Building a community of sales professionals, leaders, & founders mastering the craft of sales and transforming the inner game /Host of The Rising Leader, Top 100 Sales Podcast /Formerly @ Outreach, Microsoft, & DocuSign

Our mission is to bring forth the new wave of the rising sales professional and leader to help others feel a greater sense of purpose, connection, and drive incredible results. Alluviance is not just a community, it's the essence of this mission. 

As someone who's been apart of large corporations and fast growing startups, my experience tells me that the success of these companies boil down to 3 things: 

1/ Mastering your craft
2/ Clarity on your vision 
3/ Having a great culture  

Luckily, these are the 3 things that I'm most passionate about and what I am bringing to sales professionals, leaders, teams, and companies. I've gained my experience by being in 13 years of tech and for the last 5 years I’ve hired, trained, and developed 100+ AE’s and built over 10 teams in segments from SMB to Enterprise. Nearly 70% of the people on my teams hit President’s Club and there was a zero percent attrition rate.

Alex Kremer

I’m 33.

It took me 10 years to learn this. I’ll save you the time:

1. Not fitting in isn’t a flaw.

There are old friend groups I no longer align with and it's painful to admit. But outgrowing people doesn’t make you disloyal, it means you’re evolving. Forcing connection out of history will keep you stuck.

2. The “safe” path isn’t safe.

For years, people told me the smart move was to keep climbing to VP of Sales, CRO, the whole ladder. Instead, I started a community and began running retreats. Almost no one around me understood it, especially my mom and dad. Following a polished career path that isn’t yours is far riskier than building something honest.

3. Getting fired isn’t the end.

It’s often the beginning. After 5 years at Outreach, I got laid off. At the time, it felt like a massive punch to the guy. In reality, it was a push I wouldn’t have chosen but desperately needed. Starting my own company came directly from that moment & I’m grateful it happened.

4. No one is coming to save you.

Not your company. Not your coach. Not your spiritual teacher. I’ve invested deeply in growth - coaches, therapists, retreats. All of it matters but none of it works unless you take radical responsibility for your life.

5. If you’re being criticized, you’re probably doing something right.

I’ve had trolls on LinkedIn and elsewhere. It stung at first but now I see it as confirmation. People who are comfortable rarely attack those who challenge the status quo. Let em talk.

6. It’s not too late.

I started over at 30, you can start over whenever you decide. 
The only deadline is the one you keep agreeing to in your head.

Ps - join over 9k people who are on my weekly newsletter - https://lnkd.in/g2VH8Pgc

Inner Game of Sales & Leadership / Helping High Performers Sell and Lead from Presence & Purpose / Founder of Alluviance / Ex-Microsoft, Outreach, DocuSign

Just wrapped our first-ever corporate engagement, and damn what a ride.

5 months.
It started with a full-day onsite, evolved into monthly reinforcement sessions, and included weekly syncs with their executive leadership team.

We covered a lot of ground:
– Sales leadership training
– Culture development
– Identity work 

But my favorite moment?
Helping the team define who they became in 2025 and what they’re boldly stepping into in 2026.

That kind of clarity redefines how you lead, sell, and show up.

And the best part? 

They’ve asked us to keep going and expand the work to more sales leaders and the broader sales org.

Life is good.
Grateful to be living the mission.

Grateful to my brother Chris Caldwell for being on this mission with me. 

Needing support for your sales or leadership team? DM me!

The world lost a legend this past weekend.

Bob Weir, one of the founding members of the Grateful Dead. 

I love this band.
And maybe even more than the music, I love the movement they inspired.

The thing about the Grateful Dead is… they were weird.
Like, unapologetically weird.

Long songs.
No setlists.
Meandering jams that could make your head spin.

Dancing bears, turtles, and skeletons that couldn’t help but make you smile.
And of course, the almost required uniform: tie-dye

And somehow… it all worked.

You couldn’t really explain why people loved them so much unless you felt it. The music wasn’t polished nor trying to be cool.

