Many startups manage to sustain themselves but never scale, and the task of scaling only gets tougher with a bigger organization. That in mind, both established companies and start-ups are turning to Chief Revenue Officers (CROs) for growth.
New York, referred to as the Empire State thanks to the sheer abundance of resources and wealth there, shows that the value of a CRO cannot be understated, especially in 2025.
Let’s explore the CRO role as a whole, why it matters today more than ever before, and highlight several top CROs in New York to watch for.
What is a CRO?
A Chief Revenue Officer is an executive-ranked individual in a company who’s responsible for overseeing all of a company’s revenue-generating activities.
To put it another way, their goal is to make sure all teams are involved and aligned toward the same goal of bringing in more money. This includes several departments like sales, marketing, pricing, along with partnerships, customer success, and customer support. Their singular goal is to maximize revenue and profit.
Often, they’re confused with traditional VPs of Sales or Marketing, and their role is similar, but the CRO’s is cross-functional. A VP of Sales focuses on sales only, but a CRO handles everything that touches a company’s revenue stream, increasing their scope of work.
CROs handle everything from generating leads to closing the sale and often go beyond traditional sales and marketing duties.
But what do they do?
In practice, the work of a CRO is to develop a revenue strategy, end-to-end, covering everything:
- They set pricing
- Define targets
- Design new sales channels and partnerships
- Refine pricing models
- Coordinate marketing campaigns
- Improve the customer journey in a practical, predictable, and sustainable manner
They unify all the teams, sales, marketing, and the lot, and have them work toward a unified objective. Call them the conductor of disparate forces in a business, bridging gaps between marketing, sales, product, and support.
Why CROs are Leading the Growth Game in 2025
The trend of CROs began in Silicon Valley but has since trickled down into the mainstream. For startups and established companies, CROs are far more than a fashionable C-suite title, but a real title that makes a difference.
Studies performed by McKinsey found that Fortune 100 companies with CRO-like roles report 1.8x times higher revenue growth than those without. Those are real results, and significant ones at that. In other words, organizations that a CRO leads grow nearly twice as fast on average.
No two companies operate the same way, but all companies have to work within the business environment of 2025. This includes the massive advancement in technology (like generative AI) and other things that have completely shattered the old ideas of business operations.
Customers have far more options and access to more information than ever before. They’re being marketed to left and right, and companies can no longer afford to fall behind due to departments that aren’t able to work together.
CROs have been shown to accelerate the process of decision-making, a priceless advantage in today’s economy, and thus revenue generation across the board.
Startups, especially, have caught on to the value of hiring CROs, and they tend to do so early on now. Compared to companies founded from 2009 to 2015, those established between 2016 and 2022 onboarded CROs at double the speed, reflecting shifting priorities in growth leadership. [1]
In short, CROs are leading the 2025 growth game because they align the entire company on revenue goals, speed execution using whatever best tech and strategies exist within the current market, and adapt to the changing market as smoothly and profitably as possible.
What Makes a Top CRO in New York?
All markets in different geographical locations are different, but New York is especially unique. It has everything, from scrappy startups to those with a complete and utter monopoly over their niche.
It is a global market that is extremely fast-moving, and not every CRO is able to really succeed here. In order for one to do so, they must combine a broad vision with the street smarts of an individual who knows their way around the city. Here are a few qualities found commonly among the top CROs in New York:
1. Strategic, Cross-Functional Leadership
The best CRO understands revenue, and the best way to generate it comes from all departments banding together and working towards a singular goal with accountability. So, they break down silos and unify marketing, sales, product, and service into one by setting shared goals (like lifetime customer value).
Now, the additional problem a New York CRO can deal with is coordinating teams across time zones and cultures, too, given NYC firms’ global reach. They tend to have this innate sense of how all the pieces fit together.
2. Data-Backed Decision Making
In NYC, as important as going by your instinct and gut is, the market is too vast and unpredictable to follow just the “what feels right” mentality. Thankfully, NYC inherently has a data-rich environment, and the smartest CROs make use of it relentlessly.
Similar to how they break down department silos, they unify disparate data sources and create a single “source of truth,” the holy word which changes oh so often. The advantage of this is simple: evidence/data-based decision making.
For example, by tracking customer metrics across the entire journey, insights can be derived and changes can be made in accordance. They may run experiments on the pricing or funnels, and modify the marketing messages. In order to do this, CROs often utilize tech like CRM and RevOps tools.
