Zero to IPO and beyond
I build RevOps, enablement, compensation, and deal desk from scratch, and scale them past $150M ARR.
James Hahn · Revenue Operations Executive
I build and lead the revenue engine behind hypergrowth companies.
Part of the teams behind Omilia's $67M raise, Zendesk's IPO, AppDynamics' $3.7B sale to Cisco, and Riskified's 2021 NYSE listing.
I joined Zendesk as employee #65. At AppDynamics I built sales operations, enablement, compensation, and deal desk while ARR grew from about $50M to $140M. At Riskified I advised the CRO through the listing. Most recently I built Revenue Operations at Omilia from scratch: a team of 3 grew to 13, and forecast accuracy reached ~85%. The work is the same each time: metrics investors trust, a forecast the board can bet on, and the CRM, compensation, and finance handoffs that let the company scale into its plan.
Open to full-time executive roles (VP of Revenue Operations, SVP of GTM, CRO, Head of RevOps) and advisory board seats.
EXPERIENCE
From the first revenue hire to a public company.
I have built Revenue Operations from the first hire, carried it through IPOs and an acquisition, and run it inside a top-10 global company. The work spans the US, EMEA, LATAM, and APAC.
Investor and IPO readiness
Investor-grade metrics and board reporting through Omilia's $67M raise, and IPO preparation at Zendesk, AppDynamics (sold to Cisco), and Riskified (NYSE: RSKD).
Global enterprise
At GE, a top-10 global company, I ran RevOps for a $1B+ software division across NA, EMEA, and APAC.
Change at scale
One pipeline, one forecast, and one planning process, put in place across 50+ countries at Bitdefender and a $1B division at GE Digital.
WHERE I HAVE DELIVERED
WORK
What I walked into, and what changed.
What I found when I arrived, what I built, and the numbers that followed.
VP, REVENUE OPERATIONS · 2.5 YEARS
Omilia
I built Revenue Operations from scratch. The team grew from 3 people to 13, forecast accuracy reached ~85%, and sales cycles fell by up to 50%. I built the investor metrics behind its $67M raise and got the company ready for a public equity event.
Team
3 → 13
Forecast
~85%
Cycle
−50%
HEAD OF GLOBAL REVENUE OPERATIONS · 1.5 YEARS
InVeris
I built Revenue Operations from zero for a new CRO in defense and law-enforcement simulation. Forecast accuracy reached 90%, and a new channel started producing revenue.
Forecast accuracy
90%
RevOps function
0 → 1
Channel program
New
DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL REVENUE OPERATIONS · 1.5 YEARS
Riskified
I advised the CRO through the 2021 NYSE IPO at $200M ARR. I built the ARR, cohort, and pipeline reports that investors and underwriters reviewed.
ARR
$200M
NYSE: RSKD
IPO
Listing year
2021
DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL SALES OPERATIONS · 2+ YEARS
Bitdefender
I put one pipeline, CRM, and forecast in place for field, inside, and partner sales in 50+ countries, at a $100M ARR cybersecurity company.
ARR
$100M
Countries
50+
Functions led
4
DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL COMMERCIAL EXCELLENCE · 2+ YEARS
GE Digital
I was one of GE Digital's first outside leadership hires. I brought SaaS planning, compensation, and a partner program to a $1B Industrial Internet division, and I led M&A integrations.
Division
$1B
SaaS playbook
IIoT
Integrations led
M&A
SENIOR MANAGER, SALES OPERATIONS · 1+ YEAR
AppDynamics
I built Sales Ops, Enablement, Incentive Comp, and Deal Desk from zero. ARR grew from ~$50M to $140M, ahead of the $3.7B Cisco acquisition.
ARR
$50M → $140M
Cisco acquisition
$3.7B
Functions built
4
MANAGER, SALES OPERATIONS · 3 YEARS
Zendesk
I joined as employee #65, when the company ran on basic tools. I helped build the finance, sales, and marketing systems that carried it to the 2014 NYSE IPO.
Employee
#65
Revenue systems
0 → 1
NYSE, 2014
IPO
NETWORK ENGINEERING & SECURITY · 8+ YEARS
DaVita
Before RevOps, I built and secured the Cisco network for 1,600+ dialysis clinics in the US. Starting around 2000, I helped move the company off point-to-point circuits onto IPsec and mesh VPNs, added VoIP, and ran early penetration tests under the new HIPAA Security Rule.
