Josh Norris

Josh Norris is a strategic leader in capital-efficient GTM design and post-raise execution for high-growth SaaS companies. He partners with founders and CFOs to ensure new capital converts into predictable, investor-grade revenue systems rather than uncontrolled burn.

He has advised 60+ Series A-D startups, helping teams eliminate burn drift, professionalize reporting, and build GTM infrastructure that supports follow-on funding. His work has contributed to multiple clients reaching seven-figure ARR within their first year and advancing to subsequent rounds.

Josh previously led GTM, revops, partnerships, and business development at Hyperbound, scaling from zero to $5M ARR in under two years, and at Lavender during the 2022 downturn. He also managed a 36-engineer organization at a publicly traded SaaS company, giving him a rare systems-level perspective on how revenue, product, and capital deployment align.

The moment the wire hits the bank is the most dangerous point in a startup's lifecycle. Josh operates as the architecture partner between board expectations and execution, ensuring every dollar deployed compounds.

GTM Consultant

I consult on sales, marketing, and customer success.

Josh Norris 🐦‍🔥

Took a break from LinkedIn over the holidays to spend time with family. Today, I flew to Tokyo to spend 11 days with Eli Al-Shamari, Patrick Dajos 🐉, and 12 other SF-based founders. 

We’re here for fun, community, and quality time with likeminded builders.

It’s also my first time in Japan and the first real vacation I’ve given myself in years. I’m long overdue for a creative recharge.

I’ll share stories and pics!

GTM Capital Deployment Architect for Post-Raise SaaS | Series A-D Growth & Capital Efficiency

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My latest toxic opinion is that AI started using the em dash so much because the em dash is a uniquely superior punctuation mark—the best at conveying complex thoughts-within-thoughts—and the only reason the em dash has a stigma now is because most of you aren’t good enough writers to have recognized its value and used it before AI did. So now you see it as new, superfluous, and annoying—just another symbol of AI frivolousness—instead of the useful literary tool that it is. 

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk. Please enjoy this poem from a clothing tag from when I was shopping earlier in Shibuya. 

Words are light.

Ode to penguins.

Salman Mohiuddin

Enterprise Account Executive, Marketing Cloud (Financial Services)

Helping sales pros + teams build healthy pipeline to close more deals faster | Sales Coach + Trainer @ SSA | 17 years as a quota carrier | ex-Salesforce, Asana and IBM | Interview Ace

Problem before Product. 

17 years of tech sales experience as an SDR + AE at Salesforce, IBM and Asana all as an individual contributor. There’s more 👉

Currently Founder at Salman Sales Academy.

#1 Sales Influencer in Canada 2025 (source: Favikon)

Coaching and training AEs, SDRs, BDRs + sales teams to find and close more deals.

Started as an SDR in 2006, moved to AE in 2007.

6 years at IBM
- SDR 
- SMB + MM AE
- small Enterprise AE

7 years at Salesforce
- MM AE (new logo)
- Enterprise AE

2.5 years at Asana
- Enterprise AE 

2 years at startups 
- SMB AE (new logo)
- Enterprise AE

I currently coach + train AEs, AMs, BDRs, SDRs and Sales teams on prospecting, problem enablement, discovery, demos, deal strategy and interviews.

DM me for:

- 1:1 Sales coaching 
- Sales team coaching + training for your company
- 1:1 Sales interview consults to help you land an offer
- Speaking engagements or sessions for your company
- Podcast guest 


✅ Widely recognized as a master prospector & hunter

✅ Experienced in consultative selling to C-level, Information Technology (IT), Marketing, Ops, HR and more.

✅ Sales Interview Ace - the interview playbook I've built has resulted in an 80% success rate in interviews

✅ Possess an Honors B.A., Economics

[Sales COACHING]

➡️ Problem Enablement [build confidence in truly understanding your persona and the problems your solution solves for]

➡️ Prospecting [cold email, cold calling, warm calling, objection handling]

➡️ Discovery [full 5-step discovery framework to help lead your calls with confidence and in the flow of the conversation]

➡️ Demos [full demo framework, engaging demos, justifying spend, taking control of deals, PoC/Pilot strategy, etc…]

➡️ Deal Strategy [multithreading, uncovering power, executive alignment + engagement, quantifying pain, business case, negotiation, dealing with objections throughout cycle, taking control of your deals, champion building, mutual plans, forecasting, etc...]

➡️ Interviews - I've refined my interview playbook that has help 80+ folks land offers [interviews, mock cold calls, mock discovery, mock presos, territory plans (that will wow a hiring manager)]

I've built an entire Sales playbook from prospecting to close in everything in between based on my 17 years of experience as an individual contributor in tech sales.

No fluff. All actionable sales insights and content, with real examples, that you can start using right away in your role and see immediate results.

Check out the coaching programs and testimonials here:  www.salmansales.com

or DM me. Happy to help.

Founder

Helping AEs, SDRs + Sales teams find and close more deals. 🚀 Boosting income and revenue. 

17 years of tech Sales experience, all as an individual contributor. I've been in your shoes as an SDR, Commercial, and Enterprise AE at companies like Salesforce, IBM and Asana. In the trenches. Exceeding targets. Even in economic downturns.

Documenting all of my learnings, I've built out a Sales playbook. Now I want to give back to YOU.

