Build and Scale your 1st Sales Team with me 🪄 | Build your Own Fractional Business with the Fractional School 📕 | Follow me on Instagram @matteopapaluca

Most founders don't struggle with sales because they're bad at it.

They struggle because no one ever taught them how to build it properly.

I've seen this pattern for years - first inside fast-growing companies, and now alongside founders building from zero.

I started my career in B2B sales at Ryanair, LinkedIn, and Cloudbeds, between Italy and Ireland, where I spent 15+ years selling, hiring, and leading sales teams.

I've hired 100+ salespeople, owned revenue numbers up to €10M, and lived the reality of scaling before it becomes "predictable".

Then I stepped into the founder world.

In January 2023, I launched Inscaler with a simple idea:
💡 help founders turn sales from chaos into a system.

Since then, I've worked with 150+ startups, supporting founders as they move from:

→ founder-led sales
→ to their first real sales team
→ to repeatable, predictable revenue

What I learned  is this:

Founders don't need more advice. ⛔
They don't need lead gen agencies ⛔
They don't need wannabe consultants but real operators ⛔

We focus on enabling founders exit the founder-led sales and build their first sales team right.

No hype. 
No "growth hacks".
Just fundamentals, appropriately applied.

⸻

Why Inscaler is different 👨🏻‍💻

I don't believe in copying what works for Series C companies and forcing it on early-stage startups.

I believe:

✅ Sales is simple — when the foundations are right
✅ Growing people matters more than chasing revenue
✅ If the process is proper, the numbers follow

(And yes, I do all this with a Calabrian accent.)

⸻

What's changing now ♻️

After helping 150+ startups hands-on and 600K in revenue, Inscaler is evolving.

We're transitioning into a productized sales offering - built for founders who want:

👍🏻 Clear sales foundations
👍🏻 Proven frameworks
👍🏻 Hands-on guidance without agency dependency

If you're a founder navigating your first sales hires, your first pipeline, or the moment where sales can't depend only on you anymore - this is precisely what Inscaler was built for.

I share practical sales lessons, frameworks, and real founder stories every week.

DM me to start a conversation or more on inscaler.com

Matteo Papaluca ⚡️

Today I'm launching something new.

Inscaler 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀.

And honestly, this wasn't planned.

Since day one of Inscaler, I've helped 𝟭𝟱𝟬+ 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺.

I've always charged for services.

And I've never asked for equity.

Why?

Because diluting a cap table for sales execution never felt fair to me. (except for a few expectations).

Then something happened.

I kept getting the same question at home.

My brother, 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗼.

He's a doctor.

Far from the startup bubble.

Every time I told him about a founder I was working with, he'd ask:

"𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦?"
"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦?"
"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦?"

At first, I brushed it off as you would do with your old brother, you know.

Then I stopped and thought.

Who actually sees early-stage startups up close?

Not the pitch deck version.

The real one.

I do.

I sit with founders while they build revenue from zero.

I see how they sell.

How do they hire.

how they build their products.

If a company works, I know it early.

If it doesn't, I know that too.

That's when it clicked.

If I'm already putting my time, brain, and energy into these businesses…

Why wouldn't I put my own money behind the ones that prove it on the field?

So here we are.

Inscaler Ventures backs early-stage Italian founders.

Family-owned.

Small tickets for now.

More capital is coming.

We're officially open for pitches and applications.

If you're curious, all the details are on the 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 → 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀 → 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀.

And if you're a founder building something real,

You know where to find me.

Matteo Papaluca

Founder at Inscaler.com | Your First Sales Team Done Right | Helped 150+ startups

Inscaler Discovery Call Full Framework (Matteo at the whiteboard) 📋🖊️



#sales #coaching #whiteboard

Nothing beats a well-designed and clear sales cycle

My 1st YouTube video is out - not the best I know, but we're getting there 😅

👉🏻 https://lnkd.in/dfDMFgXh

I've seen founders lose their startup because of a bad hire.
Because of their *first* sales hire.

It happens more than you think.

You're a founder.
Limited sales background.

You know you need to build your first sales team. 
So what do you do?

You hire the senior salesperson.

Big CV.

From a competitor.

Investors like it too.
They feel safer when you're not the only one selling. 🙈

Let's call her Maria.
You pay her a lot.
More than anyone else.
3x your founder salary.

Maria joins.

You give her the title: Head of Sales. CRO, whatever.

A few months go by.

