The LeanScale Podcast · Episode 15

Where Should RevOps Report?

Cameron Legge and Anthony Enrico on when to start RevOps, the first hires, and which executive it should report into

Cameron Legge · Engagement Manager, LeanScale · LeanScale Hosted by Anthony Enrico
Published Updated 00:16:55 14 min read 2,724 words
Revenue Operations Sales Enablement GTM Strategy Sales Leadership
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Executive Summary

The one-paragraph brief, extended

Why this conversation matters — and who should spend the hour.

In one of the early LeanScale Podcast episodes, co-founders Cameron Legge and Anthony Enrico take on what they call one of the most controversial questions in RevOps: where the function should report and how you should structure it as the company grows. Both have run RevOps at multiple companies and now do it for a living as a RevOps-as-a-service firm, and this is a candid, opinionated tour of their playbook — from the very first hire to the executive the whole function should sit under.

They start with the 'Genesis' of RevOps: when a company needs it (earlier than most founders think) and what the first role looks like. The answer is the unglamorous but essential systems admin — someone dedicated to owning the CRM and wiring up the connected marketing, sales, and CS tools — followed quickly by a second, more strategic skill set focused on process, analytics, and reporting. Finding one person who does both is finding a 'unicorn.' The recurring mistake they see is leaving systems to a VP of Sales or a CRO who isn't trained for it, which burns expensive time and produces a shaky foundation.

The heart of the episode is the reporting question, and their answer is a hierarchy. First choice is a true, full-scope CRO who owns the entire go-to-market lifecycle — cold lead to mature, adopting customer — because RevOps is the connective tissue across marketing, sales, and customer success. But anecdotally that true CRO is rare; most 'CROs' are really VPs of Sales moonlighting in the title. When that's the case, RevOps should report to a more neutral executive: a COO if one exists, or a strategic (not accounting-led) CFO who owns corporate planning. The through-line is a single principle — neutrality equals authority. Park RevOps under a single-function leader and it loses the mandate to look across the whole process and pull levers without bias.

They close by mapping the team you build as you scale — systems owner(s), a manager/VP-level strategic leader with a real seat at the table, a dedicated reporting-and-analytics owner, an enablement function most companies underrate, and eventually per-function RevOps PMs who can dive deep in marketing, sales, and CS. Who should listen: founders deciding when and how to stand up RevOps, RevOps leaders arguing for the right reporting line and title, and CROs, COOs, and CFOs weighing whether they're the right home for the function.

Key Takeaways

9 things worth stealing

The load-bearing ideas, each with the business implication and who should care.

01

Start RevOps earlier than most founders think

Early on you're rightly focused on the traditional cornerstones — sales, marketing, product — but Cameron argues it's never too early to start integrating revenue operations into the business. As soon as the engine is rolling, RevOps should be part of the plan, not an afterthought you bolt on after scaling.

Why it matters: Bake RevOps into your operating plan while you're still small. Waiting until things are messy means retrofitting systems and process onto a foundation that was never built for it.

FoundersRevOps Leaders
02

The first RevOps hire is a systems admin — the unsexy but essential role

The first role isn't the glamorous strategist; it's a dedicated systems admin who owns the CRM first and foremost, then wires in the connected tools that power marketing, sales, and customer success. Without a clean, well-run system of record, everything downstream is compromised.

Why it matters: Prioritize a dedicated systems owner before a strategic hire. A well-run CRM and integrated stack is the foundation every later RevOps investment depends on.

FoundersRevOps Leaders
03

The unicorn who does both systems and strategy is rare

The second skill set RevOps needs is business operations — process, analytics, and reporting, the 'gold standard' of what you want from the function. Someone who can do both the systems side and the strategic analytics side is a unicorn; most people are strong at one, not both.

Why it matters: Don't assume one hire can cover both lanes as you scale. Plan to split systems ownership from strategic/analytics ownership so each is done well rather than spread thin.

