The Thread Podcast
by Justin Vandehey
The Thread Podcast explores the future of enterprise sales in the era of AI. Hosted by Justin Vandehey, founder of Thread, we bring together top sales leaders, enablement pros, and innovators shaping how go-to-market teams grow and win. Each episode dives deep into what’s changing in sales—from real-time AI coaching to modern revenue systems of action—and features actionable insights from CROs, RevOps leaders, startup founders, and the technologists building the next generation of tools. Whether you’re scaling founder-led sales or leading a global GTM team, you’ll walk away with new strategies to improve seller performance, accelerate deal cycles, and leverage AI for growth. If you’re ready to think differently about sales execution and the future of GTM, follow The Thread and join the conversation.
Episodes
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PayFac as a Service: Why Attach Rate Beats Basis Points, with Caleb Avery (Tilled)
Caleb Avery started in payments at nineteen, knocking on doors in Greenville, South Carolina, selling terminals to small business owners. That run, followed by years of consulting and angel investing in vertical software, led him to found Tilled, the PayFac as a Service platform that gives…
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"Frictionful" Payments and Why Your Money Should Slow Down Sometimes (with Michelle Beyo, Finavator)
Kicking off our Future of Finance series ahead of Money20/20, Justin sits down with Michelle Beyo, founder and CEO of Finavator, president of Open Finance Network Canada, and author of the newly launched Mastering the Future of Finance. Michelle spent twenty years in telco, online shopping, and...
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3X, Then 3X Again: How AI Broke the Job Application (and How Willo Is Fixing It)
Hiring didn't break all at once. It broke one year at a time. This week on the Thread Podcast, Justin sits down with Euan Cameron, CEO and co-founder of Willo, the global candidate screening platform built to make hiring faster, fairer, and more human. Euan walks through the year-by-year…
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Go-to-Network is Eating Go-to-Market, with The Swarm's Olivier Roth
Cold outreach is dying....so what replaces it? This week Justin sits down with Olivier Roth, co-founder & Chief Growth Officer of The Swarm, the go-to-network platform backed by HubSpot Ventures ($10M raised to date). The Swarm started as a network recruiting tool in 2021, but customers kept...
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The Voice Layer for Emerging Markets: Aethex AI's Co-founder and CTO Ayooluwa Odemuyiwa
Most voice AI startups today are thin wrappers on someone else's models. Ayooluwa Odemuyiwa went the opposite direction and built the entire stack. In this episode, Justin sits down with the CTO and co-founder of Aethex AI, who along with co-founder Mariama is building the voice layer for…
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The Scarcity of Being Human: Catherine Blackmore, Oracle's Group VP of Customer Programs and Employee Success on CS in the Age of Agents
Catherine Blackmore has spent nearly two decades building the programs that wrap around technology, from the early days of customer success in 2007 to her current role as Group VP of Customer Programs and Employee Success at Oracle. In this episode she sits down with Justin to unpack what the...
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Your Next Role Won't Be Posted, It'll Be Whispered — Andy Mowat
Andy Mowat has run RevOps at four unicorns, and between every role he's gone out and built something new. His latest is Whispered, an AI platform that helps top GTM execs build their careers through shared insights, warm introductions, and access to the roles that never get posted. In this…
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You Can't Read the Label from Inside the Bottle
Justin sits down with Nils Vinje, business growth guide and longtime customer success leader, to talk about the single biggest thing holding most growing companies back: everything still depends on the CEO. Nils spent the early part of his career on the leading edge of the customer success…
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From Cisco to IBM: How Professional Services Became the Most Important Role in Enterprise Tech w/ Sanjay Pal, WW VP of Software Professional Services at IBM
Justin sits down with Sanjay Pal, Worldwide VP of Professional Services at IBM, to explore what it really takes to lead services at global scale and why the role is more strategically important now than ever before. Sanjay draws on his journey from Cisco to Accenture to IBM to break down what has...
