The High-Performing Technical Leader

Arvi Carkanji
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The High Performing Technical Leader is for founders, CROs, and technical revenue leaders scaling pre-sales and post-sales teams in technical SaaS. Hosted by Arvi Carkanji, founder of Elite Talent Recruiting, this show goes deep with leaders who are actually building, scaling, and running high-performance technical GTM teams. From hiring the first Solutions Engineer to managing rapid team expansion, from positioning pre-sales as a revenue function to retaining top talent through growth, we explore the real challenges that define technical revenue leadership. These are honest conversations with VPs, CROs, founders, and technical leaders who've done the work and are willing to share what it actually takes to win. Whether you're a founder figuring out your first technical GTM hire, a VP scaling your pre-sales function, or a leader navigating customer success as a revenue lever, you belong here. Let's build.

  1. 1d ago

    Ep.37 - Too Many Tools, Not Enough ROI: Fixing Sales Tech Adoption with Dean Curtis, CEO at Ingage

    Give us Feedback on this episode Your sales team is running 5 or 6 tools. How many of them are actually paying off? Most leaders couldn't tell you. Tools get bought because they look amazing in the demo, then six months later they're sitting in what my next guest calls the "digital dumpster." And now with AI, teams are vibe coding their own replacements... until the one person who built it goes on vacation. So I'm bringing on someone who has seen tech adoption from every angle. Dean Curtis is the CEO of Ingage. Before that, he spent 8 years at Apple helping bring the iPhone into business, and within 2.5 years, 97% of the Fortune 500 had made it their standard device. Today he helps field sales teams actually use the technology they invest in. We're getting into: 👉 Why most sales tools never deliver ROI (and how to spot it before you sign) 👉 How to decide what to cut, consolidate, or build yourself 👉 What to measure in the first 90 days to prove a tool is working 👉 What reps need to be great at in front of the buyer as AI takes over the busywork If you're a founder, CRO, or GTM leader trying to get more out of your tech stack (and your team), this one's for you. Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter.  We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks.  They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster.  We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers.  If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos. Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/ Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/  All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

  2. Oct 29

    Ep.36 - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Job Searching in PreSales (IC or Leadership), with Mattie Stremic of 2nd Connections

    Give us Feedback on this episode 9 out of 10 SEs (IC and leaders) are looking right now. Most of them are doing it quietly. The job market has created an instability + fear amongst a lot of talent I'm going live with Mattie Stremic of 2nd Connections, who coaches PreSales leaders and ICs through the job search. We dig into: Why this is one of the roughest markets PreSales has ever searched inWhat companies actually screen for vs. what candidates get told to doHow to search on the down low without getting caught5 steps to stand out if you're looking right nowAnd we'll have a bit of "healthy" debate between a recruiter's perspective and a career coach perspective 🥊🤨If you're in PreSales, leader or IC, whether you're looking or not, this one is worth your time. Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter.  We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks.  They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster.  We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers.  If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos. Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/ Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/  All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

  3. Oct 20

    Ep. 35- Why You Should Hire SEs Who've Never Been in That Seat with Tobias Rott, Pre-Sales Career Coach

    Give us Feedback on this episode our next great Solutions Engineer might have zero pre-sales experience on paper. I'm going live with Tobias (Toby) Rott, founder of Presales Club. He coaches talent looking to enter pre-sales without ever being in that seat before, and he's now doing it full-time. We dig into: Why "we need someone with the SE title" is costing you great talentThe differentiator method: how to spot who's hireable without the backgroundWhen domain expertise beats sales pedigreeThe gaps career changers must close: persona-based messaging, business value, sales motionsIf you are thinking about hiring SEs right now this will be worth a listen Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter.  We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks.  They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster.  We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers.  If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos. Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/ Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/  All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

  4. Oct 13

    Ep. 34- Before You Buy AI for Pre-Sales, Hear From the Ex-CEO of a 7,000-Person SI. Michael Chanter, Founder & CEO of 1KE

    Give us Feedback on this episode Your pre-sales team is the bottleneck. Not because they're bad. Because you need 5 SEs on every deal and you have 1. Every sales leader is now asking the same question: how do I get more out of the team I already have? Tonight I'm sitting down with Michael Chanter, Founder & CEO of 1KE. Before founding 1KE, Michael ran a 7,000-person systems integrator across 20 countries. He's seen what happens to pre-sales capacity at scale, and now he's building AI that handles the solutioning work so your best people can get back in front of customers. We're getting into: → Why pre-sales is the real bottleneck in complex technical sales → How to turn your average SEs into strong ones and your superstars into 10x players → The biggest mistakes leaders make when bringing AI into their pre-sales org → What he looks for (and what he avoids) when hiring for pre-sales and GTM If you lead a pre-sales, solutions, or GTM team and you're trying to scale without burning out your people, this one is for you. Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter.  We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks.  They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster.  We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers.  If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos. Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/ Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/  All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

  5. Oct 9

    Ep. 33- Pre-Sales Leaders Are Being Handed More Hats: Here's How to Wear Them Properly, with Anthony "Tony" Francetic

