In this episode of CRO Spotlight, Warren Zenna speaks with Adam Crandall, CRO at Addtronics, about his journey from VP of Sales to Chief Revenue Officer in a private equity-backed environment. Adam shares how he developed a scalable go-to-market playbook for Addtronics, a platform acquiring robotics and automation companies focused on advancing human health and technology.

Adam discusses the critical distinction between simply hitting revenue targets and building truly scalable revenue systems. He explains his concept of "Revenue Generating Activities" (RGAs) and how he balances centralized strategy with decentralized execution across multiple operating companies. The conversation explores how a CRO must empower teams with tools and processes that function effectively without constant oversight.

The episode delves into the unique challenges of the CRO role in private equity, including managing expectations, forecasting accurately, and maintaining team energy through challenging periods. Adam emphasizes the importance of hiring people smarter than yourself, approaching new roles with humility, and maintaining close alignment with the CFO and CEO to navigate market headwinds.

Warren and Adam explore the balance between measurable and unmeasurable marketing activities, the importance of brand building, and the essential competencies for today's CROs. Adam shares valuable insights for aspiring and newly appointed CROs, making this a must-listen for revenue leaders looking to excel in complex business environments.

In this episode of CRO Spotlight, host Warren Zenna sits down with Lindsay Guzowski, CEO at The Crucible, to explore the power of targeted competency assessments for chief revenue officers. They trace the origins of a bespoke CRO test built for private equity–backed companies, showing how tailored assessments can pinpoint the strengths and gaps that drive high-impact revenue leadership.

Many off-the-shelf tests fall short when evaluating executive readiness. Lindsay and Warren unpack pitfalls such as misaligned reference sets, cultural mismatches, and predictable question phrasing that candidates can game. They explain why tracking correlation coefficients and grounding assessments in rigorous validity studies is key to ensuring predictive accuracy.

Beyond individual metrics, they highlight the strategic value of team assessments for mapping leadership dynamics. Lindsay describes measuring urgency, resilience, pattern recognition and adaptability against a frozen reference cohort. She shows how private equity firms can configure custom CRO profiles and use nuanced data to optimize hiring, onboarding and development roadmaps.

In real-world case studies, they reveal how Crucible insights steer tough hiring choices and fuel candid candidate conversations. By also testing for “contaminants” like fragility or arrogance under pressure, organizations can align roles to specific growth stages. This episode delivers actionable guidance for current and aspiring CROs—and for CEOs seeking to elevate their revenue leadership team.

In this episode of CRO Spotlight, Warren Zenna sits down with Bobby Morrison, Chief Revenue Officer at Shopify, to explore how the CRO role has evolved beyond traditional sales leadership. Bobby shares his approach to unifying marketing, sales, customer success, and support under a single revenue organization focused on the complete customer journey rather than siloed handoffs.

Bobby reveals his philosophy of building revenue flywheels through aligned incentives and systems-first thinking, explaining how he restructured Shopify's go-to-market approach to eliminate friction. He discusses the importance of creating pods that bring together account executives, solution engineers, and customer success managers with shared objectives and territories to deliver better customer outcomes.

The conversation shifts to how AI is transforming revenue operations, with Bobby predicting that traditional CRMs will be replaced by AI-enabled systems within months. He emphasizes that tomorrow's successful CROs must become more technically proficient, understanding data structures and AI capabilities to build competitive advantages through technology while maintaining the human relationships that drive trust.

Warren and Bobby conclude by discussing the future of customer engagement, with Bobby sharing his belief that despite automation, human interaction remains essential in building trust. He emphasizes Shopify's commitment to helping customers navigate uncertain times through an anti-fragile platform that enables businesses to adapt quickly to changing market conditions.