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Insights

The "Closer" is a Myth: Why Negotiation Starts at Discovery–Not the Contract

There is a pervasive, dangerous myth in B2B sales: the legend of the "Born Negotiator." This is the "Closer" who swoops ...

2 Dec 25

5 min read

By Ray Makela Read More

Insights

The "Simple Business" Trap: Complexity Demands Data, Not Gut Feeling

There is a misconception about "unglamorous" industries. People look at a company like Restaurant Technologies (RTI). Th...

2 Dec 25

3 min read

By Mike Hoffman Read More

Research Report

The 3 Trends That Defined Q4 (And Will Make or Break Your Next Q1)

If Q4 2025 taught us anything, it is that the middle ground is collapsing. Across the four major research studies that S...

2 Dec 25

3 min read

By Nick Toman Read More

Research Report

AI Won’t Replace Your Sales Manager. It Will Finally Let Them Lead

Despite aggressive commercial spending, growth is slowing across the board. Revenue growth has contracted from 22% in 20...

27 Nov 25

3 min read

By Ray Makela Read More

Research Report

Enablement Workshop: Tackling Buyer Friction, AI-Ready Managers, and Better Coaching at Scale

When you put a group of enablement leaders from companies like Red Hat, Salesforce, IBM, Cato Networks, DocuSign, and Sp...

27 Nov 25

4 min read

By Ray Makela Read More

Research Report

95% of AI Pilots Fail. AI Services are the Solution.

95% of AI pilots fail to produce any measurable P&L impact. That finding from MIT's July report should concern every...

25 Nov 25

4 min read

By Isaac Silverman Read More

GTM Design & Structure

Healthcare Services Provider — Reigniting Growth Through Inside Sales Transformation

Stagnant Growth Year-over-year growth in new patient acquisition had plateaued for this healthcare services company. The...

17 Nov 25

2 min read

By SBI Team Read More

GTM Design & Structure

How RevOps Leaders Are Orchestrating Growth in 2026

As we wrapped our final RevOps Leader Roundtable of 2025, one thing was clear: the pressure on revenue teams isn’t going...

12 Nov 25

3 min read

By Adam Sheehan Read More

Performance Management

The Forecasting Risk Lurking Beneath the Base Business

As a CFO, you're tasked with doing what most SaaS leaders are struggling to achieve in 2025: Deliver growth. Improve eff...

30 Oct 25

2 min read

By Kristin MacCarthy Read More

GTM Design & Structure

Leading Through Uncertainty: How AI is Redefining the Operating Model for Growth

Markets are volatile, tariffs unpredictable, and boardrooms louder than ever about one thing: proof of productivity. For...

28 Oct 25

4 min read

By Mike Hoffman Read More

Performance Management

The Five Elements to Effective Annual Planning

Our observations of market conditions ahead paint a stark picture for commercial leaders: profitable growth is increasin...

28 Oct 25

3 min read

By Anthony Erickson Read More

GTM Design & Structure

How to Master Annual Planning Rollout for 2026

With the right information and strategic bets in place, leaders prime their organizations for revenue excellence. But ev...

24 Oct 25

2 min read

By Nick Toman Read More

GTM Design & Structure

The Elements of an Annual Planning Fact Base

Effective annual planning often makes the difference between achieving your growth goals and falling behind the competit...

24 Oct 25

3 min read

By Anthony Erickson Read More

Coaching & Training

Accelerate Growth at Sales Kickoff (SKO) - Avoid These 5 Mistakes

Every year, thousands of companies spend millions of dollars on sales kickoff (SKO) events and concentrate on talking at...

23 Oct 25

2 min read

By SBI Team Read More

GTM Design & Structure

The Signal That Unlocks SaaS Growth

Net Revenue Retention (NRR) has become a key challenge for SaaS growth. Since Q1 2023, average NRR has dipped from 110% ...

22 Oct 25

3 min read

By Nick Toman Read More

GTM Design & Structure

While Growth Slows for Most, Leaders Take a Different Approach

Recent economic pressures have begun to stabilize, yet most mid-market companies are still struggling to achieve growth....

15 Oct 25

2 min read

By Dave Lingebach Read More

GTM Design & Structure

Accelerating Executive Impact: Why Time-to-Productivity Is Now a GTM Metric

If you’re stepping into a new commercial leadership role, you’re not being given time to learn the business. The expecta...

3 Oct 25

2 min read

By Tony Erickson Read More

GTM Design & Structure

Growth Plans Aren’t Failing in Execution, They’re Failing in Design

SBI’s latest CEO Value Creation Pulse: Correcting and Avoiding Future Planning Miscues reveals a sharp divide between co...

30 Sep 25

3 min read

By Dave Lingebach Read More

GTM Design & Structure

Is Your NRR Falling? You’re Not Alone, But You Might Be Solving the Wrong Problem

Net Revenue Retention (NRR) is under pressure across the board. In SBI’s latest analysis of more than 150 B2B companies,...

25 Sep 25

3 min read

By SBI Read More

GTM Design & Structure

Return on Go-to-Market: What Growth Leaders Need to See

Lacking clarity on what investments are working and what aren't, is an issue. Across boardrooms and investor updates, th...

