Hunters and Unicorns

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Is the hottest AI startup actually the best place to build your sales career? In this episode of Hunters and Unicorns, Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne welcome back a great friend of the show, Carlos Delatorre, President, Go To Market at Harness, to talk about what may be the most dangerous market sales professionals have ever seen and how to separate signal from noise when you’re making a career decision.

Carlos explains why a company can be a great investment for venture capitalists but not a great place to build a career, why founder-market fit matters as much as product-market fit, and why the ultimate moat is distribution, not technology. He looks back on MongoDB’s crucible moment joining at around $30M, hitting $100M on open source, then reinventing with Atlas on the way to $2B and on the hardest, most impactful years of his career working for John McMahon.

The conversation also covers which sales skills still matter in the age of AI, why the new bottleneck in software is everything that happens after the code is written, how Harness is rebuilding sales enablement with AI, the three pillars of sales execution that won’t be automated, and why the best career move is often to choose the best boss.

In this episode:

• Why VC funding is a signal, but not the signal

• Founder-market fit and the two ways companies sub-optimize without it

• Unit economics, thin moats and why hot PLG companies become sales execution games

• Why distribution is the ultimate moat

• MongoDB’s crucible moment: from $30M to $2B with Atlas

• Why ARR doesn’t mean what it used to

• The paradox: the best sales execution happens without the perfect product

• Optimizing for development and growth instead of easy money

• Which sales skills still matter in the age of AI

• The new bottleneck: everything after the code

• Winners and losers in the AI market

• How Harness is using AI to rebuild sales enablement

• Internal champions: why the mentee doesn’t get to pick

• Pipeline generation, champion building and qualification

• Choosing the best boss and the best boss’s boss

About Carlos Delatorre:

Carlos Delatorre is the President, Go To Market at Harness, where he oversees the sales and go-to-market functions behind the company’s AI software delivery platform. Earlier in his career he led sales at MongoDB, joining at around $30M in revenue, and worked for John McMahon at PTC, BladeLogic and BMC. This is his third appearance on Hunters and Unicorns.

About Our Sponsor:

Big thanks to Aurasell for sponsoring this episode. Aurasell is an AI-native GTM platform designed to intelligently automate every aspect of the sales cycle from prospecting and deal management to forecasting and coaching. Subscribe to Hunters and Unicorns for more conversations with the leaders building, scaling, and transforming high-growth technology companies. #HuntersAndUnicorns

#CarlosDelatorre #Harness #MongoDB #SalesCareer #FounderMarketFit #AI #SDLC #GTM #SalesLeadership #B2BSales #Leadership

Timestamps:

0:00 – Trailer

1:31 – Welcome & Introduction

2:12 – The Most Dangerous Market We’ve Ever Seen

4:58 – Founder-Market Fit 8:33 – How to Spot the Right Founder

9:34 – Unit Economics and Thin Moats

11:47 – Why Distribution Is the Ultimate Moat

12:38 – Crucible Moments: MongoDB From $30M to $2B

15:27 – Why ARR Doesn’t Mean What It Used To

17:25 – Technology vs. Your Sales Career

18:40 – Why Work Harder Than You Need To?

20:02 – Chasing Money in a Hype Market

21:35 – Which Sales Skills Still Matter in the Age of AI

25:29 – AI and the New Bottleneck in Software

31:55 – Winners and Losers in the AI Market

33:23 – Ahead of the Wave: Harness’s Inflection Point

36:54 – How Harness Is Using AI in Its Own Sales Team

38:24 – Rebuilding Sales Enablement With AI

40:30 – How the Sales Profile Is Changing

42:41 – Internal Champions and the Three Pillars of Sales

45:09 – Choose the Best Boss

46:08 – The Future of Frontier Labs and Software Companies

47:45 – Closing

How do you know you're actually ready for the next seat and how do you make sure every career move makes you better?

In this episode of Hunters and Unicorns, Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne sit down with Matthew Fermino, CRO at Fable Security, to unpack what it really takes to move from top rep to first-line leader, to second-line leader, and all the way to the CRO seat. Matthew explains why he has always optimized his career for development over everything else, why your career should tell a story, and how he knew he was ready to lead: when he took more pride in seeing someone he coached win a deal than in winning one himself. He breaks down the shift from telling to coaching ("people rarely argue with their own conclusions"), how to manage the peers you used to sit next to, and why first-line leaders are the most important role in the entire go-to-market team yet the one companies develop the least.

The conversation also covers the jump to second-line leadership, reading the business through data, building leaders who find the answers without you, extreme ownership at every layer, staying close to the field as a CRO, his turning point at Starburst, and why Fable Security is going after the biggest problem in cybersecurity: the human layer.

In this episode:

• Why you should optimize your career for development, not titles

• Why your career should tell a story and the danger of short stints

• What real development looks like: tying it to each person's "why"

• How to know you're ready for first-line leadership

• Why you don't have to promote every great IC

• The fundamentals to master before you lead: conviction, forecasting, coachability

• Managing the people who were your peers a week ago

• Going from telling to coaching

• How a brand-new leader recruits A players

• Why the best sellers can sell anything

• The difference between first-line and second-line leadership

• Reading the business through data as you scale

• Accountability at every layer of the org

• Staying close to the field instead of managing from an ivory tower

• His turning point at Starburst, from $1M in revenue and 20 employees to 600

• Building a coaching tree

• Fable Security and the human layer of cybersecurity

About Matthew Fermino Matthew Fermino is CRO at Fable Security, which is tackling the human layer of cybersecurity the risky behavior behind most breaches. Before Fable, he built his career at PTC, Perfecto and Starburst, where he joined at around $1M in revenue and helped scale the company through rapid growth, including building out Europe and APAC for the first time.

About Our Sponsor: Big thanks to Aurasell for sponsoring this episode. Aurasell is an AI-native GTM platform designed to intelligently automate every aspect of the sales cycle from prospecting and deal management to forecasting and coaching.

Subscribe to Hunters and Unicorns for more conversations with the leaders building, scaling, and transforming high-growth technology companies.

#HuntersAndUnicorns #MatthewFermino #FableSecurity #CRO #SalesLeadership #GTM #RevenueLeadership #SalesManagement #Coaching #Cybersecurity #B2BSales #Leadership

Timestamps:

0:00 – Trailer

1:16 – Welcome & Introduction

1:51 – Why You Should Optimize Your Career for Development

2:42 – Short Stints and Why Your Career Should Tell a Story

4:31 – What Development Really Means

5:49 – Learning From Great Leaders at PTC

7:43 – How to Know You're Ready for First-Line Leadership

9:54 – You Don't Have to Promote Every Great IC

11:40 – The Fundamentals to Master Before You Lead

13:11 – Deal Muscle Memory: Seeing Around Corners

15:15 – Managing the Peers You Used to Work Beside

17:44 – Recruiting and Going From Telling to Coaching

20:12 – How a New Leader Recruits A Players

21:49 – Why Leaders Need to Sell the Vision to Candidates

23:25 – Why the Best Sellers Can Sell Anything

25:22 – Learning From Different Leaders and Playbooks

29:09 – First-Line vs. Second-Line Leadership

31:36 – Matthew's Mistakes as a New Second-Line Leader

34:39 – Reading the Business Through Data

37:09 – Developing Leaders Who Find Answers Without You

40:42 – Accountability at Every Layer

42:02 – When Are You Ready for Second-Line Leadership?

