The High-Performing Technical Leader

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Joseph Lee, founder of Supademo, joins me live to break down how the buying journey in SaaS is rapidly changing and why traditional demos are no longer enough.

We dive into his founder journey, the realities of bootstrapping, and how he identified a major gap in how buyers evaluate products today. 

Joseph shares how self-serve demos are reshaping pre-sales, speeding up deal cycles, and helping buyers qualify themselves before ever speaking to a rep.

We also get into one of the most talked-about topics right now: AI in sales. 

Is it replacing pre-sales teams, or making them more effective? 

Joseph gives a grounded perspective on where AI actually adds value .. and where it still falls short.

If you’re a founder, GTM leader, or part of a pre-sales team trying to keep up with how buyers are evolving, this episode gives you a clear, no-BS look at what’s changing and how to adapt.

Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter. 

We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks. 

They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster. 

We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers. 

If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos.

Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/

Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/ 

All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

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2026 is more competitive than ever… and it’s not slowing down. Everyone keeps saying “personalize your outreach.”

But AI made that easy. Which ironically made most “personalization” feel even more generic.

So now the real questions are:

Is AI replacing SDRs and BDRs?

What’s actually working in outbound right now?

And how do you build a BD engine that actually performs?

These are the questions leaders are trying to figure out every day.

I’m sitting down with Danyal Cremerius. He’s led and scaled outbound teams across Europe and the US, managed multi-region SDR orgs, and is now building and ramping a BD team from zero to performance.

We’re breaking down:

→ How to build a BD team from zero

→ What top performers actually do differently

→ What’s working in outbound in 2026

→ How AI is really impacting BD (not the LinkedIn version)

→ The tech stack behind high-performing teams

→ Metrics that actually matter vs vanity

→ BD + AE alignment and where it usually breaks

→ Europe vs US selling differences

If you’re:

• A founder trying to build pipeline

• A sales leader scaling a team

• A BD or SDR trying to break into top performance

You’ll want to be in this one.

Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter. 

We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks. 

They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster. 

We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers. 

If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos.

Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/

Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/ 

All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

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Picture this: The company is growing, deals are coming in, revenue is moving… but behind the scenes, everything is duct-taped together.

Google Sheets are breaking. Forecasting is guesswork. And leadership is flying blind.

That’s usually the stage where things feel like they’re working… until they don’t.

And that is the reality for a lot of companies that sit in that $5M + in revenue… 

Most SaaS companies break (or stall) because they can’t see what’s actually happening.

At 5M to 50M, things start to get messy fast:

→ Deals may be closing, but no one knows why
→ Forecasting becomes a guessing game, and you don’t know what’s predictable
→ Systems are duct-taped together
→ Leaders are making decisions without real visibility and gut feelings

I’m bringing a RevOps expert to break this down for us on Pre-Sales Unplugged: The Leadership Playbook. 

@ Jacki Leahy The Founder of @ Activate the Magic has worked with a multitude of startups to fix exactly all of those issues 

We’re talking about: 

→ What RevOps actually looks like behind the scenes in growing SaaS companies
→ The moment “messy but working” stops working
→ The 3 things I fix first when I step into a business
→ Metrics that matter vs metrics that waste your time
→ When to use AI and when not in RevOps
→ What actually changes inside a company when RevOps is done right
→ And what separates real RevOps operators from people who just manage tools

If you’re scaling and things feel a little chaotic… this conversation will probably hit home so come prepared with a pen and paper (Or your notetaker) 😄

Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter. 

We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks. 

They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster. 

We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers. 

If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos.

Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/

Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/ 

All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

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Competition in SaaS has gotten a lot tighter. Especially when it comes to running a strong POCs. A strong POC can be the difference between winning a deal… or losing it to a competitor.

And most of the time, that falls on your Sales Engineers.
Here’s the problem though…
A lot of teams think they’re running a solid technical evaluation.

In reality, they’re just running demos or missing key important aspects and they just don’t know it

I’m bringing in an expert this week: Steve Davis, CEO of Provarity to break this down with me.

Steve has seen it all..from doing it himself.. To building winning team and now to running and building a winning company!

We’re getting into:
→ The difference between running a demo and actually winning the technical evaluation
→ What a strong POC really looks like behind the scenes
→ The KPIs and metrics pre sales teams should actually be tracking
→ What’s changing with AI in pre sales workflows
→ What’s getting harder in the hiring market right now and how to stand out to hiring manager

If you’re a founder, GTM leader, or part of a pre sales team…

This will give you a much clearer picture of what’s actually happening in your deals.

Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter. 

We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks. 

They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster. 

We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers. 

If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos.

Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/

Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/ 

All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

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What does it actually look like to build a company in an AI-first world… instead of bolting AI on later?

Most founders talk about AI as a feature. Ben Hills built  Iris AI with it at the core.

And most B2B SaaS companies are still running the same old outbound, paid ads, and gated content playbook… hoping it works.

Ben Hills is doing BOTH differently.

He’s building an AI-native company from day one. And instead of relying on traditional lead gen, Iris AI has leaned heavily into community as a core GTM engine.

So what happens when you combine:

AI-native operations + Community-led growth?

That’s what we’re breaking down.

In this episode of PreSales Unplugged we’re shifting lens a little bit and we’ll talk about:

→ What “AI-native” actually means inside a company
→ Why community is outperforming traditional B2B lead gen
→ How trust inside peer networks shortens complex sales cycles
→ What founders get wrong about building distribution early
→ How AI changes the way GTM teams operate internally

Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter. 