RevOps LeadersFounders
04

Don't make your VP of Sales or CRO build Salesforce

At an early-stage company, the sales leader often ends up implementing tools on their own — setting up Salesforce, connecting it to HubSpot — without training for it. The opportunity cost of a VP of Sales or CRO doing systems work is high, and it becomes a complete waste of their time.

Why it matters: Free your revenue leaders to sell and lead. A dedicated systems owner is cheaper than the opportunity cost of your most expensive people doing admin work badly.

FoundersRevenue ExecutivesSales Leaders
05

First choice: report to a true, full-scope CRO

Their number-one recommendation is for RevOps to report to a CRO — but specifically a true CRO who owns the entire go-to-market lifecycle, cold lead to mature adopting customer. That full scope across marketing, sales, and customer success is what makes it revenue operations rather than sales ops.

Why it matters: If you have a CRO with genuine authority over the whole revenue organization, that's the ideal home for RevOps — the function inherits the mandate to operate across the full lifecycle.

Revenue ExecutivesRevOps LeadersFounders
06

Most 'CROs' are really VPs of Sales — the true CRO is rarer than you'd think

Anecdotally, a CRO who actually looks across the entire revenue organization — without marketing reporting elsewhere and success reporting into product — is rare. Many CROs are moonlighting as a VP of Sales, over-indexed on the sales aspect. This should be part of how you interview and select for the role.

Why it matters: Interview explicitly for cross-functional scope and appetite when hiring a CRO. If the person only wants to run sales, don't hang your whole GTM operating model under them.

FoundersRevenue Executives
07

No true CRO? Go COO, then a strategic CFO

If you don't have a true CRO, the next-best home is a COO — a role responsible for the entire company that may already hold product ops and people ops. If there's no COO either (common in Series A–C startups), a strategic CFO works, provided they're strategic rather than accounting-led, because they own corporate planning and often act as the CEO's right hand.

Why it matters: Have a clear fallback for where RevOps sits. A neutral operator or a planning-oriented CFO keeps the function above the fray of any single revenue silo.

FoundersRevenue ExecutivesRevOps Leaders
08

Neutrality equals authority — the real reason placement matters

If you put RevOps under a CRO who only owns sales while a CMO runs marketing separately, RevOps won't have authority over the process that connects the whole lifecycle. A more neutral position under a COO or CFO gives it the authority to look over and be responsible for the entire process — and to be unbiased about which levers to pull.

Why it matters: Decide reporting lines around authority and neutrality, not org-chart convenience. RevOps can only be the unbiased connective tissue if it isn't captive to one function's agenda.

RevOps LeadersRevenue ExecutivesFounders
09

As you scale, build the RevOps team in layers — and don't skip enablement

Beyond the systems owner and a manager/VP-level strategic leader (give them the title so they have a seat at strategic tables), a scaling team adds a dedicated reporting-and-analytics owner, an enablement function, and eventually per-function RevOps PMs across marketing, sales, and CS. Enablement is the one people miss most: great process and tech underdeliver if teams aren't enabled to adopt them.

Why it matters: Sequence your RevOps hires deliberately and resource enablement on purpose. Change management and adoption are where tech-and-process investments either pay off or quietly stall.

RevOps LeadersSales LeadersFounders
Frameworks Discussed

5 named models

Every framework Jimmy names, defined and time-stamped.

The Genesis of RevOps

00:54

When RevOps enters a company and what the first roles are: it typically starts from a systems need, so the first hire is a dedicated systems admin (CRM plus connected tools), followed quickly by a second, more strategic skill set focused on process, analytics, and reporting.

Cameron and Anthony argue it's never too early to integrate RevOps. The systems admin lays the foundation; the business-operations/analytics skill set is the 'gold standard' output. Finding both in one person is a rare 'unicorn,' so plan to split the lanes.

The RevOps Reporting Hierarchy (CRO → COO → CFO)

06:18

A ranked preference for where RevOps should report: first a true, full-scope CRO; if none, a COO; if none, a strategic (not accounting-led) CFO who owns corporate planning.