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From 265 Million Users to Enterprise Gold Standard: How Canva Scales GTM Without Losing Its Soul
Justin sits down with Jessica Chiew, Global Head of GTM Strategy and Operations at Canva, to unpack what it really takes to evolve from a beloved PLG product into a full-fledged enterprise sales machine without breaking what made it great. Jessica shares how Canva navigates the complexity of...
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The 10 AM Revolution: How AI is Transforming the Marketer's Day w/ Allison Skidmore, Chief Customer Officer at Optimizely
Justin sits down with Allison Skidmore, Chief Customer Officer at Optimizely, the world's first operating system for marketing teams. Allison brings a rich perspective shaped by stints at Adobe, Stackla, Gigya, and SAP across Asia Pacific before landing in the US to lead customer success at...
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Retention Isn’t Dead. It’s Just Getting Smarter. Brent Krempges, Chief Customer Officer at Gainsight
Brent Krempges, Chief Customer Officer at Gainsight, joins the show to unpack the next evolution of Customer Success in an AI-first world. After 12+ years at Gainsight, from implementation to global pre-sales to CCO, Brent shares how CS is shifting from seat-based software to outcome-driven...
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AI Didn’t Kill Premium Media. It Made It More Valuable. Elizabeth Herbst-Brady, CRO of Condé Nast
In this episode of the Thread Podcast, Justin Vandehey sits down with Elizabeth Herbst-Brady, Chief Revenue Officer of Condé Nast, to explore how one of the world’s most iconic media companies is navigating transformation in the age of AI. Elizabeth shares lessons from her career spanning media,...
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Value Isn’t a Feature: Neal McCoy on Customer Success, AI, and the Post-Sale Moment That Matters
In this episode of the Thread Podcast, host Justin Vandehey sits down with Neal McCoy, VP of Customer Success and Professional Services at BigCommerce, to unpack where customer value most often breaks down after a deal is closed — and how companies can fix it. Neal shares insights from nearly a...
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Growing Up with RevOps: 13 Years Inside Integrate with Jared Myatt, RevOps at Integrate
In this episode of the Thread Podcast, Justin Vandehey sits down with Jared Myatt, Senior Director of Revenue Operations at Integrate, to explore what it really takes to scale RevOps over time. Jared shares his journey from early employee to RevOps leader, reflecting on key inflection points...
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Equity Is a Revenue Lever: Benjamin Roach on RevOps in the Incentives Economy
In this episode of the Thread Podcast, Justin Vandehey interviews Benjamin Roach, Director of Revenue Operations at Optio Incentives, to explore what it takes to build RevOps in the equity compensation and incentives space. Ben shares his “traditional” path from sales into RevOps, why he...
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From PLG to Enterprise: Tyler Will on Building Modern GTM at Intercom
In this episode of the Thread Podcast, Justin talks with Tyler Will, VP of GTM Strategy & Ops at Intercom, about how modern revenue organizations are evolving in an era defined by AI, PLG-to-enterprise transitions, and go-to-market speed. Tyler shares his journey from economic consulting and…
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AI Is a Mirror, Not a Miracle: John Queally, Head of RevOps at Clari, on the Future of RevOps
Episode Summary In this episode of the Thread Podcast, host Justin Vandehey sits down with John Queally, Senior Director of Revenue Operations at Clari, to explore how RevOps is evolving in the age of AI, and what it really means to build a data-driven go-to-market organization. John’s career…
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Building B2B at B2C Scale: Max Mozes on RevOps, Data Strategy, and the Walmart for Business GTM Motion
In this episode of the Thread Podcast, host Justin Vandehey sits down with Max Mozes, Director of Revenue Operations at Walmart for Business, to unpack what it takes to build a world-class B2B motion inside one of the world’s largest retail organizations. Before joining Walmart, Max carried a…
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Navigating RevOps in Healthcare with Chantel Hirschel, Head of RevOps at Sana
In this episode, Chantel Hirschel, Director of Revenue Operations at Sana, discusses the unique challenges and opportunities in the healthcare industry, particularly in revenue operations. She shares insights on transitioning from traditional B2B SaaS to healthcare, the importance of HIPAA...
