One of the earliest pieces of advice you'll get as a Solutions Engineer is to focus on value, not on features. The Value Consulting role takes that to another level. These individuals think day-in-day-out about how to communicate and quantify the value of solutions, particularly to executives.

In this episode, Alex King joins Chris Clark to discuss his role as Lead Value Consultant at Webflow.

We cover:

• How Alex got into pre-sales: Alex was working in Digital Marketing for a pharmaceuticals company when a friend from college recommended he apply for a Solutions Consultant role at Oracle.
• What Alex's role involves: Alex's role combines high-touch engagements like business cases and executive narratives with work to enable the broader sales team on value-based selling.
• What’s driven Alex's career success so far: Alex attributes his success to leaning into his natural strengths, consistently investing in genuine relationships, and maintaining a bias toward forward progress over perfectionism

If you’re interested in not just in technology but the outcomes it's there to deliver, this episode is for you.

Field CTO is generally considered the top role for pre-sales ICs. But what it involves and how to get to it remain something of a mystery. 

In this episode, Will Savage joins Chris Clark to discuss his role as Field CTO at Omni.

We cover:

• How Will got into pre-sales: Will was working in management consulting at Deloitte before taking on a pre-sales role at Looker, which was a Series A start-up at the time.

• What Will’s role involves: Will’s work is organised around three primary pillars: acting as the voice of the customer for the engineering team, maintaining a strong market point of view, and enabling the go-to-market team, all while remaining adaptable to company needs.

• What’s driven Will’s career success so far: Building a catalog of lessons learnt, trying to get by without his own products and demonstrating leadership (even when not a manager) have all contributed to Will’s success.

If you’re interested in discussing your technology at the strategic level with technical executives, you won't want to miss Will’s story.

Many SEs feel strongly about strategy but don’t want to become people managers. But what if you could shape strategy whilst remaining an IC?

In this episode, Saskia van Daal joins Chris Clark to discuss her role as Solutions Engineering (SE) Strategy & Operations Lead at Snowflake.

We cover:

• How Saskia got into pre-sales: After a brief stint as a management consultant, Saskia joined Tableau, where she spent time in both the Solutions and Product Marketing orgs.

• What Saskia’s role involves: She supports SE leadership maintain the “rhythm of the business” through things like forecasting and QBRs whilst also supporting strategic projects and programs related to things like tooling or enablement.

• What’s driven Saskia's career success so far: Consistently staying curious has driven her to explore different professional opportunities (both inside and outside the Solutions organisation) instead of staying comfortable.

If you’re interested in process improvement, strategic planning, or discovering how specialised roles can scale an entire Solutions organisation, you won't want to miss Saskia's story.

Being an overlay is fun but you need credibility. Kevin’s “Show Me How” Slack channel (with 1000+ members) demonstrates how to establish it.

In this episode, Kevin Luptowski joins Chris Clark to discuss his role as Principal Solutions Engineer at Slack/Salesforce.

We cover:

• How Kevin got into pre-sales: After 4 years as a consultant for an implementation partner, Kevin made the move to Salesforce to work as a Solutions Engineer.
• What Kevin’s role involves: As an overlay for the GTM organisation, Kevin provides support to strategic deals and projects, mentors account teams and develops content to scale his impact.
• What’s driven Kevin’s career success so far: Having fun at work, genuinely enjoying the process of learning and saying “yes” to opportunities have all contributed to Kevin’s success.

For anyone that’s interested in becoming a product specialist/overlay, you'll want to check out this episode.

Partner SEs don’t just support deals; they onboard, enable and activate partners at scale so that they can act as an extension of the team.

In this episode, Hannah Hawken joins Chris Clark to discuss her role as Senior Partner SE (and founding Partner SE) at Chainguard.

We cover:

• How Hannah got into pre-sales: After studying languages at university, Hannah enrolled on a coding bootcamp, which led her into software engineering and then solutions engineering.

• What Hannah’s role involves: Providing test environments, establishing certification programs and building technical champions are just some of the ways Hannah enables partners at scale.

• What’s driven Hannah’s career success so far: Saying “yes” to opportunities, staying curious and engaging in sports have all contributed to Hannah’s success.

For anyone that’s interested in working with partners and applying their creativity to projects and programs, you'll want to check out this episode.

