SaaSy Talk S01.44: Tackling RevOps with Shantanu Shekhar

About The Guest(s): Shantanu Shekhar is currently Senior Director of GTM Operations for Gong and leads go-to-market strategy, process excellence and cross-functional alignment for their international markets. Prior to Gong, Shantanu has held key revenue operations / GTM leadership positions at LinkedIn and Nitro, and is a former management consultant from Bain & Co. Shantanu lives in the warm confines of Dublin, Ireland along with his wife and two kids. Summary: In this episode, host Ricky interviews Shantanu Shekhar, Senior Director of Revenue Operations at Gong. Shantanu shares his journey into the tech industry, his experience working in San Francisco, and his interest in sales and technology. He discusses the role of RevOps in early-stage companies, the importance of cross-functional collaboration, and the impact of AI on RevOps. Shantanu also provides insights into his daily work as a RevOps leader and the tools he uses to optimise revenue operations. Key Takeaways: Shantanu emphasises the importance of having a dedicated RevOps team early on in a company's growth to ensure scalability and efficiency in the go-to-market engine. RevOps should be housed in an organisation where the CxO is comfortable with data-driven decision-making and can provide guidance and support to the RevOps team. AI is becoming an ally for RevOps, particularly in forecasting deals and providing insights into pipeline management and deal progression. Shantanu highlights the need for RevOps to focus on both strategic initiatives, such as segmentation and planning, and operational tasks, such as quota management and data analytics. Enablement plays a crucial role in RevOps, helping drive adoption of processes and systems and measuring outcomes. Notable Quotes: "RevOps is about designing and powering the go-to-market engine, optimising the value chain for customers and the company." - Shantanu  "RevOps needs to have an unbiased view grounded in data and reality, enabling all teams rather than favouring one." - Shantanu  "AI will be an ally for RevOps, driving efficiency and providing insights from large data sets." - Shantanu  Chapters 00:18 Guest's Experience in San Francisco and Interest in Tech 01:13 Transition to Tech and Move to Ireland 02:30 Understanding RevOps 06:07 RevOps in Early Stage Companies 10:23 RevOps and Cross-Functional Collaboration 14:10 RevOps and Product Teams 21:18 Operational Cadence in RevOps 23:36 The Importance of a Strong Team and Data Analytics 25:29 The Changing Role of RevOps in Company Decisions 29:57 Tactical Approach to Forecasting Deals 32:01 The Future of RevOps and the Impact of AI 32:52 Favourite Tools in RevOps 35:02 Reflections on Career and Future Aspirations Where to find Ricky / SaaSyTalk? Subscribe on Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/3ZVkJ12FIqD39oqgj7Kcjq  Subscribe on Apple:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/saasy-talk-unfiltered/id1709426070 Subscribe on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@SaaSyTalkUnfiltered   Subscribe on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/saasy-talk-unfiltered Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://substack.com/@saasytalkunfiltered Visit our Website:  https://saasytalkunfiltered.transistor.fm/    Follow Ricky Sevta on Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickysevta/   Follow Sean Diljore on Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/seandiljore/