99% of GTM teams still can’t see what really happens before an opportunity is created.

This is the "grey area" where SDRs or BDRs are working prospects — sending emails, making calls, chasing signals, running sequences — all in an effort to connect, book a meeting, and turn it into pipeline.

The problem? None of it is tracked in a clear way. Leaders see pipeline “sources” (marketing, sales, SDR) but miss the bigger picture.

Pipeline isn’t a source. It’s a chain reaction. A trigger sparks sales work, a series of events unfolds, and only some of those sequences reliably produce opportunities, while many don’t. The problem is, most leaders have no visibility into that chain, and that’s why pipeline creation still feels like guesswork.

In this episode, Carolyn explains why department-source reporting and last-touch attribution keep teams stuck, and how to instrument the pre-opportunity “factory floor” with simple, causal metrics.

They also tackle the cross-functional blame game (e.g. marketing vs. sales over MQLs and lead quality) and show how a unified, trigger-based view turns guesswork into an operating system for predictable pipeline.

Key Topics in this Episode:

[00:10] Carolyn’s journey: 4x Head of Marketing → CEO of Passetto

[07:30] The Pipeline Black Box: why pre-opp activity is invisible

[09:20] Using triggers to understand what really starts sales work

[14:00] Inside the factory: connect rate, time-to-meeting, qual rate, DQs

[22:40] Client insight: MQLs drain resources

[27:50] KPIs to rethink: drop department-source, own pipeline as a system

[30:45] For marketing leaders: accountability over defense

[41:55] Annual planning: fight inertia, build visibility first

[44:50] Where to find Carolyn & learn more about Passetto

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This episode is powered by Passetto, a GTM advisory and instrumentation software company with a solution that eliminates the Pipeline Black Box™, the critical data hidden inside every GTM engine where leaders are flying blind when it matters most.

Engineering Pipeline You Can Predict

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