Thrivecast

Revenue is not a North-Star metric

In this episode of ThriveCast, Michael Kuhl shares how AppFire shifted from obsessing over revenue and churn to building a growth engine powered by leading indicators. Drawing from AppFire’s scale—managing dozens of products—Michael explains how activation journeys, real-time signals, and cross-functional alignment became the foundation for predictable revenue growth. Key Insights * Revenue, churn, and conversions are lagging indicators—they explain what happened, not why * Activation is the strongest predictor of trial conversion and long-term retention * Growth starts with visibility, not optimization * A standardized activation journey framework enables scale across multiple products * Instrumentation should answer specific questions, not collect everything * Growth intelligence only matters when it leads to clear actions * Real-time signals are most powerful when shared across Product, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success Actionable Takeaways * Define a clear activation journey (signup → setup → aha → habit) before optimizing conversion * Instrument only what helps you understand why users fail to reach value * Treat growth data as actionable intelligence, not dashboards for reporting * Align GTM teams around the same real-time signals, not siloed metrics * Tie signals directly to revenue at risk or revenue opportunity to drive prioritization * Give every team a clear call to action, not just data to interpret Resources Mentioned * Activation journey mapping frameworks * Growth experimentation playbooks * Real-time behavioral and firmographic signals * Cross-functional dashboards tied to revenue impact For B2B SaaS founders, growth leaders, and product teams, this episode is a reminder that growth doesn’t come from more dashboards—it comes from understanding when users struggle, acting in real time, and aligning every team around leading signals that actually move revenue. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.hybridgtm.com [https://www.hybridgtm.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

How Cloudinary scaled from 0-$100M+ ARR

In this episode of ThriveCast, we speak with Sanjay Sarathy, VP of Self-Serve and Developer Experience at Cloudinary. Sanjay shares Cloudinary’s journey from a developer consulting firm to one of the most successful product-led growth stories in SaaS—scaling past $100M ARR while maintaining a strong self-serve engine and developer trust Key Insights * Cloudinary started as a consulting company before productizing a repeated developer pain * Developers were treated as the core growth channel, not just users * Early investment in developer support and documentation drove trust and word of mouth * Self-serve and enterprise were built as a continuum, not competing motions * Freemium created value first, revenue followed naturally * Word of mouth still drives a significant share of daily signups at scale * Simplifying signup and activation had outsized impact on growth * Not all product launches succeed, fast failure led to better product strategy Actionable Takeaways * Treat your primary user persona as a growth engine, not a funnel step * Invest early in support, docs, and activation, not just sales * Let self-serve usage reveal future enterprise opportunities * Reduce friction relentlessly small changes compound at scale * Separate product experimentation from core revenue products * Build trust first; monetization follows naturally Resources Mentioned * Cloudinary self-serve and freemium model * Developer documentation and SDK-first onboarding * Activation and signup flow experiments * Product incubation model for new bets If you’re a B2B SaaS founder, PLG leader, or developer-focused product team, this episode shows that sustainable growth doesn’t come from aggressive selling it comes from earning trust, removing friction, and letting value scale naturally across self-serve and enterprise journeys. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.hybridgtm.com [https://www.hybridgtm.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

