So in the run up to 2025 SaaStr Annual, I wanted to highlight one great SaaStr session you may have missed on how to become a CRO, a great CRO: The Path to Chief Revenue Officer: Lessons from the CROs at Notion, CircleCI and Lattice.Tracy Young, co-founder of TigerEye and PlanGrid, brought the epic group together.
5 Non-Obvious Learnings from 3 Elite Revenue Leaders:
- The “Rainmaker Myth” is Dead – The best CROs aren’t magical deal closers; they’re systematic business leaders who think like CEOs and prioritize team development over personal quota attainment.
- The First Deal > Perfect Onboarding – Getting sales reps to their first closed deal—even if it’s small or discounted—creates more momentum than extended training programs. This “watershed moment” accelerates confidence across the entire team.
- Executive Team is the “First Team” – Successful CROs consider the executive team—not their sales organization—as their primary team, enabling decisions that benefit the entire business rather than just revenue targets.
- Sales Ops to CRO is a Viable Path – What was once considered an operational dead-end can be a powerful launchpad to the CRO role, providing critical systems thinking and analytical skills that traditional sales paths might miss.
- Cross-Functional Communication is the Hidden Superpower – The ability to translate between product, marketing, sales, and the board—each with their own language and priorities—differentiates great CROs from merely good ones.
Meet Our Panel of Top Female CROs
Erica Anderson, CRO at Notion, brings extensive experience building and scaling revenue teams, starting with creating LinkedIn’s first SDR/BDR organization. Her journey from scaled corporate environments to startup leadership demonstrates her versatility and appetite for new challenges. Known for her people-first approach to leadership, Erica has developed a reputation for building sustainable revenue operations that develop future leaders.
Jane Kim, Former CRO at CircleCI took an unconventional path to revenue leadership, transitioning from a background in finance to technology sales. Starting as an SMB sales leader, she gained valuable experience across various deal types and customer segments. Her financial acumen combined with frontline sales leadership has given her a unique perspective on building efficient, high-performing revenue organizations.
Laurebeth Harvey, President, Field at Lattice brings deep expertise from leading global sales organizations, including a pivotal transition from sales operations leadership at GitHub to heading the company’s global sales team. This functional leap required developing new skill sets and gaining credibility with quota carriers, illustrating the importance of adaptability and continuous learning in revenue leadership.
5 Key Decisions That Shape a CRO Career
We recently hosted an incredible panel featuring three exceptional female CROs – Erica, Jane Kim, and another industry veteran – who shared their journeys to the revenue leadership summit. What made this conversation particularly valuable was seeing how different paths can lead to the same destination.
The “Career Pivot” Decision
Jane Kim made what might seem like a counterintuitive move – transitioning from finance to technology sales. Starting as an SMB sales leader gave her critical advantages:
- Immediate management experience
- Exposure to diverse deal types
- Experience with different customer segments
- Working with salespeople of varying experience levels
This move demonstrates something we’ve seen repeatedly at SaaStr: your background before sales leadership matters less than your ability to learn quickly and apply transferable skills.
The “Build Something New” Decision
Erica’s career trajectory changed dramatically when LinkedIn asked her to build their first SDR/BDR organization from scratch. This opportunity:
- Fast-tracked her into leadership
- Developed her coaching skills
- Created cross-functional partnership expertise
- Required operational excellence
When you’re offered the chance to build something from nothing, saying “yes” often accelerates your career timeline dramatically. The institutional knowledge you gain becomes invaluable.
The “Scale vs. Learning” Tradeoff
Erica faced another pivotal moment when deciding whether to leave her scaled role at LinkedIn for a smaller startup. This represents a classic SaaS career dilemma:
“Do I optimize for stability and prestige, or for accelerated learning and broader responsibility?”
For ambitious revenue leaders, the learning curve often trumps the comfort of established systems. As Erica discovered, startups compress years of virtual experience into months of actual experience.
The “Functional Leap” Decision
Perhaps the most defining career moment shared was the transition from leading sales operations at GitHub to heading the global sales organization – an unexpected opportunity that required a significant mindset shift.
This functional leap required:
- Developing new skill sets
- Taking over an established team
- Carving a distinct leadership path
- Building credibility with quota carriers
The hardest part? Developing genuine empathy for frontline sellers and understanding that sales isn’t purely scientific – it’s both art and science. Process and numbers only tell part of the story.
The “Mentor Network” Strategy
All three executives emphasized that finding the right mentorship was crucial, especially coming from non-traditional or underrepresented backgrounds.
Rather than seeking a single perfect mentor, the most successful approach was building a community network of people who provide support in different ways:
- Technical skills coaches
- Industry navigators
- Confidence builders
- Authentic voice amplifiers
One CRO specifically mentioned finding a mentor (a female, gay General Counsel) who understood her unique perspective as a Korean-American woman in tech sales – which proved invaluable for developing her authentic leadership style.
The Real CRO Job Description: Beyond the Myths
What Actually Makes a Great CRO?
