The Goats of Growth (Jay Webb)

In the words of my guest today, longevity and success in sales is rooted in your passion for the product, the issues it resolves, and the group it helps. Trina Hymes, Global Vice President of Sales at Talenya, embodies what it means to be a successful sales professional, rooting for her company and believing in its solutions. Profoundly organized and motivated by relationships with people, Trina excels at building teams and challenging recruiters to diversify their team. With her playbook at her side, she is able to document, adjust, and share the methods of effective leadership and scaling a company.

Talenya is hiring! Reach out to Trina Hymes for questions about the job or to thank her for joining me today at trina.hymes@talenya.com or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/trinahymes/.

A big thanks to Allego for sponsoring this episode! Does improving your overall sales performance for everyone, new hires and leaders alike, sound appealing? Not only does Allego allow you to record your best sales content for practice, collaboration, and feedback, but it gives you a way to organize your best content into one place, making it easily accessible. Email me, webb@thejaydavidgroup.com, so I can personally introduce you to someone on Allego’s team who will take great care of you.

So, what't the difference between top salespeople and everyone else? In this episode with Matthew Leaney, CRO of Silent Eight, I learned that small nuances in the way salespeople interact with their customers and prospects can have a major impact on sales. 

You will hear what the best salespeople do less of than those that typically struggle, and the simple approach to answering stakeholder questions that is often mishandled by most.

You'll also learn why culture matters more than skill, why pure hunters aren't always the best people to hire for closing new logos, and what new sales leaders should do first, before they do anything else. Plus much more. 

You can connect with Matthew on LinkedIn and learn more about Silent Eight here. 

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you.

In this episode, Rouzbeh Rotabi, the Founder and CEO of The Aval Group, joined me for a second time to discuss the challenges of growing during uncertain times. We highlighted the importance of teamwork, efficiency, and getting everyone on the same page. 

He also mentioned the importtance of using customer data, moving resources wisely, and making sure everyone is aligned throughout the entire organization.  

Rouzbeh Rotabis Linkedin Profile

Scaling through challenging times (00:03:04) Discussion on how to continue scaling during challenging times, including alignment, efficiency, and having the right team.

Becoming more efficient (00:05:05) Exploration of the concept of efficiency in scaling, including focusing on specific markets and aligning go-to-market strategies.

Making data-driven decisions (00:06:12) Importance of honest and transparent conversations in decision-making, considering data, and focusing on profitable verticals for growth.

Terminating customers for business sense (00:10:19) Rouzbeh Rotabi shares an example of when his company made the tough decision to terminate 27 customers due to bad revenue and excessive servicing. He highlights the importance of looking at the information and fact base correctly when making such decisions.

Reallocation of internal resources (00:13:00) The conversation shifts to the reallocation of internal resources, particularly when it comes to personnel matching with different verticals. Rouzbeh suggests having honest conversations with customers about changing the servicing model and discusses the need to assess resource allocation based on ROI calculations and the specific roles and talents of team members.

The importance of understanding the revenue cycle (00:18:35) The importance of understanding the revenue cycle in a B2B environment and the value of gross revenue retention.

The shift towards customer success (00:19:02) Rouzbeh talks about the shift towards focusing on customer success and the need to harmonize execution in marketing, sales, and customer success.

The importance of prioritization (00:28:08) Discussion on the need to prioritize and align on key unit of measures in order to drive growth and success.

The challenge of alignment in venture-backed companies (00:29:43) Exploration of the difficulties in achieving alignment between different teams and departments in venture-backed companies.

The significance of repeatability and product-market fit (00:31:35) Explanation of the importance of having a repeatable product and achieving product-market fit in order to demonstrate success in venture-backed companies.

The challenges of technical difficulties (00:36:57) Discussion on the technical difficulties experienced during the podcast recording and the need to address and react to them.

Being curious and adaptable in the face of market changes (00:38:10) Conversation on the mindset needed to navigate market changes, emphasizing the importance of being curious about technology options and adaptable to current situations.

CEO, sales expert, and LinkedIn thought leader, Jake Dunlap, Founder & CEO of Skaled Consulting joins me for today’s episode to talk about a wide range of topics, including how sales leaders and reps can reduce stress. His advice is to "eat the frog", which means to tackle the biggest and toughest challenges in chunks.  Seeing that his stress used to come from chaos, Jake became a master of planning and started adhering to an 80/15/5 rule for optimizing productivity.  He also highlights that part of a sales leader's job is to minimize the stress for their team as well.  All that and more in this episode.

Join his many followers and connect with Jacob Dunlap on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakedunlap/. You can also find him on YouTube at Jake Dunlap and Instagram at @jake_dunlap_.

And I’d like to give a big thanks to Allego for sponsoring this episode. Interested in recording your best content and organizing it in one place to help improve sales performance for everyone? Allego can do this and much more. Email me at webb@thejaydavidgroup.com, so I can personally introduce you to someone at Allego who will take great care of you.

Over Quota is also sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you.

This episode features Paul Fifield, CEO and Co-Founder of Sales Impact Academy. You'll hear Paul talk about his own journey and the, somewhat painful, experience he had as a revenue leader scaling two previous companies that lead to SIA. You'll also hear why most companies don't make it, and how to properly instrument an organization from the beginning which includes one key hire needed IF you want to scale.  

No guest on this epispode. You'll hear me talk about getting out of my comfort zone as I try to find product, market, fit for Customer Conversations

Click this link to become a member. 

My guest for today’s episode is my friend of 10 years, Sean Mulvey, the Regional Vice President of Sales at Dun and Bradstreet. Sean leads with the mantra that a good sales leader is a good coach. With this mentality, he believes that leaders must be reliable, dependable, and an excellent communicators -- especially with the shift to online work for COVID. Sean defines sales as a process, one that requires discovery and a sincere assessment of its potential, and describes to me his approach in evaluating his team and their contributions to the team. From a green college graduate to the VP of sales, Sean walks me through his experiences building to the position and the mindset he has mastered through his 26 years of sales, and hopes that through his growth, he can help others succeed.

Have any follow up questions for Sean Mulvey? You can reach out to him through email at scmulvey@gmail.com or find him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanmulvey/.

Over Quota is also sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you

This is the introduction of a new format designed to highlight companies that are actively hiring, and to give my listeners an exclusive way to apply.
In this episode you'll hear how passionate and vested Tammi Pirri, Vice President of People Operations at Arcadia, is about building a culture that focuses on the happiness, inclusion, and overall well-being of their people. Based on my experience, most companies use the phrase "great culture" as bait to simply attract talent—with no foundation for what that really means. At Arcardia, its more than just recruiting bait, it’s a lifestyle. For instance, they have a talent show called "Arcadia's Got Talent", where people are encouraged to showcase their talents and win up to $1000! They offer "Arcadia Cinema" twice a week, which features a family feature film and either a film that focuses on social injustice or an adult comedy film. They have remote fitness sessions twice a week, coffee hour, happy hour, wellness activities, activities around how to solve social injustice issues, and much much, more. Listen to this episode to learn about all that, which positions they need to fill, and how to apply.

This episode is sponsored by 180DegreeSelling. Bigger quotas, larger sales & longer sales cycles require selling differently to get different results... Do a 180! Go to180degreeselling.com to download your free Playbook. 

Over Quota is also sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you

My guest today is Ethan Schechter, VP of Sales of Snyk, which empowers the world’s developers to build secure applications 

In todays packed episode we discuss

- Convincing Organizations to Prioritize and Invest in New Solutions.
- Why Winning Ugly is Sometimes the Key to Success in Early Stage Startups.
- Hiring Key Players for a Strong Foundation.
- Balancing Priorities of Sales Training and Enablement with Rapid Expansion.
- Transparency and Confidence in Upselling Your Product.
- The Importance of Honest Communication in Third and Fourth Line Leadership.

All that and more in this episode!

I came away with 3 big takeaways from my recent interview with Brooke Freedman, Senior Director of Sales at Litmus.

From onboarding new team members to building a sales process,  you'll here that the focal point of her leadership and management style has been centered around process, preparation, and ownership. 

More specifically, you'll hear her talk about how she coaches people who are struggling, the 3 things she suggests sales people focus on if they have an undesirable territory, what she looks for during the interview process, if she's hiring, and much more.

This episode, I welcome the embodiment of positive energy and Director of Collegiate Sales at Teamworks, Larry Long Jr. Truly a pleasure to talk with, Larry embraces life as with two feet on the ground, an unbreakable optimism, and a readiness to choose happiness with every stride. As a sales director for athletes, he offers a wealth of advice to lead with a bright and active energy, to build a sales team of match-makers not “me-monsters”. What motivates Larry the most is his impact on others, making his schedule piled high of positive engagement with those around him, whether it be regular acts of kindness towards his social sphere, or on larger platforms like his YouTube channel, podcasts, or public speaking. It’s hard not to smile when hearing from Larry Long Jr., and even harder to leave feeling anything less than empowered to follow his lead and choose happiness.

Want a weekly dose of Larry Long Jr’s positivity? Find him on YouTube at Larry Long Jr. He can also be found on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/longjr7/ or Twitter @LarryLongJr.

And a big thanks to our sponsor, Allego. Want to know how to onboard, coach, and arm your sales team with the right information at the right time? Check out Allego, the market leader for virtual learning and enablement solutions. Email me at webb@thejaydavidgroup.com, so I can personally introduce you to someone who will take great care of you at Allego.

And, like always, Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a retained sales search firm for lean start-ups. If you're looking to hire a sales leader for your next stage of growth, please visit thejdavidgroup.com.

In this episode, I have the pleasure of interviewing, Daniele Di Nunzio who serves as the VP of Sales at Storyly. We dive into Danieles role, their remarkable success in securing key clients, and his keys for expansion into the Latin American market. We also explore the challenges of conducting interviews with non-native English speakers, underlining the importance of evaluating soft skills. Wrapping up our discussion, we venture into the world of mobile industry opportunities and the boundless potential of AI across various fields. See timestamps below.

Building a Motion for the Americas [00:01:49] Our guest discusses his role as VP of Sales at Story League and his responsibility to build a motion for the Americas, specifically North America and Latin America.

Keys to Building a Team in Latin America [00:03:35] Daniele shares insights on building a team in Latin America, emphasizing the importance of understanding the market, localization, and leveraging the talent pool.

Financial Technologies in Brazil [00:10:40] Daniele explains that the financial technologies in Brazil are advanced, with top-notch remittance and online payment systems, surpassing those in the US.

Localization and technology [00:11:07] Discussion on the importance of investing in technology to ensure localization of websites and content for different markets.

Building a local team [00:12:22] Exploration of the preferred approach of building a local team in Latin America to ensure cultural understanding and market expertise.

Talent acquisition challenges [00:15:52] Discussion on the challenges of finding the right talent in Latin America and the importance of validating credentials and focusing on skills rather than just language proficiency.

Overcoming language challenges in interviews [00:22:31-00:23:35] Discussion on how to overcome challenges when interviewing non-native English speakers and the importance of seeking help from consultants or headhunters specialized in the market.

Importance of soft skills and cultural fit in hiring [00:24:31-00:26:18] Emphasis on the significance of soft skills and cultural fit when hiring, rather than focusing solely on language skills or technical abilities.

Motivations, goals, learning methods, and personal interests [00:26:36-00:29:05] Rapid-fire questions covering topics such as motivation, career goals, preferred learning methods, hours of sleep, and favorite activities outside of work. The discussion also highlights the connection between cooking and sales, as well as the changing landscape of jobs due to technological advancements.

The opportunity in mobile [00:32:29] Discussion about the current opportunity in mobile technology and creating the next big thing.

The future of soccer in the US [00:33:11] Exploring the growth and popularity of soccer in the US, especially with Messi joining Inter Miami.

The biggest opportunity with AI [00:33:36] The potential of AI in video editing software and its ability to make the process easier and faster.

My guest this episode is Chip Scully, Chief Revenue Officer at Vault. When evaluating his career options, Chip decided the best direction was with a company foundationally innovative. This led him to Vault where he strives to make an impact, as a company and for the company. During my interview, he shares the importance of that decision and what his current role as CRO looks like, including his leadership style and professional growth. Chip offers personal anecdotes to speak for his experience, giving a wonderful insight into the skills and tools he uses when leading and developing a strong team.

Looking for a way to get in touch with Chip Scully? Find him on LinkedIn

Over Quota is also sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you

To say Jill Rowley has vision, which, by one definition, is the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom, is an understatement.First, early on her career, she saw sales as an avenue to control her own income and destiny. Second, she saw that Salesforce.com would be a great place to launch her sales career when it was just a little-known start-up. Third, she chose to join Eloqua in its infancy (Jill was employee #13) because she saw the power of marketing automation before most did. Then, she saw “social selling” as a powerful go-to-market strategy well before social selling was part of the lexicon. That’s vision.  

So, what does she see next?  Ecosystems. She sees ecosystems as the next big shift in the way SaaS companies will win, and playbooks should start to include them--immediately.  True, many companies use partnerships as part of their go-to-market strategy, but few look at prospective partnerships as part of an ecosystem to authentically delight and over deliver value for their customers.  

