Jake Dunlap

Skaled Consulting

Everyday we help companies operationalize key aspects of their sales and marketing organization.  As CEOs, Senior Execs, and Sales people, our world is changing so rapidly and keeping pace is extremely hard.  We help with both strategic and tactical support through various phases of scaling and when larger organizations are looking to re-invent or stay relevant with their current marketing and sales strategies.

Here are a few of our clients in key verticals:

Enterprise Technology and Services:
LinkedIn / Splunk / SEMRush / Microsoft 

Hospitality/Customer Service Tech:
Duetto / NoWait (acquired by Yelp) / Stella Service

HR Tech:
LinkedIn / ADP / The Muse / Grovo / ConveyIQ / Wayup / Vettery / Paypro

Education/Legal Tech:
Newsela / Bodhala / Hire an Esquire / Allovue / Codio / Busylamp

Real Estate/Financial Services Tech:
Breather / Nestio / Honest Buildings / Hightower / Everplans / CredSimple / Captalys / ReThinkCRM

Sales Technology:
Outreach / SalesLoft / Everstring / Lead Genius / Terminus / Discoverorg / Emissary.io / Redbooks / Speek / 15Five / Honey

Advertising and PR tech:
BounceExchange / SaleMove

Services:
Dom & Tom / Betts Recruiting / Moxie / Palantir

Chief Executive Officer

Stage 2 Capital

Nowait Inc

This was one of the most amazing opportunities I have had to change the way that restaurants think about engaging with guests and managing throughout at the same time. 

How do you provide a world class experience for guests and ensure that your internal team can manage the flow of guests on your busiest days/nights?  This is what we helped 1000s of restaurants accomplish everyday. 

I built out, managed and led the process for how NoWait engaged with and deployed its software and service to the largest restaurant groups in the United States and Canada including Brinker (Chili’s), Applebee’s, BWW, Cheddars, On the Border and 1000s of other leading restaurants to transform the way they treat and manage their guest experience at the front of the house.

Vice President of Sales (acquired by Yelp)

Chartbeat

Partnered with the leading publishers (ESPN, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and 100s of others) and the largest websites in the world to better understand their audience in real-time. 

Developed and managed the growth, development and execution of product outreach, sales and account-management strategies to ensure Chartbeat met the need of our partners at the strategic and tactical levels. 

Over the course of the year and early 2013, we transformed the organization from a one-person function to four departments comprised of sales development, account executives, Chartcorps (service) and customer success to specialize in solving the needs of the largest websites in the world. 

In 2012, we grew annual bookings by more than 300% year-over-year and nearly doubled monthly recurring revenue during the first nine months

Head of Sales & Customer Success

Glassdoor

10 years after Glassdoor launched we sold to Recruit (owner of Indeed) for 1.2 billion dollars.  

My piece of this amazing journey was two fold:

1. Change the way that employers think about how they interact with their current employees, interviewees and attract the top new hires. 

2. Build a sales, success, service and operations organization that could consult and service the largest companies in the world on how to find and retain their most valuable asset - their people. 

From 2010-2012, I spearheaded the day-to-day operations of all sales, operations and account management, expanding the department from 0 to 40 employees in less than 18 months. 

We grew to $1 million MRR in less than 18 months and developed sales and operations training program as well as client-services workflow.

Had the amazing opportunity to work hands with Rich Barton, Bill Gurley and some of the other titans of Silicon Valley directly while reporting to the CEO and board of directors

Vice President of Sales, Success, and Sales Operations

Careerbuilder.com

•	Managed 15-member team responsible for providing industry- and regional-recruiting guidance on best practices for utilizing services to develop advertising campaigns for mid-sized businesses
•	Identified organizational goals and aligned them with team’s core competencies
•	Consulted with organizations’ multi-level leaders to better understand their needs and correlated best ways for meeting them
•	Worked with executives nationwide to develop various industry-specific, human-capital strategies
•	Developed corporate strategies for Fortune 500 organizations that directly impacted revenue generation and cost control through human resources
•	Initiated relationships and managed day-to-day consulting of Fortune 100 organizations

Senior Sales Manager - Pacific Northwest

National Accounts Manager

Arizona Coyotes

I was the top Premium Sales person until I made the mistake of telling my boss to F**k off 🤷‍♂️

Senior Account Manager

Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Hired and managed inside sales team 
Responsible for group, season and premium-season ticket sales

Account Manager - Corporate Accounts

My deep passion for the science and art of sales has fueled my journey over the past 11 years as the founder and CEO of Skaled, a globally recognized sales consulting firm. According to G2, we have outperformed industry giants like McKinsey in Management Consulting and Accenture in Sales Consulting due to our mix of strategic foresight and tactical follow through.

We’ve consistently driven a 10-20% increase in qualified opportunities, reduced sales cycles by 8%, and enhanced overall team productivity by 20% within the first 60 days of engagement. Our approach is methodical and data-driven, ensuring that every strategy we implement translates into tangible business results.

