Hunters and Unicorns

Hunters + Unicorns: The Presales Edition - Ben Cefalo #008

In the Presales Edition of The 33 CXOs we explore the crucial role of the presales organisation in what is regarded as the greatest success story in software sales.  

When John McMahon took the reins at BladeLogic, he had a clear vision to create a sales and presales organisation that was in complete unison. What transpired became a sales rhythm which remains the gold standard for best practice within the most successful technology companies in the world.  

The effects of a value-driven, technical sales function transcended the boundaries of presales. The playbook has helped trailblaze best practice within Customer Success, Value Engineering, Professional Services and even Product Management.  

We uncover the stories and playbooks of the most talented technical sales leaders in the industry who are driving the technology companies of the future. 

Episode 10 features Benjamin Cefalo, Director of Product Management at MongoDB. Ben’s career in IT began in the late 90’s when his passion for technology and “fixing people’s problems” led him to take a job at a local manufacturing company in his hometown of Arlington Vermont. Gaining vast experience in SaaS, Database, and Automation roles since then, Ben’s career has taken an upward trajectory. He joined BladeLogic as a Senior Consultant in 2006 and continued his development following the BMC acquisition, becoming the Lead Product Manager for Server and Database Automation. Prior to joining MongoDB, Ben spent 5 years at VMware and launched the first organically developed SaaS application in the company’s history. He has developed skills in a diverse spectrum of roles from System Administrator to Engineer, Technical Support to Software Consultant, Post-sales to Pre-sales, and is now responsible for Product Management across the entire MongoDB portfolio.  

“You have to have customer empathy to be able to design good products. You can do all the research you want; you can get the metrics, know what the success criteria is, but until you can really put yourself into the customer's shoes and feel their pain, you're not going to develop a good product. I think we do a really good job of that at MongoDB.” 

After joining BladeLogic, Ben knew that building and selling software was where he wanted to be. He was determined to grow his career and recognised the value in experiencing different points of view across the organisation.  This helped him learn, pivot and advance into leadership roles. Whether it was working hands-on to support customers, implementing a product, or articulating value and solving pain, Ben realised that the key to success was learning the language of MEDDIC and using it as an internal communication tool. Once he had mastered the methodology, Ben became a vital component in the BladeLogic sales engine and quickly made a smooth transition into product management. This allowed him to explore a more creative role and make a huge impact in the industry. He went on to direct teams at world leading tech organisations from a position of experience and credibility.  

“One of the key things I look for when I'm interviewing product managers is where they sit today on the spectrum and whether I can get them there. If someone has the willingness to be comfortable with ambiguity, I can mentor them to be successful in that spectrum. It's not so much that I'm looking for that perfect person on day one, it's about, can I get them there?” 

In this vodcast you will discover: 

• How a background in Presales laid foundations for Ben’s career in Product Management 
• How to build a symbiotic relationship between Presales and Sales 
• What attracted Ben to Product Management and what key capabilities and attributes the role demands 
• The core pillars of Ben’s Playbook and the evolving role of MEDDIC in world leading software organisations 

The ultimate team player, Ben Cefalo is a skilled leader and communicator with a natural ability to not only pivot between technical and business contexts, but to also constantly adapt to the “moving target” that is software. With a passion and excitement for what the future holds in this ever-evolving landscape, we discuss how a value driven culture of collaboration is the driving force behind MongoDB’s success and how Ben’s experiences have shaped his values as a leader. Providing a unique insight into the SaaS industry from a vast array of perspectives, this extensive discussion is essential listening for those with an interest in sales strategy, as well as anyone with a passion for the technology space. 

 

 

Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - Mark Musselman #015

“Going into BMC, that’s a Harvard Business School case study and I would title it, Speed Boat Takes Over Aircraft Carrier.”  - Mark Musselman 

Hunters and Unicorns shares the playbooks from leaders, founders, executives and investors from high growth technology companies.  