Today’s episode, I welcome one of my best candidates from 9 years ago, Zachary Rego, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Unstack and host of the podcast “Zero to a Million”. Supported by stories of remarkable victories and impactful learning experiences, Zach walks me through the path of his career leading to his work at Unstack. Here, Zach’s talent is put to work building teams, expanding the company’s visibility through creative platforms like blogs, and finding unique ways to engage with prospects in ways that are mutually beneficial. By the end of the interview, we discuss the common challenges start-ups face, ways of assessing your business’s stage of growth for hiring, and the exciting business plans Zach has in store.

Find Zach on Linked in at https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachrego/ and check out his podcast “Zero to a Million”!

And a big thanks to Allego for sponsoring this episode. Have you or one of you sales reps nailed a presentation that you wish was recorded to show team-members and new-hires? With Allego, not only can you record your content but you can organize all your best content in one place that’s easily accessible. Email me at webb@thejaydavidgroup.com, so I can personally introduce you to someone there who will take great care of you.

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a retained sales search firm for lean start-ups. If you're looking to hire a sales leader for your next stage of growth, please visit thejdavidgroup.com. 

Embark on an extraordinary journey of personal transformation and professional growth as we dive into this episode with my guest, Pattie Grimm.

Join me as Pattie shares her powerful journey as she describes how she went from rock star to rock bottom--due to overworking--then embracing a profound shift towards self-care and self-awareness which enchanced not only her performence, but those around her. What lessons can leaders learn from Pattie's experience? How can reshaping leadership foster purpose-driven leaders who can effectively navigate today's diverse workforce? Get ready to explore the limitless possibilities of reimagining the customer experience, re-energizing your workforce, and reinventing work processes to drive extraordinary results.

Discover the profound impact of prioritizing self-care on leadership effectiveness. How does taking care of oneself unleash creativity, innovation, and an empowered approach to leadership and business? Find out in todays episode!

Pattie Grimms Linkedin Profile

In this episode Cherilynn Castleman talks about the painful experiences she had as a business leader that inspired her to start CGI Executive Coaching, how to build high performing teams that are united around one vision, a framework for post-pandemic selling, and how a little inspiration can get people to do extraordinary things.

This is a different kind of show from what I normally do, meaning that most of my shows feature in depth interviews with one guest on various growth oriented topics. However, in this episode, you will hear clips from five recent interviews that I did that basically focus on the same topic, which have been all about the strategic thinking needed for CROs to run profitable and efficient growth organizations in the wake of the growth at all cost error that ended a couple of years ago. So in this episode, you will hear the viewpoints of Meshach Amua -Fuster, portfolio CEO, Tracy Sastilli, former chief revenue officer at Intellimize, Michelle Benfer, SVP of Sales at Bill, Jacco  'Vanderkoi, Founder of Winning by Design  and Katie Ivy.

Chief Revenue Officer at Walnut. Enjoy the episode.

Meshachs Linkedin Profile

Jacco's Linkedin Profile

Tracys Linkedin Profile

Michelles Linkedin Profile

Caties Linkedin Profile

In this episode of "The Goats of Growth," I interview Jacco van der Kooij, founder of Winning by Design, about the challenges facing SaaS companies in achieving go-to-market fit.

Jacco explains that the "growth at all costs" mentality has led to inefficient spending on sales and marketing, resulting in unsustainable growth. Tune in to learn how he advocates for a shift towards process-centric strategies, emphasizing the need for data-driven decisions, cost efficiency, and the unique treatment of different market segments. 

Jaccos Linkedin Profile

Revenue Architecture (00:01:12)
Jacco's book "Revenue Architecture" and its insights into successful revenue leadership.

Has SaaS lost go to market fit? (00:01:48)
Discussion on a paper titled "Has SaaS lost go to market fit?" and its implications for venture-backed SaaS companies.

Product market fit and go to market fit (00:02:53)
Exploration of the concepts of product market fit and go to market fit, and their significance for sustainable growth.

SaaS companies' go to market challenges (00:04:23)
Analysis of the challenges faced by SaaS companies in maintaining go to market fit and the increasing cost of marketing and sales.

Impact of cost increase on go to market fit (00:05:22)
Discussion on the rising cost of acquiring revenue and its impact on go to market fit and sustainability.

Automation and evolving go to market strategies (00:11:13)
Insights into the potential impact of automation on certain tasks and the evolution of go to market strategies in response.

The role of the CFO and CRO in go to market strategies (00:13:47)
Exploration of the evolving roles of the CFO and CRO in managing go to market strategies for rapid growth companies.

Scaling and efficiency in go to market motions (00:17:25)
Consideration of tactics for scaling and maintaining efficiency in go to market motions for companies reaching the $200-300 million revenue level.

The importance of being process-centric (00:21:01)
Discussion on the shift from people-centric to process-centric organizations and the need for optimization and automation.

Impact of process automation on productivity (00:22:21)
Exploration of how automation and technology can increase productivity and revenue per headcount.

Skills and certification for executives (00:25:54)
Discussion on the necessary skills and certification for executives in the context of revenue architecture and the changing business landscape.

The need for education and certification in revenue architecture (00:29:32)
Exploration of the importance of education and certification for executives to understand revenue architecture and compound growth.

Investment in retention and expansion for revenue growth (00:32:10)
Insights into the shift from new revenue acquisition to investment in retention and expansion for revenue growth.

Challenges in shifting marketing and sales alignment (00:37:43)
Discussion on the challenges and time required for shifting marketing and sales alignment in organizations.

Balancing short-term demands and long-term growth (00:40:04)
Exploration of the paradoxical challenge of meeting short-term demands while focusing on long-term growth strategies.

Server, software, and GTM (00:41:13)
Discussion on the design and success rates of server, software, and go-to-market motion.

Success rates of server and software (00:41:57)
Explanation of the success rates of server (99%) and software (five nines).

Success rate of GTM (00:42:39)
Exploration of the success rate of companies in the go-to-market motion, defined as closing over a $3 million round in funding.

Vision and compound growth (00:45:41)
Discussion on the importance of vision and compound growth in go-to-market strategy.

Changing GTM motion (00:47:44)
Exploration of the evolving go-to-market motion and the need for proper architecture in sales strategies.

Exploring future topics (00:48:43)
Request for a future episode to delve into the seeds being planted for the next phase of go-to-market strategies.

In this episode I spoke with Kevin McShane, private equity Operating Partner and former linebacker of the 1988 National Champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who built a career in technology and a reputation as a CRO for creating enough value that would lead to multiple successful exits.   We covered everything from the leadership lessons he learned from Coach Lou Holtz,  his move in tech CRO roles, his advice for other CROs and operators who aspire to make the move into private equity, what makes a succeful private equity operating partner, and much more.

Kevin McShanes Linkedin Profile

Timestamps from the show: 

Lessons from Coach Holtz (00:02:40)
Impact of Lou Holtz's leadership on the Kevins career and the importance of caring for every individual.

Transition to Private Equity (00:07:27)
Kevins journey from CRO to operating partner, including successful exits and leadership principles.

Difference Between Venture Capital and Private Equity (00:13:03)
Explanation of the distinctions between venture capital and private equity in terms of investment and ownership.

From Operator to Operating Partner (00:15:16)
The impetus for the guest's transition to an operating partner role and the challenges and excitement of the new position.

Training and Leadership (00:17:37)
The significance of ongoing training and leadership development in driving growth and success in organizations.

Measuring Performance and Impact (00:22:54)
Discussion on the challenges of transitioning from day-to-day operations to a broader role and measuring impact in a new position.

Building Trust and Collaboration (00:23:43)
Operating partner's role, building trust with the CEO and leadership, low ego and collaboration.

Co-creating Playbooks (00:26:19)
Collaborative approach to combining playbooks, aligning on KPIs, and co-creating game plans.

Measuring Success (00:30:29)
Metrics for measuring success: annual revenue growth, EBITDA, hiring/training, sales productivity, and hold period.

Entering Private Equity (00:34:46)
Steps for transitioning to an operating partner role in private equity, research, and targeted outreach.

Developing Talent and Leadership (00:42:06)
Motivation, extreme ownership, developing talent, and checking ego for leadership success.

Favorite Character (00:47:49)
Kevin's admiration for Captain Miller from "Saving Private Ryan" and Tom Hanks' portrayal.

Yoga Practice (00:49:00)
Kevin discusses the importance of checking ego and the lessons learned from practicing yoga.

Discipline Equals Freedom (00:51:53)
Kevin emphasizes discipline, early rising, and self-care for leadership and personal success.

Greatest Defeat (00:54:28)
Kevin suggests asking the next guest about their greatest defeat and the lessons learned from it.

Reaching Out (00:55:21)
Kevin invites people to connect with him on LinkedIn to continue the conversation and share experiences.

Passion for Leadership (00:56:18)
Kevin shares his passion for developing great leadership and building a supportive community.

My guest today is the Brendon Bornancin, the CEO and inventor of Seamless AI, which delivers the worlds best sales leads using AI. He is also a motivtional speaker and the author of 4 best selling books, including "Whatever It Takes".

In todays episode we cover:

- How being put on a performance plan was the catalyst to everything

- The orgins of Seamless A.I. and the moment he broke down and cried as he was trying to get it built

- Why email lists are so effective

- The data needed to scale revenue

- Maximizing customer retention and why that's so important

- The strategic decision behind pricing so he could get as many people paying for it as possible

All that and more on this epsidode, which is a story about grit, resliency, and growth. 

(Republished from June 2020.)

I recently interviewed Samuel Clemens, Partner at Accomplice VC & Founder of Reprise, which helps customer facing teams capture, edit, and assemble the perfect demo every time. 

We discussed the 3 types of sales leaders critical to early stage start-up success. The first type is simply founder-led sales because they know the product best and should be able to close the first handful of sales on passion--as long as their is market fit.  The second type of sales leader is what he calls the expeditionary sales leader who can help create and define a repeatable playbook. The third type of sales leader is someone that is process based and can take that playbook, refine it, and then scale the sales team. 

Additionally, he shared the critical attributes needed in each sales leader, the one thing that he thinks really defines an organization's culture, the 3 big mistakes he's made in the past when scaling a sales organization, what sales leaders should NOT do during their Board meetings, and much more.

Sales leader Doug Bleszinski joins me for today’s episode to talk about his company, the pioneer for livestream ecommerce, Bambuser. As the Vice President of North American Sales, Doug enthuses over the company’s explosive and continuous growth, while sharing his passion for innovative work and the tools he relies on for success. He advises the use of honest and authentic networking, encouraging inward and outward vulnerability, and promotes the qualities of diversity and momentum that Bambuser exhibits. As Doug continues to build his team, he looks for members who are comfortable being uncomfortable, evaluating their emotional quotient, industry knowledge, and ability to drive revenue -- and above all, he hopes to find people who truly understand the company and are equally as thrilled to see it grow.

Interested in applying to be a member of Doug’s team at Bambuser? Get in touch with Doug Bleszinski through LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougbleszinski/, Twitter at Doug Bleszinski, or email using dbleszinksi@gmail.com


Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a retained sales search firm for lean start-ups. If you're looking to hire a sales leader for your next stage of growth, please visit thejdavidgroup.com.

I broke the traditional format of the show in this episode to focus on what's been on everybody's mind ; Covid-19 and how it will impact jobs.

So, I interviewed Jonathan Maietta, Founder of CEORater which is a crowd-sourced platform where customers, employees and investors may anonymously rate and review CEOs and companies. He also publishes Tek2day which covers trends around capital markets, corporate governance, and technology trends.

In his previous life, he was an equity research analyst covering the software industry and then went on to  lead a global M&A for a mid-cap company.

Jonathan mentioned an article he published on Tek2day entitled
COVID-19: $60-100 Billion In Lost Wages. Click here to read it.

In this episode of "The Goats of Growth", I had the pleasure of speaking with Josh Atkins, VP of Sales and General Manager of Life Sciences at Qualtrics. We discuss the best approach to building a successful sales team, including his "AEIOU" approach, while emphasizing hiring individuals with a deep understanding of the industry and a passion for their work.

We also delve into the importance of clear communication, prioritizing wellness, and fostering a passionate and active work environment.

Josh Atkins Linkedin Profile

Building a New Life Sciences Team (00:02:23)
Josh Atkins discusses his role as the VP of Sales and General Manager of Life Sciences at Qualtrics and the process of building a new team.

Core Competencies for Sales Reps (00:03:45)
Josh Atkins shares the core competencies he looks for when hiring sales reps, including being active, an ensemble player, inquisitive, an operator, and having industry knowledge.

The Evolution of Hiring Criteria (00:09:26)
Josh Atkins talks about how his hiring criteria evolved over time and the advantage of having the freedom to build his own team.

The Love Language of Life Sciences (00:10:30)
Josh discusses the importance of finding people who have a passion for life sciences and can understand the industry.

Evolution of Team Building (00:12:29)
Josh talks about his desire to build his own team and the shift in his thinking when it comes to location and qualifications of potential team members.

Screening for Operators (00:18:40)
Josh explains how he screens for operators by assessing their ability to navigate different roles and stakeholders in order to advance a deal.

The prioritization of deals (00:20:31)
The importance of showing up prepared, giving a pre-read, and clearly communicating your ask to prioritize your deal.

The role of leaders in deals (00:20:54)
The need for leaders to understand their role and be specific about what they need to do to support the deal.