With a team of over 30 elite professionals and access to a vast network of industry experts, we specialize in aligning sales and marketing to create scalable, replicable processes. We leverage cutting-edge generative AI technology to automate critical functions like follow-up, data entry, and task management, freeing your teams to focus on what truly matters—closing deals and driving growth.

As the USA Today bestselling author of Innovative Seller, I’ve helped to shape the future of sales, offering insights and strategies that resonate with both seasoned executives and the next generation of sales leaders. My work has been recognized in the New York Times, Forbes, Inc., and HuffPost. 

For those who demand excellence and are looking to accelerate growth in today’s competitive landscape, I invite you to explore how Skaled can partner with you to achieve unparalleled success.

Check out my YouTube: Jake Dunlap to discover over 500 sales, revenue and AI for Sales videos: bit.ly/2Qu3niE

Highlights:

	• USA Today Bestselling Author of Innovative Seller - #21 in all books
	• First VP of Sales at Glassdoor (acquired for $1.2 billion - May 2018)
	• VP of Sales at NoWait (acquired by Yelp - March 2017)

Everyday we help companies operationalize key aspects of their sales and marketing organization.  As CEOs, Senior Execs, and Sales people, our world is changing so rapidly and keeping pace is extremely hard.  We help with both strategic and tactical support through various phases of scaling and when larger organizations are looking to re-invent or stay relevant with their current marketing and sales strategies.

Here are a few of our clients in key verticals:

Enterprise Technology and Services:
Microsoft / GLG

Hospitality/Customer Service Tech:
Duetto / NoWait (acquired by Yelp) / Stella Service

HR Tech:
LinkedIn / ADP / The Muse / Grovo / ConveyIQ / Wayup / Vettery / Paypro

Education/Legal Tech:
Newsela / Bodhala / Hire an Esquire / Allovue / Codio / Busylamp

Real Estate/Financial Services Tech:
Breather / Nestio / Honest Buildings / Hightower / Everplans / CredSimple / Captalys / ReThinkCRM

Sales Technology:
Outreach / SalesLoft / Everstring / Lead Genius / Terminus / Discoverorg / Emissary.io / Redbooks / Speek / 15Five / Honey

Advertising and PR tech:
BounceExchange / SaleMove

Services:
Dom & Tom / Betts Recruiting / Moxie / Palantir

As of November 20th, I’ve ran over 320 sales calls this year

I had our Strategic Deal Navigator Assistant analyze where I messed up and lost deals

Here are 5 lines, or versions of them, that kill momentum immediately

I have said every single one and lost deals because of it

When I started as an AE, I thought demos were about impressing people

So I'd over explain, show too much, talk way too fast (still do that at times)

Now I treat every conversation like a consultation, not a performance

I still make plenty of mistakes for sure so hopefully these are good reminders

Here are 5 lines you should cut immediately and what to say instead:

1️⃣ "Let me tell you about where we can help"…before understanding what they need.

Say this instead "You mentioned reducing churn, so let's start there."

2️⃣ "This is something I see real value in, and it’s going to be really helpful"

Why it's bad…You don't know that. Focus on value, not your opinion

Say this instead "Our customers in fintech use this to cut onboarding time by 40%. Could that help your team too?"

3️⃣ "You can automate everything with just a few clicks"

Why it's bad…Vague. Sounds like a pitch, not a solution.

Say this instead "This automation saved a similar team 6+ hours per week. Let me show you how."

4️⃣ "Do you have any questions?"

Why it's bad… It puts all the pressure on them. Often leads to silence and usually a “no…pretty self explanatory”

Say this instead "How does this compare to how you're handling it today?"

5️⃣ "Let me know what you think"

Why it's bad… Passive. No next step.

Say this instead "If this solves what we discussed, would it make sense to explore pricing next week with your team?"

With all of this 👆 you’ll get
More engaged prospects, clearer business value, and higher conversion to next steps

Alright…your turn. What’s a line you’ve used (or heard) that kills momentum instantly? Drop it in the comments

👉 Check out your personal Strategic Deal Navigator at Journey AI (link in comments) 

—
♻️ Repost & Follow for more insights

I partner with forward thinking B2B CEOs/CROs/CMOs to transform their business with AI-driven revenue strategies | USA Today Bestselling Author of Innovative Seller

I finally wrote it all down. What ACTUALLY does a day in the life of a top seller look like today with AI?

What are they still doing manual because it’s better?

What have the automated completely?

Here is the playbook..enjoy 👇

If you could compress what used to take 3 hours of prep, follow-up, and CRM cleanup into 15 minutes with AI…would you still do it the old way?

Your morning used to look like this:
→ Dig through tabs to prep for meetings
→ Re-type the same follow-up emails
→ Copy notes into Salesforce just to “check the box” for your leader…who probably never looks at it and asks you about it on slack instead

Now it looks like this:
→ AI Assistant auto-generates call briefs and talking points
→ Your meeting notes are summarized instantly
→ Follow-ups and CRM updates are done before your next call

That’s not a fantasy it’s already happening.

AI Assistants are cutting 11–12 hours of admin work a week for sellers who use them right.

