I have been lucky to be part of an amazing journey at Criteo, from 2015 to 2020. 

When I joined the EMEA commercial HQ in Barcelona in 2015, we were 50 people, generating 10M€ ARR. When I left in 2020, we grew the team to 1500+ people, generating +1B€ ARR. 

As the Founder of Atscale, I take pride in seeing for the past 6 years the impact we've had on the development and optimization of the revenue departments of 100+ best-in-class Scale-ups. Our team of operating partners and former Revenue Leaders brings IPO expertise to help these companies thrive.

I aim to build businesses that are profitable from Day-1. 

I invest in cutting-edge technology and Real Estate. 

Strategy, new business development and marketing communications are at the heart of my skills, enabling me to effectively support Companies in their expansion.

If you are interested in any of these topics, feel free to follow me or contact me directly.

Pierre Trannoy

In 2025, I directly generated €1.5M in revenue for my companies through warm introductions and referrals.

Just people introducing me to other people.
For years, I underestimated how powerful this truly is.

Here is what I’ve learned about why introductions drive so much business:

1️⃣ 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆
When someone you respect introduces you, you borrow their credibility.
You don’t start at zero, you start at 50%.
The conversation is different from the first minute.

2️⃣ 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗲
Cold outreach fights for attention, while introductions arrive with context.
“Pierre can help you structure your Revenue engine.”
That sentence changes everything.

3️⃣ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿
Warm intros often happen when:
There is a real project
A pain has already been identified
Budget exists 
Urgency is real
You’re not creating awareness.
You’re entering an active discussion, so sales cycles are shorter. 

4️⃣ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿
Referrals tend to:
- Have clearer expectations
- Be better aligned with your ICP
- Close faster
- Lead to stronger long-term relationships
It’s not just about more deals.
It’s about better deals.

But here’s the important part:
Your network is not fixed. It’s not something you “have", and something you build constantly.

And it requires deliberate effort:
Reaching out without asking for anything, making introductions yourself, sharing opportunities, showing up consistently, staying in touch even when there is no immediate upside. 

Too many people think networking is opportunistic, but in reality, it’s long-term compounding.

The €1.5M didn’t come from one big contact.
It came from years of conversations, value exchanges, and trust built slowly.

Founder @Atscale Group | Sales Excellence, Value Creation & Operating Partner | Training | Exec Search | Scaling Tech, IT & Services companies

Everyone talks about AI for top-of-funnel. Linkedin feeds are full of this lately...

Pipeline generation.
Outbound automation.
Personalized cold emails at scale.

Yes — that matters.

But if you only use AI to create more opportunities... you’re missing 80% of the upside.

AI agents are not just SDR enhancers.
They can transform the entire Go-To-Market machine — Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success.

Here are 7 high-impact use cases beyond pipeline generation:

1️⃣ Deal Qualification & Inspection
AI agents reviewing calls, emails and CRM fields to score MEDDIC compliance, identify missing decision criteria, detect weak champions, and flag deal risks early. Instead of “pipeline reviews,” you get real-time deal health diagnostics.

2️⃣ Sales Coaching at Scale
AI analyzing call recordings to provide structured feedback: talk/listen ratio, objection handling quality, pricing conversations, next-step clarity. Every rep gets a personal coach. Not once a quarter. Every day.

3️⃣ Proposal & Deal Shaping
AI agents generating tailored business cases, ROI models, executive summaries and recap emails based on industry, persona and deal context. Faster turnaround. Higher relevance. Better close rates.

4️⃣ Pricing & Discount Governance
AI monitoring discount patterns, deal margins and approval flows to flag abnormal concessions and protect profitability. Not just revenue growth — profitable revenue growth.

5️⃣ Forecasting & Pipeline Accuracy
AI cross-checking CRM data, activity levels, deal progression and historical patterns to challenge over-optimistic commits. A second brain for the CRO.

6️⃣ Customer Onboarding Acceleration
AI copilots guiding implementation steps, generating custom onboarding plans, anticipating friction points based on similar customers. Faster time-to-value. Lower early churn.

7️⃣ Expansion & Churn Prevention
AI agents scanning product usage, support tickets, NPS trends and engagement signals to detect upsell triggers or churn risks before humans see them. Proactive CS instead of reactive firefighting.