We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks. 

They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster. 

We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers. 

If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos.

Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/

Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/ 

All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

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Should you be a leader or an individual contributor? In a perfect world, you’d choose one.

But startups aren’t perfect... and that’s okay.

Sometimes the player-coach model is the only way to scale without losing touch. The problem? Most do it wrong. They get stretched thin, reactive, and their teams feel it.

So how do you actually make it work?

Scott Jaworski, Director of Sales Engineering at Dashlane, is joining me live to break it down. He leads SE teams across the US and Europe while staying close to customers and deals.

We’ll cover:
→ Scaling SE across time zones without fragmentation
→ When the player-coach model works and when it breaks
→ Should SE leaders carry quota?
→ The difference between a solid SE and an A-Player
→ What top leaders look for when hiring

If you’re building a PreSales org in 2026, this session could save you months of trial and error.

Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter. 

We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks. 

They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster. 

We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers. 

If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos.

Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/

Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/ 

All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

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In this episode of Pre Sales Unplugged: The Leadership Playbook, Arvi Carkanji (Founder of Elite Talent) sits down with Chris Mabry, Vice President of Solutions and Partnerships, to break down what actually separates a good Sales Engineer from an A Player Sales Engineer, and what modern pre sales leadership really looks like inside B2B SaaS.

Chris Mabry shares his path from network engineer to solutions engineering leadership, plus the practical frameworks he uses to scale SE teams, build cross functional influence across Product, Marketing, and Sales, and create trust with Account Executives at the deal level. If you lead pre sales, want to become a Sales Engineering Manager, or you are a Solutions Engineer trying to stand out in a crowded market, this episode is built for you.

You will learn:

• Why sales is a process (not a personality trait), and how SEs can master discovery, qualification, objections, and value
• The “solve a boring problem” strategy that gets you noticed and fast tracks leadership opportunities
• How elite SE leaders run cross functional councils to improve GTM execution and give their team real influence
• The real signals of “hunger” in hiring, and why spray and pray job applications are losing
• Why building a warm bench of talent beats reactive hiring when capacity breaks
• How AI is changing demos, personalization, and buyer expectations, plus what SEs must learn now to stay competitive

Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter. 

We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks. 

They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster. 

We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers. 

If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos.

Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/

Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/ 

All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

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Join me and Ramzi Marjaba, Consultant, Solution Engineer Coach for a live conversation focused on what it really takes to be a high-performing Sales Engineer.

We’ll talk through:

 → What helps teams operate as one and avoid silos
 → How strong Pre-Sales and AE collaboration really works
 → What separates good Sales Engineers from true A-players
 → What an effective interview process looks like when hiring for long-term fit

This session is designed for leaders who are building, scaling, or evolving Pre-Sales and Post-Sales teams and want practical insight from someone who’s done it.

Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter. 

We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks. 

They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster. 

We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers. 

If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos.

Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/

Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/ 

All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

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In this solo episode, Arvi Carkanji breaks down the real version of mindset toughness that shows up in SaaS when the pipeline is messy, deals go dark, and you still have to perform even when your brain is not cooperating.

You will hear a personal story from the trenches of SaaS recruiting where rejection is daily, plus the exact principles top performers use to stay consistent when motivation disappears.

What we cover:
 • What mental toughness actually is and why SaaS punishes inconsistency
 • Why most people do not have a motivation problem, they have a discomfort problem
 • The identity shift that stops you from running on mood
 • The “do the hard thing first” rule that builds a real mental edge
 • How to reframe discomfort as training instead of a stop sign
 • Real examples for sales, sales engineering, and founders
 • Book recommendations that actually shaped these principles
 • A simple 7 day toughness challenge you can start today

If you have been starting strong and fading out, this episode is your reset.

ABOUT ELITE TALENT
Elite Talent helps SaaS companies hire top-tier PreSales and PostSales professionals: Sales Engineers, Solutions Architects, Customer Success leaders, and more. 
We partner with fast-growing startups and established SaaS organizations to build high-impact teams that drive revenue and customer success.
Want to learn more about us? 

Click here: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

Website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/

Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter. 

We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks. 

They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster. 

We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers. 

If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos.

Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/

Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/ 

All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

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In this episode of Pre-Sales Unplugged: The Leadership Playbook, host Arvi Carkanji sits down with David Schultz, Head of Solution Consulting at Employe, to break down what it really takes to build a career and lead high-performing Sales Engineering teams.

David shares how he accidentally found his way into Solutions Consulting, why raising his hand early changed his career trajectory, and what he learned stepping into leadership while still mastering the role himself.

This conversation covers:
 → The biggest mistakes new SE leaders make and how to avoid them
 → Why trust and relationships matter more than process alone
 → How to handle pushback and tough leadership decisions
 → What separates good SEs from true A-players
 → Skills vs. knowledge in hiring and why soft skills scale better
 → When to hire proactively and when to pause
 → Metrics that actually matter for SE performance
 → Practical advice for breaking into Sales Engineering and standing out in interviews

If you are a Sales Engineer, Solution Consultant, SE leader, or GTM executive building or scaling a pre-sales function, this episode delivers real, field-tested insight you can apply immediately.

Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter. 

We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks. 

They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster. 

We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers. 

If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos.

Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/

Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/ 

All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting