Building a Revenue Operating System from SaaStr Annual 2024 (with Templates)
A recap of my SaaStr presentation from September 2024
At this year’s SaaStr Annual, I gave a presentation on how to build operational excellence into your revenue org. I’m sharing some key takeaways from the talk and some templates that you can use to start down the path of operational excellence. The full video will be available on the SaaStr Youtube in a few weeks so subscribe there so you don’t miss it. You can download a PDF of the slides at the bottom of the article.
What is a Revenue Operating System
The key message from my talk was the importance of having a Revenue Operating System (RevenueOS™️), which is the strategic framework that coordinates the processes, people and tools needed to drive revenue growth. Your RevenueOS acts as an intermediary between revenue leaders and their organization, providing a user interface and coordinating the growth and retention of revenue.
I define a RevenueOS as the set of tools and rituals you use to Measure, Manage, Plan and Communicate in your organization. It’s your Iron Man suit that gives your super revenue growing powers as a revenue leader.
(We’re going to return to this analogy a lot 😉)
Key Principles for Building a Revenue Operating System
In order to drive predictable revenue growth, there are three core principles that should guide the structure and implementation of your revenue operating system. These principles ensure you have a system that is lean, focused on the right metrics, and adaptable to the stage of your business.
1. Use the Minimum Effective Dosage
One of the most common mistakes in building a revenue system is over-engineering. It’s easy to end up spending more time talking about the business than actually building it. Every rhythm you create—whether it’s a meeting, report, or check-in—has a cost. That cost is felt in preparation time, meeting time, and the cognitive load on you and your team.
The goal is to create rhythms that empower your team, not audit them. Implement only the rhythms that are genuinely useful and that your team finds valuable. Keep things streamlined so you can focus on driving results.
2. Measure What You Want Managed
While it’s essential to track output metrics like revenue and closed deals, the real key to effective management is focusing on input metrics—those activities and behaviors that drive results. You need visibility into the inputs so you can address potential problems before they become unmanageable.
This focus also translates to your team: giving them visibility into the right input metrics helps them adjust their behaviour and align with the company’s goals. A guiding principle here is, “Keep the main thing, the main thing.” Don’t clutter the dashboard with too many metrics. Instead, zero in on the key drivers of success.
3. Match the System to the State of Your Business
Your business’s size and stage of growth will dictate the cadence and structure of your operating system. For instance, if you’re running an SMB, daily and weekly rhythms might be appropriate, while enterprise businesses may need a different approach.
As your leadership team matures, your involvement will also evolve. Early on, you may find yourself running frontline rhythms. But as you hire great second-line leaders, you’ll be able to step back and let them take over those rhythms, focusing more on higher-level strategy.
Core Components of a Revenue Operating System
Measuring: Your Heads-Up Display
What is Measuring?
Measuring is the foundation of any revenue operating system. Think of it as the heads-up display in your business—the real-time insights that allow you to monitor what’s happening and take action before it's too late. The cadence of measurement, combined with the right tools, gives you visibility into both input and output metrics, helping you steer the business effectively.
Measuring is the structured process by which you consistently check in on both the input and output metrics that drive your business. Output metrics, such as revenue and closed deals, are important, but the real value comes from monitoring input metrics—those actions and behaviours that directly influence future outcomes.
Critical Tools for Measuring Success
Control Towers (Dashboards for Executives and Functional Leaders):
These high-level dashboards provide a clear overview of the business’s performance, allowing executives and functional leaders to stay aligned and monitor key metrics. They act as "control towers" from which you can see the overall health of your revenue organization.
Scoreboards (Rep-Facing Dashboards):
These dashboards are designed specifically for individual contributors (ICs). They offer immediate insight into whether a rep is winning or losing, and more importantly, *why.* By understanding their performance in real time, reps can adjust their actions and focus on areas that need improvement, driving behaviour change at the front line.
