Austin Hay, Co-Founder of Clarify and MarTech expert, shares insights on the chaotic state of MarTech and RevTech, highlighting the impending 'great contraction.' He discusses the need for next-gen CRMs that unify data and improve functionality. Austin emphasizes the importance of focusing on quality tools and treating people with respect during their transitions. He critiques common misconceptions in revenue leadership and reveals what's truly effective in go-to-market strategies. His journey underscores the power of brand, culture, and community in driving success.
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Choose Tools By Problem Not Familiarity
Work backwards from the problem and avoid picking tools out of habit; pick the lowest-friction option that minimizes future complexity.
Map how you collect leads and choose a single path to prevent leads from arriving in five different formats.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Avoid Annual Contracts Without High Conviction
Sign yearly contracts only when you have high conviction the service is core and replaceable with high switching cost savings.
For replaceable or uncertain tools, prefer short-term agreements to avoid lock-in and waste.
insights INSIGHT
CRM As Developer Platform Not Legacy Product
Next-gen CRMs must be platforms developers love, not just tools, with modern languages and object models that unify marketing events and sales objects.
Austin highlights Apex's limitations and the need for custom objects, event streams, and developer-friendly stacks.
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Austin Hay is the Co-Founder of Clarify, a new intelligent CRM built as a platform that developers love. He is also a Partner and MarTech Teacher at Reforge, as well as a MarTech Advisor and GTM Investor at HBE Ventures. With a background leading marketing technology teams at high-growth startups like Ramp, Branch, and mParticle, Austin brings a wealth of expertise on the evolving MarTech and RevTech landscape.
Discussed in this Episode:
The current state of MarTech and RevTech, and why we're headed for a "great contraction" after years of expansion.
The future of CRMs and what a next-gen system should look like to unify data and provide more out-of-the-box functionality.
Advice for founders and leaders on being selective with tools, focusing on a few things done well, and the importance of treating people with respect.
Austin's journey building Clarify and his perspectives on brand, culture, and community.
Highlights: (5:46) Why the MarTech and RevTech space is a "mess" right now. (13:05) Fundamental building blocks for an effective GTM tech stack. (21:15) The problem with how most companies are assembling their RevTech stack today. (36:45) The future of CRMs as systems of action, not just systems of record. (44:48) The most impactful lesson from Austin's career on how to treat people when they leave your company. (52:25) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Austin thinks is bull$***. (59:18) One thing that is working for Austin in go-to-market right now.
Brought to you by Upland Altify. A leading provider of AI-enhanced sales solutions, Altify is designed to help revenue teams work smarter. This Salesforce-native suite of sales solutions empowers seller productivity, streamlines workflows, and uncovers hidden opportunities – all leading to significant revenue growth - learn more.
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The GTMnow Podcast The GTMnow Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.
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