Lessons from Kyle Norton, CRO at Owner.com

On Revenue Leadership and Strategy

Your job as a revenue leader is to generate enterprise value, not just to gas the sales close one number. This requires a holistic view of the business, extending beyond immediate sales figures to long-term, sustainable growth. [1]
"Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast." This mantra emphasizes the importance of building a solid foundation before scaling rapidly. Taking the time to get things right initially leads to more sustained and efficient growth in the long run. [2]
"You have to be able to make hard decisions that sometimes create some discomfort and exposure for the betterment of the business." True leadership involves making tough calls, even if they are unpopular in the short term, to ensure the company's long-term health. [1]
"If you want to go from like VP of sales to CRO this is the big change you need to make... being able to think more holistically about the business." The transition to a CRO role requires a shift in perspective from just managing a sales team to understanding and influencing the entire revenue engine and its impact on the company's value. [3]
"You have to make decisions for the best of the company, and you have to put yourself second sometimes." Prioritizing the company's interests over personal or departmental gains is a hallmark of an effective and trustworthy leader. [3]
"One of the really critical questions to ask that we had clarity on really early at owner is like what game are you playing?" Understanding the company's overarching strategy—whether it's a traditional venture-backed growth model or a more efficiency-focused approach—is fundamental to making the right decisions. [4]
"Most revenue leaders are making a critical mistake with AI: using it to do more of the same, just at greater scale." The true potential of AI lies in fundamentally rethinking processes and creating new efficiencies, not just amplifying existing, potentially flawed, strategies. [5]
"The danger of obsessing over best practices" is that you fail to think critically about your own business context. While best practices can be a good starting point, they should be adapted to the specific needs and stage of your company. [1]
"I think where you get into a lot of trouble is trying to do both." When it comes to go-to-market strategies, such as inside versus outside sales, it's often better to commit to one approach and excel at it rather than trying to do everything at once. [6]
"Your job is enterprise value. It's not to gas the sales close one number." This is a recurring theme in Norton's philosophy, emphasizing that a CRO's ultimate responsibility is to increase the overall value of the company. [1]

On Building and Scaling Teams

"The frontline manager is the most critical role in a revenue team." A great manager can elevate an average team to greatness, while a mediocre manager can stifle a team of stars. [7]
"The best people will leave because great people can't stand mediocre leadership." This underscores the importance of investing in the development of frontline leaders to retain top talent. [7]
When hiring a revenue leader, you're making two bets: one on their ability to navigate the next 24 months and another on their potential to scale with the company long-term. It's crucial to find someone with the right skills for the current stage but also the capacity for growth. [8]
"If your sales leader...is not in the tools and worse not curious, are they going to make it today? You're cooked." In the age of AI and rapid technological change, a leader's curiosity and willingness to engage with new tools are non-negotiable. [9]
To keep your team engaged, motivated, and retained, you have to give them "CRAMPS": Community, Recognition, Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose, and Safety. This framework provides a holistic approach to employee engagement and retention. [10]
"You should have a strong hypothesis that you can help them before you pick up the phone." This highlights the importance of thorough research and a customer-centric mindset in sales outreach. [11]
"Don't be afraid to qualify out." It's better to disqualify a prospect who isn't a good fit early on than to waste time on a deal that is unlikely to close or will result in churn. [11]
"We have the can't miss mentality. It's like no matter what happens, we will get there." Cultivating a resilient and determined mindset within the team is crucial for overcoming challenges and achieving ambitious goals. [3]
"When you transition from a single product to a multi-product platform, your best sellers could struggle." This is a counterintuitive truth that requires leaders to rethink their enablement and coaching strategies during times of product expansion. [5]

