Welcome to the new B2B Revenue Vitals podcast, formerly State of Demand Gen. On this podcast, you’ll learn how to build a high-growth company from Refine Labs' CEO, Chris Walker. From proving new revenue programs to identifying and scaling programs that work, to training your team to operate at scale, you will understand what it takes to create a predictable pipeline of revenue innovation that drives compounding gains. Through interviews, AMAs, and invite-only events, we give you a sneak peek into the data-backed insights we are executing for the fastest-growing SaaS companies in the world.
In this unique episode, Chris shares the unfiltered audio from a consulting call with an entrepreneur. Chris offers advice from his personal experience building multiple businesses to 7 and 8 figures in revenue.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
Why raising VC money might be a sign that your business model needs rethinking
The advantages of bootstrapping a SaaS company to $5-10M ARR
How a SaaS + services model creates better financial outcomes and product development
Why "slow is fast" in building sustainable businesses
The dangers of rapid scaling and how it often leads to revenue regression
How to structure equity and compensation in early-stage companies
The math behind exit outcomes and why 100% ownership of a smaller company often beats partial ownership of a larger one
Building customer success into your model rather than outsourcing it
Why the feedback loop from direct customer service dramatically improves product development
Real numbers from Chris's journey growing his agency from $11M to $22M and back to $12M
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Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing Revenue Vitals and all of Chris’s short-form video and YouTube content. Hatch is a video-first content agency that creates short-form video content, video podcasts, original video series, and YouTube videos for B2B companies. Visit www.hatch.fm to learn more.
Today’s episode is a live fireside chat recorded at Warmly’s office, where Chris covers why smaller software companies can move faster than larger ones, what customers actually want versus what they say they need, and practical ways to measure what matters in marketing.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
Why smaller companies have distinct advantages over $100M+ companies today
The critical importance of making customers successful with your product (not just selling it)
How AI is accelerating product development and changing business operations
Why competitive differentiation now requires more than just features and messaging
The shift from "giving away customer success" to charging for services that drive results
Rethinking traditional department structures like marketing, sales, and RevOps
Why attribution models are fundamentally flawed and how to approach measurement differently
The problem with sales compensation models that don't align with today's buying journey
Creating defensibility through customer proximity, delivering results, and leveraging proprietary data
How to consider pricing models based on deliverables instead of traditional subscriptions
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Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing Revenue Vitals and all of Chris’s short-form video and YouTube content. Hatch is a video-first content agency that creates short-form video content, video podcasts, original video series, and YouTube videos for B2B companies. Visitwww.hatch.fm to learn more.
When Chris Walker looked at his bank account in 2019, he had $3,000 and student loan debt. In this week’s GTM Live episode, he shares an overview of the choices that led to building successful multi-million dollar companies over the next 6 years, and the personal cost of those decisions.
He then spends the majority of the episode examining why B2B companies struggle to measure marketing results effectively, and details the surprising pattern he has seen while helping over 50 companies solve this exact problem.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
Some uncomfortable truths about building a business
The real reason most CMOs can't fix marketing measurement, even when they want to (hint: it's not about their skills or dedication)
How marketing leaders can be empowered to focus on their core strengths rather than ROI spreadsheets
Finding the right balance between over-complicating and over-simplifying marketing measurement approaches (and what to actually track)
How companies waste millions on marketing programs while scrutinizing much smaller expenses
Why most RevOps teams end up grading performance instead of guiding strategy (and how to fix this)
A straightforward way to look at marketing data that everyone in the company can understand and trust
How companies can avoid spending 18 months building the wrong solution to their marketing measurement problems
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Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing Revenue Vitals and all of Chris’s short-form video and YouTube content. Hatch is a video-first content agency that creates short-form video content, video podcasts, original video series, and YouTube videos for B2B companies. Visit www.hatch.fm to learn more.
In this episode, Chris joinsFP&A Tomorrow host Paul Barnhurst (a.k.a.The FP&A Guy) to talk about the intersection of finance and GTM.
Chris shares his perspective on why most B2B companies get GTM investments wrong, the inefficiencies in traditional marketing measurement, and how CFO's and finance teams can play an incredibly strategic role in driving revenue efficiency.
Key topics from this episode:
The disconnect between finance and GTM teams—and how to fix it
Why most companies mis-allocate GTM investments
The problem with measuring marketing ROI through attribution models
How finance can take ownership of GTM efficiency
The four key stages of a revenue factory and why companies need to rethink pipeline creation
The impact of content strategy on brand awareness, demand generation, and revenue growth
Why finance leaders should actively participate in GTM strategy rather than just measuring its outcomes
How Chris is building Passetto and Refine Labs to solve the GTM efficiency problem
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Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producingRevenue Vitals and all of Chris’s short-form video and YouTube content. Hatch is a video-first content agency that creates short-form video content, video podcasts, original video series, and YouTube videos for B2B companies. Visit www.hatch.fm to learn more.
How can CEOs, CMOs, and revenue leaders truly create a high-performance GTM engine?
This episode is a live event that Chris Walker did with Sangram Vajre (co-founder & CEO at GTM Partners) where they answer exactly that.
Key topics from this episode:
Who should really own GTM?
Moving beyond “marketing vs. sales”
The 4 pillars of pipeline creation
Why marketing needs more of a business mindset
The importance of retention vs. acquisition
How to fix broken revenue metrics
Why “slow is fast” in GTM
How to build an agile GTM team
What the future of marketing leadership looks like
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Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing Revenue Vitals and all of Chris’s short-form video and YouTube content. Hatch is a video-first content agency that creates short-form video content, video podcasts, original video series, and YouTube videos for B2B companies. Visit www.hatch.fm to learn more.
Why do so many companies struggle to generate pipeline efficiently? In this episode, Chris shares exactly why (and new and more effective GTM strategies).