3. Customer-Centric Mindset
New Yorkers value being valued, and CROs are all about obsessing over a single customer because retention and loyalty matter more than merely getting new customers. Of all the top executives, CROs have the most clear view of the entire customer journey, and they use that perspective to shape the company’s value proposition and growth engine.
In New York’s competitive scene, a place that is a hot cultural soup, a CRO must understand diverse customer segments (from Wall Street to Main Street) and create strategies for success accordingly.
4. Adaptability and Vision
The NYC market sees a constant cycle of evolution, so CROs must be quick. They develop a strong strategic vision, looking at things in the longer term rather than the short-term view of traditional sales leaders, but still retaining the ability to pivot quickly if and when demanded.
They also thrive under pressure: New York’s pace means a CRO must deliver results under tight deadlines and budgets, and inspire teams amid change.
5. People and Communication Skills
New York is a hotspot for networking. It is a melting pot of culture. There are people from different cities, countries, and they further get segregated into various departments and positions. A CRO must have the skills to rally both engineers and executives.
They need to have the communication skills to explain their complex long-term revenue strategies to investors or board members in the simplest of ways, as they might not be the most tech-savvy individuals out there. Many top CROs also mentor and develop their teams for this very purpose.
To sum things up, an NYC CRO that is worth their salt is part strategist, part data scientist, part diplomat, part motivational speaker, and storyteller. They must have the vision to see both the forest and the trees. If they focus on just a singular tree, they’ll miss out on the entire forest, so keeping an eye on the bigger picture is a part of their job.
CROs in New York to Watch Right Now
Some CROs know how to hit aggressive targets while scaling sustainably, especially in one of the most competitive ecosystems in the world. Let’s do a deep dive:
1. NUOPTIMA (Alexej Pikovsky, Founder & CEO)
Being one of the top SEO Agencies in New York, NUOPTIMA is all about becoming architects of growth, and one way we do so is by connecting companies with senior revenue leaders and CRO experts to help build an orderly system. This is especially useful for companies experiencing high-growth or on the path to it.
We match businesses with our in-house CRO candidates that have been handpicked via a rigorous weeding round. These individuals work towards aligning marketing, sales, and customer success under the unified goal of reaching your revenue potential.
Under the leadership of our founder, Alexej Pikovsky, we won multiple industry awards (UK Search Awards, The Drum Awards, to name a few). Alexej’s background allows us to vet CRO candidates not just by sales pedigree, but by their understanding of capital efficiency, CAC-to-LTV ratios, and scaling in real markets.
Through our work with dozens of high-growth companies across SaaS, fintech, eCommerce, health, and biotech, we’ve built a trusted network of revenue leaders and a hands-on model for scaling responsibly.
We’ll help the right CROs connect with your company. Contact us today.
2. Andrea Kayal – Teampay
Under the leadership of SaaS growth executive Andrea Kayal, Teampay, a spend management startup, was able to scale up effectively and was acquired by Paystand. Before that, as CMO at fintech Electric, she drove growth from ~$5M ARR into unicorn territory. Kayal is lauded for her ability to bring her analytical mind to improve revenue outcomes with tight marketing budgets. Currently, she is the CRO at Help Scout.
3. Erica Anderson – Notion
Erica Anderson joined Notion as their CRO in 2023, after her successful marketing strategy for GitHub’s AI products, including GitHub Copilot, and scaling GitHub to over $1B ARR. At Notion, she’s focused on accelerating buyer “aha” moments and expanding onboarding programs from SMBs to enterprise. Her experience demonstrates the modern CRO mentality: aligning product, customer, and revenue strategies while scaling global teams through data-rich playbooks.
4. Kiva Kolstein – AlphaSens
As President & CRO of AlphaSense, Kiva Kolstein has led the AI-powered market intelligence platform through major product extensions. His career spans high-growth roles at Handshake (acquired by Shopify), Percolate (acquired by Seismic), and Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG).
5. Marc Jacobs – Cheq
Marc Jacobs took over CRO responsibilities at CHEQ in January 2023. He’s a recognized sales leader with 20+ years’ experience, previously serving as CRO at Spring Health (leading 15× revenue expansion in under three years) and in senior roles at CB Insights, Greenhouse Software, and VMware. He’s got the Pavilion’s CRO Lifetime Achievement Award as well.