Maria is slow.

She doesn't really get it.

After the first quarter:

❌ No deals closed
❌ No outbound pipeline (she has no time…)
❌ Blame it on your product
❌ Didn't hire or built anything meaningful

She doesn't fit.

You are back in sales, involved in all deals + on Maria's deals.

After two quarters, it's almost over.

No trust.

On either side.

She thought it would be easier.

You thought the same.

You ask around.

You bring me.

I assess Maria and find critical miss on her leadership skills. 
She never managed reps or built a process from the ground up.

She never been in a startup, either, only in safe corporations where everything is ready.

Shortly after, she leaves.
As expected.

The damage is done.

You lost 6 months and thousands of run rate.

Maria lost 6-9 months of her career.
She was successful before, but now she feels useless.

You start again from zero.

I see this story all the time in early-stage startups.

It's not your fault.
It's not Maria's fault.
It's about timing, system, and fit.

Wrong moment.
No structure.
Wrong role.

If you want to avoid this mistake, I put together 

the 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺.

✔️ questions to ask before hiring
✔️ A-players scorecards
✔️ 3 interview templates, including questions
✔️ Gsheet to track all your candidates without spending money on ATS

____

You can get it by signing up for my new YouTube channel.

𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 "𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗯𝗲" 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗗𝗠 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸 to sign up (we must be connected).

It has 0 subscribers right now - just getting started with our weekly videos starting next week 📹

Inscaler Demo Full Framework (Matteo at the whiteboard) 📋🖊️


#sales #coaching #matteopapaluca #demo

One of the most promising industries I see in Italy right now -->
Marketing agencies 🦸🦸‍♀️

For the first two years of Inscaler, 90% of my clients were tech startups.

And most still are.

Then an agency founder showed up.

Smart. Forward-thinking. 

He thought he needed a more "tech-style" way of building his first sales team.

So I stepped in as their Fractional VP of Sales.

At the beginning, it was messy.

No qualification frameworks. No real discovery. 

Sales happened via referrals and face-to-face.

And honestly? The classic tech playbook didn't land.

So I stopped forcing it.

I adapted.

Instead of pushing BANT or any other qualification framework ⤵
I asked the team to slow down and 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆.

Before briefings. Before proposals.

We started with simple questions:

- 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴?
- 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘷𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴? 
(most projects are based on tenders or RFPs)

Nothing fancy.

Then came the most difficult shift.

Marketing agencies are used to sending out proposals with poor qualifications. 

This leads to:

❌ low conversions - very low.
❌ productivity issues where they *think* they are busy.

So I asked them to stop sending out proposals and ask:

"𝘋𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝟧𝟢% 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?"

Not 50? Okay.

40? 30 at least?

If the answer is no, don't send the proposal.

That one change alone saved time, energy, and morale. 💪

I love agencies ❤

The most significant upside often sits in industries that were left behind from a sales perspective.

Tech startups and scaleups know the playbook. 
Or at least they *think* they know 👀

Agencies were left behind. 

They used old sales tactics and a poor process. 

But now they are back on track.

That's why I'm excited to keep working with agency founders and their sales teams.

There's so much room to grow.





----

If you are an agency owner or a founder, I have a few spots open from February 2026

DM me for a free sales assessment or if you are not ready -> keep following Matteo Papaluca and Inscaler for more tips on how to build and scale your first sales team.

Inscaler's solo business crossed 600K in total revenue.

Here are 3 mistakes I wish I hadn't made 👇🏻

𝟭. 𝗗𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱

I love admin.

GSheets. CRM updates. Invoicing.

Most people hate it. I enjoy it.

What don't I enjoy?

Strategic work. Questioning what works. Preparing for what's coming next.

For a long time, I hid behind tasks I liked.

Now I block admin time and force myself to focus on 1 or 2 strategic goals per period.

𝟮. 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗽𝘂𝘁

Since day one, Inscaler had one offer. I never changed the structure.

3 Packages based on live hours with me.

I never sold "hours".
But my SKU was hours.

That's changed now.

After helping 150+ startups build their first sales teams, I finally have the data and the information to commit to clear outputs.

I couldn't do it before.

It took time. Longer than expected.

𝟯. 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 "𝗼𝗻"

If I had nothing to do, I worked anyway.

Even during holidays.

A few days ago, my wife Federica walked into my office and said it clearly:

"𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘴."

She was right.

I worked on Christmas Day and when I was sick in bed.