Defining enterprise sales (00:23:31)
The ability to articulate a solution hypothesis, ingest data, and understand the client's business to effectively engage in enterprise sales.

The victim mentality and excuses (00:30:13)
Josh Atkins discusses how he used to make excuses to cover up lack of results and the feeling of being a victim in his career.

Taking radical self-assessment and surrounding oneself with smart people (00:31:00)
Josh Atkins emphasizes the importance of creating a path, chart, and list to avoid forgetting important tasks, and the value of self-understanding and surrounding oneself with intelligent individuals.

For this episode, I invited Mike DiNucci back for another must-hear interview. Before he became Chief Revenue Officer at Netradyne, Mike dealt with his fair share of adversity, so in the spirit of Halloween, I challenged Mike to share several of his own sales horror stories. Along with being an impressive salesperson, Mike is a wonderful storyteller with jaw dropping experiences and powerful messages. With Mike, every loss has a lesson, so each story offers the opportunity for reflection and growth. Whether it was handling complicated businesspeople, conflicts with coworkers, or a shocking sales failure, Mike faced these trials head on, and came out on top with a new perspective, and of course, a wonderful story to share. If you haven’t yet listened to our first interview, you can hear more from Mike in Episode 43, where we discuss his unstoppable drive, effective leadership tools, and much more.

Don’t forget to check out our first interview! If you want to reach out to Mike DiNucci himself, you can find him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikedinucci/ or on Facebook or Instagram.

Over Quota is also sponsored by the j. David Group, which is a retained search firm for lean-start-ups. 

In this episode, you will hear what Marty Petraitis, VP of  Worldwide Sales at Heartland Automation, says about what sales reps should do when their territory shrinks but their quota goes up. It's an age old challenge that has caused many people to seek new opportunities. You'll also hear what he says management's responsibility is when reassigning territories and how to do it the right way. 

Marty also shares what he believes are the core 3 activity areas that the best reps focus on consistently, and whether or not those that don't have the same focus can be coached. 

Can C-Players be coached if they lack sales DNA? What is sales DNA? Find out the answers to these questions, and many more, as Marty goes Over Quota. 

In this episode of "The Goats of Growth", I interview Lindsay Meyl, co-founder of RevAmp, a platform that enhances the impact of revenue teams by analyzing and intervening in all revenue-generating activities.

We discuss discuss her bottoms-up capacity model  and the common mistakes people make in capacity planning--particulary pertaining to have the proper GTM resources to hit your target. 

You do not want to miss out on this episode if you're capacity planning for 2024. 

Lindsey Meyls Linkedin Profile

Bottoms Up Capacity Planning Model (00:04:34) Jay discusses the bottoms up capacity planning model created by Lindsay and asks her about common mistakes people make in their planning for the future.

The go-to-market strategy (00:11:13) Explains the different components of a go-to-market strategy, including outbound and inbound actions, partner plays, and customizing resource ratios.

Assigning demand channels (00:12:18) Discusses how the model assigns specific demand channels based on the go-to-market motion, allowing for easy translation into pipe council meetings.

Establishing baselines and improving productivity (00:17:07) Emphasizes the importance of setting personal baselines for performance and improving from there, rather than relying on external benchmarks. Also discusses the relationship between headcount and productivity in achieving revenue goals.

The monthly targets for revenue (00:21:04) Discussion about the monthly targets for each team to ensure they are on track to meet the revenue target.

The importance of having a tool like Revamp (00:21:59) The need for a tool like Revamp to provide visibility and ease of analyzing information to improve performance.

Knowing when to scale (00:23:31) Exploring the concept of scaling based on leading indicators of success, such as time to value and net retention revenue.

The big goal (00:31:17) Lindsay Mitchell talks about her goal for Revamp to become the next HubSpot and disrupt the go-to-market industry.

Preferred way to learn (00:32:17) Lindsay discusses her preferred ways to learn, including listening to podcasts and participating in go-to-market communities and courses.

Favorite thing to do when not working (00:34:09) Lindsay reveals that she enjoys reading as her favorite activity when she's not working.

In this episode, you'll hear Jeff Jaworski talk about his buying process when he was with Google and what mattered to him most when someone targeted him as a prospect and wanted to earn his business.

Here is the full transcript, followed by the time stamps of key moments from our conversation. 

Role of Enablement Director [00:02:44]
Jeff Jaworski explains his role as an enablement director at Google, including his team's focus on equipping large customer sales teams and internal go-to-market strategy with the knowledge and capabilities they need to be successful.

Teams Enabled by Enablement Director [00:05:19]
Jaworski discusses the primary teams he focuses on enabling, including large customer sales teams and internal go-to-market strategy, as well as his global coaching program.

Tools for Coaching and Practicing Sales Skills [00:06:20]
Jaworski explains the different tools and techniques used for coaching and practicing sales skills within the organization, including peer-to-peer practice, simulations, and live coaching.

Building a Culture of Coaching [00:07:23]
Jeff discusses the importance of coaching and how Google has built a culture of coaching and practice inside the organization. He also talks about the challenges of managers not being properly trained to be coaches.

Challenges with Technology in Coaching [00:08:57]
Jeff talks about the challenges of using technology to enable live coaching and how Google is trying to identify ways to be more in the flow. He also discusses the process of choosing a coach and the need for stronger technology to make the process more seamless.

Matching Coaches and Coachees [00:12:23]
Jeff talks about how Google matches coaches and coachees using internal tools and profiles. He also discusses the benefits of coaches coaching others and how it helps them become more effective as coaches.

Baseline Training and Certification [00:14:14]
Jeff discusses the importance of baseline training and certification for sales enablement and how it helps customers feel more confident in their engagements.

Challenges in Buying Process [00:15:10]
Jeff talks about the challenges in the buying process, including the need for a mutual understanding of goals and how technology can address them.

Importance of Discovery in Sales [00:17:09]
Jeff emphasizes the importance of discovery in sales and how it can lead to a more meaningful output in terms of effectively solving customer challenges.

Importance of Preparation [00:21:20]
Jeff emphasizes the importance of doing research before a conversation and how it can make a difference in building connections.

Follow-up Matters [00:22:01]
Jeff stresses the significance of meaningful follow-up after a meeting and how it can impact the decision-making process.

Asking the Right Questions [00:26:08]
Jeff talks about the importance of asking the right questions during a sales conversation and how it can help in understanding the customer's needs and expectations.

Practicing and Reinforcement [00:30:45]
Importance of practicing and reinforcing sales skills to improve customer interactions and increase productivity.

Stakeholder Management [00:32:11]
How to manage multiple decision-makers in a committee deal and involve the right stakeholders to move the deal forward.

Effective Follow-up [00:33:23]
The importance of high-quality follow-up and how it impacts the decision-making process of customers.

Advocating for the Sale [00:35:03]
Jeff and J discuss how Jeff's role as an advocate can help coach sales teams and move the sales process forward.

Competitor Analysis [00:37:07]
Jeff and J talk about how sales teams should prepare for competitors and how to differentiate themselves in the market.

Moving Forward in the Sales Process [00:39:05]
Jeff explains how sales teams should approach the sales process when a competitor is already in the picture and how to avoid losing a deal prematurely.

Importance of Discovery Call [00:41:49]
Discussion on how a discovery call can accelerate the sales process and shorten the sales cycle.

Factors in Making a Final Determination [00:43:58]
Exploration of the factors that can help make a final decision when choosing between two vendors.

Asking About Decision Criteria [00:46:18]
The importance of asking about decision criteria and when it should be asked during the customer conversation.

Value of Real Talk Conversations [00:48:31]
Jeff discusses the value of having real talk conversations to prepare for sales moments and improve sales skills.

Subscription Value [00:49:20]
Jeff talks about how people place value on their time and the perceived return on investment when subscribing to a podcast.

Successful Outcome and Target Audience [00:53:30]
Jeff suggests considering the successful outcome for the audience and the purpose of the podcast when deciding on the target audience for messaging.

What motivates you? [00:55:53]
Jeff Jaworski talks about what motivates him, which is being helpful to others.

Preferred way to learn new information? [00:56:25]
Jeff Jaworski shares that he likes to learn through audio while walking his dog and is big on coaching.

How can folks reach out to you? [00:58:11]
Jeff Jaworski shares that the easiest way to reach out to him is through LinkedIn, where his name is Jeff Jaworski.

I spoke with the Area VP of Sales at Sky Hive, Janet Rosenthal. After taking a decade off to take care of her family, she struggled to find the perfect fit professionally until she found SkyHive where she leads a team of Enterprise Sales Reps. SkyHive’s mission of upskilling talent aligns with Janet personally. Janet also discusses what to look for in hiring the right person, being coachable, and general goal setting to be successful in sales.

You’ve heard me talk about the visual-learning powerhouse that is Allego, but today we get to hear from the man himself, Allego’s President and Cofounder, Mark Magnacca. On a mission to help sales leader’s refine their skills and achieve excellence, Mark utilizes visual aid and virtual access to engage with the world of sales. Through his public speaking and a New York Times best selling book ("So What"?) he promotes a form of coaching that values clear and concise feedback and prefers orchestration over “winging it”. 

Want to know more? Find Mark Magnacca on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmagnacca/ and visit Allego’s webpage at Allego.com.

This episode, especially, I’d like to thank Allego for being a sponsor. Interested in organizing all your best virtual content for practice, collaboration, and feedback? Email me at webb@thejaydavidgroup.com, and I will personally introduce you to someone from Allego who will take great care of you.

And, like always, Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a retained sales search firm for start-ups. If you're looking to hire a sales leader for your next stage of growth, please visit thejdavidgroup.com.

In this episode you’ll hear Brian Kirk's journey from Submarine Warfare Officer, where he was leading as many as 70 Sailors, to MIT, where he got his MBA, to entrepreneur–and all that he learned from that experience–and then into technology sales where he went from BDR to sales leadership in just 6 months! That’s the journey. 

Tactically, you’ll hear him discuss why he’s made the choices he’s made,  his new way of communicating since moving into civilian leadership, how he went from BDR to sales leadership so quickly, and the strategies and processes he implements to inspire his teams to achieve more together.   

In this episode of "The Goats of Growth," I had the pleasure of sitting down with Colin Spector, the VP of Sales at Orum—an innovative AI-powered live conversation platform.

We dive deep into a discussion about the core skills essential for success in sales, such as grit, curiosity, and care, and Colin shared invaluable insights into how he nurtures these qualities within his team.

A key highlight was Colin emphasizing the significance of leaders actively listening to their team members' ideas. A must listen for leaders with ambitions of growing their team.

Colins Linkedin Page

Developing Sales Skills and Empowerment (00:04:05) Colin discusses the importance of grit, curiosity, and care in sales reps, and how to empower them to think outside the box and improve their skills.

The reason for pattern interrupt (00:11:09) Colin explains how using an engineer as a salesperson was a pattern interrupt that led to more successful meetings.

The importance of attitude and activity (00:14:05) Colin discusses the two levers that can be controlled every day: attitude and activity, and how they contribute to success in sales.

Caring and champion building (00:18:03) Colin emphasizes the importance of caring for customers and building champions by helping them solve their problems and achieve their goals.

Taking care of each other in business (00:22:12) Discussion about the importance of taking care of employees, sales reps, and customers in order to create a positive work environment.

Big goal: Purchasing a rental property in Portugal (00:23:06) Colin's goal of buying a rental property in Portugal that can be used as a vacation property for his family.

Learning new information through immersion(00:24:24) Colin's preferred way of learning new information, including languages and industries, by immersing himself in the culture and language.

In this episode of The Goats of Growth, I had the privilege of chatting with Nirav Sheth, who currently serves as the VP of Presales and Specialists for the Americas at Okta. Nirav's career journey is quite a fascinating one, with stints at big-name companies like Google and Cisco. During our conversation, he shared some of his key leadership principles, notably the significance of building capacity within an organization.

Nirav stressed the importance of investing in the growth and development of individuals within a company and highlighted the role of mentorship in helping people build confidence. He also gave us a glimpse into his personal journey, which took him from aspiring to be a doctor to becoming a successful business leader.

This episode is packed with insights that can benefit anyone, so don't miss it!

Niravs Linkedin Profile

Building a Legacy by Creating Capacity [00:04:07] Nirav explains the importance of building capacity throughout all levels of the organization to create a legacy and drive growth.

Meaningful Career Conversations [00:05:48] Nirav discusses the significance of having meaningful career conversations with individuals to understand their aspirations and align them with business needs.

Enabling Empowerment and Entrepreneurship [00:07:37] Nirav shares an example of empowering a high-potential individual to lead a cross-functional team and drive a campaign, creating an entrepreneurial environment within the organization.

Building confidence and support for growth [00:10:19] Discusses the importance of providing support and mentorship to individuals aspiring for leadership roles to build their confidence and help them transition to the next level.

Striking the balance between autonomy and support [00:11:21] Explores the need to strike a balance between empowering individuals with autonomy while also providing the necessary support and removing obstacles when they face roadblocks.

Investing in personal and professional growth [00:12:48] Focuses on the journey of continuous development, including cross-functional experiences, mentorship, executive coaching, and continuous learning through reading and consuming various forms of content.

