Olivier Tytgat 🪖

Co-Founder & Head of Sales

CEO @ Outbound Catalyst | generate pipeline consistently with our revenue systems

👋 I'm Ollie, and here's my journey in a nutshell: 

- Helped over 25+ tech companies get their first 10-50 clients through smart revenue systems
- Trained over 250 people from diverse backgrounds on becoming the best cold callers ever
- Hosting a podcast where we decode B2B Revenue Systems: https://open.spotify.com/show/5LMwgSpPBRfffF4OyQsXC5?si=7bb99931399e40aa

🚀 On a mission to helping another 25+ tech companies increase their pipeline and net new revenue (building out Outbound Catalyst to be the 🥇 GTM agency in the EU).

🧠 Sharing my learnings from generating 100 million plus in pipeline and growing a growth/GTM agency in my newsletter -> https://bit.ly/newsletter-linkedin-website-profile 🧠

What you'll get by following me:

🚀 Actionable tips to grow smart outbound/revenue systems

🔥 Transparent & actionable advice, no fluff

💼 Exclusive updates on Outbound Catalyst's growth 

I’ll be posting growth tips and tactics - so hit that “Follow” button!

DM "GTM Scan" & see if you qualify for a free GTM Audit (value: €5K)

Peace, pipeline & revenue ✌️

Ollie

Founding Member

As a Founding Member of the Sales Hacker community, I exchanged ideas on how to provide value for the community. 

Sales Hacker is a community where B2B Sales Professionals share their experiences, best practices and exchange interesting ideas and other content.

Olivier 🔎 Tytgat

Most "GTM engineers" aren't engineers at all.

Spencer Tahil and I had a heated conversation about this last year (lol) on his podcast.

Here's the uncomfortable truth:

What most people call "GTM engineering" is what VAs in the Philippines were doing for €5/hour four years ago.

Building lists using PhantomBuster and Icypeas and Prospeo.io.
Cleaning data manually.
Copy-pasting what others share on LinkedIn.

Clay just made it easier. But easier doesn't equal engineering.

An engineer (the real definition):
"A person who designs, builds, AND maintains machines, structures, or systems."

That requires:
- 5-7 years of study (at minimum)
- Deep understanding of architecture
- Ability to design, execute, and maintain
- Systems thinking, not task execution

What I see instead:
→ Bootcamp graduates with 6 months experience
→ Asking for €5K/month salaries
→ Can't explain their QA process
→ Have never done a sales job
→ Expect agencies to guide them while charging premium rates

The market is confused because buyers don't know what they're hiring for.

And suppliers don't know what they're actually delivering.

This creates a cycle:
Bad hire → Underperformance → "GTM doesn't work" → Next bad hire

The truth? There are maybe 100 people globally who can truly:

- Design end-to-end GTM systems
- Build AND maintain them
- Understand growth architecture
- Execute with deep industry expertise
- Do this across multiple domains

Everyone else? They're specialists learning in public.

Which is fine, if expectations are aligned.

But calling yourself an engineer when you're building lists in Clay?

That's like calling yourself a mechanic because you can change your oil.

We need better education on both sides of the table.

Olivier 🧪 Tytgat

I engineer effective growth for B2B SaaS companies without the bloat | DM “GTM Scan” & I’ll give you 3 ways to increase your revenue in the next 90 days.

Founder: "We need $50K for paid ads to get our first 1,000 users"

Marie Martens from Tally: "We got 1,000 users in 6 months with $0 spend"

Here's the cold outbound system they used to get their first customers👇

(No budget. No audience. No customers. Just execution.)

Most early-stage founders think you need:
- Paid ads budget
- Existing audience
- VC funding
- Marketing team

Marie did the opposite:
She spent 6 months sending cold DMs. Manual. One by one.

The System:
1/ Ultra-Targeted List Building
↳ Found people who uploaded form builders on Product Hunt
↳ Looked for founders, product people, technical backgrounds
↳ No Clay. No automation. Just a spreadsheet.

2/ The Pitch
↳ "Hey, we're building this. I thought you might be interested because of [specific reason]"
↳ Shared a link to the MVP (just the form builder, no login, no landing page)
↳ Asked for feedback, not a sale

3/ The Results
↳ 1 in 5 replied (20% response rate on cold outreach)
↳ Early users joined their Slack (now 3,000 members)
↳ Super short feedback loops = rapid product improvement
↳ 1,000 users in 6 months, then doubled in one day on Product Hunt

The lesson? Manual outreach at tiny scale beats paid ads when you have:

No budget
No brand
But a product people actually want

Founders forget: You don't need to scale before you validate.

What's stopping you from sending 50 manual DMs today?

Full episode with Marie drops on Wednesday. 

(link in comments to get notified first)

Olivier Tytgat 🧪

Helping 50+ B2B SaaS companies engineer effective growth without the bloat | DM ‘Roadmap’ → 3 ways to grow revenue this quarter

$100M in pipeline. 30+ companies. 100+ SDRs trained. Here's what actually moves the needle.

Yesterday I shared why I'm going all-in on content in 2026. Today, let me show you what we've actually built.

