The Revenue Engine

Rosalyn: Welcome to the
Revenue Engine Podcast.

I'm your host, Rosalyn Santa Elena,
and I am thrilled to bring you the

most inspirational stories from
revenue generators, innovators and

disruptors, revenue leaders in sales, in
marketing, and of course in operations.

Together we will unpack everything
that optimizes and powers the revenue

engine growth farm production.

Are you ready?

Let's get to it.

Having the right data and the
right intelligence is critical

to decision making in business.

But even when organizations are doing this
right, does the right level of decision

intelligence make its way to the ceo?

How can CEOs ensure that they are
getting not just insights, but the

right insights to make the right
decisions for their business?

In this episode of the Revenue Engine
podcast, Tisha Cable, the CEO and

co-founder, C Model shares more about
the challenges facing CEOs today and

offers practical advice and solutions
to empowering executives with the

intelligence that they can find the truth
in their data and grow with confidence.

So please take a listen and learn
from this powerhouse leader.

Well, excited to be here today with
Tisha Cable, the co-founder and

c e O at CMO C Model is helping
CEOs find the truth in their data

so they can grow with confidence.

So welcome, Tisha.

Thank you so much for joining me.

I'm so excited to do this with
you and just learn from you and

learn more about your backstory.

Well, thank

Teasha: you.

Thank you for having me.

Rosalyn: Awesome.

Well, let's start by talking a
little bit about your journey before.

C model.

I mean, you've spent a dozen or
so years in sales operations, in

leadership roles, as well as being in
leadership across business operations,

business development, product strategy.

You have a really wide background and
really interesting, um, backstory.

So maybe can you share a little
bit more about that and talk

about your career journey?

Teasha: For sure.

So, um, I, I, I started my career in,
uh, sales operations, and I walked into a

company, it was a prob at the time, about
a seven year old, uh, company, and they

said, Hey, you know, we don't have a.

Pipeline, can you tell
us what our pipeline is?

And I said, well, yeah,
let me figure that out.

And at the time, I really didn't
know how to figure that out.

But they also told me they had purchased
this little tool called salesforce.com.

So this was back when Salesforce
was Salesforce Classic.

So it was quite some time ago.

And, um, it actually led me to a point
where I was able to find opportunities

and solve problems with software.

So that's, that's what I got
out of that, the, the early.

Of my career.

So it all started.

helped me find my pipeline.

I went, I went for more . Yeah.

Rosalyn: That's awesome.

So, you know, along your journey, I
mean, was there a moment in time or

maybe an event that really helped
kind of shape and change your career?

Or sometimes there's a person
right, that might have done that.

Teasha: Yeah, so for me it was in
that same company I had A A C E O who

did two things for me that were big.

The first thing he did
was he gave me space to.

within, uh, my role.

So where I found, uh, a problem or an
opportunity, he'd let me go off and solve

it right, with however I chose to do it.

And then he'd gimme a year or a, but
one of the other things he did that

was a bit more significant was he, one
day I, I given him all these reports

and all this good information and he
said, you know what, Tisha, I appreciate

this, but your numbers always have.

Yeah.

Right.

So now , what that did
though, it was good.

It was, it was probably the best
thing that anyone could have told

me at that stage, um, of my career,
because what it did is it sent me

into a place where my entire focus
became accuracy, completeness,

and, and really more importantly,
the backup, the actual analysis.

So from here on, It was always a why
or what the details were where I got

this information from the detailed
calculations, I kind of went all the

way, uh, with it , but I wouldn't
have, I wouldn't have thought to do

that before he gave me that feedback.

So I'm greatly appreciative that,
um, that he said the stuff was wrong.

That's

Rosalyn: awesome.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

Well, you know, let's talk a little
about the company because I think

oftentimes companies get started
when a founder is faced with, you

know, a problem or a challenge that
you're, they're trying to solve.

Or sometimes there's some type of aha
moment or an event that happens, you

know, was this the case with C model?