44:16 – Breaking Through to Executive Leadership

46:15 – Staying Close to the Field as a CRO

49:36 – Working Cross-Functionally as One Team

51:03 – The Turning Point: Scaling Starburst

55:24 – Building a Coaching Tree

56:53 – Fable Security and the Human Layer

1:00:25 – What's Next for Fable

1:00:59 – Closing

What happens when you leave one of the best sales playbook machines in the world to build your own?

In this episode of Hunters and Unicorns, Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne sit down with Stephen Macfarlane, Global Head of Sales at Pigment, to unpack the reality versus the expectations of leaving MongoDB after nine and a half years to take the top sales seat at a fast-growing startup. Stephen explains why the secret behind MongoDB was never a playbook but a set of standards, and how he brought that thinking to Pigment: from the two questions he asks every hire six months in, to the provocative hypotheses he put to the founders, bootcamps, leader training, and the first key hires he brought with him. The conversation also covers why it's lonely at the top, why commitment matters more than consensus, how to join an organization without being resented, the art of "releasing the work" at the right pace, and why Pigment is replacing incumbents in a market that was ready to be disrupted.

In this episode:

• Reality vs. expectations: from MongoDB to a startup head of sales seat

• "What were you oversold on, and what were you undersold on?"

• Why it's lonely at the top

• A set of standards, not a playbook

• Testing provocative hypotheses with the founders

• Make the main thing the main thing

• Bootcamps, leader training, and building repeatability

• The first key hires to bring with you

• Commitment over consensus

• Releasing the work at the right pace

• How to enter an organization without being resented

• Finding champions at every level of the business

• What to look for in your next role: leaders, product, and market

• Pigment's mission and the AI-first EPM opportunity

About Stephen Macfarlane Stephen Macfarlane is Global Head of Sales at Pigment, the AI-first planning and performance management platform. Before joining Pigment, he spent nine and a half years in sales leadership at MongoDB, one of the most respected go to market organizations in software.

About Our Sponsor: Big thanks to Aurasell for sponsoring this episode. Aurasell is an AI-native GTM platform designed to intelligently automate every aspect of the sales cycle from prospecting and deal management to forecasting and coaching.

Subscribe to Hunters and Unicorns for more conversations with the leaders building, scaling, and transforming high-growth technology companies.

#HuntersAndUnicorns #StephenMacfarlane #Pigment #MongoDB #SalesLeadership #GTM #RevenueLeadership #SalesEnablement #Startups #EPM #B2BSales #Leadership

Timestamps:

0:00 – Trailer

1:14 – Welcome & Introduction

1:34 – From MongoDB to Global Head of Sales at Pigment

2:41 – The Two Questions: Oversold vs. Undersold

3:42 – It's Lonely at the Top

5:36 – Big Company to Startup: A Set of Standards, Not a Playbook

7:33 – The State of Play When Stephen Walked In

9:05 – Testing Provocative Hypotheses With the Founders

10:51 – Driving Change Through Trust

13:02 – What Transfers From MongoDB

15:13 – Make the Main Thing the Main Thing

17:14 – From Frantic Energy to Focused Energy

18:46 – Bootcamps, Leader Training & Repeatability

21:18 – The First Key Hires

23:52 – Commitment Over Consensus

25:24 – Harder Than Expected: Building the Tracks

27:37 – Why Founder Alignment Matters

29:48 – Releasing the Work at the Right Pace

31:39 – Joining Without Being Resented

34:00 – Finding Your Champions

35:05 – Stacking Wins Without Declaring Victory

36:25 – Founder Momentum & Staying Power

37:32 – Three Things to Look for in Your Next Role

39:29 – The Hardest Part: Coming From Outside the Market

41:30 – What Stephen Learned About Himself

43:05 – Pigment's Mission & the AI-First EPM Opportunity

45:00 – Replacing Incumbents: What's Next for Pigment

46:18 – What Was Stephen Oversold and Undersold On?

48:36 – Closing

What happens to a sales team built on inbound when the inbound slows down? In this episode of Hunters and Unicorns, Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne sit down with Mark Ebert, SVP of Revenue at Profound, to unpack how you build a world class sales organization in the middle of the AI gold rush one that is ready for the hard times before they arrive. Profound went from Mark and five reps in a room in Union Square to well over 50 ICs in about a year, mostly on the back of inbound demand. Mark explains why that is exactly the moment to start building the prospecting muscle, how he gets the whole org from himself on down to own its pipeline number, and why he hires people who want to learn rather than people chasing the hype. The conversation also gets personal: the advice that "no one's looking out for you in your personal life," why being on 24/7 is a myth, how he stays present for his family, and the "make the invisible visible" culture at Profound that changed the way he leads including why your reps may be afraid to tell you what's broken.

In this episode:

• Why strong inbound can hide a future pipeline problem

• Building a prospecting culture from the top down call blitzes, competitions and no free passes • Hiring for learners: "What have you not mastered that you want to master here?"

• Lessons from eight years building and leading at 6sense

• Development plans and career paths in a hypergrowth sales org

• "No one's looking out for you" work-life balance as a sales leader

• Why being on 24/7 is a myth, and how to be present at home

• MTIV: Make the Invisible Visible and why acting like everything's fine is the worst thing a leader can do

• How to get honest feedback from reps who are afraid to give it

• Profound's mission and the AEO opportunity

About Mark Ebert Mark Ebert is SVP of Revenue at Profound, the AEO platform that helps brands understand how AI talks about their products and services. He started his career as a BDR, grew into complex enterprise selling, and spent around eight years building and leading the sales organization at 6sense before joining Profound.

About Our Sponsor: Big thanks to Aurasell for sponsoring this episode. Aurasell is an AI-native GTM platform designed to intelligently automate every aspect of the sales cycle from prospecting and deal management to forecasting and coaching.

Subscribe to Hunters and Unicorns for more conversations with the leaders building, scaling, and transforming high-growth technology companies.