It was free.
It was uniquely theirs.

And in that, it gave people permission to be their own unique selves too.

For the past 3 years, the Grateful Dead has been my most-played band on Spotify Wrapped. 

They're also one of the biggest ways I bond with my dad.
He’s been a proud Deadhead since the ’60s.

Some of my favorite memories are with him, my oldest sister, and me going to shows together watching something that felt completely outside the normal rules of music, time, and culture.

Dear Bob... 

Thanks for the music.
Thanks for the weirdness.
And thanks for the memories that spanned generations.

❤️⚡️

One of my favorite posts I get to write each month. 

Our Alluviance Member of the Month goes to Mudassar Ahmed. 

Mud has been in our community for 2 years now.
And if you’ve ever been in a room with him, you know exactly what I mean when I say this:

He full sends it.

At immersions.
In the work.
In life.

Mud is one of those rare people who isn’t afraid to go deep to be fully seen, to bring his heart, and to meet others with real presence. When he looks you in the eyes, you feel it. Like, this guy is seeing into my soul.

He carries what we like to call a Warrior Poet energy.

He can work his ass off.
He can push himself physically (he’s done 75 Hard about 100 times).
And at the same time, he stays intimate with life including his family, his team, God, and this community. 

That combination is rare.

Strength and vulnerability.
Discipline and devotion.

Mud is deeply committed to his inner work, his craft, and taking care of those closest to him. 

He shows up consistently, quietly. and powerfully.

I freaking love this guy.
And it’s been a true honor to walk the path alongside him.

If you know Mud, give him some love👊❤️

Ps - looking to join a community of bad asses like Mud? Check us out to be surrounded by them in your own work - alluviance.co

Most sales people answer this question wrong.

Is sales an art or a science? 
Your answer says a lot about you.  

What I believe actually matters is the level of perception you bring to the craft.

Mastery in sales isn’t about crushing talk tracks or product demos.
It’s about developing the ability to NOTICE more.

❌ The amateur notices what the prospect says.
✅ The master notices how they say it.

❌ The amateur hears the objection.
✅ The artist senses the unspoken fear beneath it.

Go back to your last big call... 

Did you catch the question they didn’t ask?
Did you notice the moment of hesitation before they spoke?
Did you feel the shift in the room when you told a story vs. listed features?

This is the real work.
This is what it means being a master.

Being so deeply present that the totality of the conversation changes.
You’re no longer running a playbook.
You’re feeling the flow of the game.

And the best part?

This isn’t a gift.
It's a muscle you build. 

You ready to build? 
Check us out for how - alluviance.co

There's 2 things that make up your identity: 

1/ The story or image you have for yourself. 

2/ The standards & commitments you hold yourself accountable to. 

The whole goal of a new commitment is to force you outside your comfort zone. 

This is the arena where courage is required. 

You will stumble & you will fail. 

But each loss becomes feedback that makes you stronger. 

Bit by bit, you build skills you never had. 

You develop capabilities you wouldn’t have touched without making that commitment in the first place.

Over time, you develop a new sense of what "normal" is. 

That’s how mastery is forged.

By raising your standard, falling short, and rising again and again.

The most important advice I can give someone looking for their next job:

Figure out your lens.

When I decided to leave Microsoft for a startup, I got brutally clear on what I cared about. There were 3 non-negotiables:

1/ I wanted a challenge.

I was growing… but honestly, a lot of deals closed because I had an @microsoft.com email address.

I wanted to sell something that would push me to my edge. 
A product that forced me to sharpen my craft.

2/ I wanted a leader worth learning from.

Someone who had done the job before and would actually coach me.
Not just manage me.

And I wanted a clear path to step into leadership myself.. fast.

3/ I wanted a culture I belonged to.

Not a group of individual contributors who happened to report to the same manager. But a team.

Shared standards and identiy. 

Here’s the key:

Once you find your lens, everything changes.

The questions you ask.
What you listen for in interviews.
What you say yes, or no, to. 

