Ellen Rataj

PolishUp, Inc.

We help B2B sales teams hire more A players.

Co-Founder & CEO

nReach.io

VP of Sales

Closed Won Revenue

Helping Series A & B startups scale their teams to grow revenue

Fractional VP Sales & GTM operator

Commsor 🦕

Advisor

FreeWill

Managed a team of 60 people, I successfully turned around FreeWill's revenue engine by 36% YOY growth in 2023 (after an 8% YOY rev decline in 2022) by leading and scaling the 60 person sales organization to help nonprofits expand & accelerate their impact.

Rebuilt the FreeWill Sales Team through setting a strategic vision, implementing repeatable and scalable processes, and focusing on execution, accountability, and performance management that led to:  

+ Doubled PPR (productivity per rep)
+ Doubled win rate from 6% to 12%
+ Decreased sales cycle from 100+ days to a median of 45 days
+ Quartered new hire ramp time
+ Held ACV steady

HubSpot

As Head of Sales, I developed & ran the Ramp Acceleration Program for HubSpot's global sales org. Every sales segment (eg Corporate, MidMarket, SMB, etc) is assigned a Ramp Acceleration Manager to turn new AEs into fully productive reps as quickly as possible, measured through segment PPR and ASP metrics.

Founder - Head of Ramp Acceleration, Sales at HubSpot

I built the Sales Enablement (now Revenue Enablement) function from the ground up, focusing on coaching and developing global sales leaders through recurring programming, skill development playbooks, and 1:1 mentoring.

I also built the executive communication and strategy execution model for sales, to ensure cross-departmental alignment, through consistent change management efforts.

Founder - Head of Sales Leadership Enablement, GTM Enablement

As one of the original four SMB Sales Managers at HubSpot, I managed a team of 10 direct sales reps. I onboarded, coached and developed 22 sales reps over two years, many first-timers, and built programming to expand the segment to 30 sales managers and over 250 sales reps (as of H2 2022)

Sales reps on my team learned how to successfully position the HubSpot platform through a highly consultative and evangelical sales process.

Sales Manager

+ Received Brian Halligan's (HubSpot Cofounder) "Heavy Hitter" sales award
+ #1 Direct Sales Rep in 2014 at 181%
+ #4 Direct Sales Rep in 2015 at 154%
+ Attended every HubSpot President's Club annual recognition trip for top sales performers

I helped companies rethink the way they do business & how they compete within their industries.

Principal Account Executive

Vodafone Global Enterprise

I actively managed local relationships within the Netherlands for 25 multinational Vodafone customers.  As a customer-focused team player that influences & leads through strong communication and concise decision-making skills to achieve results, I drove profitable sales and increased Vodafone's market share of integrated products, services, and solutions.

National Account Manager

Verizon Wireless

I was hired as an Account Executive.  As a top performer, I was promoted into Sales Management and lead the Boston B2B sales team targeting mid-market accounts.

Sales Manager, Mid Market

AT&T Mobility

I was extended an offer to join AT&T's on-site, intensive five-month Business Sales Leadership Development Program.  Finishing #1 of 24, I transitioned into an Account Executive role responsible for net new business growth measured through monthly quota targets.  I also was responsible for maintaining all relationships going-forward and measured on install base, upgrades, add-on, and retention metrics.

Business Account Manager

In 2022, FreeWill's net new revenue unfortunately declined by 8% YOY. 
I was hired in Q4 2022 as VP of Sales to lead the 60 person team.
15 months later, we finished 2023 at 36% YOY net new rev growth. 

Why was I able to do this? How was I able to do this? 

I rebuilt the FreeWill Sales Team through setting a strategic vision, implementing repeatable and scalable processes, and focusing on execution, accountability, and performance management.

Within 12 months, we: 
+ Doubled PPR (productivity per rep)
+ Doubled our win rate from 6% to 12%
+ Decreased our sales cycle from 100+ days to a median of 45 days
+ Halved new hire ramp time
+ Held our ACV steady 

I am a people-first Sales VP, dedicated leader, and executive strategist with GTM enablement experience scaling global sales teams.

