GTM 125: From Flip-Flops to a $500M Exit as CRO, Secrets to Scaling with Martin Roth

Martin Roth is the former CRO of Levelset, where he led the company from its first dollar in ARR to a $500 million acquisition by Procore in 2021. Currently, he's the founder of MartinRoth.com, specializing in helping startups scale from $1M to $10M in ARR. Martin brings a wealth of experience in building and scaling sales teams, developing effective go-to-market strategies, and navigating the challenges of startup growth. 

Discussed in this Episode:

• Martin's journey from selling flip-flops to leading a $500M exit
• The challenges and lessons learned in scaling Levelset from $1M to $25M+ ARR
• Insights on building effective sales playbooks and team structures
• The importance of in-person customer interactions in today's digital world
• Debunking myths about cold outreach and micromanagement in sales

Highlights:
(08:58) Building the first SaaS product and transitioning to recurring revenue.
(14:58) The evolution of Levelset's sales motion and pricing strategy.
(29:06) The importance of sales playbooks and codifying the sales process.
(35:30) Optimal team structures for SMB sales organizations.
(52:25) Why in-person sales environments are crucial for early-career development.
(53:46) Debunking the myth that cold outreach is dead.
(57:57) The effectiveness of in-person field events and road shows.
(52:25) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Martin thinks is bull$***(57:57) One thing that is working for Martin in go-to-market right now

Guest Speaker Links (Martin Roth):
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinrothsaas/

Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: https://gtmnow.com/tag/newsletter/

Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund’s media brand):
Website: https://gtmnow.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/SalesHacker
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTM_now
The GTM Podcast (on all major directories): https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/

Resource we Recommend:

• HG Insights. Feeling that AI FOMO? You’re not alone. That’s why HG Insights created The Next Generation of Sales AI report — to calm the FOMO and help you bring AI to your GTM teams. It includes a breakdown of the Sales AI landscape, adoption of GenAI and Sales software across buyer groups. Plus, an analysis of the top 75 trending sales AI tools. Why HG Insights? Simple. They’ve been writing market reports for years as the pioneer of tech adoption and market insights. Trusted by GTM leaders at the likes of Snowflake Five9 and Google Cloud to improve GTM efficiency. Thinking about AI for your sales team but unsure where to start?

The GTM Podcast
The GTM 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.