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Building sales strategies in sports and entertainment with Larry Peters, CRO of World of Dance
In this episode of the Thread Podcast, host Justin Vandehey speaks with Larry Peters, the Chief Revenue Officer of World of Dance. They discuss Larry's extensive background in sales and marketing within the sports and entertainment industries, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer...
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Breaking Barriers in Supply Chain: Kara Brown on GTM, AI, and The Revenue Engine
Summary In this episode of the Thread Podcast, host Justin Vandehey speaks with Kara Brown, founder and CRO of Lead Coverage, about her journey in the supply chain industry, the importance of go-to-market strategies, and the impact of AI on sales technology. Kara shares insights from her book…
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The Future of Sales: AI and Human Connection with Karan Singh, SVP of GTM Operations & Strategy @ LaunchDarkly
In this episode of the Thread Podcast, host Justin Vandehey speaks with Karan Singh, SVP of Go-to-Market Strategy and Operations at LaunchDarkly. They discuss Karan's extensive background in various tech companies, the evolving role of AI in sales, and the importance of human connection in...
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Rebranding the Bridge: The Thread Podcast Launch
In this episode of the Thread Podcast, host Justin Vandehey introduces his co-founders Jeremy Vandehey and Samuel Kenney as they discuss their journey in building Thread, a company focused on enhancing the go-to-market strategy for sales teams. The conversation explores the challenges of…
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Building AI That Actually Works — Jessica Collier on Spot, Evernote, and the Future of Workplace Incident Management
In this episode of The Bridge, Justin sits down with Jessica Collier, CEO of Spot, and founding partner of All Turtles, to explore her journey from academia to building one of the most thoughtful AI-driven tools in the HR tech space. Jessica was the first UX writer at Evernote, where she helped...
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Selling phones out of a van to IPO with Brett Beveridge, Founder and CEO of T-ROC
Brett Beveridge, Founder & CEO of T-ROC, joins the show to share his journey from bouncer and bartender to building one of the largest retail operators in the U.S. We dive into: How he started selling cell phones out of a van and took Let's Talk Cellular public before selling to Nextel What’s...
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Oversharing, Privacy, and the Future of Messaging w/ Tessa Brown, CEO of Germ Network
Tessa Brown, Co-Founder and CEO of Germ Network, joins the show to talk about, - Tessa's journey from Stanford writing professor to startup founder, the dangers of social platforms designed to maximize exposure, and why privacy should be the default, not the exception. - How Germ lets users…
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Building an audience, creating a movement w/ Jared Robin, Co-Founder of RevGenius
Jared Robin, Co founder of RevGenius and Audience Haus, joins the show to talk about Jared's first sales job, cold calling office managers at FedEx to building a fashion blog with 10K monthly subscribers. The art of audience building, and how a LinkedIn group chat turned into an engaged 50,000...
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Pitching Gary Vee a cooking show + the future of AI search with Chris Andrew, Co Founder and CEO of Scrunch AI
Chris Andrew, Co founder and CEO of Scrunch AI, joins the show to talk about The evolution of search and consumer shift toward finding answers with AI. Building a marketing platform for an AI first customer journey. The opportunity for AI and Scrunch to audit search and help brands manage their...
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Patient Zero. Tatiana Fofanova, CEO of Koda Health on dogfooding her own product when her life depended on it.
Tatiana Fofanova, CEO and Co Founder of Koda Health, joins the show to talk about From pediatrics to entrepreneurship, and Tatiana's experience as a founder in residence at Texas Medical Center (TMC) The intersection of the law and health, and building an advanced care planning tool that is…
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No BS venture pitches & the art of the pivot with Conor McCarter, Founder of Prequel
Conor McCarter, Co founder of Prequel, joins the show to talk about: The founding story behind Prequel, the YC experience, and pivoting during the program. Market overview on the state of data management and positioning of Prequel. The fundraising process for Prequel and importance of not beating...
