RevOps Lab

In this episode of the RevOps Lab, Janis sits down with Andy Smidmore — a 15-year RevOps and SalesOps veteran whose résumé reads like a tour of high-growth West Coast SaaS (Confluent, Cloudera, Docker, most recently Ditto). Andy is also the author of a popular LinkedIn article series on RevOps fundamentals, including the piece that anchors today's conversation: Forecasting Is a Trust Problem Before a Math Problem. Janis and Andy unpack why the magic forecast number leadership wants is just the surface, why broken sales stages quietly leak forecast accuracy, and why mixing deal reviews into your forecast call destroys the very trust your reps need to be honest with you.We cover:Why forecasting is a trust problem first, a math problem secondWhy the "how much are you committing?" question on day one of a forecast call is the wrong starting pointBuilding sales stages around the buyer's journey, not your selling process — and why misaligned stages are a leaking bucketThe danger of performative deal progression and the false hope it creates for leadershipWhy deal reviews and forecast calls should be two separate motions"I'm not questioning you, I'm asking questions" — the subtle reframe that changes the whole roomCrystal-clear definitions for pipeline vs. commit, kept short (5 bullets, not essays)What a true commit actually requires: technical sign-off, legal redlines, procurement engaged, stakeholder alignmentWhy a consistent week-in, week-out forecast format builds rep trust over timeTreating forecasting as a team sport — and why punishing reps swings them toward concealment, not honestyLinks:Andy Smidmore on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/andy-smidmore-3aab0556Andy's article series on RevOps & forecasting (LinkedIn)Janis Zech on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiszech/Philipp Stelzer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippstelzer/WeFlow: https://www.weflow.ai/Join the RevOps Chat Community: https://www.weflow.ai/communitySubscribe to the RevOps Letter: https://www.weflow.ai/revops-letterBook recommendations:Disrupted by Dan LyonsThe Girl with Seven Names by Hyeonseo LeeChapters:(00:00) Intro & welcome to Andy(00:51) Andy's 15-year journey through Confluent, Cloudera, Docker, Ditto(03:08) Why forecasting is the topic — and the article that started it(04:03) Why every forecast framework is unique to its company(06:15) Intelligence tools haven't replaced the foundational framework(08:13) "How much are you committing?" — the surface-level forecast call(10:01) The top forecast process problems Andy keeps seeing(11:33) Sales stages built around the buyer journey, not the seller(12:24) The POC stage problem: what does "done" actually mean?(14:25) When poor stage definitions destroy trust between reps and leadership(15:43) Creating an open, honest forecast call environment(18:17) From gut-based reviews to data-backed conversations(20:22) Why deal reviews and forecast calls must be separate motions(23:25) "I'm not questioning you, I'm asking questions"(25:00) The cadence: clean pipeline Thursday, deal review Friday, forecast Monday(28:32) Building a clear forecasting methodology — pipeline vs. commit(31:34) What actually constitutes a commit deal(35:21) Closing thoughts: stages, enablement, cadence, culture(39:35) Book recommendations & close

In this host-only episode of the RevOps Lab, Janis and Philipp take stock of what three years of building a forecasting tool — and hundreds of conversations with sales leaders, RevOps teams, and CROs — have taught them about getting to a reliable, repeatable forecast number. They unpack why forecasting is a process (not a number), why AI only works on top of a clean data foundation, and how the best companies combine roll-up, dynamically weighted, and AI-predicted forecasts into a single operating cadence.We cover:Why forecasting accuracy is the output of a well-run sales org, not the inputThe operating cadence: weekly meetings, deal reviews, and stakeholder alignment that make forecasting workBuilding the data foundation: activity capture, multi-threading signals, conversation intelligence, and CRM autofillWhy deal hygiene and shared qualification criteria (SPICED, MEDDIC) are non-negotiable before you forecastSplitting the forecast into new logo, expansion, and renewal — and why bookings ≠ consumptionThe three-pillar forecast: dynamically weighted + bottom-up roll-up + AI prediction (with corridors, not single numbers)How to run a roll-up motion: baseline vs. best case, rep forecast vs. independent manager forecastWhy running roll-ups in spreadsheets breaks down at 50+ repsCalculating dynamic stage probabilities by rep tenure or team — and when it's worth doingWhy AI predictions are only as good as the data foundation underneath themLinks:Janis Zech on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiszech/Philipp Stelzer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippstelzer/WeFlow: https://www.getweflow.comWeFlow RevOps resources: https://www.getweflow.com/revopsJoin the RevOps Chat Community: https://www.getweflow.com/communitySubscribe to the RevOps Letter: https://www.getweflow.com/revops-letterOperating Cadence master deck: ping Janis or Philipp on LinkedIn to requestChapters:(00:00) Intro: Has AI fundamentally changed forecasting?(01:34) Why forecasting is a process, not a number(02:25) What an operating cadence actually looks like week-to-week(04:23) The data foundation: why CRM alone isn't the system of truth(06:53) Anchoring deal conversations on a shared qualification methodology(08:42) How AI adds an objective layer through automated capture and CRM autofill(09:29) Stage entry/exit criteria and deal signals for deal health(13:06) Why "comparable deals" matters as you scale past 50 reps(14:23) Forecasting as the end result of a well-functioning sales org(16:05) Splitting forecasts: new logo, expansion, renewal, bookings vs. consumption(17:22) The three-pillar forecast: dynamically weighted, roll-up, AI prediction(18:50) Roll-up forecasting: baseline vs. best case, rep vs. manager numbers(24:07) Anatomy of a roll-up: hierarchy, gap-to-quota, pipeline coverage, deal-by-deal(26:43) Why spreadsheets break down for roll-up forecasting at scale(28:07) AI prediction models: aggregate vs. deal-by-deal scoring(29:02) Dynamically weighted forecasts and rep-level stage probabilities(32:44) Why AI predictions only work on top of clean data foundations(34:27) Book recommendation & close