The ordering exists because the ideal home — a CRO with authority across the whole lifecycle — is rarer than it looks. The fallbacks are deliberately neutral executives who sit above individual revenue functions.

True CRO vs. a VP of Sales in a CRO Title

07:08

A distinction between a true CRO who owns the entire revenue organization — marketing, sales, and customer success/account management — and a 'CRO' who is really a VP of Sales moonlighting in the title, focused mainly on the sales motion.

RevOps is the connective tissue across the full go-to-market lifecycle; only a full-scope CRO gives it the cross-functional mandate. This distinction should shape how a company interviews for and selects the CRO role.

Neutrality Equals Authority

10:41

The principle that RevOps needs to sit under an executive with scope over the entire GTM lifecycle so it has unbiased authority over every lever — and that placing it under a single-function leader strips that authority.

If RevOps reports to a sales-only CRO while marketing sits under a separate CMO, it can't govern the process that connects the whole lifecycle. A neutral seat (COO or CFO) lets RevOps be responsible for the whole process and unbiased about which levers to pull.

The RevOps Team Build-Out

11:24

The sequence of roles a RevOps org adds as it scales: systems owner(s) → a manager/VP-level strategic leader with a seat at the table → a dedicated reporting-and-analytics owner → enablement → per-function RevOps PMs across marketing, sales, and CS.

Each layer frees the one above it: analytics owners let the strategic leader stop doing reports and start using them; PMs let the team dive deep per function while systems and process stay centrally aligned. Enablement is the most commonly skipped layer.

Best Quotes

13 lines worth clipping

Pulled verbatim. Copy or share any of them.

“If you put revenue operations with a CRO but they don't own one of the functions, then you're not going to have authority over the process that really connects the whole go-to-market lifecycle.”
Anthony Enrico 00:00
“I don't think it's ever too early to start thinking about revenue operations as a whole and getting that integrated into your business.”
Cameron Legge 01:36
“The first role, even though it's certainly not the sexiest as it comes to revenue operations, is going to be a systems admin.”
Cameron Legge 01:36
“If you're able to find a systems admin that can do both of those, you found a unicorn, so please send your resume our way immediately.”
Cameron Legge 02:52
“Quickly the opportunity cost of having your VP of sales or potentially a CRO trying to set up Salesforce, trying to connect it to HubSpot — and they're not really trained in it either — it just becomes a complete waste of time.”
Anthony Enrico 04:11
“I like to explain revenue operations as we're that connective tissue between marketing, sales, customer success or your account management function.”
Cameron Legge 07:08
“This is no knock on CROs, but we find a lot of times CROs are sort of moonlighting as a VP of sales, or very focused on the sales aspect of the business.”
Cameron Legge 07:53
“A true CRO that's looking across the entire revenue organization — that's where we feel like is a good spot for RevOps.”
Cameron Legge 07:53
“If you have a true CRO, have a report there. If you don't have a true CRO, I think the next best role is a chief operating officer.”
Anthony Enrico 09:09
“I actually think a good place for RevOps can be with the CFO — if the CFO is more of a strategic CFO and not an accounting-led CFO, because they're the ones who are going to own the corporate planning process.”
Anthony Enrico 09:55
“If you put it in a more neutral position with a COO or a CFO, it gives RevOps the authority to look over the whole process, be responsible for the whole process, and really be unbiased in which levers you should be pulling.”
Anthony Enrico 11:24
“You can be developing the right processes, bringing in the right tech stack, and not have the enablement portion — and that's where things start to be less useful.”
Cameron Legge 13:20
“Genesis of RevOps for most companies typically comes out of a system's need. You'll have a VP of sales trying to put the systems together, and it's just frankly not a good use of their time.”
Anthony Enrico 15:38
Practical Advice

What should you actually do?

The playbook, split by the seat you sit in.

