In today's episode, I chat with Jorge B. Macías, founder of The GTM Engineering Company, about his unconventional journey from industrial engineer who thought he was "too good at math" to become a salesperson like his dad and grandpa, to becoming one of the earliest employees at Puerto Rico's first Y Combinator company where he grew the AI startup from zero to $1.3M ARR as an AE while simultaneously implementing their CRM, cold calling systems, and contract-to-accounting integrations. 

We explore his creative Clay campaigns that flip conventional wisdom - finding signals companies are doing badly (layoffs, employee decreases, funding stagnation) instead of doing well since everyone targets the success signals, sending cold emails in multiple European languages (translating Portuguese/Italian back to English to validate quality), and literally screenshotting bad reviews about competitors' products with the message "if you don't want more reviews like this, hire us" which resonated strongly by highlighting something negative. Jorge shares his evolution from SMB AE doing volume and grunt work to mid-market roles at Boston/New York/San Francisco startups, then enterprise AE requiring surgical strategic prospecting, getting rejected from rev-ops positions despite his industrial engineering background and side projects because "you haven't been in rev-ops before," and finally making the jump to entrepreneurship when GTM engineering side projects earned more than his full-time salary. He predicts massive consolidation as siloed tools (Gong for calls, Outreach for sequences, ZoomInfo for data) expand into each other's territory to meet VC/PE/public market expectations, finding the right companies and people will become trivially easy with technology, so the real differentiator will be taste and creativity in crafting copy that triggers responses and drives purchases. Jorge's advice: get reps instead of falling into the learning rat race trap where watching YouTube videos and podcasts mimics productivity - AI won't replace your job, someone using AI will, so roll up your sleeves, build something, launch it, see how the market responds, and move to the next experiment because real value comes from doing the learning, not thinking about it.

Enjoy 🙂

(00:00) Introduction to Outbound Wizards 
(00:26) Jorge's Journey: Industrial Engineer "Too Good at Math for Sales" 
(01:16) Earliest Employee at AI Startup: SDR/BDR to AE 
(01:51) First Puerto Rican Company in Y Combinator 
(02:06) Growing Company 0 to $1.3M ARR While Implementing Systems 
(02:35) Doing Both Selling and Rev-Ops Work (2018-2022) 
(03:19) Jump from SMB AE to Mid-Market Across Boston/NY/SF Startups 
(03:45) Enterprise AE: Strategic Surgical Prospecting vs Volume 
(04:41) Naturally Drawn to GTM Engineering Tools as Industrial Engineer 
(04:53) Side Projects Earning More Than Full-Time, Made the Jump 
(05:38) Rejected from Rev-Ops Positions Despite Engineering Background 
(06:06) "You're Just a Seller" Despite Side Projects and Quota 
(06:38) Clients: Pre-Seed/Seed/Series A Tech Startups Globally 
(07:01) Spain, Portugal, US, Canada + Full-Service Providers 
(07:39) Creative Campaign: Finding Bad Signals Not Good Ones 
(08:00) Layoffs, Employee Decreases, Funding Stagnation Signals 
(08:34) Cold Emails in Multiple European Languages 
(08:50) Translating Portuguese/Italian to English to Validate Quality 
(08:58) Screenshotting Bad Reviews: "Don't Want More? Hire Us" 
(09:49) Every Campaign Has an Expiration Date 
(10:05) What Works Now Won't Work in a Year 
(10:53) Future Prediction: Consolidation of Siloed GTM Tools 
(11:09) Gong, Outreach, ZoomInfo Expanding Into Each Other 
(11:37) More Creativity and Taste Required Going Forward 
(12:25) Finding Right Companies/People Will Be Easy 
(12:46) Real Differentiator: Copy and Triggering Responses 
(13:20) Advice: Get Reps, Avoid Learning Rat Race Trap 
(13:43) Watching Videos/Podcasts Mimics Productivity But Isn't 
(14:05) "AI Won't Replace You, Someone Using AI Will" 
(14:19) Roll Up Sleeves, Build, Launch, See Market Response 
(14:32) Real Value From Doing the Learning, Not Thinking 
(15:14) Closing and Contact Information

🔗 CONNECT WITH JORGE

👥 LinkedIn 
💻 Website

🔗 CONNECT WITH SAURAV

🎥 YouTube Channel

🐦 X (Twitter)

📸 Instagram

💻 Website

👥 LinkedIn
📧 Email - [email protected]

🙏 LEAVE A REVIEW If you enjoyed listening to the podcast, we'd love for you to leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts to help others discover the show :)

👋🏼 GET IN TOUCH You can also reach out with any feedback, ideas or thoughts about the lessons you've learned from the episodes.