The surprise of not becoming a doctor [00:19:30] Nirav talks about how his 18-year-old self would be surprised that he did not become a doctor, despite initially planning to pursue a medical career.

Choosing an MBA over medical school [00:19:50] Nirav explains how he made the decision to pursue an MBA instead of going to medical school, and how his family's involvement in business influenced his choice.

In this episode of "The Goats of Growth," I had the pleasure of chatting with Carol Meyers, a seasoned go-to-market executive, about the ins and outs of serving on a company's board. We covered everything from snagging a board seat to the impact and responsibilities of board members, touching on the time commitment involved.

Carol shared some fascinating experiences, including insights into crisis management and the dynamics of board interactions. We also dived into the path to board membership for different C-level executives and unraveled the distinctions between a board of directors and advisors. A must listen and let us know your key takeaways. 

Carol Meyers Linkedin Profile

Getting the First Board Member Seat (00:02:00) Carol Meyers shares her experience of getting her first board member seat and the value of being a potential customer.

Purpose of Asking Questions (00:04:36) Carol Meyers explains the reasons for asking questions during board meetings, including seeking clarification, provoking different viewpoints, and ensuring good governance.

Measuring Value as a Board Member (00:07:22) Carol Meyers discusses how she gauges her impact as a board member and the indicators of adding value, such as team and CEO appreciation and the implementation of ideas.

Time Commitment as a Board Member (00:09:58) Carol Meyers outlines the varied time commitments for board members, including meetings with company leaders, preparation for board meetings, and the flexibility required for unexpected events.

Weekly Meetings with CEO (00:12:24) Carol Meyers describes her weekly meetings with a CEO, emphasizing the evolving nature of discussions and the role of collaboration and support for the CEO.

Challenges Faced as a Board Member (00:13:42) Carol Meyers highlights potential challenges faced by board members, including crises, mergers, and leadership transitions, and the need for proactive and flexible responses.

Dynamics Between Board Members (00:16:08) Carol Meyers discusses the dynamics between board members, particularly in venture-backed companies, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing shareholder interests over personal agendas.

OpenAI and Sam Altman Board Situation (00:19:12) Jay asks Carol Meyers about the board situation with OpenAI and Sam Altman, seeking her opinion and explanation of what went wrong.

The unique situation (00:19:30) Discussion about a unique situation where a nonprofit board transitioned into a for-profit business, causing misalignment and poor handling.

Career path to the board (00:21:18) Advice for C-level executives on how to position themselves for a board seat, emphasizing personal responsibility, learning, and networking.

Importance of P&L responsibility (00:23:20) The significance of profit and loss responsibility for board members, and its relevance in board discussions and decision-making.

Transition to board roles (00:27:12) Advice for executives without a clear path to board seats, focusing on learning and broadening expertise to become valuable board members.

Board of directors vs. advisors (00:29:41) Differentiating between the roles of board of directors and advisors, including responsibilities and compensation.

Motivation and goals (00:33:14) Discussion on personal motivation and a big goal, with a focus on achievement and a light-hearted goal of improving at golf.

Learning preferences and sleep habits (00:35:34) Carol's preferred way of learning and staying sharp, and her transition to getting eight hours of sleep per night.

Leisure activities and favorite character (00:37:29) Carol's diverse leisure activities, including golf, boating, and traveling, and her admiration for Audrey Hepburn as a favorite character.

Introduction to Inflection (00:40:09) Introduction and discussion about the app "Inflection" and its features.

Using LinkedIn (00:42:10) The use of LinkedIn as the preferred platform for communication and networking.

My guest today is Greg Reffner, CEO and Founder of Abstrakt, a real-time call coaching software that is transforming sales teams around the globe. In todays episode we talk about:

- The variety of challenges that are presented when picking your consumer market
- How customer success plays a huge factor in your product price point
- Why creating your own outbound playbook might be your best play
- Owning your mistakes and using them to elevate yourself and the team
- His tough interviewing screening and coaching approach
- Three things he looks for when hiring sales reps

Tune in for all that and more in this great episode.

This week, I was delighted to have Dwight Lawson on Over Quota to discuss some of his daily practices and his position as Head of Sales at Ethena, a startup providing compliance training for modern teams. Dwight’s career journey features him within the first 100 people of most of the companies he’s worked for. He goes into detail about the impact that can be made in the beginning hiring rounds of a startup and what to expect being in those roles. He also talks about how the importance of authenticity in the workplace and how it’s led to success. Play close attention to his time analysis method and the simple way to examine where you are mismanaging your time.

A big thanks to Allego for sponsoring this episode! Does improving your overall sales performance for everyone, new hires and leaders alike, sound appealing? Not only does Allego allow you to record your best sales content for practice, collaboration, and feedback, but it gives you a way to organize your best content into one place, making it easily accessible. Click here to find out more about Allego

In this weeks episode of The Goats of Growth, I found myself on the flip side of the microphone, participating in the insightful 'Allegos EnableMinute.' During our conversation, we delved into the nuances of strategic hiring, the art of coaching for success, and the pivotal role that revenue leaders play in steering the trajectory of growth.

Allegos Linkedin Profile

Allego.com

Jay Webb's background and the Goats of Growth (00:02:04) Jay Webb's role as the founder and CEO of the Goats of Growth, and the concept behind the name.

Interview and hiring process for revenue leaders (00:03:09) The initial steps and process involved in interviewing and hiring a revenue leader.

Qualities and characteristics of revenue leaders (00:06:02) The common qualities and characteristics organizations look for in a revenue leader.

Assessing a candidate's strategic vision and ability (00:09:18) Methods for assessing a candidate's strategic vision and ability to drive revenue growth.

Successful placements and standout candidates (00:13:06) Examples of successful placements for revenue leadership positions and standout candidates.

Key trends and emerging practices in revenue leadership (00:16:30) Discussion on key trends and emerging practices in the field of revenue leadership.

Succession planning for revenue leaders (00:19:17) The importance of succession planning for revenue leaders and the skills needed for the future.

Succession Planning (00:20:28) Importance of staying updated on skills and trends for CEOs and revenue leaders.

Early Conversations (00:21:38) The significance of starting conversations about leadership changes early to avoid disruptions.

Recruiting Mentality (00:22:26) Emphasizing the need for revenue leaders to have a proactive approach to talent identification and recruitment.

Tyler Barron, Chief Revenue Officer at Encapture, joined me for this weeks episode to discuss the importance of listneing to your customer. Encapture is the intelligent document automation platform that helps companies be more efficient and customer-centric.

In this weeks episode we discuss and cover:

• How to successfully pivot sales strategy and still increase revenue amidst market uncertainty.
• How to build trust and credibility with your CEO and Board
• Why empowering sales team and focusing on customer language leads to success.
• When and how to identify and harness individual motivation for optimal performance.
• The link between balancing people, customers, and market trends.
• Creating innovative solutions and seeing the positive impact they have on people and businesses.

All that and more in this episode. 

In this podcast episode, I interview Brett Cavanagh, the President of TempWorks Software, to talk about how he went from selling recruiting services to selling recruiting software while also positioning himself to move from Sales Manager to President in just 4 years, and the strategic decisions he has made along the way to exectute at a high level.

Brett's LinkedIn Profile

Access Customer Conversations Here

My guest today is Casey Jacox, a sales & leadership coach who helps companies realize the power and impact that humility, vulnerability, and curiosity have on internal and external relationship building.

Casey also wrote a book about relationship building called "Win The Relationship; Not the Deal" where he shares six principles to win new and existing relationships.

He is also a proud father and husband and has his own podcast called The Quarterback Dad Cast, where he interviews guests to discuss topics at the intersection of what it means to be a dad at home and a leader at work. Casey is one of the most genuine, authentic, down to earth people you'll ever hear on this podcast, and I know you'll be inspired by his backstory. 

In todays episode we discuss:
- Life long habits, confidence building, and the early setback that has been the Rocket Fuel for his success in life
- How accountibility can be the driving force for new opportunities
- How curiousity can allow you to find and unlock your 'why'.
- The importance of a morning routine
- The power of owning your failures and fears
- How tonality can be the deciding factor in closing a deal

All that and more on this episode. 

My guest today is CRO, Rachel Bates. 

Customer Conversations Link

In todays episode we discuss -

• The power of customer focus and strong employer branding.
• Lessons on building and managing international sales teams from industry experts
• How to balance enterprise Sales and product led growth.
• How to execute innovative approaches to employee retention.
• Sharpening the company's narrative and vision through the process of presenting to investors.

All that and more on today's episode. 

https://thegoatsofgrowth.com/ 

Show link to 'Customer Conversations'.
https://glow.fm/thegoatsofgrowth-customerconversations/.

My guest today is Kevin Warner who is the CEO and founder of Leadium, which is a agency to help you find prospects, automate outbound, and grow your pipeline.

Today we discuss: -

• How an outbound agency can stand out in a crowded market.
• Developing the right skill set for providing a great service in a people driven sales business.
• Why it's crucial to understand the mechanics and analytics behind email, phone, and linkedIn campaigns.
• The importance of building an effective enterprise-grade sales strategy.
• How to successfully optimize outbound sales tools.
• Why its important to recognize the value of non-tech businesses in B2B sales.

On today's episode I sit down with Jamie Walker, CMO of KeyFactor, to explore the strategic marketing initiatives that fueled the company’s growth from $15 million to $100 million in ARR.

Jamie shares her insights on the importance of predictable marketing strategies and how balancing short-term wins with long-term goals can drive success. She also dives into the significance of cross-functional collaboration and building a high-performing marketing team that adapts to the evolving needs of the business. Tune in to hear Jamie's perspective on:

KeyFactor's Growth: How the company leveraged a strong product-market fit to scale rapidly.
Marketing Predictability: The role of SEO and forecasting in generating a predictable pipeline.
Cultural Integration in M&A: How to navigate and blend different company cultures during mergers and acquisitions.
Data-Driven Decisions: How data guides product focus and growth strategy.
Investing in People: Why employee satisfaction and strategic planning are key for future success.

Join us for this episode filled with valuable lessons on scaling, leadership, and marketing strategy from one of the industry's top CMOs!

Jamies Linkedin Profile

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to KeyFactor and Jamie Walker
03:02 Strategic Priorities for Growth
05:47 The Importance of Predictability in Marketing
08:53 Long-Term vs Short-Term Wins
11:49 Cross-Functional Collaboration and Trust
15:09 Building a High-Performing Marketing Team
30:33 Radical Candor and Accountability in Growth
32:49 Blending Cultures: Education and Training
34:41 Reshaping Company Values and Messaging
38:35 The Long-Term Impact of Culture on Growth
42:44 Strategic Planning for Future Growth
46:20 Motivation and Goal Setting
48:43 Learning from Success and Failure
51:34 Balancing Work and Family Life
55:23 Trust as a Key Quality in Leadership

In this episode Clayton LiaBraaten, the CRO of Pure Integration, talks about what he has observed that consistently separates the best sales people he's managed from the others. One of the insights he shares is not trait or behavior, but more of an approach to sales that he says is present in all "winners". We will also talk about how sales candidates who are coming off a bad quarter or bad year should address it during an interview.

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, please visit https://thejdavidgroup.com/hiring to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, please visit https://thejdavidgroup.com/looking to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you. 

In this episode of "The Goats of Growth" I interview Alex Levin, CEO and Co-Founder of Regal.io, a customer engagement platform.

Alex discusses the company's approach and focus on customer outcomes which has led to significant revenue growth for over 150 brands. He also talks about the importance of balancing growth and burn rate, and how Regal maintains a competitive edge despite having less funding than incumbents.

Alex Levins Linkedin Profile

The $2 billion in revenue and value proposition (00:01:22) Alex Levin explains the value proposition of Regal and how they quantify the $2 billion in revenue they have helped drive for brands.

The importance of engaging customers in communication (00:02:11) Alex Levin discusses how engaging customers in thoughtful communication leads to higher customer lifetime value and how Regal helps facilitate this.

Scaling the team and the role of engineering (00:04:51) Alex Levin explains why Regal hasn't needed to double their team despite doubling their business, particularly highlighting the role of engineering and the importance of effective communication within a team.

The concept of removing people from a project (00:10:01) The strategy of removing people from a project instead of adding them to ensure focus and efficiency.

Zero-based budgeting and linking metrics to hiring decisions (00:11:41) The concept of zero-based budgeting and the importance of linking hiring decisions to metrics or revenue goals.

Investor expectations and growth vs burn rate (00:13:46) The expectations of public markets regarding growth and burn rate, and how it affects hiring decisions and investor attractiveness.

Marketing spend and payback period (00:19:38)  Discussion on the percentage of revenue spent on marketing and the payback period for SaaS companies.

Competition and competitive advantage (00:20:37)  Exploration of competition in the market and the competitive advantage of startups in terms of distribution.

Attributing success to market opportunity (00:24:32)  The importance of being in the right market with growth potential for success, rather than solely relying on the strength of the team.

Big goal and timeline (00:28:55) Alex Levin shares his big goal of reaching 10 billion in revenue for their customers within a year or two.

Leading with empathy (00:30:46) Alex Levin explains how he leads with empathy by considering the needs and priorities of different stakeholders, including employees, customers, and investors, while making decisions.