I teach individual contributors + Sales teams on how to sell better, exceed targets, boost income / revenue, and accelerate growth. All with actionable Sales content and insights that you and your team can start using right away. Seeing immediate results.

Spoke to an AE who ranked #2 globally out of 700+ AEs at his company last fiscal.

He’s gunning for #1 this fiscal (which ends in a few months for him)

What’s he doing differently?

It’s not complicated.

It’s the fundamentals.

(and it works)

Here’s a glimpse 👇

1. Knows the problems inside and out

He got the same product training as everyone else during onboarding.

Rather than jumping into product after hearing an ounce of pain, he takes a problem-first approach when speak into IT security leaders.

He spent his first few weeks in role truly understanding not the product, BUT

→ the problem it solves (in prospects language)
→ how said problem affects each key persona
→ how typically teams tackle the problem today
→ negative impact of ignoring the problem
→ KPIs + metrics affected by problem 

So when he talks to prospects, they think:

“This person gets my world.”


2. In discovery, he goes beyond surface-level pain 

If you took him aside and asked him about an in-quarter deal, he could tell you:

→ the specific problem they are facing (in their language)
→ how the team is dealing with problem today 
→ the use cases tied to that problem 
→ the impact on persona, team and org
→ who it’s affecting and why it actually matters
→ the exeutive priority that problem puts at risk
→ the risks or obstacles currently in the deal 
→ how he’s proactively de-risking them
→ next step, who owns it, and the goal

He knows discovery isn’t a stage in the sales process.

It runs throughout the entire deal cycle.


3. He leverages his x-functional team

Works closely with SDR, SE, CSMs, Pro Services, and a TON with partners.

But he doesn’t just “loop them in”. What he does:

→ prepares SEs before every call and demo
→ brings in execs for exec-to-exec alignment
→ sends each exec a 1-page deal brief before that 
→ works with partners as a true win-win
→ consistently meets with them, “walks the halls”
→ builds mutual plans that hold everyone accountable

………………………………………………

I’ve been coaching this AE for almost 2 years.

He wants to Finish #1 globally this fiscal.

……………………….

With how competitive the market is.
With budgets being super tight.
With all the AI tools at our fingertips.

IMO, it comes down to the fundamentals of sales that will help drive our success.

Helping Sales Pros Close More Deals + Crush Quota | 17 Years as an AE | ex-Salesforce, IBM + Asana | Founder, Salman Sales Academy | #1 Sales Influencer in Canada 2025

1st year AE, I was told these were good disco questions:

“Do you have budget set aside for this?” 
“What’s your timeframe in making a decision?” 
“Who's the decision maker on your end?” 

😐 

I asked them pretty much exactly like that. BANT style.
And prospects saw right through it.

They felt lazy.
Salesy.

Pure “check-the-box” questions.
Deals didn’t move forward.

Conversations stayed shallow.
Something had to change.

If I wanted real answers, I had to stop qualifying and start understanding.

Here’s what changed everything 👇

4 simple shifts that made qualification feel natural 
(not salesy)

1. Timeframe → Consequence

Instead of asking:
“What’s your time frame?” 😐

Ask:
“What’s happening today that’s causing you to take a closer look at this problem now vs later?” 🙂

Now timing had meaning.


2. Decision maker → Initiative ownership

Instead of asking:
“Who’s the decision maker?” 😐

Ask:
“When folks are trying to solve a big problem like this I find it’s usually driven by someone at the exec level. In addition to yourself, is there an exec on your side this initiative is being driven by?” 🙂

No pressure.
Just context.


3. Budget → Reality check

Instead of asking:
“Do you have budget?” 😐

Ask:
“Usually what I find is companies fall in 1 of 2 buckets:
a) have budget set aside for a specific project + eval
b) there's no line item for fiscal aligned to the project + eval
Which bucket would you put yourself in?" 🙂

Way more honest answers.


4. Sign-off → Risk

Instead of asking:
 “When do you expect sign off?” 😐

Ask:
“What would prevent your CIO and CFO from moving forward?” 🙂

Obstacles surfaced early.
Not at the end.

............................................

The difference?
Purpose.
Intention.

Respect for the buyer.

Ask questions that help prospects think, not questions that make them feel sold to.

Not so hot take: Quit wasting time and team resources on RFPs you have no business being in.

Imagine this 👇 

→ prospect invites you to participate in an RFP 
→ AE drops what they're doing, pipes a 100k deal
→ gathers team resources (SE, PS, Product, etc...)

Team is heads down for the next few weeks.

Responding to the 100+ questions.

Preparing for the demo so they can meet req'ts.

Only to find out a month later they aren't the selected vendor.

.................................................

Here's why this is a mistake:

→ you're late to the party if you just found out about the RFP
→ prospect already has a good idea on the vendor
→ your team wastes weeks on a lost cause
→ resources are drained

Winning RFPs requires early engagement.

Ask yourself:

- were we engaged prior to release?
- did we help co-create or shape the RFP?
- are they willing to meet so we can learn more?

If not, you've got to make the smart decision and walk away

... and focus on winnable deals instead.

(There are exceptions here, especially in gov't / public sector for example where RFPs are the norm)

But in the majority of cases, it's true.

Use your time (and your team's time) wisely.

The best salespeople know when to say no.

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Salman Mohiuddin

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The Battle

Josh Norris 🐦‍🔥

Salman Mohiuddin

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

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