I was fired 4 out of my last 5 GTM roles. That's part of the Pavilion origin story I shared last night at the Boston Holiday Party.
Basically:
- I was a GTM operating executive at PE/VC backed cos from 2003-2018
- Stints were 7.5 years, 4.5 years, 18 months, 9 months, 10 months
- Fired 4/5 roles
- I freely admit I'm not a great employee and not easy to get along with, but it wasn't just me
- Founders/CEOs, and Investors were celebrated as heroes and the great humans of our time
- Meanwhile, GTM operating executives were churned out of companies for every reason imaginable -- not a good fit, not stage appropriate, can't hit the unrealistic targets, not the best friend of the new investor, whatever
- The jobs themselves were changing every day. No standard JD for CRO, CMO, or CCO, no idea what Rev Ops meant or included, how to incorporate Partnerships, none of it.
- Every day = something different.
So we started Pavilion (fka Revenue Collective) to combat those forces.
Key principles:
- Build community of peers to share best practices, challenges, and ideas
- Teach the community that we "give to get", life is not zero sum, & we can all win together
- Provide education, tools, and tactics to empower
- Help GTM execs negotiate better comp aligned to wealth creation, protected them from whims of crazy inexperienced founders, CEOs, and boards
- Increase the likelihood that we (GTM execs) could achieve our professional goals -- impact, make lots of money, help and support each other along the way, be better partners at home thanks to more job stability and security
So last night, Mark Rosenthal asked me, "What's changed about my thesis in the last 10 years of doing this?"
Answer:
The need for Pavilion is GREATER than 10 years ago.
- Career paths are more treacherous and uncertain
- Tactics and playbooks are coming in and out of date FASTER than before
- Average tenure for a GTM exec is SHRINKING (15 months by my estimate)
10 years later, it's still the same basic idea.
- Use community to share best practices for how to be a great CMO, CRO, or COO
And more importantly
- Equip GTM operating executives with the knowledge they need to negotiate COMPENSATION more effectively
- PROTECT the GTM operating executive from the ups and downs of a market that is moving at light speed and, for better or worse, doesn't give a SH*T about our individual futures
That's why we're re-launching our Executive Compensation and Negotiation course.
That's why I'm available for any Pavilion Member to do a 1x1 compensation coaching call to prepare for end of year review cycles (DM me on Slack)
That's why we're 3x-ing down on all of the things that made Pavilion great in the first place.
The world is rough.
Last night, when John Barrows asked me, "What is there to be optimistic about for 2026?"
My answer: Pavilion as a resource to help GTM executives be better at their job, make more money, and protect themselves in an ever changing world.
