Sales Talent Agency

In last week’s Topline Newsletter, our CEO, Asad Zaman, explored Google's advanced talks on its largest-ever acquisition of Wiz and its implications. Across the broader realm of VC investments in security, Bessemer Venture Partners recently shared: “Since VC’s peak investment activity, global cybersecurity funding has dropped 58%. In 2021, cybersecurity companies raised over $23.3 billion. By 2023, VC saw that number drop to $7.3 billion, mirroring the broader venture capital pullback. However, after several quarters of sluggish numbers, cybersecurity startups saw a pickup in venture dollars in the first quarter of 2024 with $2.7B total dollars invested across 154 deals.” Looking forward, the Wiz acquisition will likely support an uplift in momentum in this category. Are you looking to stay at the forefront of tech conversations? Make sure you’re subscribed to the TopLine newsletter to receive weekly insights from Asad! Find out more in the comments below 👇🏼 #Cybersecurity #Acquisitions #Investing

I didn't think that 50% of the companies crowned Unicorns during ZIRP would still be Unicorns & 19% would have a clear path back. Impressive! Tech is so much stronger than we usually think. ------ The lesson: patience is truly a virtue. Valuations matter most when you are raising money, selling the business or going public. Many of the companies that became Unicorns during the exuberance of 2020/2021 didn't have to raise money and hence didn't have to sell their businesses or go public. Rising interest rates hit them hard, and they had to flip their businesses from ones that prioritized growth at all cost, to ones that prioritized growth and efficiency simultaneously. Having spoken to many Founders and Operators at these companies, I know that this shift was really hard. It aged many people. But, many have come out on the other side and are better businesses as a result. They were patient, and didn't let their diminishing paper value define their life. Really happy for those who came out on the other side, and wishing the best to those who are still in the thick of it. ------ We discuss this and other fun topics on Topline 🎙️. Our goal: to try to separate the signal from the noise for Founders & Operators. Click 'view my website' to 🎧 to the latest episode w/ the Founders of Clay. ------

Bribing prospects with gifts to take meetings is really lame.   It indicates two things: weak sales org weak value prop.    It's not the individual sellers fault because this is how they have been trained.   The fault lies with the company and the leaders within the company. Instead of strengthening their value proposition they mask weak Product Market Fit with these lame tactics. And then we wonder why CAC is out of hand in our ecosystem.   My advice to AEs in such orgs is to leave and go work for a company that has a stronger value proposition, with leaders who don't rely on such wishy washy tactics. Your future self will thank you. What is totally fine, is sending gifts to customers or running a marketing campaign the way Winn.ai did yesterday. That makes sense. Sending gifts to prospects to 'please take a meeting/demo' doesn't make sense. ----- We discuss this and other fun topics on Topline 🎙️. Our goal: to try to separate the signal from the noise for Founders & Operators. Click 'view my website' to 🎧 to the latest episode. ----- 

For remote work to WORK, you need an effective team-building and communication strategy. It’s no secret: the modern office has evolved. Today, most businesses are trying to find a balance that works for their teams with in-office, hybrid, and remote work structures. Within any type of work model, building trust within teams and channels for collaboration are KEY. Especially for remote teams, ensure you have a strategy for team building: 1️⃣ Virtual Team-Building Activities: Foster team spirit with regular virtual events like coffee breaks, online games, and personal history exercises. It’s SO important to celebrate milestones and successes with your team! 2️⃣ Collaboration Tools: Use tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Trello, and Zoom for effective communication and project management. Investing in the right mix of software can enhance the remote work experience (and efficiency!). Here at STA, we’ve just started exploring the remote-office platform @ Roam - it’s exciting! 3️⃣ Regular Check-Ins: Schedule routine meetings to align on goals and strategies. Clear and regular communication is the foundation of a successful team. If not every team member can attend a meeting, make sure to distribute meeting summaries with clear action items! Embracing remote work means adapting and integrating new, useful tools. Even when working remotely, provide your team with the tools to work together 🤝 #RemoteWork #TeamBuilding #Collaboration #Communication

Founders find few things more nerve racking than hiring a VP of Sales. They wonder: "how long till I know if I got it right?" Answer: Within 30 days MAX! Here is how: Within 30 days, a great VP of Sales will do one or more of the following: - Have a full grasp of your product and category. - Identify who is great, good and has to go on the team. - Bring in talent from their network. - Agree to or push back on the plan. - Find a metric that needs to be improved and start improving it. - Have a strategic plan for the year. Sounds aggressive right? It is. The best VPs of Sales are aggressive. They don't wait around. They don't go on a 1 month listening tour. They don't need 90 days to show impact. They move quick because they know their job is dependent on them hitting targets, and they start doing whatever is needed to maximize the probability of them hitting these targets, as soon as they get in. ----- We discuss this and other fun topics on Topline 🎙️. Our goal: to try to separate the signal from the noise for Founders & Operators. Click 'view my website' to 🎧 to the latest episode w/ the Founders of Clay. -----

Are reference checks useful? 🤔 Even amongst our team at STA, there are differing opinions on whether reference checks are effective or a waste of time. We all agree that traditional reference checks with a standard question set aren’t often an effective step in the recruitment process. They don’t add value or new information. Most references you connect with will do their best to cast their previous employee or colleague in a favourable light. But, they can still be worthwhile conversations for two key reasons: 1️⃣ You can influence the conversation to get key insights into how to prepare your candidate for a successful onboarding and you can assess for gaps in their skills. (Check out Asad’s two favourite reference check questions in the comments below 👇🏼) 2️⃣ You can assess the references. Are you talking to a “yes-person” or is it a stimulating conversation? Are you impressed by the people your candidate has worked with? Does your team still use reference checks? If so, how have you tailored the process to make it more valuable? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!

