In this episode of Growth Unlocked, we explore the career journey from marketing leadership to owning the full revenue function with Firmable’s Chief Revenue Officer.

Tara shares how her mindset around revenue evolved early in her career, why modern marketers must take ownership of growth, and what it really takes to align sales, marketing, and customer success into one unified engine. From navigating major acquisitions to scaling a company from zero to over 1,000 customers, this conversation is packed with practical lessons on leadership, systems, and building high-performing go-to-market teams.

We also dive into the future of revenue leadership, the growing importance of RevOps and AI, and why customer focus, hiring well, and building scalable systems are the foundations of sustainable growth.

Key Takeaways

• Why modern marketers must think like revenue owners

• The biggest differences between CMO and CRO roles

• How to align sales, marketing, and customer success

• Lessons learned from multi-billion dollar acquisitions

• Why hiring and systems early accelerates growth

• How customer focus drives long-term business success

• The role of AI and RevOps in scaling revenue teams

• How CRO roles will evolve in the AI-driven future

Chapters

00:00 – Teaser

00:45 – Introduction to Tara Salmon and her career journey

01:05 – Thinking like a revenue owner as a marketer

04:20 – Why the CRO role didn’t exist earlier and career evolution

05:50 – Key differences between CMO and CRO responsibilities

08:10 – Aligning sales, marketing, and customer success

11:05 – Chief of Staff role and acquisition experience

15:20 – Lessons from acquisitions and executive decision-making

18:20 – Scaling MessageMedia and building structure

21:00 – Why customer focus drives business success

23:40 – The importance of customer feedback and partnerships

25:40 – Scaling Firmable to 1,000+ customers

27:10 – Hiring, systems, and building scalable processes

29:10 – Improving sales efficiency using systems and AI

33:05 – Career lessons and work-life balance

37:20 – The future of CRO roles and AI-driven revenue teams

40:10 – Where to connect and follow Tara’s journey

#GrowthUnlocked #RevenueLeadership #B2BGrowth #SalesAndMarketingAlignment #GoToMarket

In this episode of Growth Unlocked, Host Kieran Krohn sits down with Dan Tyre — HubSpot’s first salesperson, employee number six, and now a venture investor behind multiple unicorns — to unpack what real exponential growth actually looks like.

Dan challenges the myth that success is linear, explaining why true 100X growth demands intentional thinking, personal discipline, and a willingness to endure discomfort. Drawing on over four decades of experience, he shares hard-earned lessons from scaling HubSpot, investing in high-growth companies, and mentoring founders around the world.

Key Takeaways:

100X growth is built through systems, not shortcuts

Success must be defined before it can be scaled

What gets you to one stage will break you at the next

AI multiplies execution — it doesn’t replace it

Growth happens in discomfort, not convenience

Great businesses are still, and always will be, people businesses

Chapters:

00:00 – Teaser

00:46 – Why scaling is not linear

02:00 – Defining success before chasing it

06:00 – The hidden cost behind ambition

09:00 – Why discomfort creates real growth

13:00 – From founder-led sales to scalable systems

17:00 – When and how to pursue exponential growth

20:00 – Using AI without losing the human edge

24:00 – Customer retention vs acquisition

28:00 – Planning, numbers, and intentional execution

32:00 – Doing meaningful work and giving back

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🔗 Stay Connected With Me.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growth.unlocked.podcast/

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LinkedIn (Kieran Krohn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/kierankrohn/

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ABOUT KIERAN

Kieran Krohn is a renowned GTM professional, entrepreneur, investor and business growth expert.

His background is growing and scaling HubSpot’s business in Australia and New Zealand by developing their partner ecosystem. Over the last decade, he has held a number of roles in channel and direct sales as well as leadership where he built a high performing sales team. He has been awarded key accolades as the top performer 4x in the region and achieved Presidents Club 7x consecutively.

His mission is to help business founders achieve the freedom they set out to when they left the corporate world, and build valuable businesses that will create financial certainty for generations to come.