In this special edition series The 33 CXOs we investigate the greatest success story in the history of software sales. Discover how thirty-three sales execs from one organisation, BladeLogic, became CXOs in the world’s 100 fastest growing technology companies. We uncover the stories and playbooks of the most prolific sales leaders in the industry. 

Episode 15 features Mark Musselman, Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Vapor IO. With over 20 years of experience at both early stage and mature organisations, Mark is in his element building and leading enterprise sales teams and company partnerships. Referring to himself as a “sucker for bleeding edge,” Mark has seen huge success both inside and outside of the software sales arena. Forever striving to be the best at whatever he puts his mind to, he has achieved some amazing feats from IPOs to becoming an esteemed breakbeat DJ and starting his own record label, Momu. 

“John called me ‘the workhorse’ because he knew I was always out with the customer; I was always out there. Then he started calling me ‘the artist’ because I would come up with interesting ways to try and get deals done or ways to be relevant to the champion and their business.” 

Mark’s success is without doubt a testament to his work ethic and unique personality. He is smart, competitive and gravitates towards problems that need to be solved. These crucial character traits laid a solid foundation when it came to joining the sales team at BladeLogic and learning the playbook from John McMahon. Once he knew the rules of the game, Mark had everything he needed to conquer this notoriously aggressive sales environment. 

“You really need to be thinking about training, training, training, whether it's yourself that needs it or your team that needs it, and it needs to be iterative and constant so that you're audible ready and prepared at all times. It's not just product training, it's training on how to run the methodology and run the playbooks - it's both.” 

In this vodcast you will discover: 

• The early years of tech - behind the scenes of BladeLogic and the BMC takeover 
• How to survive in the technology industry without becoming a robot 

• The importance of good competition amongst your peers 
• Why you should recruit athletes over experience 

 

Mark Musselman understands what it takes to succeed in this industry. He knows the key to increasing revenue and how to build proactive sales teams that dominate with maths and science, but his natural creativity and passion for technology has given him an upper hand. We discuss Mark’s love for this industry, his management style and the unique strategies he uses to help close deals faster. An entertaining insight into the world of a true hunter, this discussion is essential listening for those with an interest in sales strategy, as well as anyone with a passion for the technology space. 

 

Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - Paul Cant #012

Available as podcasts on our Spotify and iTunes channel;

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/hunters-unicorns/id1535460339

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5DeTa0QE0WZ1OkX3KX82mh?si=foC9FDrbRMGVGjW4MCBocQ

Hunters and Unicorns shares the playbooks from leaders, founders, executives and investors from high growth technology companies.

In this special edition series The 33 CXOs we investigate the greatest success story in the history of software sales. Discover how thirty-three sales execs from one organisation, BladeLogic, became CXOs in the world’s 100 fastest growing technology companies. We uncover the stories and playbooks of the most prolific sales leaders in the industry.

Episode 12 features Paul Cant, Vice President EMEA at BMC Software. Paul has more than 20 years of experience in sales leadership, building and leading high-performance teams and designing and implementing world-class business plans and programmes to drive innovation and sustainable growth.

Paul started his software career in 1996 at PTC. He was seeking a solution that was disrupting the market and with a reputation for setting the bar high, PTC fit his criteria. Since then, Paul has transitioned through the ranks, holding senior sales and management roles at BladeLogic, Ascential Software and, after initially joining BMC as a sales manager in 2008, he has been on quite the journey to earn his current position in leadership.

“I'd had the PTC experience, Ascential experience, BladeLogic experience, so yes, I could have gone and looked for another one of those type of experiences, but I think that investing in my own leadership brand and in creating my own legacy was the opportunity that BMC gave me and has given me. Rather than jumping around, it was important for me to invest in BMC.”

Paul learnt and mastered the playbook at PTC and accredits his outstanding career progression to his beginnings at this iconic company. His thirst for knowledge and determination to succeed saw Paul transition from a Sales Rep to a VP as he witnessed first-hand the fundamental importance of sales methodology, innovation, recruitment and carrying weight as a team in a “hire and fire” environment. He developed an insight into this industry and created a set of career progression criteria for himself that he still depends on and uses to propel the careers of his people at BMC to this day.

