Nealesh Patel is the Chief Revenue Officer at Crunchbase, an AI-powered platform that helps over 80 million dealmakers discover and prioritize the right opportunities using best-in-class company data. With over 25 years of experience in the tech industry, Neal has a proven track record of executing progressive growth strategies, landing innovative partnerships, developing revenue streams, and building winning teams. As the leader of Crunchbase's go-to-market functions, and the de facto general manager of its data licensing business, Neal has a cross-functional and holistic understanding of how to provide value to customers and generate revenue. Under his leadership, Crunchbase has more than 4X'd its unique users, increased its annual recurring revenue by over 75x, and secured partnerships with large brands like S&P, LinkedIn, Meta, Oracle, NASDAQ, Amazon, and Snowflake. Neal is also an active board member, advisor, and investor in several high-growth startups.
Discussed in this Episode:
- The importance of listening to customers without blindly obeying their requests
- How Crunchbase adapted to the rise of ChatGPT and generative AI
- The value of conducting ongoing customer tours to inform product development and strategy
- Insights on career growth and taking risks in professional development
- The future of sales management in the age of AI and rev tech platforms
Highlights:
(03:45) The concept of "listening to customers without obeying"
(09:12) Crunchbase's response to the release of ChatGPT
(13:58) Developing predictive signals using Crunchbase's proprietary data
(19:32) Career advice: The importance of curiosity and authenticity
(22:15) Taking risks and daring to be "stupid" in your career
(25:37) The ongoing need for human sales managers in the age of AI
(30:42) Why traditional sales playbooks may become obsolete
(34:21) Institutionalizing customer tours as a core business practice
(37:55) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Neal thinks is bull$***
(39:47) One thing that is working for Neal in go-to-market right now
Guest Speaker Links (Neal Patel):
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nealeshpatel/
Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/
Sponsors:
- Apollo. The revenue tech stack is messy right now. All the leaders that I’m talking to are reevaluating their stacks from the ground up. Do we really need ten different solutions? If you are one of those leaders, I would recommend that you take a look at Apollo. Maybe you think you know Apollo, maybe you’ve taken a look at them in the past but I’ve looked under the hood recently and if your goal is to reduce and simplify your tech stack AND have best in breed data layered in with AI - they would be at the top of our list. There’s a reason Rippling and Stripe switched over. We worked with their team to create an interactive demo page - you can check it out at: https://www.apollo.io/gtm
The GTMnow Podcast
The GTMnow Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.
Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Ruthie's Table 4
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.