Jaime Ruhl, CRO at Emergn, joins Warren Zenna to explore how a sales leader becomes a strategic revenue architect in a product‑centric consulting firm. She explains stepping into a broader remit that covers sales, go‑to‑market and marketing alignment across global teams. Jaime describes being a player‑coach who builds repeatable sales motion and champions measurable customer outcomes after delivery.

Jaime digs into practical moves she led: shifting from sporadic lead chasing to a disciplined target account approach, tightening qualification at the funnel entrance, and leveraging intent signals, account reports and smarter prospecting tools. She describes building persona‑led outreach, thought leadership assets, and repeatable playbooks that scale account expansion and shorten cycles. Jaime also tightened lead handoff timing and aligned content cadence with selling motions.

This episode contrasts consulting revenue with pure SaaS by unpacking stakeholder mapping, surrounding the customer with delivery, product and commercial teams, and balancing client intimacy with scalable processes. Jaime explains clearer handoffs, joint KPIs, role clarity and incentive design to reduce internal friction and drive sustainable expansion and retention. She stresses mapping buying centers and creating accountable cross‑functional teams.

Jaime closes with tactical advice for new CROs: surround yourself with people who raise your game, ask why to learn the rationale behind decisions, pilot changes and lead by example, and cultivate mentors. She urges CROs to balance staying in the trenches to learn with delegating, define a focused go‑to‑market, test AI capabilities before broad rollout, and communicate early wins to build momentum.

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.

On this episode of CRO Spotlight, host Warren Zenna sits down with lighting-rod revenue leader Jessica Robertson, Chief Revenue Officer at Orbb. After first connecting at a lively CRO roundtable, they unpack a conversation that could have lasted hours—touching on business philosophy, sales innovation, and the evolving role of relationships in growth. Tune in to discover why Jessica’s intelligence and empathy make her a standout leader in today’s noisy market.

Jessica traces her rise from a teenage sales development representative to spearheading revenue as Orbb’s CRO, reflecting on a decade spent mastering sales leadership across multiple industries. From navigating complex enterprise cycles to running thousands of monthly transactions, she explains how a puzzle-shaped mind fueled her creativity before sharpening it with data-driven rigor. Learn how empathetic listening, agile experimentation, and strategic analytics blended in her approach to drive authentic growth.

They dive into the nuts and bolts of designing scalable revenue operations: defining an ideal customer profile, segmenting ICP tiers, mapping clear funnel stages, and choosing a flexible CRM that grows with you. Jessica emphasizes starting with precise targeting over mass outreach, building functional pipelines grounded in relationship intelligence, and iterating relentlessly by capturing first-party email and calendar data to combat peak noise, maintain data hygiene, and prioritize real connections.

In the final segment, they explore the future of outbound outreach: leveraging email and calendar metadata to surface genuine champions and establish a relationship funnel that complements traditional channels. Jessica unpacks Orbb’s smart career overlap technology—how it uncovers verified networks to fuel warm introductions, reduce wasted touches, and unlock untapped pipelines. Host Warren Zenna closes with actionable insights to help current and aspiring CROs stay ahead in revenue intelligence.

In this episode of CRO Spotlight, host Warren Zenna welcomes Emma Clayton, C-Suite Strategic & Commercial Leadership Consultant at Be Brilliant Consultancy. With 27 years in marketing, Emma reveals the origin of her provocative LinkedIn musing on B2B marketing’s fragmentation and leadership vacuum. She shares why she left a prominent community, how her spontaneous critique went viral, and its implications for today’s revenue leaders.

Emma dives into her ongoing “Who Shot Marketing?” narrative, personifying the profession’s decline through the suspects: VCs treating CMOs as disposable, CFOs overlooking marketing’s strategic role, and recruitment firms fueling tactical specialization. She argues that marketing’s erosion stems from professionals losing their strategic identity and defaulting to siloed, short-term tactics instead of holistic business leadership.

Warren and Emma explore the Chief Revenue Officer role as a remedy for fragmented revenue functions. They debate why CMOs often switch to CRO titles for prestige and survival, and how genuine CRO leadership demands a business-centric mindset that integrates marketing, sales, and customer success. Highlighting cross-functional alignment and strategic vision, they offer a blueprint for CROs to unify teams and develop the competencies needed for a coherent revenue engine.

In closing, Emma urges listeners to channel their expertise into shaping the next era of marketing and revenue leadership. She calls on CEOs and aspiring CROs to end silos and collaboratively redefine marketing’s role within the revenue engine. Listeners are encouraged to share insights and drive positive change. This episode equips leaders with fresh perspectives on strategic marketing, revenue alignment, and building resilient organizations ready for tomorrow’s challenges.

In this episode of CRO Spotlight, Warren Zenna sits down with Joe Gravino, Principal at Falcon Partners. They explore how private equity–backed firms identify and deploy revenue leaders. Joe explains Falcon’s boutique search approach focusing on aligning go-to-market teams with strategic objectives. Together, they pinpoint key markers of organizational readiness for a Chief Revenue Officer. They discuss timing hires to maximize growth.

Warren and Joe tackle confusion between the CRO role and sales leadership and why it should follow dedicated sales, marketing, and customer success structures. Joe outlines how to educate investors on sequencing leadership hires and building foundational infrastructure. They emphasize defining scope clearly and fostering cross-team collaboration to unite go-to-market functions under a cohesive revenue strategy.

Conversation turns to key competencies for standout CROs. Joe highlights revenue operations expertise and data fluency as essential. He illustrates how boardroom vision must pair with front-line execution to translate insights into results. They touch on leadership styles that balance strategy with hands-on coaching. Warren and Joe discuss traits of urgency and adaptability needed under investor-driven expectations.

Finally, Warren and Joe share best practices to prepare the organization and CRO for success. They explore establishing robust processes, integrating tech stacks, and building transparent reporting frameworks. They emphasize executive sponsorship and cross-functional alignment to empower a revenue leader. Listeners receive actionable advice for creating an environment where a CRO can diagnose gaps and drive sustainable growth.

Hiring the right Chief Revenue Officer can make or break a company's growth trajectory. In this episode, Warren Zenna and Wayne Starritt unpack the systemic issues behind CRO hiring failures—and why fixing the hiring process itself is critical to long-term success. They reveal how many companies unknowingly sabotage CROs before day one.

Wayne shares lessons from working with PE-backed SaaS firms, highlighting why hiring a CRO isn't like hiring a CFO or CMO. He and Warren dig into why short-term problem solving often trumps strategic vision—and how that dynamic must change if companies want sustainable revenue leadership.

The conversation dives deep into why misaligned expectations between CEOs, boards, and CROs create chaos, and how leaders can proactively design CRO roles that align with true business needs. Wayne also shares real-world stories of when bad hiring processes led to good CROs failing unnecessarily.

If you’re a CEO preparing to hire a CRO, a current CRO aiming to thrive, or an aspiring CRO planning your next move, this episode is packed with tactical advice. Learn how to recognize warning signs, ask the right questions during interviews, and structure your next CRO appointment for real impact.