Locations
1,600+
WAN
VPN
Era
~2000
WHERE IT STARTED
NEXT CHAPTER
Your company could be next.
Every story here started with a revenue system that could not keep up with the company. If that sounds like yours, let's talk.
WHAT I AM BEST AT
What your company gets from me.
The parts of the revenue engine I lead day to day, and where I have done each one.
A forecast the board can bet on
Weekly pipeline inspection, clear stage rules, and one call the CRO, CFO, and board all trust.
~85% at Omilia · 90% at InVeris
Quota, territory, and capacity planning
Top-down and bottom-up targets, territory coverage, and hiring capacity, tied to what the company promised investors.
Riskified · Omilia
Compensation that drives the right deals
Commission plans the field understands, that reward the deals the company wants, and that finance can afford.
Built incentive comp from zero at AppDynamics
Deal desk and pricing discipline
Discount approvals, deal structure, and contract terms that move fast without giving away margin.
Built deal desk from zero at AppDynamics
Faster sales cycles
Find where deals stall between stages and teams, then fix the process, the handoffs, and the tools.
Up to 50% shorter at Omilia
One CRM, one pipeline, one set of numbers
Field, inside, and partner sales on the same definitions, so every region reports the same way.
50+ countries at Bitdefender
Board and investor reporting
ARR, cohort, and pipeline reporting that holds up in a board meeting, a funding round, or an IPO.
Omilia's $67M raise · Riskified IPO
Partner and channel revenue
Partner programs with clear rules of engagement, so channel deals add to direct sales instead of fighting it.
InVeris · GE Digital
Enablement and M&A integration
Ramp new reps faster, and bring acquired teams onto one plan, one CRM, and one comp model.
Enablement at AppDynamics · M&A at GE Digital
THE BOTTLENECK
Why growth stalls.
Most companies do not stall because the product is bad or the sales team is weak. The revenue system breaks.
Marketing, sales, finance, and product each keep their own numbers. Commission plans fight the finance model. The tool stack gets expensive and tangled. Reports become opinions.
More tools will not fix that. One set of numbers will.
THE FRAMEWORK
Set the plan. Run the business.
For more than a decade I have sat with boards, CEOs, and founders. I help set where the company is going, and I run the work that gets it there.
SET DIRECTION
With the board, CEO, and founders
01 Strategy & Company Direction
Where the company is going, set with the board, CEO, and founders, then turned into a plan every team can follow.
02 Board & Investor Leadership
Board-grade reporting, investor narratives, and the discipline that carries a company to an IPO or equity event.
03 Go-to-Market Decisions
Pricing, markets, and partnerships decided with data, not opinion.
ALIGN THE COMPANY
Every function, one direction
04 Goals & Operating Plan
Top-down and bottom-up targets, budgets, and headcount, built with finance so targets, capacity, and cost tell the same story.
05 Cross-Functional Leadership
Sales, marketing, customer success, finance, product, and delivery working from one plan, so the company delivers what it sells.
06 Organization & Talent
Org design, compensation, and hiring, built with HR and sequenced to the plan and the pipeline.
RUN THE BUSINESS
Today's goals, tomorrow's scale
07 Operating Rhythm & Reporting
Weekly, monthly, and quarterly cadences built on one source of truth the leadership team trusts.
08 Pipeline & Forecast
Direct and partner pipeline, deal flow, and a forecast measured against this quarter's commitments.
09 Systems, Data & AI
The systems, data, and AI that let the company grow without growing cost at the same rate.
Revenue touches every function, so I work across all of them, not just the ones that report the number.
AI ARCHITECTURE
Put AI in the revenue data. Keep the model swappable.
THE FRAGILE APPROACH
Disconnected AI
A different AI tool for every team, each with its own copy of the data. Security gets harder, and the company ends up locked into models that will be out of date next quarter.
THE HAHNWERKS APPROACH
AI in the revenue data
One set of revenue data, with AI working on top of it. When a better model ships, it swaps in without breaking the CRM, the workflows, or the data pipeline.
LAB · SIDE PROJECTS
I do not just design systems. I ship them.
Products, automations, and AI tools I build hands-on, plus a few sites for local businesses. Same habits as the revenue work: find the bottleneck, automate the repetitive work, and put AI where it pays off.
Signal Terminal
LIVE DEMOA stock analysis terminal: portfolio tracking, backtesting, what-if scenarios, dividends, earnings, and alerts, plus multi-LLM deep analysis, an AI daily brief, and AI portfolio review. Installable PWA with per-user cloud sync.