And those reps? They’re not just “working faster.”

They’re finally spending time where it matters talking to buyers.

Would you still pay sellers to “pay their dues,” or would you pay them to sell? 💥

👉 Read the full article to see what an AI-powered seller’s day actually looks like.

Open article: A Day in the Life of an AI-Powered SaaS Seller in 2026 by skaled.com

A Day in the Life of an AI-Powered SaaS Seller in 2026

GenAI isn’t a “tool.”

It’s the internet moment happening inside your company, and most teams are treating it like a browser plugin

Leaders keep saying, “We turned it on… why didn’t anything change?”

Because nothing changes if people don’t change behavior. GenAI only works when workflows, expectations, and habits get rewritten, not when teams try to bolt it onto 2018 processes

Ryan Cahill nailed it on the pod: most companies are “more efficiently wrong.” 

They deploy AI, skip the behavior change, and wonder why the ROI never shows up.

Here’s the real shift:
→ GenAI isn’t making old tasks faster
→ It’s forcing you to rethink why those tasks existed in the first place

The internet didn’t upgrade fax machines. It eliminated them. Same idea here.

New episode with Ryan Cahill drops TOMORROW with two tactical behavior changes leaders can make this week to get real impact from GenAI.

What is the one behavior your team needs to change for GenAI to actually work?

I’ve talked to at least 10 PE backed companies this month and the universal truth is the AI hire they are thinking about will actually slow them down and cost them an entire year of innovation

Promoting someone into an AI role they can’t grow into fast enough creates negative ROI

Hiring someone from the outside who built a few customgpts is like hiring a top performing rep who built their own reports in SFDC as your RevOps hire

AI is evolving weekly

But your “AI person” is stuck fighting fires from systems built in 2017

So companies say:
“AI is moving too fast.”

No…your staffing plan is just for solving problems in 2016 not 2026

The real cost of inaction isn’t failing to adopt AI

It’s hiring someone who can’t keep up while they’re building

What that creates:
👉Workflows that launch already outdated
👉Models that never improve because no one has time to retrain them
👉A GTM engine that’s miles behind competitors who built with specialists, not stretched operators

AI GTM Engineers aren’t a luxury.

They’re the difference between scaling AI and creating an expensive science project.

If your AI lead is doing admin work 70% of the week, you’re not just behind, you are building outdated assistants before they even launch

If your team had an AI GTM Engineer today, which part of your GTM motion would you automate first?

Open article: The Rise of the AI GTM Engineer in 2026 by skaled.com

Everyone keeps calling this an AI bubble

So why are the smartest investors buying even more AI instead of pulling back?

SoftBank just sold billions in Nvidia stock and moved deeper into AI

Not into chips. Into the intelligence layer.

If this was a real bubble, insiders would be exiting quietly.

Instead they’re rotating capital into the parts of AI they believe will dominate long term

The mistake people make is treating AI like one giant category

It isn’t.

Infrastructure is crowded.

Apps are noisy.

Platforms and data are where the power consolidates

So the question isn’t “Is AI a bubble?”

The question is “Which part is overpriced and which part is still early?”

Most people betting on an AI crash are assuming everything will collapse at once

History rarely works that way

Are we in a hype cycle or the start of the biggest tech shift since the internet?

Where do you stand: bubble or breakout?
👇 Comment your take down below

—
♻️ Repost & Follow for more insights

Personio

As Director of International, I'm cross-functional responsible for all our Revenue operations within UKI, Nordics, Benelux, Spain and our Rest of World teams. Within this operation we are working with 75+ talented professional (Marketing, Sales Development, Account Executives, Partnership Managers, Solution Engineers, Implementation Managers, Customer Success Managers, Account Managers and Support) to serve our thousands of International customers to enable their businesses so they can focus on the HR they signed up for.

Director of International 🇪🇺

As Head of Benelux, I'm cross-functional responsible for the Benelux Revenue operations within Personio. Within the Benelux we are working with 35+ talented professional (Marketing, Sales Development, Account Executives, Implementation Managers, Customer Success Managers, Growth Managers and Support) to serve our hundreds of Benelux customers to enable their businesses so they can focus on what matters most: their PEOPLE.

Head of Benelux 🇳🇱🇧🇪🇱🇺

GTM OS

Co-Founder

Pavilion

I represent a group of 150 wonderfully talented Revenue Executives from some of the fastest-growing companies in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Together, we have a confidential and dependable space to share best practices, strategize, and problem-solve with peers.

I'm fortunate to co-lead this chapter with our founding father André Bressel and the amazing Greg Higgens & Brendon Montgomery.

Co-Lead Chapter Amsterdam

Pavilion (formerly Revenue Collective) was founded in 2016 as a support network for revenue leaders. Since opening our first chapter in New York City, we’ve grown into an international center providing peer-to-peer connection, training and development, and career resources for all high-growth professionals. We’re always imagining new ways to help current and future leaders unlock and achieve their professional potential. 

For more information about Pavilion or to become a member of one of our worldwide chapters, visit joinpavilion.com.