“We spend a lot of time here talking about culture and we are committed to the development of great salespeople. If you've got the right makeup of intelligence, character, coachability, experience, then you can be very successful here and build a very, very good career. Around 85% of all of the leaders here come from ICs, so we certainly have a meritocracy and there is opportunity for people to progress their careers - we're investing hundreds of millions of dollars into innovating our solutions which we've done over the past 40 years, but no more so than just recently. There are some really exciting developments.”

In this podcast you will discover:

- What raw materials you need to be recruited by an iconic software company like BMC

- The value of studying the playbooks

- A background in engagement models and how to use MEDDIC to measure and drive analytics

- How to keep progressing in your sales career

Paul is passionate and excited about the future of BMC and the self-development culture that has been established there. He is dedicated to ensuring that his employees can thrive within the company’s framework and is committed to finding and growing the future leaders of this innovative organisation.

Paul’s aim is to make an impact wherever he goes and his loyalty to BMC is a testament to how this company continues to transform and grow. Discussing his journey through the ranks of these world-class sales organisations, we listen to Paul’s view on the topic of what it takes for a company to reach unicorn status as he reveals what he has witnessed to be the key contributing factors to this phenomenon. This wide-ranging discussion is essential listening for those with an interest in sales strategy, as well as anyone with a passion for the technology space.

Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - John Kaplan #010

“Once you're a part of a championship team with A-players, great products, great leaders and great cultures, it's very hard to go backwards. We were lucky. We were in the right place at the right time, but we worked hard. Once you’ve been a part of that, you're always trying to build it better. That's what we tried to do it at Force Management. We didn't want to try to do another PTC, we wanted to do something greater than PTC. I'm not saying we've done that, but that was our mentality. - John Kaplan  

  

Hunters and Unicorns shares the playbooks from leaders, founders, executives and investors from high growth technology companies.   

 

In this special edition series The 33 CxOs we investigate the greatest success story in the history of software sales. Discover how thirty-three sales execs from one organisation, BladeLogic, became CXOs in the world’s 100 fastest growing technology companies. We uncover the stories and playbooks of the most prolific sales leaders in the industry.  

 

Episode 12 features John Kaplan, president and co-founder of the most influential sales training organisation in the world - Force Management. John has over 20 years of executive experience in sales, leadership, and execution, specialising in corporate sales strategy and performance management. Before Force Management, John was SVP of International Sales Operations for PTC, the fastest growing software company in the history of the planet that went from zero to a billion dollars in less than 10 years. Today, we are honoured to discuss with John his spectacular career trajectory, including how he left his 10-year role at Xerox in 1996 to “sprint” into a managerial position at PTC and go on to become the inspirational consultant, presenter and facilitator that he is today.   

“I was a college athlete. I did really well at Xerox, and I was really confident in my skills. Then I went to PTC and I was just in awe of the environment. Everybody was an A-player. It reminded me of when I went to Boise State in my freshman year. You show up and you're like, ‘I'm fast, I'm strong, I'm a good hitter’, and then you realise that everybody is fast and strong and a good hitter. The people at PTC  were just incredibly smart, talented, committed, wise beyond their years.”  

 

Recruiting high-potential, driven individuals and indoctrinating them with the proven methodologies is a keystone of the McMahon playbook. John Kaplan and Grant Wilson had an insatiable passion for conceptualising the teachings, with the view of empowering future generations to learn the way. Opportune and essential, this was the genesis of Force Management.  

John Kaplan talks about their continued quest to understand the common traits of successful organisations. They aim to align the vision of the business at the top to the “three-foot conversations” on the field. We explore the best practices that are conducive to the operating rhythm and cadence of hyper-performance.    

 

Trusted by leading brands such as Snowflake, MongoDB, RSA, Segment, Okta and many more, John provides an insight into the methods they teach which have established them as a trusted enabler for the playbook companies.  