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Creating a voice & venture for those unable to speak with Dr. Maheen Mausoof Adamson, CEO of Soof Solutions
Dr. Maheen Mausoof Adamson, CEO and Co founder of Soof Solutions, joins the show to talk about The intersection of neuroscience at Stanford and entrepreneurship, and path to founding Soof. Building Soof to help her father speak again after experiencing a stroke in 2007. The importance of timing…
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Protecting our kids online with Megs Shah, CEO and Founder of Parasol Cooperative
Megs Shah, CEO and Co founder of Parasol Cooperative, joins the show to talk about: Surviving abuse and founding Parasol Cooperative to battle a growing, global, shadow pandemic Keeping our kids safe online, and the insights that led Megs to building her two products, SafeConnect and Ruth…
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Creating Life at Home & a Founder's Journey in Infertility with Dr. Jennifer Hintzsche, Ph.D, CEO of PherDal
Dr. Jennifer Hintzsche, CEO and Founder of PherDal, joins the show to talk about: - Dr. Hintzsche's personal story of being defined as "in-fertile", a $10,000 invoice for a solution to a problem that doctor's couldn't define, and how she used her PhD to prove those physician's wrong. - The…
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Establishing "go-to-market" credibility + AI in sales w/ Daniel Saks, Co founder and CEO of Landbase
Daniel Saks, Co founder and CEO of Landbase, joins the show to talk about - Growing up in an entrepreneurial family in the business of furniture and the insight that led to founding Daniel's first business, AppDirect. - The importance of establishing "go-to-market credibility" before engaging in...
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Building a Pet Care empire with 10x Ironman and 3x founder, Alex Douzet, CEO of Pumpkin
Alex Douzet, CEO and co founder of Pumpkin, joins the show to talk about - Building his first company Ollie, in the pet food and delivery space, and how doubling down on his experience in pet care and the "humanization of pets" led to founding Pumpkin - Picking the brand name "Pumpkin" and the...
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A better way to pay employees + the Art of Focus w/ Nico Simko, CEO and Co-founder of Clair
In this episode Justin sits down with Nico Simko, the dynamic CEO and co-founder of Clair, a trailblazing company set on revolutionizing on-demand payroll. Nico shares an inspiring narrative from his beginnings as an economics tutor to spearheading a fintech powerhouse. We uncover how Clair…
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Going from 0 to 1 internationally, w/ Tim Fung, CEO and Co founder of Airtasker
Tim Fung, Co founder and CEO of Airtasker, joins the show to talk about How an apartment move led to the founding of Airtasker. How tasking and labor markets differ globally, and what this market looks like in Australia. How Airtasker is focusing on localization and community to differentiate…
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From Sesame Street to Startup with Dr. Lewis Bernstein, former Executive Producer of Sesame Street and Founder of 3G
Dr. Lewis Bernstein, Co founder of 3G and former executive producer for Sesame Street, joins the show to talk about: Dr. Bernstein's early work at Sesame Street, working alongside Jim Henson, and how the mission and message of Sesame Street has evolved over time. The founding story of 3G and…
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Elections need an upgrade. How we get there w/ Tad Milbourn, Founder of RankedVote
Tad Milbourn, Founder and CEO of RankedVote, joins the show to talk about The momentum that's building around ranked choice voting. What it is, how it works, and why it's a better method of getting consensus. Lessons learned from Tad's first company, Payable, the YC experience, and navigating a...
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The most successful asset class of the last 40 years w/ Jon Staenberg, Founder of Agate Hound Fund
Jon Staenberg, Founder and CEO of Agate Hound Fund joins the show to talk about Growing up in Nebraska to Silicon Valley to Microsoft to Venture How Venture Capital has changed and the rise of the Search Fund. What is a "Search Fund" and the reason behind why it's such a successful asset class.…
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The business of golf + building the largest golf community w/ Travis Schoen, Founder of NW Golf Guys
Travis Schoen, Founder of NW Golf Guys joins the show to talk about: How Travis moved from scoring free golf to starting a golf league and growing its member base to more than 7,000 members. How the game of golf has evolved over the past 20 years, and how NW Golf Guys thinks about their target...