Since founding Outbound Catalyst, we've helped B2B sales teams move from unpredictable prospecting to systematic pipeline generation.

The results:
→ $100M+ in pipeline generated across 30+ companies
→ 100+ SDRs trained on systematic prospecting
→ $5M in software sold, $1M+ in services (last 3 years)
→ 50+ salespeople got at least 1 full day back per week

What's different about our approach?
→ We don't sell you on volume. We build pipeline engines that work whether you're actively prospecting or not.

Not "send 10,000 emails and hope."

But "send 4,000 highly-targeted emails with signal-based triggers and generate double the meetings."

The companies winning in 2026 have figured out one thing:
→ Predictable revenue isn't a motivation problem. It's a systems problem.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be breaking down the exact frameworks we use:
📜 The 10 Commandments of Modern Prospecting
📜 5-step list building that actually converts
📜 The only 3 campaign types you'll ever need
📜 How to turn your phone into a competitive advantage

Looking forward to sharing what actually works.

What's your biggest outbound challenge right now?

I almost skipped this post. 

After taking a break over the holidays, I questioned whether another "outbound in 2026" talk would just add to the noise.

But then Dylan Mendes reached out.

He's doing something interesting: bringing together senior sales leaders from traditional industries with the approaches that are working in tech.

And honestly? That gap is where the real opportunity lives.

On Wednesday, I'm speaking at his event about what it actually takes to run successful outbound this year.

Not for tech companies who've been doing this for years.

For leaders at traditional businesses who are just now asking:
"How do we build outbound systems that scale without losing what makes us human?"

Here's what I've learned working with both:

Traditional businesses have advantages tech companies don't:
- Deeper customer relationships
- Longer sales cycles that allow for actual personalization
- Less tolerance for "spray and pray" (which is actually good)

But they're missing:
- Systems that enable reps instead of burdening them
- Smart automation that amplifies expertise (not replaces it)
- AI applications that actually move the needle

Tomorrow's session covers:
→ Building go-to-market systems that increase output
→ Enabling teams through automation and AI
→ Creating processes that benefit reps AND hit company goals

Wednesday, 6pm Brussels time.

If you're leading a sales team and wondering how to make outbound work in 2026, this is for you.

Link in comments.

(And if you're not joining for me, at least join for the other speakers 😄: shoutout Philippe Corbisier de Cobreville, Haris Odobasic, Pascal Persyn)

What's your take: are traditional businesses actually better positioned for authentic outbound than tech companies?

I'm about to show you something I probably shouldn't.


I just ran our new GTM Playbook Selector on Aircall (yes, the $200M ARR sales engagement platform/VOIP system).

The analysis that came back was so shocking, I had to pause before posting this.

But this is exactly the problem most B2B SaaS companies have, and they don't even know it.

Let me show you what I found. 

Aircall is doing ~$200M ARR. 

So I thought: "Let's see what this system says about their GTM."

What the system pulled... 

Repvue reviews from their sales team:

"Frequent changes in leadership"

"My direct leadership is not inspiring"

"Hard to build pipeline consistently"

"A lot of turnover on CRO's team"

"Brand new team, September 2025"

"No room for growth, not listening to employees"


Then it analyzed their trajectory:

- Raised $100M+

- Grew to 500+ employees

- Laid off 100+ people in 2022-2023

- Built infrastructure for "growth at all costs" — now needs "efficiency optimization"

The diagnosis: Their GTM motion is misaligned.

The tool flagged that they're probably:
❌ Not tracking intent signals properly
❌ Running multiple disjointed tools (not a unified system)
❌ Reps aren't cold calling (pipeline gaps everywhere)
❌ Leadership turnover is killing execution consistency

Look — I'm not here to roast Aircall.

Building at that scale is f***ing hard. I can't imagine managing hundreds of reps through hypergrowth, then a correction, then a rebuild.

But this is exactly why I built this system.

Because most companies are:

❌ Using the wrong GTM motion for their current stage

❌ Copying what worked 2 years ago (but doesn't work now)

❌ Not seeing the signals that their system is breaking

The system generated 9 pages of analysis for Aircall.

It included:

✅ What's misaligned in their current GTM

✅ Which channels they should double down on

✅ Where they're likely burning budget

✅ A prioritized roadmap to fix it

And it took less than 3 minutes.

So here's my offer:

I'll run this for YOUR company. For free.

Just:

🧲 Comment "ROADMAP" below

🤝 Send me a connection request

✍ Fill out the 2-minute form I'll send you

It will generate your custom GTM roadmap and send it to you automatically. 


P.S. This was my first official N8N workflow. Took days to build (mainly to get it running right). Still has some formatting bugs... But it works. And the insights are 🔥.

Most revenue leaders are solving the wrong problem. 

They're hiring closers when they need pipeline architects.

I'm Olivier, Founder of Outbound Catalyst.

I'm turning 30 this year, which made me realize I've spent almost a decade in B2B sales.

When I started, I had to figure out prospecting from scratch. 

Like most reps, I was stuck in the brutal feast/famine cycle:
→ Prospect hard for 1 week
→ Stuck in meetings for 2-3 weeks
→ Empty calendar next month
→ Panic and repeat

Six months in, something clicked. I automated my entire prospecting engine. 