“I was on an airplane commuting and I looked around the plane and thought, “These people look awful, they are hating life.” I'm like, “God, I hope I don't look like that.” I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw my reflection and I'm like, "Oh my God, I look like that!" I took out a napkin and a pen, and thought, “What's missing on this plane?” What was missing was passion. So, I wrote down in a circle in the middle of the cocktail napkin, "Passion." I said, "Okay, what am I passionate about?" I started to write it down, and I was really passionate about coaching and developing people … Force Management was actually sketched out on a napkin!”  

  

In this podcast you will discover:  

•        The inspiration behind Force Management  
•        The four essential questions you need to be aligned with for high-performance 
•        How to build your sales process around your customers buying process.  
•        Natural resting states when assessing suitability  

  

John Kaplan gives a unique account of how to drive organisational alignment, increase revenue, and deliver transformation. Eighteen years ago, Force Management was born out of the passion for growing and developing sales forces. He now works with some of the most influential companies in the world, helping them to understand their business, and stay engaged in the process to ensure their success.   

 

John talks us through his journey from the early days to the present moment and tells us exactly what he thinks it takes to build a modern-day unicorn. This extensive discussion is essential listening for those with an interest in sales strategy, anyone with a passion for the high growth technology space and the MEDDICC playbook.  

 

Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - Keith Butler #014

Available as podcasts on our Spotify and iTunes channel;

iTunes:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/hunters-unicorns/id1535460339

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/5DeTa0QE0WZ1OkX3KX82mh?si=foC9FDrbRMGVGjW4MCBocQ

“I love doing this. I love building sales teams. What do I want? I want to build a big company so that we can have great customer success and we can go win together, that's what it's about.” - Keith Butler

Hunters and Unicorns shares the playbooks from leaders, founders, executives and investors from high growth technology companies.

In this special edition series The 33 CXOs we investigate the greatest success story in the history of software sales. Discover how thirty-three sales execs from one organisation, BladeLogic, became CXOs in the world’s 100 fastest growing technology companies. We uncover the stories and playbooks of the most prolific sales leaders in the industry.

Episode 14 features Keith Butler, Chief Revenue Officer at Observe, Inc. Keith unintentionally embarked on a career in the sales arena in 1995 when he graduated from college and was offered a job selling copiers at Xerox. This unplanned trajectory soon led him into roles that were well suited to his highly competitive nature and love of winning. After honing his skills in this aggressive sales environment, Keith was recruited by PTC and from there, his career soared. He now has over 20 years of experience building and leading highly effective teams in the SaaS industry and has worked for some of the most iconic companies in the business including BladeLogic and BMC. Prior to his current role at Observe, Keith served as CRO at Perfecto and was also instrumental in the growth of RSA Aveksa as VP Americas Sales.

“You've got to be open to learn new things all the time even though you think you're pretty good. I thought I was good coming into Xerox, and then I thought I was good at PTC, and then I thought I was good at BladeLogic, and every time, I'm learning more, it continues to happen to me now. You've got to dig in, get into details and all of a sudden you'll get a skillset that you can use to help and teach others.”

Surrounded by great leaders, Keith thrived in an environment where he could learn. He had the discipline and desire required to master the playbook and soon came to realize the significance of “the bowels of the details” in terms of sales methodology and processes. He gained vital knowledge and developed essential skills in the early days of his career that would enable him to make a smooth transition to the next level, evolve the playbook in accordance with his own philosophies and make an impact as a leader himself.

I realized that when I led people, I could make sales teams do things they couldn't do before. I didn't really know why; I just knew that that was something I was good at and I got a lot of energy from it.

In this podcast you will discover:

• The fundamental importance of understanding the MEDDIC framework

• The value in being open to learning and developing new skills

• The parallels between sports and sales and the impact of a great leadership

• The key ingredients required to build a winning sales team

 

Motivated and excited by building, leading and working with highly effective sales teams, Keith Butler continues to set standards and make an impact in this challenging and dynamic industry. We discuss his love for leadership, winning and watching people grow as he talks us through his experiences and tells us what he thinks it takes for a business to reach unicorn status and why Sutter Hill is a great company to work for. This wide-ranging discussion is essential listening for those with an interest in sales strategy, as well as anyone with a passion for the technology space

Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - Scott Sinatra #013

 

“I think it's really important when you're leading or building a sales organization to pay attention to the nuances of the sale and modify the playbook to meet the growth strategy of the business. There is no cookie cutter. There are no shortcuts. There are elements that stay static, but adapting with agility has helped me contribute to building and growing these companies.” – Scott Sinatra 

Hunters and Unicorns shares the playbooks from leaders, founders, executives and investors from high growth technology companies.  

