GTM 93: Mastering the Generalist Specialist Role and Decoding the CEO Dashboard with Noah Marks

The GTM Podcast

Description:

Noah Marks is a transformative growth leader focused on building GTM engines and scaling organizations for sustainable growth. He has been in the strategy & operations world for the last decade (with Udemy, WalkMe, Okta and Salesforce), and has spent almost the entirely of his career in the B2B technology market (with the lone exception being a slight deviation into the world of M&A investment banking). Noah currently resides in the Bay Area with his wife, three kids and 3 dogs, and spends as much time as he can in the mountains - fishing, hiking and skiing.
Discussed in this Episode:

• The emergence of the "generalist specialist" as a critical skill set in tech
• Fostering a culture of experimentation and ownership across the org
• Must-have metrics for a CEO dashboard that provides true business insights
• Balancing the pursuit of perfection vs speed in a high-growth environment
• Applying an investment banker's lens to GTM strategy and operations
• Tactics for rapidly ramping in a new leadership role at an established company
• Building strategic alignment and efficient communication across departments

Highlights:
7:32 - Setting yourself up for success in a new executive role.
12:10 - Navigating the current economic challenges facing tech companies.
17:21 - The concept of a "generalist specialist" and how to empower teams to think that way.
28:02 - Noah's experience working in investment banking and the lessons he learned.
35:14 - How Noah keeps his teams honest when looking at data, even when it doesn't tell the desired story.
44:16 - Must-haves in a CEO/executive roll-up dashboard.
50:27 - One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Noah Marks thinks is bull$***.
52:13 - One thing that is working for Noah Marks in go-to-market right now.
Guest Speaker Links (Noah Marks):
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahmarks/
Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/
Sponsor:

• Brought to you by Demandbase. Demandbase helps B2B companies hit their revenue goals using fewer resources by using the power of AI to identify and engage the accounts and buying groups most likely to purchase. Their account-based technology unites sales and marketing teams around insights that you can understand and facilitates quick actions across systems and channels to deliver big wins. It’s flexible, scalable ABM built for you.

The GTM Podcast
Features conversations with well-known tech executive, VC, and founders - the expert operators in the trenches who have ‘been there, done that’ to build some of the fastest-growing software companies. Every week, a guest joins Scott Barker to dissect their stories, revealing expert insights around what worked, what didn’t, and how things actually went down.
This podcast is produced by GTMnow, the media brand of GTMfund - sharing insight on go-to-market from working with hundreds of portfolio companies backed by over 350 of the best go-to-market executives. GTMfund is an early-stage VC fund focused on investing in the most exciting, up-and-coming B2B SaaS companies across the world. The LP network consists of VP and C-level Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success leaders from companies like DocuSign, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Snowflake, Okta, Zoom, and many more.
Visit gtmnow.com for more details and to sign up for our newsletter and other content resources.