Member, Chapter Amsterdam

trumpet 🎺

Async selling isn’t theory for me. It’s how my teams sell.
And Trumpet makes it scalable.

If you're serious about closing deals faster, keeping control, and creating a buying experience that matches how people actually make decisions…

Your team needs a Digital Sales Room. A single place where deals move forward.

Want a behind-the-scenes look at how we use Trumpet in real deals?

DM me “Trumpet” I’ll walk you through exactly how we use it.

Brand Ambassador

Winning by Design

The Winning by Design Ambassador Program is a tight knit community of like-minded GTM leaders, who embrace scientific, sustainable revenue growth at SaaS & Technology businesses.

Interested joining the team?

👉 https://winningbydesign.com/ambassador-program

Ambassador

MessageBird

As Head of Sales - 24sessions, I managed the video revenue amongst our New Business (new logo), Account Management (net expansion) and Strategic Partner Channel team (channel revenue). Acquired by MessageBird in February, 2021

Head of Sales & Strategic Partnerships 24sessions

Teamleader CRM

As Country Manager I managed the Dutch Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success team (16 FTE).

✔️ Country Strategy
✔️ Managing P&L
✔️ Budget and Forecast
✔️ Hiring & Recruitment
✔️ Lead Generation 
✔️ Sales Channel development
✔️ Operational structure & process

Country Manager NL 🇳🇱

Managing and coaching our local sales teams Ghent, Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid, Milan, and Paris (45 FTE).
 
✔️ Sales Strategy & Processes 
✔️ Sales Onboarding Bootcamp
✔️ Sales Playbooks & Content
✔️ Sales Training & Coaching 
✔️ Sales Forecasting & Benchmarking
✔️ Peer2Peer Social Learning

Sales Coach & Operations Manager

In the period of 6 months, I have been responsible for creating, implementing, and executing the sales structure, processes, training, and coaching programs for our 45 sales reps in 6 European countries. As Project Manager, I worked very closely with Project Owner Sjoerd Göddeke to successfully implement the Sales Design, Training, and Coaching framework of Winning By Design into our customer-centric sales teams in our Amsterdam, Berlin, Ghent, Madrid, Milan, and Paris offices.

Sales Enablement Project: Winning By Design

Account Executive

WeHandcraft

WeOrder is based on a B2B Transaction Platform & ERP solution to help grow your retail chain or wholesale business. We assist SME businesses doing efficient and better administration. Our online platform makes ordering between you and your customer easy, convenient and effective. No more Excel or handwritten sales or purchase orders or transactions. *Acquired by Blue-Donut.com*

Co-Founder / Business Development

Sweebr (Acquired)

In 2012, Sweebr (founded in Haarlem, the Netherlands) was the first ever software company that provided HTML5 POS-software, offering retailers a solution that is truly independent of POS hardware. Sweebr aimed to liberate retailers from the chains of many of their current POS-providers by having information flow easily between applications. Focusing on smaller retailers in the early days, mid-market retailers were increasingly asking for the same agile, hardware-, OS- and channel-independent solutions. *Acquired by Countr POS*

Happy Customer Scout

Stam-Aardappelen

At Stam I have been responsible for implementing and maintaining Food Safety Procedures according the BRC Global Standard. Five years in a row rewarded with a A status. Next I was responsible for implementing and maintaining SAP Business One ERP system. 

About Stam.
Stam Potatoes is a family-owned wholesale company specialized in delivering high quality potatoes and onions for a wide variety of clients such as supermarkt chains, food wholesalers, restaurants, and more.

BRC Global Standard for Food Safety, SAP Business One Implementation

Preparing for the future by innovation and focusing on efficiency. Implemented new ERP software, fresh new Stam identity, and a focus on the latest Food Safety Global Standard.

Project Efficiency & Professionalism

Head of Benelux @Personio | Unlock the Power of Your People

Over the past 12 years in SaaS, I’ve seen firsthand where most Founders and Revenue leaders fail: 

- No structured Go-To-Market strategy → Running multiple GTM motions at once. Growth stalls, especially beyond the home market.
- No consistent sales process → Relying on individual performance instead of repeatable systems. No scalable growth engine.
- No clear revenue insights → Looking at blended metrics instead of pinpointing what drives conversions. Low rep productivity, declining ARR per FTE.

I get it. Day-to-day operations take over, and revenue inefficiencies stack up.

The bad news? You’re responsible for fixing it.

The good news? I can help you and your SaaS business.

How I help B2B SaaS teams ($5M-$25M ARR) scale faster:

- GTM & Sales Strategy – Structuring inbound, outbound, and partner strategies across SMB, Mid-Market, and Enterprise.
- Sales Process Optimization – Improving conversion rates and reducing reliance on top performers.
- Playbooks & Execution – Building structured systems, coaching frameworks, and checklists for consistent revenue growth.
- High-Performing Teams – Hiring, developing, and structuring commercial teams with clear accountability.

Results I’ve helped drive:

→ Increased sales team efficiency by 2X through scalable sales team structuring and skill development frameworks.