The real question is not:
“How do we use AI to generate more leads?”

The real question is:
“Where in our GTM machine are humans spending time on repetitive analysis, low-leverage tasks, or inconsistent decision-making?”

That’s where AI agents belong.

AI is not a growth hack.
It’s an operational leverage layer.

And the companies that will win are not the ones sending better automated emails —
but the ones redesigning their entire revenue engine around intelligent systems.

SaaS revenue becomes fragile during transition.Pre-Seed: First AE changes the dynamic.Seed: 1–2 reps work, replication doesn’t.Series A: Headcount grows, predictability softens.Series B: New region, new leader, complexity compounds.At every stage, hiring logic must evolve with revenue structure.The wrong hire rarely fails loudly.They create drag:Longer ramps.Founder still closing.Forecast distortion.Busy, unpredictable pipeline.Inconsistent conversion.I work with SaaS companies across EMEA (DACH, UK, FR, NL) from Pre-Seed to Series B and beyond to build revenue teams that scale cleanly from first AE to regional expansion.This isn’t recruiting.It’s revenue architecture.If you’re entering a revenue transition, first hire, scaling from 2 to 5+, or expanding into a new market. I’m happy to give you a straight view on whether your hiring plan matches your stage.No pitch. Just structural clarity.

Bruce Kriaa

105% of quota. Praised at the all-hands. Fired two weeks later. You know what his mistake was? Hitting quota while being expensive.

Stop telling reps their job is safe if they hit quota. It's not. And you know it.

I've spent 20 years in B2B and SaaS sales. Carried quota as an IC. Built teams as a leader. Now I place top SaaS sales talent across EMEA.

And I'm tired of watching good reps get cut because of decisions that have nothing to do with their performance.

Here's what happened:

Rep joined 9 months ago. Ramped in 3. Hit 98% in Q3. 105% in Q4. Pipeline strong going into the new year.

Did everything they were told. And did it well.

Then the company missed ARR target by 34%. Board asked "where can we cut?"

Sales team = biggest line item after engineering.

CFO: "Cut 3 AEs, save €540k, extend runway 5 months."

Founder didn't want to. But the alternative was running out of runway completely.

So they cut the 3 highest-paid AEs. Not the worst performers. The most expensive ones.

Email said "restructuring due to market conditions." No performance issues mentioned. Because there weren't any.

Here's what makes me angry:

The rep did everything right. Hit quota. Built pipeline. Showed up.
And still got cut.

Not because he failed. Because the company needed runway.

That's not performance management. That's financial engineering.

If a restaurant fires their best waiter because they can't afford to pay them anymore, you don't blame the waiter. You know the restaurant is in trouble.

Same thing here.

I see this approx. every second quarter now:

Company raises at inflated valuation. Sets aggressive targets. Hires fast.

Market shifts. Growth slows. Targets look impossible.

Board panics. "Extend runway. Cut burn."

Sales gets cut first. Not lowest performers. Highest cost.

Three months later? Hiring again. Lower comp. Junior profiles.

"We're being more strategic now."

Translation: Replacing €180k AEs with €140k AEs.

Here's what nobody says:

Hitting quota doesn't guarantee your job.

It means you did what you were supposed to. But if company strategy changes, or board panics, or runway gets tight, performance becomes irrelevant.

You're a line item on a spreadsheet. Line items get cut when cash gets tight.
 
This doesn't mean startups and scaleups are bad places to work. The learning is faster. The upside is real. You build skills in 2 years that take 5 at a corporate.

But track runway. Watch burn rate. Know your company's financial position.

Not because you're paranoid. Because you're professional.

The best sales careers are built at startups and scaleups. Just make sure you're at one that can actually afford you.

I stop SaaS founders from making the one sales hire that quietly kills their runway

I don't have 45 minutes for a call. Just send CVs." A founder told me this yesterday. He's been hiring for 2 months. Zero offers made. Now I know why.

I do cold outreach to founders hiring sales roles. This one had an AE posting up for 2 months.

Me: "I can find you an A-Player. But I need 45 minutes to understand your sale."

Him: "Every recruiter tells me they can deliver. But they can't. Just send CVs."

Me: "What's your ACV?"