Don’t just look for the next role.
Look for the next environment that will shape who you become.

What’s in your lens right now?

Ps, loved diving into this on the Deen & Deals podcast with Mohammed Kiswani and Futhallah Hamed. 

Check out the episode - https://lnkd.in/gPwqGphD

Jason Lalk

Marketing teams are more profitable with offshore talent

At Remote Growth Partners, we have the highest recruiting standards for offshore talent, that I've ever seen.

We hire sales, marketing, and creatives for growing companies that don't want to grow headcount.

We only hire people who are proactive and know how to Figure It The F*$! Out.

Limited Partner

CoFound is an early stage venture firm helping founders build a repeatable sales motion.

I talked to an Enterprise AE who's hit quota every year.
His strategy would annoy most reps.

He hasn't worked at darling startups with insane product-market fit.
No easy layups. No inbound machine doing the work for him.

But he does two things almost no one else does:

(1) He makes 100 calls a day.

500 dials a week...as an enterprise rep.

A lot of people will tell you cold calling is dead.
But the reps actually hitting their numbers don't seem to agree.

(2) His BDR gets credit on every meeting. Even the ones he books himself.

They split the prospect list and both start working it.
But no matter who sets the meeting, the BDR gets credit.

Does it cost him a little? Maybe.

But his BDR is fully invested in helping him close.
Not just "doing their job." Actually bought in.

Short-term, he gives something up.
Long-term, he's got a partner who helps him win more deals.

Most reps won't do either of these things, but it clearly works.

CEO at RGP | Hiring offshore sales and marketing talent with insane hiring standards

We're hiring for a ton of overseas SDRs right now. Here are some of the roles:

- SDR at an AI SaaS selling to engineering (Series B) >> hiring 6

- SDR at an AI SaaS selling to mechanics

- Membership Sales for a top female founders group

- SDR at a Marketing Agency who's managed $100M+ in ad spend

- SDR at an Executive Search firm >> already hired 5 and they want more!

If you're based outside of the US, speak great English, and have outbound sales experience, you can find our openings at the Remote Growth Partners page.

If you're a company looking to scale your outbound sales team, you should consider hiring overseas SDRs because:

- Don't complain about cold calling
- Incredibly motivated to work for great US companies
- You can hire more, so you can test more talk tracks and territories

We reviewed 2,471 profiles to hire one video editor last month.
How did we get through all of those and find a great editor?

Let me share the process that works for us.

For context, we take video editing very seriously.
We use editors for our own content and big agencies rely on us to find incredible editing talent.

I've also spent thousands of hours editing videos myself.

So we've spent a lot of time thinking about how to hire a great video editor. 

Here's what goes into our process and what we're testing for:

1. Video Screen
- English
- Video Call Quality
- Ask about their editing process and see their favorite edits from their portfolio

2. Video Critique Exercise (30-60 mins)
- The hardest part of working with an editor is communicating clearly about what is working and what needs to be fixed 
- We use this step to test their ability to do that 
- Attention to detail
- Business writing
- Nebulous problem solving

3. In Depth Interview with a Content Hiring Manager (not a recruiter)
- We want them interviewed by someone who knows what great video editing looks like, not a generalist recruiter 
- Relevance of their experience
- Past Performance as an Editor
- Editing process
- Frameworks they have that apply to specific things we need
- Culture fit

4. Paid Test Edit Exercise (3-5 hours)
- This is where we test their taste and ability to learn about very specific editing needs for us or our clients
- We also like to see how they handle revisions.
- Do they need multiple tries or do they understand our feedback right away?
- Benchmark abilities vs. other final candidates

It's straightforward, but it takes a lot of work to get people through the process. 

But once you do, they can create amazing content for you.

And if you're in the market for a video editor, let us know.

We can probably help you find the best overseas video editors available at Remote Growth Partners.

We recently closed a $180,000/yr client.
Here are the not so obvious things we did to win the deal.