In this special edition series The 33 CXOs we investigate the greatest success story in the history of software sales. Discover how thirty-three sales execs from one organisation, BladeLogic, became CXOs in the world’s 100 fastest growing technology companies. We uncover the stories and playbooks of the most prolific sales leaders in the industry. 

Episode 11 features Scott Sinatra, an accomplished CRO, investor, advisor and mentor with over 20 years of experience leading and building word-class enterprise software sales teams.   

Scott’s SaaS career began at PTC in the 1990s. After reading an article in Forbes Magazine about their “elite team of sales athletes capturing the market,” he was instantly attracted to this challenging industry and the opportunity to be surrounded by a next level sales force that he could learn from. He took a job as an Individual Contributor so that he could learn the ropes and master the science of selling and since then, his career has taken an upward trajectory. He went on to hold senior sales leadership positions at Bladelogic (IPO 2007) and BMC Software (acquired Bladelogic 2008). He also served as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Glassdoor and was, until very recently, leading global expansion at Glint as Vice President of EMEA.  

“I’ve been managing teams since I was 28 but what I didn't know going into PTC was how to sell software. It wouldn't have been appropriate to put me in a management position at PTC right away, and I was fine with that. Let me go and learn some new skills, let me learn what software is all about, and then potentially from there, I move up and through the organization. That was my mindset, and it was absolutely the right thing for them to do, and the perfect thing for me to go through at that time.” 

With a determination to learn and grow, Scott mastered the playbook at PTC. He rolled up his sleeves and “got dirty” doing deals in order to acquire the vital knowledge and “scar tissue” he needed to succeed in the software sales industry. He witnessed first-hand how the implementation of methodologies, coupled with the right team of people could turn a stagnant company into a growth engine and he used his experiences to further progress in his career and form a unique leadership style of his own. 

“You can't just take a playbook and plop it into a situation without adjustment. You have to be able to use it to the benefit of making strong decisions about people, growth strategies and targets. I was able to implement the playbook, with tweaks, to grow fast and consistent at both Glassdoor ($1M to $20M in 18 months, eventual exit) and Glint ($0 to exit in less than 5 years). Those outcomes had everything to do with execution and the playbook was the foundation.” 

In this vodcast you will discover: 

• How to use MEDDIC as a compass 

• The importance of creating actionable feedback  
• How to use “the walkaway” strategy to test whether you have a champion 
• Why it is important to adapt and change to new situations 

Scott’s unique insight and experiences in this industry have enabled him to build teams of exceptional skill and achievement. He believes that building companies is a team sport and is passionate about culture, asking questions and gaining feedback to find out what is driving his people. Scott’s playbook is a reflection of his ability to adapt to the everchanging landscape of tech and his dedication to the wellbeing of his teammates.  

We discuss Scott’s incredible career journey from IC to VP and find out what he thinks it takes for a company to reach unicorn status. This wide-ranging discussion is essential listening for those with an interest in sales strategy, as well as anyone with a passion for the technology space. 

 

 

 

Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - Carlos Delatorre #011

Available as podcasts on our Spotify and iTunes channel; iTunes:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/hunters-unicorns/id1535460339

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/5DeTa0QE0WZ1OkX3KX82mh?si=foC9FDrbRMGVGjW4MCBocQ

 

“My motivation has evolved over time. Early in my career, it was a fear of being poor and a guilt for the sacrifices that my family made. Towards the middle stages, it was an ambition to see what I could achieve. Now, I get satisfaction from seeing others realise their potential.” Carlos Delatorre

Hunters and Unicorns shares the playbooks from leaders, founders, executives and investors from high growth technology companies.