Founders

  • Plan for RevOps earlier than feels necessary — start integrating it as the engine begins rolling rather than after you've scaled and made a mess.
  • Hire a dedicated systems admin first so your CRM and connected stack are built right; don't leave it to a VP of Sales or CRO who isn't trained for it.
  • When you hire a CRO, interview explicitly for cross-functional scope and the desire to own marketing, sales, and CS — not just the sales number.

RevOps Leaders

  • Split the two core skill sets — systems ownership and strategic business-ops/analytics — rather than betting one 'unicorn' hire can do both well.
  • Fight for a reporting line and a title that give you authority and a seat at strategic tables; neutrality above a single function is what lets you govern the whole lifecycle.
  • Resource enablement on purpose — it's the layer most teams skip, and without adoption your process and tech investments quietly underdeliver.

Revenue Executives

  • If you're a full-scope CRO who genuinely owns the whole go-to-market lifecycle, claim RevOps — it inherits your cross-functional mandate.
  • If your CRO is really a VP of Sales, place RevOps under a neutral executive (COO, or a strategic planning-oriented CFO) so it stays unbiased about which levers to pull.
  • As you scale, sequence the RevOps team deliberately: systems owner(s), a strategic leader, a reporting/analytics owner, enablement, then per-function PMs.
Operations Takeaways

By function

The same conversation, filtered for RevOps, pipeline/marketing ops, and customer ops.

Revenue Operations

  • Start early. It's never too early to integrate RevOps; build it into the plan while you're small rather than retrofitting later.
  • Systems first. The first hire is a dedicated systems admin who owns the CRM and connected stack — the foundation everything else depends on.
  • Two lanes, rarely one person. Systems ownership and strategic analytics/process are distinct skill sets; the person who does both is a unicorn.
  • Report to full scope. Prefer a true CRO who owns the whole lifecycle; most 'CROs' are really VPs of Sales, so a COO or strategic CFO is the neutral fallback.
  • Neutrality equals authority. RevOps can only be unbiased connective tissue if it isn't captive to one revenue function — placement should follow authority, not the org chart.
  • Don't skip enablement. Great process and tech underdeliver without a dedicated enablement function driving adoption across teams.
Metrics Mentioned

The numbers, with context

Earlier than most think
When to start RevOps

Cameron argues it's never too early to integrate RevOps; the first hire should come as the business starts rolling, not after scale.

Systems admin
First RevOps hire

The unsexy but essential first role — owns the CRM and connects the marketing, sales, and CS tool stack.

Series C–D
Per-function RevOps PMs

As the org really fires, add dedicated RevOps PMs per function (marketing, sales, CS) who can dive deep and feed the strategic leader.

Entities

Companies, people & tools mentioned

Auto-extracted and linked into the knowledge graph.

Companies

LeanScaleGTM Operations

Cameron and Anthony's firm; they frame the episode from their vantage running RevOps-as-a-service and doing RevOps at multiple companies before it.

00:00 · 03:31Company →

People

Anthony Enricohost

Co-founder of LeanScale and host of The LeanScale Podcast.

Co-FounderProfile →
Cameron Leggeguest

Customer-success professional and early LeanScale Engagement Manager; a CS practitioner who argues customer success is a company's 'front porch' and most underrated growth engine.

Engagement Manager, LeanScaleProfile →

Tools & software

SalesforceCRM

Named as the CRM a systems admin owns first — and the example of what a VP of Sales shouldn't be setting up themselves.

Website ↗
HubSpotCRM

Cited alongside Salesforce as a connected tool the systems admin wires up; the opportunity-cost example of untrained revenue leaders connecting the stack.

Website ↗
Related LeanScale Services

Where this shows up in the work

Fractional RevOps

Embedded, field-facing RevOps leadership and execution — the operator model Jimmy describes, delivered as a service.

The entire episode is LeanScale's own RevOps-as-a-service playbook — when to start, who to hire, and where the function should report.