If you're trying to close enterprise clients, hopefully this will help you. 

→ Individual emails to every stakeholder after the panel call

Day after that call, I sent separate emails to each person on the call.

Not a group "thanks for your time" email. Individual notes.
Specific to what they said in the meeting.

Here's what one looked like:

"John, great speaking with you today!

Hopefully we addressed your concerns around collaboration and scripting for the SDRs. Any feedback on our approach to teaming with you guys?"

This gave me some immediate feedback to work with.


→ Deck actually customized for the client

I’ve been on so many sales calls with decks so generic I start wondering if I accidentally joined the wrong Zoom.

I spent several hours making sure every pixel had a reason to exist.

We even added short videos of real sales candidates from our pipeline.
Not stock profiles.
Actual humans they might hire.

We also never used the phrase "Executive Summary" 
That's just a table of contents that no one cares about.
Skip it.


→ Delivered on every deadline we set

This meant a couple of 11PM emails, which sucked. But it showed them we do what we say we’ll do, even when it’s inconvenient.


→ Brought in the account manager on the first call.

In this case, our account manager is an SDR Manager that will be managing all of the SDRs we hire for them. 

It was important that they realized how good he is since they would be working closely with him.

Multiple times in the process, they told me "We're really excited to work with him."

I think I'm a boomer.
I was the only parent at the YMCA with a notebook.

Kids everywhere.
Running. Climbing. Laughing.

Normally, I’d be on my phone. Scrolling. Reading. 
Or asking ChatGPT to think for me.
Letting the time pass.

But the YMCA banned phones in the kids play area.

So I brought a notebook. And just sat there.

At first, it felt uncomfortable.

I’d write something down and instinctively want to look it up.

But there was no feed.
No quick answers.

Just space.

That’s when I noticed...my brain has gotten lazier since ChatGPT showed up.

Not useless. Just softer.

I don’t wrestle with problems the same way anymore.
I prompt. I skim. I accept the output.

“I ChatGPT’d it” has quietly replaced
“I spent time thinking about it.”

But I don’t want to lose the ability to think deeply on my own.

So I’m creating small limits.

Notebook instead of phone.
Thinking before prompting.

Not to avoid the tools. Just to remember how to use my mind without them.

What the AI SDR bros aren't telling you...

Rippling stopped programmatic outbound, hired 150 outbound reps, and saw conversions jump more than 300%

Ramp shut down their AI SDR because it had diminishing returns.

My bet is that human cold calling is a top GTM channel for 2026 because it's a pattern interrupt compared to email and crappy Linkedin DMs.

Sales will continue to move in cycles.
Someone will figure something out, the masses will saturate it, then we figure out something new.

Except for cold calling. 

As long as AI isn't allowed to make cold calls because of robo dialing laws, then this is going to be a channel that will keep working. 

It's just a matter of finding skilled people willing to actually do it.

Thanks for the great newsletter Kyle Poyar

P.S.
🏄🏼‍♂️ Scott Leese also mentioned a great take about a CRO thinking of outbound calls as content instead instead of trying to book meetings on cold calls.

If you're willing to invest in top of funnel like this, I think it has some legs.

Yesterday, I sat through a beautiful presentation. 
Great story. Great visuals. But I had one piece of critical feedback. 

It took 10 minutes for them to get to the most important part. 

Most execs don't read your report the way you think they do.
They're not scanning for how much work you put in.
They're scanning for "why this matters."

A lot of managers think they need to provide a bunch of context. They want to set the stage before they get to their main point.

But by the time they've gotten to that point, the exec has already moved on. 

It's not because they don't care.
It's because they're thinking about the next decision they have to make. 

Every update they hear is competing with:
- Hiring calls
- Board prep
- Revenue gaps
- Customer issues

So when you lead with context, you’re asking them to work harder before they know if it’s worth it.

That’s backwards.

Execs are listening for implications.

What changed.
Why it matters.
What decision this affects.

Once they have that, they’ll ask for the details they need.

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