The GTM Podcast GTMFund

Sam McKenna is the founder of SamSalesConsulting, previous to that she spent 6 years at On24 ending up as their VP of Enterprise Sales, She then jumped over to LinkedIn as their Head of Enterprise Sales. Sam is also an advisor for high growth companies. She now leads an all women team of 11, has over 180 clients, multiple million dollars in revenue, all under 4 years.
What you will learn
Knowing when to outsource talent as a founderUsing strategic hooks to capture engagement on socialThe power of dark social and leveraging it to increase impressionsHow to monetize your social presence Learning to scale things you do well effectively How to effectively implement the "show me you know me" framework in salesHighlights
(3:40) Why building your digital footprint is more important than ever for founders 
(8:30) How to carve out time for thought leadership throughout busy times
(13:00) Strategies from Sam’s playbook that people should implement when building their social
(20:00) High impact strategies that Sam used to excel throughout her sales career
(26:00) Walking the line between doing what works for you vs following playbooks given by your leaders
(29:00) A framework for “show me you know me” in Sales
(33:42) Hot take: Shorter e-mails are not the way to earn your ICP’s time
(35:51) How to successfully hire for key roles
(40:30) Hot take: Cold calling isn't the way to approach your ICP anymore
(44:10) How to leverage data to prospect efficiently 
Quotes
“You need to be sure that you’re hiring someone that truly has the mind share expertise of the platform”
“I thought that If I could scale whatever we’re doing really well, show me you know me, I bet we could kill it”
“Depending on the environment that you’re in, if you have wiggle room to try new things out, give it a shot”
Links and Resources
Sam’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samsalesli/
SamSalesConsulting: https://www.samsalesconsulting.com
LinkedIn Influencer Playbook: https://shorts.samsalesconsulting.com/courses/linkedin-influencer-playbook 
The GTM Podcast


Don’t miss The GTM Podcast dropping every Tuesday discussing true stories and experiences including trials and tribulations in the Go-To-Market world.
And…monthly bonus podcast episodes dropping the first Thursday of every month.

Melanie Fellay is the CEO and Co-Founder of Spekit, a just-in-time platform that is transforming how we learn at work. Spekit meets reps with the process guidance, enablement and knowledge they need, right when they need it, in their flow of work to help them be more efficient, drive more revenue and eliminate the friction of change.
She’s a Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient, Top 100 Female Entrepreneur to watch (Entrepreneur) and has been featured across Forbes, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Business Insider and more. Mel co-founded Spekit with Zari Zahra to solve a simple challenge: how do we make sure employees know what they need to know, when and where they need to know it. Hundreds of the world's most innovative companies, including Uber Freight, Snowflake, Southwest Airlines and Invesco, rely on Spekit to empower their employees with real-time knowledge and training, without disrupting their day-to-day workflows.The company has raised $60M in venture funding from notable investors Craft Ventures. Felicis, Operator Collective, Matchstick Ventures, Renegade Partners, Foundry Group and Bonfire Ventures and more.
What you will learn
Narrowing the playing field and going where people aren't as a founderAlways be strategic and intentional when you go wideThe importance of customer-facing as a founder Making hard decisions faster will only benefit your team's success long termProduct momentum comes from working well as an executive teamHighlights
(2:40) The importance of allowing your mind to rest
(9:37) Mel’s founder journey that inspired her to build Spekit
(15:44) How to go-to-market with a tool that tackles multiple categories
(22:33) Customer facing as a founder shouldn't be overlooked
(24:10) How Mel ended up having to step in as Spekit's CTO during the pandemic and her experience sitting in the engineering seat
(34:08) How Mel took the mental strength to show up for her team when things were difficult
(39:38) What Mel would tell her 25-year-old self
(42:06) The Importance of networking and building your brand as a first time founder 
(46:44) Figuring out how you work best as an executive team to increase product momentum
Quotes
"It's okay to solve different problems and go wide, but you need to have a very intentional strategy behind it."
"At the end of the day you need to have smart and resilient people, but you need to have people who are driven on your particular problem."
Links and Resources
Mel's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melaniefellay/Spekit's Website: https://spekit.com The GTM Podcast
Don’t miss The GTM Podcast dropping every Tuesday discussing true stories and experiences including trials and tribulations in the Go-To-Market world.
And…monthly bonus podcast episodes dropping the first Thursday of every month.