Him: "Just send CVs and I'll tell you if they're good."

Me: "What's your sales cycle?"

Him: "Look, I'm busy. Send CVs like everyone else."

So I passed on the mandate.

Here's why:

You won't spend 45 minutes with me. But you'll spend 3 months hiring someone who looks good on paper and sells himself well.

Then 6 months watching them fail because they can't actually sell YOUR product at YOUR stage.

Then you blame recruiters.

But the problem started when you said "I'm too busy."

I can't find you the right AE if I don't know:
- Your ACV
- Your sales cycle  
- Your buyer
- What closes deals
- What kills deals
- Targets
- ARR stage
...

Without that? I'm guessing. Like everyone else you talked to.

That founder will keep looking for a while.

Not because good AEs don't exist.

Because he won't spend 45 minutes helping someone find one.

If you're hiring sales and you'll actually invest the time to get it right, DM me.

45 minutes. We build the scorecard. Then I find someone who fits.

But if you just want CVs, there are plenty of recruiters for that.

I'm not one of them.

I interview 50+ sales candidates every month. The best ones all share two traits. It's not confidence. It's not experience. It's something most founders actively screen OUT.

After 20 years in sales, I've learned this: Two good traits that predict quota attainment have nothing to do with your CV.

Here's what I used to think mattered: Years of experience. Quota history. Big logos. Confidence.

Wrong.

I've hired "perfect" candidates who failed in 6 months. And "risky" candidates who became top performers.

The difference? Curiosity and coachability.

Candidate A (looks perfect on paper):

Me: "Walk me through how you'd approach this market."
Them: "I've sold into this vertical for 5 years. You need to lead with ROI, focus on the CFO, run a pilot. I'd map the org, build consensus..."

Zero questions. Assumed they knew my business.

Later:
Me: "Your demo-to-close rate was 18%. Industry average is 25%. What happened?"
Them: "Our product wasn't as strong. Marketing leads were low quality. Market was tough."

Blamed everything external. No curiosity about what THEY could have done differently.

Candidate B (looks less impressive):

Me: "Walk me through how you'd approach this market."
Them: "I've worked adjacent markets, but I don't know your ICP yet. What's the main pain point you solve? What typically kills deals in month 3?"

Admitted what they don't know. Asked smart questions.

Later:
Me: "Your demo-to-close rate was 18%. Industry average is 25%."
Them: "That's low. I think I was demoing too early. What close rate are your reps hitting? I'd love to understand what good looks like here."

Curious about the gap. Wanted to learn.

That's coachability.

Best performers I've placed:
- Ask questions about YOUR business, not just pitch theirs
- Say "I don't know yet, but here's how I'd figure it out"
- When you point out a gap, get curious, not defensive

Worst performers:
- Have an answer for everything
- Blame external factors
- Get defensive when challenged

Most founders hear "I don't know" and think "not experienced enough."

I hear it and think "this person will learn our business."

Your best hire isn't someone who knows everything about sales. It's someone curious enough to learn YOUR sale.

If you're hiring, watch two things:

Do they ask about YOUR business instead of pitching theirs?

When you challenge them, do they defend or lean in?

Ich suche gerade 2–3 Key Account Manager (m/w/d) für ein sehr etabliertes HR-Tech Unternehmen im DACH Raum.
Eine Brand, die wahrscheinlich 98 % von euch kennen.

Es gibt zwei mögliche Rollen:

1. Klassischer Key Account Manager
Du übernimmst ein bestehendes Book of Business und entwickelst den Umsatz über Cross- und Upselling innerhalb deiner Accounts weiter.

2. Key Account Manager – Decentralized Accounts (DCA)
Hier arbeitest du mit wenigen, sehr großen Kunden und baust diese strategisch aus, indem du zusätzliche Tochtergesellschaften innerhalb der Organisation gewinnst.

Rahmenbedingungen:

Remote Rolle in Deutschland
1x im Monat für etwa 3 Tage in der internationalen Zentrale
Viel strategische Arbeit im Account + regelmäßiger Kundenkontakt

Gesucht wird jemand, der:

Erfahrung im Key Account Management hat
idealerweise aus HR Tech / SaaS kommt
sein Territory strategisch entwickeln kann
selbstständig arbeitet und Ownership übernimmt
Deutsch (native) und Englisch professionell spricht

Wenn du aktuell Enterprise / Strategic Accounts betreust und eine sehr starke Brand mit großem Bestandspotenzial spannend findest:

DM me.

