50% of Series A companies never make it to Series B and of those that do only 11% actually exit. So why is this the case? For Tom, there are many reasons. After surveying 2000 start-up leaders on the challenges and pitfalls from going from Series A to B he can share with your audience the key mistakes that startups make and how they could potentially overcome them.

From truly understanding growth levers and unit economics to building a sustainable, predictable way to grow pipeline and revenue. He can also expand on the key issue around hiring the right people for the stage of growth and the benefits of bringing in fractional advisors and mentors who’ve been there before to help companies scale, plus much more.

After raising a Series A, the founders at startups need to find the right revenue leader to hit the aggressive growth targets and execute the plan agreed upon with their investors. But with a shortage of experienced talent, what should they be hiring for?

Tom can walk your audience through the profile that they need to be looking for. Many startups make the mistake of hiring a “heavy hitter” who has worked at several unicorn businesses before. When they should really be focussing on hiring someone who can roll their sleeves up, be scrappy and has the ability to build solid foundations and attract, onboard and retain the best talent.

He also recommends that founders need to find the person they need right now and be comfortable with the idea that this person isn’t going to be with the company from $100m and beyond – and that’s totally ok.

In Q1 and Q2 of 2021 over $81 billion was invested in early-stage funding (source). With this astronomical amount of investment (and expectations) fueling the startup ecosystem, the war for talent rages. The majority of these companies need a competent and experienced Sales Leader. Yet they clutch at straws, desperately hiring internally or choosing poorly from an increasing pool of average caliber candidates.

With so few VP Sales who’ve taken a company from $10m to $100m, Tom can share the trends he sees from the US and also how startups should approach the hiring of talent who have the battle scars and know how to avoid the landmines. Tom believes that accessing experienced mentors and coaches is just one way to make up the talent shortfall.

Revenue leaders at high-growth startups really need to be on their game and understand their numbers. Sounds obvious right? However, oftentimes VP of Sales are good at tactics and coaching but can crumble under the scrutiny and pressure when reporting to VCs and the board.

Tom can share with your audience how revenue leaders need to elevate their thinking from scrappy tactics and call coaching to developing the management layer within their organization and buying back their time to work “on the business” and not just “in it”. Tom can also explain, from his own experience, how being prepared and really knowing your numbers can give you more confidence and credibility in the boardroom.

Tom has had a very credible 20-year career in a sales capacity and senior leadership positions (CCO and CRO) at VC-backed SaaS scaleups. So why did he leave this relative comfort and safety to start Scalewise in 2020? Well, not only did Tom feel it was the right time and place for his solution…there were personal motivations too, which may resonate with your audience.

Tom can share why as a dad to two young boys and husband to an amazing wife, he felt that the stress and tension of building someone else’s startup and only being a weekend dad was not the way he wanted to live anymore. He founded Scalewise with his wife Karen and good friend Gavin to offer vetted world-class scale expertise as a service to help more companies successfully navigate the startup journey and reduce startup failure rates.