMOUS FRAMEWORK: how a narrow ICP and personal LinkedIn content built an agency's brand before it had an ad budget. In this episode: ✌️ Win #1 — The Niche Famous Framework: picking an audience small enough to fit in a stadium and becoming known, trusted, and preferred inside it through personal profiles, not a company page. ✌️ Win #2 — Owning listicles, then owning GEO: how ranking in B2B agency listicles built early authority, and why Dapper now applies the same tactic to get cited by ChatGPT and Claude. 🌱 Fail — The outbound email that read as narcissistic: why leading with his own credentials instead of the prospect's problem backfired, and what public feedback taught him. Whether you're building a personal brand or trying to make your B2B marketing findable by both search engines and AI, this episode gives you a concrete, tested playbook for becoming niche famous. Connect with Tycho: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tycholuijten/ 🔗 Dapper: https://dapper.agency 🎙️ Beyond Revenue is hosted by Michael Jäger, Managing Partner at Cremanski & Company. New episodes every Friday. ⏱️ Episode's timestamps 00:00 — Intro & Tycho's background 00:36 — Inside Dapper: agency size, Rotterdam, and Lisbon 02:48 — Quickfire: the marketing term Tycho would retire 03:49 — Best content: the Wolf of Wall Street sketch 05:20 — The tactic other agencies use that Dapper never copied 06:45 — Naming the Niche Famous Framework 08:09 — Win #1: The Niche Famous Framework explained 11:01 — How Tycho scaled it with a seven-person team 13:05 — Win #2: Winning listicles, then winning GEO 14:59 — The fail: the cold outbound email that backfired 19:56 — Key takeaways 22:00 — Where to find Tycho

    The Niche Famous Framework: Becoming the Obvious Choice Before Anyone's Buying - with Tycho Luijten

  5. Sep 4

    How to Build the Reputation Layer That Makes Revenue Easier - with Jillian Als

    Everyone knows brand matters. Almost nobody structures it like a system. So what does it actually take to make brand drive revenue instead of just sitting in a deck? Jillian Als, CMO at Leadfeeder (formerly Dealfront) and a nearly two-decade veteran of B2B SaaS marketing, joins Michael Jäger to break down how she rebuilt her company's brand from the ground up, and why she killed the two-brand strategy that was costing Leadfeeder its focus. In this episode: ✌️ Win #1 — The internal creator program: how Jillian and her team turned employees into LinkedIn creators, using Claude and a points-to-swag system, for a 20x jump in impressions over the company page. ✌️ Win #2 — Mission, purpose, and vision first: why Jillian rebuilt the brand foundation before scaling any content, and how it aligned every customer interaction. 🌱 Fail — The newsletter that went nowhere: a six-month sponsorship with zero measurable return, and why "just get a list" is bad marketing advice in 2026. Whether you're a CMO, a founder, or a marketer trying to make brand measurable, this episode gives you a concrete way to build it, staff it, and prove it against revenue. Connect with Jillian on 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillianals/ 🎙️ Beyond Revenue is hosted by Michael Jäger, Managing Partner at Cremanski & Company. New episodes every Friday. ⏱️ Episode's timestamps 00:00 — Intro & Jillian's background 04:58 — The Dealfront to Leadfeeder rebrand and identity crisis 02:56 — Why B2B buyers are harder to track than ever 04:32 — Rapid fire: myths, reputation, and the most underrated skill 06:20 — Win #1: building an internal LinkedIn creator program 09:44 — Proving revenue impact with Fibbler 10:31 — Win #2: vision, mission, and purpose as the brand foundation 13:22 — The fail: the newsletter sponsorship that went nowhere 15:55 — Key takeaways 18:35 — Where to find Jillian and upcoming events

    How to Build the Reputation Layer That Makes Revenue Easier - with Jillian Als

  6. Aug 28

    How Not to Lose the Deal You Think You Won - with Ben Bauer

    Most reps lose deals in the last mile, after the champion is bought in and everyone assumes it's done. Ben Bauer, VP of Sales at WorkFlex, where he runs a 30-person sales org inside a 40-person revenue team, joins Michael Jäger to break down why deals slip late, and what actually protects them: testing engagement instead of assuming it, and trading discounts for value instead of giving them away. In this episode: ✌️ Win #1 — The homework test: small tasks given on every call to test real engagement, so an at-risk deal shows up before it hits the forecast. ✌️ Win #2 — A discount table that trades a fixed percentage for a specific ask, a case study, reference calls, closing 200K ARR deals at 0-4% discount. 🌱 Fail — Loading the full worldwide rollout into deal one instead of land-and-expand, which slowed deals down without moving the needle. Whether you're leading enterprise sales or building a team's negotiation playbook, this episode gives you a concrete way to catch risk early and stop over-discounting. Connect with Ben: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-bauer-sales-director/ 🎙️ Beyond Revenue is hosted by Michael Jäger, Managing Partner at Cremanski & Company. New episodes every Friday. ⏱️ Episode's timestamps 00:00 — Intro & Ben's background at WorkFlex 01:32 — How enterprise sales has changed in five years 02:55 — The 150K ARR deal Ben was sure he'd won 03:34 — The phrase that signals a late-stage deal is at risk 04:22 — Process vs. intuition in closing enterprise deals 06:03 — Win #1: the homework test for deal engagement 07:49 — Win #2: a discount table that trades value, not margin 09:37 — The fail: full rollout vs. land-and-expand 12:48 — Key takeaways