→ Improved win rates to 25% by implementing structured tactical and operational Go-To-Market tactics.

→ Built GTM playbooks that accelerated ARR growth for early-stage and scaling SaaS companies to $10M ARR.

How we can work together: 

1. Coaching & Advisory – Hands-on support to build a scalable sales engine.
2. On-Demand Sessions – Solving your biggest sales execution challenges.
3. GTM Playbooks & Frameworks – Proven templates for predictable growth.

Scaling isn’t about luck. It’s about building the right systems.

What’s blocking your revenue growth today? Let’s fix it.

DM me and let’s chat.

Koen Stam

You don’t stay for the tech. You stay for the person who believes in you.

Yesterday our CRO, Philip, was on stage at SaaStr.ai.
He talked about what 2025 and 2026 will look like for SaaS companies, a period defined by transformation.

Every B2B tech company needs to evolve.
To become AI-native.
To keep delivering real value to customers.

Some leaders lag behind.
Others lead the pack.

A year ago, Personio wasn’t leading that pack yet.
But something shifted.

Our CEO set a vision.
Our leadership team rallied behind it.
And Philip, our CRO, turned that vision into momentum.

We didn’t talk about AI as a replacement for people.
We talked about AI as an enabler.
A way for our people to serve customers better.

That’s what true leadership does.
It doesn’t just talk about transformation.
It creates it.
From the top, with clarity of vision.
And from the bottom, with collaboration and belief.

The last year has been a masterclass in what happens when leadership drives transformation the right way.
With trust, vision, and empathy.

Because leadership isn’t a job title.
It’s the reason people join.
It’s the reason people stay.
And it’s the reason teams believe they can do more than they thought possible.

Thanks for leading from the front, Philip, and for reminding us what leadership should look like.

Question for you:
What’s the kind of leader that would make you stay?

Leading International @Personio | Building community @Pavilion | Architecting Growth @Winning By Design | Showing revenue teams what’s next @GTM OS

Last night, our Amsterdam office turned into a small think tank.

50+ HR leaders came together for the HR Tech On Tour to unpack one simple question:

→ What’s most exciting or challenging for you in HR tech right now?

The word cloud said it all: integrations. compliance. readiness.
But the real story was behind the words.

Across every breakout, three truths kept surfacing:

1/ AI excitement is real, but readiness isn’t.
Everyone sees potential, but few feel prepared. Most are still learning what “good” AI adoption even looks like.

2/ Integration and compliance are the bottlenecks.
It’s not about lack of tools. It’s about connecting them responsibly, ethically, and meaningfully.

3/ Leadership must lead the pack.
Teams are ready to explore, but they need direction. AI adoption cannot be an isolated project; it must be cross-functional with leadership setting the tone.

That’s what stayed with me most.
AI won’t change your company. Leaders will.

Because this isn’t about building another AI initiative.
It’s about how leaders themselves learn, experiment, and model what’s possible.

If you’re a senior leader, here’s where to start:

1/ Make it personal. 
↳ Spend 20–30 minutes daily using AI yourself. Learn before you lead.

2/ Create one shared use case. 
↳ Start cross-functionally on a problem that connects sales, marketing, HR, or ops.

3/ Enable curiosity. 
↳ Incentivize teams to test, share, and teach each other what works.

4/ Build rituals, not rules. 
↳ Weekly syncs, learnings, and show-and-tells beat policies every time.

5/ Model vulnerability. 
↳ Admit what you don’t know. Curiosity from the top drives courage in the org.

That’s how leadership sets the tone, not by commanding change, but by embodying it.

The energy in the room last night reminded me:
AI is not a tech story. It’s a people story.
And the best leaders are the ones who turn uncertainty into momentum.

How are you leading your team through this AI shift?

You don’t need 10 GTM plays in 2026. You need 3, and an operating system ↓

Most teams treat GTM like a checklist. Add more plays, hope something compounds.
But growth only compounds when your plays have owners, rhythms, and rules.

Here’s how to decide what to run in 2026.

1/ Map your GTM reality

Start with your constraints, not your ambition.
Be honest about your motion, ACV, and resources.
Stage, ARR, and time-to-impact decide more than ideas ever will.

2/ Match your reality to the right plays

Choose one for pipeline now, one for demand and trust, one for efficiency or expansion.
From AI discovery to dark social, the best play is the one your team can actually execute weekly.
Plays compound only when they match your context.

3/ Turn plays into an operating system

Assign a clear owner.
Set a weekly rhythm.
Pick one core KPI.
Define a kill or double rule before you start.
This is how momentum becomes a system, not a streak.

Most founders ask, “Which GTM play should we bet on?”
The better question is, “Which 3 can we run with discipline for 90 days?”

Which 3 will you run in 2026?

“I don’t know which GTM plays to bet on in 2026.”

Over the past 2.5 years, our Amsterdam office has co-hosted 10 unique event concepts and next Tuesday we will add a new one.

We never set out to build just an office.
We set out to build a Stam Café.

In Dutch, a Stam Café is your favorite café.
The one you always come back to.
The place where you meet friends and relatives.