In this episode of the RevOps Lab, Janis and Philipp sit down with Robert Kaiser and Christoph Dünhuber from Tacto — the Sequoia- and Index-backed AI procurement platform powering 300+ industrial customers across the German Mittelstand. Robert leads revenue functions, Christoph leads RevOps. Together they unpack how Tacto scaled to 130 employees by making customer value the center of gravity across every revenue function — from BDR to renewals — and why "customer-centric" only works when it is operationalized, not just stated.We cover:Why customer value (not org design) is priority #1 in a scaling revenue orgHow webinars with 200–500 weekly attendees became Tacto's top-of-funnel engineThe "Customer Internship" program: every new hire spends 2–3 days embedded with a customerWhy marketing and outbound are converging — and how to make cold outreach feel warmSelling to dual personas: the procurement team (user) vs. the MD/CFO (economic buyer)How forward-deployed Customer Value Managers (ex-BCG, ex-Roland Berger) drive renewals and expansionWhy 70–80% of new Tacto customers speak to an existing customer before signingBuilding a value-engineering motion that makes ROI tangible inside the sales cycleLinks:Tacto: https://tacto.aiRobert Kaiser on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/-robert-kaiser/Christoph Dünhuber on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophduenhuber/Janis Zech on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiszech/Philipp Stelzer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippstelzer/WeFlow: https://www.getweflow.comJoin the RevOps Chat Community: https://www.getweflow.com/communitySubscribe to the RevOps Letter: https://www.getweflow.com/revops-letterBook recommendation: The Qualified Sales Leader by John McMahonChapters:(00:00) Intro & welcome(01:36) Meet Robert & Christoph — their paths at Tacto(03:13) What Tacto does and the $500M procurement opportunity(07:47) Why customer-centricity is a two-sided coin (users + economic buyers)(10:24) The Tacto customer journey: from webinars to account management(15:44) Org design for scale: renewals, upsells, expansion leads(17:00) Selling to procurement vs. selling to the managing director(19:43) How outbound stays customer-centric when brand and webinars lead(23:24) Customer Internships: every new hire embeds with a customer(28:00) Hiring for cultural fit and the "warm calling" academy(29:35) Referrals and why 70–80% of new customers speak to existing ones(31:10) Dual-persona strategy: power user vs. economic buyer(32:49) How a CX mindset reshaped Tacto's entire sales motion(35:21) Org design deep dive: SEs, Value Engineers, CVMs(37:39) Book recommendation & close

