
Sales: The Most Neglected Discipline in Modern Business - The GTM Kickback #88 w/ Gregg Rotenberg
Gregg Rotenberg has lived three careers in one: turning around energy and climate-tech companies (including a BlackRock- and JPMorgan-backed turnaround), co-founding Keystone Strategy with Harvard Business School professors, and now serving as GTM Operating Partner at DCVC, one of the largest deep-tech venture firms in the world. At DCVC, Gregg splits his time three ways — commercial diligence on new investments, embedding with portfolio companies on go-to-market, and a research project that took him deep into 100+ AI sales-enablement companies. In this episode, Gregg lays out his core thesis: sales is the most neglected, least-disciplined function in modern business — treated as an art when it should be run as a science. We get into what separates a real "partner ally" from just a friendly contact, why sales training has never gotten the rigor of law, medicine, or engineering, and what a hundred-plus interviews with AI sales-enablement startups taught him about why the science still isn't sticking. He also shares an early look at Hudl, the company he's incubating inside DCVC to rebuild commercial intelligence from the ground up.What we cover:Why sales remains the most neglected, least disciplined function in business — and why Gregg believes that changes completely within 10 to 15 yearsThe two specific, evidence-based criteria that separate a real "partner ally" from someone who's just friendlyWhat 100+ AI sales-enablement company interviews revealed about why sales science isn't sticking (and the Salesforce "dot dot dot" story that proves it) Hudl: the company Gregg is incubating inside DCVC to fix commercial intelligence at the rootThe two layers of a great sales leader — sales science vs. personal style — and why chasing "triple black belts" is the wrong hiring strategyIf you're a revenue leader, operator, or investor looking to understand where selling is headed in an AI-native world, this one is worth your time. The GTM Kickback is a podcast for go-to-market leaders, revenue operators, and the investors who back them. New episodes released quarterly.