In 3 months most tech companies will start planning for 2025.  Many CROs will accept plans they don’t believe in.  But the great ones won’t capitulate because: They treat planning as a moment that matters. It matters because they are responsible for actualizing the plan. The plan has targets and investments need to be made to achieve these targets. Saying yes to a plan they don’t believe in means they are accepting targets they don’t believe are rational, and allowing investments to be made that shouldn’t be made. So they invest time and energy into developing the skills they need to not land up in that situation. P&L fluency being top of the list. This enables them to effectively work with their CEO, CFO and Board. They know that anyone can torture a financial model to make it tell us anything we want. Its very easy to increase the Quota : OTE ratio in a model.  Or add AE headcount to see revenue magically increase. But that’s not how the real world works. The Quota : OTE ratio should increase if your conversion rates are improving.  You should only add AEs if you have enough demand. Not for any other reason. They know this because this is their domain. They know that others don’t get it and that’s ok. That doesn’t make them bad people. It just means this isn’t their expertise. So the great CROs have to explain and convince their CEO, CFO and Board using their language. Those with P&L fluency are best suited to do that. But P&L fluency doesn’t come easy. It’s not something you take a course in and just develop. It’s like endurance. You build it over time by working on it consistently. This is one of the main reasons why great VPs of Sales fail when they become CROs. They wait til they become a CRO to develop this skill. That’s too late. If you are a VP of Sales, the time to start developing this skill is now. ----- Tune into Topline 🎙️ to hear Sam Jacobs, AJ Bruno and myself try to separate the signal from the noise for Founders & Operators. Click 'view my website' to 🎧 to the latest episode w/ the Founders of Clay. -----

Ready for a new challenge? 🔥 Here are our top five roles of the week: 1️⃣ Head of Growth (#Remote) at a provider of privacy and security software, dedicated to delivering high-quality network security tools to both B2C and B2B markets. As bootstrapped companies with a significant following and loyal customer base, they prioritize ethical marketing practices and innovative growth strategies to achieve their goals without relying on traditional paid advertising methods. 2️⃣ National Account Manager (#Toronto #Montreal) with a 60-year-old industry leader specializing in storage solutions, fleet management, lift trucks, and service, is seeking a dynamic addition to their sales team. With over 800 dedicated employees and a commitment to excellence, our client is renowned for their unparalleled customer service and innovative solutions. 3️⃣ Regional Sales Executive (#Toronto) with a $6M global powerhouse and leading manufacturer of products that power, transmit and control motion for mission-critical applications. They have successfully executed multiple strategic acquisitions that transformed their portfolio and allowed them to drive innovation and growth. 4️⃣ Sales Development Representative (#Toronto) with a subsidiary of a renowned global company headquartered in Sweden, excels in providing innovative cable and pipe seal solutions for the most challenging environments. These versatile products guarantee safety, efficiency, and operational reliability in demanding projects around the world. 5️⃣ Enterprise Account Executive (#Toronto) at one of the most sought-after places to work in Canada! They have been offering industry-leading technology and software solutions to the Canadian marketplace for over 100 years. With $12 billion in annual revenue, this organization is only going to continue to grow and expand. The full job descriptions are linked in the comments. Please apply directly to any that interest you, and browse our job board for even more openings! 👇 #Hiring #Sales #CanadaJobs #STAtoday

Fun fact: "MSFT estimates 8.5M machines were impacted, and it'll take a human 10-20 mins to fix each machine. That's 750-1500 human years of work." Learned this in the Topline Slack from the great Ryan Burke. Join us, and check out the latest newsletter where we broke down the Google Wiz acquisition.

There is no shortage of newsletters in tech. Yet, 52K GTM Execs read the Topline Newsletter. They say: "File under things that made me laugh today, and proof that B2B emails don't have to be boring. I never thought I'd see the word "rizz" in a B2B email, but Pavilion and Asad Zaman proved me wrong. Well played!" "I loved the Topline breakdown of the WiZZ deal. Thanks for the work you put into this" "This deal breakdown email was awesome. loved it." ----- This week's topic: Google-Wiz Deal: Much-Needed Rizz for the Market We highlight the key lessons for all of us from the Google-Wiz deal. The deal that would be Google's largest ever acquisition ($23B), and the largest M&A deal ever for a startup less than 5 years old. Which btw is the same startup that set the record for the fastest company to reach $100M in ARR. ----- We talk about this and other fun topics for Founders & Operators on Topline 🎙️ You can 🎧 to the latest episode by clicking 'view my website.' -----