In this episode, Jon Hawkins, CRO of Augmedix, shares the lessons he learned from a company he once Co-Founded, and then eventually sold, how he takes a data-driven approach to sales, how data can help build certainty and confidence throughout his team, and why he doesn’t think hiring salespeople with industry expertise is  the best approach.

To connect with Jon, you can email him at jon@augmedix.com

Thanks to Allego for sponsoring this episode! Does improving your overall sales performance for everyone, new hires and leaders alike, sound appealing? Not only does Allego allow you to record your best sales content for practice, collaboration, and feedback, but it gives you a way to organize your best content into one place, making it easily accessible. Click here to find out more about Allego

In this episode of "The Goats of Growth," I have a podcast first in which you'lI hear my interview with not one guest, but two! Scott Anderson and Jason Ingargiola of And1 Advisors join me to  discuss the 6 cultural pillars needed for building startups and that become unicorns which are:

• Culture of Living Your Values
• Hire for Culture
• Coaching Culture
• Cross-Funtional Winning Culture
• Customer Centic Culture
• Learning Culture

Enjoy the episode!

Here are the link to find out more about my guests and to get in touch with them.

Scott Andersons Linkedin Profile

Jason Ingargiolas Linkedin Profile

And 1 Advisors Website

Living Your Values (00:09:52)
Importance of embodying and holding each other accountable to company values for a successful culture.

Foundation of Ownership (00:12:15)
Creating a culture where everyone takes ownership of their roles and decisions, fostering a sense of responsibility and accountability.

Culture of Speed (00:13:26)
Encouraging innovation, learning from failures, and driving quick decision-making and execution to maintain a competitive edge.

Feedback and Accountability (00:14:46)
Establishing a feedback loop and holding individuals accountable for aligning with the company's values and culture.

Leadership Examples (00:16:47)
Illustrating the importance of upholding values through executive actions and the impact of living company principles in decision-making.

Company Values in Action (00:18:08)
Demonstrating the significance of adhering to core principles through real-world examples from the consumer packaged goods industry.

Mutuality (00:19:06)
Internal and external mutuality, vendor and partner relationships, and living company values.

Hiring for Culture (00:20:09)
Recruiting best athletes, holding mutual accountability, and conducting separate cultural interviews.

Determining Cultural Fit (00:24:30)
Objective and subjective hiring approaches, stability, repeatability, and scalability.

Coaching Culture (00:31:14)
Creating a coaching culture, coaching for performance, and soft skills for effective coaching.

The importance of listening and understanding (00:37:28)
Understanding the significance of active listening and interpreting communication styles for better understanding and mentorship.

Mentor mentality and cultural dynamics (00:39:31)
Discussing the impact of adding team members on the cultural dynamics and the importance of maintaining core values.

Cross-functional and winning culture (00:41:26)
Emphasizing the importance of a winning culture and recognizing and rewarding individuals based on their unique motivations.

Customer-centric culture and client selection (00:48:29)
Exploring the significance of making customers part of the culture, being part of their culture, and focusing on ROI for successful partnerships.

Saying no to potential clients (00:53:56)
Understanding the importance of selecting the right scope of work and being transparent with clients for long-term success.

The importance of living company values (00:56:38)
The significance of being consistent with values and engaging with the CEO to uphold company values.

Run a learning culture (00:57:26)
The challenges of implementing learning culture in organizations and the need to have a plan for personal and scalable learning.

Accountability and onboarding academy (00:58:55)
The role of accountability in information sharing within the organization and the need for a structured onboarding academy.

Culture drives retention and recruitment (01:00:59)
The impact of culture on retaining talent and driving recruitment strategy for a company.

Rapid fire five questions (01:02:32)
A series of quick questions and answers related to personal motivations, goals, preferred ways of learning, favorite characters, and leisure activities.

Advice to one's past self (01:09:15)
Reflections on advice to give to one's past self, including the importance of having a vision and staying true to oneself.

Question for the next guest (01:11:33)
The hypothetical choice between a team of middling performers and a team with a couple of high performers and many struggling individuals, and the implications for scaling the business.

In this episode you'll hear me speak to James Mulvany, a serial entrepreneur and Founder & CEO of Radio.co, Podcast.co, and MatchMaker.fm. I invited him on to Over Quota, somewhat selfishly, because I wanted to get some of my questions answered about how to successfully grow and, perhaps, monetize my podcast. So if you've ever had a thought about starting and growing your own podcast, this episode is for you. 

You can find out more about James and how you can get started with podcasting at Podcast.co, and MatchMaker.fm--to find guests and to get booked on other shows. 

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you.

I interviewed Jerry Kelly, VP of Enterprise Sales at Brainshark. Among other topics we cover, he tells me why how won't extend a job offer to someone, even if they check off all of the boxes--well all but one. Find out what that one, very important box is. 

Also, find out how he expects rep to hold themselves accountable, which question they must, always be asking, what he says about turning C-players into A-Players, and much more.

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you.

In this episode, I'm thrilled to introduce Collin Mitchell, the VP of Sales at Leadium. Colin has a remarkable background in founding and scaling startups, and today, he's here to reveal why he chose to join Leadium. We jump right into the core of our conversation – asking Colin for his top recommendations to help companies surpass the million-dollar mark. His answer is crystal clear: sales is key. He suggests prioritizing strategic hires and smart delegation to propel growth as well as stressing the significance of processes, giving your team the tools they need to succeed. So tune in for some game-changing wisdom from Colin Mitchell. 

Collin Mitchell's Linkedin Profile

The Journey to Lithium [00:00:00] Colin Mitchell discusses his journey from his previous company to Lithium and how Lithium helped him scale his startups.

Key Areas of Focus for Growth [00:02:14] Colin Mitchell shares three key areas of focus for companies stuck around the million-dollar mark to grow beyond that.

Building a Foundation for Growth [00:08:11] Colin Mitchell explains the importance of building a strong foundation for the business and scaling it to reach the 1 to 2 million and 2 to 5 million revenue milestones.

The journey to revenue leadership [00:12:40] Discussion on the challenges of scaling from 1 to 5 million in revenue and building a foundation for growth.

The role of AI in organizations and personal life [00:15:24] Exploration of how AI can transform businesses and personal lives, with examples of professional and personal use cases.

How to reach out to Colin Mitchell [00:20:47] Instructions on how to connect with Colin Mitchell, including leaving a review, sharing the podcast, and checking out the Sales Transformation podcast.

For this episode, I invited my friend Anthony Buono, Strategic Partnerships Executive at ADP. Stepping away from his familiar role as a sales leader and into his current position at ADP was a welcomed challenge for Anthony who has an eye for opportunity and growth. From a young age, Anthony has fought through many major health battles, but the challenges he faced -- and continues to face -- help him build an unbeatable mindset and an inspiring work ethic. During the episode, Anthony and I discuss the different methods of overcoming adversity inside and outside the workplace, the importance of a well organized agenda, and what motivates his ability to capitalize on every day.

Looking to link with Anthony Buono? Find him on LinkedIn, at https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-buono-sales-executive/.

Over Quota is also sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you

For today’s episode, I interviewed Karen Weeks, Senior Vice President of People at Ordergroove. As a testament to her many accomplishments, Karen was recognized this year as one of the 2020 most Notable Women in Talent by Crain’s New York Business, who call her a maestro of human resources. Truly a master of her craft, Karen shares with me her strategies in leadership at Ordergroove by giving insight into the company’s adjustment to COVID-19, the benefits of managing through communication, and the structure of their hiring process. From her clever team building approach -- like book clubs, trivia nights, cooking classes, or even contests for the most unique at-home work space -- to a detailed look at her favorite interview questions, Karen demonstrates all the impressive qualities of her new and well-earned title as a Notable Woman.

Yes, Ordergroove is hiring! Check out their career page at Ordergroove.com/careers, or reach out to Karen Weeks on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-d-weeks-sphr-ms-5965775/ and tell her you heard her on Over Quota. Also, check out Karen’s Podcast “Getting off the Hamster Wheel” to hear more about people shifting in their career journeys.

In this episode, you'll hear my interview with Cliff Ryan, VP of Business Development for Yaymaker. Yaymaker started off hosting one-of-a-kind locally crafted events such as paint night at local bars that brought people together. Now, as a result of the pandemic they needed to pivot to a virtual model, much like the rest of the world. Cliff tells how they've been able to make the pivot successfully, how they've been able to land large clients like Google, and what he looks for when hiring sales people. And yes, Yaymaker is hiring!

Over Quota is also sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you

In this episode you will hear me highlight the 10 most cited traits, mentioned by my guests this year, that are present in top salespeople they've managed. I was reluctant to do it in order of most cited to least cited, because they are all paramount to the success of top sales reps, but I did it anyways to make it more interesting. 

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a retained sales search firm for lean start-ups. If you're looking to hire a sales leader for your next stage of growth, please visit thejdavidgroup.com. 

Looking for a job can be stressful. In this episode, I interviewed Zoe Silverman, Director of Talent & HR at Yesware, to help de-stress the entire process from start to finish. We covered a lot of ground, including what will likely hurt you on your initial phone/video screen, how to demonstrate that you're thoughtful and self-aware upon your initial meeting, particularly if it's virtual, what you must do as a sales candidate if you want to work for Yesware, and much, much, more. 

Also, Zoe let me know that, in an effort to increase anti-racism programming and support the Black community, Yesware is offering 10 free seats of their Enterprise product for US-based Black-owned businesses under 50 employees. To find out more please email Yesware at specialoffers@yesware.com. 

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you.

In this episode, you will hear the excerpts from 6 inetrviews I did for The GOATS of Growth book. I asked everyone the same question, which was, "What major setbacks did you face early on and how did you overcome them?"

In order of appearance, you will hear:

• Ed Calnan
• Elissa Fink
• Mark Roberge
• John McMahon
• Laura Zwahlen
• Ryan Burke

Each one of them has acheived, by definition, uncommon success, and all of them faced challenges early on in their journeys before they achived their respective success. Persistence, is the common theme that I took away from hearing their stories, and I think you will too. 

Enjoy

My guest for today’s episode is Rob Brewster, the CEO of GoFormz. His introduction into the world of sales is an incredible story, beginning as he waited tables and ending when his regular customer, a VP of Sales, asked Rob to join his team. Talking with him now, after years of experience in various companies beyond the restaurant scene, Rob applies all he’s learned to propel the success of GoFormz. Rob focuses on the company’s culture, it’s close-knit people and their overall impact, considering transparency, integrity, and frugality as foundational components of their success. As he hires new people, he looks for smart and motivated, saying these qualities, and his ability to place them in a position to succeed, is the winning move.

Looking to reach out to Rob Brewster? Find him on LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertvbrewster.

Wanting to onboard, coach, and arm your sales team with the right information at the right time? Do it with Allego, the sponsor of this episode. Email me at web@thejaydavidgroup.com so I can personally introduce you to someone who will take great care of you. And of course, a big thanks to Allego, for being a sponsor.

And, like always, Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a retained sales search firm for lean start-ups. If you're looking to hire a sales leader for your next stage of growth, please visit thejdavidgroup.com.

On today's episode of The Goats of Growth, Cris Mendes, VP of Sales at WEVO, talks about his unique approach to coaching by first identifying the limiting beliefs that may be preventing people from achieving their goals. Once identified, he works with them to overcome those beliefs so they can reach their full potential.  

Cris' deep passion for coaching, influenced by his own experiences with impactful mentors, is palpable throughout this episode. With a focus on sales fundamentals and personal growth, Cris also dives into the core traits that define great salespeople, including the importance of curiosity and coachability. 

Here's what to listen for:

Coaching in Sales: The significance of effective coaching in sales, focusing on both ability and proficiency to drive long-term success.

Overcoming Limiting Beliefs: How understanding and overcoming personal limiting beliefs can unlock potential in sales and life.

Curiosity and Sales Success: Why curiosity is one of the most essential traits for a successful salesperson.

Discipline Over Talent: The role of discipline in achieving sales success, often outweighing natural talent.

Chris's Linkedin Profile

Timestamps

In my opinion, it's always better to work smarter rather than harder. In this episode, you'll hear Kate Weir, GM & SVP of Sales for iMotions, talk about how she likes to find bottlenecks in the sales process, remove them, and find new opportunities to increase sales. You'll also hear how she used that same approach to literally create her first sales leadership role, and how improving operational inefficiencies has served her well throughout her career as she has led and scaled start-up sales teams. 

You can find Kate here on LinkedIn. 

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you.

In this episode I had the pleasure of speaking with Kayvon Touran, CEO and Co-Founder of Zal.ai.

He shared how a career frustration he had inspired Zal which helps organizations implement career pathing and specifically to help them contextualize, apply and measure the efficacy of their learning and development programs. 

That said, more than anything, this episode is about the start of an entrepreneurial journey and how to take an idea and see it through all the way to builing a product with a market and a strategy to sell it. Lots of leanings along the way. 

Enjoy!

Kayvons Linkedin Profile

The ideation phase (00:02:05) Kayvon's journey in early stage technology startups.

The need for context in learning and development programs (00:03:19) Kayvon's realization of the context problem in workforce development and the need for personalized, dynamic, and applicable learning content.

Challenges in career pathing implementation (00:05:25) The difficulties and opportunities in implementing career pathing, the value of career pathing, and its challenges in terms of cost and time.

