How One Leader Built Revenue Operations Without a Playbook

Revenue operations as a distinct function didn’t really exist when Taylor Thomson started building it. There were no playbooks, no established best practices, no clear job descriptions. Just the recognition that something was broken in how organizations connected marketing, sales, finance, and client success.

“We’re kind of building the platforms as we go up,” Thomson says about WITHIN’s approach. “It’s working so far.”

This uncertainty defines revenue operations roles across the industry. The function emerged from necessity—organizations recognized that optimizing each commercial function independently created overall dysfunction. But how do you actually build the infrastructure that connects everything?

Thomson’s answer involved drawing from multiple sources. His undergraduate education in political science and economics taught him to synthesize across domains. Three years in financial services research developed his ability to quickly absorb unfamiliar contexts. Roles in marketing technology provided frontline experience with B2B sales mechanics. His professional development combined these diverse experiences into something new.

The breakthrough came from recognizing patterns. When marketing generates leads that sales can’t close, is that a marketing quality problem or a sales capability problem? When client success struggles with onboarding, is that poor expectation-setting during sales or inadequate internal processes? Revenue operations leaders need to diagnose these disconnects and build solutions.

At WITHIN, Thomson’s scope extends far beyond traditional finance. He manages P&L reporting and forecasting, yes. But he also redesigns sales processes, oversees technology implementations, leads AI projects with data science teams, and develops client onboarding workflows. The unifying thread: understanding how pieces of the revenue engine connect. Taylor Thomson’s business leadership in Denver demonstrates how revenue operations roles are fundamentally about integration rather than specialization.

One structural decision stands out: making business development independent from both marketing and sales. Most organizations bury BD under one or the other, creating skewed incentives. Thomson argues neither serves the organization’s real interest—attracting genuinely good-fit prospects.

This required credibility with both sides. Thomson’s background reporting to heads of marketing and sales at previous companies gave him that credibility. He could navigate the political complexity of creating new organizational structures because neither function could dismiss his perspective as uninformed.

The technology infrastructure also matters. Thomson describes himself as someone who “lives and dies by Salesforce,” insisting that “if it’s not in Salesforce, it doesn’t exist.” This systematic data capture enables understanding what actually works versus what just feels productive.

But tools alone don’t create revenue operations excellence. The real work involves changing how teams think about their objectives. Marketing shouldn’t just optimize for lead volume. Sales shouldn’t just optimize for close rates. Client success shouldn’t just optimize for retention. Everyone should optimize for outcomes that matter to the overall business.

This requires different metrics, different compensation structures, and different ways of thinking about success. Thomson orchestrates annual compensation planning that aligns incentives across functions—one of the most tangible ways revenue operations creates integration.

For leaders trying to build similar functions, Thomson’s path suggests starting with credibility across domains rather than deep specialization in any single area. Revenue operations isn’t finance with a new title. It’s not sales operations expanded. It’s fundamentally about seeing the whole system and building infrastructure that makes it work better. His work at WITHIN’s organizational structure provides a case study in how these roles actually function.

The challenge is that no playbook exists. Every organization’s revenue engine works slightly differently. What works at a SaaS company won’t work at an agency. What works at enterprise scale won’t work for mid-market. Thomson’s advice: accept the ambiguity and build based on your organization’s specific needs rather than trying to import someone else’s solution. His documented approach to building revenue infrastructure offers principles rather than prescriptions.