Bjoern W. Schaefer

De-risking GTM Acceleration 📈 - B2B SaaS only

Most B2B founders can sell their way to 1M ARR.
Scaling to 5M+? That’s where it breaks.

Why?
Because founder sales don’t scale. 

And hiring a Head of Sales too early is like hiring a DJ to fix your Wi-Fi.

You don’t have a hiring problem.
You have a system problem.

𝗛𝗶, 𝗜’𝗺 𝗕𝗷ö𝗿𝗻 𝗪. 𝗦𝗰𝗵ä𝗳𝗲𝗿 – 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿, 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁-𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁.

For the past 10+ years, I’ve helped 150+ B2B SaaS startups across Europe scale from early traction to real revenue engines – as a founder, sales leader, advisor, and operator.

I led Urban Sports Club’s B2B business to 20x growth and €20M+ revenue, scaled my own startups, and now focus exclusively on helping founders master the messy middle:
𝗚𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿-𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺.

I work hands-on with B2B SaaS & AI startups in the DACH region and across Europe that are serious about reaching the next level.

🧠 My signature program helps founders build an unshakeable revenue engine in 8 weeks

💸 As an angel, I back ambitious B2B founders building the next category leaders

📚 My book 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗸𝘆 𝗙𝗹𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 is a field guide to modern GTM thinking - https://amzn.to/4huAA8E

🎙️ My podcast 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗸𝘆 𝗙𝗹𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 explores the secrets behind the scenes - bit.ly/3OIKtVc

This isn’t about hacks, hustle, or hiring silver bullets.

It’s about building systems that work — with or without you.

If you’re at 1M+ ARR and ready to build a sales org that scales itself, we should talk.

Founder | Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)

Scaling your B2B revenue organization is tough. We have been there multiple times. The good news is that we know exactly what it takes to master your upcoming challenges on your journey between Sees and Series B. We are thrilled to support B2B startups and scaleups with a holistic view on performance.

Björn W. Schäfer

Eliq

Making sense of energy data
Energy providers are increasingly adopting energy-as-a-service models, as traditional business models start to crumble. We help providers to accelerate and benefit from that change.
Eliq’s SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) platform enables energy providers to build great products using insights from Smart Meter data that help its customers to monitor, understand and optimise their home energy usage.

Vice President of Sales

I help start-ups / scale-ups in their go-to-market development, first sales & marketing efforts and in hiring decisions. Another field is Interim Management in GTM, Sales-Management and CRO area for established companies and branches. 

2024 - Apr / Jul - ScaleUp 90 FTE - e-commerce - Int’l and Global Head of Sales, Reviewing status  
2024 - Feb / Mar - StartUp 70 FTE - CMS - Interim Head of Sales, Selection and Hiring from VP Sales 
2023 - Sep / Nov - Series E 1.200 FTE - HR - Support uplevel GTM from mid-market to Enterprise 
2023 - Apr / Jul - ScaleUp 300 FTE - Data - Sales Leadership training “The qualified Sales Leader" 
2023 - Feb / Apr - StartUp 50 FTE - IOT - SalesProcess, Meddpicc implementation and training
2022 - Sep / Dez - ScaleUP 240 FTE - Fintech - Establish new sales structure 1st 2nd line sales org

I work in this advisory capacity since 2016, depending on available hours from my full-time role for up to three hours a week. From 2022 to summer 2024 I did advisory in full time and now since Aug 2024 again on an hourly base.

Strategic Advisor | Start-ups and Scale-Ups | Interim | Freelance 

Acquia

In this senior sales leadership role, I lead all aspects of full-cycle sales and marketing processes and initiatives including strategic planning, implementation, forecasting, budget development, lead generation and tracking, networking, and sale close-out for central Europe region.

• Grew pipeline by 4X yearly quota.
• Established strategic partner channel.
• Recruited, developed, and trained team in challenging market.

Acquia is the number one provider for the leading open-source CMS platform Drupal.

As a new region we became all part of the July 2022 happened Layoff program.

AVP Central Europe  |  Interim

Avantra

As SVP, I spearheaded innovative sales strategies and processed to drive top tier CX. Collaborating with the C-Suite executive team, I developed positioning and took enterprise, sales, marketing, and CX practise to a world class level.

• Built pipeline from zero to four-times quota within 12 months .
• Achieved and maintained 50% year-over-year growth.
• Coordinated and closed seven-figure multiyear deals.
 