Sales Enablement Build

Stand up a zero-based, sales-academy enablement motion sized to your span of control and sales complexity.

Enablement is called out as the role companies most often miss; standing it up is core LeanScale work.

Forecasting & ARR Definition

Define a raise-worthy ARR and build a reliable consumption forecast across finance, data science, and go-to-market.

The reporting-and-analytics owner and the strategic CFO's corporate-planning process tie directly to LeanScale's forecasting and planning engagements.

Frequently Asked Questions

Straight answers

Generated from the conversation, marked up for search and AI extraction.

Where should RevOps report in an organization?

The first choice is a true, full-scope CRO who owns the entire go-to-market lifecycle across marketing, sales, and customer success. Because that kind of CRO is rare — most are really VPs of Sales — the next-best options are a COO, or a strategic (not accounting-led) CFO who owns corporate planning. The goal is a neutral executive whose scope gives RevOps unbiased authority over the whole process.

What is the first RevOps hire a company should make?

A dedicated systems admin. It's not the most glamorous role, but it's the essential first one — someone who owns the CRM first and foremost and then connects the tools that power marketing, sales, and customer success. A clean, well-run system of record is the foundation every later RevOps investment depends on.

When should a company start investing in RevOps?

Earlier than most founders think. While you're first getting the business off the ground you focus on sales, marketing, and product — but as soon as the revenue engine starts rolling, it's worth integrating revenue operations into the plan rather than bolting it on after you've scaled.

Why shouldn't RevOps report to a CRO who only runs sales?

If RevOps sits under a CRO who owns sales while marketing reports to a separate CMO, RevOps won't have authority over the process that connects the whole lifecycle. Placing it in a more neutral position — under a COO or CFO — gives it the authority to look across the entire process and stay unbiased about which levers to pull.

What's the difference between RevOps and sales ops?

RevOps is the connective tissue across marketing, sales, and customer success (or account management), spanning the full lifecycle from cold lead to mature, adopting customer. Sales ops, which has been around much longer, is focused narrowly on the sales function. If you're only supporting sales, you're really doing sales ops, not revenue operations.

What roles make up a mature RevOps team?

As a company scales, RevOps typically layers: one or more systems owners; a manager/VP-level strategic leader with a real seat at the table; a dedicated reporting-and-analytics owner; an enablement function; and eventually per-function RevOps PMs who dive deep in marketing, sales, and CS while systems and process stay centrally aligned.

Can one person handle both RevOps systems and strategy?

Rarely. RevOps needs both a systems skill set (CRM and connected tools) and a strategic business-operations skill set (process, analytics, and reporting). Someone genuinely strong at both is a 'unicorn'; most teams should plan to split the two lanes so each is done well rather than spreading one person too thin.

Timeline

Jump through the conversation

Click any chapter to open it in the transcript.

00:00Cold open + welcome 00:54The Genesis of RevOps: when do you need it? 01:36The first hire: a systems admin 02:52The second skill set: business ops, analytics & reporting 04:11Why the VP of Sales shouldn't build the systems 04:58Why one generalist can't scale 06:18Where should RevOps report? Start with the CRO 07:53How often is the CRO truly full-scope? 09:09The COO as the next-best home 09:55The strategic CFO option for Series A–C 10:41Neutrality equals authority 11:24The typical RevOps roles as you scale 13:20Enablement: the role people miss 14:00Dedicated PMs per function (Series C/D) 15:38Recap: Genesis, roles, and where it reports
Full Transcript

The whole conversation

Broken into chapters, searchable, verbatim from the audio. Speakers inferred (not diarized).

Transcript as markdown ↓ Whole episode as markdown ↓
00:00Cold open + welcome

0:00 If you put revenue operations with a CRO, but they don't own one of the functions, then you're not going to have authority over the process that really connects the whole go-to-market lifecycle. Welcome to The LeanScale Podcast where we talk about everything RevOps. Thank you for listening. I think one of the most controversial topics about RevOps is where it should report and how you should structure it over time. Agreed. I mean, this is something that we're super passionate about. We obviously work with our customers every day, and it's always interesting to see the different types of roles that we work with and where we even feel like LeanScale fits

00:54The Genesis of RevOps: when do you need it?