10-15 meetings per week, on autopilot.

Most people thought I was just good at sales. The truth? I was good at building systems.

Here's what I discovered:

As I moved into revenue leadership, companies kept hiring me to "fix revenue." 

But the problem was never closing, it was predictable pipeline.

The companies winning in 2026 aren't working harder ➝ they're working more systematically.

They've built pipeline engines that run whether they're actively prospecting or not.

That's why I founded Outbound Catalyst.

Our results:
🎯 $100M+ in pipeline generated for 30+ companies
🧠 100+ SDRs trained on systematic follow-up through the phone
⚙️ 50+ salespeople got at least 1 full day back per week

What I'm building in 2026:

A programmatic revenue OS 
↳ plug-and-play systems that generate predictable pipeline across different revenue stages.

Not custom playbooks that break when you scale. 

Systematic frameworks that work whether you're a 5-person team or a 50-person team.

What you'll see from me:
⚙️ Pipeline Engineering:
➝ How to build engines that generate meetings while you're closing
➝ Signal-based prospecting for focused markets
➝ The validation process before any automation

⚙️ Systematic Execution:
➝ Campaign architectures that scale with your team
➝ RevOps + Outbound integration
➝ Data strategies beyond basic enrichment

🔥 Contrarian Takes:
→ Why most "best practices" break at scale
→ Why AI amplifies problems instead of fixing them
→ Why response quality beats response quantity

My core belief:

If you can't make it work manually, you can't scale it with technology.

Looking forward to connecting with:
- Revenue leaders building systematic engines
- Sales teams tired of unpredictable pipeline
- Anyone who believes revenue should be engineered, not hoped for

What's the biggest gap in your pipeline system right now?

p.s. tomorrow I'm releasing something special, stay tuned!

In 2 hours, I'm presenting "Outbound 2026" 🎤

And I'm going to break the 10 Commandments that separate successful outbound from spam.

These aren't LinkedIn theories. They're battle-tested across hundreds of campaigns that actually generated pipeline.

Here's a preview of what's NOT working anymore:
🚫 Most teams still optimize for volume. 
10,000 emails per month. 
47 sequence variations. 
Every shiny automation tool.

Result? 0.8% reply rates.

The companies crushing outbound in 2026 follow different rules:

📜 Commandment #1: Quality Over Quantity

One client cut their list by 90% and doubled meetings. 
→ Ten perfect leads > 1,000 spray-and-pray prospects.

📜 Commandment #2: Personalization is Non-Negotiable

Not [First Name] tokens. Real research. 
→ Personalized relevance per prospect = 2% to 11% reply rates.

📜 Commandment #3: Multi-Channel by Design

Email alone = 2-3%. 
→ Email + LinkedIn + Phone = 8-10%. 

One channel is hope. 
→ Multiple channels is strategy.

But here's the commandment most people violate:
📜 You cannot scale what doesn't work manually.

Test 50-100 prospects first. Fix what breaks. Then scale proven assumptions, not hopeful ones.

I'll be covering all 10 commandments in today's presentation at Scaling Sales in 2026 from We Are Sales (link in comments), including the tactical frameworks for building the best lead lists you'll ever build.

If you're running outbound and tired of mediocre results, drop a "🔥" below and I'll share the full breakdown afterward.

What's the #1 outbound myth you want me to bust today?

Your lead gen agency got you positive replies, now what?

One of the things we hear often from colleagues in the space is that their clients complain they aren't converting replies into meetings.

Now we didn't have to figure this out, because we lived it.

Ever since 2019 we've been applying what we call "warm calling."

The system is simple: do your smart automations to get a reply, once you get a reply, pick up the phone as fast as you can.

Here's exactly how we do it.

1️⃣ Tier 1: Positive Replies
↳ Call within 5 minutes
↳ Pre-qualify on the spot & Book the meeting

2️⃣ Tier 2: Gray Zone Replies
Anything that's not a clear "yes" or "unsubscribe"
↳ Call within 24 hours
↳ Outcome: meeting, nurture, or disqualify

3️⃣ Tier 3: No Response
↳ Add tier 1 & 2 leads to backlog call list
↳ Re-engage every 3-6 months
Call during downtime or when behind on pipeline

4️⃣ Tier 4: Unsubscribe/Do Not Contact
↳ Automations unsubscribe them & add them to the blocklist

These people aren't surprised you're calling. They've already engaged with your email. Most are actually open to a short conversation.

And to no surprise, you'll see 20-40% more meetings booked within days.

The reply isn't the win. The meeting is.

Are you following up on replies with calls, or letting conversations die in your inbox?

p.s. right? (lol)

Your fancy tech stack isn't the problem.

You can send 50,000 emails a month.

You can automate every touchpoint.

You can waterfall through 10 enrichment tools.

And still have zero predictable revenue.

Because knowing how to use tools ≠ knowing how to engineer growth.

Here's what actual growth engineering looks like:
One of our customers - 8 years in, fully bootstrapped, fastest-growing in their space - scaled from 0 to €5M ARR profitably. 

