ElevenLabs: Building an AI Sales Machine & Why We Set a 20x Sales Quota

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

April 11, 2026

Duration

1h 25m

Channel

The Twenty Minute VC

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Carles Reina is VP of Sales at ElevenLabs, where he was the first investor and fourth employee. Carles has scaled the revenue org from Day 1 to over $330M in just 3 years. Carles is also an active investor with investments in ElevenLabs, Revolut, Happy Robot and more. ----------------------------------------------- In this episode: 00:00 Intro 02:05 The new CRO playbook: how go-to-market has fundamentally changed 02:55 Why AI outbound tools don't work — and what ElevenLabs built instead 05:46 Will AI agents shrink sales teams? Carles' 50% productivity goal 06:41 Commission structures: ElevenLabs' 20x quota model explained 11:27 Hunters vs farmers, customer success as a revenue function 14:23 The myth of "one market at a time" & hiring experienced sellers 19:52 What didn't work: failed bets, the India reset & going back to zero 38:24 Does brand reduce enterprise sales cycles? 44:55 Hiring obsessed salespeople: spotting top talent in 20 minutes 59:41 Partner ecosystems: the biggest mistakes and how to do it right 01:09:22 Should operators also be investors? 01:20:06 Quick-Fire Round ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on X: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Carles Reina on X: https://twitter.com/Carles_Reina Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact #20vc #harrystebbings #sales #elevenlabs

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Carles Reina

  guest

  CRO at ElevenLabs focused on scaling sales and revenue operations.

• Harry Stebbings

  host

  Founder and host of The Twenty Minute VC (20VC) and venture capitalist.

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Carles Reina and Harry Stebbings, ElevenLabs: Building an AI Sales Machine & Why We Set a 20x Sales Quota explores elevenLabs CRO on AI-driven sales, comp design, and scaling playbooks Reina argues the CRO role has shifted from closing individual deals to architecting distribution systems that embed AI and enable “more with less.”

🔗 RELATED EPISODES

Inside Legora: Jude Law Generated $50M Pipeline | Are They Undervalued at $5.5BN? | Patrick Forquer

Cliff Weitzman: What I Learned from 100 of the World’s Top CEOs & Why Tokens Will Outspend Salaries

Shopify CEO on How AI is a Scapegoat for Mass Layoffs & Trump Derangement Syndrome in Canada

Inside Clay's Sales Playbook | Becca Lindquist

Jackie Reses: The Most Powerful Woman in Finance; Making $50BN for Yahoo on Alibaba | E996

Tom Hulme & Stan Boland: Lessons from Jensen Huang & How to Fix the UK Tech Ecosystem