Meka Asonye is a Partner at First Round Capital based in San Francisco. Before moving into venture, Meka was an active angel investor backing companies such as Coda, Alchemy, Rimeto (acq. by Slack), Snackpass and Stytch. Previously, he served as the VP of Sales & Services at Mixpanel, where he ran the more than 100-person global revenue team. Before Mixpanel, Meka spent four years at Stripe and scaled and matured its sales organization during the company's rapid growth from 250 to 2000 people. Prior to joining Stripe, Meka served as Case Team Leader at Bain in San Francisco, partnering with the C-Suites of Fortune 50 companies across different verticals. Meka started his career working in Player Development & Baseball Operations for the Cleveland Indians. Meka earned a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in Economics and Finance from Princeton and his MBA from Harvard Business School
P.S. We’re officially running a GTMfund giveaway program! Share your favourite media piece (GTM podcast or GTM newsletter) on LinkedIn and Twitter, tag us, and you’ll be entered to win a pair of GTMfund Airpod Pros!
What you will learn
Long term orientation for lead distribution at StripeInvesting in the person, and then the product, is most important in angel investingBest tips to start out in angel investing Compensation structures that early stage companies should implementHighlights
(3:44) How Meka started his career in player development and baseball ops for the Cleveland Indians
(8:50) Meka’s biggest challenges during his time at Stripe as the Head of Sales
(10:15) How the SMB team measured success at Stripe and how it evolved over the years
(13:14) Balancing lead distribution at Stripe
(16:28) Practicing “Dumpster Diving” at Stripe
(18:00) Setting up long term incentive structures at Stripe
(22:48) How Meka began angel investing
(28:10) What Meka learned from his first angel investing experience
(36:22) The best way to start out in angel investing
(39:42) Why traditional sales compensation models at early stage companies is flawed 
(42:00) The importance of educating your customers effectively through each touch 
Quotes
“One of the things I look for out of founders is commercial orientation”
“ I knew a little bit about what he was building but I really just made a bet on the person”
“What makes you money and loses you money is the founder”
Links and Resources
Meka's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mekaasonye/
Meka's Twitter: https://twitter.com/BigMekaStyle
Mekas's Email: Meka@firstround.com 
The GTM Podcast
Don’t miss The GTM Podcast dropping every Tuesday discussing true stories and experiences including trials and tribulations in the Go-To-Market world.
And…monthly bonus podcast episodes dropping the first Thursday of every month

Eli Rubel is the CEO of MatterMade and NoBoringDesign, and has served as a Marketing advisor for companies like Dropbox, Loom, Productboard, Calm, and many others. Prior to MatterMade & NoBoringDesign, Eli was the founding CEO of Glider.com which he led through a successful acquisition to FPX.

What you will learn
The importance of leveraging Demand Efficiency for your businessBeing aware of the bad actors that exist in businessExtreme diligence on contract work should not be overlookedSetting yourself up successfully post acquisition changes
Highlights
(3:39) Defining Demand Efficiency
(7:30) Shared data around good efficiency through channels
(10:10) Common micro-surfaces that are often overlooked
(13:10) Companies revisiting their brand guidelines and brand identity
(15:24) Good conversion rates on ad spend for b2b SaaS companies
(17:10) Things people should think about when analyzing their demand efficiency
(18:10) Eli’s acquisition that went wrong
(25:30) How to combat against acquisitions going wrong
(28:00) Post acquisition shift - how to set yourself up
(30:10) Founder Question: What your first marketing hire should look like
(25:00) Hot take: LinkedIn is dying!
(38:00) Operational excellence will set your team up for success every time