#HuntersAndUnicorns #MarkEbert #Profound #SalesLeadership #GTM #RevenueLeadership #PipelineGeneration #SalesCulture #AEO #AI #B2BSales #Leadership

Timestamps:

0:00 – Trailer

1:12 – Welcome & Introduction

1:54 – Building a Sales Org That Lasts Beyond the Good Days

3:51 – Staying Power in the AI Gold Rush

6:48 – Why the Foundations Matter: Hiring People Who Want to Learn

8:39 – Preparing for the Day Inbound Slows Down

11:49 – Everyone Owns the Pipeline Number

14:04 – Call Blitzes & Making Prospecting Fun

15:41 – Tuning Out the Noise & Finishing the Job

18:41 – Development Plans & Career Paths

20:53 – Who Is Mark Outside of Work?

23:06 – "No One's Looking Out for You" — Work-Life Balance

25:43 – The Myth of Being On 24/7

27:35 – Being Present With Your Family

30:33 – Tough Times & Making the Invisible Visible

34:12 – Turning MTIV Into a Culture, Not a Complaint Box

35:40 – Scaling From 5 Reps to 50+ ICs

37:00 – Why Your Reps Are Afraid to Tell You What's Broken

41:18 – Making Decisions Not Everyone Will Like

43:07 – Showing Up for Your Team on a Rocket Ship

44:38 – Profound's Mission & the AEO Opportunity

47:23 – Closing

On this episode of Hunters and Unicorns, hosts Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne sit down with Parm Uppal, Chief Revenue Officer at Chainguard, to unpack what it actually takes to become a "first-pick" CRO, the person VCs and founders call first when they need world-class go-to-market leadership. Parm shares hard-won lessons from his career at AppDynamics, DataRobot, Benchling, Luminary, and now Chainguard, covering:

• Why "develop down" beats "manage up" and how strong foundations make everything else easier
• Building internal champions and followship the right way
• The 3-stage framework for scaling revenue teams: product-market fit → repeatability → scale
• The "elephant, deer, and rabbits" method for structuring sales territories
• How his personal CRO scorecard cuts through inflated pipeline data in board meetings
• Mistakes made chasing hype cycles and picking startups at the wrong stage
• Why coachability and character are the hardest things to interview for
• Building a genuine CFO-CRO partnership and a common language with the board
• Why open-source software security is the next seismic shift as AI coding tools accelerate

If you're a sales leader, aspiring CRO, or founder building your go-to-market org, this conversation is a masterclass in leadership, hiring, and scaling with intention.

This episode is sponsored by Aurasell—intelligently automate every aspect of your sales cycle with the first AI-native, full-stack GTM platform. 🔔 Subscribe for more conversations with top revenue leaders and operators.

#SalesLeadership #CRO #GoToMarket #B2BSales #StartupGrowth #RevenueLeadership #SalesStrategy #Chainguard #VentureCapital #TechSales #Podcast #Entrepreneurship #SaaS #OpenSourceSecurity #Leadership

Timestamps:

0:00 — Trailer

1:25 — Introduction & Guest Overview

2:07 — What Makes You a "First-Pick" CRO

3:52 — Authenticity, Internal Champions, and Developing Talent

12:29 — The Elephant, Deer, and Rabbits Framework

17:02 — Your Key Priorities in the First 90 Days

22:01 — Pain Now vs. Pain Later

25:08 — Hiring for Coachability and Character

29:47 — Balancing Managing Up and Managing Down

31:20 — Learning From Your Biggest Mistakes at DataRobot

34:47 — Why You Built Your Own CRO Scorecard

43:52 — Building Relationships With VCs and Boards

47:56 — What Makes Someone a True Internal Champion

51:36 — "Develop Down": The Philosophy Behind Everything

52:25 — Why You Left Benchling for Chainguard

59:59 — Closing & Final Thoughts

What if the traditional path to becoming a CRO isn't the only path?

In this episode of Hunters and Unicorns, Ollie Kuehne and Simon Kouttis sit down with Ozge Tuncel Ozcan, Chief Revenue Officer at Forter, to explore her unconventional journey from engineering and customer success to leading an entire revenue organization.

Ozge shares why revenue is much more than bookings and pipeline, how her experience across customer success, professional services, sales development, and post-sales shaped her leadership, and why listening to customers can become a CRO's greatest advantage. The conversation also explores customer retention, product feedback, GTM strategy, AI, and why companies need to connect innovation, sales, and customer success instead of treating them as separate functions.

In this episode:

• Ozge's unconventional journey to CRO

• Why customer understanding is at the heart of revenue

• How customer success shaped her sales leadership

• Why CROs need to think beyond bookings and pipeline

• Connecting product, sales, and customer success

• Using customer feedback to drive innovation

• Building a more cohesive GTM organization

• Why listening may be the most underrated leadership skill

About Our Sponsor: Big thanks to Aurasell for sponsoring this episode. Aurasell is an AI-native GTM platform designed to intelligently automate every aspect of the sales cycle from prospecting and deal management to forecasting and coaching.

Subscribe to Hunters and Unicorns for more conversations with the leaders building, scaling, and transforming high-growth technology companies.

#HuntersAndUnicorns #OzgeTuncelOzcan #Forter #CRO #SalesLeadership #GTM #RevenueLeadership #CustomerSuccess #B2BSales #gtmstrategy

Timestamps:

00:00 Trailer

02:58 What Defines you as a CRO?

04:49 The Power of Listening

07:51 From Engineer to CRO

09:17 From MBA to McKinsey

12:00 The MongoDB Opportunity

18:00 Building a Customer-First GTM

24:00 Why Customer Success Matters

31:59 The Next Generation CRO

34:08 The Future of AI Adoption

36:20 How to Evaluate a Company

41:28 Innovation Meets GTM

45:01 Building a World-Class GTM Team

51:34 The Future of AI Commerce

54:12 Building Careers, Not Jobs

56:08 The New Path to CRO

What makes a senior GTM leader leave a successful career behind and bet on a company taking on one of the biggest challenges in AI?

In this episode of Hunters and Unicorns, hosts Ollie Kuehne and Simon Kouttis sit down with Alex Varel, EVP of GTM at Cerebras, to unpack the decision that brought him into the world of AI infrastructure. Alex shares what he saw in Cerebras, why the demand for AI compute convinced him, and what he learned from moving between companies like MongoDB and Cerebras.

In this episode:

• Why Alex chose Cerebras over other opportunities

• What makes Cerebras' AI infrastructure different

• Taking on established players like NVIDIA

• The importance of product differentiation in GTM

• What Alex saw when he first met Cerebras' leadership

• Why challenging markets attract great sales leaders

• The mindset behind building and scaling a GTM organization

A conversation about AI, enterprise sales, GTM leadership, career decisions, and what it takes to bet on a massive opportunity before everyone else sees it.

Subscribe to Hunters and Unicorns for more conversations with the leaders building the future of technology and sales.

