How to build a legendary revenue career (part 1)

Welcome to RISE UP where every Friday I share one tip for reaching your potential and building a legendary revenue career.?

After publishing the first edition of RISE UP last week, I received an interesting response:

Andy, love the newsletter and the idea of a “revenue career!” It’s a new category of jobs. But how would you define a revenue career exactly??

It’s a great question and something definitely worth exploring. This week I’ll share “what and why”, and next week will be prescriptive guidance on “how”. Let’s kick off part one:?

Put simply, a revenue career is a career dedicated to the revenue process.?

You can think of it like a “marketing career” or “sales career” where people are committed to the discipline of selling and marketing goods or services, respectively.

A revenue career is more than hitting numbers (though that is certainly part of it). Someone with a revenue career understands that revenue is not just an outcome — it’s the most important business process inside every organization.?

Anyone committed to stopping revenue leak and achieving revenue precision has a revenue career. As a refresher:

• Revenue Leak: The loss of revenue due to breakdowns in the revenue process.
• Revenue Precision: The full, predictable, and repeatable capture of revenue.

These aren’t just the most valuable employees in any organization, they’re quickly becoming the most sought after.?

Now is the best time to build your revenue career.?

CNBC recently published that Revenue Operations is the #1 fast-growing job in the United States.?

Investors and executives are realizing that achieving revenue precision takes more than technology, it also requires the world’s best talent. And a lot more of them.?

As the creator of revenue operations, this is incredibly rewarding to see. Clari isn’t just providing the platform to run revenue, but creating real opportunities for people to build an impactful and meaningful career.??

Examples of revenue careers

By now you might be wondering, Do I have a revenue career?

If you’re helping your org run revenue like a process, stopping revenue leak, or achieving revenue precision, then the answer is YES!?

Take a moment to congratulate yourself. You have one of the most rewarding and lucrative careers on the planet. I love it, it’s what motivates me every single day.?

Folks with revenue careers cary many titles and responsibilities, but in case it’s helpful, here are some of the most common:

• Chief Revenue Officer (CRO): responsible for overarching revenue management strategy.
• Revenue & Sales Ops: responsible for revenue strategy, execution, and measuring success.
• Sales leadership: responsible for sales strategy and revenue capture.?
• Individual contributors (Sales, CS, SDRs): responsible for converting value into pipeline and revenue.
• Finance (including deal desk): responsible for the company’s finances, making key investment and planning decisions based on revenue projections and actuals.
• Marketing: responsible for creating and capturing demand and converting it into revenue.???

There’s never been a better time to have a revenue career. I hope this helps shape your perspective, see how valuable you are for your organization, and how you can compound your value by continuing down this path.?

Next week I’m going to share advice for how to build a legendary revenue career. And be sure to forward to your colleagues in revenue so they can become legendary too.?

Until next week,?

Andy Byrne

How to run revenue like a pro

Charge: The Revenue Summit: Join us for a half-day virtual event filled with thought leadership, product announcements, and practical advice from world-class leaders on how to win every revenue moment — even during a downturn.

Podcast: You can run revenue at PLG companies too, just ask Todd Olson, CEO and Founder of Pendo. He joined the Run Revenue Show this week to share how to build a successful product-led sales strategy with Kyle. You can listen here.