Their sales team? Grew from 3 to 5 people, the last 2 years.

Their strategy wasn't complicated. It was consistent.

Here's how it went down:
€0 → €1M ARR: Pure cold calling → Found first 100 customers & validated ICP

€1M → €2M ARR: Added paid ads on top → Built "inbound" flow while keeping outbound

€2M → €5M ARR: Layered in automated outbound (where we came in) → Email campaigns + warm calling + ads running simultaneously 

The System:
• Automated email campaigns qualify and warm up the market (in sync with ads). 
• SDRs call engaged prospects + hand-raisers within minutes → 30% convert to meetings
• Strategic outbound calling on priority accounts layered throughout

The Results:
Our part-time SDR books 30-50 meetings/month. Consistently.

€5M ARR with efficient cashflow. No burn.

The difference?

They didn't stop at learning tools. They engineered a repeatable system where each channel validates and feeds the others.

→ Cold calling proved message-market fit.
→ Paid ads scaled awareness.
→ Automated outbound created consistent pipeline.
→ Strategic calling captured high-value accounts.

Growth tactics are easy to learn.

Revenue engineering takes systems thinking.

What's your current bottleneck: tactics or systems?

Head of Benelux @Personio | Unlock the Power of Your People

Over the past 12 years in SaaS, I’ve seen firsthand where most Founders and Revenue leaders fail: 

- No structured Go-To-Market strategy → Running multiple GTM motions at once. Growth stalls, especially beyond the home market.
- No consistent sales process → Relying on individual performance instead of repeatable systems. No scalable growth engine.
- No clear revenue insights → Looking at blended metrics instead of pinpointing what drives conversions. Low rep productivity, declining ARR per FTE.

I get it. Day-to-day operations take over, and revenue inefficiencies stack up.

The bad news? You’re responsible for fixing it.

The good news? I can help you and your SaaS business.

How I help B2B SaaS teams ($5M-$25M ARR) scale faster:

- GTM & Sales Strategy – Structuring inbound, outbound, and partner strategies across SMB, Mid-Market, and Enterprise.
- Sales Process Optimization – Improving conversion rates and reducing reliance on top performers.
- Playbooks & Execution – Building structured systems, coaching frameworks, and checklists for consistent revenue growth.
- High-Performing Teams – Hiring, developing, and structuring commercial teams with clear accountability.

Results I’ve helped drive:

→ Increased sales team efficiency by 2X through scalable sales team structuring and skill development frameworks.

→ Improved win rates to 25% by implementing structured tactical and operational Go-To-Market tactics.

→ Built GTM playbooks that accelerated ARR growth for early-stage and scaling SaaS companies to $10M ARR.

How we can work together: 

1. Coaching & Advisory – Hands-on support to build a scalable sales engine.
2. On-Demand Sessions – Solving your biggest sales execution challenges.
3. GTM Playbooks & Frameworks – Proven templates for predictable growth.

Scaling isn’t about luck. It’s about building the right systems.

What’s blocking your revenue growth today? Let’s fix it.

DM me and let’s chat.

Koen Stam

Yesterday, something powerful happened at our UKI sales kickoff. The people who once joined us as SDRs led the entire program.

They built the workshops, analyzed the data, and ran the room with confidence and ownership. Their leader sat in the audience, proud and learning from the people he helped grow.

That’s what real enablement looks like.

Most teams talk about developing people.
Few actually let them lead. It takes trust, preparation, and a willingness to give up control.

When that happens, something changes.
People stop waiting for direction and start moving with purpose. They begin to see the business as their own.

If you want to build that kind of culture, start small and make it a system.

Here’s how we approach it:

1. Rotate ownership early.
Let team members lead parts of meetings or projects before they feel ready.
Growth starts with small moments of trust.

2. Design for visibility.
Give your team a stage in internal sessions, workshops, and kickoffs.
Growth accelerates when people are seen.

3. Coach, don’t script.
Replace detailed instructions with clear outcomes.
Let people find their own voice in how they deliver.

4. Celebrate the process, not perfection.
Reward preparation, initiative, and effort, not just results.
Confidence builds when progress is noticed.

5. Keep it consistent.
Leadership development works when it’s repeated, not remembered once a year.
Make it part of how you operate.

Watching Lee, Lenia and Conor lead the room was a reminder. Growth happens when leaders build trust and dare to step aside. That’s how you turn potential into performance and teams into leaders.

Leading International @Personio | Building community @Pavilion | Architecting Growth @Winning By Design | Showing revenue teams what’s next @GTM OS

