GTM 163: From $2M To $50M ARR To Unicorn: How Owner Scaled With AI & Talent Density

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GTM 163: From $2M to $50M ARR to Unicorn: How Owner Scaled with AI & Talent Density | CRO Kyle Norton

3d ago 1:08:32

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Kyle Norton is the Chief Revenue Officer at Owner, the fast-scaling restaurant SaaS platform valued at over $1B. Since joining from Shopify, Kyle has helped grow the company from $2M to $50M+ in ARR by instilling a high bar for sales talent, building RevOps early, and driving a disciplined go-to-market strategy. A podcast host himself, Kyle shares deep expertise on sales hiring, leadership, and GTM AI, while keeping his focus on building a generational company.

Discussed in This Episode

Why Kyle let go of half the sales team just 45 days in
The importance of setting a high bar for sales talent and cultural fit
Investing in RevOps and data foundations far earlier than conventional wisdom
How to reduce churn by narrowing ICP and saying no to misfit customers
Lessons from running hiring retros to assess interview process effectiveness
The balance between remote vs. in-office roles for scaling GTM teams
How Owner approaches AI in go-to-market, starting with data over “shiny tools”
Kyle’s leadership philosophy: servant leadership and building for growth

Episode Highlights

00:44 — Owner’s journey from $2M ARR to unicorn

02:01 — Kyle explains why he fired half the sales team just weeks into the role

04:56 — Why Owner set a sky-high bar for early sales hiring

08:13 — Kyle’s case for bringing in RevOps “too early” and why it paid off

12:39 — Reducing churn by saying no to 30% of potential customers

15:57 — Why hiring fit matters more than a candidate’s “pedigree”

21:49 — What Kyle learned from running hiring retros on interview data

30:25 — Owner’s AI GTM transformation: starting with third-party data

48:34 — Kyle’s take on the remote vs. in-office debate for sales teams

54:53 — His leadership philosophy: servant leadership + relentless coaching

59:19 — Kyle’s essential reading list for sales leaders

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Guest Links

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylecnorton/
Podcast: https://therevenueleadershippodcast.com/

The GTMnow Podcast
The GTMnow Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.
Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.

Chapters

1. Building a Generational Company (00:00:00)

2. Early Strategic Investments (00:05:13)

3. Tackling Churn and Refining Customer Fit (00:10:51)

4. Strategic Hiring Approaches (00:16:07)

5. AI Transformation Strategy (00:31:06)

6. In-Office vs Remote Work Balance (00:48:10)

7. Core Leadership Principles (00:55:23)

8. Evaluating Exceptional Founders (01:01:13)

593 episodes

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