About Our Sponsor: Big thanks to Aurasell for sponsoring this episode. Aurasell is an AI-native GTM platform designed to intelligently automate every aspect of the sales cycle—from prospecting and deal management to forecasting and coaching.

Timestamps:

0:00 — Trailer

1:45 — Welcome & Introduction

4:17 — How Did You Know Cerebras Was the Right Bet?

8:46 — How Cerebras Came to His Attention

11:37 — Meeting Andrew Feldman & the Taco Story

17:10 — Getting Up to Speed on a Technical Product

20:14 — Tackling a Highly Technical Sale

22:32 — Shifting From Feature Selling to Value Selling

26:35 — Growth & Scale — What It Looks Like Now

27:50 — How He Sees the Market Changing in 3 to 5 Years

32:03 — How He's Had to Change as a Leader

34:20 — Hanging Back & Proving Himself First

37:25 — What From the Old Playbook Transferred

43:34 — The No BS Culture at Cerebras

48:08 — Why You Don't Need a Large Sales Team

49:31 — European Expansion

51:42 — Advice for Anyone Making the Hardware Leap

54:30 — How to Assess a Comp Plan

56:47 — Imposter Syndrome at Cerebras

57:53 — Closing

What happens when you're winning every deal—but your team is quietly reaching its breaking point?

For Zach Sikora, CRO at Endor Labs, one of the biggest leadership lessons of his career came when he realized that driving results wasn't enough. His team was succeeding, but they were also fatigued and he risked creating a culture built around compliance rather than commitment. In this episode of Hunters and Unicorns, Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne sit down with Zack to explore his journey from EMC and AppDynamics to People.ai and now Endor Labs, and the leadership lessons he learned along the way. Zack shares the moment his COO warned him that he might have a “mutiny” on his hands, why accountability has to come with empathy, and how explaining the “why,” using data, humanizing leadership, and giving people a voice transformed the way his team operated. The conversation also explores building a modern GTM organization, the role of RevOps and enablement, AI and application security, Endor Labs' growth journey, and why developing leaders is just as important as hiring more sales reps.

In this episode:

• The leadership mistake that nearly cost Zack his team's commitment

• Why winning doesn't mean your leadership approach is working

• The difference between compliance and commitment

• How to balance accountability with empathy

• Why leaders need to explain the “why” behind every decision

• How data can help bring sales teams along with the strategy

• Why RevOps and enablement should come before scaling headcount

• Building a culture focused on leadership development

• How AI is changing application security and software development

• Endor Labs' growth strategy and 100% channel approach

• What it really means to build a high-performing GTM organization

About Zack Sikora

Zack Sikora is Chief Revenue Officer at Endor Labs, with leadership experience at EMC, AppDynamics, People.ai, and Endor Labs. His experience spans high-growth technology, enterprise sales, go-to-market strategy, and revenue leadership, with a strong focus on building teams and developing leaders.

About Our Sponsor:

Big thanks to Aurasell for sponsoring this episode. Aurasell is an AI-native GTM platform designed to intelligently automate every aspect of the sales cycle from prospecting and deal management to forecasting and coaching.

Subscribe to Hunters and Unicorns for conversations with the leaders building, scaling, and transforming high-growth technology companies.

#HuntersAndUnicorns #ZachSkora #EndorLabs #SalesLeadership #GTM #RevenueLeadership #SalesManagement #SalesStrategy #AI #Cybersecurity #B2BSales #leadership

Timestamps:

0:00 — Trailer

1:28 — Welcome & Introduction

2:43 — When It Started to Click as a Leader

4:18 — Accountability With Empathy — The Turning Point

5:48 — How He Actually Implemented Change

7:47 — From Compliance to Commitment

8:31 — Leaning on Mentors Through the Hard Moments

9:09 — The App Dynamics Story — A Baptism of Fire

12:34 — What Made Him Choose App Dynamics Over MongoDB & Medallia

14:52 — Why Dolly Said He Wasn't Ready

16:05 — The Rise to Third Line — Zigs, Zags & Getting Passed Over

18:11 — How to Systematically Build a Team From Scratch

20:21 — The Power of Activity Data & Leading Indicators

22:55 — When Did He Know He Wanted to Be a CRO?

25:08 — Was He Always Chasing the Title?

28:50 — Playbook First, Domain Second

32:18 — How Important Is Founder Support for Your Strategy?

33:39 — The Critical Criteria When Assessing a CRO Opportunity

35:24 — How to Assess a Founder Before You're In

38:03 — What Drew Him to Endor Labs

40:07 — The Four Problems Endor Is Built to Solve

43:49 — How Endor Stands Up Against the Big Players

46:10 — What's Stopping a Foundational Model From Doing This?

48:04 — Where Endor Is on the Journey & What's Next

49:44 — Why Endor Is a Great Place for Sales Leaders Right Now

51:18 — Closing

What happens when one of the most intense, competitive leaders in software sales finally decides to slow down?

For Alex Patman, former CRO at Drata, stepping away from the game wasn't about losing his edge—it was about gaining perspective. In this episode of Hunters and Unicorns, Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne sit down with Alex to unpack his journey from Fuze and Okta to becoming CRO at Drata, the mindset that drove his rapid rise through the software industry, and the leadership principles behind his success.

Alex opens up about the tragic loss of his brother, why he made the decision to take time away from work, and how stepping back has changed his perspective on family, health, leadership, and his next professional mission. The conversation also explores the rapidly changing AI era, the pressures of modern sales leadership, and what it really takes to build and lead high-performing go-to-market teams. From increasing intensity and narrowing the focus to raising standards and leading from the front, Alex shares the playbook, principles, and competitive mindset that have shaped his career.

In this episode:

• Alex's journey from Fuze and Okta to CRO at Drata

• Why pressure is a privilege—and the mindset of a “90-day contract”

• How tragedy and time away from work changed his perspective

• The importance of family, health, and mental resilience

• Why curiosity and competitiveness can accelerate a career

• Alex's perspective on the AI era and the future of software sales

• The leadership principles behind high-performing GTM organizations

• Why leaders need to increase intensity, narrow the focus, and raise standards

• The importance of trust, communication, humility, and collective responsibility

• How taking a step back can become the slingshot for the next chapter

About Alex Patman

Alex Patman is a former CRO at Drata and an experienced go-to-market leader who has built his career across high-growth technology companies including Fuze, Okta, and Drata. Known for his intensity, curiosity, competitiveness, and pace-setting leadership style, Alex has become one of the most prominent emerging leaders in software sales.

Subscribe to Hunters and Unicorns for conversations with the leaders building, scaling, and transforming high-growth technology companies.

About Our Sponsor:

Big thanks to Aurasell for sponsoring this episode. Aurasell is an AI-native GTM platform designed to intelligently automate every aspect of the sales cycle—from prospecting and deal management to forecasting and coaching.