On Operational Excellence and Process

A Revenue Operating System should be built on four core pillars: Measuring, Managing, Planning, and Communicating. This system provides the structure for predictable and scalable growth. [12]
"The biggest trap? Over-engineering your revenue system." Start with the "minimum effective dosage" of process and build from there as the company grows. [12]
"Only measure what you'll actually manage." Avoid vanity metrics and focus on the input metrics that directly drive the desired output metrics. [12]
"80% of the time, companies don't have a rep capacity problem; they have a pipeline problem." Before hiring more reps, ensure you have a robust pipeline to support them. [2]
"You don't want BDRs doing any lead research." Centralizing lead research and enrichment allows BDRs to focus on their core competency: outreach and qualification. [13]
"If you give your BDR team bad leads, you're telling them it's ok to work 2.5 days a week." The quality of leads directly impacts the efficiency and morale of the sales development team. [2]
"We've just gotten obsessed with growth... and that has led to some... things got easy." The recent era of easy growth in SaaS led to a decline in fundamental best practices, which now need to be re-established. [13]
"I never ever want to listen to a full call... I'm gonna narrow in on one thing." When coaching, focus on one specific area for improvement at a time to avoid overwhelming the rep and to drive meaningful change. [11]
"Repetition is the heart of neuroplasticity." To build new skills, reps need to engage in focused, repetitive practice, not just receive theoretical feedback. [11]
"Invest early in revops and enablement." These functions are not cost centers but growth multipliers that are essential for scaling efficiently. [4]

On Mindset and Personal Growth

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." This quote from John Wooden, which Norton frequently references, emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and intellectual humility. [13]
"Great revenue leaders approach their own performance like corporate athletes." They manage their physical and mental energy to sustain peak performance over the long term. [7]
"So much of success in life is being able to defer the short term in favor of the long term. It's you know everything is the marshmallow test." This principle applies to both personal and business decisions, where short-term sacrifices often lead to greater long-term rewards. [14]
"Revenue leaders need to run towards bad news." Proactively addressing problems and communicating them transparently builds trust with the board and leadership team. [3]
"I just read more than everybody." Early in his career, Norton's commitment to reading and rapidly applying what he learned was a key differentiator. [13]
"I think you can fall in love with the problem." Even without deep domain experience, a curious and learning-oriented individual can become an expert by immersing themselves in the customer's challenges. [13]
"I was mature enough to be like okay before I start trying to scale a bunch of headcount and volume, let's just address the quality." This demonstrates a level of experience and strategic thinking that prioritizes long-term health over short-term vanity metrics. [4]
"Learning about how product thinks and operates... is really valuable... you build you know a ton of empathy." For revenue leaders, understanding the product development process fosters better collaboration and a more cohesive go-to-market strategy. [1]

On Coaching and Enablement

"Great coaching is questions based." Instead of telling reps what to do, effective coaches use questions to guide them to the right answer, which is where true learning happens. [11]
"Great coaching requires focus." Don't try to fix everything at once. Isolate one specific skill and work on it until it's mastered. [7]
"Enablement has historically been this like one time function... but enablement and success is ongoing right it has to be continuous learning." Enablement should not be a one-off onboarding event but a continuous process of development. [13]
"The manager is the bottleneck." AI-powered simulation tools can provide reps with the practice they need at a scale that a single manager cannot provide. [15]
"I took the importance of scorecarding from [Mark Roberge]." A rigorous and objective scorecard is essential for effective and unbiased hiring. [13]
"The three people who had the best results out of the gate were the three people that... did the most time in the sim." This highlights the direct correlation between practice and performance. [15]
"Great coaching comes from a place of caring." You can't be an effective coach if you don't genuinely care about your team's success and well-being. [7]
"You want to look for an asymmetric upside." When joining a startup, the inherent risks should be balanced by the potential for significant rewards. [11]
"We're playing a long game." Building a sustainable and successful business in a competitive market requires a long-term perspective, even if it means making short-term sacrifices. [6]
"Your comp plan is either building a team sport—or breaking it." Compensation plans should be designed to incentivize collaboration and customer-centric behaviors, not just individual achievements. [16]

Learn more:

Lessons from Kyle Norton, CRO at Owner.com

On Revenue Leadership and Strategy

On Building and Scaling Teams

On Operational Excellence and Process

On Mindset and Personal Growth

On Coaching and Enablement

Written by Antoine Buteau

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