Today, I lead the 60 person sales organization at FreeWill by balancing execution across both short-term and long-term growth plans. I believe in motivating sales teams to perform at their best by running a repeatable and scalable GTM motion, which has increased FreeWill's revenue and driven company growth. 

As a company, FreeWill has raised over $10 BILLION dollars through the creation of over 1 million wills and supports a customer network of over 1500 non-profit organizations.

Prior to joining FreeWill in 2022, I spent a decade at HubSpot. In 2022, I built out a brand new global role within HubSpot Sales as "Head of Ramp Acceleration". I supported 25+ Managers and 4 Directors as I created, executed, and scaled a segment-wide program to decrease "time to ramp" for new hires, which has since been implemented across the global HubSpot sales footprint to all teams and segments.

From 2018-2022, I co-founded HubSpot's now 45+ person Revenue Enablement team. I built and lead the growing Sales Leadership Enablement team, focused on developing and coaching sales managers & directors across all our global offices as we scaled from 40 managers to 200 managers, through implementing net new global programs, processes, and playbooks.

From 2016-2018, I was one of four original SB Sales Managers for HubSpot. Over these two years, I coached and lead a high-performing sales team to exceed our monthly quota targets while simultaneously ramping 22 new hires, which positioned me to step into the challenge of cofounding our Sales Enablement team in 2018.

From 2013-2015, I joined HubSpot as an Account Executive. I was the #1 Global Direct Rep of the year in 2014 and the #4 Global Direct Rep of the year in 2015.

Responsible for scaling the FreeWill revenue engine.
Leading 65 exceptional sales people.
Helping nonprofits expand their impact.

George Homer

SimpleDocs

SimpleDocs is an AI-native contract automation platform built for in-house legal teams and law firms. 

Our platform combines AI-powered drafting, redlining, and review with configurable playbooks and an AI-first contract repository, enabling legal teams to manage contracts from first draft to negotiation and storage. 

By grounding its tools in real-world contract data and adapting to each team’s standards, SimpleDocs ensures faster turnaround, greater accuracy, and more consistent results-delivering measurable ROI and confidence across every stage of the contracting lifecycle.

Vice President of Sales

Ogandawa Foundation

Board Member for Ogandawa Foundation a 501c3 Non Profit that is fiscally sponsored by the Edward Charles Foundation.

Board Member

GMH Advising

I help startup founders get out of the sales weeds to create a repeatable and scalable sales motion. My proprietary process starts with a comprehensive audit of current sales and marketing operations that is transparent, objective, and candid. We assess what is working, what areas need improvement, and create a plan of actionable insights to grow revenue and improve Go-To-Market processes.

Founder

Interfolio from Elsevier

Part of the Enterprise Sales Team supporting Higher Education institutions with software tools for Faculty search, retention, promotion, tenure, and activity reporting.

Enterprise Account Executive

Get Inclusive (Acquired: Vector Solutions)

Managed a large group of accounts and developed sales plans to prospect, build and manage relationships with prospects at new logo opportunities. Achievements include:
-Top sales producer closing $1.7M of the $2.2M company total in new annual contract value (ACV), exceeding $1M quota which resulted in the acquisition by Vector Solutions. 
-Crafted a GTM strategy to achieve 120% revenue growth YOY in 2022.
-Developed a sales plan to prospect, build and manage relationships with customers.  
-Prepare forecasts and report KPIs to Chief Revenue Officer.
-Keep abreast of new product lines, competitors’ products, and industry trends to provide exceptional service.

Vice President of Strategic Accounts

Traliant

Helped Traliant rise to #13 on Deloitte Technology Fast 500 in 2020 as a sales team member. Traliant was acquired by PSG in 2021. 
-Crafted outbound GTM strategy for new logos closing the largest ACV deal in company history (Oracle with international deployment).
-Exceeded quota at 152% for new logos and existing customer expansion. Key new customers included Rivian, ITG Brands, Highmark Health, Coca-Cola Northeast, Coca-Cola Southwest, and OTPP.
-Managed prospects and created proposals to exceed customer expectations. 
-Cross-sold to large existing customers and increased revenue by an average of 86% per account.
-Conducted cold outreach on new logo Fortune 100 potential customers for SaaS training and LMS service.