That’s what we wanted our office to become.

Here are 10 of the experiences that brought that vision to life:

 1/ HR breakfasts where small groups of customers shared challenges and solutions over coffee
 
2/ Quarterly meetups, with partners or internal teams, that turned strategy into shared ownership

3/ People & Culture Impact Sessions where we unpacked lessons directly from the Impact Awards show with our partner 7people ✨ 
 
4/ Fireside chats where customers opened up about real-world struggles and wins, helping our teams truly understand their world
 
5/ Workshops with up to 60 people, where our office became a buzzing classroom for sr. HR leaders, like with the BEYOND program by People masterminds.
 
6/ HR Talk Show Live, with guests on stage, questions from the room, and hundreds joining online. We already have hosted 2 very successul editions
 
7/ SaaS and GTM community events, from Pavilion to SaaStock, from the D2 collective to WeLoveSaaS , making our Stam Café feel like their home
 
8/ A pop-up restaurant HR dinner where our executive team sat shoulder-to-shoulder with customers
 
9/ A live podcast with an audience, where people could ask real-time questions.
Another unique concept, co-created with our partners at People masterminds, showing once again that the Stam Café is never finished, always evolving.
 
10/ Our own annual largest HR conference, HUG, hosted inside our office to bring customers into our living room. 

And next week Tuesday, we will have 70+ HR leaders and enthusiast joining our Personio office.

In collaboration with HR Tech Europe, we’re co-hosting the ‘HR Tech Europe Meetup: Amsterdam Edition’. It’s bound to be an evening to remember.

It turns out an office doesn’t have to be just an office.
It can be your most underutilized growth channel.
A community hub.
A trust engine.
A Stam Café.

What’s the most unique experience you’ve ever had in an office?

3 years ago, we started running every deal with a digital sales room, and it changed everything about how buyers engaged, decided, and ultimately bought.

At first, it felt like a tactical experiment. Today, it feels like the only way to compete.

Because here’s the reality:

• 85% of buyers already have a shortlist before they speak to sales
• Buying groups now involve 10+ stakeholders, and in many cases the CFO or CEO hold final approval
• 73% expect a tailored, consumer-grade experience from the first touch
• 71% of buyers are Millennials and Gen Z, and most would rather self-serve than jump on another call
• 80% of buying decisions stall, not because of product, but because the process is too complex

That’s why “more calls” doesn’t solve the problem. In fact, it makes it worse.

When we shifted to trumpet 🎺, everything changed:

• Buyers engaged on their own terms, at their own pace
• Champions finally had the tools to sell internally with confidence
• Our team could see signals of internal traction we had never spotted before

The difference was not small. Trumpet’s data shows deals that include mutual action plans inside DSRs can reach up to a 92% win rate.

For us, it’s no longer optional. Every deal, no matter the size, gets a digital sales room. Not to make us better sellers, but to make it easier for buyers to buy.

What is your take on digital sales rooms?

More revenue leaders need to say it out loud: customer success generates more revenue than new logos ever will.

We’ve spent years glorifying acquisition, chasing the next logo and the next pipeline win. But the real test of leadership in 2026 isn’t how fast you can add customers. It’s how deeply you can serve the ones who already chose you.

When the tide of easy growth goes out, retention is the foundation that keeps you standing.

New revenue is only a fraction of what sustains a company. The real engine is the customers who stay, and the people who show up every day to help them succeed.

If you want recurring revenue, create recurring impact. That impact doesn’t come from product alone. With so many alternatives on the market, it’s your people, your customer success teams, who turn commitment into loyalty.

The best companies already know this.
Retention isn’t a metric. It’s a mindset.
Customer success isn’t a cost center. It’s a growth engine.

When you invest in your customers, they invest back.

At Personio, I have the privilege of working with an incredible customer success and account management team led by Alba, together with regional leaders Felipe, Alvaro, and Julia. Their teams build trust with customers every day, across regions and industries. And we’re looking for the next CSM to join our international team. Someone ready to help us deepen those relationships even further.

If that sounds like you, or someone you know, let’s talk.

(Senior) Customer Success Manager Benelux (d/f/m)  

Last week I wrapped up my 10 GTM plays for 2026.
Today I want to start with a simple reflection that has shaped how I think about next year.

2025 was the year I stopped thinking about growth channels
and started thinking about trust systems.

Because you can’t outspend noise.
You can only out-trust it.

Over the past two years, we turned our Amsterdam office into something entirely different.
Not just an office.
A Stam Café.

In Dutch, that’s your favorite café, the one you always come back to.
The place where you meet friends, exchange stories, and feel at home.

We have co-hosted more than 10 unique event concepts with partners, communities, and customers.

From HR breakfasts and talk shows to live workshops and leadership dinners.
Each designed to create connection, learning, and shared ownership.

And this week we are putting that into action again.

1/ On Tuesday we are hosting HR Tech on Tour Amsterdam with more than 70 HR leaders discussing the impact of AI in HR.

2/ On Wednesday one of our alumni from the BEYOND program is bringing their full HR team for an off-site in our office.

