Why this site exists
In a world of information overload, founders and revenue leaders have a need for high-quality and dense content that helps them make sense of complexity and gives them actionable guidance on how to approach their go-to-market. My aim is to provide this through this site. Enjoy your read and get in touch with me if you want to discuss any of the topics.
What I do
I help CEOs of growth companies surpass their targets by building a world-class revenue organization.
What I've done
Fifteen years in Sales, Strategy, SaaS and FMCG; building divisions from the ground up.
- Led sales and marketing organizations with up to EUR 100m in annual revenues.
- Built and led two global partnership programs, one in enterprise HR tech and one in SMB fintech.
- Sold millions of dollars of software and services to SAP, Siemens, Procter & Gamble, EDEKA, and many other Fortune 500 companies.
- Built the consulting business for a publicly traded HCM provider, winning 30 clients including Fresenius, E.ON, REWE, Fraport and many other DAX companies.
- Held product and services portfolio responsibility for over 3bn EUR in annual revenues.
- Built a music rehearsal studio business with 100k ARR and 100+ members as a side project.
- Tought at the University of St. Gallen MBA on innovation in sales, growth and revenue.
Where I can help you
I work as an interim executive on the key strategic issues in the go-to-market process, which I then implement and anchor in the company through coaching and training.
Results you can expect within 6-12 months:
- Focus the efforts of the team and the entire company on what matters to hit the plan and moves the needle for future growth.
- Improve your processes and organizational setup in at least two critical areas
- Hire at least three great new people to the team
- Find and close a permanent sales, marketing, or revenue leader
Past topics I've worked on that may fit your current challenge:
- Build a scalable go-to-market model with profitable unit economics
- Identify the right demand generation channels for your business
- Develop the messaging (strategic narrative, story) of the company
- Create the GTM playbook including sales processes and required role profiles
- Design product pricing and employee compensation models
- Manage and align GTM functions (Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, and Partnerships) on an interim and part-time basis, including hiring
How I do it
I work best at the intersection of strategy and people. This means capturing and containing complexity, identifying the key levers of a system, communicating a plan and putting it into action. For me, theory and practice go hand in hand. A great plan only leads to great results if the execution is great.
The key ingredient in execution? Effective collaboration. This includes everything from adopting the right organizational structure, hiring the right people, building a high-performing team, developing and retaining talent, running effective meetings, to employing an effective framework for making good decisions.
Think of me as a strategist with a passion for turning plans into results while taking the team on an exciting journey across the high seas. And who knows, they might even have fun on the way. :)
"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry (loosely translated)
How we can work together
- Interim management as revenue or commercial executive, managing the business or a part of the business on a strategic level as well as the day-to-day.
- Consulting
Delivering a pre-defined project such as "revamping messaging to increase ACV" or "redesigning our GTM-approach to gain speed". - Advisory
Periodic sessions to talk about current challenges and the next steps the company should take.
While one of my strengths is my ability to quickly identify the challenges and opportunities within a company, I found that to drive meaningful change and steer a plan to fruiting, an ideal time frame is 12 months. It helps me to get familiar with the setting and the people, win trust, actually implement the plan and hire my replacement for a smooth transition. I have experienced me become even more effective in those longer-term engagements.
What others say about me
Hartmut Hahn – CEO and Co-Founder Userlane
"When Jonathan joined Userlane, we sold primarily to SMBs. Jonathan was instrumental in helping us transition to the enterprise market and building our Go-To-Market - from formulating the first value proposition together with Microsoft to launching our successful partner channel. I’ve found Jonathan to be a highly motivated, strategic and personable manager who excels at taking on complex challenges. If you have the opportunity to work with him, take it."
Sebastian Lange – Director Business Development BigRep
"We wanted to implement a modern revenue methodology that would help us win more business and align our marketing, sales, partnerships, and product management teams. After carefully evaluating the market for revenue consultants, we decided to work with Jonathan. We were impressed with the way he assessed our needs and prepared and delivered the training and coaching. We always felt that he understood our needs and took us to the next level by challenging us and using great examples. This is the first time we've spent money on an external trainer and I'm absolutely delighted with the results."
Moritz Retemeier – CMO and Co-Founder Mate
"We worked with Jonathan on our outbound sequence and sales calls. His ideas and coaching helped us tremendously to improve our processes and performance. We look forward to working with him again and highly recommend him to any SaaS startup looking to make their sales process best in class."
Stefan Geisenberger – CEO Active Nutrition International
"I appreciate working with Jonathan, especially because of the depth of our work and the very high level of trust. He has helped us find clarity on challenging and complex issues. I am very happy to be able to build on his support."
Volkan Efe – Head of Growth Xanevo
"We needed to define our go-to-market approach and identify the right demand gen channels for our AI business. After evaluating several GTM experts, I chose to work with Jonathan as a coach because his input was exceptionally clear and on-target in each of our sessions. To date, he has helped me set the right priorities in our demand gen channels, create a working outbound process, launch a partner-led movement, and provided an effective framework for our positioning. I highly recommend Jonathan and look forward to expanding our work with him as we grow."
Media
The SaaS Symphony - How to Hit a Positioning Home Run
Good positioning starts with understanding the customers' pains and the impact they have. Once we understand that, we can focus our messaging on the most impactful topics where we have a competitive advantage.
Björn and I talk about how to identify who you should be selling to, the process of embedding this thinking in the organization, and, finally, where to focus your messaging. (Aug 2023)
Rev Brains - The Revops Mastery Conference
With top speakers such as Jacco van der Kooij (founder of Winning by Design), Pete Crosby (5x CRO) and Guy Rubin (founder and CEO of Ebsta), this conference was a blast. I was part of the panel discussing the future of RevOps. We talk about how Revenue Operations can help companies build the systems they need, align Sales, Marketing, Partnerships and Customer Success, and what the future of RevOps will look like. (June 2023)
Personal interests
- Philosophy: I like systems. These currently fascinate me the most:
Ken Wilber's Integral Theory, Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy and Social Threefolding, Kundalini Yoga teachings. - Fun: I like activities that challenge my mind, my body, my creativity, and I think they are best enjoyed together with other people:
Chess, poker, partner dancing (I used to be a competitive latin dancer), tennis, skiing, singing, and playing the guitar.