I'm writing this at 6 am.
__

2026 will be a big year for Inscaler.
New offering. New structure.

I'm scared and excited at the same time.

The format works. That's clear.

Now it's time to step up.

Consulting and LinkedIn are full of noise.

My goal is simple.

Be the opposite of that noise.

We'll see.

x-hoppers

x-hoppers | Transforming In-Store Communication for Maximum Revenue Impact

At x-hoppers, we’re redefining the way retailers connect, communicate, and convert—directly from the shop floor. As Chief Revenue Officer, I lead the charge of helping retailers and tech partners unlock new revenue streams by eliminating outdated communication barriers in stores.

Struggling with lost revenue due to poor in-store communication? Our innovative solutions help you:

- Eliminate missed sales opportunities with faster, clearer team collaboration.
- Maximize operational efficiency through seamless tech integration.
- Enhance customer experience by empowering staff with real-time support.

💡 If you're ready to turn communication into profit, let’s talk.

At x-hoppers, we’re not just innovating. We’re leading the charge to redefine how retail works.

Chief Revenue Officer

Wildix

Driving Wildix’s Global Sales Organization, whose mission is to support its 1000+ Business Partners worldwide in reaching key business objectives and scale globally. 

Wildix is a multinational company that develops and provides browser-based Unified Communication solutions and VoIP products. The company relies on its "blue ecosystem", a network of Certified Business Partners who install, integrate and implement Wildix systems and solutions all over the world.

Wildix is for businesses that need to provide their employees and stakeholders with an efficient Unified Communications & Collaboration solutions that is browser-based, secure by design and mobile first.

Chief Sales Officer

Pavilion

Executive Member

Gartner

Senior Account Executive

I closely work with C-Level executives of Tech service providers enterprises in helping them to achieve their business objectives by maximizing the use of Gartner resources.
I work with ambitious and fast growing companies that aim to significantly impact the market they belong.

By leveraging the expertise of our world-renowned analyst community, we act as trusted CEOs' advisors by supporting their key initiatives and strategic decisions, helping them achieve their growth objectives, every day.

Account Executive - High Technology Enterprises 

LinkedIn

Relationship Manager specialized in Sales Solutions, escalating Social Selling Projects.

My primary focus is to help our customers build pipeline and increase sales through social selling using warm leads and introductions. 

Social selling with LinkedIn is about leveraging your professional brand to fill your pipeline and generate leads with the right people, insights, and relationships.

Relationship Manager - LinkedIn Sales Solutions

At LinkedIn Sales Solutions we help our clients to build meaningful connections with the people and companies they want to reach. Also finding more prospects, relate with relevant insights and ultimately engage more effectively.

Main tasks:

- Managing part of the SMB Italian market within assigned territory, arranging calls and meetings with key decision makers for LinkedIn Sales Solutions;
- Building relationships and conduct on-boarding meetings and quarterly business reviews, maximizing my clients’ investments and ROI analysis according to success metrics and KPIs;
- Negotiate renewals by addressing pricing, margin, upsells, churn mitigation;
- Social Selling Coach and product adoption;

Social Selling Coach

• Consulting Marketing and Recruitment executives as well as Managing Directors on the most suitable methods to position their company on our professional network in order to attract, engage and communicate at best with LinkedIn members
• Presenting and articulating Talent Solutions features and benefits to the customers in a close cooperation with Account Executive Sales in order to generate sales pipeline and revenue
• Specialized in finding and contacting C-Level Executives, outbound lead generation, phone prospecting and qualification, Sandler Sales process, social recruitment, hiring solutions, on-line employer branding strategies
• Build and leverage customer intelligence through deep account prospecting and investigation, in order to find the key-decision makers and address the proper message.

Senior Sales Development Specialist - Talent Solutions - Italy, Middle East and North Africa

Sales Development Specialist - Talent Solutions - Italian market

Oracle

• Demand generation for Oracle Database, Middleware and Business Intelligence products through social selling, inbound calls and chat, outbound prospecting, marketing campaigns and marketing event follow-ups.
• Contributing individually to the team targets, achieving a high level of customer satisfaction and quality lead generation.
• Achieving a high level of collaboration with in-country Marketing and Sales teams by developing and delivering against the joint strategy with the Field Representatives.
• Performances and Forecast Reports Responsible for the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese team.

