Dave "CAC" Kellogg and Ray "Growth" Rike discuss the ICONIQ 2026 State of GTM Report, a 32-page benchmark study based on a January 2026 survey of 155+ B2B SaaS executives across CROs, CEOs, and RevOps leaders. The pair digs into what the data says about how high-growth companies go to market differently, how usage-based pricing is reshaping sales compensation, and where AI in the GTM stack is actually delivering results versus falling short.

Topics Covered

GTM Motion Mix: Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up vs. Hybrid. The data shows roughly 60% of companies use a hybrid motion, but high-growth companies skew more toward bottom-up and PLG. Ray and Dave unpack the ICONIQ "variable growth bar" definition and what the motion mix signals about the source of growth.
Channel and Partnership Revenue Is Bigger Than Expected. ICONIQ reports channel partnerships representing 27-31% of revenue for high-growth companies. That is well above the 11-15% Ray typically sees in comparable reports. Dave calls it the long-awaited comeback of channel in SaaS, and both hosts flag the near-absence of self-serve as a surprise.
Quota Setting and Commission Structures in a Usage-Based World. For the first time in a major GTM benchmark, ICONIQ covers how companies set quotas and structure commissions in a consumption and outcome-based pricing environment. 30% of respondents use forecasted consumption to set quota. Commission payout timing is split across four models, signaling how unsettled the go-to-market compensation playbook remains.
Clawbacks Are Back. With usage-based and prepaid consumption models on the rise, 45-50% of companies now have clawback provisions in sales compensation. Ray and Dave discuss why clawbacks are a morale killer for sales teams and what the smarter alternative looks like in practice.
POC and Free Trial Conversion Rates. POC-to-paid conversion improved from 36% to 50% year over year. Ray and Dave discuss resource allocation for proof-of-concepts, including dedicated versus shared solution architects, and raise the question of where forward-deployed engineers fit into the picture.
AI in GTM: Where It Is and Isn't Working. Lead gen and call transcription top the adoption charts, but AI-driven forecasting sits at only 38%. Ray flags the gap between AI-native and traditional SaaS companies in GTM AI adoption. Dave points to slide 30 as a reality check: pipeline efficiency and unit economics are not yet showing meaningful improvement from AI investment.

If you are responsible for GTM strategy, sales compensation, or measuring the ROI of AI investments, this episode gives you a practical lens on one of the best benchmark reports published in 2026. Ray and Dave go beyond summarizing the slides. Dave and Ray flag caveats in the methodology, challenge the data where it warrants scrutiny, and connect the findings to real-world operating decisions on quota design, commission structures, channel strategy, and AI adoption. If you only have time for one GTM benchmark deep-dive this year, this is the episode to start with.

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