Connect with Kieran on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kierankrohn/

In this episode of Growth Unlocked, Kieran Krohn speaks with Emma Davison, CEO of Virtual HQ, about how a small, focussed team used brand, culture and technology — especially AI and smart partnerships — to outpace larger, better-funded rivals. Emma shares her journey from physiotherapy to building a tech-enabled operation, the lessons she learned about listening to customers, hiring for culture, prioritising automation that fixes pain points, and why authenticity is now a competitive advantage.Key Takeaways:Outstrategise, don’t outspend — clarity + discipline beat deep pockets.Authenticity is a competitive advantage in an AI-blurred world.Stay close to customers: frontline listening shapes product and priorities.Automate pain points first — free people for higher-value work.Hire for culture; skills can be taught but fit is everything.Launch fast, iterate, and keep composure under pressure.Small teams + the right tech partners = giant-level capability.Chapters:00:00 – Teaser: Brand, culture & strategy beat tech alone00:49 – How Virtual HQ competes with larger companies01:35 – Flat teams, fast decisions & strategic partnerships03:02 – Staying close to the customer: frontline listening04:29 – CEO on the frontline: why leaders must get hands-on06:02 – Brand, identity and the multiplier effect of trust09:04 – From physio to CEO: transferable skills & listening11:13 – Leadership lessons: grace under pressure & curiosity13:25 – Common traits of successful founders: grit & process15:12 – Hiring for culture: values, interview process & fit18:19 – Prioritising automation: fix the pain points first21:23 – MVPs, speed & the advantage of iterative launches23:08 – Choosing the right tech partners to move faster25:22 – Business impact: credibility, retention & trust loops27:30 – Practical steps to start your tech journey (don’t boil the ocean)30:00 – Advice to 21-year-old Emma: resilience & curiosity32:03 – Where to connect with EmmaVALUABLE RESOURCESGrade your website’s performance to find conversion opportunities & generate more qualified leads: https://scalestation.io/free-website-...ABOUT KIERANKieran Krohn is a renowned GTM professional, entrepreneur, investor and business growth expert.His background is growing and scaling HubSpot’s business in Australia and New Zealand by developing their partner ecosystem. Over the last decade, he has held a number of roles in channel and direct sales as well as leadership where he built a high performing sales team. He has been awarded key accolades as the top performer 4x in the region and achieved Presidents Club 7x consecutively. His mission is to help business founders achieve the freedom they set out to when they left the corporate world, and build valuable businesses that will create financial certainty for generations to come.Connect with Kieran on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kierankrohn/business strategy, small business, AI, brand, culture, strategic alignment, customer experience, automation, artificial intelligence, MVP, go-to-market, customer retention, leadership, hiring for culture, workplace culture, #business strategy #SmallButMighty #GrowthUnlocked #strategic alignment #VirtualHQ #CustomerFirst #ScaleWithFocus #AIForGood #BrandWins #leadership #workplace culture

In this episod, Kieran Krohn speaks with Gina McCartney, founder of Getting Traction and former executive leader at REA Group, who was among the early advocates for the Chief Customer Officer (CCO) role.

Gina shares how the CCO position emerged from the evolution of the traditional CMO function and why businesses today must orient themselves around the customer if they want sustainable growth. She also unpacks how to measure customer satisfaction beyond NPS, the rise of fractional leadership, and how AI and go-to-market engineering are transforming customer experience.

Key Takeaways:

The CMO is evolving into the Chief Customer Officer era

True growth comes from keeping customers, not just finding them

Data and AI reveal what customers really think

Listening beats guessing, customer feedback fuels innovation

Fractional leaders bring senior expertise without full-time costs

The future belongs to customer-first, tech-savvy teams

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Grade your website’s performance to find conversion opportunities & generate more qualified leads: https://scalestation.io/free-website-...

ABOUT KIERAN

Kieran Krohn is a renowned GTM professional, entrepreneur, investor and business growth expert.

His background is growing and scaling HubSpot’s business in Australia and New Zealand by developing their partner ecosystem. Over the last decade, he has held a number of roles in channel and direct sales as well as leadership where he built a high performing sales team. He has been awarded key accolades as the top performer 4x in the region and achieved Presidents Club 7x consecutively.

His mission is to help business founders achieve the freedom they set out to when they left the corporate world, and build valuable businesses that will create financial certainty for generations to come.

Connect with Kieran on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kierankrohn/

Chief Customer Officer, customer experience, marketing leadership, retention strategy, AI in business, fractional leadership, go-to-market, customer insights, business growth, customer advocacy

#CustomerCentricity #GrowthUnlocked #GinaMcCartney #Leadership #BusinessGrowth #GoToMarket #CustomerExperience

In this episode Kieran Krohn sits down with Scott Brinker, VP of Platform Ecosystem at HubSpot and the “godfather of martech.” Scott shares why AI agents are the biggest shift in marketing since the internet, and how they’re reshaping the way companies create, sell, and serve customers.