Creating alignment between strategic initiatives and career goals (00:07:11) The importance of creating alignment between an organization's strategic initiatives and employees' career goals, and the challenges faced in achieving this alignment.

The messy process of ideation and information gathering (00:16:56) The chaotic process of gathering information, following instincts, and overcoming doubts during the ideation phase.

Judging information and separating signal from noise (00:19:58) Kayvon's intuitive approach to processing information and the importance of combining different perspectives to determine the accuracy of the information.

Resources for Research (00:21:40) Kayvon talks about the various resources used for research, including programs and homegrown research.

Challenges in Job Architecture (00:25:33) Kayvon explains the challenges faced by companies in creating accurate job architecture and how Zol addresses these issues.

Career Path Tool and Skill Verification (00:28:44) Kayvon details the features of the career path tool and the importance of skill verification in their platform.

Staying Disciplined in Feature Development (00:30:54) Kayvon discusses the discipline required to avoid building unnecessary features and the focus on delivering value to users.

Building the First AI MVP (00:31:29) Kayvon explains the process of creating the first AI minimum viable product and the value-driven approach to development.

Customer Acquisition Strategy (00:37:40) Kayvon shares the strategy of building a community of interested individuals and incorporating customer feedback into the product development process.

Pricing and Commercializing (00:40:39) Discussion on pricing strategies and challenges in quantifying the value of solutions for changing job dynamics.

Iterative Process and Refinement (00:41:27) Emphasizing the iterative approach in developing the business, including pricing strategies and market positioning.

Investing in Company Growth (00:45:38) Strategies for reinvesting in the company to enhance product offerings and expand the customer base.

Target Market Segmentation (00:49:40) Segmenting the target market based on company size and tailoring offerings to specific audience and organizational needs.

I estimate that I've conducted  12,000 to 13,000 candidate interviews in my career, and I have a very strong  opinion as to why so many people struggle with basic first round interviews. That's what this episode is about. No guest. Just me and my thoughts. 

And I’d like to give a big thanks to Allego for sponsoring this episode. Interested in recording your best content and organizing it in one place to help improve sales performance for everyone? Allego can do this and much more. Email me at webb@thejaydavidgroup.com, so I can personally introduce you to someone at Allego who will take great care of you.

Over Quota is also sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you.

How do you hire for growth without over hiring?

That's part of what I spoke to Karl Sharman, Head of Talent at Forgepoint Capital, about in this episode where he shared his perpective on the following:

• Why paying attention to ARR/Revenue per employee is so important and the alarming trend he saw happening 2H of 2022
• The role of talent management and why he advices their porfolio companies to focus on performance efficiency
• How he helps their Founders/CEO to understand what great talent management looks like 
• Why it's important that Forgepoint Capital invest in Founders and CEO's that are coachable
• What he looks for when evaluating CROs
• Why having the proper organizational design is so critical to managing burn rate

All that an more in this episode. 

Karl Sharmans Linkedin Profile

The Southampton Football Club (00:01:10)
Discussion about the guest's experience and role at the Southampton Football Club.

Talent Spotting in Football (00:03:50)
Talent spotting process and decision-making in football recruitment.

Transition to Forge Point Capital (00:07:41)
Karls transition from the football world to working with Forgepoint Capital.

Forge Point Capital's Investment Focus (00:10:07)
Overview of Forgepoint Capital's investment focus and portfolio companies.

Talent Acquisition and Performance Management (00:15:03)
Discussion on the shift from talent acquisition to performance management and its impact on companies.

The portfolio benchmarking (00:19:14)
Discussing the mixed portfolio and the benefits of sharing data and benchmarking for better understanding and decision-making.

Performance management and development (00:21:32)
Exploring the positive aspects of performance management, including employee development, and dispelling negative connotations.

Culture and talent management (00:23:24)
Discussing the impact of culture, naming, and positive language in talent management and the importance of coaching and educating founders and executives.

Coaching and influencing founders (00:24:23)
Exploring the role of coaching and influencing founders and executives in making informed decisions and having a positive impact on their companies.

Distribution of organization (00:27:07)
Examining the distribution of organizational resources, particularly in relation to engineering, and the importance of achieving a balanced organizational design.

Measuring the value of a CRO (00:30:03)
Introducing the concept of valuing a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) and discussing the criteria for measuring their impact and success.

Factors affecting CRO tenure (00:31:24)
Exploring the reasons for the average 17-month tenure of CROs, including transparency, expectations, and onboarding, and the importance of context and experience in evaluating CRO candidates.

Attributes of a top CRO (00:37:47)
Discussing the qualities and attributes of a top CRO, including energy, positivity, and previous experience, and the importance of building scorecards to identify top candidates.

Tom Brady and NFL Player Comparison (00:38:40)
Comparing Tom Brady's role in NFL to hiring the right candidate for a company.

Onboarding Responsibility (00:39:43)
Discussion on the responsibility of onboarding new hires, particularly for CEO and CRO positions.

CEO's Role in Onboarding (00:40:22)
The importance of CEO involvement in onboarding, with a reference to Elon Musk's approach.

Motivation and Impact (00:43:28)
Discussion on what motivates the speaker and the impact of making a difference.

Long-Term Goal: Becoming CEO of Disney (00:44:44)
Karls ambition to become the CEO of Disney and the long-term goal associated with it.

Community and Collaboration Impact (00:48:42)
The significant impact of community and collaboration on the speaker's career and business operations.

I recently spoke with Natasha Farooq, Global Talent Acquisition Lead at AxiomSL. 

She went deep into how talent acquisition professionals and recruiters find the most relevant applicants, (including a brief screen sharing session of her LinkedIn Recruiter account), how to optimize your resume and LinkedIn profile, when she typically screens for hard skills versus soft skills, and what question candidates SHOULD NOT ask unless there is a specific reason for asking it. All that and more on in this episode. 

You can connect with Natasha here on LinkedIn to follow up her. 

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you.

This episode, I welcome back a guest who knows how to lead a start-up to unicorn, Ryan Burke.  As my guest in episode 19, we scratched the surface of his experience scaling early-stage companies, and today we dive back into the discussion, revisiting his time at InVisionApp and how he's using the same playbook as CRO of Qatalog. Ryan has constructed a framework that relies on three “F”’s to guide the early stages: the “first five”, the "foundation", and the "future". In the process of exploring each of Ryan’s F”’s, we uncover the key elements of structured feedback, effective strategies for managing fully distributed teams, and the ingenious move of hiring your company’s target persona. And if you haven’t already, check out his first appearance in episode 19 to hear more from Ryan Burke!

Impressed with Qatalog and Ryan Burke? You're in luck -- they are hiring! Contact Ryan Burke through email at ryan@qatalog.com, on twitter at @ryansburke, or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryansburke/ to get involved.

And I’d like to give a big thanks to Allego for sponsoring this episode. Interested in recording your best content and organizing it in one place to help improve sales performance for everyone? Allego can do this and much more. Email me at webb@thejdavidgroup.com, so I can personally introduce you to someone at Allego who will take great care of you.

And, like always, Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a retained sales search firm for lean start-ups. If you're looking to hire a sales leader for your next stage of growth, please visit thejdavidgroup.com.

In this episode of The Goats of Growth, I interviewed Bobby Touran, Co-Founder of Rainbow, an insuretech company focusing on the restauant industry. 

One of the biggest questions I had for Bobby was about the keys to raising money in 2024, given that it;s much more difficult than it was just a few years ago.

Enjoy the episode!

Bobbys Linkedin Profile

Timestamps

In this episode you'll hear my discussion with Eric Sherman, Northeast RVP of Sales for Dynatrace, about the overall approach he takes to leading, coaching, and managing to drive results. Throughout our conversation he stressed the importance of having the right people, taking a pragmatic approach to assessing the business as a new leader, enabling his sales managers to run their businesses effectively, and creating a culture of communication and collaboration. 

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you

In this episode of "The Goats of Growth," I got a solo episode for you to keep yourself productive and motivated, especially if you're working solo as an entrepreneur or fractional CRO.

Jays Linkedin Profile

Change your latitude (00:06:40)
Discussing the benefits of changing work locations daily for increased focus and productivity.

Hire people who can do the teachable and repeatable (00:12:56)
Explaining the value of hiring help for tasks that are teachable and repeatable, allowing for focus on strategic activities.

Find and follow people who have walked in your path (00:15:23)
Highlighting the significance of seeking guidance and inspiration from those who have pursued a similar career path.

Do the hardest stuff first (00:18:28)
Stressing the importance of prioritizing challenging tasks early in the day to ensure focus and productivity.

Time block everything (00:20:19)
Emphasizing the benefits of scheduling and time-blocking activities to maintain a purposeful and focused workday.

Partnerships and Collaboration (00:21:25)
The speaker discusses the benefits of working closely with partners and finding someone to share experiences and accountability.

Involving Family in Business (00:22:23)
The speaker shares how involving family members, in this case, his wife, can provide support and help in managing the business.

Importance of Walks (00:23:17)
The speaker emphasizes the value of taking walks for mental clarity, idea generation, and strategic thinking.

Public Accountability (00:25:08)
The speaker talks about the importance of being publicly accountable, such as committing to regular podcast episodes, to stay productive and motivated.

Final Remarks and Call to Action (00:27:05)
The speaker concludes the episode, encouraging listeners to follow, rate, and share the podcast, and promises a guest for the next episode.

For this episode, I invited Gregg Carman, Chief Revenue Officer at Humanyze. When he first joined this group of MIT scientists, Gregg was tasked with building a customer-facing team from the ground up. He shares with me his method of leadership, emphasizing the importance of balance and sincerity in the workplace, how to find the right team members to hire, and how to coach them with an equal pairing of criticism and opportunity. To help build and manage his team, Gregg uses the metaphor that everyone is playing a part in a movie -- even with individual roles, everyone is reading from the same script. With this style of teamwork and a leader who is present in the coaching box, there is little that can go wrong.

If you’re wanting to reach out to Gregg Carman, or join his team as VP of Sales or VP of Product, you can reach him at gregg@humanyze.com or jobs@humanyze.com.

Over Quota is also sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you

One of the byproducts of having a podcast is that people with their own podcasts invite you to appear on theirs.

Mark Magnacca, Co-Founder and President of Allego, which is a virtual learning and enablement platform for distributed teams asked me to be his guest. So in this episode, recorded a month or so before this publishing date, you will hear me give my perspective as a sales recruiter and what I think some of the best attributes are in candidates. 

Over Quota is also sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you

Joe Breen, a senior sales leader who has led start-ups through hyper-growth, including SecureWorks, which grew from $1M to $300M---leading to an eventual acquisition by Dell. Most recently, he led Nuspire, an MSSP, to a 5 year revenue goal in just under 3.5 years, while scaling the sales team from 14 people to 40. 

In this episode we discuss the strategic decisions he made that had the biggest impact including:

• The steps he took to simplify the GTM messaging
• How Nuspire went up market by asking a prospect how to sell to them
• Repositioning and then rebuilding the sales team
• His overall approach to leading and managing people
• Why some sales people struggled and the skills really needed to succeed
• How to handle the "maverick" on the team
• How often to evaluate strengths and weaknesses

All of that and more in this episode. 

In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Steven Birdsall, a 3X CRO and 4X COO, of both private and public companies.

Together, we explore pivotal nuances between private and public companies, with a focus on the challenges and opportunities of going public as well as the strategies for optimizing go-to-market approaches, including insights on maintaining focus, achieving margin expansion, and the significance of the "rule of 50" in creating value.

So much so that like mentioned in the outro, I had to seperate this epic episode into 2 parts. Stay tuned for part 2.

Steven Birdsalls Linkedin Profile

Laying the Proper Foundation for Going Public [00:01:12] Discussion on the importance of laying a strong foundation for a company before going public.

Difference Between Board Expectations in Private and Public Companies [00:01:41] Exploration of the contrasting expectations from boards in private and public companies.

Experience with Taking a Company Public [00:07:58] Stephen Birdsall shares his experience of taking Anaplan public in 2018 and discusses the different scenarios he has encountered in his career regarding IPOs.

The significance of changing the go-to-market model [00:11:27] Stephen Birdsall discusses the importance of changing the go-to-market model when preparing for an IPO and the challenges faced in the planning software market.

Creating a pod-based go-to-market strategy [00:14:20] Birdsall explains the concept of a pod-based go-to-market strategy, focusing on the benefits of streamlining different functions and creating accountability at a TAM (Total Addressable Market) level.

Building scale through industry-level TAMs [00:17:08] Birdsall talks about the next step in scaling the business by creating industry-level TAMs and how it leads to a more efficient go-to-market strategy centered around specific industries.

Focus on Industry and Geography [00:18:00] Companies under $100 million should focus on a specific industry or geography to maximize their opportunities and scale.

Traditional Go-to-Market vs Pods [00:19:00] Sub $100 million companies selling to specific personas, such as CFOs, should focus on traditional go-to-market strategies instead of implementing pods.

Private Equity Rule of 50 [00:23:34] Private equity-backed companies aim to achieve the Rule of 50, balancing growth and margin expansion to ensure profitable growth in the business.