And you know, what led to the idea for
the business and how did it get started?

So

Teasha: I love this story.

Thank you for asking.

So, , , right?

So as my, in my time as a,
a senior leader in companies

also, you know, as an employee.

And then later on I went
on to be, uh, a consultant.

I did that for about 10 years.

At the same time that I worked my jobs.

What I found was that people
were hiring me to do work that I

thought they should be able to do.

So accurately forecasting
revenue was one of 'em.

Um, the other one was being
able to put those data

observability measures in place.

So after a while of doing that, especially
if you're getting data, they start

to ask questions like, well, so what?

Why?

Why is this important?

Why do I need to know this?

And so when I went back to my
whole, here's backup analysis,

here's all the reasons why this is
important, I also started gaining the

expertise to draft recommendations.

And here are some things
that you should be.

To do ideas, thoughts, um,
and I couldn't scale that.

As a consulting company, I, I
couldn't imagine trying to scale

that and, and move that forward.

But I did think I could
build a piece of software.

Um, I thought I could take the algorithmic
pieces of what I was doing and deploy

them, uh, consistently in software if
I knew some critical information about.

A business.

And I had been testing these algorithms
right in, in these companies.

So I started paying attention to that
and all the different revenue and growth

models that companies were, um, deploying.

And then also looking at the
amount of failure inside of,

uh, early stage companies.

So when I added my two co-founders,
Jasmine and uh, Brianna and our cto, Dr.

Russ, we got to work
because we believed we.

We could solve what I thought
was an analysis problem for

Rosalyn: companies.

Oh, that's awesome.

Thank you for sharing that story.

Yeah, it's very cool.

Um, you know, I guess when it comes to
data, you mentioned this a couple of times

already because when it comes to data
and insights, you know, I always say that

everything starts and ends with data.

right?

Having the right data at the right
time for the right people right, is so

incredibly critical to be able to make
the right business decisions, right?

And more importantly,
take the right actions.

Um, so you know, based on your
experience and sort of what you've

been seeing, you know, what are some
of the things that you're seeing

companies you know, really doing right?

And then maybe.

Doing wrong.

Right.

When it comes to having those
right insights for their

Teasha: business.

Yeah.

So there, there are some
good things going on, right?

So we, it, it's interesting
cause we think about this.

When we talk about the problem
that our company is solving,

we, we put it in buckets, right?

There's the bucket of here's all
the bad things, but then there's

some good little components
that we don't have to mess with.

One of those being that companies
are actually thinking about, , right?

They are trying to find
better ways to utilize it.

They're trying to organize it.

They're hiring people in their
companies to focus on that.

Um, they're actually getting
business intelligence sort of

tools to summarize, uh, that data.

And even 60% of small businesses today are
making investments in data and analytics.

I think that is a great thing.

So, um, how we.

Data sources so that we can more easily
take looking at those are things that have

progressed that I think are fantastic.

Um, when I think about what
they're doing wrong though, it's,

the list is still pretty long.

Um, right?

Number one is right.

I'm sorry.

Like as if I know everything,
but still a long list.

It's, it's true.

They're focusing.

analytics too broadly, right?

So this causes a lot of data to
be under analyzed, specifically

related to growth, right?

So instead of using data to create
these playbooks, right, that could

actually drive efficiency and
pri uh, and profit, we find that.

executives aren't able to consume
the data in a way that allows them to

use it to make the kinds of decisions
that need to be made in order to

make these playbooks really, uh,
credible is what I'd like to say.

And so because of that,
like, here's an example.

39% of executives believe that
their organizations are effectively

using data and less than.

About 24% believe that they can
consider themselves data driven.

There are lots of companies, I I will
take SaaS companies along there are 25,000

SaaS companies globally if this number
is true, that's a whole lot of people

that aren't currently being data driven.

Right?

That's a whole lot of executives
that don't know the impact of

data on, on their companies.

