Walk and Talk w/ Dan Watkins

DataBased

Somewhere in the world, Dan Watkins is walking. And talking. Dan helped build Qualtrics from 15 employees to a billion-dollar exit. Today he runs Databased, a revenue recruiting and consulting firm for VC-backed tech companies. Walk and Talk with Dan Watkins is 24 years of pattern recognition on hiring, building teams, growing revenue, and living with intention — delivered in five minutes, three times a week, from wherever Dan happens to be that day. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

  1. Building your ICP list | GTM Engine - Part 2 | For leaders

    8H AGO

    Building your ICP list | GTM Engine - Part 2 | For leaders

    ⁠[Get access to all videos]⁠ Dan is walking through step 3 of building a vertically aligned, integrated go-to-market team. This one's about the contact list: who builds it, who owns it, and why getting CEO alignment on your ICP is what makes the whole thing work. Dan covers the exact math behind how many contacts each rep needs over a 3-month proving period, why it has to be marketing that picks the list and not sales, and how to run the cross-functional validation meeting that turns a draft list into one your sales team will actually trust and use. If you've been in a company where marketing built the list and sales ignored it, this is the episode where that problem gets fixed. 00:00 | Recap: where we left off 00:47 | Step 3: Marketing builds the ICP list 01:43 | The contact math: 5 per rep per day 02:43 | Why marketing needs CEO alignment 04:04 | Cross-functional validation This podcast is brought to you by DataBased. Your partner in building revenue teams that actually perform. ⁠Book a meeting.

    5 min
  2. The friends we forget when life gets full | For your life

    3D AGO

    The friends we forget when life gets full | For your life

    Don't forget to follow us! Book a meeting. Dan has been thinking about the friends that get forgotten when life gets full. Not because you don't care, but because there's always something more urgent on the calendar. Dan talks through the different circles in his life and the specific habits he uses to stay connected to each of them. A high school group he's had monthly dinners with for decades. A close friend he only sees once or twice a year but always picks up exactly where they left off. The annual guys trip that's been going 20 years, through kids, divorces, and schedules bouncing everywhere. He also shares one small habit he started using with gaps in his calendar that costs almost nothing and pays off more than most things he used to fill that time with. 00:00 | Intro: the friends we forget 00:57 | The circles worth keeping 01:53 | The friend you only see once a year 02:42 | Monthly dinners and annual trips 03:46 | Using calendar gaps for connection 04:58 | The audio text method This podcast is brought to you by DataBased. Your partner in building revenue teams that actually perform. Book a meeting.

    6 min
  3. Elevate your career from transactional sales | For your career

    5D AGO

    Elevate your career from transactional sales | For your career

    [Take our assessment] Dan is talking directly to reps today about how to think about career progression. Most salespeople focus on the wrong things when planning their next move, and it costs them more than they realize. Dan breaks down the four levels of selling, from transactional roles all the way to global enterprise, including what deal sizes look like at each stage, what skills each one demands, and how the progression maps to management opportunities down the road. He also covers what happens when you take a step backwards and why staying too long at the wrong level quietly limits your future options. If you're a rep trying to figure out your next move, this one's for you. And if you know someone earlier in their career who needs to hear it, send it their way. Chapters: 00:00 | Intro: the four levels of selling 00:55 | Level 1: Transactional selling 01:43 | Level 2: Mid-market selling 02:47 | Level 3: Early enterprise selling 03:58 | Level 4: Pure enterprise selling 04:53 | How to pace your career progression 05:41 | What managers look for when they hire This podcast is brought to you by DataBased. Your partner in building revenue teams that actually perform.

    7 min
  4. Structuring your GTM engine (part 1) | For Leaders

    MAY 11

    Structuring your GTM engine (part 1) | For Leaders

    [Get access to all videos] Dan is walking through something he sees in almost every company he consults with. Most go-to-market teams aren't actually integrated, and it's costing founders and revenue leaders more than they realize. This is part one of a five-part series on how to build a truly vertically aligned, integrated go-to-market team. Dan covers the first two steps: recognizing the problem, and how to pick the one to three verticals your entire team should rally around. He walks through a real example from a security company in the Mountain West to show how it works in practice. If you're a founder, CEO, or revenue leader and your teams are running their own version of the strategy, this series is for you. Chapters: 00:00 | Intro: the five-part series 00:41 | The silo trap most CEOs fall into 01:28 | What integration actually changes 02:01 | Step 1: Recognize you have a problem 02:31 | Step 2: Pick your verticals 03:35 | How to evaluate which verticals to target 04:28 | Real example and getting your team aligned This podcast is brought to you by DataBased. Your partner in building revenue teams that actually perform. Book a meeting.