6. Rob Showers – Derivative Path
Rob joined Derivative Path, a fintech company that helps businesses manage risk and currency exchange. At Derivative Path, he has helped the company grow by building strong sales teams and forming partnerships with other companies. He brings a mix of deep financial knowledge and solid sales leadership, and has an impressive portfolio, having worked in big banks and fast-growing finance tech companies.
7. Dotty Giordano – Summit
Dotty leads revenue at Summit, which runs high-profile events and experiences for entrepreneurs and creatives. She used to run creative strategy at big agencies and knows how to build a strong brand, exactly what she’s doing at Summit by turning that creativity into real business. Dotty knows her way around working with sponsors, partners, and communities to grow both revenue and impact.
8. Rafe Petkovic – Ledge
With his understanding of large businesses’ needs, Rafe helps companies manage their payments at Ledge, a fast-growing fintech. Before Ledge, he’s worked at some major names like Klarna, Walmart, and Google. He’s focused on building a sales process that’s smart, data-driven, and built for scale.
9. Zack Maier – Coast
Coast hired Zack to help their platform manage fleet spending. Zack did it in a number of ways, like fuel cards and driver expenses. He’s been leading the company through big funding rounds and building partnerships with gas stations and service providers. He’s able to make the traditional industries equip themselves with smarter, newer tech and tools.
10. Doug Smoyer – Global Citizen
Leading revenue at Global Citizen, the ground behind huge events like the Global Citizen Festival, Doug Smoyer’s job is to build partnerships with sponsors and brands that want to support global change. He comes from the sports and entertainment world and knows how to turn events into long-term business value.
The Future of Revenue Leadership in NYC
The CRO’s role is changing, and fast. The R is getting replaced by a big old G. Growth will bring Revenue. Now, what used to be a job focused entirely upon one aspect (sales numbers) is arguably one of the most cross-functional, high-impact positions in any business. In New York, that shift is even more intense.
From CRO to CGO: A New Kind of Revenue Leader
More and more CROs take on broader ownership of growth, moving into roles that look a lot like “Chief Growth Officer,” even if the title on paper doesn’t change. It’s one of the fastest-growing roles. These CGOs are leading not just sales, but also marketing, customer success, partnerships, and sometimes even product. Why? Because driving growth in 2025 means understanding every touchpoint with the customer, not just the closing factors.
In NYC, this evolution is happening faster than almost anywhere else because the market here demands multi-skilled leaders.
NYC is Built for Next-Gen GTM Strategy
Think about what really makes New York such a strong hub for CRO talent. Well, they say you are the product of your environment, and that happens to be the case here, too. You’ve got everybody here hustling. From garage startups to global players with almost a monopoly on what they do. Bottom-up, literally everybody. CROs are forced to adapt constantly. They must be present both locally and globally.
There’s also a strong culture of experimentation here. The top CROs in New York are early adopters of new tech, new channels, and new sales models. They’re shaping what go-to-market (GTM) looks like for the rest of the world.
The Bar is Rising
By now, you already have an idea that CROs must be multi-talented to survive in New York. Being a jack of all trades is important. It is no longer enough to be merely a great seller or marketer. They must be a strategic thinker, a doer, someone who can take accountability. CROs must be equally comfortable in a boardroom or a CRM, somebody willing to build a system for sustainable growth long term, brick by brick, and train their teams to work similarly.
Closing Thoughts
New York’s market is one tough cookie to crack, one of the toughest in the world, and that’s no exaggeration. Tough times make tough individuals, though, as that’s how some of the sharpest revenue leaders emerge and show what modern-day growth leadership actually looks like.
Working with startups to enterprises, the CROs are building systems that help a company grow its revenue consistently and sustainably.
FAQ
A CRO is an acronym for Chief Revenue Officer, who is responsible for taking care of all revenue-generating functions. In simple words, their job is to look at everything that brings in cash, like sales, marketing, partnerships, and customer success, and make sure it all works together to grow revenue fast and smartly.
There aren’t any official tier lists or rankings that answer that question. Every CRO brings in something unique. However, individuals like Mark Wayland (Box), Kevin Haverty (ServiceNow), and Erica Schultz (Confluent, formerly New Relic) are often named in top lists.
If we go by the numbers, currently in the US, Philipp Schindler at Google could be considered the biggest CRO. He oversees global sales and partner operations for Google Search, YouTube, and more, making him responsible for a $230 billion+ annual revenue stream. That’s more revenue than most entire companies pull in.
References
- https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/a-bigger-bolder-vision-how-cros-are-propelling-growth-from-the-c-suite