They're, they're not getting access
to the right level of inform.

Which is, I also see a lot of these same
companies talking, the CEOs saying things

like, you know, we got a lot of tech debt.

That's the new, the new phrase.

Right?

And what they're really referring
to is their tech stack, but

they're, we got a lot of tech debt
and we're not yet seeing the roi.

That is not because there's a
lack of good stuff going on.

Like Rev ops teams are putting
in good sets of technology.

They're getting that data infrastructure
in place, but it has not yet trickled.

the results haven't yet trickled
up, uh, to the executive level.

So tho that's some of what
I see as being, uh, wrong.

And the last one, which is part
of why my company exists, is that

business intelligence and business
analytics are two different things.

And there's a site called, uh,
difference between dot, uh, I'm

sorry, difference between.net.

I love to go too, cuz it gives you like
the difference between this and that.

And they have a really good one
on the difference between business

analytics and business intelligence.

Because with business analytics
it's really in a very detailed

way, exploring your data, right?

And then really focusing on the actual
analysis, which would only, uh, have

an outcome of actionable insight.

and that's something
that's really missing.

You see a lot of insights that, uh,
today and even tools I see that are

just single data points from the data.

Like, oh, your revenue was X last
month, your revenue is X this month

it's trending up well, , right?

That really doesn't help
us to make any decision.

There's no, there's a, okay, so.

in that, right?

And so when, when we have true
insights, they give us an understanding

of something really clearly.

And usually we have a cause and
effect when we have real insights.

And in order to get that,
you have to correlate data.

You have to know something
about what you're looking for.

And the best analysis includes
when the person analyzing, knows

what good looks like, right?

So I think of those as some of the top.

, uh, when I think about what's going well
and what's not going well with data and

Rosalyn: insights.

Wow.

I love that.

I love that.

I'm gonna have to check out that site.

The difference between

Yeah.

Yeah.

There's definitely a very distinct
difference between business

intelligence and business analytics.

I love the way you've framed that.

Very helpful.

Um, so I guess, what advice do you have
right, for executive leaders that they

can maybe start doing like today to start
getting better data to help guide their

Teasha: business?

Yeah.

The first thing I'm gonna, I tell
customers, , understand the context of

your business at the most basic levels.

Everything you're working on, everything.

Everyone who's working on it, they
should be focused on getting to

the next phase of growth, right?

So this requires you to narrow the
list of data that you collect, narrow

the metrics that you calculate,
and the KPIs that you measure.

Because if you're like a company
like mine, you're existing to.

, you don't spend time on
data and strategies that are

relevant to mature companies.

So in order to get to what exact, how to
get to that best set of data, you need

to understand where you are, uh, as a
company and what you should be focused on.

And, and we can't dismiss the
importance of processes, the ones

that actually govern how that.

enters into systems.

Mm-hmm.

and a lot of people, you get a lot
of pushback on process these days.

As a former rev ops leader, it
was probably the, just the, the

hardest thing about my job was how
much people would say, oh, it's

too much process is too many steps.

But they, they forget that just like you
want repeatable growth in your company,

you can't get that without repeatable.

Uh, . So that, that's my

Rosalyn: advice.

Yeah.

Very well said.

I love that.

And as a rev op professional
myself, wholeheartedly agree.

So I love that.

Um, you know, let's talk a little
bit about, more about C model.

I mean, you're, it's positioned as a
decision intelligence company, right?

Helping CEOs find the truth in their data
so that they can grow with confidence.

I love that.

You know, can you talk more about how
you think of decision intelligence and

then what are some of the challenges
that CEOs are really facing today?

Teasha: Yeah, so, um, great question.

So, decision intelligence is for
us, we, we've built, uh, uh, what

we call a decision support engine.

And what it does is we take your,
you know, so there's a set of

metrics, right, that your company
has that the most appropriate

ones, they're calculated based.

where you are, uh, as a
result of those metrics.

