The Revenue Formula

Toni Hohlbein & Mikkel Plaehn
  • 5.0 (8)
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  • UPDATED WEEKLY
The Revenue Formula

This podcast is about scaling tech startups. Hosted by Toni Hohlbein & Mikkel Plaehn, together they look at the full funnel. With a combined 20 years of experience in B2B SaaS and 3 exits, they discuss growing pains, challenges and opportunities they’ve faced. Whether you're working in RevOps, sales, operations, finance or marketing - if you care about revenue, you'll care about this podcast. If there’s one thing they hate, it’s talk. We know, it’s a bit of an oxymoron. But execution and focus is the key - that’s why each episode is designed to give 1-2 very concrete takeaways.

  1. 1D AGO

    Killed by AI: What's happening with Chegg

    With every new technology, there's a Kodak.. or Nokia.. For AI, that company is Chegg - a publicly traded, once highflying edtech company. We break down the story of Chegg, and distill four learnings for GTM leaders. (00:00) - Introduction (02:02) - The Role of AI in Our Show (05:34) - The Rise and Fall of Chegg (07:59) - Chegg's Business Model and COVID-19 Impact (13:44) - The ChatGPT Disruption (16:39) - The Resilient Business: Surviving Disruption (17:03) - AI's Impact on Incumbents (18:33) - The Innovator's Dilemma (20:29) - Opportunities for Change (21:38) - AI Disruption in Various Industries (24:05) - Strategies for Business Resilience (26:15) - The Importance of Diversification (27:50) - Facing the Reality of Disruption This episode is brought to you by by Everstage - the highest rated Sales Commissions Platform on G2, Gartner Peer Insights, Trustradius with over 2,000+ customer reviews. Some of their customers include leading brands like Diligent, Wiley, Trimble, Postman, Chargebee etc.,You can go to https://www.everstage.com/revenue-formula to check out Everstage and mention Revenue Formula to unlock a personalized Sales Compensation Strategy Session with Everstage’s RevOps experts—crafted for enterprise teams to maximize performance. Never miss a new episode, join our newsletter on revenueformula.substack.com

    36 min
  2. Your champion is probably fake (With Gal Aga)

    5D AGO

    Your champion is probably fake (With Gal Aga)

    Your main contact is not your champion. You champion might not be an experienced buyer. And the list goes on. The problem is: not getting this right can really hurt your ability to bring in newbiz revenue. That's why we invited Gal Aga from Aligned. Not only did he post a kick-ass meme on this problem, but he also has worked extensively with AEs and run into this problem too often. (00:00) - Introduction (01:56) - The Israeli Tech Ecosystem (04:35) - Understanding the Role of a Champion (08:15) - Champion Enablement Strategies (13:27) - Multi-Threading in Sales (18:08) - Executive Buy-In and Business Cases (23:06) - Navigating Executive Involvement in Sales (23:50) - Building Trust with Your Champion (26:38) - Understanding Buyer Dynamics (27:10) - The Role of Professional Buyers (28:47) - Collaborative Decision Making (29:15) - Avoiding Transactional Sales (30:58) - Managing Internal and External Stakeholders (31:38) - Modern Sales Strategies (41:43) - The Future of Transactional Selling (45:27) - Final Thoughts and Takeaways This episode is brought to you by by Everstage - the highest rated Sales Commissions Platform on G2, Gartner Peer Insights, Trustradius with over 2,000+ customer reviews. Some of their customers include leading brands like Diligent, Wiley, Trimble, Postman, Chargebee etc.,You can go to https://www.everstage.com/revenue-formula to check out Everstage and mention Revenue Formula to unlock a personalized Sales Compensation Strategy Session with Everstage’s RevOps experts—crafted for enterprise teams to maximize performance. Never miss a new episode, join our newsletter on revenueformula.substack.com

    46 min

  3. MAR 4

    Don’t create another podcast: Lessons from 200 episodes

    So we've crossed 200 episodes. And we felt like, as usual, doling out some advice - this time focused on the thing we spend a lot of time on... Podcasts. Specifcally this one. If you've considered, or are constantly being suggested/told to do a podcast. This episode is for you. If not, maybe it'll just be fun to get a look under the hood. (and if nothing else? This episode also consist of non-work related conversation) (00:00) - Introduction (02:42) - Podcasting Journey and Milestones (03:28) - Why You Shouldn't Start a Podcast (04:07) - Challenges and Realities of Podcasting (08:23) - The Effort Behind Consistent Content (10:37) - Building Trust and Community (16:58) - Reflecting on Past Guests (17:33) - Becoming Part of the Creator Economy (18:29) - Leveraging Influencer Partnerships (19:59) - The Impact of Guest Episodes (23:17) - Strategies for Growing the Audience (24:29) - The Importance of Consistency (28:31) - Effective Content Repurposing Never miss a new episode, join our newsletter on revenueformula.substack.com

    33 min
  4. How pitch narrowed their ICP and accelerated growth (with Ulrik Bo Larsen)

    FEB 27

    How pitch narrowed their ICP and accelerated growth (with Ulrik Bo Larsen)

    How's PLG different from outbound? We asked someone who's worked with both motions. And the interesting part?  They used a very simple trick to accelerate their PLG: Defining their ICP. (00:00) - Introduction (10:02) - Finding the ICP (19:37) - Acquisition and Sales Strategy (20:04) - Brand equity (22:53) - Trigger for engaging (25:55) - Self-Onboarding and Offboarding Dynamics (28:44) - Outbound Strategies and AI-Enabled Lifecycle (41:54) - Conclusion and Final Thoughts This episode is brought to you by by Everstage - the highest rated Sales Commissions Platform on G2, Gartner Peer Insights, Trustradius with over 2,000+ customer reviews. Some of their customers include leading brands like Diligent, Wiley, Trimble, Postman, Chargebee etc.,You can go to https://www.everstage.com/revenue-formula to check out Everstage and mention Revenue Formula to unlock a personalized Sales Compensation Strategy Session with Everstage’s RevOps experts—crafted for enterprise teams to maximize performance. Never miss a new episode, join our newsletter on revenueformula.substack.com