In this special edition series The 33 CXOs we investigate the greatest success story in the history of software sales. Discover how thirty-three sales execs from one organisation, BladeLogic, became CXOs in the world’s 100 fastest growing technology companies. We uncover the stories and playbooks of the most prolific sales leaders in the industry.

Episode 11 features Carlos Delatorre, Chief Revenue Officer at TripActions, the fastest growing travel management company in history. With nearly 25 years of experience in the SaaS space, Carlos has developed a reputation for building and leading sales teams that ultimately dominate their industries and marketplace. Carlos realised the potential of software in the early 90’s and decided that instead of selling medical supplies, he would start a sales career at PTC. Now a software industry veteran, Carlos has experience in building sales teams at some of the most elite companies in the world including BMC Software, BladeLogic, IMlogic, MongoDB and Oblix.

“I was conflicted about joining BladeLogic because my alternatives were bigger roles. John did a good job of helping me appreciate the value of being developed by him. He sold himself and during that recruitment process, he helped me see the value of having a great boss and ultimately that's what I bet on and he was right. It was a fantastic experience and lots of great things happened as a result. I'm very thankful to him for convincing me to take that role because on paper, it wasn't obvious at the time.”

Under the tutelage of John McMahon, Carlos began to evolve and tune in to a MEDDIC mindset. Instead of building facades to mask issues, he learnt how to zero in on problems and use the playbook to implement logical programmatic processes, put plans in place and overcome obstacles relating to deals, individuals, teams, and entire organisations. As “more of a scientist than an artist,” he was already a process-oriented individual who could naturally grasp methodology and think in terms of KPI’s and metrics, but his time at BladeLogic allowed him to deepen his analytical abilities and discover the blueprint to becoming a leader himself.

“What I learned at BladeLogic and what I learned from John goes much deeper than analysing a given deal. It's analysing an individual and their innate capabilities, analysing their skills and making real decisions about, are they in the right role? Are they in the right company? If those two things fit, then what is the priority of skill gaps that they have? And therefore, we can build a program to make this person successful?”

In this podcast you will discover:

• Who is Carlos Delatorre and TripActions?

• The advantages of having John McMahon as a coach

• How to hire individuals with the right innate capabilities and skills

• How to break the glass ceiling

Carlos is an outstanding sales executive who consistently delivers excellent results. His unique ability to innovate and systematically solve problems has never been more crucial than in recent times. Hit hard by new restrictions, one of the largest casualties of the coronavirus pandemic is the travel sector but, true to character, Carlos has risen to the challenge. Encouraging companies to “take advantage of the downtime to optimize their travel program and how they manage payments and expense reporting,” TripActions has actually managed to increase revenue, sign on new customers and thrive in these uncertain times by innovating from a product perspective.

Carlos understands products and technology and has a rare ability to translate that into matching what customers are looking for. We discuss a scientific approach to sales in this fast-paced, challenging environment and find out what core ingredients a company needs to reach unicorn status in the ever-evolving tech landscape. This wide-ranging discussion is essential listening for those with an interest in sales strategy, as well as anyone with a passion for the technology space.

Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - Andy Sadler #009

Available as podcasts on our Spotify and iTunes channel; iTunes:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/hunters-unicorns/id1535460339 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5DeTa0QE0WZ1OkX3KX82mh?si=foC9FDrbRMGVGjW4MCBocQ

 

“Our goal is to make people very, very successful and then create huge enterprise value along the way. That's the goal. There is recruitment as a process, there’s focus on personal development, there's real focus on competition, and yes, we have the six-step playbook and the value framework, but ultimately if you don't make those guys and girls successful, you haven't got a company.” – Andy Sadler

 

Hunters and Unicorns shares the playbooks from leaders, founders, executives and investors from high growth technology companies.

In this special edition series The 33 CXOs we investigate the greatest success story in the history of software sales. Discover how thirty-three sales execs from one organisation, BladeLogic, became CXOs in the world’s 100 fastest growing technology companies. We uncover the stories and playbooks of the most prolific sales leaders in the industry.