Whether you're a CMO, CRO, CEO, or CFO, this episode will challenge your thinking and help you build a smarter GTM strategy with marketing investments that are actually delivering returns.
Key topics from this episode:
The Fundamental Flaws in Pipeline Creation
The 3 Phases of Pipeline Creation
Why "Marketing vs. SDRs" is a Broken Debate
How to Fix Attribution & Measurement
Rethinking RevOps & Sales Productivity
The Hidden Costs of Inefficiency
How CMOs, CROs, and CFOs Can Align on GTM Efficiency
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Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing Revenue Vitals and all of Chris’s short-form video and YouTube content. Hatch is a video-first content agency that creates short-form video content, video podcasts, original video series, and YouTube videos for B2B companies. Visit www.hatch.fm to learn more.
Chris joined Brad Zomick’s show (LinkedIn Famous), where he shared insights on personal growth as a founder, his learnings from executing on LinkedIn for 5 years, and the new playbook founders can use to build and grow their companies.
Key topics from this episode:
The right way to approach LinkedIn (hint: vanity metrics don’t matter)
Personal growth and intuition as a founder
Learnings and mistakes from scaling Refine Labs & Passetto
Live events as a compounding asset
Why founders should re-think the VC-funded model
The future of social media in B2B
Why the most important thing as a founder is to take action
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Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing Revenue Vitals and all of Chris’s short-form video and YouTube content. Hatch is a video-first content agency that creates short-form video content, video podcasts, original video series, and YouTube videos for B2B companies. Visit www.hatch.fm to learn more.
This is the first GTM Live episode of 2025, and Chris shares his most recent GTM strategies to help you win. These lessons are especially crucial for companies who want to scale past $10 million ARR.
Key topics from this episode:
The 3 Pillars of GTM Success: GTM Strategy, GTM Optimization, and GTM Operations.
Cost of Growth: Reframing GTM efficiency as "cost of growth" to measure true ROI and organizational health.
AI and Copycat Products: How AI is accelerating product cloning and forcing companies to change how they differentiate.
Challenges of PLG Integration: The pitfalls of mixing product-led and sales-led growth motions together in established companies.
Smaller, Agile Teams: The shift towards AI-enabled, lean marketing and sales teams for efficiency and flexibility.
Flawed Metrics: Why reliance on outdated KPIs like MQLs and traditional attribution models is a mistake.
Siloed Departments: The need to remove organizational silos to create a Unified Revenue Factory.
Future-Proofing Sales and Marketing: Strategies to align compensation, integrate data, and streamline processes for sustainable pipeline creation.
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Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing Revenue Vitals and all of Chris’s short-form video and YouTube content. Hatch is a video-first content agency that creates short-form video content, video podcasts, original video series, and YouTube videos for B2B companies. Visit www.hatch.fm to learn more.
This is a must-listen episode where Chris Walker joined Dave Gerhardt (Founder & CEO of Exit Five) on the B2B Marketing with Dave Gerhardt podcast.
Key topics from this episode:
Why being “early” in seeing how marketing is changing is often misunderstood as being wrong
How to manage negativity on social media while staying focused on your goals
Using podcasts, live events, and social media to gather actionable customer insights in real time
Breaking down marketing into Strategy vs. Pipeline Creation for clarity and efficiency
Why AI is an accelerant for creativity and execution, not a replacement for strategic thinking
How smaller and more agile marketing teams are outperforming larger ones
Calculating true marketing ROI by accounting for headcount, tools, and overall efficiency
How senior marketing leaders can improve outcomes by staying hands-on and closer to the execution process
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Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing Revenue Vitals and all of Chris’s short-form video and YouTube content. Hatch is a video-first content agency that creates short-form video content, video podcasts, original video series, and YouTube videos for B2B companies. Visit www.hatch.fm to learn more.
In this episode, Chris Walker talks with hosts Mikkel Kiærulf Plæhn and Toni Hohlbein about the GTM challenges B2B companies face. He shares common mistakes companies are making, how to better use data for decision-making, and predictions for what the future of GTM looks like.
Key topics from this episode:
Why unit economics at the top of the funnel are the root of most GTM inefficiencies
The CEO’s pivotal role in aligning the entire GTM function
Why current data structures fail executives and how to fix them
Predictions for 2025: Centralized decision-making, smaller teams, and AI-native organizations
The pitfalls of relying on outdated KPIs like MQLs and demo requests
Why traditional attribution models hinder strategic decision-making
How AI will reshape GTM strategies and why data architecture is critical
The shift from RevOps to a more streamlined approach to operations
Chris’s vision for post-sale functions: Aligning customer success with measurable outcomes
Strategies for improving per-rep productivity and scaling efficiently
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Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing Revenue Vitals and all of Chris’s short-form video and YouTube content. Hatch is a video-first content agency that creates short-form video content, video podcasts, original video series, and YouTube videos for B2B companies. Visit www.hatch.fm to learn more.
In this episode, Chris Walker joins a live event by Finn Thormeier to share his current approach to content, and what it takes to create a B2B content strategy in 2025 that actually works.
Topics covered in this episode:
Chris’s current content approach and strategy while building Passetto
The problem with sharing your IP too freely in your content
Lead gen vs. audience building
Invite-only events as a secret weapon
When to focus on niche vs. broad content
How to develop your content POV’s
The most effective way to source weekly content topics
Who should be the face of your content brand
Why distribution won’t save bad strategy
How to measure results from content
The future of content creation roles
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Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing Revenue Vitals and all of Chris’s short-form video and YouTube content. Hatch is a video-first content agency that creates short-form video content, video podcasts, original video series, and YouTube videos for B2B companies. Visit www.hatch.fm to learn more.