There's a set of insights and
recommendations that are driven

to you, um, from our, uh, machine
is what we call it, right?

It's an automated, uh, system.

And so the decision piece is that that's
the process that we're trying to improve.

We, we actually wanna improve how
decisions are made, uh, in companies

and, uh, of course anything that's
giving additional information out.

Um, our CEOs, that's we're, that's
the intelligence, uh, part of it.

And it's happening using,
uh, AI and automation, right?

Uh, so that's, that's why
we've taken on that mantle.

We looked at a lot of companies.

We, uh, that we're in the
decision intelligence space.

Most of them are all specialized
in how they provide decision

intelligence to companies.

And so our specialty
is in service of CEOs.

based on the problem I stated earlier.

So the why did we choose CEOs?

Because CEOs, their job is really hard.

How do I know that I'm one today?

But , even before I was this, I
found that the CEOs that called me

in, um, as both an employee and as
a consultant, all we're in search of

making something easier for them, right?

Mm-hmm.

, how do they get to the
point where they are inform.

About the next step because them
being informed is important to

you or I or whoever at the time
having, having a job, , right?

Um, being able to feed our families.

All of these things come out of what
kinds of decisions are made, does,

is the company successful or not?

So they're being able to synthesize
different data sources so that

they can go quickly, is a problem.

Mm-hmm.

, that is a problem that exists.

They are often frustrated with
how much time it actually takes

for them to see where they are.

where they are against
their own set of targets.

Mm-hmm.

their own set of assumptions.

There are other benchmarks that
are relative to other market

sources of market intelligence.

Those are things that take weeks
and weeks for, uh, human beings

to collect and provide today, um,
correlating spend against performance.

You know how many times I've talked to
you as they have no idea the ins and

outs of dollars and how it's impact.

uh, their ability to
grow the business, right?

So my o ROI on ad spend is very important.

, right?

Mm-hmm.

. And when I'm seeing that
ROI is very important.

And then the last one is, who do I
actually talk to about improving?

So yes, I'm seeing all of this,
uh, these charts and graphs, but

is anyone telling me how I can
actually make things, uh, different?

So those are the the key reasons why.

, we felt it was important to, to support
the CEO and what our um, uh, service.

Rosalyn: Takes care of.

Awesome.

Awesome.

I love that.

I love that.

So let's, um, let's pivot
a bit to operations, right?

I mean, you, you mentioned, you know,
obviously you've been a rev ops and sales

ops leader for so many years and you know,
I you've felt the pains and I've, I have

as well, and that's why I keep smiling.

Know they can't see us on video,
but I keep smiling and nodding

my head because everything you're
saying really resonates with me.

Um, you know, so I've been on this
kind of soapbox, right, the past

two or three years really promoting.

And you know, the function and the people.

And I always think about revenue
operations as this powerful weapon, right?

I used to say secret weapon, but I
don't think it's a secret anymore.

But a powerful weapon
really for any organization.

And part of what Rev Ops brings to the
table is some of that intelligence, right?

And some of those insights to
manage and guide the business.

So now, you know, you're really in
a unique position because as a C

E O, but with an ops background,
you know, what are your thoughts or

maybe some advice for other CEOs.

relative to how you know he or she
can best leverage the operations

function to really help enable
and optimize their business.

Ooh,

Teasha: love this question, . And
even though I'm a CEO now, I

still like rev ops is in my heart.

I love it.

. So timing is everything, right?

So bringing Rev ops to the table
at the right time to me is the

most important thing to ensure
that things are built the right.

So when I think of my own company,
as soon as we are ready, rev

is a, is an early hire, right?

Because what happens is you get the
collaborative end-to-end processes

that's required to really be successful
is to have collaborative processes

that are built with everyone in mind.

Uh, the infrastructure and the.

You often hear people you know
miscalculate when you need to have

certain tools and infrastructure in place.

This goes back to my point
about process earlier.