From data strategy to customer service automation, Scott unpacks the real-world applications of AI agents, how businesses can prepare for the rise of “buyer agents”, and why adaptability is now the ultimate competitive advantage.Key Takeaways:AI agents mark the biggest marketing shift since the internet Content still matters, visibility has simply moved up the funnelBusinesses must adapt to how LLMs and buyer agents consume dataThe best companies will use AI to turn unstructured data into insightGovernance and real-time data enrichment are now criticalMarketing efficiency gains should be reinvested into creativity and experimentationFuture marketers will need to market to AI agents, not just humansChapters:00:00 – Teaser01:22 – Why AI Is a General Purpose Technology03:38 – The Death (and Rebirth) of Content Marketing06:41 – Shifts in Search, YouTube, and Community Platforms08:30 – AI Tools vs. AI Agents Explained11:47 – The Rise of Customer Service Agents13:36 – Data Quality and Why It Matters More Than Ever16:16 – Organising and Governing Company Data18:59 – Always-On CRMs and Dynamic Data Enrichment22:07 – Structuring Conversational Data for Insight24:15 – AI’s Impact on Marketing Teams and Efficiency27:42 – Reinvesting Efficiency Gains for Growth31:20 – The Rise of Buyer Agents34:30 – Where to Start with AI Agents36:08 – Building a Culture of ExperimentationVALUABLE RESOURCESGrade your website’s performance to find conversion opportunities & generate more qualified leads: https://scalestation.io/free-website-graderABOUT KIERANKieran Krohn is a renowned GTM professional, entrepreneur, investor and business growth expert.His background is growing and scaling HubSpot’s business in Australia and New Zealand by developing their partner ecosystem. Over the last decade, he has held a number of roles in channel and direct sales as well as leadership where he built a high performing sales team. He has been awarded key accolades as the top performer 4x in the region and achieved Presidents Club 7x consecutively. His mission is to help business founders achieve the freedom they set out to when they left the corporate world, and build valuable businesses that will create financial certainty for generations to come.Connect with Kieran on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kierankrohn/AI agents, marketing technology, HubSpot, data strategy, automation, buyer agents, martech, content strategy, CRM, business growth#AIinMarketing #GrowthUnlocked #ScottBrinker #HubSpot #MarTech #BusinessGrowth #MarketingStrategy#Podcast #Businessmodel

In this episode, Kieran Krohn speaks with Sidney Minassian, founder of Impact Ladder and seasoned entrepreneur. Sidney shares his Founder’s Playbook, how to scale without burning out, build brands that stand out, leverage partnerships, and develop people. He also reveals why optionality and self-leadership are essential for creating companies that attract investors and thrive long-term.

Key Takeaways:

Brand, partnerships, and people are the growth engine

Founders must own everything but also learn to let go

Self-leadership shapes company leadership

Be known for one thing, niching creates power

Always be exit-ready to unlock optionality

Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:09 Sidney’s Founder Journey & Exits

03:29 The Playbook: Brand, Partnerships & People

05:42 Building a Memorable Brand in a Noisy World

09:10 Why Authentic Connection Matters

11:24 The Three Founder Mistakes to Avoid

16:47 Scaling from $20M to $200M

19:05 Designing Companies Investors Want

23:38 Owning the Category & Building Authority

28:16 Optionality: Always Be Exit-Ready

34:33 Self-Care, Detachment & Systems Thinking

41:37 What Sidney Would Build in 2025

46:03 Where to Follow Sidney

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Grade your website’s performance to find conversion opportunities & generate more qualified leads: https://scalestation.io/free-website-...

ABOUT KIERAN

Kieran Krohn is a renowned GTM professional, entrepreneur, investor and business growth expert.

His background is growing and scaling HubSpot’s business in Australia and New Zealand by developing their partner ecosystem. Over the last decade, he has held a number of roles in channel and direct sales as well as leadership where he built a high performing sales team. He has been awarded key accolades as the top performer 4x in the region and achieved Presidents Club 7x consecutively.

His mission is to help business founders achieve the freedom they set out to when they left the corporate world, and build valuable businesses that will create financial certainty for generations to come.

