Hunters and Unicorns

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.

Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - Brian Blond 001

Produced by SOAP STAR SERIES PRODUCTION

Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - Brian Blond 001

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.  ( https://www.somuchsoap.com/the-33-cxos )

Episode 1 features Brian Blond, Managing Director at Sutter Hill Ventures. At 34 years of age, Brian was one of the youngest Chief Revenue Officers ever hired in Silicon Valley. Brian has developed a reputation for building unicorns such as Virtrue, Tealium and ThroughtSpot. Having mastered the art of scaling businesses he is now leading the board level agenda of sales strategy with portfolio companies such as Snowflake, PureStorage and Vera.  Brian had learnt and mastered the playbook under the tutelage of John McMahon during his time at BladeLogic. The DNA required to be successful is validated by his background in competitive swimming. Brian has the character traits required for success; he just needed the right strategy. Once he discovered the blueprint, his career has taken a trajectory that would not otherwise be possible. 

 

“There's plenty of great sales-people all over the place that have failed once they go into management. Without BladeLogic and without John, I'm not doing what I'm doing today.”

 

In this Podcast you will discover: • How the MEDDIC framework enabled him to transition from sales rep to sales manager and beyond • What raw material are needed to make a great sales team • The intensity of the John McMahon interview, his influence, and his legacy. • How to break the glass ceiling  Brian Blond understands exactly how to build a sales machine to grow revenue. We discuss the core ingredients 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 - Anthony Palladino 002

Produced by SOAP STAR SERIES PRODUCTION

Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - Anthony Palladino 002

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 2 features Anthony Palladino, CRO Aisera. Anthony has more than 20 years of experience in sales management roles at technology companies such as BladeLogic, BMC Software and Splunk, where he was instrumental in the company’s $230 million IPO.

 

“I  don't  want to win and have someone else lose. We win as a team and that's something that is super important to me and that kind of competitiveness was a really strong element of the DNA and approach at BladeLogic for sure."

   After a modest start to his career selling knives, Anthony transitioned into the software space and began his trajectory to becoming a sales leader in this field. During his time at BladeLogic, under guidance of John McMahon, the self-proclaimed ‘born salesman’ was able to fine tune his inherent capabilities for strategic sales methodology and establish his own unique approach to leadership.

“I'm  not a yeller, I'm not a screamer and I'm never going to be that.  I'm  pretty intense  but being able to learn what good operating principles were at BMC and BladeLogic and then being able to convert that into my style to make me the best leader is what's helped a lot.”

 

In this podcast you will discover: How to use the MEDDIC framework. How to recruit to build a successful sales team. How to build champions and scale. The influence of John McMahon’s playbook on the software industry. Anthony knows how to build results-driven, efficient sales teams whilst driving business transformation and growth. We discuss the commonalities among all CXOs in this industry and discover which style of leadership propels the strongest growth rates. This insightful interview 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 - Patrick Ball 004

Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - Patrick Ball 004

“I think leaders are leaders. I think a lot of that is just innate. If I took Bob Ladouceur and put him in charge of BladeLogic sales, would he have been successful? I 100% agree with that. If I took McMahon and put him in as a high school football coach, I 100% think he would be as successful.” - Patrick Ball

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 4 features Patrick Ball, Chief Revenue Officer at Privitar. After initially embarking on a career in commercial real estate, Patrick was drawn to the activity and potential upside of software sales. Starting out as an SDR, Patrick’s competitive nature made him the perfect fit for this aggressive sales environment and he quickly rose through the ranks to hold sales leadership positions at BMC and Moxie Software. From there, he went on to lead sales for the Western Region at Cloudera, scaling the organisation 5X during his four years with the company and more recently, he served as SVP of Worldwide Sales at NextLabs. With 22 years of experience and three IPOs under his belt, few careers have seen the success and progression of Patrick’s.

“I'm a builder. Privitar's my seventh start-up. I've been fortunate to have been through three IPOs so I've seen it before, that's what I enjoy doing. I got bored at BMC, when it's a two, three-billion-dollar company, it's too big, I want to have more of an influence.”