Episode 9 features Andy Sadler, GM EMEA at Imply. With a long history in enterprise B2B SaaS, Andy’s track record speaks for itself. He knows exactly what it takes to build world class teams and businesses from scratch and has earned a reputation for himself as a strong leader with incredible ability when it comes to ramping the footprint of advanced SaaS companies while simultaneously boosting revenue.

Like many of the CXO’s being interviewed for this series, Andy’s drive and determination to win has enabled him to excel at two seemingly unrelated careers. He started out as a professional footballer playing for clubs in the UK and saw great success on this trajectory, but a change of circumstances led him to transfer his skills to a role in the technology space. Since then, he has soared through the ranks in leadership positions at PTC, Ascential Software, Bladelogic, BMC Software, Artesian Solutions and more recently leading the charge for EMEA market domination at SignalFx.

 

“Competition is a big one because if you haven't got a competitor, you haven't really got a market and if you don't know how you're going to win or why you're losing, I don't know how you're going to get better. One of the reasons I've loved being in software sales from being in football is, there's no difference. 90% of the game is done on a whiteboard. 10% of the game is how you play and that's exactly what we do.”

 

Currently on a mission at Imply to create the most revered and feared go-to-market team in EMEA, Andy has spent his career learning from elite sales leaders and improving his knowledge and skillset every step of the way. He is a huge believer in the importance of adapting to change and has a passion for learning which has led him to evolve and realign the time honoured ‘PTC playbook’ to ensure success and beat the competition in the cloud era.

In addition to improving his own skills, Andy has a passion and enthusiasm for his teams that is rarely seen. A true visionary when it comes to the science of sales, Andy is dedicated to training and uses his wealth of experience and knowledge to develop his people and offer them career progression. One of the core pillars of his playbook is “recruitment as a process” as he believes in the fundamental importance of hiring the right people and then investing in their development.

In this Podcast you will discover:

• The 3 elements of Andy’s Playbook – how he has adapted the methodologies for the new era

• The common key character traits of CXOs and highly successful salespeople

• How he went from a fearless sales guy to a high performing leader

Andy’s competitive spirit has led him down a truly inspirational career path, one that we can all learn a lot from. His time at PTC and BladeLogic enabled him to master the playbook in a culture of fear which verified his ability to survive and thrive in a high-pressure environment. However, today we discuss how Andy’s thirst for knowledge and improvement has led him to evolve his own leadership style and create a winning, competitive culture based on expectation and development- it's okay to fail as long as you know why you failed.

We give you an insight into Andy’s experiences in this industry, how sales tactics have evolved since the early days and how to survive in the technology space today. This discussion is essential listening for those with an interest in MEDDIC based methodologies, sales leadership as well as anyone with a passion for the technology space.

 

Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - Bill Strogis 008

Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - Bill Strogis 008

“My mission is not to build a fiefdom. I'm not trying to build the biggest company possible. I'm trying to build a successful company. I'm trying to build a go-to-market team that will scale smartly, will get the channel up and running, will do all the right things and I want this to be my exit, my swan song, my lasting legacy. ” – Bill Strogis

 

Hunters and Unicorns shares the playbooks from leaders, founders, executives and investors from high growth technology companies. In this special edition series The 33 CXOs we investigate the greatest success story in the history of software sales. Discover how thirty-three sales execs from one organisation, BladeLogic, became CXOs in the world’s 100 fastest growing technology companies. We uncover the stories and playbooks of the most prolific sales leaders in the industry. Episode 3 features Bill Strogis, CRO of HyperScience. With over 25 years of experience, Bill has spent the majority of his career building and leading enterprise sales teams for early stage companies. He started out as a Solutions Engineer at Matra Datavision, but with a background in mechanical engineering, Bill had the credibility and experience required to quickly transition through the ranks of this notoriously tough sales industry, directing and building hugely successful organisations including unicorns like Okta and more recently Cybereason, where he became SVP of Sales Productivity.