    6 min
  5. Share It. Don't Push It. | For Your Life

    MAY 8

    Share It. Don't Push It. | For Your Life

    Dan's lived in California, Ireland, and Spain, traveled the world for work, and made friends across every kind of belief system. He has one rule for all of it: share openly, never proselytize. This episode is about why that rule has changed him more than almost anything else. In this episode: The one filter Dan uses when deciding who to let into his life and his teamWhat happened in Portugal when Russia invaded Ukraine — and how Dan handled itWhy proselytizing at work slowly shrinks the team you're able to buildHow surrounding yourself with people who disagree without pushing has moved Dan toward the middle Chapters: 00:00 | Intro: The one rule Dan uses to decide who he surrounds himself with 00:45 | Growing up in California, living in Ireland and Spain, and what diverse friendships taught him 01:32 | The rule: share your opinions freely, never try to convert anyone 02:29 | What happened in Portugal when Russia invaded Ukraine and two employees couldn't be in the same room 03:29 | How Dan handled it and what he told both of them separately 03:54 | Why proselytizing at work eventually shrinks the talent pool willing to work with you 04:47 | What happens to teams when one viewpoint dominates the conversation 05:33 | How surrounding himself with people who don't try to convince him moved Dan to the middle Connect with Dan → https://www.linkedin.com/in/d-watkins/

    6 min
  6. Sell like yourself | For Your Career

    MAY 7

    Sell like yourself | For Your Career

    Most reps find a script, follow it to the letter, and wonder why it feels off. Dan's built a career on borrowing the best techniques from the best books — then making every single one his own. This episode is the step-by-step on how to do that. In this episode: Why copying a script without personalizing it costs you the best part of the saleHow to take any technique — discovery, objections, interviewing — and make it yoursThe herd theory concept that changed how Dan sells, and how he adapted itWhat happens when you get the other person using their own vocabularyChapters: 00:00 | Intro: Why copying a script word for word is costing you the sale 00:30 | The goal: using best sales techniques without losing who you actually are 00:49 | Why buyers need to know the human behind the pitch before they buy anything 01:31 | The process: find the technique, find an expert, then make it yours 02:19 | Herd theory from Question Based Selling and how Dan practiced it until it felt natural 02:58 | How to use any technique in your own vocabulary instead of someone else's 03:40 | The interviewing breakthrough: taking Jeffrey Smart's process and keeping what worked 05:00 | The pump-up call: how Dan humanizes a formal step without abandoning the process Connect with Dan → https://www.linkedin.com/in/d-watkins/

    6 min
  7. Where you hire changes everything | For Leaders

    MAY 4

    Where you hire changes everything | For Leaders

    📄 How to think through location, comp, and in-office vs. remote for your GTM team Most founders pick a city for their office and assume the talent will follow. Dan just got off the phone with a client making exactly the wrong call — and breaks down why location, comp, and in-office expectations have to be designed together, not decided separately. In this episode: Why hiring junior sales reps in-office in Tier 1 cities is one of the most expensive mistakes you can makeThe real comp premium you're paying the moment you hire in SF or NYCHow to structure your go-to-market team by city tier to actually compete for talentWhere Dan recommends building your revenue org insteadChapters: 00:00 | Intro: The location, compensation, and office mix that keeps breaking hiring plans 00:29 | Why the pull toward tier one cities costs more than most founders realize 01:24 | The worst combination in hiring: in-office, tier one city, tier B compensation 02:34 | What $100K looks like in a tier B city versus what it looks like in San Francisco 04:06 | Why junior reps in expensive cities end up commuting too far or living unsafely 04:50 | The fix: where to put your go-to-market team if your technical team has to be in a major city 05:26 | When hiring in a tier one city does make sense and what compensation level unlocks it

    6 min
  8. Ask for Feedback. Read the Book. Say Thank You. | For Your Career

    MAY 1

    Ask for Feedback. Read the Book. Say Thank You. | For Your Career

    Dan shares the loop that's quietly shaped his career over the last 12 years: ask someone you trust for one thing to work on, find a book on it, and go back to thank them. Simple in theory. Hard in practice when your ego is in the way. In this episode: Why the best feedback comes when everyone's in a good mood — not at a reviewHow Dan turned "you leave dead bodies everywhere" into a real lessonThe book that changed how he thinks about people: The Anatomy of PeaceWhy thanking the person who gave you hard feedback is the whole pointChapters: 00:00 | Intro: What happens when a growth mindset collides with an ego that hates feedback 00:33 | How to ask for feedback in a way that actually gets you a real answer 00:53 | Why timing matters: asking when things are good versus when you're already upset 01:43 | What to do after you get the feedback: find the book, find the expert 02:30 | The blind spot Dan keeps hitting: forgetting how human everyone around him is 03:23 | What Ryan Smith meant when he told Dan "you leave dead bodies everywhere you go" 04:15 | Why The Anatomy of Peace changed how Dan thinks about people in his organization 05:02 | The full loop: ask, receive, read, apply, and thank the person who told you the truth Submit a topic

    6 min
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Somewhere in the world, Dan Watkins is walking. And talking. Dan helped build Qualtrics from 15 employees to a billion-dollar exit. Today he runs Databased, a revenue recruiting and consulting firm for VC-backed tech companies. Walk and Talk with Dan Watkins is 24 years of pattern recognition on hiring, building teams, growing revenue, and living with intention — delivered in five minutes, three times a week, from wherever Dan happens to be that day. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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