#HuntersAndUnicorns #AlexPatman #Drata #SalesLeadership #GTM #SoftwareSales #AI #SalesStrategy #RevenueLeadership #B2BSales #ArtificialIntelligence #sales

Timestamps:

0:00 — Trailer

1:17 — Welcome & Introduction

2:50 — Why Alex Is Taking Time Off

6:03 — Filling the Void & Keeping the Mind Active

10:47 — Why It's Important to Sit Through This

15:30 — Evaluating the Hardware Space

19:09 — Separating Signal From Hype in AI

21:19 — What He Looks for in a Founder

26:33 — How to Assess Founder GTM Commitment

30:04 — Career Arc — Fuse to Octa to Drata

37:33 — What Set Him Apart at Octa

41:37 — When Adam Arens Took Notice

44:17 — Managing Impatience & Over-Ambition

51:05 — Transitioning Into the CRO Seat

53:35 — Is It a Lonely Seat?

56:48 — Work-Life Balance as CRO

1:01:34 — What He Loves Most About the Game

1:02:54 — Guiding Principles & Leadership Style

1:05:41 — Closing

What does it take to go from a Manager to a CEO—and become the kind of leader who helps others surpass you? In this episode of Hunters and Unicorns, Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne sit down with Christina Brady, CEO and Co-Founder of Luster, to explore her journey from account executive to revenue leader, founder, and CEO.

Christina shares how her passion for communication, leadership, and sales enablement shaped her career, why she believes leaders should be the “soil” that helps their people grow, and how AI can make sales teams better without replacing the human element. The conversation explores predictive enablement, emotional intelligence, sales performance, and why the future of AI in sales is about giving people better data, training, and feedback—not removing them from the process.

In this episode:

• Christina’s journey from account executive to CEO and founder

• Why great leaders should help their people surpass them

• How communication can transform sales performance

• The role of emotional intelligence in sales

• Why traditional sales training often fails

• How AI can make salespeople better—not replace them

• The future of predictive sales enablement

• Why enablement should become a revenue center, not a cost center

• How AI can identify and correct bad sales behavior before it happens

• What the future of sales training and enablement looks like

About Christina Brady Christina Brady is the CEO and Co-Founder of Luster, a company focused on transforming sales enablement through AI, predictive insights, training, and performance improvement. She has spent more than 20 years in go-to-market leadership, including roles across sales, enablement, customer success, and revenue leadership. Subscribe to Hunters and Unicorns for conversations with the leaders building, scaling, and transforming high-growth technology companies.

#HuntersAndUnicorns #ChristinaBrady #Luster #SalesEnablement #SalesLeadership #AIinSales #SalesTraining #RevenueLeadership #GTM #B2BSales #artificialintelligence

Timestamps:

0:00 — Trailer

2:07 — How Christina Became CEO & Co-Founder

6:32 — From Concept to Product

8:36 — Why This Problem Was Personal

11:11 — The Highs & Lows of the Journey

13:55 — Sales Methodology & Getting Certified

16:21 — From Terrible Manager to CRO

20:25 — Breaking Down Communication Barriers

25:46 — Reinforcement & Doing the Work

31:00 — Controlling Emotion in the Moment

35:04 — Radical Candor & Earning the Right

38:32 — The Psychology Behind It All

42:01 — Can Emotional Intelligence Be Learned?

44:38 — Where Luster Is Today

51:57 — Measurable Impact & Real Customer Results

54:37 — Identifying & Cloning Top Performers

57:37 — The Human Element in AI Enablement

59:33 — The Next Five Years for Luster

1:02:34 — Closing

What separates a productive sales team from one buried in operational work? For Srinivas Bandi, it comes down to eliminating the endless toil that keeps sellers away from actually selling.

In this episode of Hunters and Unicorns, Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne sit down with Srinivas Bandi, Co-Founder and CTO of Aurasell, to explore how AI is reshaping the modern go-to-market stack and changing how sales teams work. They discuss why most sellers spend less than 25% of their time selling, how AI agents can automate everything from prospecting to forecasting, and why the future of sales is about letting humans focus on high-value conversations. The conversation also explores AI-native software, data ownership, the fragmentation of today’s GTM stack, and why companies need to focus on business outcomes rather than simply adding more tools.

In this episode:

• Why sales reps spend less than 25% of their time selling

• How AI can move selling time from 25% to 75%

• Why the future of sales is AI agents + human conversations

• The problem with fragmented GTM stacks and 50+ tools

• Why high-fidelity data is becoming a competitive advantage

• How AI is changing product development and customer success

• Why speed and execution are becoming critical moats

• What the future of the GTM stack could look like

About Srinivas Bandi Srinivas Bandi is the Co-Founder and CTO of Aurasell, with previous leadership experience at VMware, Nutanix, and Harness. He has spent his career building enterprise technology and scaling products across cloud, infrastructure, and AI. Subscribe to Hunters and Unicorns for conversations with the leaders building, scaling, and transforming high-growth technology companies.

About Our Sponsor: Big thanks to Aurasell for sponsoring this episode. Aurasell is an AI-native GTM platform that replaces the 15+ disconnected tools your sales team is juggling — prospecting, deal management, forecasting, and coaching all in one place. Available as a layer on your existing Salesforce or HubSpot, or as a standalone AI-native CRM. https://www.aurasell.ai/

#HuntersAndUnicorns #SrinivasBandi #Aurasell #SalesAI #AIAgents #GTM #B2BSales #SalesLeadership #RevOps #RevenueGrowth #ArtificialIntelligence

Timestamps:

0:00 — Trailer

1:09 — Welcome & Introduction

2:17 — Career — VMware to Nutanix to Harness

6:02 — Identifying a Company's Real Moat

9:09 — Creating Real Differentiation in a Crowded Space

15:38 — What Drew Him to Solving This Problem

20:28 — Building for the Future With Aurasell

26:33 — The Nutanix Product & Its Impact

30:41 — Balancing Customer Feedback With Product Vision

35:14 — Staying Ahead When Innovation Moves Fast

38:51 — Will the Founder Profile Change in the AI Era

41:34 — The Future GTM Stack

44:33 — Will AI Make the Market Too Noisy

47:35 — How the Seller Profile Will Change With AI

49:31 — Could Salespeople Ever Be Fully Replaced

52:02 — Aurasell's Impact on Sales Rep Productivity

56:04 — Is Customer Success Being Replaced by AI

58:02 — Closing

What separates a good partner strategy from a truly transformational one? For Akshay Rao and Tom Henderson, it comes down to one thing: turning partner strategy into real field execution.

In this episode of Hunters and Unicorns, Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne sit down with the co-founders of a stealth startup and two of the most experienced leaders in partner and channel alliances, with experience at companies including Wiz, Zscaler, AppDynamics, and Skytap. They break down why companies struggle to capture their Partner Total Addressable Market (PTAM), why strategy often gets disconnected from execution, and how organizations can use partnerships to accelerate growth rather than simply generate sourced revenue.