Monthly Business Review:
A critical part of the measuring cadence, the Monthly Business Review (MBR) provides a more in-depth evaluation of performance, progress, and key metrics. This is the moment to zoom out and inspect the business holistically, ensuring that you’re not just reacting to day-to-day fluctuations but addressing broader trends and challenges. You can use this MBR template (feel free to trim it down) to get started.
Target Setting Process:
While it may not always be perfect, having a defined process for setting and revisiting targets is essential. Targets help anchor your business and provide a clear direction for your team. By revisiting targets regularly, you can ensure that they remain aligned with your evolving strategy and market conditions.
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By incorporating these tools and rhythms into your measuring process, you can ensure that your business stays on track, your team is aligned, and you’re always one step ahead of potential problems.
Managing: Your Arc Reactor
What is Managing?
Managing your revenue organization is like the arc reactor in Tony Stark’s suit—it powers everything. The management rhythms you establish are how you drive daily action, ensuring that your team is aligned, projects are on track, and your plans are translated into measurable progress.
Managing is the set of rhythms and rituals you use to keep your team moving forward. It’s how you drive the business from plan to execution, making sure that progress is being made and that any roadblocks are identified early. These rhythms provide the structure for checking in on key projects, tracking progress, and focusing on coaching priorities. Without these management rhythms, it’s difficult to turn strategic plans into real, actionable results.
Critical Tools for Managing
Weekly Update Ritual (MAPLE):
One of the most important tools for managing is a structured weekly update. The MAPLE format (Metrics, Advanced, Planned, Learnings, Emergencies) ensures that every team member is aligned and provides a simple, consistent way for them to report back on progress. You can find a more detailed guide and Notion template for my weekly MAPLE Update here.
Metrics: update on last week & forecast, key metrics in your business
Advanced: what did you work on this week
Planned: what are you working on next week, what are your key priorities
Learnings: any ah-hah moments worth sharing with the team
Emergencies: what is in your way
Coaching Rhythm:
Coaching is critical to driving performance, but it requires dedicated time and focus. This shouldn’t happen in standard 1-on-1 meetings. Instead, set aside time specifically for coaching sessions, using a shared template to ensure consistency and focus.
Meeting Rhythms:
Keep meetings as light and efficient as possible by relying on written communication for updates and status checks. This allows meetings to focus on more valuable activities like brainstorming, collaborating, and decision-making.
1-on-1s:
Your 1-on-1 meetings should be structured but flexible. Provide a framework, but allow your direct reports to own the content if they’re able to. If they’re newer leaders, you might need to shape more of the content so you’re discussing the right things. Andy Grove called this Task Relevant Maturity in High Output Management. Here is my template for running 1-1s.
Team Meetings:
Team meetings are where collaboration happens. Use this time for meaningful activities like brainstorming, collaboration, or decision-making, rather than simply sharing updates. Your written updates should already cover the latter. Here’s my template for running weekly leadership team meetings.
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By implementing these management rhythms, you can ensure that your team stays focused, your plans are executed, and progress is made every single day. Managing is where strategy meets execution, and getting this right is key to driving sustained growth.
Planning: Your co-pilot, JARVIS
What is Planning?
Planning is the process that allows you to pause, evaluate where the business is, and plan for the next period. It’s a critical component of any revenue operating system because it ensures that you are consistently prioritizing the right initiatives, allocating resources effectively, and making informed decisions about the future.
Critical Tools for Planning Success
Growth Plan:
A well-defined growth plan is the roadmap for getting from where you are today to where you want to be. This is your master spreadsheet that lays out your revenue growth math.
Planning Cadence:
This is the regular rhythm for evaluating progress and making decisions. For some businesses, this is a monthly process, while for others with longer sales cycles or more complex operations, quarterly decision-making may be more appropriate with monthly check-ins to monitor progress.