10 Go-To-Market newsletters you must read in 2026 ↓

 1. Growth Unhinged 
    👤 Kyle Poyar 
    🔗 https://lnkd.in/eBWwrhd4
    
 2. Saastr AI: How to Sell, Scale, and Win
    👤 Jason M. Lemkin 
    🔗 https://lnkd.in/e9EupbZ5
    
 3. The GTMnow Newsletter
    👤 Sophie Buonassisi 
    🔗 https://lnkd.in/etj2kTku?
    
 4. The Revenue Leadership Podcast
    👤 Kyle Norton 
    🔗 https://lnkd.in/eW57TFJf
    
 5. GTM Strategist
    👤 Maja Voje 
    🔗 https://lnkd.in/eEQax9dJ
    
 6. Marketing in Action 
    👤 Kieran Flanagan 
    🔗 https://lnkd.in/eFaKMTC2
    
 7. Full-Funnel B2B Marketing
    👤 Andrei Zinkevich 
    🔗 https://lnkd.in/ej7DP4dg
    
 8. Brian Balfour
    👤 Brian Balfour 
    🔗 https://lnkd.in/eMqCh58a
    
 9. GTMonday by GTM Partners
    👤 Sangram Vajre 
    🔗 https://lnkd.in/euedjbkb
    
10. Greg’s Letter
    👤 Greg Isenberg 
    🔗 https://lnkd.in/ei8DwXFY

Which GTM newsletter would you add to this list?

I’m excited to share that André and I have made our first angel investment in the co-founders of ImpactPilot, Pieter and Konstantin.

Churn is a company problem, not a CS problem.

For years every company obsessed over new business growth.
But in 2026 the KPI that defines long-term growth is Retention.

It is not about how fast you can add customers.
It is about how deeply you can serve the ones who already chose you.

We should be focusing on
• Treating churn as a company-wide issue
• Proactively improving retention rates
• Preventing churn before it happens

Because when you do, it shows up directly in ARR.

Still too many leaders see Customer Success as a reactive function.
You hear it all the time.
Our CS team is too reactive.
They are firefighting.
They are not commercial enough.
I do not know what they do every day.

The truth is that most CS teams are measured on the wrong things.
Lagging indicators like NRR, GRR, expansion, or upsell.
Activity metrics like calls, meetings, and emails.

But between those two sits something critical, the impact drivers.
The actions that actually move customers toward success and retention.

That is where ImpactPilot comes in.

ImpactPilot helps B2B SaaS teams identify and act on those impact drivers.
They build inside HubSpot to reduce churn, uncover upsell opportunities, and make customer data finally work for CS teams.

I have worked with Pieter and Konsti for years.
They know this space inside out and bring a rare mix of commercial thinking and deep customer empathy.

Retention is not a metric. It is a mindset.
Customer Success is not a cost center. It is a growth engine.

Recurring revenue only happens when you create recurring impact.
That is why we are proud to back ImpactPilot.

I turned 39 yesterday.

Thirty-nine years ago it was -11°C.
Yesterday it was +11°C.
Same day. Different shape.

And that feels a lot like leadership.

Leadership can be lonely.
It can be hard.
But it is also one of the most beautiful things you can do, because how hard it feels often depends on how you choose to see it.

It is the story of the glass half full or half empty.

For me, fulfillment always starts with the same three habits.
Connecting.
Sharing.
Giving.

Two moments yesterday reminded me why these matter so much ↓

1. Morning: community in action
   
We started our monthly Chapter Leaders session with Brendon and André.
2025 was an incredible year for our chapter with 25 events, new members, and countless meaningful conversations.
But success does not automatically repeat itself.

So we sat down to ask:

• What worked?
• What was missing?
• How can we make 2026 even more valuable for our community?

12 events are already pencilled in, including 9 salon dinners.
Intimate peer discussions around one relevant topic.
The concept stays the same: connect, share, give.

Doing this alone is not possible.
Doing it together with peers who share the same spirit makes it not only possible but energizing.
Starting my Friday, and birthday, this way was the best gift I could ask for.

2. Afternoon: the reminder of mentorship
   
Leadership can be isolating. Sometimes you get stuck.
That is why I believe so deeply in community and in being there for each other when direction feels unclear.

3,5 years ago, at my first HUG conference, I met ✨Michiel.
Since then, our connection has only grown stronger, built on the same foundation: connecting, sharing, giving.

He has become more than a peer or friend.
He is a mentor, someone whose wisdom and humanity remind me what true leadership looks like.
Even on a busy day, even on your birthday, you make time for people like that.

Because that is what fills the glass.

So here is to 39.
To peers like André, Brendon, and Michiel.

To real humans.
Real connections.
And to the simple act of sharing and giving, the heartbeat of community.

Leadership gets lighter when we lead with others.
Who has helped refill your glass this week?

Cheers to the human connection ✌️

After 15 years in GTM, one thing feels truer than ever: you don’t build a great company by winning customers, you build it by keeping them.

When I started out, I thought growth meant new logos and record quarters.
It took time to understand that real growth does not start with a contract. It starts with commitment.

In every fast-growing company, we ring the gong for new business.
And that is fine, because new business fuels momentum.

But the real story of growth happens quietly.
In onboarding calls.
In renewal check-ins.
In the everyday work that helps customers see value again and again.

Customer Success and Account Management are sometimes seen as easy jobs.
They are not. They take empathy, patience, and deep understanding. They are the reason growth keeps going instead of slowing down.

If you have ever worked in a growing SaaS business, you have seen it.
The quiet strength behind every renewal.
The teams who turn software into outcomes and customers into advocates.

This week our International CS and AM teams came together in Amsterdam.
Under the strong leadership of Alba, Felipe, Alvaro, and Julia, they created an incredible onsite that brought together colleagues from Dublin, London, Madrid, and Amsterdam.

