Hunters and Unicorns

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:

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