Month in Review and Game Plan:
A tool that allows you to look back at what’s been accomplished in the previous period and then sketch out the game plan for the upcoming one. This is a great way to ensure alignment across teams and keep everyone focused on the right goals. Here is a template that you can follow for writing a monthly review and game plan.
Project Cadence:
This is how you decide what gets resourced and, just as importantly, what does not. Your project cadence should involve regular check-ins on critical projects, ensuring accountability and addressing any blockers. However, this process can quickly turn into meeting overload if you’re not careful, so it’s essential to apply the "minimum effective dosage" principle here.
Prioritization Framework:
A prioritization framework is how you decide which projects or initiatives should take precedence. It’s crucial for ensuring that resources are allocated effectively and that the most important projects get the attention they deserve. This framework helps keep the team aligned on what matters most.
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By implementing these planning tools and rhythms, you ensure that your business is always moving forward with clarity and purpose. Planning is where you take stock of your progress, make informed decisions, and set the course for future growth.
Communicating: Your thrusters
What is Communicating & Deploying Change?
One of the most critical components of your revenue operating system is how you communicate with and educate your team, and how you effectively communicate changes within the organization. Without a clear process for communication and change management, even the best strategies will fail to deliver results.
Communicating is about ensuring your team has the knowledge, context, and clarity they need to understand how the business works and make informed decisions. Deploying change is about cascading information that leads to real behaviour changes within your organization. These two elements work together to drive performance and align everyone around a shared vision.
Key Components for Successful Communication
Knowledge Hub:
A central repository where all key information is stored and easily accessible. This is where team members can find the resources they need to stay informed and up to date on processes, strategies, and company updates. We use Notion and try to centralize as much information as possible there.Standards for Rollouts (Red/Yellow/Green):
A standardized framework for deploying changes across the organization. The level of communication and resources required is dictated by the severity and scope of the change.Templates:
Pre-built templates for communication and updates ensure consistency and efficiency in how information is shared and discussed across teams.
Communicating Context
Clarity:
Be as transparent as possible. Assume your team can handle difficult information and give them the context they need to make sense of decisions. Transparency builds trust and drives engagement.Context:
Start with the “why” behind decisions. Educate your team on how the business operates and how decisions are made. Providing this context helps them better understand the big picture and how their role contributes to broader goals.Consistency:
People thrive on predictability, especially in fast-paced or high-change environments. Establish a regular cadence for updates, so your team can expect to stay informed. This reduces stress, builds confidence, and connects them to the broader vision of the company. You’re also training them to interpret the business and make informed decisions.
Key Communication Components
Update Template and Cadence:
A consistent template and rhythm for updates ensure that your team is regularly informed on the state of the business and can anticipate when and how they’ll receive important information. You can use the Monthly Review and Game Plan template for this.Town Hall Meetings:
Regularly scheduled meetings where leadership provides updates, shares key metrics, and reinforces company goals. These are critical moments for alignment and transparency.AMA (Ask Me Anything) Sessions:
Open forums where team members can ask leadership questions directly, fostering openness and trust within the organization.
Deploying Change
Your ability to deploy change effectively is one of the greatest determinants of success as a leader. Great strategies and well-designed plans are worthless unless you can implement them in a way that leads to real behaviour change across your team.
How you deploy change will dictate whether you can shift behaviour and get your team aligned with new priorities. Without a defined process for rolling out changes, you risk mediocre execution and confusion (I’ve been there personally).
The Traffic Light Model
A clear, structured approach to change management is essential for ensuring that new initiatives are embraced and acted upon. We use the traffic light model to structure how change is communicated. You can borrow this structure but keep in mind, we didn’t move to this level of rigour until our GTM team was close to 100 people. Something lighter weight could also work.
Green: Minor changes, such as bug fixes, communicated via Slack or Notion
Yellow: Moderate changes requiring documentation and team discussions
Red: Major changes (e.g., compensation plans) that require comprehensive communication, training sessions, and leadership involvement.