These are things that should be
in place early in order to avoid

mishaps and actually save some time.

The other part is all the
supporting details that help you,

uh, get the right organizational
structure to meet the moment.

So again, if I'm putting my
company in context, right, I'm at

a, uh, maybe I'm at a survival.

Stage of, of growth, and I'm trying to
get to success so that I can understand

what's repeatable in my business.

Well, I need to know what people I
need to have in order to do that.

Rev ops is a fantastic function to
help you to get that information

right, to really put that together.

And then the same is true where
if Rev hops like actually sets

the stage on performance, you're
usually going to have high ratings.

The what you actually need to
perform on having the information

tracked, uh, at all times.

Mm-hmm.

, I think is, is mission critical.

Um, and of course the, the job
of reducing friction, right?

Making sure we get all those good
old barriers out of the way so

that either salespeople can sell
or marketing people, uh, understand

who and what they're targeting.

These are all.

You know, a customer success can service
the customer and track the intimate

details that they need to track.

Those are things I think of, uh, where
Rev ops just supports from day one.

So I actually think hiring
at the right time is I, I.

I couldn't enforce that enough
with, with CEOs that I talked to.

Love

Rosalyn: that.

I love that.

Um, so let's shift gears a bit again.

You know, at some point I, hopefully
in the near future, I hope that

this topic is not even relevant.

But unfortunately, I think
in today's world revenue is

still a male dominated field.

right.

Especially as you look at leadership
roles, you see less and less female

leaders, especially women of color.

So as a rev ops leader, you know, there
have been so many times when, you know,

I'm the only woman in the room or the
only minority, or most likely both.

Right.

So as a woman of, of color in a C
level role, you know, what advice

do you have maybe for other women
who are looking to elevate their

career and continue to, you know,

Teasha: move up that ladder?

So that is such, I'm glad you asked.

It's a, it's a hard question
because I have to reflect on,

uh, my experience to answer it.

Right.

And, and with that comes a lot
of truths that a lot of time

people are not ready, um, to hear.

But I'll start with this.

I'll say, as an individual,
you have to plan your.

, you have to know everything that
there is to know about where it

is that you are trying to go.

So if you wanna be a c E O, then
you need to map that out, right?

And when you map that out, there are
roles and responsibilities that you need

to experience in order to get there.

So you talked earlier about my journey
across multiple different areas.

, right?

Yeah.

So being in business development and
product strategy is, was exceptionally

important to where I am today, right?

I can't do this role if I don't know how
to build products if I don't understand

how to build revenue models, right?

Those are all things that come with,
uh, managing business development.

I don't know how to manage a sales
team, uh, do business development.

Um, if I'm not a VP of business
operations, I don't understand all.

Of the business.

If I'm not ahead of revenue operations,
I don't understand what drives

each of those particular areas.

So these, all of these are
things that go into building

out how your journey, uh, flows.

And when you do that, that means
that you actually need to always be

writing your next job description.

Right.

And when you write it, you actually need
to be working that job description before

you get that job so that that ability.

, um, to focus in on your own
journey is incredibly important.

Um, and nowadays there's a bunch
of different, um, resources

I think I see popping up.

I was at Outreach, had a, a revenue, uh,
a Women's Revenue Innovator Summit last.

Uh, month that I found to be
incredible for that reason.

Like, join finding people who are on a
similar path and who may have already

walked that journey in, in a space,
specifically in revenue and sales.

Mm-hmm.

. Um, and then being able to kind of
have intimate conversations with them.

Uh, so as you map, you map
out your journey, you can.

The things that work and the things
that you kind of wanna pull forward.

So that, that, that would be
another piece of advice is to

find those kinds of, uh, outlets.

And then I, you know, I have to
add that from me as a black woman,

I, I always had to be willing to
work harder than everybody else

and get the least in return.

That's just the reality that I had
to, um, . And I hope that with all the

things that are going on today, all of
this awareness and d e I initiatives

that they're, that's gonna change.