Avantra (former known as Xandria) is the leader in the SAP Application Monitoring and Management space. PE-backed with 50+ employees.

SVP EMEA

Workfront

As the RVP I developed the appropriate Sales Strategy and process per region. Worked with peers from Marketing and CX to build strong pipeline.    

• Orchestrated largest land deal in company history.
• Completed 2018 at 217%.
• Achieved 100% plus ARR growth for the regions YoY.
• Met 2020 H1 plan with 30% growth during Covid-19 pandemic.
• Two times promotion based on achievements

RVP Central Europe, Benelux and Nordics 

RVP Central Europe and Nordics

Workfront is the leading Work Management SaaS platform driving efficiency and transparency in work processes across Enterprises. 1000+ people globally, VC-backed and 2020 acquired by Adobe.

Sales Director Central Europe

BlueCat

As VP and GM, I led a cross-functional team of five directors. I implemented new sales-, channel- and distribution processes. I restructured the EMEA region with a customer base of 300 and a team of 18 to drive growth. 

• Recruited, trained, and developed leadership team in UK and DE.
• Accomplished over plan new product quota and new record in total bookings including refresh and renewal.
• Grew entire team from 18 to 45 in just over one year.
• Attained new product growth by 170% 
• Recognized for exceptional contributions with promotion to Managing Director.

BlueCat Networks is the global leading DDI provider in the Network Management and Security space - 450 people and VC-backed.

VP EMEA | GM and Managing Director 

CallidusCloud

I build up the Central- and Eastern European operation for CallidusCloud, localized the Strategy and GTM, hired and onboarded a strong sales-, sales-engineering, SDR and Marketing team for the region.

CallidusCloud enables organizations to drive performance and productivity across their whole sales cycle. Most famous for Commissions, CPQ and Contract-Management solutions.

VP Central- & Eastern Europe

Coupa Software

Coupa in 2013 was a young super-fast-growing start-up entering an established market with 200 people – SaaS platform for procurement, spend management and sourcing. Today, Coupa has grown to 3000+ people and a $4.5 billion market capitalization.   

Responsible to build up and grow Coupa Software in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and eastern Europe.

Director Central Europe

Eloqua

Eloqua was the first end-to-end global Marketing Automation SaaS platform – IPO’d and then acquired in 2012 with 500 employees by Oracle. 

IPO August 2012
Acquired from Oracle Dec 2012

Responsible for the market Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Eastern Europe. Sales direct and via existing qualified partner network. Education about this new marketing theme, type of solution and all data-security and privacy aspects which SaaS brings with it. 
 
Won major brands in the region like Siemens, Deutsche Post DHL, Panasonic, Nestle, SwissPost, Intershop Commumications, DOW, DuPont, ...

IntraLinks

IntraLinks is the VC-backed SaaS leader in secure deal-rooms for M&A, capital raising and other confidential transactions.  

I was responsible for development of the Enterprise business with multi-year usage and growth of the sales team in the in Central Europe region.

VP Sales Central Europe

High performing, dynamic, energetic and empathetic senior leader with 20+ years of experience within Sales Leadership, General Management in Software and SaaS, working based on John McMahon's playbook.
I leverage my scale-up experience to instill a start-up mentality and culture on my teams while also looking ahead for repeatability and ongoing efficiency improvements. 

For every business, customer success is a priority. As a senior sales leader, my role is to support this priority by developing and leading high-performing, cross-functional sales teams that launch the customer success process at the first point of contact. From prospecting and lead generation to relationship building, sale-close-out, and renewal, I oversee full-cycle sales and marketing processes and have a proven history of delivering results that surpass expectations and drive revenue growth. 
 
I attribute much of my success to a collaborative leaderships style and strong communication skills that enable me to create compelling sales presentations, foster trusted relationships, mentor and coach teams, and inspire customer loyalty. As a decisive problem solver, I am always on the lookout for opportunities to improve processes and increase efficiencies.
 
Key areas of my expertise include:
 
♦     Sales & Marketing
♦     Strategic Planning 
♦     Talent Recruitment 
♦     Lead Generation
♦     Forecasting   
♦     Data-Driven Analysis 
♦     Customer Experience (CX)  
♦     Team Building & Training
♦     General Management
♦     Budget Development 
♦     Project Management 
♦     Networking & Prospecting
♦     Negotiations 
 
I always look forward to making new professional connections on LinkedIn!

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Björn W. Schäfer

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