Kenny Johnston

Talked to 100+ GTM leaders this year 📌 Here's the pattern: 🪜 Rung 1: Manual everything. "We'll automate later." 🪜 Rung 2: Basic Zaps. Breaks constantly. 🪜 Rung 3: Clay workflows. Needs an agency to maintain. 🪜 Rung 4: 12 specialized tools. $42K/year. Nothing integrated. 🪜 Rung 5: Describe what you want. It runs. Most teams think they're on Rung 4. They're actually on Rung 2 with better branding. The jump from 4 → 5 isn't adding another tool. It's removing the ladder entirely. Swipe through to find where you actually are 👉

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🌟 The SaaS world moves fast, and scaling efficiently requires strategic alignment, operational rigor, and cross-functional coordination. Fractional COOs are helping early- and mid-stage SaaS companies grow seamlessly while maintaining agility. At 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, we’re committed to 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆—spotlighting leaders who combine operational expertise with strategic insight to drive measurable results. 👋 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁 Dawn Strobel, 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗢𝗢 Dawn helps SaaS companies align strategic objectives with day-to-day execution, ensuring scalable growth without sacrificing agility. She specializes in operational strategy, cross-functional alignment, process optimization, and efficiency audits. Here’s what she’s known for: ✅ Operational strategy for scaling 🏷️ Cross-functional alignment 🌟 SaaS process optimization 🔎 Operational efficiency audits Dawn empowers SaaS teams to scale smarter, improve performance, and operate with clarity—turning strategy into action at every level. 🔗 Learn more about Dawn Strobel and other Fractional COO professionals for SaaS companies here: https://lnkd.in/dSzCuv-R

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Limp tech stacks and siloed GTM teams? That’s the #1 post-holiday bottleneck SaaS leaders are refusing to bring into 2026. This is the season of courageous audits. The best teams are diving deep: mapping every tool, every integration, every bit of product data. Not just for clarity, but for competitive edge. What emerges isn’t just a cleaner stack, but an AI-powered RevOps engine built for scale (and surprise growth spurts) in the new year. The momentum? Only just beginning. Because in 2026, speed and connection beat clutter and legacy. Who's ready for the real transformation? #GTM #RevOps #AIAudits #SaaSLeadership #FusedLabs

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Your product has traction. Revenue is growing. But your GTM systems are duct-taped together—and it’s starting to show. This is where most early-stage teams stall: 🚫 No clear funnel 🚫 Broken handoffs 🚫 Metrics you can’t trust We put together a playbook to help founders build GTM infrastructure that actually scales. Here’s the breakdown 👇

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Post-close GTM breakdowns aren't usually about founder capability. They're about structural shift. Founder-led companies often grow through instinct, relationships, and product intuition. Post-close, expectations shift toward repeatability, process discipline, and scalable execution. Without clear alignment around new GTM roles, cadence, and enablement infrastructure, friction naturally follows. The issue isn't leadership. It's transition. PE firms that proactively support founders with GTM clarity; defined processes, role design, and structured enablement, see faster stabilization and stronger post-close acceleration. At SFE Partners, we help bridge the gap between founder-driven momentum and operator-led scale, building the GTM playbooks and infrastructure that turn traction into predictable growth. Learn how we support founder-to-operator GTM transitions at https://bit.ly/3Mzjf53 #PrivateEquity #GTMStrategy #RevOps #ValueCreation #SFEInsights

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Profitability isn’t a growth lever. PagerDuty’s story shows a profitable SaaS business can still stall when expansion slows. ARR around $500M, up ~3% YoY, with NRR at 100% and a roughly flat base of about 15k customers for years. That combo reminds us that efficiency matters, but investors still link value to durable growth. A big TAM claim (about $50B) doesn’t help if penetration remains near 1% and growth stays in the low single digits. Outbound lesson: balance expansion within existing accounts and new-logo velocity, and watch NRR as a leading indicator. In practice, that means thoughtful ICP focus, retention-driven messaging, and staged plays that target both pipeline quality and renewal upside. How does your program balance new logos vs. expansion today? #B2BSaaS #Outbound

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How do you really know when you’ve found product-market fit? In the Science of Scaling framework, product-market fit boils down to defining and targeting leading indicators of retention for your business. In this clip from the Science of Scaling podcast, Founder and CEO Henry Schuck shares how ZoomInfo knew they had found product-market fit. Not through a perfect model, but by watching one thing closely: repeatable demand. After launch, the signals were clear. The same inputs kept producing the same outputs, year after year. Demand scaled, and revenue followed. And the system held—well past $50M. Want a deep dive into the stories and data behind the Science of Scaling methodology — in print or eBook form? Order The Science of Scaling, out now: https://buff.ly/4lYNJeA #SalesLeadership #StartupTips #SaaS #B2BSales #CRO #GoToMarket #RevenueGrowth #ScalingStartups

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