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Contents

1. Revenue systems

2. Builds

3. The operator

4. Writing

5. Journal

6. Resume

7. Appendix

235 wordsby CONNOR J. LAUGHLIN

Revenue operating system from zero.

The funnel definitions, lifecycle stages, routing, and reporting that turned scattered activity into one system.

Outcome

Built the GTM infrastructure behind a nine-figure influenced pipeline.

Revenue operating layersThe revenue operating system as built, drawn as an exploded stack: funnel definitions at the base, then lifecycle stages, routing rules, response windows, pipeline inspection, and the executive cadence on top. Each layer is named on the left and its written form on the right.EXECUTIVE CADENCEPIPELINE INSPECTIONRESPONSE WINDOWSROUTING RULESLIFECYCLE STAGESFUNNEL DEFINITIONSSTANDING REVIEWINSPECTION SCREENSRESPONSE TABLERULE TABLESTAGE SET IN CRMWRITTEN DEFINITIONS
FIG_008 [ Revenue operating layers ]The revenue stack at chapter scale, with the routing and inspection layers drawn out.

There was no revenue system here before this. No agreed funnel, no lifecycle stages, no routing rules, and no reporting anyone trusted enough to argue with. I wrote the definitions first, built the plumbing under them, then put a weekly cadence on top so leaders had one place to look.

The case

  1. 01The problem

    Marketing, sales, CRM, attribution, and reporting were not operating as one revenue system. Leadership needed pipeline truth, not activity summaries.

  2. 02What I built

    I built the operating layer: lifecycle definitions, attribution logic, a full-funnel KPI architecture, reverse-funnel math, close-date movement tracking, CRM and data governance, executive dashboards, and a board-ready reporting cadence.

  3. 03What changed

    Pipeline influence, source quality, funnel movement, sales follow-through, and investment needs became easier to inspect from one shared system.

  4. 04Why it mattered

    Once the lifecycle definitions were written down, marketing's numbers could be argued with in a leadership meeting instead of taken on faith.

  5. 05What it proves

    The definitions, the KPI framework, and the reporting cadence all came from the same desk as the strategy.

Proof

Chapter figures

KPI revenue framework
Full-funnel. KPI revenue framework. awareness through revenue with unit economics.

Systems built

  1. Lifecycle definitions and disposition codes
  2. Multi-touch attribution with hidden-field capture
  3. Full-funnel KPI revenue framework
  4. Reverse-funnel capacity planning
  5. Close-date movement and ghost-pipeline inspection
  6. Board-ready monthly and quarterly reporting cadence

Chapter details

Scope
  • Lifecycle definitions
  • attribution
  • full-funnel KPI framework
  • reverse-funnel math
  • close-date movement
  • executive reporting cadence.
Stack
  • CRM (Zoho/Salesforce concepts)
  • Dashboards
  • GA4
  • Reporting
Governance
  • Lifecycle definitions
  • disposition codes
  • change control
  • weekly operating review

Governance notes

  • Pipeline figure approved with context, no raw opportunity rows in public artifacts
  • Lifecycle definitions versioned, change control logged
  • Board-ready reporting stays private; only the system narrative is public

In the interview

I treat the revenue funnel as one inspectable system, which means every number in it has a definition someone can argue with.

Long form

A written walk-through of this one, in full.

Read it
Email Connor

Open to VP of Marketing & GTM, Head of GTM, VP Revenue Operations, and GTM engineering roles at AI-native B2B SaaS and PE-backed growth companies that build the tools of change. Chicago, hybrid or remote.