I ask one question that shows me if a sales candidate can repeat their success or just got lucky. Takes 5 minutes. Most founders and sales leaders never ask it.

I review 600+ sales profiles a month. Interview about 50. One question tells me if they can repeat their success.

The question:

"Walk me through one deal you closed that YOU started with outreach. Step by step. So detailed that my grandmother could understand how you closed it."

Most candidates say:

"I reached out on LinkedIn. They were interested. Had a few calls. They liked what we offered. Closed the deal."

That's vague. Not a process.

A candidate with a system sounds like this:

"Found them through a job posting for an Ops Manager signaled workflow problems. First call, 25 minutes. Asked about their process, found 3 bottlenecks. Sent a 3-minute Loom addressing those points. Second call, they brought their VP in. Third call, pricing. They pushed back on annual. Offered quarterly at 10% premium. Signed two weeks later. €45k."

The difference? One got lucky. One has a method

But here's what even experienced sales leaders miss, they hear that and think "great answer."

I'm listening for 5 things that separate process from luck:

1. Discovery depth
Did they mention specific pain points?
Bad: "They needed a better solution." Good: Finance team spent 15 hours every month on manual reporting."

2. Decision criteria
What did the buyer actually care about?
Bad: "They wanted our features." Good: "They needed month-end close from 10 days to 3. CFO's bonus was tied to it."

3. Multi-threading
Who else was involved?
Bad: "I worked with the VP." Good: "VP brought Finance Director on call two. She had concerns about NetSuite integration."

4. What almost killed it
The objection that nearly derailed it?
Bad: "They had concerns." Good: "IT flagged security requirements we didn't have documented. Took 3 days to get our CTO to build a deck."

5. Compelling event
Why it closed when it closed?
Bad: "Timing was right." Good: "Annual planning in 6 weeks. If we didn't close by then, budget got reallocated."

Most founders hear a good story and hire. I hear the same story and know if they've done this 5 times or 50.

Because luck sounds smooth. Systems sound detailed.

€3M ARR. 85% quota attainment. Healthy pipeline. Round still died. Investor said sales org concerns. Here's what he actually meant.

I've spent 20 years in B2B and SaaS sales. Now I place top SaaS sales talent across EMEA and help founders build teams that investors actually want to fund.

Three sales hiring mistakes kill rounds. Founders miss them. Investors see them immediately.

Mistake 1: Your sales team looks like a science experiment

4 AEs. Different processes. Different messaging. Different deal sizes. Different sales cycles.

Founder says: "We're testing what works."

Investor hears: "They have no repeatable motion."

Investors don't fund experiments. They fund proven playbooks being scaled.

If your team of 4 all sell differently, you don't have a GTM. You have 4 people improvising.

Mistake 2: Your best rep IS your process

One rep hits 120%. The other three hit 60%.

Founder says: "We have a top performer."

Investor says: "What happens when they leave?"

If only one person can hit quota, you don't have a scalable system. You have a dependency.

Investors see that immediately.

Mistake 3: You hired for the stage you want, not the stage you're at

You're at €3M ARR. You hired a VP from a €100M company.

Founder says: "We got experienced leadership."

Investor says: "This person has never built from scratch."

VPs from scaled companies know how to manage systems. Not build them.

At €3M ARR, you need builders. Not managers.

Investors spot this in 5 minutes. They ask: "Has your VP actually done THIS stage before?"

If the answer is no, it's a flag.

Here's what happened to that founder:

Investor looked at the team:
- 4 AEs all selling differently
- Only 1 hitting quota consistently
- VP from a €100M company who'd never worked below €10M

Investor's conclusion: "You don't have repeatable GTM. You have expensive chaos."

Round died.

Not because revenue was bad. Because the sales org looked unfundable.

The hard part isn't knowing these 3 mistakes. The hard part is honestly assessing if YOU have them.

Most founders think they're fine. Then an investor asks one question in diligence and it all falls apart.

If you're raising in the next 6 months and want an honest assessment before you get into the room, DM me.

