Hunters and Unicorns

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. 

 

 

 

Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - Jeff Lortz 005

Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - Jeff Lortz 005

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 5 features Jeff Lortz, Chief Operating Officer at TOMIA. Jeff started his career in the U.S. Navy as a line officer operating nuclear power plants but his path has taken some unpredicted turns since then, leading him to become the accomplished Senior Executive he is today. With more than 25 years of success in the technology, software, and SaaS industries, Jeff explains how he “stumbled” into hi tech with no marketable skills or capabilities at all, and worked his way up to arrive at his current destination driving strategy, business planning and go-to-market business processing at the fourth largest software company in the world.

“I started out as just a billable consultant on a team implementing the technology with customers. By the time I left, I was a Senior Vice President, I had over 600 people working for me around the world, 150 million dollars’ worth of revenue responsibility and all from knowing sort of nothing, coming in.”

Transitioning from SVP Global Services at PTC, to VP Professional Services at BladeLogic and then VP of Global Services at BMC, Jeff has witnessed first-hand the opportunities and processes involved in the huge success of these organisations. He took his lead from the stand-out members of these extraordinary teams, in particular John McMahon, and his military background enabled him to thrive in these highly competitive cultures, adopt the playbook and subsequently learn everything he needed to know about how to rapidly scale a company.

“I think there was a belief among everyone involved that it was totally doable again in other circumstances and should be taken forward for the rest of their careers. It just became a club that everybody knows the initiation rights to, everybody knows what the rules are, and you're allowed to go off in your own business and use it as a base line and tweak it and change it to whatever suits the situation.”

In this podcast you will discover: Effective growth strategies for a building a business The role of a COO and what it takes to be a manager in the software industry The importance of a winning culture and how to create it How to use playbooks to scale a company With a proven history as a results-driven, strategic leader, Jeff Lortz has had an incredible career and has learnt from experience how to build a business from the ground up. We discuss his vast knowledge on this industry, past to present, and his unique approach to leadership. Offering inspiration, motivation and advice on how to build foundations with methodologies and strategies, this in-depth interview is essential listening for those with an interest in sales strategy, as well as anyone with a passion for the technology space.