If you’re running ABM without enterprise-level budget—this is the episode for you. Jim Gilkey (LinkedIn) is joined by Sean Sullivan, a self-proclaimed data nerd who’s been orchestrating GTM ops since before it had a name. Sean shares a brutally honest look at why buying an ABM platform too early can cost you way more than just money. You’ll hear why the right architect—not just a salesperson-turned-admin—is critical for your success, how bad data causes trust issues across departments, and what three pillars to hire for if you want ABM to scale cleanly. This one’s for the scrappy teams that want to win.

👤 Guest Bio
Sean Sullivan is a go-to-market ops expert passionate about improving access to healthcare through smarter systems. He brings deep experience across sales, marketing, and customer experience ops—and isn’t afraid to get into the data weeds to clean up tech debt.
Connect with Sean on LinkedIn

📌 What We Cover

• The hidden time cost of buying an ABM platform before your data’s ready
• Why data standardization and orchestration must come before tech
• What makes a great ABM architect (and what doesn’t)
• Why cross-functional ops experience matters more than admin titles
• The 3 hiring pillars: cost-cutting, process improvement, documentation
• How to contain and clean data before it hits your source of truth
• What “lean and mean” really looks like in GTM ops

🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Scrappy ABM – Repeatable ABM plays, built for you
• Converge Coffee – Sean’s podcast and platform