Change Log
A Change Log is an easy way to capture and disseminate changes across the organization. Here is a Change Log template you can use.
By mastering communication and change management, you can ensure that your team not only stays informed but is also able to adapt to new strategies and directions with ease. Clarity, context, and consistency will keep your team connected and confident, while effective change deployment will ensure your strategic plans translate into meaningful action.
Keys to Victory
I know this probably seems like a lot to take on so let’s talk about where to start and some important swing thoughts to remember while you’re building your own Revenue Operating System.
Build it up over time
Start with the basics
Standardize formats and tools
Document everything
Use technology to automate
1. Build It Up Over Time
You don’t need to implement everything all at once, especially if you’re an early-stage startup. Start slow and build gradually. It takes time for any organization to digest and adjust to new systems and processes. Focus on layering in the essential components as your team grows and your needs evolve.
2. Start with the Basics
Begin with the foundational rhythms that will give you the most leverage.
Measurement Rhythm:
Without solid measurement practices in place, it’s nearly impossible to manage or plan effectively. A consistent cadence of tracking input and output metrics will give you the clarity you need.
Growth Model:
Build a growth model based on lead/opportunity volumes and conversion rates, not just a basic equation like AE * Quota = ARR. This approach gives you a more accurate picture of future performance.
Team Rituals:
Establish simple, powerful team rituals early on, like the MAPLE update structure and 1-on-1 and team meeting templates. These provide clarity and alignment for your team, keeping everyone on the same page.
3. Standardize Formats and Tools
Standardization is key to reducing cognitive load and improving efficiency. Every ritual comes with a cost, so minimizing complexity can save significant time and energy across your team.
Spend 60, Save 30 x (a lot)
Spend 60 minutes upfront designing standardized templates and formats, and you could save 30 minutes every week moving forward. This investment pays off quickly in terms of efficiency.
Replicate Structures Across Use Cases:
Create frameworks that can be reused in different contexts. For example, the weekly MAPLE update structure can also serve as a project update format.
Common Tool Set:
Ensure everyone is using the same tools to avoid miscommunication and inefficiencies. For instance, don’t forecast in Salesforce and then communicate forecast updates via a separate spreadsheet or doc.
4. Document Absolutely Everything
Clear documentation ensures that tasks get done and are done well. Without instructions, things often fall through the cracks or are executed poorly.
Standard Formats for Recurring Tasks:
Create templates and processes for any task that will happen repeatedly.
Document what "good" looks like
by providing instructions and examples for your team to follow. Set aside time each week to document at least one process or standard that will help the team.
5. Use Technology to Automate & Assist
Once you have a good feel for your rituals then leverage technology to automate and assist with your day-to-day rhythms. By setting up triggers, notifications, and automated workflows, you can run many rituals on autopilot and ensure nothing falls through the cracks. Don’t try to automate things out of the gate because you’ll spend a bunch of time automating stuff that needs to be reworked. Elon Musk talks about when you should automate as part of his “Algorithm”.
Push Information to You:
Use tools that proactively send you the information you need. For instance, instead of manually checking reports, have key updates delivered directly to your Slack or email. My secret weapon for this is Momentum.io. It’s a powerful tool that can help you automate processes, monitor performance, and get the data you need, when you need it, without constantly searching for it.
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By following these five keys, you can create a robust and scalable revenue operating system that evolves with your business, keeps your team aligned, and drives measurable results. Starting with the basics, building gradually, and leveraging technology will ensure you stay focused on what matters most.
Key takeaways
A RevenueOS™️ can bring order to chaos
Apply the minimum effective dosage because every rhythm has a cost
The flywheel has 4 key pieces:
Measure, manage, plan, communicate
Start with a basic measurement rhythm, growth model and team updates
This is hard and this is critical
If you enjoyed this very long article then you must love company building and revenue leadership. Check out my Revenue Leadership Podcast where I interview the best revenue leaders in the world every week.
Full slide deck here: