The GTM Kickback Monthly #2

Welcome to edition?#2 of our newsletter, The GTM Kickback Monthly, where we'll aim to provide you?with helpful?information on relevant trends across the SaaS & Cyber Scale-Up market.

It will comprise of a brief overview?of themes we're seeing in the market, latest GTM executive and Rep job openings, highlights from the latest episodes of "The GTM Kickback!", and a compilation of the latest industry news & trends. Now let's get to it.

What We're Seeing:

As I wrote in my LinkedIn Post earlier this week, the close of Q2/H1 and Kickoff of Q3 every single year signals both a a relief and a torment alike to my GTM folks out there.

Spent the last few weeks rushing to squeeze deals in, get contracts signed, hit their quotas and pop off for a nice July 4th vacation.

Many though - are in a mode of reflection, assessing their current organizations, roles, earning opportunities, etc - and deciding if this is the right gig for them half way through 2024. A few key thinks I would think about to help:

• Average Quota Attainment across the market in H1 sits around ~41% - am I and is my organization above or below that as an average?

• Is my pipeline substantially higher or lower than what I walked into in Q1 '24?
• Has my organization made significant product advancements/releases in the last 6-12 months that have compelling features to prospects?
• Are the resources and platform put in place for sales success useful and enhancing my ability to generation pipeline, automate task work, and drive more 'people time' on my desk?
• Are my stresses at work a natural consequence of my job as a seller, or because of internal interactions?

My honest opinion to most? Stick it out. Grass isn't always greener. BUT - if your grass is dead and you've done really concrete analysis to validate that - it might be time to start poking around.

We are in a market of chutes and ladders. Very small fraction, of incredibly high-quality products, and each and every vertical software domain are doing exceptionally well right now. The rest? It's been a gloomy year so far. And the disparity between the haves and have-nots is growing by the day.

Half way through the year - always a fantastic time to sit back, reflect, and make sure you're strapped into the right ship as we sprint to 2025.

On the Investment Front: We're looking fairly healthy

• "SaaS" is out, AI is in. AI investment, specifically into AI-enabled SaaS applications has completely dominated the venture landscape so far in 2024.
• Fairly even spread: size of round per investment has stayed consistently around the ~10M median mark for nearly the last year.
• In all my conversations with investors this quarter - there is an increasing eagerness to look for exit opportunities, realize gains, and recycle their investment to keep scaling their firms. The next 12 to 18 months will be very interesting to watch on both the M&A and IPO front. What this means for my sellers out there? Eagerness to exit is leading to more aggressive investment, growth, and hiring across many software businesses - more opportunities to sell, more opportunities, and more opportunities to grow.

Going to be very interesting to see how the rest of this year plays out, but all indications are looking like a continually healthy-er market, with plenty of opportunity for the top 10% of sellers out there to blow their numbers out of the water in 2024. Happy Hunting.

Latest Job Opportunities

We've got a number of active opportunities across our portfolio of software clients at Stott and May currently. See the full list here.

A few select openings:

Chief Business Officer - PE-Backed - Global Managed Services and Tech Consulting

SVP - Client Partnerships (META) - Private - AI QA Serivces

VP of Sales - Seed Stage - GenAI Platform

VP of Sales - Late Stage Growth Equity Backed - CPG?Software

VP of Sales (SMB/MM) - PE Backed - MSSP/MDR/IR Services

RVP, Sales - VC Backed - EdTech SaaS

SVP of Product - PE Backed -?Retail?SaaS, AI/ML Expertise Needed

Sr. PMM - PE Backed - Corporate LMS/LXP SaaS

Sales Engineer - VC Backed - ETL Data Automation SaaS

Enterprise AE - VC Backed - Communications Compliance SaaS (NYC Area)

Senior AE - VC Backed - Cyber Compliance SaaS

BD and Partnerships Lead - VC Backed - Web3 Enabled Finance SaaS

BDR - VC Backed - Web3 Enabled Finance SaaS

Account Manager - VC Backed - Web3 Enabled Finance SaaS

Regional Marketing Manager (North America) - Public - Cyber Security Software

inquire with resume here: [email protected]

Newest GTM Kickback Highlights

In the last month, we had 1 fantastic interview on The GTM Kickback!, with many more already booked and recored on the way.

Check out my interview with the great and powerful Jonathan M K. - both on The GTM Kickback AND on his show, the GTM AI Podcast:

AI's Impact on Go-to-Market Strategies and Recruitment - The GTM Kickback #75 w/ Jonathan Kvarfordt

Want to be a guest? Ping me on LinkedIn! ??

We're looking for: High-performance GTM Operators, VC/PE Investors in SaaS, and Leading GTM Consultants for early stage technology businesses

New to "The GTM Kickback!"? Subscribe to the podcast!

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SaaS Sales Industry News and Trends

Some of my favorite reads from other industry greats:

• A Book ?? - Revenue Architecture by Jacco van der Kooij is out now, a textbook meticulously designed for recurring revenue businesses looking to scale through Winning by Design 's market leading GTM Strategies.
• What’s Really Happening in Venture Capital Today with Redpoint Ventures Managing Director?Logan Bartlett
• The GTM AI Academy and Newsletter by Jonathan Kvarfordt
• [Topline #61 by Pavilion ] What does Salesforce's revenue miss mean for SaaS? Featuring Sam Jacobs , AJ Bruno , and Asad Zaman