The conversation explores what a gold-standard partner strategy looks like, how to measure the true value of partner relationships, why focused partner ecosystems outperform “everything to everyone” approaches, and how field teams can turn individual deals into long-term partner momentum.

In this episode:

• The missing link between PTAM and field execution

• Why partner strategy cannot live only on a PowerPoint deck

• How to calculate the real value of a partner relationship

• Why focused partner strategies outperform broad ecosystems

• How deals can become “currency” for building partner momentum

• The difference between sourcing revenue and accelerating TAM

• How companies can unlock growth they couldn't achieve alone

About Akshay Rao & Tom Henderson - Akshay Rao and Tom Henderson are veteran partner and channel executives who have worked together for more than 11 years across companies including Wiz, Zscaler, AppDynamics, and Skytap. They are now co-founders of a stealth startup focused on rethinking how companies build and execute transformational revenue through the channel ecosystem. Subscribe to Hunters and Unicorns for conversations with the leaders building, scaling, and transforming high-growth technology companies.

#HuntersAndUnicorns #PartnerStrategy #ChannelSales #B2BSales #RevenueGrowth #GoToMarket #SalesLeadership #Partnerships #SaaS #techleadership

Timestamps:

0:00 — Trailer

1:23 — Welcome & Introductions

3:06 — What Does Gold Standard Look Like?

5:20 — TAM & the Missing Link to Field Execution

8:18 — Opportunity Cost Across Company Sizes

9:28 — Strategy vs Execution — Where It Falls Apart

10:30 — How to Practically Identify Your Partner TAM

16:01 — Executive Sponsorship — The First Gate

20:40 — What Being Easy to Work With Actually Means

25:00 — Why Aren't More Reps Doing This?

31:50 — Multi-Party Attribution — The Real Problem

37:51 — How the Cisco Model Changed Partnering

42:27 — Can You Build Channel-First From Day One?

51:59 — Doomed at Every Size — The Core Frustration

1:00:12 — Why Would Anyone Work in Channel

1:02:20 — Why Tom Turned Down Jobs to Found Mobilize

1:05:30 — What Is Mobilize & How Does It Work

1:11:30 — Who Is Mobilize Built For & What's the Outcome

1:13:25 — Closing

What if motivation is actually the thing holding you back? In this episode of Hunters and Unicorns, hosts Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne sit down with Sean Conway, an eight-time world record holder, extreme endurance athlete, keynote speaker, and performance coach—to unpack the mindset behind sustained high performance. Sean explains why motivation is an unreliable energy source, how world-class performers build systems instead of relying on willpower, and why consistency always beats intensity over the long run.

From breaking endurance records to coaching high performers, he shares practical lessons that apply just as much to software sales, leadership, and business as they do to elite sport. In this episode:

• Why motivation is overrated
• The system that creates consistent performance
• How to build discipline that lasts
• Lessons from breaking eight world records
• Why ordinary people can achieve extraordinary results
• Endurance principles every sales leader should know
• How to perform under pressure without burning out
• Building habits that outperform talent

Subscribe for more conversations with the world's top founders, operators, and GTM leaders sharing the playbooks behind exceptional performance.

With thanks to our sponsor Aurasell AI.

#HuntersAndUnicorns #SeanConway #SalesLeadership #Performance #Motivation #Discipline #SystemsThinking #Sales #Leadership #highperformance

0:00 — Trailer

1:17 — Introduction & Sponsor

3:01 — How Many World Records

7:49 — Elite vs Average Iron Man Time

9:20 — Was He Always Innately Motivated

12:50 — Was He a Sporty Kid

15:00 — Why Has He Been Able to Achieve This

16:55 — Community Within the Pillars

24:44 — From a Low Point to an Audacious Goal

31:55 — Practical Implementation of the Plan

36:28 — Getting Up Every Morning for 105 Days

39:33 — The Power of Having a Plan

41:24 — Factoring in Distractions and Life

43:18 — Mentally Dealing With Derailed Plans

44:25 — Was There a Point He Wanted to Quit

47:20 — End Goal vs Breaking It Into Segments

49:30 — Being Present in the Now

51:47 — Parallels to Business and Sales

56:50 — Motivation Levels Through the Journey

1:01:37 — Work Outside of Endurance

1:03:39 — What He Looks for in Coaching Clients

1:12:23 — Closing

What does it really take to scale a software company from $35M to $2B ARR? In this episode of Hunters & Unicorns, Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne sit down with Dan Barrett, SVP International at Figma and former MongoDB leader, to unpack the lessons behind one of SaaS's most remarkable growth stories.

Dan shares why he hates the word "playbook," how MongoDB evolved through multiple sales transformations, and why the best leaders focus on developing people—not following a rigid process. The conversation explores authenticity in leadership, building high-performance teams, scaling PLG and enterprise sales motions, customer success, AI's impact on software sales, and the leadership lessons that helped Dan grow from a first-time manager into one of the industry's most respected sales leaders.

In this episode:

• Scaling MongoDB from $35M to $2B ARR

• Why Dan hates the term "playbook"

• The leadership epiphany that changed his career

• Building trust without fear or intimidation

• PLG vs enterprise sales models

• What great sales organizations do differently

• How to develop future sales leaders

• Why authenticity is a leadership superpower

• AI, SaaS, and the future of enterprise sales Subscribe for more conversations with the leaders building the next generation of SaaS companies.

#HuntersAndUnicorns #DanBarrett #Figma #MongoDB #SalesLeadership #SaaS #EnterpriseSales #PLG #CustomerSuccess #b2bsales

Timestamps:

0:00 — Trailer

1:02 — Introduction & Sponsor

1:56 — Welcome Dan Barrett

2:35 — Dan's Career & the Epiphany Moment

9:00 — Pressure Before the Epiphany

10:02 — QBRs With John McMahon

11:50 — Fighting for Space to Change

13:37 — From MongoDB to Figma

17:21 — Where PLG Goes Wrong

19:00 — Rethinking the Playbook

23:55 — Learning What Works at Figma

31:46 — Playbook vs Authenticity

33:32 — Moving Into Customer Success

38:06 — Knowing When to Leave MongoDB

41:00 — Sustaining Energy for Nearly a Decade

43:31 — Hunters & Unicorns Origin Story

48:21 — Will Salespeople Survive AI

51:20 — The Future of Figma

54:03 — Closing

In this episode of Hunters & Unicorns, hosts Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne sit down with Olivier Zieleniecki, Global Vice President of Partners at MongoDB, to discuss why the future of enterprise sales will be built around partnerships, ecosystems, and AI.