React · Vite · PHP · MySQL · Claude / OpenAI / Gemini
Open the appDay2 Inventory
LIVE DEMOEvent and trade-show asset management, being built as a multi-tenant 3PL platform: one operator houses inventory for many isolated client companies, each managing its own stock and requests.
React · Vite · Tailwind · Firebase
Try the demoEvent Registration Platform
SAASRegistration, payments, meeting scheduling, and photo sharing for a global enterprise summit. Now being generalized into a self-serve product any event team can brand and run.
React · Firebase · Cloud Functions · Stripe
PRIVATE REPO · WALKTHROUGH ON REQUEST
Real Estate Automation Suite
AI AUTOMATIONSix automation modules for a real estate business: lead capture, AI-written follow-up sequences, listing content generation, transaction tracking, and showing scheduling against live calendars.
n8n · Firebase · Claude API · Twilio · SendGrid
PRIVATE REPO · WALKTHROUGH ON REQUEST
Pocket LLM
OPEN SOURCERun a private, offline LLM chat from a USB thumb drive on Mac, Windows, or Linux. One-click launchers, a browser chat page, and nothing ever leaves the machine.
llamafile · Llama 3.1 8B · Shell
See it in actionSmall-Business Websites
CLIENT SITESFast, mobile-first sites for local businesses, with contact forms, bot protection, and search and AI-assistant discoverability built in. Live for Naso Tax Service and Mayhem Street Riders.
HTML · Tailwind · PHP · SEO
DESIGNED, BUILT, AND HOSTED END TO END
Carrier Cost Comparison
LIVE TOOLAn interactive calculator for the true multi-year cost of a cell phone plan: service plus devices, across carriers. Adjust the assumptions or add any carrier, and the charts show cumulative cost and year-by-year savings.
HTML · JavaScript · Chart.js
Try the calculatorAND MORE
Still building.
Automations, experiments, and tools in progress. The open-source ones live on GitHub.
See more on GitHubHOW I WORK
Four ways to work together.
I am looking for a full-time executive role or an advisory seat. For the right problem, I also take fractional and project work.
OPEN TO SELECT OPPORTUNITIES
OPENFull-Time Executive
My next full-time role: VP of Revenue Operations, SVP of GTM, Chief Revenue Officer, or Head of RevOps. I have done the work at every layer, from the data model to the board report.
Best fit: Venture-backed companies scaling past $20M ARR, raising their next round, approaching an IPO, or rebuilding after an acquisition.
ADVISORY BOARD · STRATEGIC COUNSEL
OPENAdvisor
For founders, CEOs, boards, and investors who want an operator nearby without a new seat on the org chart. Regular working sessions on strategy, go-to-market, board reporting, and the path to a raise, an IPO, or a sale.
Best fit: Founder-led and growth-stage companies, and their investors, getting ready for the next stage or an equity event.
ONGOING · PART-TIME EMBEDDED
Fractional Leadership
Executive Revenue Operations without a full-time hire. I work 2 to 3 days a week as your VP of RevOps: the plan, the systems, and the day-to-day.
Best fit: Companies scaling from $5M to $75M ARR that need a senior operator now and are not ready for a full-time hire.
DEFINED SCOPE · FIXED TIMELINE
Project & Interim
A defined job: IPO readiness, a CRM cleanup, a go-to-market reset, a compensation redesign, or AI in the revenue system. I diagnose it, build it, and hand it to your team.
Best fit: A specific problem that needs a senior operator for 60 to 180 days.
Not sure which fits?
ABOUT ME
I started in the data. I still sit with the board.
JAMES HAHN // FOUNDER, HAHNWERKS
I did not start in a strategy offsite. I started as a network engineer, then moved into the data: broken tool connections, messy schemas, and the problems reps actually hit.
I worked up through the technical, financial, and leadership layers of Revenue Operations. I can build the systems, including AI, and I can show what they do to margin.
That range is the point. I can sit with the board on the plan, then build the system that delivers it. I am available for full-time executive roles and advisory roles, plus select fractional and interim engagements.
LET'S TALK
Book a 30-min call.
A full-time role, an advisory seat, or a defined project: start here. I read and answer every message myself.
BOOK A CALL
Schedule a 30-minute call.
Pick a time. Bring the role, the board seat, or the problem, and we will start there.
DIRECT LINE
SEND A MESSAGE
THANK YOU
Thanks for reaching out. I will get back to you shortly. If you want time on the calendar sooner, book a 30-min call.