Why FP&A Fails at Supporting Go-To-Market and How to Fix it with Chris Walker

In this episode of FP&A Tomorrow, host Paul Barnhurst (aka "The FP&A Guy") sits down with Chris Walker to explore the intersection of finance, marketing, and sales. They break down why most companies struggle with measuring the return on go-to-market investments and how finance teams can step up to own and optimize this critical function. Chris shares his unconventional yet data-driven approach to revenue operations, highlighting how traditional marketing and sales attribution models are broken and what companies should do instead.

Chris Walker is a visionary in B2B go-to-market strategies. As the CEO of Pasetto and Executive Chairman of Refine Labs, he is shaping the future of revenue operations by integrating finance, marketing, and sales intelligence. With years of hands-on experience in sales, marketing, and finance, Chris brings a unique perspective to understanding and improving go-to-market efficiency.

Expect to Learn:

• Why go-to-market investments are often misallocated and how finance can take ownership of optimizing them.
• The biggest mistakes companies make when measuring marketing ROI and sales effectiveness.
• How finance leaders can work more strategically with marketing and sales teams to drive profitable growth.
• The importance of rethinking attribution models and revenue operations frameworks.
• Why Chris believes that FP&A should play an offensive, not defensive, role in shaping business strategy.

Here are a few relevant quotes from the episode:

• “Finance leaders need to stop looking at marketing as an expense and start seeing it as an investment portfolio.”
• “Marketing attribution models are fundamentally broken because they try to divide credit rather than measure impact.”
• “Go-to-market investments are often misallocated because finance and marketing don’t speak the same language.”

In this episode, Chris Walker delivers a wake-up call to finance and revenue leaders, urging them to rethink how they measure and optimize go-to-market investments. If FP&A wants to drive better business decisions, it must stop looking at marketing as an expense and start managing it like an investment portfolio. By adopting a data-driven, strategic approach to go-to-market, finance teams can help their companies grow more efficiently and profitably.

The AFP FP&A Forum:

The Association for Financial Professionals FP&A Forum, March 17–19 in Austin, is the must-attend event for finance professionals seeking sales-free, expert-led insights on AI, process efficiency and strategic planning. With 18+ actionable sessions and a community of peers, this forum is all about real learning, no fluff—join us and take your finance game to the next level.

Explore the agenda: https://bit.ly/40W1eCh

Use the code FPAGuy2025 for $200 off: https://bit.ly/40Cts3B

Follow FP&A Tomorrow:

Newsletter - Subscribe on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=6957679529595162624 

Follow Chris:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chriswalker171/

Company - https://www.passetto.com/

Website - https://www.refinelabs.com/

Follow Paul: 

Website - https://www.thefpandaguy.com

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thefpandaguy

Planning in BI Showcase:

Gone are the days of juggling multiple platforms. Now, with business intelligence tools you can integrate planning directly into your BI system. Join Paul on March 20th for the Planning in BI Showcase, where industry leaders will demonstrate how top BI tools are reshaping strategic planning. See firsthand how modern FP&A solutions can drive real value across your enterprise. Don’t miss out!

Register today for free at https://bit.ly/4aLzEe0

Earn Your CPE Credit

For CPE credit please go to earmarkcpe.com, listen to the episode, download the app, and answer a few questions and earn your CPE certification. To earn education credits for FPAC Certificate, take the quiz on earmark and contact Paul Barnhurst for further details.

In Today’s Episode

[01:35] - Introduction to the Episode

[03:33] - What Great FP&A Looks Like

[04:43] - Why Go-to-Market Efficiency is Broken

[07:23] - The Role of FP&A in Go-to-Market

[11:01] - Rethinking Marketing & Sales Attribution

[18:36] - The Shift from Growth-at-All-Costs to Efficiency

[26:40] - Chris’s Companies & Their Mission

[33:41] - Practical Steps To Better Understand Go-to-Market

[41:06] - Evaluating Marketing Investments

[48:10] - The Right Way to Measure Content Marketing

[53:15] - Content Strategy for Business Growth

[58:34] - Inbound And Outbound Marketing Strategies

[01:10:47] - Final Thoughts & Wrap-up