Scaling from regional VP to global CRO is not a promotion. It is a shift from managing execution to defining meaning at scale. In this replay conversation, Cedric Pech reflects on leading a 2,000-person global sales organization at MongoDB, integrating complex routes to market, and building culture that withstands market volatility. He breaks down the difference between compensation-driven leadership and purpose-driven leadership, why execution alone creates burnout, and how resilient organizations are built long before downturns arrive. For CROs and revenue leaders navigating scale, volatility, or retention pressure, this episode offers a grounded perspective on building durable teams without burning them out.

Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results.

This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale.

Connect with Us:

• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Force Management

In today’s minisode, Football coach and author Brian White shares essential leadership lessons on building winning cultures that apply far beyond the field. Brian breaks down why trust must flow both ways, from the individual entering a new organization and from the team itself, and reveals why assimilating into an existing culture before trying to change it is the key to lasting impact. Whether you're a sales leader establishing yourself in a new company, a manager building team cohesion, or a CRO creating a culture where people compete selfishly but give selflessly, this episode delivers actionable insights on peer leadership, the power of direct human engagement, and why the huddle is always more important than the position.

Brian White is a veteran Division I football coach, Assistant Coach of the Year, and author of The Locker Room Is Not for Sale. Over 55 years in and around elite programs including Notre Dame, he has coached national champions, developed NFL talent including Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne, and built cultures grounded in respect, accountability, and the human touch.

Resources mentioned:

• The Locker Room Is Not for Sale by Brian White
• The Qualified Sales Leader by John McMahon

Want to know how top-performing organizations create a culture of consistent success? Check out Force Management’s guide to the Predictable Revenue Framework:

https://hubs.li/Q03-T6NH0

Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results.

This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale.

Connect with Us:

• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Force Management

There’s no shortcuts to a winning sales culture. When leaders compromise standards for convenience, talent, or short-term wins, they erode the very foundation that sustains performance over time. Brian White joins John Kaplan and John McMahon to unpack why elite teams are built on respect first, why trust is collective (not individual), and why commitment without conditions is the only kind that lasts. Drawing from decades inside championship locker rooms, Brian outlines what it takes to build peer-led accountability, accelerate young talent, demand excellence without demeaning people, and create environments where pride replaces entitlement. This conversation is for revenue leaders who want to build a long-lasting high-performance culture that goes beyond incentives.

Brian White is a veteran Division I football coach, Assistant Coach of the Year, and author of The Locker Room Is Not for Sale. Over 55 years in and around elite programs including Notre Dame, he has coached national champions, developed NFL talent including Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne, and built cultures grounded in respect, accountability, and the human touch.

Resources mentioned:

• The Locker Room Is Not for Sale by Brian White
• The Qualified Sales Leader by John McMahon

Want to know how top-performing organizations create a culture of consistent success? Check out Force Management’s guide to the Predictable Revenue Framework: https://hubs.li/Q03-T6NH0

Key takeaways from this episode:

• 16:53 – Why respect, not trust, is the true starting point of elite team culture
• 25:55 – The human touch as a competitive advantage, not a soft leadership tactic
• 35:27 – Caring is competence, and why pride is earned through preparation and standards
• 40:54 – Why three clear values outperform forty two vague ones
• 47:48 – How peer leaders, not titles, protect the integrity of the locker room
• 55:06 – You don’t rise to the occasion, you fall to your level of preparation
• 01:02:06 – Why great leaders get talent in front of experience and refuse to hide behind youth
• 01:06:22 – Why direct engagement eliminates fear and prevents cultural drift

Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results.

This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale.

Connect with Us:

• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Force Management

Today’s minisode features Carlos Delatorre as he shares two hard-earned leadership lessons that every sales leader scaling an organization needs to hear. He reflects on an early moment in his career when he learned the difference between being a top-performing rep and becoming a true manager, and why doing the work for your team might feel helpful in the moment but ultimately breaks scale.

If you’re a manager trying to transition into leadership, or a CRO navigating rapid growth and wondering whether your leadership bench is ready to scale, this clip is for you.

Carlos Delatorre is a seasoned sales leader with over 25 years of enterprise software and SaaS experience. He has served as CRO at MongoDB (driving 100%+ annual revenue growth), TripActions/Navan, and ClearSlide, and as CEO of Vera. Carlos is also an active investor and advisor to high-growth software companies including Starburst, Outreach, and Modern Treasury, and serves on the board of Yalo.

Connect with Carlos:

• LinkedIn

Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results.

This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale.

Connect with Us:

• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Force Management

Climbing from individual contributor to CRO requires far more than strong execution. It demands disciplined leadership, intentional systems, and the ability to scale through complexity. In this replay episode, Carlos de la Torre joins John McMahon to unpack lessons from decades of enterprise sales leadership, including how he evaluates CRO opportunities, why complex selling environments demand sophisticated go-to-market engines, and how pipeline generation, leadership hiring, and management operating rhythm drive sustainable growth. Carlos also shares hard-earned insights on developing leaders, avoiding common scaling traps, and protecting personal sustainability as organizational demands increase.

Carlos Delatorre is a seasoned sales leader with over 25 years of enterprise software and SaaS experience. He has served as CRO at MongoDB (driving 100%+ annual revenue growth), TripActions/Navan, and ClearSlide, and as CEO of Vera. Carlos is also an active investor and advisor to high-growth software companies including Starburst, Outreach, and Modern Treasury, and serves on the board of Yalo.