Many Solutions Engineers (SEs) consider a move into sales but relatively few follow through.

In this episode, Julien Simiand joins Chris Clark to discuss his role as an Account Director at OpenAI.

We cover:

• How Julien got into pre-sales and then sales: A desire to oversee the customer journey from beginning to end and a close relationship with a sales leader both played their part.
• What Julien's role involves: From pipeline generation through to negotiation, Julien highlights parts of the sales process we often don’t see.
• What's driven Julien's career success so far: Julien’s curiosity about how customers work and an obsession with detail have both contributed to his success.

For anyone that’s considering a move into sales and wants to hear first-hand from someone else who’s recently made the transition, this is the episode for you.

Delivering keynote presentations. Facilitating executive engagements. Publishing thought leadership content. Could this be your dream role?

In this episode, Derek Laney joins Chris Clark to discuss his role as Technology Evangelist at Salesforce.

We cover:

• How Derek got into pre-sales: After a brief stint as an actor, Derek pivoted into tech, initially in implementation before getting involved in pre-sales.
• What Derek's role involves: Derek's role combines high-frequency customer engagements with public speaking and developing original thought leadership content.
• What's driven Derek's career success so far: A focus on maximising value creation and being open to opportunities have both driven Derek's career success.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone that's enjoyed public speaking and wants to make it a bigger part of their career.

What does it take to be a Principal Solutions Engineer (SE) at not one, but three iconic software companies: HubSpot, Slack, and Atlassian?

In this episode, Lotta Mikkonen, Principal SE at Atlassian, joins Chris Clark to discuss what the Principal SE role involves.

We cover:

• How Lotta got into pre-sales: After studying software engineering, Lotta realised she enjoyed the people-oriented aspects of the work and so she applied for a Sales Engineering internship at Salesforce.

• What Lotta's role involves: She is responsible for managing the relationship and architecture of her own accounts as well as scaling the overall team's success through mentoring and strategic projects.

• What's driven Lotta's career success so far: A combination of curiosity, self-reflection and taking on difficult projects have all contributed to Lotta's career success.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone curious about the Principal SE role looks like at tier 1 SaaS companies.

How can a Solutions Engineer (SE) provide global leadership and scale their impact without directly managing people?

In this episode, Andrew Nikolic, Distinguished SE at Slack, joins Chris Clark to discuss the unique responsibilities of a high-level individual contributor (IC) role.

We cover:

• How Andrew Nikolic got into pre-sales: He was in an IT generalist role when a sales rep invited him to a customer meeting, which exposed him to the excitement of a sales cycle and a preference for meeting with customers.

• What Andrew Nikolic's role involves: As a Distinguished SE, he operates at a strategic level as an overlay resource for complex deals involving topics like AI and security, while also providing thought leadership and building internal tools to automate demos at scale.

• What's driven Andrew Nikolic's career success so far: His success is rooted in a mindset of staying curious, proactively building relationships with stakeholders in headquarters, and the conscious decision to pivot from management back to an IC path to focus on his craft.

This episode is a must-listen for pre-sales professionals looking to understand how to advance to the highest levels of the individual contributor track while maintaining a massive organisational impact.

You can follow Andrew on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewnikolic/

You can follow Chris on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-james-clark/

Can technical enablement go beyond just training to become a strategic engine for go-to-market (GTM) success?

In this episode, Dan Iacono, GTM Engineer & Technical Enablement Manager at Augment Code, joins Chris Clark to discuss his role in evolving technical enablement at companies like Snowflake, Glean and Augment Code.

We cover:

• How Dan got into pre-sales: After realising the lucrative nature of web development compared to his TV production degree, Dan pivoted to technology and landed a startup pre-sales role that doubled his expected salary.

• What Dan's role involves: He focuses on the problems teams are facing and works back from there, building systems like AI role-play programs that allow sellers to practice customer-facing interactions without the risk of losing a deal.

• What's driven Dan's career success so far: His success stems from a willingness to tackle necessary but avoided tasks, such as building onboarding programs, alongside a commitment to continuous learning in a rapidly changing industry.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to understand how technical enablement goes beyond just training and serves as a more holistic problem-solving function for GTM.

You can follow Dan on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniacono/

You can follow Chris on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-james-clark/