They looked back on lessons from 2025, aligned on 2026 priorities, and celebrated what truly matters: helping customers succeed every week, every month, every quarter.

I am proud and grateful to work with such an exceptional group of people.
They remind all of us that growth starts and ends with people who care.

Growth is not built in spikes. It is built in cycles.
If someone on your team keeps those cycles turning, thank them today.

I’ve always found it strange how we treat Q4 to Q1 as a reset, not a relay.
Every January feels like we’re starting over when we should be carrying momentum forward.

At Personio, we’ve learned the next year doesn’t start in January. It starts back in Q3 when budgets, quotas, books of business, and priorities begin to take shape.
That is when real planning begins.

By the time we end Q4, everyone knows the direction.
It is not perfect, and it never will be.
But it means we can close the year strong without rebuilding the plan from zero once the calendar turns.

That alignment doesn’t come from one leadership meeting.
It happens when every layer is involved.
Senior leaders, first-line managers, AEs, and CSMs all bring ideas, context, and ownership.

Strategy needs to move in both directions.
Top-down for clarity, bottom-up for insight.
The best plans come from the people who have to make them real.

All orchestrated by a central strong RevOps team. 

Each year still brings new lessons.
Even with strong results, the market changes and teams evolve.
Our 2026 plan is not about perfection.
It is about focus, about learning faster, and about keeping momentum steady.

Next week, our teams in the UKI, Spain, and Benelux will run their own kickoffs before we come together for the GTM kickoff.

Not a sales kickoff.
A go to market kickoff.
One rhythm. One direction. One collective plan.

We don’t reset every January.
We learn, we align, and we keep moving forward together.

How are you starting 2026?

—
PS. 6am this morning started my 8th workout of the year. Consistency is key.

Yesterday proved something I keep relearning.
Even the best GTM leaders don’t fail on strategy. They get stuck on change.

At Pavilion's first Amsterdam Chapter dinner of 2026, twenty-five marketing and revenue leaders joined two tables of peers.

Same familiar format. One question that never gets old:
What’s your biggest challenge right now?

It didn’t matter who answered.
Enterprise, SaaS, startup, or scale-up. Every story pointed to one word: change.

Organizations moving toward AI.
Teams expanding into new markets.
Revenue leaders building partner motions from scratch.

Everyone is adapting. Few feel ready.

That’s why these rooms matter.
Because when you share what’s actually hard, you realize no one has it figured out.
You stop solving in isolation.
You start learning together.

I’ve been part of Pavilion for five years.
Each time I sit down with this community, I walk away reminded of the same truth.
Context is unique.
But the challenge rarely is.

If you’re leading through transformation this year, lean on your peers.
The answers might not be final, but they’ll move you forward.

How are you managing transformation in 2026?

Every January, I promise myself we will start the quarter with clean pipeline coverage. And every year, I realize I am wrong.
 
We close hard in December, celebrate, and clean the pipe halfway. Then January hits, dashboards show 3x coverage, and it looks fine.  

But once you remove the leftovers, the truth shows up.  Coverage is short, and the year starts behind target.
 
That is not a motivation problem.  
It is a system problem.
 
This quarter, I faced it directly and turned it into a model any GTM team can run.

Here is one way to systemize pipeline coverage so it stays predictable each quarter.

1) Coverage clarity comes before creation

Many teams talk about needing more pipeline, but few can explain the math.
Start with a one-slide coverage model: quota, win rate, cycle time, required pipeline.
No debate, only clarity.

If coverage cannot be explained on one slide, it is not a pipeline problem.
It is a measurement problem.

2) Cleaning the pipeline is performance work

Delayed cleanup creates false confidence.
Make it week one, every quarter.
You cannot build on noise.
You can only build on verified opportunity.

3) Pipeline grows from design, not activity

Instead of more outreach, run focused 14-day sprints.
One ICP, one message, one offer, one reason to act now.
Focus creates accountability and measurable movement.

Coverage improves not from doing more, but from acting with intent.

4) CRM hygiene does not fix coverage. Discipline does

Restaging or extending close dates does not create real pipeline.
If coverage increases but conversion does not, nothing has changed.
The goal is not to look better in the CRM but to perform better in the field.

5) The 7-Step Pipeline Coverage Operating System

1. Define ownership
2. Run front-loaded outbound sprints
3. Inspect early
4. Align on one cadence
5. Coach through metrics
6. Add visibility to risk
7. Improve quarterly

It is not about complexity.
It is about consistency.

Pipeline coverage is not a forecast metric.
It is an operating system.

For teams that start the year under-covered, start small:

• Calculate the gap in € or $
• Pick one segment
• Run a 14-day sprint
• Clean weekly
• Fix conversion last

What are you doing differently this quarter to improve pipeline reliability?

I upgraded my best performing GPT who was used over 10,000 times in the last 2 years.  

My best GTM mentors don’t know me. They share their learnings for free:
• Via LinkedIn.
• Via podcasts.
• Via newsletters.

40+ months ago, I stopped consuming content randomly.

I started archiving newsletters, podcasts and LinkedIn posts with structure, intent, and prompts.