When asked what skills truly matter for CRO success, our panelists highlighted:
- Intellectual curiosity – about all aspects of the business
- Management excellence – developing people, not just hitting numbers
- Vision-setting – providing clarity that aligns teams
- Decision-making – particularly in tough situations
- Cross-functional partnership – especially with Sales Ops and PMM
Surprisingly, being the best individual seller was not on the list. As one panelist noted, “Understanding messaging and positioning from PMM is just as crucial as closing deals.”
The Truth About a CRO’s Worst Days
Our panelists were refreshingly candid about their hardest moments as revenue leaders:
People challenges create the worst days, particularly:
- When team members they care about leave
- When people struggle without proper support
- Having to make layoff decisions about people they’ve invested in
As one CRO shared: “The worst day is when you have to make hard decisions about the future of the company that impact people you admire and respect.”
Other significant challenges include:
- Major forecast misalignment requiring rapid plan adjustments
- Discord among the leadership team
- Delivering bad news to the board
What Makes a Great Day Worth It
Despite the challenges, the rewards are significant:
- Team celebration moments – recognizing high performers
- Cross-functional wins – seeing 40 people across 10 functions close a complex deal
- Strategy setting – charting the future course
- Clarity provision – aligning people with ambitious goals
- Global kickoffs – feeling the energy of the entire revenue organization
One CRO poignantly described the role as “humbling” because “success is predicated on the success of your team.”
Breaking Down Sales Stereotypes
Our panel decisively challenged several persistent myths about sales leadership:
Myth: The “Rainmaker” with Magical Negotiation Skills
Reality: Sales is a science with defined stages and processes that anyone can learn. The best sales leaders aren’t naturally gifted closers – they’re strategic thinkers who:
- Analyze data effectively
- Demonstrate genuine empathy
- Communicate clearly
- Execute disciplined processes
Myth: Sales Leaders Are Independent Operators
Reality: Top sales leaders prioritize company success over personal glory. They:
- Show up as business leaders first, sales leaders second
- Build sustainable, efficient organizations
- Think like CEOs of their territory
- Collaborate across functions
As one panelist noted: “The best sales reps and teams are strategic thinkers who connect dots, influence well, and collaborate effectively.”
Actionable Advice for Aspiring CROs
Focus on Team Development
The unanimous top advice: prioritize building people over hitting numbers. While quota attainment is obviously critical, developing strong leaders within your organization creates long-term sustainable success.
Develop Business Acumen
Understanding the full business context makes you a better revenue leader:
- Learn how marketing thinks and communicates
- Understand what makes a financially sustainable business
- Become an effective channel for product feedback
- Tailor communication to different audiences (board vs. team)
Be Proactive About Opportunities
Early-career advice that resonated: don’t just work hard and wait to be noticed. As one CRO shared:
“I used to think hard work would be recognized, but I learned to be proactive and ask for opportunities rather than staying quiet and patient.”
Sometimes you need to “pull up a chair when there isn’t a seat at the table.”
Continuous Learning Strategies
How do successful CROs stay sharp?
- Podcasts (like “Grit” from Kleiner Perkins)
- Revenue leader networking groups
- Following thought leaders
- Learning from direct reports (not just executives)
The Business Side: Compensation and Team Building
CRO Compensation Structures
The variable/base ratio typically ranges from 50/50 to 80/20, depending on:
- Company stage
- Job scope
- Leadership expectations
- Industry benchmarks
For equity, our panelists suggested that as a CEO, you should give your head of sales “at least half a point, but ideally a whole point or more” to ensure alignment with company success.
Accelerating Team Success
The watershed moment for sales team confidence? The first deal close.
Smart CROs prioritize getting teams to this milestone quickly, even if it means:
- Accepting smaller deals initially
- Offering strategic discounts
- Getting reps into the field faster
This creates momentum that drives future success, though there’s a delicate balance between protecting the brand and allowing necessary learning through experience.
Balancing Executive Leadership with Revenue Advocacy
Perhaps the most nuanced challenge for CROs is functioning effectively as both a company steward and a revenue champion.
The “First Team” Principle
Successful CROs consider the executive team their “first team” – not their sales organization. This mindset shift enables better decision-making that serves the entire business.
One panelist described the realization that “having only a sales hat on can lead to poor decisions” – like pushing for product changes that benefit sales but hurt the overall business.
Creating Cross-Functional Alignment
The most effective CROs:
- Create environments where revenue leaders work together
- Help teams navigate decisions that might hurt sales initially
- Find alternative paths when necessary
- Show up as business leaders first
As one CRO powerfully stated: “A CRO should care about efficiency like a CFO, and the CFO should care about growth and culture like a CRO.”
The Bottom Line
The path to CRO isn’t linear, and the role itself continues to evolve. What remains constant is the need for revenue leaders who can balance strategic business thinking with the operational excellence to deliver predictable growth.
The most important qualification? A genuine passion for developing people alongside developing business – because ultimately, as our panel unanimously agreed, your success as a CRO depends entirely on the success of your team.