Patrick thrives in an environment where he can implement change and develop, that is intrinsic to his DNA, but when it comes to his leadership methods, he gives credit to two key mentors: Bob Ladouceur (his high school football coach) and John McMahon. The combination of competitive sports training and methodological sales strategies has enabled Patrick to become an expert in his field and create his own playbook for success centred around building and scaling sales organizations. His goal is to create a seamless revenue machine and take his organisation to the next level by recruiting top notch AEs and coachable SDRs. Recruiting the right SDRs who have the potential to excel in their role and later transition into a closing role sets up any sales organization for scale. Patrick continually invests in his team’s development to ensure short, medium, and long-term success.

 

“MEDDIC is an over-used term now but it's still fundamental to my playbook. I've tried to take things to the next level. Recruitment is number one. I see the SDR team as my future stars, that's my farm league to go be field reps, and if I'm doing my job right, training and growing, I can segment that market and build capacity within my field team and I've trained them, it's not coming from the outside."

In this podcast you will discover: • The importance building a world class SDR organization • How to recruit high performing AEs • How to implement MEDDIC and take it to the next level • How to train, innovate and gain respect from your team Having worked with the elite of elite in this industry, Patrick knows what it takes to build a winning sales team and uses his experiences to shape his own teams in a unique way. He started his career at entry level but had the raw materials needed to climb the ladder of SaaS Sales with the help of some exceptional mentors. Now, as a mentor himself, he leads from accountability and bases his recruitment model on a new approach to SDRs, transforming what was traditionally a tactical support role into a far more capable and strategic resource that is crucial to the growth of his companies. 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 - Mauro Trione 006

“Do you need to be a specialist in something to sell it? No. You need to know how to sell, learn what that product can do for a customer, and then apply the playbook, and you can be successful.”  - Mauro Trione 

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 6 features Mauro Trione, RVP Sales - Southern EMEA at Delphix. With a background of huge success in the enterprise IT field, Mauro has built a strong reputation for himself as an outstanding professional leader. He started his career in sales and channel roles for PTC, EMC, BladeLogic and BMC and unsurprisingly went on to meet extreme success, becoming VP Sales at Bazaarvoice and going on to join Delphix as a Regional Sales Director in 2014, rising through the ranks once again to become VP Sales, developing and driving growth for business.  

Described as the fastest man in technology due to his background as a racing car driver, Mauro is a competitor with natural ambition. Having won the Italian Championship in Touring Cars before even embarking on a career with PTC, Mauro knew nothing about selling software before he entered into this tough sales environment, but he had all of the attributes, skills, and raw materials needed to make it in this industry.  

“I'm a sales guy. You can call us VPs, managers, etc, but we are sales people, we want to be able to completely control what we do. As a race car driver, I like to control things because if you don't control your car and your car drives you, you're fucked!” 

Described by McMahon as “one of the most incredible sales people in the world,” Mauro is a truly talented communicator and an out of the box thinker. His innate determination and drive enabled him to transition through the ranks at BMC, but he gives credit to the PTC management, especially John McMahon, for putting together a structure that enabled him to learn how to become successful in this industry by following a specific process.  

“It doesn't matter how you refer to it, if you come from PTC or EMC, you’ll have great examples of successful people, and if you ask them, “Did you apply MEDDIC?” They would say, “What is MEDDIC?” But if you go back and try to understand what they have done and do reverse engineering on how they manage activity; they will tell you that they did the same thing that we did.” 

In this vodcast you will discover: 

• The parallels between race car driving and software sales 

• The importance of playbooks and training for a rapid transition into technology and success in this industry 
• How to use MEDDIC strategies and champions to close deals  
• How to transition into managerial roles 

 

Mauro Trione knows how to lead with passion and drive maximum revenue for his teams. We discuss his spectacular achievements in this formally unfamiliar territory, the role of training and playbooks and what has caused his work ethic to evolve over time. Giving you an insight into the mindset of an extraordinary athlete, this interview is essential listening for those with an interest in sales strategy, as well as anyone with a passion for the technology space.