0:54 best as a RevOps as a service company. Really excited to dive in with you on some of our own thoughts on where the best place to nestle RevOps is in your organization. Yeah, absolutely. I think probably a good place to start is Genesis of RevOps. When does a company typically need to start investing in RevOps, and what do those first roles look like? Well, it's probably earlier than most people think. Obviously, when you're first getting a company off the ground, you're thinking a lot about the traditional cornerstones and main business functions, your sales, your marketing, your product teams. Obviously, you have to start somewhere.

01:36The first hire: a systems admin

1:36 Getting that initial business foundation is important, but as that starts to get up and running and your business starts to get rolling, I don't think it's ever too early to start thinking about revenue operations as a whole and getting that integrated into your business. As you start to think about adding revenue operations into your core business functions, the first role, even though it's certainly not the sexiest as it comes to revenue operations as a function and a topic or an area of business, is going to be a systems admin. Having somebody that's dedicated to, obviously, first and foremost, manage your CRM, but then

2:15 also start to get those other connected tools that are going to really power your teams that are in place, the marketing team, the sales team, the customer success team, or there may only be one of those roles in your organizations as you're young and you're starting out, but the systems admin is so important. You're going to hire that systems admin, and then you're immediately going to go tell them to watch one of our former podcast episodes that came out recently with Sakai, our co-founder and chief architect, about the top five tips of really getting your CRM up and running and just really make sure that you're not missing that.

02:52The second skill set: business ops, analytics & reporting

2:52 That's going to be the start, and then you're going to look for another skill set, which is more centered around business operations, the process, and the analytics and reporting that you're really looking for and is really the gold standard of what you want to get out of your revenue operations function. Now, if you're able to find a systems admin that can do both of those, you found a unicorn, so please send our resume our way immediately. Yeah, we'd love to hire you. When you don't find that unicorn, call 1-800-LEAN-SCALE immediately, but seriously, reach out as you're thinking about starting your revenue operations function.

3:31 We'd love to chat with you about what we do at LeanScale and really managing both sides and really catering and servicing both sides of that, so the system admin side plus the analytics reporting and process side. That's something that we love to lean in on, obviously, and do every day. Yeah, I think that's interesting, starting with the systems admin, because normally if you're at an early stage company, you did a seed round, a Series A, you likely have a sales leader in place, and then they probably have to start implementing tools on their own because you might not be able to invest in these type of roles that early on, but

04:11Why the VP of Sales shouldn't build the systems

4:11 quickly the opportunity cost of having your VP of sales or potentially a CRO, trying to set up Salesforce, trying to connect it to HubSpot, and then they're not really trained in it either, it just becomes a complete waste of time. I see that too. I think the systems admin role is usually the first one that comes into play, but then quickly I feel like things start to need a different level of development when you bring in somebody more strategic. When that happens, what type of skills are you looking for, and why can't that system admin role just fulfill the need that the company has at that time? Once you start scaling.

04:58Why one generalist can't scale

4:58 Yeah, yeah, I think it just becomes a big thing to manage as you're scaling, more things are happening in the revenue engine, it's even hard to just have one person no matter their true skill set to really be able to cover all things and do them well, to be spread out like that, you're just going to start to get less production from your revenue operation function. So I think having roles that are dedicated to really looking at each of the core tenants of RevOps is important just because you're going to have more results from having people specifically focused on, "Hey, I'm responsible for the tech admin side."

5:42 Certainly they're hopefully going to have experience in CRMs and connected tools and marketing and sales and customers to have the right context of what they're building. So certainly they're a stakeholder, you're not leaving them to, "Hey, go in the back and start building the flows and validation rules in your Salesforce or HubSpot." You want them to be involved in the process, but it just becomes big to manage and to have people that are in their lanes and firing in all cylinders and driving 75, 80 down the freeway is 100% what you want. Makes a lot of sense. Something I think a lot of companies struggle with and we get the question a lot.