GTM Growth Audit - by Marlena Sarunac

In this episode of ThriveStack’s podcast, we speak with Marlena Sarunac, an award-winning CMO and co-founder of Company Advice. Marlena shares her GTM Growth Audit framework, a practical, systems-thinking approach to identifying hidden bottlenecks across product experience, website messaging, and go-to-market execution especially for early-stage and scaling SaaS companies. SPONSOREDDemand & Expand is coming! Join 600+ B2B Marketers May 19 & 20, 2026 for the hottest event in San Francisco. Demand Gen, Growth, AI Marketing, Lifecycle, and Marketing Ops—This is your chance to be in the room for the biggest conversations shaping the future of modern B2B marketing. See details here: demandandexpand.com [http://demandandexpand.com/] ThriveStack subscribers can save 25% off tickets with the code HYBRIDGTM.- Direct link here [https://luma.com/demandexpand2026?coupon=HYBRIDGTM] Key Insights * Most growth problems are system failures, not traffic or UX issues * Effective GTM audits focus on product experience, website messaging, and growth loops * Onboarding fails when users aren’t guided to a clear first value moment * Websites should help the right buyers say yes and the wrong ones say no * Feature-heavy messaging kills conversion outcomes drive decisions * One-off campaigns hide problems; loops reveal where growth breaks * Misaligned ICPs across teams quietly create friction and churn Actionable Takeaways * Audit time-to-value, not just onboarding screens trace friction back to promises made before signup * Write your homepage for one primary buyer ICP (not every possible user) * Translate features into buyer-level outcomes, not technical specifications * Replace one-off campaigns with repeatable marketing + product loops * Align Product, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success on one shared narrative and activation goal * Treat content as a growth asset only if it actively helps users succeed in the product Resources Mentioned * GTM Friction Finder Audit (Free) [https://www.thecompanyadvice.com/friction-finder-thrivecast] – Available via Company Advice * User interviews, product analytics, and cross-team narrative alignment * CRM-driven, branded lifecycle workflows (activation, nurture, expansion) Marlena Sarunac [https://www.linkedin.com/in/marlenasarunac/] is the co-founder of The Company Advice [https://www.thecompanyadvice.com/], a growth and design studio that helps SaaS companies remove hidden friction across product experience, website narrative, and go-to-market execution. As a fractional CMO, she works closely with founders and growth leaders to diagnose where momentum is leaking and turn clarity, design, and positioning into measurable growth. Marlena specializes in product-led and early growth-stage companies that want to scale without piling on complexity. Thrivecast listeners can explore the GTM Friction Finder Audit, a lightweight scorecard that highlights the top friction hotspots across your company’s product, website, and funnel: https://www.thecompanyadvice.com/friction-finder-thrivecast [https://www.thecompanyadvice.com/friction-finder-thrivecast] If you’re a B2B SaaS founder, growth leader, or product owner struggling with activation, conversion, or retention despite “doing all the right things,” this episode is a reminder: growth doesn’t break at the top of the funnel it breaks in the gaps between teams, tools, and promises. Fix the system, and growth follows! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.hybridgtm.com [https://www.hybridgtm.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Rethinking the Funnel: How B2B Growth is Being Rewritten by AI