Solving Math Equations [00:27:15] Explanation of how to solve math equations by separating known and unknown variables and the importance of setting up the problem correctly.

Different Approaches to Learning Math [00:28:10] Discussion about how kids learn math differently today and the importance of coming to the same solution regardless of the approach.

Growth at All Costs Mentality [00:30:28] Exploration of the concept of growing at all costs and the potential consequences of disrupting the rule of 50 in terms of profitability and workforce.

Private Equity's Value Creation Mode [00:36:43] Private equity firms aim to create value by acquiring rule of 50 companies and unlocking their potential.

The Importance of Rule of 50 [00:37:40] Having a plan to reach rule of 50 is essential for creating value and attracting investors in a company.

Whether I’m interviewing a GTM leader on my podcast or confidentially for a retained search, I tend to geek out over the “how” of how success was achieved by my guest.

It’s like when we first learned long division. It wasn’t enough to give the right answer, we had to show the teacher “our work”. How we got there, so they know it wasn’t simply luck, memory, or a hidden calculator.

From onboarding to strategic planning, to compensation models, to playbooks, I could do on and on but how success was achieved—or not, if I’m screening for a client.

But sometimes, what we’re capable of accomplishing simply comes down to "why" and the traits we have or the traits you don’t have.  In the case of my most recent guest on Over Quota, Ramsey Al Ramahi, 3 traits that came to my mind as I was analyzing the why behind his accomplishments were, curiosity, desire, and a bias towards action.

In this episode, you’ll hear how he went from selling Bakluvit (a family recipe) to a tech sales leader in less than 5 years.

Yes, we dug into strategy and execution, but those 3 traits, curiosity, desire and a bias for action were the hallmarks, from my assessment, as to why he just accepted a CRO role--achieving yet another professional goal.

Patrick Lynch, a technology sales leader with experience building high-performing teams, says that we have a tendency, as an industry, to overcomplicate things. At the end of the day, it's about discipline, rigor, grit, and focus.  As a leader, do you have the team that can help you get the customers you don't have. Simply put, "hire good people and get the hell out of the way". 

My guest today is Steven Messer, who is a serial entrepreneur and the Co-Founder of Collective[i], which provides the most comprehensive solution on the market for companies seeking to optimize revenue using AI, connections, and collaboration. Prior to Collective [i], he co-founded Linkshare, an affiliate marketing service provider, which eventually sold to Rakuten for a $425 million.

In todays episode we cover:

-How Collective[i] is like Waze for sales

-Why companies that just use their own data are missing a big piece of the puzzle

-How AI and data can be used to exponentially increase the odds of winning a deal

-The power of reference, referrals, and warm introductions

-The difference between digital sellers and traditional sellers and why 74% of buyers don't want to deal with sellers at all

If you want to know what the future of b2b/enterprise sales looks like, you've got to listen to this entire interview.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Kenneth Merritt, Partner at DayBlink, a top 50 boutique consulting firm, about how leadership teams should navigate their companies through this difficult time and how digitally transforming their operations is at the heart of it. Listen carefully to the shockingly high percentage of companies that had not adopted a digital strategy before the pandemic and what they need to do differently going forward. You'll also hear how leadership teams make decisions about headcount when they need to cut costs, and which employees are going to be seen as most valuable as those decisions are being made in the near future.  

You can find out more about Kenneth at DayBlink or reach him on LinkedIn. His email address is Kenneth.Merritt@dayblink.com 

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you.

In this episode Jeff Hoffman, of Rapid Sales Revenue, talks about the sales process that he codified that helps software sales teams achieve rapid results. It begins with a definitive growth strategy, followed by a repeatable sales process, and ends with the right execution. Additionally, he discusses the importance of having the right people for the process and how "cowboys" have no place on his teams. 

You can find more about Jeff at Rapid Sales Revenue LLC (RSR) which is a Sales Advisory Firm working with CEO’s, their Executive Leaders and Sales Teams to generate top-line revenue. 

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing John Davagian, a transformational sales leader that I've known for close to 15 years.  The reason I wanted to have him on my podcast was so that I could learn about how he's been able to consistently make an impact and drive results over sustained period of time. Think about this: He's held leadership roles in only 4 companies over the last 20 years! Sure, that track record of success might be more attainable if he was working for 800lb gorillas, but he's sustained that level of consistent success with start-ups.

How did he do it? It all comes down to just one word. Listen to this episode to learn what it is. 

Connect with John on LinkedIn  

You can also reach him by email at jdavagian3@gmail.com

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you.

In this (part 2) episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Steven Birdsall, a 3X CRO and 4X COO, of both private and public companies.

To recap part 1, we explored pivotal nuances between private and public companies, with a focus on the challenges and opportunities of going public as well as the strategies for optimizing go-to-market approaches, including insights on maintaining focus, achieving margin expansion, and the significance of the "rule of 50" in creating value.

This episode is a contuation of that discussion, but it starts off with Steven answering the question of how to manage expecatations when you have multiple investors, in his case, Board members from 5 separate PE firms. Whether you're in that position now, or it's possible you could be in the future, you'll find Steven's perspective and advice helpful. 

Steven's LinkedIn Profile

What to listen for:

Managing Expectations with Board Members 
Managing the expectations of different board members requires understanding their specific goals and context, whether it's achieving rule of 50 or market expansion.

Doing more with less:
Explains two ways to do more with less: planting seeds by developing new products and adjusting pricing.

Transparency in communication
Emphasizes the importance of transparent communication from the CEO when making changes, such as cutting resources or expanding into new markets.

Focus, efficiency, and channel model
Discusses the importance of focusing on a specific market, improving efficiency, and utilizing channel models effectively for growth.

What motivates Stephen? 
Stephen discusses his motivation to help others in various aspects of his life, such as at work, at home, and in church.

Stephen's goal to become a CEO 
Stephen shares his goal to become a CEO and his decision to leave his current company to focus on achieving this goal by the end of the year.

And much more!

In today's episode of The Goats of Growth, we have Catie Ivey, CRO of Walnut! She discusses the differences between selling in today's environment versus selling just a few years ago. 

Of course, as a recruiter, the thing that stuck out most to me was the what she said about the differences between great sellers and CSMs and everyone else, and the very real consequences if you're not great at what you do today. 

Takeaways from this episode:

Enhancing B2B Sales: Leveraging product demos to create a buyer-centric experience throughout the buying journey.
Transitioning to CRO: The challenges and learning curve involved in owning the full revenue number.
Optimizing Sales Processes: Strategies for go-to-market teams to do more with less and improve unit economics.
Cross-Team Alignment: Creating alignment across product, marketing, sales, and customer success teams for scalability and predictability.
Building a Strong Team: Hiring candidates with intellectual curiosity, growth mindset, and coachability.
Mentorship and Diversity: Katie's passion for mentoring young women in sales and promoting diversity in leadership roles.
Pipeline Building: Exploring new strategies for building pipeline and learning from industry peers.

Caties Linkedin Profile

For my guest today, the key quality in a successful sales person is resilience. Bradley Paster, Vice President of North American Sales at Riskmethods, challenges the idea of a squeaky-clean resume and instead looks for adversity, proof that you’ve faced hardship and moved forward from it. Bradley shares his own experiences and the growth that followed, comparing it to a scar on a tree: the scar is always the same size, but the tree continues to grow, only to make the scar appear smaller. Along with adversity, Bradley talks with me about the importance of certain leadership qualities, methods to offer and receive feedback, and the value of surrounding yourself with good people. Through each topic we cover, Bradley is ready with a story to share or advice to give that would help make any workplace a more fulfilling one. Wanting to get in contact with Bradley Paster? Find him on LinkedIn, at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleypaster/, or email him at bradley.paster@riskmethods.net.

Over Quota is also sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you

In this episode I interviewed Michelle Benfer, Senior Vice President of the Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable Product Lines for BILL.

I asked Michelle about a post she shared on LinkedIn that caught my eye about the Rule of 40 and how focusing on the right roles and the right intelligence in RevOps makes you less reliant on sales headcount.

Listen to the episode to find out more, including:

Balancing Profitability and Growth: Understanding the rule of 40 and its significance for public SaaS companies.

Driving Productivity: The critical role of RevOps and how to effectively align bonuses with productivity benchmarks.

Sales Enablement: Strategies for boosting productivity and disseminating best practices across the sales team.

Effective Sales Management: Tips for hiring well, coaching effectively, and focusing on pipeline management, performance, and culture.

Navigating 2024: Insights into the challenges of running a sales team and the importance of investing in the right resources. This episode is packed with actionable advice for sales leaders aiming to achieve a balanced and productive sales organization!

Tune in and let us know your key takeaway.

Michelles Linkedin Profile

Timestamps

In this podcast episode, I interview Sean Burke, the COO of Prometric, a global provider of secure test development and delivery solutions. Sean discusses the initiatives he is working on to impact the business positively, his approach to purchasing new technology, and how to increase a sales rep's likelihood of booking a meeting with him. 

You can access the full transcript here. 

Time Stamps

Initiatives Impacting Business [00:01:00]
Sean Burke discusses the initiatives that he is working on to positively impact Prometric's business.

Attracting New Clients with Technology [00:01:00]
J Webb asks Sean Burke about how technology is enabling Prometric's sales team to attract new clients.

Buying Process [00:01:00]
J Webb asks Sean Burke to walk him through Prometric's buying process and where potential clients begin their journey.

Efficient Sales Play [00:09:30]
Sean Burke talks about how technology is enabling the sales team to run an efficient sales play, helping clients walk through the decision-making process as efficiently as possible.

Sales Campaign [00:10:32]
Burke discusses how technology is used to run an effective sales campaign, either winning or getting a fast note.

Revenue Prediction [00:12:36]
Burke talks about the gap in technology today, specifically in the area of being able to call the shot for an entire year in advance of that year happening, and how he manually puts together formulas and spreadsheets to feed their revenue output.

Auditing Sales Technology [00:17:29]
Sean Burke explains how Prometric audits their sales technology every year to assess their spend, usage, and impact on the business. He also shares a tip for sales technology companies to not assume that their customers know where their product is today.

Making Decisions on Sales Technology [00:20:58]
J Webb asks Sean Burke about his role in making decisions on sales technology. Burke emphasizes the importance of technology delivering business value and having high usage across the team. He also shares his approach to working with vendors and building personal relationships with executives.

Executive Level Alignment [00:24:59]
In the evaluation stage of considering new vendors, Sean Burke highlights the importance of having executive level alignment with the vendor's team. He explains that having a personal relationship with an executive can help him understand how other amazing executives are deploying their technology and running their teams for the betterment of the outcome of the business.

Escalation and Sales Opportunity [00:26:18]
Sean Burke talks about how escalation is not always about complaints, but rather about knowledge sharing and best practices. He also discusses the sales opportunity that vendors miss out on by not providing dashboarding and insights to their clients.

Optimizing Investment and Facilitating Meetings [00:28:40]
Burke explains that he gets involved in meetings with vendors after the decision to go with them has been made. He also talks about the importance of understanding the nuances of the technology and how it is being used in the vendor's business.

Challenges of Sales and Getting Attention [00:31:17]
Burke discusses the challenges of getting attention as a salesperson and how most of the messages he receives go straight to his junk mail. He suggests that salespeople should gather data and insights from the buying team and deliver a powerful impact statement to get his attention.

Initiating contact [00:35:13]
Sean Burke discusses the challenges of initiating contact with executives and how to involve decision-makers in the buying process.

Crafting a compelling story [00:37:27]
J Webb and Sean Burke discuss the importance of crafting a compelling story for potential clients and how to involve the CEO or highest-ranking official in the buying process.

Standing out in outreach [00:39:47]
Sean Burke shares his thoughts on how to stand out in outreach and the importance of understanding a company's unique commercial challenges.

Sales Methodology [00:47:39]
Prometric does not subscribe to a specific sales methodology, but instead focuses on learning from win-loss analysis and talking to buyers to understand their decision-making process.

Learning from Lost Deals [00:48:46]
Prometric conducts win-loss analysis on all sales and uses feedback from lost deals to inform their sales process and improve their approach.

Past Buyers Helping Future Buyers [00:50:35]
Prometric gets past buyers to work with future buyers to help them avoid pitfalls in the sales process and improve their experience.

Procurement Process [00:51:11]
Sean Burke explains the procurement process at Prometric, involving financial and procurement teams, sales leadership, revenue ops team, and users of the product.

Finding New Technology [00:54:35]
Burke shares his approach to finding new technology, including reading, going to G2 Crowd, and googling to solve problems.

Importance of Calendar [00:55:21]
Burke emphasizes the importance of his calendar and how it is the most important tool in his tech stack, as it is where he makes investments in the business. He also highlights the importance of reps being on their sales leader's calendar.

David Gerry is the CRO of WhiteHat Security, a leading application security provider committed to securing digital businesses. 

If you're a sales leader who has ever been tasked with turning around a struggling sales organization you'll want to listen to this episode. Furthermore, if your turnaround leads to a successful exit, like a strategic acquisition, then you'll want to hear how David did it in a way that was not only good for the company, but also his sales team as well. Finally, if you've ever wondered what it would be like to part of a team lead by someone knows how to put the people on his team in a position to win, and win big, then you'll want to listen to this episode.