    Give us Feedback on this episode Pre-Sales Leaders are being handed more hats than ever. SDR teams. New scope. AI changing the playbook every quarter. And most leaders were never trained for half of what they now own. So how do you wear all those hats without dropping one? That's exactly what I'm digging into with Tony Francetic from Thomson Reuters. Three years ago, Tony's org shifted and on top of leading his Solution Consultants, he took on the SDR team too. Two teams, two completely different ways to coach and develop, one leader. His path is anything but typical. He started in journalism, then spent 14 years at Thomson Reuters moving through support, training, and management before landing in pre-sales leadership. He's also writing a book on stoicism and pre-sales (and yes, I'm holding him to that deadline live 😄). Here's what we're covering: 👉 How Tony went from journalist to pre-sales leader, and what actually helped him level up inside a large organization 👉 What changes when one leader owns both SDRs and Solution Consultants 👉 The real difference between coaching an SDR versus a Solution Consultant 👉 How the pre-sales leader role has changed in the last 5 to 10 years, and what's expected now 👉 Why stoic thinking might be the most underrated leadership skill in GTM 👉 What Tony looks for when hiring, and what separates good from A-Players If you're a founder, CRO, or pre-sales leader being asked to take on more than your title says, this one's for you. Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter.  We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks.  They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster.  We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers.  If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos. Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/ Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/  All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

  6. Oct 5

    Ep.32- Why High-Performing SEs Leave: Building IC Careers That Stick, with Chris Clark

    Give us Feedback on this episode Your best SE just told you they want to leave. Not because of money. Because they don't see a path forward that doesn't involve management. Here's the problem: most GTM leaders treat IC progression like an afterthought. You hire for technical depth, coach them into people managers, then act shocked when they leave. On this episode, I'm talking with Chris Clark, career coach to mid-career SEs and former Solutions Engineer at Slack and Salesforce. He works directly with SEs navigating growth at both enterprise and early-stage companies and advises hiring managers on retention. We dig into: Why your best ICs are quietly job searching (and it has nothing to do with comp)How to build IC-track roles that actually retain senior SEsThe difference between leading at Salesforce-scale vs. a Series B startup (and why your SEs care)What career design looks like for people who don't want to manageRed flags Chris is seeing in how companies treat technical career progressionIf you're scaling a GTM team, you need to hear this. Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter.  We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks.  They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster.  We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers.  If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos. Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/ Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/  All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

  7. Sep 25

    Ep. 31- The Core 4 Skills Every Sales Engineer Needs to Own the Client Conversation with Rew Dickinson

    Give us Feedback on this episode Your SE is technically brilliant. But they're not owning the conversation. Most pre-sales leaders think their team is great at discovery and storytelling. In reality, when Rew Dickinson surveyed 50+ leaders, the average score on storytelling was 4.6 out of 10. And on leadership? Most SEs are too agreeable. They say "it depends" instead of taking an opinion. They defer instead of guide. Here's what that costs you: deals that stall, prospects who don't move forward, and SEs seen as technical resources instead of trusted advisors. Rew built a framework that changes this. The Core 4 Skills every SE needs to own the client conversation: knowledge, storytelling, discovery, and leadership. Not in theory. In practice. From someone who took a $48M deal from stalled to closed by showing up without their sales rep and actually leading. https://mailchi.mp/alphagtm.com/5jfblp2mx4 Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter.  We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks.  They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster.  We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers.  If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos. Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/ Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/  All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

  8. Sep 16

    Ep. 30- Stop Losing Deals to Forgotten Leads: A Go-to-Market Fix, with Guillaume Bruere, Co-Founder of Groovin

    Give us Feedback on this episode Your team's CRM is missing leads. Not because they're bad at their jobs, but because leads fall through the cracks when they're not actively in a pipeline. The cost? Deals disappear. Pipeline shrinks. Revenue suffers. Today, I'm talking to Guillaume Bruere, co-founder of Groovin, about how the best GTM teams prevent this from happening in the first place. We dig into: The hidden lead problem every CRO faces (and why spreadsheets don't fix it)How to surface forgotten prospects before competitors doBuilding and scaling a product bootstrapped, without outside capitalWhether you're a revenue leader managing pipeline leakage, a pre-sales team maximizing deal flow, or an AE/SE hunting in your own network, this is going to be a very tactical episode USE CODE ARVI10 FOR A DISCOUNT ON GROOVIN.AI Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter.  We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks.  They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster.  We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers.  If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos. Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/ Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/  All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

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The High Performing Technical Leader is for founders, CROs, and technical revenue leaders scaling pre-sales and post-sales teams in technical SaaS. Hosted by Arvi Carkanji, founder of Elite Talent Recruiting, this show goes deep with leaders who are actually building, scaling, and running high-performance technical GTM teams. From hiring the first Solutions Engineer to managing rapid team expansion, from positioning pre-sales as a revenue function to retaining top talent through growth, we explore the real challenges that define technical revenue leadership. These are honest conversations with VPs, CROs, founders, and technical leaders who've done the work and are willing to share what it actually takes to win. Whether you're a founder figuring out your first technical GTM hire, a VP scaling your pre-sales function, or a leader navigating customer success as a revenue lever, you belong here. Let's build.

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