Instead of scrolling endlessly or multitasking through episodes, I built 5+ extensive GTM knowledge libraries:

• 25+ podcast shows.
• 100+ GTM operators.
• 1,500+ podcast episodes.
• 10,000+ GTM LinkedIn posts.
• Analyzed for micro-learnings per episode.
• Connected to AI for direct insights via prompting.

Why? Because GTM education isn’t something I leave to chance.

I learn from the best: founders, CROs, operators, investors while walking, traveling, or doing deep work.

And I don’t just listen. I study. I learn. 
And I apply those learnings in my day2day.

Here’s how I turn audio into action:

• I tag each episode by topic, from strategic to operational.
• I summarize key takeaways and highlight playbook-worthy ideas.
• I prompt those insights into AI to speed up application.

The signal is out there. You just need to structure it.
We did just that.

Every one of those thousand episodes and 1,500+ hours of GTM content has been:

• Archived in a Notion database.
• Analyzed with Notion AI in micro-learnings
• Indexed with a Pinecone vector database
• Connected to the OpenAI API
• And turned into a GTM revenue assistant

You can now voice prompt your biggest revenue challenge and get solutions pulled from the best minds in the game.

If you're curious to test it, comment '𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁', make sure you are connected and I’ll send you access.

Prompt your way to sharper GTM results.

Last year during the SaaS Summit Benelux, one question kept coming up:
“How do we grow in 2026 with the same or smaller budget?”

Everyone’s instinct was the same: Do more.
More pipeline. More SDRs. More campaigns.

But the best operators I know are asking a different question.
Where can we do better before we do more?

Because growth doesn’t stop when markets slow down.
It stops when your GTM system leaks efficiency.

Inside GTM OS, we’ve identified 7 tactics by 100+ proven GTM experts every team can use to scale smarter:

1. Signal-based GTM: Focus only on in-market accounts that are ready to buy.

2. ICP discipline: Cut to your real customer base and double down.

3. Unified efficiency dashboards: Connect GTM, Ops, and Finance around one truth.

4. Process-led GTM: Build scalable systems before adding headcount.

5. Retention and expansion: Treat your customer base as your primary growth motion.

6. AI-native workflows: Turn data and context into daily leverage for reps.

7. Continuous governance: Review, measure, and optimize efficiency like financial health.

Doing better is not glamorous.
It’s alignment, rhythm, and iteration.
The kind of work that doesn’t make headlines but shows up in revenue.

If you’re planning for 2026, start here:

• Don’t add until you optimize.
• Don’t expand until you prove.
• Don’t hire until your process scales itself.

The next wave of SaaS growth will come from doing better, not doing more.

What is your key GTM play for 2026?

After every quarter, the same reflection shows up in deal reviews.
“If we had just one more demo, this deal would have closed.”

But buyers are not waiting for more demos.
They are waiting for clarity.

We keep building calendars.
Buyers build consensus.
And every week that depends on scheduling becomes a week lost to silence.

That is not a motivation problem.
It is a system problem.

Async selling replaces time friction with buyer enablement.
It builds rhythm, visibility, and velocity without more calls.

Here is one way GTM operators can systemize async selling so momentum never depends on a meeting.

1) Build the async rhythm

Replace meetings with a predictable cadence of short updates.
Define which deal moments must always run asynchronously.
Consistency replaces calendars as the control mechanism.

2) Create buyer workspaces

Launch one digital sales room per qualified deal (we love trumpet 🎺 for this).
Centralize all buyer-facing assets in that workspace.
Every async touchpoint links back to one source of truth.

3) Lead with video

Video keeps async human.
Short recaps, quick intros, clear next steps.
Buyers watch when they have focus, not when you are free.

4) Run async action plans

Use mutual action plans to track progress without check-ins.
Every update is visible.
Momentum becomes measurable.

5) Automate follow-ups

Let systems handle recaps and next steps.
Trigger follow-ups from buyer activity, not reminders.
No one should wait for clarity.

6) Use deal signals

Prioritize execution based on behavior, not opinion.
Engagement data guides attention to what matters now.

7) Enable the champion
Help buyers sell internally without you.
Give them shareable assets, short summaries, and proof points they can use.

It is not about complexity.
It is about consistency.

Async selling is not a trend.
It is an operating system for a buyer-led world.

If your team is still scheduling to create movement, start small:

• Replace one meeting per week with an async update
• Build one buyer workspace
• Record one video recap per deal
• Automate one follow-up
• Track one new signal

What are you doing this quarter to make your sales motion more async-ready?

I used to consume great GTM content every week
and still feel like I was relearning the same lessons.

Podcasts.
LinkedIn posts.
Newsletters from people far better than me.

The problem wasn’t the quality.
It was the lack of structure.

About 40 months ago, I stopped consuming GTM content randomly.

No endless scrolling.
No half listening while doing five other things.

I started collecting ideas with intent.

Every useful insight got archived.
Every pattern got tagged.
Every lesson got stored so I could actually reuse it.

Over time, this changed how I operate.

I wasn’t asking, “What should I do here?”
I was asking, “Have I already seen this problem before?”

