Guides on revenue systems and commercial architecture
Plain-English guides on how commercial decisions actually drive enterprise value. Written by an operator, for founders and operators who want the model behind the strategy, not just the strategy.
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The Enterprise Value Map
The Deloitte framework that connects everyday commercial work to what a business is actually worth. The four value drivers, where revenue leaks, and how to find your dominant one.
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Why recurring revenue is worth more
Why recurring revenue trades at higher multiples than project revenue, the four properties that make it defensible, and how to convert transactional revenue into recurring.
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Distribution strategy: direct, channel, or both
How to choose between direct, channel, and hybrid distribution, the margin math of selling through partners, and the failure modes that quietly erode value.
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Designing a sales comp plan that protects margin
You get the behavior you pay for. The components of a comp plan, the margin gate, tying commission to collected cash, and the mistakes that reward the wrong outcomes.
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Cost-to-serve: which customers actually make you money
Why your biggest customers are often your least profitable, how to calculate cost-to-serve, and what to do once you can see the real number behind the revenue.
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Customer concentration risk
Why concentrated revenue lowers your valuation, the thresholds a buyer watches, and how to de-risk the revenue base without walking away from big accounts.
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Cash conversion and DSO: why revenue is not cash
The gap between revenue and cash, how to read Days Sales Outstanding, why comp and payment terms drive it, and how to improve it before it bites.
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Net revenue retention: the number that decides your multiple
What NRR is and how to calculate it, why crossing 100% changes the whole economics, the difference from gross retention, and how to build expansion.
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B2B pricing strategy: value-based vs cost-plus
Why pricing is the highest-return lever, the three ways companies set price, how to move toward value-based pricing, and how to hold discipline on discounts.
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Choosing a go-to-market motion
Sales-led, product-led, channel, or hybrid. What a GTM motion is, the economics of each, and how to match the motion to your deal size and buyer.
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Pipeline coverage vs conversion
A revenue gap is one of two very different problems, and the fixes are opposite. How to tell a coverage problem from a conversion problem before you act.
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CAC payback: how long until a customer pays for itself
What CAC and payback mean, how to calculate payback on gross profit, what good looks like, and how to shorten it from both sides of the equation.
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How to define an ideal customer profile (ICP)
What an ICP is and is not, why a sharp one makes every commercial decision cheaper, how to build it from your best customers, and how to use it to qualify.
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Win/loss analysis: learning why you actually win
Why the reasons in your CRM are usually wrong, how to run real win/loss interviews, what patterns to look for, and how to close the loop into better selling.
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Sales forecasting: why accuracy beats optimism
Why an accurate forecast is a valuation asset, why forecasts are usually wrong, and how to build accuracy with stage definitions and exit criteria.
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Channel conflict: when direct and partners collide
What channel conflict is, the forms it takes, why it destroys value, the rules of engagement that contain it, and when a little conflict is acceptable.
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Sales velocity: the four levers of how fast revenue moves
The formula, the four levers (deals, win rate, deal size, cycle length), which lever to pull, and the trap of optimizing one in isolation.
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Buyer personas: who actually signs the check
How a persona differs from an ICP, the roles on the buying committee, why one-persona selling stalls, and how to build personas from real buyers.
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Deal qualification: how to know which deals are real
Why qualification pays, the questions that decide whether a deal is real, why qualifying out is a skill, and how it sharpens the forecast.
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Territory and quota design: dividing the market fairly
Why bad design wrecks morale and the forecast, the principles of fair territories, how to set quotas that motivate, and how it connects to comp.
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Contribution margin: the profit math behind every deal
What it is, why it beats gross margin for deal decisions, how to use it to choose which deals and segments to push, and the break-even lens.
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Sales onboarding: how fast new reps reach quota
Why ramp time is an expensive hidden cost, why it stays slow, how to build a faster ramp, and how to measure it so you can plan hiring around it.
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