Connect with Carlos:

• LinkedIn

Force Management resources on scaling predictably:

• The Predictable Revenue Framework: Guide for Leaders

Key takeaways from this episode:

• 04:18 - The three non-negotiables Carlos uses to evaluate a CRO role: a market big enough to scale, a product that delivers real business value, and a leadership team capable of growing with the company.
• 06:43 - Why complex selling environments require more than great reps, and how elite go-to-market engines translate technical products into business outcomes across multiple stakeholders while navigating internal politics.
• 20:47 - The MongoDB lesson every scaling CRO needs to hear: why waiting 6-9 months too long to hire senior leaders creates capacity gaps, forces Q4 heroics, and caps your upside.
• 34:00 - How defining clear stage criteria, tailoring messages by persona, and training the entire team on a single system fuels consistent 100%+ growth.
• 41:44 - What to analyze after the quarter closes: how revenue mix, productivity per AE, and stage conversion rates reveal which reps and behaviors are actually driving outsized results.
• 49:12 - Why blocking time by day, week, month, quarter, and year is the only way to protect focus and maintain execution.
• 54:56 - Staying connected to what’s really happening in the field, why office walks, open office hours, and time on sales calls give CROs earlier signal, better coaching moments, and stronger strategy.

Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results.

This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale.

Connect with Us:

• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Force Management

Today’s minisode features Chris Degnan, former CRO of Snowflake. In this clip, Chris explains what it really takes to grow with a company as it scales, and why earning your role does not stop once the title changes. He shares how treating every quarter like a 90-day contract, staying open to feedback, and knowing when to shift from grinding in the business to building leaders helped him navigate board pressure and scale through hypergrowth.

If you’re a sales leader navigating rapid growth, or questioning how to evolve without losing your edge, this is a perspective worth hearing.

Chris Degnan is the former Chief Revenue Officer of Snowflake, where he helped build the company from zero to more than $1B in consumption revenue. He is known for his expertise in scaling go-to-market organizations through early-stage ambiguity, enterprise expansion, and consumption-based selling models.

Connect with Chris:

• LinkedIn
• From Zero to Billions: How Snowflake Scaled its Go-to-Market Organization by Denise Persson & Chris Degnan

Resources mentioned:

• Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation

Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results.

This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale.

Connect with Us:

• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Force Management

Building a company from the ground up is rarely clean, fast, or glamorous. It requires leaders who are willing to earn their role repeatedly, adapt faster than the business evolves, and stay grounded in customer reality even as pressure to scale intensifies. In this replay of one of our favorite Revenue Builders Podcast conversations, Chris Degnan shares what it actually took to help build Snowflake from pre-product uncertainty into a billion-dollar revenue engine. Drawing on his experience joining the company two years before general availability, Chris breaks down the stages of growth, the discipline required to identify real product-market fit, and the leadership mindset needed to scale teams, go-to-market motion, and accountability without losing velocity or culture.

Chris Degnan is the former Chief Revenue Officer of Snowflake, where he helped build the company from zero to more than $1B in consumption revenue. He is known for his expertise in scaling go-to-market organizations through early-stage ambiguity, enterprise expansion, and consumption-based selling models.

Connect with Chris:

• LinkedIn
• From Zero to Billions: How Snowflake Scaled its Go-to-Market Organization by Denise Persson & Chris Degnan

Resources mentioned:

• Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation

If you’re responsible for scaling a go-to-market organization, drive predictability at scale with Force Management’s Predictable Revenue Framework. Get the free guide: https://hubs.li/Q03-T6NH0

Key takeaways from this episode:

• 05:10 – Why joining an early-stage company means earning your role every quarter, not relying on past success or title
• 10:25 – How defining a narrow and honest ideal customer profile creates momentum, while chasing outliers quietly destroys focus and capital
• 16:45 – Why velocity and enterprise selling must coexist, and how overcommitting to one creates instability as companies scale
• 20:05 – How coachability and adaptability determine whether leaders grow with the company or get replaced as scale increases
• 21:55 – Why consumption-based selling demands accountability beyond the deal, and how reps must own customer success to earn full value
• 26:30 – Why resisting the urge to replace leaders too early preserves institutional knowledge and strengthens culture during scale

Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results.

This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale.

Connect with Us:

• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Force Management

Today’s minisode features Bob Kocis, author of The President’s Club Mindset. In this clip, Bob explains what separates elite salespeople from the rest, and it’s not just about skill. It’s about the discipline of watching yourself. He breaks down how top performers review their own “game film,” recognize what’s actually happening in the deal, and make micro-adjustments that lead to macro results.

If you’re a rep trying to sharpen your edge, or a leader building a culture of accountability and growth, this is a mindset shift you’ll want to hear.

Bob Kocis is the author of The President’s Club Mindset, released in December 2025. He has held senior revenue leadership roles across global enterprise organizations for more than 20 years and has spent his career studying what drives sustained excellence in sales.

Connect with Bob:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Buy The President’s Club Mindset by Bob Kocis

Resources:

• Join our live discussion with Bob Kocis on February 10, where he’ll break down President’s Club performance and answer your questions.
• Wondering how to drive consistent President’s Club-level performance across your entire org as a leader? Check out Force Management’s Predictable Revenue Framework.

Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results.

This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale.

Connect with Us:

• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Force Management