3/ And on Thursday we will close the year together with our own Personio colleagues for our end-of-year Christmas dinner in the office.

Three examples in a single week that show what happens when an office becomes more than a workplace.
It becomes a community hub.
A trust engine.

It taught me that community and events are not brand activities.
They are one of the most efficient GTM systems we have.
Because when you combine real experiences with authentic storytelling, whether from a founder or operator, you start compounding trust at scale.

That is what this week’s GTM OS Weekly edition is all about:
how founder brands, community, and events are driving the next wave of efficient growth in 2026.

The best teams are not chasing new tactics.
They are doubling down on what compounds.
Trust.
Credibility.
Consistency.

And in 2026, that is where the real leverage lives.

(Full playbook and examples inside GTM OS Weekly Week 49, link in first comment)

I didn’t become a leader because I wanted power.  
I became one because I wanted to help others find theirs.
 
9 years ago, I became a leader because nothing fulfills me more than helping young professionals grow.

As the year winds down, many people, inside or outside leadership, start asking themselves the same question:

“Is leadership really for me?”

Here are 12 questions to help you find out.
They’re not a checklist. They’re a mirror.

1/ Motivation & Passion

Why do you want to lead? Is it for growth, impact, or recognition?
Do you feel more fulfilled helping others win than chasing your own success?

2/ Influence & Trust

Do people naturally come to you for guidance, and act on it?
When you speak, do others listen or just hear you?

3/ Team Dynamics

Do you build bridges across teams or walls?
Can you mediate conflict without losing respect from either side?

4/ Delegation & Empowerment

Can you hand off ownership without taking it back?
Do you trust your team to solve problems their way, not yours?

5/ Feedback Culture

Can you give feedback that motivates instead of discourages?
Can you take hard feedback without becoming defensive?

6/ Organizational Alignment

Do you clearly understand how your team’s work drives company goals?
Are you ready to connect your team’s purpose to the bigger picture?

7/ Time & Priorities

Can you balance coaching, strategy, and admin without burning out?
Do you spend more time enabling others or proving yourself?

8/ Learning & Development

Do you invest in learning how to lead, not just learning on the job?
Do you seek out mentors who challenge your blind spots?

9/ Adaptability & Resilience

Do you stay calm when things fall apart or add to the chaos?
Can you help your team regain confidence after a setback?

10/ Vision & Identity

What kind of leader do you want to be known as?
How do you want people to describe your leadership when you’re not in the room?

11/ Results & Accountability

Do you set clear goals and hold everyone, including yourself, accountable?
When performance slips, do you address it early or hope it improves?

12/ Cross-Functional Readiness

Can you align with other departments without losing sight of your own team’s needs?
Do you understand the language of finance, product, and operations well enough to earn their trust?

Not everyone should be a leader.
Especially not if the motivation is title, power, or status.

Leadership is a privilege, earned through service, not ambition.

Make sure you’re ready before you take the leap.

What’s one question you’d add?

Async isn’t the future of selling. It’s the present of buying.

A few weeks ago, during a podcast with 🎺 Rory Sadler,
we talked about how B2B sales will look in 2026.

Halfway through, I realized something.
As a buyer, I already behave that way.

When I evaluate a vendor,
I don’t want to wait for the next available demo slot.
I don’t want to fill in a form or sit through a discovery call.

I want to visit a website that understands who I am,
where I am in my journey,
and what I need right now.

I want pricing.
Proof.
Context.

And if I really need a human conversation,
I want to have it immediately, not next Thursday.

That’s not a prediction for the future.
That’s how we all buy as consumers today.
And it’s exactly how B2B buyers will expect to buy tomorrow.

Deals don’t die because selling is hard.
They die because buying takes too long.

Async and AI are closing that gap.
They help you respond faster without syncing calendars.
Deliver value in shorter cycles.
And meet buyers where they are,
with flexibility and autonomy.

The digital sales room is no longer a nice-to-have.
It’s the natural extension of your website,
where buyers validate, explore,
and feel confident championing you internally.

I’ve seen this first-hand working with trumpet 🎺.
It’s one of the best digital sales room platforms I’ve used,
because it actually helps buyers move at their own pace
and helps teams deliver value asynchronously.

This isn’t about technology replacing sellers.
It’s about designing a buying experience that feels effortless.

Across teams, products, and markets,
I keep seeing the same pattern.

When you reduce friction for the buyer, win rates rise.
When you make it easy to buy, you earn the right to sell.

My reflection for every GTM leader planning 2026:
Are you already building async into your motion,
or are you still asking buyers to wait?

How do you see async changing the way we sell?

Earlier this week, I coached a rep stuck in two 40k deals.
Both stalled for the same reason: no compelling event, no mutual plan.

Both deals had smart buyers.
Solid discovery.
A clear problem.

But without a shared plan or a real deadline, everything just drifted.

Compelling events live on different layers:

• Business → revenue or strategy impact
• Department → team performance or process risk
• Personal → someone’s credibility, target, or promotion

If you don’t uncover all three, you’re not selling to urgency.
You’re selling to interest.
And that’s how deals go cold.

