#569: From Hubspot to Harvard: What Mark Roberge Learned About Scaling That Business School Don't Teach (Until Now)

#569: From Hubspot to Harvard: What Mark Roberge Learned About Scaling That Business School Don't Teach (Until Now)

From Business of Story by Park Howell, Brand Story Strategist

May 25, 2026 · 54 min

About this episode

Mark Roberge discusses his Science of Scaling framework and the importance of sequence in growth strategies.

Mark Roberge scaled HubSpot from $0 to $100M in revenue as its Chief Revenue Officer — and now teaches founders and operators at Harvard Business School why most growth strategies fail. The answer isn't effort. It's sequence. In this episode, Mark shares his Science of Scaling framework: the four-stage methodology that sequences product-market fit, repeatable sales motion, customer success, and revenue scaling in the right order. He introduces the PMF Threshold — the leading indicator that tells you whether you've actually earned the right to scale — and explains why half of the founders he works with are scaling too early, the other half too late, and almost none know which half they're in. You'll also hear why the best salespeople talk less than 50% of the time, how to build a sales hiring profile from your best customers' patterns instead of resume credentials, and why scaling your sales team before customer success is working destroys retention every time. Mark is the author of The Sales Acceleration Formula and The Science of Scaling , and managing director of Stage 2 Capital. This conversation is essential listening for founders, agency principals, and revenue leaders…

People in this episode

Host: Park Howell

Guest: Mark Roberge

Topics covered

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Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: HubSpot, Harvard Business School, Stage 2 Capital

Books & works: The Sales Acceleration Formula, The Science of Scaling

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