06:18Where should RevOps report? Start with the CRO

6:18 I get the question all the time. Where should RevOps report when you're taking that direct line to the C-suite? What role should revenue operations report into? Yeah. It's an awesome question and I know something again that we have our own thoughts and opinions about from experience of doing RevOps at multiple companies and now servicing our wonderful customers in RevOps. So I think from a reporting up to standpoint, certainly a CRO is our number one, this is where we want RevOps to sit into. I think the big thing there is having a CRO that's full scope. So we talk about GTM lifecycle and when we talk about that at lean scale, it's cold lead

7:08 to mature adopting customer. We're looking at all of that. And that's what really makes it revenue operations. I like to explain revenue operations as we're that connective tissue between marketing, sales, customer success or your account management function. Otherwise, you're most likely just fitting into sales ops, which has been around for a long time. Revenue operations, you used the word Genesis, it's a newer concept in business function. So having a CRO that is a true CRO, and this is no knock on CROs, but we find a lot of times CROs are sort of moonlighting as a VP of sales or very focused on the sales aspect

07:53How often is the CRO truly full-scope?

7:53 of a business, which is obviously important. It's your revenue driver, it's your main revenue driver. So that's important, but a true CRO that's looking across the entire revenue organization, that's where we feel like is a good spot for RevOps. How often do you think that CRO is in that position where they're actually looking over the entire go-to-market lifecycle? They don't have a VP of marketing reporting somewhere else. They don't have success or service reporting into product. How often do you see that the CRO in-seat is properly looking over the whole go-to-market lifecycle?

8:28 Yeah, I think anecdotally, it is rarer than you would think, but it's so important, and I think as you're ascending somebody or selecting somebody for that chief revenue officer role, that's certainly one of the things that we think is a big part of the interview process and really selecting the right candidate is their familiarity and their want to be involved in everything across the revenue organization. So that's certainly one place. I know you have some other thoughts that may be a little bit more outside the box of where RevOps could potentially fit into. Well, I think if you have a true CRO, like you said, I think it's a really good place

09:09The COO as the next-best home

9:09 for the function to fit in because they have executive responsibility across the whole cycle. But like we talked about, I don't think it's as common as we think, and most CROs are really just VPs of sales. So if you have a true CRO, have a report there. If you don't have a true CRO, I think the next best role, if you have this role too, and a lot of scaling startups don't have this role, is a chief operating officer. So if you have a COO, that's a really good place for revenue operations to live if you don't have a true CRO because that role is responsible for the entire company.

09:55The strategic CFO option for Series A–C

9:55 They may have product operations teams, they may have people operations teams, and then having revenue operations would be a really good fit for that type of executive. Now let's use typical Series A, B, C startups if you don't have a COO. I actually think a good place for RevOps can be with the CFO. If the CFO is more of a strategic CFO and not an accounting-led CFO because they're the ones who are going to own the corporate planning process, and a big portion of that is fed by revenue operations, and a lot of CFOs have to operate as a COO within an organization too if you don't have one.

10:41Neutrality equals authority

10:41 So they're really that right hand to the CEO and playing that role. So I think it's a good fit, and what I want to avoid, because let's paint the picture if you have a CRO who's really just a VP of sales, and then you have a CMO over here who's leading marketing, if you put revenue operations with a CRO but they don't own one of the functions, then you're not going to have authority over the process that really connects the whole go-to-market life cycle. So if you put it in a more neutral position with a COO or a CFO, it gives RevOps the authority to look over the whole process, be responsible for the whole process, and really be unbiased