Mm-hmm.

, but at the same time today, I'm
not holding my breath right.

I'm not holding my breath
that there are any changes.

So the, because even in my experience
as being a, a black female founder

in this climate, with all of
the good things going on, I.

Feel some of that same pain
and disappointment on occasion.

So with Jasmine, my co-founder,
Brianna, my other co-founder, what

we say is, you know what, we're okay.

Continuing to put in that work.

Um, and being okay with that is gonna
be important for anyone who's trying

to work their way, um, up the ladder.

And that's whether you're a
woman of color, uh, a black woman

specifically, or a woman in general.

Yeah.

Because.

it.

Things have not yet progressed
as far as we'd like to see them.

Rosalyn: Yeah, 100%.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for sharing all of that.

I think it's super helpful, the things
that you've shared and just appreciate

you taking the time to share that.

Um, so, you know, as I think about
the revenue engine and this podcast,

you know, I always hope others will be
able to learn how to accelerate revenue

growth and then power the revenue engine.

So maybe from your perspective, you know,
what are the top couple of things, maybe

two or three things that you think all
executives should be really thinking about

today to help accelerate and grow revenue?

Ooh,

Teasha: okay, so number.

I've probably said this 10 times already
in this podcast, . So focus on growth.

Focus.

The context of your business
is the most important thing.

So it's from context to customers,
to products and services,

your priorities, your people.

All of these things are wrapped up
and cuz if you miscalculate your

position, it can cost you any opportu.

To accelerate growth, right?

Because your company will fail like
the 90% of startups that do, right?

Or, and if you go beyond startups,
a lot of companies within three to

five years end up in a disengagement
phase before they're ready.

So I always tell my customers, let's
exist until we survive, and then

we're gonna survive until we succeed.

and we are going to
grow after that, right?

. And then when we grow, we can decide if
we're gonna ride off into the sunset or

if we're gonna hold on for generations.

But if we, if we just don't
know what we're selling, right?

Mm-hmm.

, if we don't know who we're selling
it to, if we don't know why they're

buying it, or if we don't pay attention
to, you know, why we say they want.

and we never ask 'em how they
actually feel about it when

they get past that FOMO stage.

There is no opportunity to grow revenue.

So accelerating it becomes a fantasy.

Mm-hmm.

, um, if those things aren't taken care of.

So that's my, uh, what I think executives
should do is just really focus.

Narrowly.

Rosalyn: Yeah.

That's great feedback.

That's great advice.

I love that.

Um, so, you know, thank
you so much for joining me.

Um, but as we wrap up and before I
let you go, I always ask two things.

So one, you know, what is the
thing about you that others

might be surprised to learn?

And then two, what is the one thing that
you really want everyone to know about

Teasha: you?

So they kind of go hand
in hand the two things.

So the one that people would be, um,
surprised to learn is cause most people

see me as like, work, work, work.

You know, Tough, tough, tough.

But I'm desperate to be able to talk
about how important like love and

grace is in the workplace, right?

Because you know, when most people see you
as like, get at it, they don't understand.

What I really want is to get to a
point where we can like focus on

the impact of caring about people,
uh, and their feelings and how

that can actually have a success.

, uh, impact on business growth.

So I'm, we're not there yet.

Um, but that's something people don't
think that I think that way, but

it is incredibly important to me.

And so on a similar note, what
I want people to know is that I

actually believe that people make
mistakes, but I don't own dignity.

So my job as a leader is to
respectfully inspire them and.

focus on even my own
continual improvement.

And this is exactly why I love, love, love
data so much is because data enables that.

So that's,

Rosalyn: that's beautiful.

I love that.

, thank you so much.

Well, thank you so much for being with
me and thank you so much for sharing

your story and just so many incredible,
literally insights and advice for others.

So really appreciate your time
today, Tisha, and thank you so much.

Thank you.

Teasha: Thank you for having me.

I appreciate it.