15 minutes. I'll tell you what I actually see. Not what you want to hear.

A founder told me last week: "Every sales leader I hire has nearly the same "perfect" 30-60-90 plan. And it's the second time now they failed by month 6." Here's why.

I've placed dozens of sales leaders. The ones who survive past 6 months don't follow standard templates.

Most 30-60-90 plans:
Days 1-30: Meet team, learn product
Days 31-60: Optimize process
Days 61-90: Drive results

Standard template. But it skips the critical phase: diagnosis. You can't fix what you don't understand.

Days 1-30: Diagnose. Don't Fix Anything.

What I do:
- Listen to call recordings from last 30 days
- Shadow one live call per rep (3+ for top and bottom performers)
- Audit pipeline: win rate, deal size, cycle length, AND stage velocity (where deals stall tells you more than where they close)
- Review all sales content: emails, decks, sequences
- Talk to last 5 customers who said yes AND 5 who said no

What I don't do: Implement tools, change process, "optimize" anything

Even experienced leaders miss this: The gap between what reps SAY closes deals and what actually closes them is massive. If 60% of deals stall after demo, your problem isn't demo quality. Discovery didn't find urgent pain.

Milestone: I can explain exactly why deals win or lose.

Days 31-60: Find The One Thing

Most leaders try to fix everything. That's how you lose the team.

Real examples:
- Deals stalling at demo 40+ days. Added one qualifying question before booking. Velocity dropped from 42 days to 18. Win rate jumped 12% to 23%.
- ICP too broad. Reps chasing €5k and €50k deals with same process. Tightened ICP. Pipeline quality doubled, velocity up 35%.

What experienced leaders get wrong: They see 5 problems and fix all of them. One visible win builds trust. Five initiatives create chaos.

Milestone: One measurable improvement.

Days 61-90: Build The System

What I focus on:
- Document what's working
- Set clear benchmarks by stage
- Weekly pipeline reviews by stage (not just 'will it close?')
- Stage-specific playbooks
- Hire only after knowing what profile succeeds

What senior leaders overlook: Most pipeline reviews ask "will it close?" Better question: "what stage is it stuck and why?" Stage velocity by rep shows who moves deals vs who waits.

Milestone: Predictable forecast from velocity by stage, not close dates.

The best sales leaders don't rush to fix things.

Diagnose 30 days. One high-impact change next 30. Build system final 30.

The ones who fail? Show up day 1 with all the answers.

If you're starting as a sales leader:

Can you explain why deals win or lose by day 30?

One measurable improvement by day 60?

Repeatable process with predictable velocity by day 90?

If yes, you'll survive. If no, start updating LinkedIn.

🚀 Sales Director (m/f/d) | HR-Tech / SaaS | OTE €160–200K | €110–120K Base | Germany

We are hiring a Sales Director for a well-known HR-Tech / SaaS company with a very strong brand in the market.

Despite the established market position, the company is currently going through an exciting transformation phase, making this role ideal for a leader who thrives in change, building, and scaling high-performing sales teams.

This is a second-line leadership role with responsibility for driving commercial performance while helping shape the next phase of the sales organization.

What you will do

• Lead and develop multiple B2B sales teams
• Drive revenue growth, forecasting and KPI management
• Support and close strategic enterprise deals
• Build structures, processes and a strong performance culture
• Act as a key leader during an ongoing organizational transformation

What we are looking for

• Experienced Sales Leader in B2B SaaS / HR-Tech / Platform business
• Proven track record in leading and scaling sales teams (Enterprise, Partner 
   Management, New Business, Account Management)
• Strong commercial mindset and KPI-driven leadership style
• Comfortable operating in change environments and transformation phases
• Hands-on leader who enjoys being close to customers and strategic deals
   
Requirements

• Must be based in Germany
• Business fluent German (C1/C2 level) and strong business English

Compensation

💰 OTE: €160,000 – €200,000
💰 Base salary: €110,000 – €120,000

This is a rare opportunity to join a highly recognized HR-Tech brand while actively shaping the next phase of its sales organization.

If you enjoy building, transforming and leading strong sales teams in SaaS, this role could be a perfect fit.

📩 If your background matches the requirements above and you are currently based in Germany, feel free to reach out directly to learn more.

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