I am .... The Host of the Sales Stories Podcast. You can find it here on Spotify: 
https://open.spotify.com/show/6FZ8ZfTr3f36FZpaWLPpIE?si=dd2f9d0627414619

I am ... A co-founder of StoryPath.ai. An Ai Native Guided Selling & Storytelling platform that enables sellers to create compelling and engaging conversations that buyers can't ignore. 

I am .. A Sales Professional. Everyone is in sales, and selling is hard. But if you remember, selling is just a series of conversations between two people. In every conversation, there is an exchange of information and ideas, and the outcome of that conversation is to determine if it makes sense to have another conversation. I’ve sold everything from newspapers, ice cream, oracle databases, cloud applications, software companies, and even people (legally speaking). 

I am ... A Storyteller. Storytelling is one of the most human forms of communication. If you’re a good storyteller, you’re a good communicator. You can build deep and rich connections if you're a good communicator. Most people suck at telling stories because they don’t understand 1) the point of what they are trying to communicate and 2) the core mechanics necessary for a story to be considered a story and not just a sequence of events. I honed my storytelling skills at 5 years old when I started acting. It’s a skill that takes time, attention, and practice, but it will pay dividends for the rest of your life. 

I am ... A Connector. If selling, marketing, and storytelling are all about building connections, then I’m a connector! I believe that people make THE difference in any organization. In fact, in the last 7+ years as a partner at Emergence Capital, one of the first steps we took after we invested in a company was to determine if they had the right butts in the seats. If not, we’d help them identify who was the best fit for the company at the size and stage. Great leaders hire and build great teams, and great teams build amazing companies with lasting cultures.

Doug Landis

Head of Sales at Clazar

I work for technology companies that make life better. 

My litmus test for a tech company- can you explain what it does, in a single sentence, to your Mom? 

Prior to Functionize: 

-Clazar- we help B2B SaaS companies launch and manage their cloud marketplace (AWS, Google, Azure) offerings. 
- airSlate- we digitize paper workflows and make it easy to create them. 
- HelloSign (now part of DropBox)- made it incredibly easy to electronically sign documents. 
- Webmetrics- we monitored and tested websites to make sure they were available and performing well.
- PowerReviews- consumer written reviews that helped other e-commerce shoppers decide if a product was worth buying.
-SLI Systems- powered on-site search so you could make sure you found the relevant products on e-commerce websites.

Brian Lawrence

I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Head of Sales at Artie!

Brian Lawrence 

One of the (many) things that attracted me to Artie? The office right in the heart of the San Francisco Financial District. 

The energy and buzz are palpable in SF right now. And the there has been a significant decrease in the amount of feces on the sidewalks (nice work, Mayor Lurie). 

It makes it easy to get together with folks like 💜 🔮 Will Allred when they are in town. I've known him for years and been a happy, repeat customer of Lavender 💜🔮 www.ora.im. 

But it is different when you can sit down in-person- completely different vibe than Zoom. And coffee and chocolate chip cookies are often involved. 

So if you are in the area, hit me up!

I’m moving at Godspeed.

It’s a little mantra I tell myself every day.

It’s from my favorite Zach Bryan song. I’m not a big country music fan but his music lands with me. And taking my daughters to his concert last fall majorly upped my aura points (allegedly)….

But that line just plays in my head. It isn’t a particularly religious thing for me.

It is a reminder that things in life happen at a certain pace. Maybe not as quickly as we want.

But I believe that we are all placed on this Earth for a purpose. And we keep moving towards that purpose, enduring the twists and turns along the way. 

Part of that journey is finding work that you find meaningful and doing it alongside people you enjoy being with. I’ve found that has a high correlation with my overall happiness in life.

And on this beautiful Friday morning, I’m moving at Godspeed. And I wish you all the same.

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Regardless of how strong or weak the job market, hiring needs to be a two way street built on mutual trust. 

Jacqueline Cheong asked me for two references. I gave her four because I wanted her to have a true sense of who I am and what it is like to work with me- both the good and the bad (should have told Melanie Brancaleone, MS, MBA she maybe didn't need to share all of the bad things)....

I asked Jacqueline if I could speak to one or two of Artie's customers to understand their perspective (David Stokey gave me a great reminder on the value of doing this). So, of course, she connected me with four customers!

All 4 customers were incredibly candid with me but had amazing things to say about the team and the platform. They mentioned the incredible speed with which new features were rolled out. But the biggest takeaway was that it took away an operational burden that they no longer had to think about- the ability to have real time data replication for their critical data. It said a lot that four extremely busy people were so quick to set up time with me and so thoughtful in sharing information with me. 

And, in the small world department, I got to talk with customer #1- Mike Cohen from Substack. It just happens that Lenny Rachitsky had reached out years ago to Mike to help an early investor perform due diligence on Artie. Lenny was so impressed that he also became an early investor. And he happens to be the same person who originally introduced me to Jacqueline a couple of years ago. Boom- full circle!

It's been an incredible (and at least a tiny bit overwhelming) first week at Artie. But I'm so appreciative of everyone who has been so kind and generous in helping me get up to speed. You never know how things will play out, but it sure feels like a great decision to join.

At our core, Artie helps companies move and digest data.

And in the age of AI and analytics, the most important type of data is the kind that let’s you predict who will win the NCAA basketball championship (work with me).

Fire up that Snowflake warehouse, enter some KenPom ratings and BANG- I bet you have yourself the winning team.

I was able to convince Jacqueline Cheong and our team to sponsor an Artie bracket challenge (sign up link in the comments).

- First place= $1,000
- Second place= $500
- Third place= $250

*Requirement to win- give Artie a follow here on LinkedIn.

But wait- there is more!

If your job involves data and your alma mater is in the tournament, I have an additional offer for you. If your team wins their first game- BOOM- I will send you a $50 gift card for lunch.

 If your team loses- I will still give you a $50 gift card for lunch- you just have to spend a couple minutes chatting with me around your data infra and see if Artie might be able to help.

Let the upsets begin!!

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The Battle

Doug Landis

Brian Lawrence

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taplio

The Battle

Doug Landis

Brian Lawrence

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Brian Lawrence's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreBrian Lawrence's LinkedIn Performance