Here’s what I see too often: buyers are inexperienced.
They’re new in role, new to buying, or new to your category.

We, as sellers, have seen dozens of cycles.
We know what good looks like.

Our job isn’t just to sell.
It’s to guide the buyer.
To show them how to buy, not just why to buy.

That’s where a mutual action plan changes everything.

It’s not a spreadsheet or a close checklist.
It’s a shared roadmap where buyer and seller align on the same milestones, tied to the same compelling event.

Without it:
No accountability.
No internal selling.
No deal velocity.

With it:
Clarity.
Alignment.
And higher win rates because everyone knows exactly what happens next.

Most teams agree on the why behind MAPs.
The edge comes from how you operationalize them.

Here’s a simple way to start:

1/ Start small.
Run your first three MAPs on live deals above 20k.
Co-create them during calls and keep them under eight milestones.

2/ Coach and review.
MAPs don’t work if they sit in tools.
Review one in every forecast call. Reward clarity, not optimism.

3/ Systemize it.
Sync MAP status into your CRM.
Add a “MAP live” stage gate so every forecast reflects buyer-verified progress.

Digital salesrooms make this even easier (like trumpet 🎺).
They centralize timelines, assets, owners, and next steps so both sides stay in sync.

This is how the best sellers in 2026 win.
They don’t push harder.
They collaborate smarter.

If your team still runs deals without a mutual action plan, start there.
It will change how you sell.

I’ve also documented the full 7-step Mutual Action Plan System for leaders who want to operationalize this. It’s live now on my Substack.

Six months ago, our GTM team at Personio started experimenting with AI. Today, it shapes how we plan, sell, and serve customers. What began as a company-wide experiment became a step-by-step playbook for AI transformation in GTM.

When our CEO, Hanno, launched “AI Surge Week,” every team at Personio got access to LLMs to build and test ideas.
Adoption rose fast, but real transformation required more than enthusiasm.

We learned that becoming an AI-powered GTM requires structure, ownership, and habit.

Here are five lessons you can use to build your own AI-powered GTM.

1/ Make it a leadership motion

AI transformation succeeds when leaders create the space for it.
Free people’s time to redesign workflows, dedicate budget for experiments, and decide which tools to back.

Try this: pick one key workflow this quarter and give a small team full support to rebuild it with AI.

2/ Build a cross-functional GTM team

Our working group includes data and systems, RevOps, GTM engineers, and business leads.
This mix of technical skill and business context turns ideas into scalable workflows.

Try this: assign one person from each function to identify where AI can remove friction or improve decisions.

3/ Prioritize with clear frameworks

We use Jobs-to-Be-Done to find time drains across roles and Customer Journey Mapping to link those tasks to growth impact.

Try this: shadow one sales or success rep for a day and list every repetitive task that AI could automate or simplify.

4/ Build a culture of AI

Adoption happens when people are curious and safe to experiment.
We lead by example, showcase internal wins, and celebrate them company-wide.

Try this: share one small AI win each week in your team Slack or all-hands.

5/ Combine your stack with your context

Great AI depends on your data quality and internal knowledge.
We started with existing tools like Salesforce, Gong, and Snowflake, then trained models on Personio-specific content.

Try this: before adding new tools, clean your CRM and centralize your customer data.

AI transformation is not a tech project.
It is an operating shift that compounds over time.

Which part of your revenue engine is ready for AI transformation next quarter?

As every GTM leader is closing out Q4, I’m already looking at how we’ll win in 2026.

2025 has been a year of experiments for me.
Dozens of GTM plays tested.
Hundreds of conversations with operators, founders, and RevOps leaders.
And a few motions that consistently delivered results.

When I look at what truly worked this year, five plays stand out.
They’re the ones I’ll triple down on in 2026.

1/ Founder Brand

Nothing drives credibility and trust faster.
When the founder shows up consistently, the market listens.
It compounds faster than any channel I’ve tested.

2/ LinkedIn (Organic + Paid)

Personal brands outperform company pages.
Pairing organic storytelling with smart paid amplification has driven our highest-quality inbound pipeline.

3/ Community-Led Growth

The strongest growth loops come from shared learning.
Building spaces where operators exchange insights creates belonging that converts into pipeline and retention.

4/ Intimate In-Person Events

Small, curated gatherings have outperformed large conferences.
Ten quality conversations over dinner often drive more revenue than a hundred booth visits.

5/ Partner Ecosystem GTM

Collaboration beats competition.
Co-selling and co-marketing with trusted partners opened doors that solo outbound never could.

These five are my 2025 learnings, and they’ll shape how we grow in 2026.

In my latest Substack, which I published this morning, I share these five and the other five GTM plays that will define 2026.
More importantly, I break down how you can practically embed them into your motion starting today.

Read the full GTM OS playbook: How to Leverage 10 Data-Backed Go-To-Market Plays to Drive ARR & NRR in 2026 here:

👉 koenstam [dot] substack [dot] com

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