Strategic Account Director

Impact Compliance Training

Founded and bootstrapped a SaaS startup company for online training. Brought on 100 new logos and scaled the company from zero to $1.1M in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) in 15 months.
-Built GTM functions including playbooks and cadences, overcame objections and oversaw marketing including PPC, SEO, content, and tech stacks.
-Hired, trained, and mentored new full-cycle sales representatives.
-Coached sales representatives to exceed quotas by 52% on outbound demos and closed-won opportunities.

Co-Founder/Sales Director

EVERFI

Supported the largest new logo and existing customer expansion opportunities within the Higher Education and Corporate Compliance SaaS online training platform segments.
-Closed $2.2M in ARR and recognized as the #1 top sales producer out of 45 reps which exceeded annual quota by 113% in 2017.
-Led GTM strategy for outbound and inbound playbooks, new product launches, content, and sales training.
-Mentored multiple junior sales representatives resulting in career-changing professional development with corresponding income increases.

LawRoom (acquired by EverFi)

Recognized as the top sales producer for 6 consecutive years, leading the company to a mid-8 figure acquisition by EVERFI.
-Drove company revenue from $2M ARR in 2008 to $16M ARR when acquired in 2016.
-Produced $1.7M in ARR exceeding annual quota at 171% to goal in 2015.
-Created sales strategies for new product launches, content marketing, and other sales collateral including the execution of outbound playbooks, objections/rebuttals, sales mentoring and training, hiring, and battle cards.
-Influenced strategies for customer success and product management including recommending feature enhancements and resolving customer issues.

Senior Enterprise Account Executive

VP Sales @ SimpleDocs/Law Insider-AI Contract Review & Redline Legal Tech

I help startup founders get out of the sales weeds to create a repeatable and scalable sales motion. My proprietary process starts with a comprehensive audit of current sales and marketing operations that is transparent, objective, and candid. We assess what is working, what areas need improvement, and create a plan of actionable insights to grow revenue and improve Go-To-Market processes. 

So why me as an advisor?

I’m not a LinkedIn influencer or a sales coach that comes from big well-funded companies with unlimited resources. I’ve been in the trenches building the car while driving it with a unique bias to action at bootstrapped startups. 

You can get advice from someone that hasn’t actually done this work themselves but it will take you longer and success may not be guaranteed. 

Here is a bit about my experience:

After bootstrapping my way through a college degree while working full-time, I got into tech sales and honed my craft during the Great Financial Crises. 

I worked my way up to the top AE  position and GTM leader generating over $100m in outbound pipeline with $25m closed won that played an extremely significant role in helping 3 companies reach over $100m in combined exits. 

I also bootstrapped my own SaaS company from $0 to $1m in 12 months.

Top results achieved over my 15-year tech sales career:
-Top AE and GTM lead at LawRoom.com generating over $40m in outbound pipeline and $15m net new closed won revenue going from $2m to $16m leading to a mid-8-figure acquisition by EVERFI. 
-Top AE and GTM lead at Get Inclusive generating over $10m in outbound pipeline and $3m net new closed won revenue going from $1m to $5m leading to an acquisition.
-Founded and bootstrapped Impact Compliance Training, a SaaS company from the ground up, and grew the company to $1m ARR in 12 months. Created everything from scratch-outbound sales motions, and sales and marketing playbooks, and hired and trained new full-cycle AEs to blow out quota by 47%.
-Top AE and GTM lead at EVERFI responsible for the largest new logo and upsell opportunities which resulted in over $15m outbound pipeline generated and over $5m closed won in 2 years.
-At LawRoom.com, EVERFI, and Get Inclusive I refined and updated GTM outbound sales motions for cold call process, cold email marketing motions, playbooks, decks, battle cards, new product launches, thought leadership, and objections and rebuttals documents.
-At Traliant I built an outbound sales playbook to bring in the largest corporate opportunity in company history Oracle. Traliant was acquired by PSG in 2021

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Ellen Rataj

George Homer

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