Quotes
“Demand efficiency as a definition, is the evaluation of all of the different micro surfaces and growth levers throughout the buyers journey and how they all stack up together”
“Build a brand that’s extensible, you can still have fresh ads that are being changed up as long as the underlying brand foundations were created in a way that allow for creativity and experimentation”
"When you combine curiosity, grit, and drive together, it doesn't matter what they know and what they don't know. Because they're going to figure it out and try"

Links and Resources
Eli's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elirubel/
MatterMade's Website: https://www.mattermade.co
NoBoringDesign Website: https://www.noboringdesign.com

The GTM Podcast
Don’t miss The GTM Podcast dropping every Tuesday discussing true stories and experiences including trials and tribulations in the Go-To-Market world.
And…monthly bonus podcast episodes dropping the first Thursday of every month.

This is a revisited episode from the early GTM Podcast days, and our highest streamed episode. So much value to take away from the Pioneer of the BDR name!
Lars Nilsson is the VP of Global Sales Development at Snowflake. Prior to Snowflake, Lars was the CEO of SalesSource, a premier RevOps consulting firm. Before that he was the VP of Global Inside Sales for Cloudera. Lars and his team at Cloudera developed the Sales methodology known as Account-Based Sales Development, which has transformed how businesses approach high-value targets, and is an integral part of most teams playbooks today.
Lars has also served in sales exec roles at ArcSight, Hewlett Packard, Riverbed Technology, and Portal Software, all three of which achieved IPOs.
Lars starts this episode by sharing what he learned early in his career at Xerox and the world-famous Xerox Management Training Program. He then talks about Cloudera's account-based sales development method, including how it started and why it was successful.
 
What you’ll learn:
How to use personalization to your advantageHow to speak among people in a way that brings them togetherWhat to look for when hiring a BDR

Highlights
(05:00) Insights on nurturing young talent while fostering loyalty
(14:40) Cloudera's account-based sales development methodology: origins and early successes
(21:40) Insights on the power of personalization
(27:30) How to create a lasting impression in front of people and bring them together
(31:00) Why you should express gratitude or tell a story in front of people more often
(32:49) How to overcome fear and nervousness and find the courage to speak among people
(38:03) Things to look out for when hiring a BDR
(41:26) Summary of Lars’ career learnings

Dave Gerhardt worked as a Senior Marketing Manager at Drift in 2015 and quickly grew into their VP of Marketing. Dave left Drift in 2019 to join Privy as their CMO for just under 2 years, then returned to Drift as a Chief Brand Officer. Dave now runs Exit Five, The #1 community for B2B Marketers.

What you will learn
How to successfully set yourself up as a one person teamEvolving your strategy and goals as your companies goals changeHow to nail your companies messagingEffectively building a founder brandThe importance of niching down to drive growth
Highlights
(3:25) Shifting from a ‘Yes mindset’ to a ‘No mindset’
(12:10) How Dave grew into a VP-level role at Drift
(12:58) How Dave started his career at Drift
(24:00) Moments in Dave’s career where he didn’t achieve his goals
(28:48) Aligning revenue goals between Sales and Marketing
(31:50) Getting people excited and engaged in Drifts product at an early stage
(36:50) The pros and cons on starting a founder brand
(40:39) How Dave measured success for his podcast as they started out
(43:00) Hot take: Measuring everything in Marketing is no longer relevant
(45:00) The importance of niching down to drive growth

Links and Resources
Dave's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davegerhardt/
Exit5 Community: https://www.exitfive.com

The GTM Podcast
Don’t miss The GTM Podcast dropping every Tuesday discussing true stories and experiences including trials and tribulations in the Go-To-Market world.
And…monthly bonus podcast episodes dropping the first Thursday of every month.