E62: CRO Life: from a $20B Exit, to a Hyper-Growth AI Org (Michelle Donnelly, CRO @ Crescendo)

Crescendo went from zero to $100M ARR in under two years. And today's guest, CRO Michelle Donnelly, is leading the revenue team. In a market where every AI competitor claims the exact same capabilities, Michelle argues that "trust me" sales tactics don't work anymore, and what her team is doing instead. She explains why she banned traditional sales demos in favor of building functional prototypes using prospect data (sometimes within 24 hours). Michelle also breaks down the transition to outcome-based pricing and how she she's working to compress new rep ramp time. All this, and a ton more! Thanks for tuning in. Catch new episodes every Wednesday.    Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast!   Chapters: 01:39 Introduction to Michelle Donnelly and Crescendo 04:54 Leaving Salesforce for a risky hardware startup 11:25 Leveraging your network to spot market trends 16:18 Navigating pivots and finding product-market fit 19:44 Selling amidst the noise of the AI market 25:50 The challenge of simplifying complex messaging 30:45 Strategic priorities for scaling revenue teams 33:18 Replacing standard demos with "show me" solutions 35:50 Building trust by becoming your customer's customer 40:21 Balancing high-level strategy with frontline realities 43:02 Maintaining focus with the rule of three 45:09 Using internal AI to accelerate rep onboarding 48:23 Rapid fire: Traits of great revenue leade