“I want to surround myself with people that are excellent and that force me to be even better - you want to spend time around people that are wired that way. You find yourself wanting to be surrounded by people that, when things get hard, don't curl up in a ball. Instead, they rub some dirt on it, and they go, "Let's go figure this out." And you want to be surrounded by people that have that mentality, because it just fuels you.”

Bill has been surrounded by exceptional people throughout his career. He learnt the rules of the playbook from the best, John McMahon, and he knows how to run it, refine it and break the ceiling of ambitious growth goals. His tendency toward companies who disrupt with their leading-edge technologies and solve problems with real impact can be attributed to his highly competitive nature and strong desire to succeed. However, his leadership approach is collaborative. From his teams, he calls for commitment, not compliance and leads from a position of genuine eagerness to propel the people that work for him and help them to be more successful.

“The people that work for me are afraid of not being successful because they're driven and they don't want to disappoint their families, and they don't want to disappoint themselves. I think they also don't want to disappoint me, but they don't fear me in that way. Fear isn't the motivator. I think fear of failure is a motivator for them, and I think that I do a really good job in making sure the people who work for me know that I genuinely care. I give a shit.”

In this vodcast you will discover: MEDDIC - what it is, how to use it and why it is so important The common traits of CXOs and highly successful salespeople An insight into the early stages of this tough industry and what the future looks like for the next generation The key characteristics that are being recruited for in this industry Bill has come a very long way since his time at BMC, but that ‘go kick everybody's ass’ vibe that he observed and adopted there has served him well. Motivated by opportunities to build something the way that it should be built, Bill has spent his career blazing new paths for enterprise software and has seen huge success. He knows how to survive and thrive in this industry and shares his advice with us as we discuss his approach to building sales teams and what is needed for a company to reach unicorn status. An insight into the past, present and future of this industry, this discussion is essential listening for those with an interest in sales strategy, as well as anyone with a passion for the technology space.

Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - The John McMahon Interview 003

 Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - The John McMahon Interview

 

Hunters and Unicorns shares the playbooks from leaders, founders, executives and investors from high growth technology companies. In this special edition series The 33 CXOs we investigate the greatest success story in the history of software sales. Discover how thirty-three sales execs from one organisation, BladeLogic, became CXOs in the world’s 100 fastest growing technology companies. We uncover the stories and playbooks of the most prolific sales leaders in the industry.

Episode 3 features software sales royalty and the legend behind the playbook, John McMahon himself. Currently sitting on the board of directors for software unicorns including Snowflake and Cybereason, John is most recognised for his disciplined approach as a sales leader, running hugely successful global sales teams throughout his career including, GeoTel, BladeLogic, BMC and PTC, which he scaled from $100M to $1B in revenue.  

 

“I knew what the playbook should be, so if you didn't like my playbook, you could ask me to leave. You have to have the confidence to know that what you're doing is right and it's in the best interest of not just me, but the people that came over from BladeLogic and the people at BMC that want to grow and get promoted and make money and be somebody.” 

 

As one of the most prominent leaders in all of enterprise software sales, John is not only a sales master, he is a guy that people would “run through a wall for,” a mentor dedicated to propelling the careers of his people, enabling them to win and creating a culture of pride and accomplishment for his teams. 

 

“I think you have to believe that if you want to get what you want, you have to help everybody else get what they want and you have to have their best interests at heart. When you can help people get to the next level and they step up because you saw something in them that they didn't see in themselves, they're not going anywhere.”

 

In this vodcast you will discover: How to scale and organisation - the rules of the game. The rules of MEDDIC – a step by step walk-through of the framework. How to recruit a winning sales team. How to break the glass ceiling. John McMahon knows how to build and lead world-class sales teams. He talks us through how to use number-driven sales strategies to scale and develop organisations as we discuss his commitment to the playbook and his dedication to the success of others as key contributors to his legacy as one of the most successful and influential people in the software industry. This extensive discussion is essential listening for those with an interest in sales strategy, as well as anyone with a passion for the technology space.