SaaSy Talk Unfiltered | SaaSy Talk S01.44: Tackling RevOps with Shantanu Shekhar

SaaSy Talk S01.44: Tackling RevOps with Shantanu Shekhar

February 7, 2024 / 38:07/S1:E44

About The Guest(s): Shantanu Shekhar is currently Senior Director of GTM Operations for Gong and leads go-to-market strategy, process excellence and cross-functional alignment for their international markets.

Prior to Gong, Shantanu has held key revenue operations / GTM leadership positions at LinkedIn and Nitro, and is a former management consultant from Bain & Co.

Shantanu lives in the warm confines of Dublin, Ireland along with his wife and two kids.

Summary: In this episode, host Ricky interviews Shantanu Shekhar, Senior Director of Revenue Operations at Gong. Shantanu shares his journey into the tech industry, his experience working in San Francisco, and his interest in sales and technology. He discusses the role of RevOps in early-stage companies, the importance of cross-functional collaboration, and the impact of AI on RevOps. Shantanu also provides insights into his daily work as a RevOps leader and the tools he uses to optimise revenue operations.

Key Takeaways:

Shantanu emphasises the importance of having a dedicated RevOps team early on in a company's growth to ensure scalability and efficiency in the go-to-market engine.
RevOps should be housed in an organisation where the CxO is comfortable with data-driven decision-making and can provide guidance and support to the RevOps team.
AI is becoming an ally for RevOps, particularly in forecasting deals and providing insights into pipeline management and deal progression.
Shantanu highlights the need for RevOps to focus on both strategic initiatives, such as segmentation and planning, and operational tasks, such as quota management and data analytics.
Enablement plays a crucial role in RevOps, helping drive adoption of processes and systems and measuring outcomes.

Notable Quotes:

"RevOps is about designing and powering the go-to-market engine, optimising the value chain for customers and the company." - Shantanu
"RevOps needs to have an unbiased view grounded in data and reality, enabling all teams rather than favouring one." - Shantanu
"AI will be an ally for RevOps, driving efficiency and providing insights from large data sets." - Shantanu

Chapters 00:18 Guest's Experience in San Francisco and Interest in Tech

01:13 Transition to Tech and Move to Ireland

02:30 Understanding RevOps

06:07 RevOps in Early Stage Companies

10:23 RevOps and Cross-Functional Collaboration

14:10 RevOps and Product Teams

21:18 Operational Cadence in RevOps

23:36 The Importance of a Strong Team and Data Analytics

25:29 The Changing Role of RevOps in Company Decisions

29:57 Tactical Approach to Forecasting Deals

32:01 The Future of RevOps and the Impact of AI

32:52 Favourite Tools in RevOps