As cloud marketplaces, hyperscalers, and AI continue reshaping how software is bought and sold, Olivier explains why traditional sales frameworks are no longer enough on their own. The next generation of sales leaders must learn how to leverage partner ecosystems, build strategic alliances, and create value beyond a single product or transaction. Drawing on nearly 20 years of enterprise software experience, Olivier shares how MongoDB scaled through partner-led growth, why partnerships are becoming a force multiplier for revenue, and what future CROs need to master to stay relevant in the AI era.

In this episode:

• How AI is changing enterprise sales

• Why partnerships are becoming critical to growth

• The evolution of partner-led revenue

• How hyperscalers changed software buying

• What great enterprise sellers do differently

• Why future CROs must understand ecosystems

• Strategic partnerships vs transactional selling

• Building long-term customer value in the AI era

• The future of software go-to-market

About Olivier Zieleniecki: Olivier Zieleniecki is the Global Vice President of Partners at MongoDB, leading the company's worldwide partner ecosystem strategy. Over the course of his career, he has helped scale enterprise software organizations while building strategic partnerships that drive long-term growth.

About Hunters & Unicorns: Hunters & Unicorns explores the strategies, leadership lessons, and growth playbooks behind the world's most successful software companies through conversations with elite founders, operators, and GTM leaders.

With thanks to our sponsors Aurasell.

Timestamps:

0:00 — Trailer

1:20 — Introduction

3:10 — How Software Selling Is Changing

5:12 — How Hyperscalers & AI Are Reshaping the Landscape

7:50 — How Partner Complexity in Deals Has Changed

10:24 — Olivier's Career Journey Into Channel

13:57 — Why These Choices Are Setting Him Up for CRO

15:25 — Strategic vs Sourcing — What's the Difference

17:50 — How to Measure Partner Impact & Influence

19:20 — How Enterprise Sellers Should Work With Partners

21:30 — What Sellers Are Getting Wrong With Partners

23:15 — What Best Practice Actually Looks Like

27:43 — Has the Partner Team Ratio Changed at MongoDB

28:58 — How AI Is Impacting the Partner Ecosystem

30:57 — How AI Channel Strategy Differs From Cloud Alliances

32:40 — Will Classic Sales Principles Survive the AI Era

34:44 — The Guiding Principle Behind the Wizard of Oz Nickname

36:54 — How Partner Landscapes Differ Globally

38:31 — Biggest Predictions for Channel by 2030

40:35 — Tools to Track & Measure Partner Success

43:23 — Should Channel Become a Letter in MEDPIC

44:26 — Closing

In this episode, Peppa Wise, SVP of Go-To-Market at Multiverse, breaks down the real differences between scaling from 0 to 10 million, 10 to 100 million, and beyond. From early-stage hustle and chaos to building scalable systems, leadership teams, and world-class sales processes, this conversation is packed with lessons most operators only learn the hard way.

Peppa shares the painful mistakes that shaped her leadership journey, including the year Multiverse fell behind on productive capacity, why hiring the wrong people can quietly destroy growth, and why great leaders must learn to balance accountability with empathy.

The conversation also explores AI, workforce transformation, leadership psychology, sales rigor, emotional resilience, and why Multiverse believes the future of work depends on helping companies actually adopt AI — not just buy new tools.

If you're building a startup, leading a sales team, scaling a company, or trying to become a better leader, this episode is full of hard-earned insights you can apply immediately.

With thanks to our sponsors Aurasell.

Timestamps:

0:00 — Trailer
1:18 — Introduction & Guest Overview
2:59 — What Separates the 0-10, 10-100 & 100M+ Stages
4:48 — Early Learnings & What to Overcome in the 0-10 Journey
7:00 — What Leadership Looks Like at 0-10
8:58 — Reflecting on Your 0-10 Self & Mistakes Made
10:24 — How Mentorship Fuelled Evolution Through Each Stage
13:01 — Is It Okay to Specialize in One Stage
15:38 — What Is Your Long-Term Ambition
17:12 — Have You Changed as a Person Through This Journey
19:46 — How to Coach Leaders Being Inauthentic
21:16 — Were There Any Real Career Low Points
24:26 — What Does Maniacal Productive Capacity Mean
25:57 — What Signals Show Someone Is Ready to Promote
28:38 — Where People Go Wrong With Productive Capacity
33:10 — How to Manage Emotion Under Pressure
37:54 — What Separates First From Second Line Leaders
40:13 — Do You Hire People Similar to Yourself
42:32 — What Changes Has Donn Driven in Year One
45:45 — What Excites You Most About This Next Phase
48:13 — Why Multiverse Is Still the Destination
49:46 — Common Misconceptions About Multiverse
51:17 — Closing & Final Thoughts

What does it really take to scale a sales team inside a billion-dollar company without losing culture, performance, and leadership quality along the way?

In this episode, Peppa Wise and Euan Blair break down the real playbook behind scaling one of the fastest-growing teams in the UK. From the chaos of the 0 to 10 million stage to building sustainable systems at scale, this conversation dives deep into leadership, hiring, productive capacity, mentorship, sales culture, and the lessons most founders only learn after painful mistakes. Peppa shares her journey from one of the early hires at Multiverse to leading a 120+ person go-to-market organization, while Euan opens up about building a mission-driven company during one of the biggest shifts in the future of work and AI.

The episode also explores: - Why most companies fail when scaling teams - The leadership traits that matter most in hypergrowth - Why top performers don’t always become great leaders - The hidden cost of hiring the wrong people - How elite sales organizations maintain standards while scaling fast - The role AI will play in reshaping workforce productivity - Why culture and mentorship become even more important at scale If you're a founder, sales leader, startup operator, or anyone building inside a fast-growing company, this episode is packed with lessons you rarely hear shared this openly. With thanks to our sponsors, Aurasell.

Timestamps:

0:00 — Trailer

1:03 — Introduction & Guest Overview

2:18 — Peppa's Role at Multiverse

3:02 — How Peppa Ended Up at Multiverse

9:18 — Early Interactions & What That Dynamic Was Like

11:58 — The Transition From SaaS to Services

13:11 — Were You All In From Day One

15:27 — When Did You Start Seeing Proof in the Numbers

17:37 — Were You Ever Intimidated Bringing In Great Talent

19:34 — How the Relationship Between Peppa & Euan Evolved

23:02 — Bringing Donn Into the Business

26:55 — What Donn Brings to Peppa Personally

29:42 — Was Don's Impact Felt Instantly or Gradually

32:50 — How a Visionary Founder Stays Grounded

35:40 — What Excites You Most About the Next Few Years

39:02 — What Could Stop Multiverse From Being Successful

40:38 — Fine-Tuning Direction or Focused on Execution

41:58 — Why Multiverse Is the Right Place to Join Right Now

47:32 — Closing & Final Thoughts

What does the future of hiring, leadership, and company building actually look like in the age of AI?