That system slowly turned into multiple GTM knowledge libraries:

• 25+ podcast shows
• 100+ GTM operators
• 1,500+ podcast episodes
• 10,000+ GTM LinkedIn posts
• 100,000+ relevant GTM signals

Not to learn more.
But to stop guessing.

What changed wasn’t volume.
It was decision speed.

Fewer opinions.
Clearer tradeoffs.
Patterns I could recognize instead of reinventing.

Here’s how I turn content into action:

• Tag each episode from strategic to operational
• Extract only playbook worthy insights
• Reuse those insights when real decisions show up

Eventually, the volume exceeded my own memory.

So I upgraded my best performing GPT.
It’s now been used over 10,000 times.

Not as a chatbot.
But as a structured GTM memory.

Every hour of content is archived, searchable, and reusable.
Prompt a revenue challenge.
Get answers grounded in how the best operators already solved it.

The signal is already out there.
Most people just don’t have a way to use it.

If you’re curious to see how this thinks,
comment “GTM OS CoPilot”.

Make sure we’re connected and I’ll send access.

Over the last couple of months, I kept seeing more posts about warm inbound, intent signals, and intent outbound.

Different terms.
Different opinions.
Same underlying confusion.

How does warm outbound actually work inside a GTM system?

This weekend, I slowed down.
Which is usually when real thinking happens for me.

I went deep.

AI-powered web research.
Back into my Notion libraries.
Operator notes. Podcast insights. Newsletter publications.

I do this almost every weekend.

I pick one GTM topic.
Strip it down.
Document it clearly enough that future me can actually use it when it matters.

Warm outbound was next on my list.

And that is when something clicked.

Most teams are busy with warm outbound.
Very few are actually running it.

Signals show up.
Reps react.
Activity increases.

But when you look closer:

Timing slips.
Context fades.
Priority depends on who is looking at the queue that day.

Effort is there.
Clarity is not.

So instead of fixing messaging or tools, I wrote this as a system any GTM operator can run.

Here is one systemized way to approach warm outbound.

1. Signal clarity comes before execution

Most teams say they have good signals.
Few can explain what each signal actually means.

Start simple.

One list:
Signals.
Owner.
Urgency.
Required action.

If two people would act differently on the same signal, the system is unclear.

2. Response timing is real performance work

Everyone agrees timing matters.
Almost no one enforces it.

Late response kills relevance.

If a signal matters, give it a response window.
If it does not, remove it.

You cannot act on context that has already passed.

3. Warm outbound improves through design, not effort

When results dip, teams add more activity.

That usually adds noise.

Instead, design execution tiers.

One signal type.
One response window.
One clear next step.

Structure removes guessing.
Consistency follows.

4. CRM hygiene does not fix warm outbound

Reassigning tasks or cleaning fields does not bring timing back.

If signals fire but conversations do not increase, the system allowed delay.

The goal is not to look organised.
The goal is to behave predictably when it matters.

5. The warm outbound operating system

• Define which signals matter
• Assign clear signal ownership
• Aggregate signals at the account level
• Set and enforce response SLAs
• Route execution automatically
• Review signal performance weekly
• Remove what does not convert

This is not about sophistication.
It is about repeatability.

Warm outbound is infrastructure.

If it feels messy right now, start small:

• List your active signals
• Remove the weakest ones
• Pick one urgency tier
• Enforce timing
• Scale later

I turned this into a living playbook that I will share tomorrow on Substack.
It will evolve with implementation notes, coaching, and cheat sheets over time.

What is your view on Warm Outbound?

Every January feels the same.

Pipeline looks fine.
Until you clean it.

You remove the “maybe” deals.
The wishful thinking.
The stuff that was never real.

What’s left is the net pipeline.

And it’s usually… uncomfortable.

This is the moment most teams panic.

You can’t go to marketing and say:
“I need more leads. This week.”

You can’t magically spin up partnerships.

So you default to the obvious move.

Cold outbound.
More volume.
More pressure.

Not because it works best.
Because it feels like action.

But January isn’t a volume problem.

It’s a starting point problem.

Warm outbound is almost always within reach.
Most teams just don’t know where to start.

So here’s a simple place to look.

Instead of asking “who can we email?”, answer these:

1. Which champions have we worked with before?
2. Who from those accounts changed jobs recently?
3. Which deals did we lose 6–12 months ago?
4. What changed since then?
5. Which customers are genuinely happy right now?
6. Where do their former colleagues work today?
7. Who quietly looked at pricing or integrations?

That list alone is warm outbound.

No creativity required.
No new tooling.
No permission needed.

Just relevance, trust, and timing.

The takeaway:
You don’t start a new quarter by inventing pipeline.

You start by reconnecting with context that already exists.

Don’t overthink it.

Repost for others starting January with less pipeline than they expected and defaulting to cold.

taplio

The Battle

Olivier 🔎 Tytgat

Koen Stam

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreOlivier 🔎 Tytgat's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreKoen Stam's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Olivier 🔎 Tytgat

Koen Stam

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Olivier 🔎 Tytgat's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreKoen Stam's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreOlivier 🔎 Tytgat's LinkedIn Performance