    42 min

  5. FEB 25

    Growth envy: How Cursor got to $100M with 20 people

    Growth envy. We've all been there. Another company just blows up in what feels like seconds. Immediately you wonder, how could we achieve the same? Well, first step is understanding, and in this episode we break down the conditions that enabled Cursor to grow incredibly fast. (00:00) - Introduction (02:20) - Cursor and 0-100 (05:09) - The Power of Top Funnel (11:56) - The Future of Code Writing (12:10) - Teleportation and Sales (12:49) - Understanding the Funnel (13:05) - The Simplicity of PLG (14:45) - Developer Tools and Market Size (19:02) - Freemium Models in Enterprise Sales (23:09) - Challenges of Rapid Growth (27:05) - Retention and Competition This episode is brought to you by by Everstage - the highest rated Sales Commissions Platform on G2, Gartner Peer Insights, Trustradius with over 2,000+ customer reviews. Some of their customers include leading brands like Diligent, Wiley, Trimble, Postman, Chargebee etc.,You can go to https://www.everstage.com/revenue-formula to check out Everstage and mention Revenue Formula to unlock a personalized Sales Compensation Strategy Session with Everstage’s RevOps experts—crafted for enterprise teams to maximize performance. Never miss a new episode, join our newsletter on revenueformula.substack.com

    31 min
  6. When unicorns become zombies (With Roee Hartuv)

    FEB 20

    When unicorns become zombies (With Roee Hartuv)

    There are 1000s of privately held unicorns. But for many of them, they will truly struggle to make a meaningful exit. We discuss why together with Roee. (00:00) - Introduction (02:25) - Understanding Zombie Unicorns (04:30) - The Rise and Fall of Valuations (06:33) - VC Expectations and Company Growth (12:01) - The Fragility of High Valuations (15:17) - Current Market Trends and Valuations (19:35) - The Rise of Zombie Unicorns (20:18) - Down Rounds and Valuation Challenges (20:51) - Future of Unicorns and IPOs (26:48) - Impact on Revenue Leaders (32:06) - Pricing and Packaging Strategies (35:39) - Concluding Thoughts and Future Outlook This episode is brought to you by by Everstage - the highest rated Sales Commissions Platform on G2, Gartner Peer Insights, Trustradius with over 2,000+ customer reviews. Some of their customers include leading brands like Diligent, Wiley, Trimble, Postman, Chargebee etc.,You can go to https://www.everstage.com/revenue-formula to check out Everstage and mention Revenue Formula to unlock a personalized Sales Compensation Strategy Session with Everstage’s RevOps experts—crafted for enterprise teams to maximize performance. Never miss a new episode, join our newsletter on revenueformula.substack.com

    37 min

  7. FEB 18

    Reporting to the CEO - here's what we've learned

    Are you about to report to the CEO? Are you already? In todays episode, we share our experience reporting to the CEO. (00:00) - Introduction (03:51) - Our first CEO (07:10) - Benefits and Challenges of Reporting to the CEO (13:03) - Effective Communication and Management Strategies (20:16) - Deliver 100% of your commits This episode is brought to you by by Fullcast, the only AI-powered platform that streamlines your entire sales lifecycle — from plan to pay. With modules like territory and quota management, routing, and capacity planning, Fullcast adapts to your unique needs — whether you need one solution or an all-in-one platform.Ready to see the difference? Visit Fullcast.com and mention the Revenue Formula Podcast to unlock an exclusive premium gift, just for listeners! Never miss a new episode, join our newsletter on revenueformula.substack.com

    29 min
  8. No more free trials (Chris Pasquier from Slite)

    FEB 13

    No more free trials (Chris Pasquier from Slite)

    Free trials don't work for AI products - so... what do you do? That's what we asked Chris, CEO and founder of Slite. (00:00) - Introduction (03:36) - Challenges in Selling AI (04:53) - Introduction to Slite and Super (06:31) - AI Implementation and Use Cases (08:50) - Customer Onboarding and Trials (10:15) - Why can't we just do freemium (13:10) - Overcoming AI Adoption Barriers (22:15) - Future of AI in Business This episode is brought to you by by Fullcast, the only AI-powered platform that streamlines your entire sales lifecycle — from plan to pay. With modules like territory and quota management, routing, and capacity planning, Fullcast adapts to your unique needs — whether you need one solution or an all-in-one platform.Ready to see the difference? Visit Fullcast.com and mention the Revenue Formula Podcast to unlock an exclusive premium gift, just for listeners! Never miss a new episode, join our newsletter on revenueformula.substack.com

    39 min
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About

This podcast is about scaling tech startups. Hosted by Toni Hohlbein & Mikkel Plaehn, together they look at the full funnel. With a combined 20 years of experience in B2B SaaS and 3 exits, they discuss growing pains, challenges and opportunities they’ve faced. Whether you're working in RevOps, sales, operations, finance or marketing - if you care about revenue, you'll care about this podcast. If there’s one thing they hate, it’s talk. We know, it’s a bit of an oxymoron. But execution and focus is the key - that’s why each episode is designed to give 1-2 very concrete takeaways.

Information

  • Creator
    Toni Hohlbein & Mikkel Plaehn
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    206
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Revenue Formula
  • Show Website
    The Revenue Formula

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