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A better alternative to big coffee + building the world's most beautiful (and smart) coffee machine with Sahand Dilmaghani, Founder of Terra Kaffe
Sahand Dilmaghani, Co founder and CEO of Terra Kaffe, joins the show to talk about Building the worlds most beautiful and intelligent espresso machine, and the process that went into prototyping a better coffee experience. Balancing development for the software user interface and the human…
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Finding joy in what you're building + building a Unicorn (Spendesk) and balancing transparency with confidence w/ Jordane Giuly, CEO and Founder of Defacto
Jordane Giuly, CEO and Co founder of Defacto, joins the show to talk about - Jordan'e experience building a Unicorn at Spendesk and the decision to walk away from the successful startup he co-founded. - The three bets that Jordane and team are making to go big with Defacto. - Building his startup...
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Should you launch a free product? + solving for the "accidental IT manager" w/ Martin Pannier, CEO of Primo
Martin Pannier, Co founder and CEO of Primo joins the show to talk about Lessons learned building product at Gusto that led to solving for the "accidental IT Manager" The decision to launch a free product SKU, PLG, and considerations to make before launching a free product The pros and cons of...
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Raising $10M from Founders Fund + what to look for in co founders with Parker Gilbert, CEO of Numeric
Parker Gilbert, Co founder and CEO of Numeric, joins the show to talk about - How going through a challenging financial audit led to the insight of founding Numeric. - The character traits that Parker looked for in his co founders for Numeric. - Parker's experience closing is $10M Series A and…
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From Kickstarter to the Queen of Scotch w/ Carin Luna-Ostaseski, Founder of SIA Scotch Whisky
Carin Luna-Ostaseski, Founder of SIA Scotch Whisky, joins the show to talk about The process Carin went through to kickstart the SIA brand, and being the first hispanic woman to found a Scotch brand. The state of the spirits industry and how SIA positions itself and competes with other liquor...
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The "Mamba" of brand marketing and the future of MarTech with Adam Katz, CEO of Sightly
Adam Katz, CEO of Sightly, joins the show to talk about Adam's journey from IC to becoming the CEO at Sightly and leading from the front The evolution of the marketing tech category and generating an authentic brand voice in the era of AI. How Kobe Bryant inspired Sightly's Brand Mentality vision...
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Lessons learned from 300 pitch meetings w/ Andrew Firestone, CEO of Mermaid Chart
Andrew Firestone, CEO of Mermaid Chart, joins the show to talk about: The venture studio model and building Mermaid Chart out of Open Core Venture Studio. Stepping into the CEO role at Mermaid and building an open-sourced approach to the diagramming and creator tools industry. Unlocking...
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From the kitchen to the boardroom w/ Matt Wadiak, Co founder of Blue Apron and CleanUp
Matt Wadiak, Co founder and former COO Of Blue Apron, and CEO and Co founder of CleanUp joins the show to talk about - Founding Blue Apron and being one of the first movers in meal planning and e-commerce ingredient market. - The importance of capital planning and cash flow and the importance of...
About this show
The Thread Podcast explores the future of enterprise sales in the era of AI.
Hosted by Justin Vandehey, founder of Thread, we bring together top sales leaders, enablement pros, and innovators shaping how go-to-market teams grow and win.
Each episode dives deep into what’s changing in sales—from real-time AI coaching to modern revenue systems of action—and features actionable insights from CROs, RevOps leaders, startup founders, and the technologists building the next generation of tools. Whether you’re scaling founder-led sales or leading a global GTM team, you’ll walk away with new strategies to improve seller performance, accelerate deal cycles, and leverage AI for growth.
If you’re ready to think differently about sales execution and the future of GTM, follow The Thread and join the conversation.
Hosted by
Justin Vandehey
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