Connect with Kieran on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kierankrohn/

keywords

entrepreneurship, scaling businesses, founder playbook, brand partnerships, self-leadership, optionality, investor attraction, business growth, AI in business, personal branding

#FoundersPlaybook #StartupGrowth #BusinessLeadership #GrowthUnlocked #SidneyManassian

In this episode of Growth Unlocked, Kieran Krohn speaks with Mark Roberge, former CRO who helped scale HubSpot from $0 to $100M ARR and author of The Sales Acceleration Formula. Now co-founder of Stage 2 Capital and lecturer at Harvard Business School, Mark shares how AI is transforming sales from art into science, why discipline beats growth-at-all-costs, and what it takes to build sustainable revenue engines in 2025 and beyond.

Key Takeaways

AI is turning sales from an art into a science

The future of selling is buyer-facing time approaching 100%

Don’t scale because you raised money — scale when you’re ready

Product-market fit and go-to-market fit must come before hiring sprees

Experimentation is key: treat GTM like a product

Sustainable growth beats reckless hypergrowth

RevOps may become the CRO of the future

Chapters:

00:00 – Teaser: AI Transforming Sales

01:09 – Lessons from Scaling HubSpot

04:19 – AI Agents in Sales Enablement

07:01 – Ideal Customer Profile & AI Targeting

11:05 – Future of Sales Roles with AI

15:12 – Navigating Tech Consolidation & Anxiety

17:06 – Trade-offs: Hypergrowth vs. Sustainable Growth

23:19 – Treating Go-To-Market Like a Product

27:44 – Frameworks for Prioritization & Experimentation

33:00 – What Will Separate Winners by

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Grade your website’s performance to find conversion opportunities & generate more qualified leads: https://scalestation.io/free-website-...

ABOUT KIERAN

Kieran Krohn is a renowned GTM professional, entrepreneur, investor and business growth expert.

His background is growing and scaling HubSpot’s business in Australia and New Zealand by developing their partner ecosystem. Over the last decade, he has held a number of roles in channel and direct sales as well as leadership where he built a high performing sales team. He has been awarded key accolades as the top performer 4x in the region and achieved Presidents Club 7x consecutively.

His mission is to help business founders achieve the freedom they set out to when they left the corporate world, and build valuable businesses that will create financial certainty for generations to come.

Connect with Kieran on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kierankrohn/

Keywords

AI in sales, revenue growth, HubSpot, SaaS scaling, sustainable growth, experimentation, go-to-market strategy, RevOps, sales enablement, entrepreneurship

#AIinSales #SaaSLeadership #GrowthUnlocked #MarkRoberge #ScienceOfScaling

In this episode of Growth Unlocked, Kieran Krohn speaks with John-Daniel Trask, founder of Raygun and AutoHive. JD shares his journey of bootstrapping Raygun over 12 years into a global SaaS leader and why patience can often outperform hypergrowth. He also unpacks how to build in the age of AI, why too much capital can kill discipline, and what it really means to create a sustainable company in 2025.

Key Takeaways:

Patience can beat VC-fuelled hypergrowth

Capital enables focus, not success

AI should empower teams, not replace them

Sustainable businesses prioritise culture and profitability

Future leaders must celebrate innovation, not fear it

Chapters:

00:00 Teaser – Patience vs Hypergrowth

01:09 Bootstrapping Raygun into a SaaS Leader

03:22 The Power of Focus Over Capital

07:01 Lessons from the VC Model

11:05 Common Mistakes in Scaling with Capital

15:12 Automating with AI Agents

19:54 The Birth of AutoHive

24:03 Building an AI-First Company

28:13 Are We Seeing the End of Big Business?

33:43 What Makes a Great Company in 2025

37:27 Advice for Leaders Adopting AI

41:37 Where to Connect with JD

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Grade your website’s performance to find conversion opportunities & generate more qualified leads: https://scalestation.io/free-website-...

ABOUT KIERAN

Kieran Krohn is a renowned GTM professional, entrepreneur, investor and business growth expert.

His background is growing and scaling HubSpot’s business in Australia and New Zealand by developing their partner ecosystem. Over the last decade, he has held a number of roles in channel and direct sales as well as leadership where he built a high performing sales team. He has been awarded key accolades as the top performer 4x in the region and achieved Presidents Club 7x consecutively.

His mission is to help business founders achieve the freedom they set out to when they left the corporate world, and build valuable businesses that will create financial certainty for generations to come.

Connect with Kieran on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kierankrohn/

keywords:

business growth, patience, venture capital, automation, AI, company culture, sustainable growth, entrepreneurship, software development, tech industry

#PatienceOverHype #SaaSLeadership #GrowthUnlocked #JohnDanielTrask #AIandBusiness