Hunters + Unicorns: The 33 CxOs - Jeff Lortz 005

Hunters and Unicorns shares the playbooks from leaders, founders, executives and investors from high growth technology companies. In this special edition series The 33 CXOs we investigate the greatest success story in the history of software sales. Discover how thirty-three sales execs from one organisation, BladeLogic, became CXOs in the world’s 100 fastest growing technology companies. We uncover the stories and playbooks of the most prolific sales leaders in the industry.

Episode 5 features Jeff Lortz, Chief Operating Officer at TOMIA. Jeff started his career in the U.S. Navy as a line officer operating nuclear power plants but his path has taken some unpredicted turns since then, leading him to become the accomplished Senior Executive he is today. With more than 25 years of success in the technology, software, and SaaS industries, Jeff explains how he “stumbled” into hi tech with no marketable skills or capabilities at all, and worked his way up to arrive at his current destination driving strategy, business planning and go-to-market business processing at the fourth largest software company in the world.

“I started out as just a billable consultant on a team implementing the technology with customers. By the time I left, I was a Senior Vice President, I had over 600 people working for me around the world, 150 million dollars’ worth of revenue responsibility and all from knowing sort of nothing, coming in.”

Transitioning from SVP Global Services at PTC, to VP Professional Services at BladeLogic and then VP of Global Services at BMC, Jeff has witnessed first-hand the opportunities and processes involved in the huge success of these organisations. He took his lead from the stand-out members of these extraordinary teams, in particular John McMahon, and his military background enabled him to thrive in these highly competitive cultures, adopt the playbook and subsequently learn everything he needed to know about how to rapidly scale a company.

“I think there was a belief among everyone involved that it was totally doable again in other circumstances and should be taken forward for the rest of their careers. It just became a club that everybody knows the initiation rights to, everybody knows what the rules are, and you're allowed to go off in your own business and use it as a base line and tweak it and change it to whatever suits the situation.”

In this podcast you will discover: Effective growth strategies for a building a business The role of a COO and what it takes to be a manager in the software industry The importance of a winning culture and how to create it How to use playbooks to scale a company With a proven history as a results-driven, strategic leader, Jeff Lortz has had an incredible career and has learnt from experience how to build a business from the ground up. We discuss his vast knowledge on this industry, past to present, and his unique approach to leadership. Offering inspiration, motivation and advice on how to build foundations with methodologies and strategies, this in-depth interview is essential listening for those with an interest in sales strategy, as well as anyone with a passion for the technology space.