In this episode, Rhys Hughes, Executive Talent Partner at GV, joins us for a fascinating deep dive into the battle for talent happening inside the world’s fastest-growing AI companies. From billion-dollar compensation packages and the rise of vertical AI startups to what founders are really looking for in executives, this conversation pulls back the curtain on how the next generation of iconic companies are being built.

We explore the reality of scaling in today’s market. Why velocity has become one of the defining traits of elite founders, how culture is becoming more important than compensation, and why networking and relationship-building are now critical career advantages in an AI-driven world.

Rhys also shares incredible insight into what’s happening inside the venture ecosystem at GV, where the biggest opportunities are emerging across AI, robotics, life sciences, frontier tech, and enterprise software — alongside the major risks and bottlenecks founders are navigating in real time.

If you're interested in AI, startups, venture capital, hiring, go-to-market strategy, or the future of work, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

Timestamps:

0:00 — Trailer

1:30 — Introduction & Guest Overview

2:29 — The Battle for Talent in the AI Era

4:36 — Profound Differences in This New Market

6:39 — How Organizations Are Attracting Talent & How Candidates Are Choosing

9:20 — How to Evaluate a Strong Equity Package

11:41 — Are New Comp Models Like Anthropic's Driving the Right Behaviours

14:36 — How Founders Are Approaching Go-to-Market in the AI Era

17:30 — How Does a Company Stand Out

21:44 — What Velocity Really Means & Why It Matters

23:05 — What Rhys Is Seeing From Founders Right Now

26:12 — Rogue Founders: GV's Red Lines & What They Look For

29:17 — Why Building VC Talent Relationships Is Non-Negotiable

36:19 — What Sectors & Trends GV Is Most Excited About

38:14 — Specific AI Trends Shaping GV's Investment Thesis

42:50 — Biggest Bottlenecks That Could Slow Everything Down

44:29 — How GTM Talent Should Get on the Radar of Top Portfolio Companies

47:50 — The Biggest Mistakes People Make Choosing the Wrong Company

From Downing Street to Disrupting the Future of Work! What does it really take to build a $500M+ company that’s reshaping how the world learns and works?

In this episode, Euan Blair, Founder & CEO of Multiverse, joins us for a candid, high-energy conversation on building a mission-driven business that actually scales. From reimagining apprenticeships as a global workforce revolution to breaking down the science behind elite B2B sales, this episode is packed with insights most founders never hear. We dive into the reality of the journey. Key hires, tough mistakes, and the inflection points that change everything, alongside a powerful perspective on AI and why it will either transform or disrupt the future of work as we know it. If you're interested in startups, sales, AI, or building something that truly matters, this is one you don’t want to miss!

With thanks to our sponsors Aurasell.

Timestamps:

0:00 — Trailer

0:54 — Euan Blair Introduction

01:49 — Sponsor: Aurasell

03:07 — Why Euan Chose Founding Over Politics & Finance

05:11 — Was Being a Founder Always the Plan

07:36 — Shaping the Vision & Early Surroundings

09:00 — Why VCs Invested in Multiverse

11:10 — Preparing for First Fundraise

12:34 — Life After Getting the Money

14:20 — Jeremy: The Game-Changing Hire

22:44 — Building the First Sales Team

26:10 — Tough Learnings & Biggest Mistakes

28:30 — Moments of Self-Doubt as a Founder

30:36 — What Really Motivates Euan

33:55 — AI & Workforce Displacement

36:04 — Why Euan Appointed Don D'Arcy's

40:22 — Keeping Pace with AI Change

42:32 — How the CEO Role Is Evolving

43:50 — Multiverse vs Typical SaaS Model

46:00 — What It Takes to Succeed Here

Today we sit down with Doug May, SVP of Productivity at Harness, to discuss one of the most critical yet overlooked aspects of a healthy organization: Sales Productivity. Doug has had an illustrious career at elite organizations including Datadog and Databricks, and he brings that expertise to Harness, where he has cut ramp time in half and increased per-rep contribution by 43%.

We explore the "F1 engineering team" analogy of GTM support, why productivity metrics are the ultimate indicator of a company’s health, and the specific questions every candidate should ask to de-risk their next career move.

🙌 Thanks To Our Sponsor! Aurasell AI: https://www.aurasell.ai

🏹 Key Topics Covered

00:00 - In this episode

02:44 – What is Sales Productivity Strategy?

04:00 – The F1 Analogy

05:15 – Measuring Every Step of the Process

07:45 – Cutting Ramp Time in Half at Harness

09:05 – Optimizing the Hiring Profile

12:02 – How Investors Use Productivity as a Health Signal

13:57 – Questions to Ask During Recruiting

18:23 – Benchmarks for Rep Attainment

20:00 – The Six Secrets of Excellence

25:34 – Productivity Leadership and the CRO

31:12 – Understanding CAC and Scalability

42:45 – The 5X Win Rate Improvement

💥 3 Biggest Lessons:

The F1 Engineering Team Approach: Doug views the productivity function as the engineering team behind an F1 driver. Elite sellers are the drivers, but they shouldn't be dropped into any car. A world-class productivity strategy provides the fuel (pipeline), the GPS (RevOps), and the tools to optimize every contributor's horsepower to ensure they reach "elite" status.

De-Risk Your Career with Data: Candidates should scrutinize an organization’s health through productivity metrics, not just OTE. Key indicators include ramp time (e.g., 7 months vs. 15 months), the percentage of ramped reps achieving quota, and average deal size. If a CEO does not list sales productivity as one of their top three success metrics, it is a sign that the organization may view sales as a cost center rather than an investment engine.

Decision Velocity is Critical for Growth: In a high-growth environment, waiting to make decisions is not an option. Doug highlights the concept of one-way vs. two-way doors: identifying which decisions are reversible so the team can maintain high velocity. This agility allows an organization to respond to data in real-time and win the competitive race.

💬 Notable Quotes

"We are basically there to optimize the horsepower of every single seller in the organization." "Any change is incremental until you pile them on top of each other."

"If sales productivity is not one of [the top three metrics], I should probably walk away." "Great talent... can make hay in any field if they’re supported properly."

"You have to be willing to do the hard, hard stuff."

🙌 Thanks for listening! This episode was hosted by Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne, founders of Hunters & Unicorns, and post-produced by the team at videoforce.pro. If you enjoyed this episode, please drop a like/share and subscribe to our channel!

🦄 Connect with Hunters & Unicorns

Website: http://huntersandunicorns.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/HuntersUn1corns

Instagram: http://instagram.com/huntersandunicorns

Blog: http://huntersandunicorns.com/blog

#softwaresales #huntersandunicorns #playbookuniverse #salesproductivity