Business Development Consultant

• Gathering customer information through outbound campaigns for the Italian market, as well as researching and understanding companies’ structures and business lines.
• Enhancing customer experience and building trust by providing the customer with insights on Oracle solutions tailored on their needs.
• Building relationship and achieving a high level of collaboration with Business Development Consultants by developing and delivering against a joint sales strategy.

Customer Intelligence Representative

Tata Consultancy Services

• Analyzing financial information to produce forecasts of business, industry, and economic conditions for use in making investment decisions. Elaborating end examining product and market segmentation.
• Determining Revenue, Cost Analysis process by establishing and enforcing policies and procedures; providing trends and forecasts; explaining processes and techniques; recommending actions.

Financial Analyst

MW World Group S.r.l.

Sales for a Web and Communication Agency (internship).

• Developing company’s business and managing a large number of clients, B2B and B2C Cold Calls, customer needs assessment.
• Prospect identifications and pipeline creation, recognizing cross-selling and up-selling opportunities.
• Supporting the commercial negotiations when on-boarding new partners.

Account Manager

Angeli Pierre

Angeli Pierre - Public Relations firm leader in events organization and entertainment in the Adriatic Riviera.

Evening and night events PR for University students, young people and tourists from all over the world.

• Collaborating in creating and organizing events
• Developing and managing personal contacts who attract guests to each event
• Welcoming personal contacts and following their requests throughout the events

Public Relations Manager

Self-Employed

• Organizing and executing entertainment events and concerts for thousands of clubbers among the biggest clubs in the Naples area.
• Maintaining primary day-to-day client relations by communicating to key events in the area while building and nurturing these relationships
• Managing and updating information and engaging with users on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, building the brand/event awareness as well
• Supervising the Sponsor's Channel, the P.R./Communication teams and the relations with the art guests such as DJs, speakers, singers and bands

** If you are connecting while I do not know you, please send some kind of introduction. I appreciate some context. **

alberto.benigno@wildix.com

Driving Wildix’s global sales organization, delivering support to over 1,000 business partners in reaching key business objectives and scaling globally. 

Wildix is a multinational company that develops and provides browser-based unified communication solutions and VoIP products. The company relies on its Blue Ecosystem, a network of certified business partners who install, integrate and implement Wildix systems and solutions all over the world.

As the CSO for Wildix, I deliver business improvements across the company, driving sales teams to achieve more. Key to this has been moving our sales teams from a multifaceted approach to a more focused hunter-farmer separation of responsibilities, adding in the BDR role. Partner sales staff now seek out new partners, and our partner development managers help drive MRR, all under the supervision of our country managers. BDRs sift the initial data, determining the suitability of leads.

I’ve also introduced a new sales program across Wildix to focus our sales teams on establishing core values for prospective partners, and we’ve extended the same training to our MSPs. The result is a company ethos that shows it invests in its business partners, enhancing the value proposition of Wildix. We’ve joined the Gartner Magic Quadrant, as well. 

The Wildix Blue Ecosystem now produces tens of millions of dollars in annual recurrent revenue, compared to a couple of million in 2020. This delivers business stability, ensuring we remain bootstrapped and can grow sustainably. 


Feel free to connect and start a discussion. If there is something I can help you with, I’m happy to do it. 

Keywords: UC&C, UCaaS, unified communication and collaboration IT, B2B sales, technology, business, advice, advisory, research, mid-sized enterprise, critical priority, critical initiative, cloud, sales, partners, channel.

Alberto Carlos Benigno

The x-hoppers wave is arriving in retail.



We just secured 60+ pre-booked meetings at National Retail Federation in NYC with retailers. And still counting.

What makes me extra bullish:

no one paid for these meetings.

No retailer was obliged to show up.

This is a direct response from retail operators who want to discuss real priorities.

If you haven’t heard of us yet, x-hoppers is built for retailers, a space for retail leaders and teams to exchange what’s working (and what’s not), connect with the right peers, and move faster on the things that actually hit the P&L: store ops, CX, inventory, data, and the practical side of AI.

Huge thank you to the entire x-hoppers team for the execution behind the scenes.

This kind of momentum doesn’t happen by accident.

Now it’s about showing up, listening hard, and earning the next step.

If you’re a retailer at NRF: what’s the one problem you most want to solve in 2026?

CRO at x-hoppers and Wildix | Helping customers & partners achieve measurable success

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Alberto Carlos Benigno

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The Battle

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Alberto Carlos Benigno

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