John Neeson — the mind behind the legendary B2B Demand Waterfall and Co-Founder of SiriusDecisions — joins Gururaj Pandurangi to trace the evolution of how companies create, measure, and grow demand. From pioneering the alignment between sales and marketing to forecasting how AI will reshape the buyer’s journey, John shares lessons that defined two decades of B2B go-to-market strategy. Key Insights * Origins of SiriusDecisions. John built Sirius to answer a simple CEO question: “I gave you $20M — what did I get back?” The firm transformed marketing from art into measurable science. * The evolution of the Demand Waterfall. What began as a simple lead definition matured into the classic, revenue, and demand-unit waterfalls — each mapping closer to real buying behavior. * From creating demand to activating it. Modern marketing’s challenge isn’t generating leads; it’s recognizing and activating intent across fragmented digital journeys. * Buyers are in control. Two decades ago, buyers met sales to learn. Today, they research independently and expect sellers to be context-ready from the first touch. * Product-led and sales-led models are merging. The best companies balance both — using data to harness existing demand while creating new demand through storytelling. * Alignment equals profitability. SiriusDecisions data showed organizations with tight sales–marketing alignment grew faster and retained more customers. * Analytics is the new OS. As AI transforms digital channels, analytics becomes the engine of visibility, efficiency, and retention. * AI is the next frontier. “We won’t be talking about digital marketing — it’ll all be AI marketing,” John predicts, as discovery shifts from Google search to AI interfaces. Actionable Takeaways * Redefine the funnel. Move from counting MQLs and SQLs to tracking buying groups and demand units that reflect collective intent. * Measure activation over volume. Lead quality and conversion velocity matter more than lead count. * Break functional silos. True growth comes when sales, marketing, and product teams share data, signals, and accountability. * Shift focus to retention. Expansion and renewal metrics are now the strongest indicators of sustainable growth. * Adopt AI early. Use it to identify intent, predict churn, and personalize engagement, while preserving human context and storytelling. * Build analytics fluency. Treat analytics not as reporting, but as a real-time strategic layer. * Prepare for AI-driven discovery. Tomorrow’s buyer journeys begin in AI chats — not search engines or inboxes. Resources Mentioned * SiriusDecisions Demand Waterfall – The original B2B alignment framework. * Winning by Design (Bow Tie Model) – Modern full-funnel framework linking acquisition and retention. * Crossing the Chasm / CASA Model – Framework for category creation and market adoption. * Gartner Hype Cycle – For assessing AI maturity and timing go-to-market bets. For B2B Founders & GTM Leaders Funnels are no longer linear, and demand is no longer created — it’s discovered, activated, and expanded through intelligence. In the AI era, alignment and analytics are the new competitive advantages. 🎧 Loved the episode?Subscribe to ThriveCast for more behind-the-scenes stories from the builders shaping the future of SaaS. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.hybridgtm.com [https://www.hybridgtm.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Growth Operating System — Building Alignment, Activation, and Accountability

Andrew Capland — one of the most respected voices in product-led growth — returns to ThriveCast to unpack what he calls the “Growth Operating System.” After years leading activation, retention, and experimentation programs at leading SaaS companies like HubSpot and Wistia, Andrew realized growth isn’t about more tactics — it’s about how teams execute, align, and communicate across silos.In this episode, he explains how today’s growth leaders can build a repeatable operating system that turns strategy into consistent execution — even in the age of AI. Key Insights * Ideas are cheap. Execution wins.Every company has access to playbooks and frameworks — the real challenge is alignment, communication, and follow-through. * Growth leadership is a new ladder.Moving from individual contributor to growth lead means learning new skills — influencing peers, managing pushback, and driving cross-functional clarity. * Effectiveness > rightness.Knowing what to do isn’t enough. The best growth leaders learn to persuade, align, and prioritize under uncertainty. * AI won’t replace context.Tools can generate frameworks, but they can’t replicate judgment, timing, or human communication in the boardroom. * Collaboration must start early.Teams lose time fixing misalignments because they collaborate at the end — not during the first 20 % of scoping. * Product-market fit can vanish fast.AI has accelerated competitive shifts; even mature SaaS companies can lose PMF in months. Actionable Takeaways * Build your own Growth OS.Define rituals, scorecards, and decision frameworks that align marketing, product, and revenue. * Use a RACI Matrix.Clarify who’s Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed before starting any initiative. * Separate “company” metrics from “capability” metrics.Execs care about revenue; your team should focus on activation and retention as the true growth levers. * Coach for alignment.Prime your updates — tell the “why” before showing the “what.” It builds trust across teams. * Be the problem expert.The person closest to the problem always earns the right to design the solution. Resources Mentioned * Delivering Value.co / OS – The Growth Operating System toolkit and community. * Reforge – Advanced programs on growth strategy and experimentation. * RACI Matrix – Cross-functional collaboration framework. * ThriveStack Scorecards – Measure activation, retention, and correlation to revenue. For Growth Leaders Most growth teams don’t fail because of bad ideas — they fail because alignment and communication break down faster than experiments succeed. Build your system before you build your next campaign. 🎧 Loved the episode?Subscribe to ThriveCast for more behind-the-scenes stories from the builders shaping the future of SaaS. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.hybridgtm.com [https://www.hybridgtm.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]