    How Not to Lose the Deal You Think You Won - with Ben Bauer

  7. Aug 21

    From IT to Marketing: Why the Future of Marketing Leaders Is Technical - with Claudio Toldi

    Marketing leadership is changing. The marketers creating the biggest impact today aren't only experts in brand, messaging, or campaigns...they're also the leaders who understand systems, data, technology, and how to connect business needs with technical execution. In this episode, Michael Jäger sits down with Claudio Toldi, Head of Global Marketing Platforms & Operations at Continental. Having moved from IT, digital transformation, and e-commerce into global marketing leadership, Claudio shares why technical fluency is becoming one of the most important capabilities for modern marketing leaders. In this episode: ✌️ Win #1 — Becoming the bridge between business and IT: how Claudio helped accelerate the development of a customer-facing fleet management platform by translating business requirements into scalable technical solutions, helping take a concept from idea to market in just six months. ✌️ Win #2 — Finding the win-win between stakeholders: why successful marketing operations require balancing customer needs, business priorities, and technical constraints — and how defining a pragmatic MVP helped align sales, marketing, and IT around measurable customer value. 🌱 Fail — Moving too fast with marketing automation: how launching a marketing automation initiative in APAC without fully defining business goals and requirements led to confusion, rework, and a complete reset of the project approach. Whether you're a CMO, marketing leader, RevOps professional, or someone navigating the growing intersection between marketing and technology, this episode offers practical lessons on why the future of marketing leadership is increasingly technical. Connect with Claudio:🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudiotoldi/🔗 Continental: https://www.continental.com/ 🎙️ Beyond Revenue is hosted by Michael Jäger, Managing Partner at Cremanski & Company. New episodes every Friday. ⏱️ Episode Timestamps 00:00 — Intro & Claudio's background01:24 — The moment marketing became a technical discipline02:22 — The technical capabilities marketing leaders underestimate03:20 — Customer experience, digitalisation & marketing transformation04:13 — Win #1: Bridging business and IT05:50 — Building a customer platform in six months07:10 — Win #2: Finding the stakeholder win-win09:32 — Defining the right MVP10:05 — The fail: Marketing automation in APAC11:39 — Why speed isn't always the answer14:04 — Where to find Claudio

    From IT to Marketing: Why the Future of Marketing Leaders Is Technical - with Claudio Toldi

  8. Aug 14

    From CFO to CEO: How Financial Thinking Shapes Better SaaS Leadership - with Rut Steinsen

    How does a CFO think differently when they become CEO? Rut Steinsen, CEO of SimplyBook.me, joins Michael Jäger to discuss how financial discipline, operational efficiency, and long-term strategic thinking influence leadership in a growing SaaS company. Having started her journey as CFO before stepping into the CEO role, Rut shares practical lessons on scaling teams, aligning departments, measuring what matters, and making better decisions with a financial lens. In this episode: ✌️ Win #1 — Data-driven marketing allocation: how SimplyBook.me used performance measurement to identify that Google Search dramatically outperformed Display campaigns and reallocated budget accordingly. ✌️ Win #2 — AI-powered customer support: how an in-product AI assistant reduced support demand while helping customers discover and use more of the platform's 70+ features. 🌱 Fail — Voice booking before its time: why SimplyBook.me launched voice-based appointment booking years before AI made the experience intuitive, and what they learned about timing innovation to market readiness. Whether you're a SaaS founder, CEO, CFO, operator, or revenue leader, this episode offers a practical framework for combining financial thinking with strategic leadership to build a more resilient business. Connect with Rut: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rutsteinsen/ 🔗 SimplyBook.me: https://simplybook.me 🎙️ Beyond Revenue is hosted by Michael Jäger, Managing Partner at Cremanski & Company. New episodes every Friday. ⏱️ Episode Timestamps 00:00 — Intro & Rut's background01:13 — Transitioning from CFO to CEO03:05 — Finance and strategy in SaaS leadership04:51 — Banking lessons applied to company building05:54 — Workshop-driven strategy and team ownership09:23 — Win #1: Google Search vs Display advertising12:04 — Win #2: AI assistant for customer support14:02 — The fail: launching voice booking too early15:46 — Key lessons for SaaS operators18:38 — Where to connect with Rut

    From CFO to CEO: How Financial Thinking Shapes Better SaaS Leadership - with Rut Steinsen
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20 minutes. One GTM leader. Real wins, real fails, zero filler. Beyond Revenue is the weekly show for B2B leaders who want practical insight from the people actually in the arena, across sales, marketing, RevOps, and the C-suite. Host Michael Jäger keeps it honest and specific so you leave every episode with at least one thing worth trying. Like what you hear? Follow the show, share it with your team, and leave us a rating ✨ Want to submit a guest speaker request or be invited on the show yourself? Get in touch at: beyondrevenue@cremanski.com

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