Eric Portugal Welsh, Head of RevOps at PlanetScale and returning guest on the RevOps Lab, joins Janis and Philipp to share how he went from leading a team of six to operating as a solo RevOps function — and how AI is making that possible. Eric walks through his full AI stack, his vibe coding journey, and the specific agents and workflows he's built to automate everything from pipeline reviews to stakeholder communication to onboarding himself at a new company.We cover:Going from a RevOps team of six to a team of one — and why that's the PlanetScale modelThe full AI stack: Claude, Cursor, Cowork, Gemini, Notion AI — and when to use whichHow Eric onboarded himself in days instead of weeks using Claude and Notion agentsVibe coding a full pipeline dashboard from a single Salesforce history report in 90 minutesWhy PlanetScale's head of finance hasn't opened Excel in months — everything is vibe codedBuilding agents for weekly status updates, pipeline prep, and Slack-based Q&AA communication agent that mirrors the COO's tone and preempts his questionsThe Monday morning pipeline agent: auto-generated executive overviews before the 8:30 callWhy VPs of sales and CROs are the heaviest AI users — not the repsHow the CRM interaction model is shifting from reports and record pages to chat interfacesPractical vibe coding tips: build an acceptance criteria doc first, then prompt the buildThe scaling challenge: why open data works at 65 people but breaks at 500+RevOps as the orchestration layer for AI-powered go-to-market workflowsEric Portugal Welsh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericwelsh1/ PlanetScale: https://www.planetscale.com Weflow: https://www.getweflow.com RevOps Chat Community: https://getweflow.com/community RevOps Letter: https://www.getweflow.com/revopsletter Janis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiszech Philipp on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippstelzerChapters: (00:00:00) Introduction & Eric's Return to the Pod (00:00:53) From Deputy to PlanetScale: RevOps Team of One (00:03:45) The Full AI Stack: Claude, Cursor, Gemini, Notion AI (00:05:05) Self-Onboarding with AI: Days Instead of Weeks (00:08:40) Claude vs. Gemini vs. ChatGPT: What Works Best (00:11:45) Vibe Coding a Pipeline Dashboard in 90 Minutes (00:12:20) PlanetScale's Head of Finance: Zero Spreadsheets in Months (00:13:25) Getting Started with Vibe Coding: Tips for RevOps (00:17:55) Practical Tip: Build Acceptance Criteria Before Prompting (00:19:15) More AI Use Cases: Cloning Yourself as a Team of One (00:21:05) Weekly Status Agents & Notion-Based Slack Q&A Bots (00:23:10) The Monday Morning Pipeline Agent (00:24:20) Communication Agent: Matching the COO's Tone & Style (00:25:45) Context: 65-Person Company, 85% Engineers, Open Data Culture (00:27:10) Why This Will Come to Every RevOps Team — and the Scaling Challenges (00:29:20) Agentic Content Creation for Outbound Sequences (00:31:30) Why VPs of Sales Are the Heaviest AI Users (00:33:45) The Future: Chat-Based CRM Interaction Over Reports and Record Pages (00:36:00) RevOps as the AI Orchestration Layer (00:37:05) Book Recommendation & Wrap-Up

Stephen Diorio, author of "Revenue Operations" and a go-to-market strategy veteran with decades of experience — from co-founding one of the first GTM strategy firms in 1993 to serving as a Gartner analyst — joins Janis and Philipp to unpack the math of growth. Stephen explains why the financial systems behind most B2B organizations fundamentally fail to measure what actually drives revenue, and how RevOps can close the gap between what the business spends on growth and what it actually gets back.We cover:Why traditional accounting treats all go-to-market spend as expense — and why that's fundamentally wrongGrowth assets: databases, brands, digital channels, content — and why no one measures their valueThe bow tie model: what it captures, what it misses, and why the back end is where CFOs get scaredWhy a third of closed deals originate from actions taken 12–18 months earlierThe 25 post-booking variables that can double or halve lifetime customer valueWhy "cost to sell" has 100 definitions across 100 companies — and none are rightThe dark funnel and LLM search: why 90% of the buying process is invisibleForward-looking vs. backward-looking signals: product telemetry, adoption, and renewal predictionThe nine customer behavior changes that every growth investment ultimately drivesWhy documenting assumptions — not just measuring outcomes — is the key to continuous improvementTreatment models and customer experience: why no one can answer "what does a good CX cost?"Share of wallet and account penetration: the massive untapped opportunity most orgs can't quantifyStephen Diorio on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-diorio-1339011/Revenue Operations (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Revenue-Operations-Stephen-Diorio/dp/1119871115 Weflow: https://www.getweflow.com RevOps Chat Community: https://getweflow.com/community RevOps Letter: https://www.getweflow.com/revopsletter Janis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiszech Philipp on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippstelzerChapters: (00:00:00) Introduction (00:00:32) Stephen's Background & Why He Wrote the RevOps Book (00:02:45) The Math of Growth: Why It's One Big Equation (00:03:25) Growth Assets: Brands, Data, Channels — and Why No One Values Them (00:05:10) Why Financial Accounting Fails Go-To-Market (00:07:10) Cost to Sell: 100 Companies, 100 Definitions (00:09:35) Walking Through the Bow Tie: Top of Funnel to Post-Sale (00:11:40) Why We Overplay Conversion Rates and Underplay the Dark Funnel (00:13:00) The Back End of the Bow Tie: Where CFOs Get Scared (00:15:10) Reliable Cash Flow as the North Star Metric (00:16:00) Account Penetration & Share of Wallet: The Untapped Opportunity (00:18:10) Treatment Models: What Does a Good Customer Experience Actually Cost? (00:20:05) Reliable vs. Accurate Revenue: Why Sandbagging Kills Forecasting (00:22:30) The Scientific Method: Document Assumptions, Then Test and Adjust (00:26:35) Dark Funnel, LLM Search & Why 90% of Buying Is Invisible (00:30:05) Forward-Looking Signals: Product Telemetry and Adoption Data (00:32:05) The Nine Customer Behavior Changes That Every Growth Investment Drives (00:35:25) Brand as an Asset: Touch Points, Awareness, and Future Option Value (00:37:05) Book Recommendation: The Goal by Eli Goldratt