17 Jun 25

1 min read

By SBI Read More

GTM Design & Structure

Growth Isn't an Idea. It's a System.

Every leadership team says they want sustained, profitable growth, yet very few achieve it. Even fewer understand why th...

17 Jun 25

1 min read

By SBI Read More

GTM Design & Structure

CEOs Are Asking The Wrong Questions About AI

At both the World50 Connect and Recognize CEO Innovation Network events, artificial intelligence and tariffs were the do...

1 May 25

2 min read

By Mike Hoffman Read More

GTM Design & Structure

Navigating Unprecedented Levels of Uncertainty: What CEOs Need to Know

Two themes, both riddled with uncertainty, dominated the conversations at the World50 Connect and Recognize CEO Innovati...

1 May 25

2 min read

By Mike Hoffman Read More

GTM Design & Structure

Tariff Turbulence and Economic Uncertainty - How GTM Leaders Can Win

As companies prepare for the second half of 2025, growth-minded leaders are facing a commercial landscape dominated by r...

24 Apr 25

3 min read

By Anthony Erickson Read More

GTM Design & Structure

Inside ChiliPalooza: AI, Brand Identity, and Real Conversations

Cliff Simon, CRO of Carabiner Group, a part of SBI, represented SBI at ChiliPalooza, a dynamic, workshop-driven conferen...

10 Apr 25

2 min read

By Cliff Simon Read More

GTM Design & Structure

How Women in Leadership Are Mastering Influence, Credibility, and Tough Conversations

The path to leadership is more than climbing the corporate ladder. True leadership comes with overcoming obstacles, crea...

3 Apr 25

3 min read

By SBI Team Read More

GTM Design & Structure

The Peloton Pivot | SBI Growth

A new direction for the Apple of Fitness When you hear Peloton, you probably think of this: Which makes sense. Equipment...

6 Jan 25

6 min read

By SBI Read More

GTM Design & Structure

Cameo's Second Act | SBI Growth

If you haven’t actually used Cameo by now, you’ve probably heard of it. The app allows anyone to get brief, personalized...

6 Jan 25

5 min read

By SBI Read More

GTM Design & Structure

Famous Freemium Swerve That Changed Video Conferencing | SBI Growth

Zoom's freemium decision tree By now, we’re all familiar with Zoom. Perhaps too familiar... While their path to video-co...

6 Jan 25

4 min read

By SBI Read More

GTM Design & Structure

How to Quantify Your Value Propositions | SBI Growth

Features don’t sell products. Value propositions do. Granted, the features are the means to value and keep me around, bu...

6 Jan 25

3 min read

By SBI Read More

GTM Design & Structure

How Statisticians Will Shape the SaaS World | SBI Growth

In my time at Google, I only once spoke to Eric Schmidt. But that one conversation changed my life. Talking about the fu...

6 Jan 25

7 min read

By SBI Read More

GTM Design & Structure

Tearing Down Subscription Coffee: Worth It? | SBI Growth

Think about your first cup of coffee of the day. Whether it's a drip mug at home, a Starbucks cold brew on the way to wo...

6 Jan 25

6 min read

By SBI Read More

GTM Design & Structure

Is the Name of Your Freemium Offer Losing You Revenue? | SBI Growth

Note: This post utilizes data from one of our customers, SmartBear Software. We'd like to thank Jeanne Hopkins, their CM...

6 Jan 25

4 min read

By SBI Read More

GTM Design & Structure

How Groupon Loses $1,117,808 Every Single Day | SBI Growth

Note: This is the first in our "They're leaving money on the table" series, where we actually test out and find which co...

6 Jan 25

5 min read

By SBI Read More

GTM Design & Structure

Is Rundle the Future of Subscription-Based? | SBI Growth

As consumers shift to using more and more subscription services than they have in the past, businesses are looking for a...

6 Jan 25

6 min read

By SBI Read More

GTM Design & Structure

The New York Times' Bundling Strategy | SBI Growth

Briefing The best bundles minimize SuperFan overlap and maximize CasualFan overlap. In practice, this means the best bun...

6 Jan 25

4 min read

By SBI Read More

GTM Design & Structure

Spotify's final song: Why Spotify is doomed

During 2011, digital music service Spotify doubled their paying customers to more than six million and earned a whopping...

6 Jan 25

6 min read

By SBI Team Read More

GTM Design & Structure

The Missing Ingredient: Quality Data | SBI Growth

If you pay for first-party survey data and you use this data to shape your pricing strategies, then you have to ask your...

6 Jan 25

5 min read

By SBI Read More

GTM Design & Structure

SaaS Profitability in 12 Months with Formula | SBI Growth

Homejoy is gone. The headlines might be about legal problems, but at the heart of its demise was a fundamental error cou...

6 Jan 25

4 min read

By SBI Team Read More

GTM Design & Structure

2023 SaaS Billing Trends | SBI Growth

A quick note on Price Intelligently: Our strategists have seen inside of more subscription companies than anyone else on...

6 Jan 25

7 min read

By SBI Team Read More