11:24The typical RevOps roles as you scale

11:24 in which levers you should be pulling. Yeah, that's a great point. I use the word connective tissue, so the connectedness of all those functions, but totally agree. The authority aspect too is huge. So let's assume you have a company that's scaling. You have really well built out sales teams, marketing teams. You have a repeatable, scalable go-to-market motion. What are the typical roles you would see in revenue operations, and what are their responsibilities? Yeah, so we covered two already with the system side of the house. So having a systems owner certainly as your CRM starts to get bigger and you're bringing

12:07 in more tech stack, there may be more than one individual systems owner. So starting to scale out the tech side of the house. Certainly we talked about the leadership aspect and having somebody that's driving things, and we certainly feel like somebody that's manager VP level in RevOps is extremely important. Give them the title that allows them or gives them the authority, we'll use that word again, to be in really strategic meetings and have a seat at the table in those conversations. But then as I start to think, when you keep growing and you keep growing out the revenue

12:41 operations function, then you start to get into more of the reporting and analytics owner. So now you have your strategic leader that's focused on strategic things. They're going to be doing hopefully less of the reporting and analytics and more looking at the reporting and analytics to then bring that into those conversations we talked about. So having somebody that owns the reporting and analytics is looking at the data and is just mainly focused on that is huge and is going to lock a bunch more out of your strategic leader. And then the other big one, which I know we've experienced at former stops that we've worked

13:20Enablement: the role people miss

13:20 at together and done RevOps at, is the enablement side. Oh, enablement is huge. It's huge. I think people miss that one a lot. 100%. You can be developing the right processes, bringing in the right tech stack, making the right decisions on the tech stack, and not have the enablement portion. And that's where things start to be less useful. You don't get as much of an impact as you may have thought when you were doing your evaluation process on changing process, changing tech, and having someone dedicated to enabling your teams, making them feel comfortable to use new process. It's human nature, right? You get really comfortable.

14:00Dedicated PMs per function (Series C/D)

14:00 We're averse to change a lot of times. So having somebody that's mainly focused on getting the most out of your different revenue functions, crucial. So that's another one. Then another thing we think as you start to really grow and get down the line in Series C, Series D, and you're starting to really fire, is looking at specific project manager types across the different functions. So across marketing, across sales, across customer success or your account management side of the business, having somebody that's more dedicated into each of those and can really project manage, get feedback from those teams, that then you can feed to your strategic

14:40 leader and start to have those conversations in strategic ways at an executive level, certainly amongst your RevOps team. Those are some of the key ones where you start to step down from, "Hey, you're just your leader and your system's owner. Here's all these other things that is going to make your revenue operations team great." Yeah, and I think they have the opportunity to dive deep in the details. If you're bringing on PMs dedicated to sales, like I'm revenue operations for sales, revenue operations for marketing, and if you have that role, you have an opportunity to really

15:18 dive deep and look holistically within that function, but then still have a team that owns systems and general processes. So you're not implementing something that's not going to be fully aligned with the rest of the revenue operation, but you do have that dedication to get into the detail. I like that a lot. I think it makes sense. So let's just recap. I think Genesis of RevOps for most companies typically comes out of a system's need. So you'll have a VP of sales trying to put the systems together, and it's just frankly not a good use of their time. Shortly after, you're going to need somebody more strategic.

15:38Recap: Genesis, roles, and where it reports

15:55 Look over the whole system, think strategically about how to build the business and build out the reporting infrastructure, build out the enablement infrastructure, and as you continue to grow, you'll throw in those other roles of PMs. And then deciding where the whole function sits, well, depends who you have on your executive team. If you have a true CRO, somebody who's dedicated and has the authority over the entire go-to-market life cycle, that's where RevOps should live. A lot of companies don't. So if you don't, look for another neutral executive, potentially a COO or a CFO, and that's going to be a good place for it to live.

16:33 Cam, thank you so much. Appreciate you diving into it with me and looking forward to the next one. Perfect. Thank you. Thank you for listening to this episode. If you liked the discussion, please like, share, and subscribe to wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss a new episode.