All that and, of course, find how what he says differentiates the top sales people he’s managed from everyone else.

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you.

On today's solo episode of The Goats of Growth, I go deep into how to position yourself for the best job opportunities as we move towards the busiest time of year for recruiting and hiring. 

Focusing on three critical areas—Recruiters, Resumes, and References.

Tune in to insights on:

Building Relationships with Recruiters: Why connecting with recruiters who specialize in your target industry and roles is key to unlocking the best opportunities.

Crafting a Strong Resume: The importance of tailoring your resume to the job you're applying for, with a focus on relevance and showcasing your domain expertise.

Strengthening References: How reconnecting with former managers and establishing strong references can give you an edge in the hiring process.

Timing Your Job Search: Why preparing ahead of time is crucial, especially as the end of Q3 and the beginning of Q4 are peak periods for recruiting and hiring. This episode is packed with actionable advice for job seekers looking to navigate the job market with confidence and success! Tune in and let us know your key takeaway.

Joining me for today’s episode is Devin Golden, an experienced sales leader and generous friend of mine. Devin spent over 6 years as the Senior Vice President of Sales at Dun & Bradstreet and has recently joined Motus as a Sales Leader to build and develop top sales teams. Excelling at the task of spear-heading the growth of a new business, Devin discussed with me his methods of leadership that involve investing in your team and building relationships on transparency and respect. He’s the guy when told “we’ve tried that” to dive deeper, asking what worked through the attempt and what didn’t, to find areas of growth in every nook and cranny. With a restless curiosity and an eye for strategy, Devin reveals his means of success and habits for constant improvement that could help any salesperson achieve greatness.

A big thanks to Allego, the market leader for virtual learning and enablement solutions, for sponsoring this episode. Email me at webb@thejdavidgroup to learn more about how you can transform your organization with the mobile platform built for today’s distributed teams. I will make sure you get special attention from their team. 

And, like always, Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a retained sales search firm for lean start-ups. If you're looking to hire a sales leader for your next stage of growth, please visit thejdavidgroup.com.

Rob Stevens is one of the people that I consider to be on my personal Board of Directors, who’s made some fantastic introductions and opened up others doors along the way–including helping me with getting guests for this podcast. 

We met on the heels of his successful 7 year run at Kiva Systems, which culminated in a $775M acquisition by Amazon Robotics back in 2012. He then led sales, marketing and business development at 2 more successful start-ups (both acquired) and is now advising other early-stage Founders on their go-to-market strategies. 

Something I found particularly interesting is how he navigated his way to leading 4 major functions within 5 start-ups, including sales, marketing, product, and professional services.  In this episode, we cover how he developed that breadth of skill and what he learned along the way that he is now sharing with his clients.

Teaching and coaching enterprise sales reps to become HIGH-PERFORMING enterprise sales reps is difficult–to say the least. There are many variables to reaching greatness that sales leaders and coaches need to navigate.

Is a rep struggling because she doesn’t understand the value proposition well enough? Is a rep struggling because he’s in a new territory and simply hasn’t generated enough activity? Is your go-to-market strategy flawed? The potential roadblocks that can prevent success are overwhelming and endless.

With all the various reasons and possible impediments to success, wouldn’t it be nice if someone were to distill the complexity of true enterprise sales down to just a few pillars that can be coached and repeated—regardless of which sales methodology you’re using? Well, that’s what my latest podcast guest, Douglas Cole, Enterprise Sales Leader at LinkedIn, achieved in his new book, The Sales MBA–How to Influence Corporate Buyers.

In this episode you’ll not only hear when and how to incorporate these core pillars of successful enterprise sales, but you’ll also hear him talk about the mental shift CRUCIAL to mastering it all. 

Here is the link to buy the book on Amazon

Graham Collins has given more than 400 compensation consultations over last 2 years, so I couldn’t think of a better guest to have on to learn all the ins and outs of how comp plans and quotas are established.

Whether you're a Founder trying to get your arms around hiring your first sales rep, an established sales leader, or a quota carrying AE, you’ll learn something from this episode, including:

• The right ways and wrong ways to structure comp plans

• Why 50/50 comp plans exist and the underlying math

• The right and wrong ways to establish quota

• How to deliver new comp plans and keep your best reps

• The most common mistake leaders make when building comp plans

• Why companies don't want all their reps to be at 100% of quota

And more!

In this episode of The Goats of Growth, I interviewed Gregg Carman, CEO and Founder of Chiefsight, which empowers mid-market companies to make data-driven financial decisions with generative AI. Cheifsight analyzes data from multiple systems and provides relevant recommendations to make faster decsions while your competiors are stuck in analysis paralysis.

Want to hear his go-to-market strategy and his visionfor the future? It's all in this episode!

Data-Driven Decisions: How ChiefSight uses AI to provide real-time measurement of key performance indicators and benchmarks for better, faster business decisions.

Generative AI in Marketing: Utilizing AI to analyze data from multiple systems and deliver relevant recommendations, significantly improving conversion rates.

Target Audience Strategies: Focusing on CFOs, with the CEO and CRO as key influencers, and exploring omnichannel strategies for demand generation.

Thought Leadership: The role of thought leadership in defining and designing a market, leading to market leadership and profitability.

Market Opportunities: Tapping into the large and growing market for decision intelligence applications.

Gregg Carmens Linkedin Profile

In this episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Shawn Green, a seasoned CRO and go-to-market advisor for startups. We go deep into the crucial tasks that every new Chief Revenue Officer should prioritize during their initial 90 days on the job as well as the importance of tailoring your approach to the specific stage of the startup you're joining.

Assessing the current state of the company [00:02:17] Sean discusses the importance of spending time understanding the company's current revenue generation process, strategies, and overall revenue goals.

Developing a revenue growth strategy [00:02:17] Sean emphasizes the need for a comprehensive revenue growth strategy, including setting clear revenue targets, identifying new market opportunities, and creating a roadmap to achieve company revenue goals.

Building and optimizing the sales team [00:03:40] Sean explains the importance of assessing the current sales team, identifying gaps in skills or resources, and making necessary adjustments such as restructuring, hiring new talent, and providing training and development opportunities.

The skills gap assessment [00:12:35] Discussion on how to assess the skills gap in a sales team and the importance of aligning skills with the company's go-to-market strategy.

Failing fast and constant pace [00:13:43] The significance of failing fast and maintaining a constant pace in revenue growth, and the need for internal and external validation in decision-making.

Rapid fire five [00:16:34] A quick Q&A session covering topics such as motivation, preferred learning methods, sleep habits, and favorite hobbies outside of work.

Shawn Greens Linkedin Page

I noticed this skills gap during a recent leadership search, which is why I made it the focus of this episode. The gap was between candidates with global GTM leadership experience and those without.

How do you go from leading a domestic GTM team to leading a global GTM team, and what skills do you need to acquire?How do you build and inspire confidence when applying for a global role if you don't have the experience? What are the first steps you should take once you've landed a new global GTM role?

All questions I asked Amy Slater, Vice President of GSI Global Sales at Genesys.

She has a wealth of experience leading global teams and was kind enough to share some of it with me, so I can now share it with you. 

Amy Slaters Linkedin Profile

On today's episode of The Goats of Growth, we have Tracy Sestili, Chief Revenue Officer of Intellimize!

Struggling to bridge the CMO-to-CRO gap? Tracy, a former CMO herself, reveals how marketing expertise can supercharge your CRO role. Can a marketing background be the secret weapon for CRO success? Tune in to discover Tracy's insights on:

• Unlocking Growth: Collaboration, data-driven decisions, and the power of a user-friendly product.
• Scaling Revenue: Pricing, ICP, and the challenges (and rewards) of new market expansion.
• Product-Led Growth: Dominating your niche, lowering barriers to entry, and building brand advocacy.
• The Future of Sales: Adapting to change and the ever-evolving sales landscape.

This episode is packed with actionable advice for marketing and sales leaders looking to drive explosive growth!

Tracys Linkedin Profile

I recently interviewed Samuel Clemens, Partner at Accomplice VC & Founder of Reprise, which helps customer facing teams capture, edit, and assemble the perfect demo every time. 

We discussed the 3 types of sales leaders critical to early stage start-up success. The first type is simply founder-led sales because they know the product best and should be able to close the first handful of sales on passion--as long as their is market fit.  The second type of sales leader is what he calls the expeditionary sales leader who can help create and define a repeatable playbook. The third type of sales leader is someone that is process based and can take that playbook, refine it, and then scale the sales team. 

Additionally, he shared the critical attributes needed in each sales leader, the one thing that he thinks really defines an organization's culture, the 3 big mistakes he's made in the past when scaling a sales organization, what sales leaders should NOT do during their Board meetings, and much more.

To find out more about Samuel's newest venture, Reprise click here to check it out. 

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you.

In this episode of "The Goats of Growth," I had the pleasure of speaking with Sherri Sklar,  a seasoned tech growth strategist and Chief Revenue Officer, while also an Operating Partner at Edison Partners, which a growth equity firm. Sherri partners with Boards, CEOs, and executive leaders to help them build, scale and optimize their sales, marketing and customer success teams. 

In this episode we discuss:

• Strategies for effectively aligning sales and marketing efforts.
• How she first added Operating Partner to her CRO title 
• The significant role her network track record of success has played  
• The value of assessing talent and recruitng the best
• There sponsibilities of a CRO/Operating Partner 
• Key metrics for gauging and optimizing success.
• Valuable insights into fostering a robust sales culture.
• All that and more.

Tune in and enjoy the episode.

Sherri's Linkedin Profile

Sherri Sklar's expertise (00:01:02)
Overview of Sherri Sklar's expertise and career in tech growth strategy and revenue leadership.

Defining the role of an operating partner (00:02:07)
Explanation of the role and purpose of an operating partner at a private equity firm.

Operating partner expertise areas (00:04:10)
Discussion of the different function areas besides go-to-market that operating partners may focus on.

Transition to operating partner role (00:09:24)
Sherri Sklar's transition from Chief Revenue Officer to operating partner and the circumstances leading to it.

Networking and career opportunities (00:10:56)
The role of networking and relationships in career opportunities and job referrals.

Impact on a portfolio company (00:13:29)
Sherris impact on a portfolio company's growth and success.

Strategic decision-making (00:16:31)
The process of making strategic decisions and conducting assessments for growth strategies.

Identifying common growth challenges (00:19:49)
Common challenges and areas for improvement in scaling companies, particularly related to identifying ideal customer profiles and aligning sales and marketing.

Transitioning from fractional CRO to operating partner (00:25:01)
The path from being a fractional CRO to becoming an operating partner at a private equity firm and the necessary qualifications.

The role of an operating partner (00:32:12)
The responsibilities and involvement of an operating partner in a private equity firm, including due diligence, creating plans, and being an advocate for portfolio companies.

Measuring success and impact on portfolio companies (00:34:52)
Evaluating success and impact in terms of enterprise value, growth, bookings, and retention, and the key levers to impact results positively.

Evaluating sales talent for portfolio companies (00:38:14)
The qualities and skills to look for in evaluating sales talent and the impact of getting the right talent on the commercial value of the company.

Coaching and leadership (00:51:15)
Sherri discusses the importance of coaching and leadership in developing both talented and struggling team members.

Building a great sales culture (00:54:33)
Sherri suggests a meaty question for the next guest about building a great sales culture and its impact on organizational success.

This special episode was recorded on  Juneteeth (June 19th), a virtually unknown holiday, until recently, which celebrates the day back in 1865 on which Major General Gordon Granger of the Union Soldiers brought news to Galveston Texas that the slaves were free. News traveled much slower then and came almost 2.5 years after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

I spoke with Shawn Reigsecker, CEO of Centro and Cofounder of Unite America, in the wake of the brutal killing of George Floyd, about the role business leaders can, and should, play in social mobility and the American Dream. 

Cultivating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment will not only serve as a way for people of color, in particular, to move up the socioeconomic ladder, but it's also good business. You'll hear Shawn discuss the ways in which he is using his role as CEO to help clear the way up that ladder. You will also hear me tell my personal story as I've grappled with my unique role in society and business my entire life.

Learn more about Shawn by visiting his personal website/blog here.

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you.

You can't get to where you want to get quickly, "without looking at the data". That sentiment was expressed  by my guest, Colleen Manning, VP of Sales at Clora, during the discussion we had about the importance of using data, sharing (and receiving) feedback, and communicating effectively as a leader. Careful scrutiny of data is paramount, especially in the early days, like when she scaled her former employer, ezCater, from less than 10 sales reps to over 120 reps in just a few years. 

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you.

I recently spoke with Don Thorvund, Director of Talent Acquisition at Gainsight, about how job applicants and candidates can de-stress the search process and increase their likelihood of finding their next job. We discussed best practices for how to structure your resume, strategic approaches to applying for jobs, the biggest mistake candidates make during an interview, the one thing that all hiring managers at Gainsight really love, and much, much more.

You can find out more about Don on LinkedIn or reach out to him directly via email to follow up with him about anything you hear in this interview.

Over Quota is sponsored by the j. David Group, a software sales recruiting firm. If you're looking to hire a sales leader or individual contributor, click here. to schedule a call. On the other hand, if you're an overachieving sales leader or sales rep, click here to discuss potential opportunities that would be a good fit for you.