Steve Schmidt 🧲

Content Strategy and Revenue Architecture - Creator of SOS (Sales Operating System), for top of funnel

I’m all about direct, data-driven lead generation. By that, I mean I turn cold emails into serious revenue machines for my clients.

With access to our database of over 280 million verified leads, I mix Firmographic, Technographic, and Persona data to create highly focused playbooks that hit the right people at the right time. My goal? Equip sales teams with a clear view of their Total Addressable Market (TAM) and a blueprint for finding the companies that need their solution the most.

It’s all in the details: open job data, employee growth (or lack thereof), social media spikes, web traffic, product launches, and tech stack investments—these indicators reveal who’s ready for a solution and set you up with messaging that resonates. When sales teams embrace this approach, it changes the game. You’re not just emailing—you’re connecting with people already facing the pain points you can solve.

I train teams to work smarter with tech that multiplies output and turns potential into predictable results. Let's make those numbers work.

With over 25+ years of experience in B2B sales, I have worked with world-class organizations such as Outreach, AT&T, and T-Mobile, and successfully founded and exited TIDAL, the leading worldwide sales development company.

The mission - to empower B2B leaders to grow their revenue and influence through content strategy and outbound, together!

I look forward to seeing you become MAGNETIC!

CRO, Owner and Content Led Selling Evangelist

MAGNETIC is the global leader in Content Led Selling, guiding the B2B world into the new method of generating revenue.

Steve Schmidt

I got my start sales living under a friend‘s kitchen table.

Started from the bottom, literally, now we’re here.

Stay the course.

Steve Schmidt 

Magnetic - Content to Cashflow | Chief Revenue Officer @Magnetic and SpotLight (Sioux Falls)

Sales is less about being great at “selling”, and more about being resilient to handle the losses with grace in order to hang on for the wins.

i’m not always been great at that and I’ve taken the loss - at times -  pretty hard over the last 26 years.

But, over time, I’ve learned that 

- Follow Up Matters 

- Persistence can’t turn a no into yes. 

- Unqualifying is great and necessary for fast growth venture backed SaaS companies. In Service companies, you are literally there to serve.  No’s do become yes’s in time, but not if your are an asshole and disregard them quickly. 

- It is always an average. Refine, repeat. This loss doesn’t define you just like the next win doesn’t define you.

I used to put my weight in how many impressions a post would get, or how people would react to something I posted…., waiting for leads to pour in. 

About a year ago  I realized how silly that was and how damaging it can be.  

What goes up must come down and that goes for the ego as well.

Now, I rely on the quality of the work to do the talking.  

And it works, extremely well. 

Give it a shot.  Happy selling, and even happier living!

No pressure, no progress.

It’s hard to argue that pressure doesn’t motivate people in a positive way.

Balance is important.

Rest is imortant.

But pressure is the great motivator.

Instrumentum

Changing the surgical landscape by offering reliable and efficient offsite instrument sterilization to Ambulatory Surgery Centers and Hospitals.

Chief Operating/Growth Officer

Cruxible Partners

Finding talent is a full-time job.  The best candidates aren't looking, they're performing somewhere else.  We'll find them. We've never failed to fill a role.  Period.

Chief Executive Officer

www.eatingcrowpodcast.com

If you are a leader or an entrepreneur this podcast will speak to you (well, I guess that's the point). These are stories of amazing people with the courage to lead and often admit they were wrong and challenge long-held beliefs to make change. Many of these everyday heroes have evolved into leaders and entrepreneurs, and most of their stories have never been heard, until now. Pete Durand interviews people from all walks of life - the military, finance, business, sports, government and education. We learn from their challenges, pitfalls, lessons and how, by eating crow, they used an open mind to adjust their way of thinking and lead others, including their families.

Host of the Eating Crow Podcast

Saebo, Inc.

Saebo, Inc. is a medical device company primarily engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of affordable and novel clinical solutions designed to improve mobility and function in individuals suffering from neurological and orthopedic conditions. With a vast network of Saebo-trained clinicians spanning six continents, Saebo has helped over 100,000 clients around the globe achieve a new level of independence.

Board Advisor

Netsertive

Chief Revenue Officer

RivalHealth

SaaS enterprise exercise and nutrition app.  Merged with gBehaivor to form www.gopivotsolutions.com

Integrian

Digital video solutions for public safety and transportation.  Sold to Catalyst Manufacturing

Entivity, Inc.

PC-based automation and control platform.  Sold to www. phoenixcontact.com

President and COO

Director of E-Business

ObjectAutomation

Director of Marketing

I'm fortunate to lead two great organizations.

After helping many companies scale with great talent, I've joined Instrumentum as their Chief Operating and Growth Officer, it was just too good to pass up.  My task?  Help the company scale profitably.  How?  People, Process, and Culture.  Fortunately, Cruxible Partners has provided the experience to do just that.

Instrumentum is doing great things - and Cruxible Partners is in the hands of an amazing team, so both are thriving.  Stay tuned as I share how Instrumentum is growing and changing the surgical landscape and how the leadership and talent lessons I've observed and shared over the last seven years at Cruxible are being applied.

Remember:

The average cost of hiring the wrong employee can go as high as $240,000, according to 2021 research from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Ouch.  Been there.

On the flip side, McKinsey & Co. states that hiring a ‘top performer’ over an ‘average performer’ yields up to 67% more productivity and profit.  

Been here too.  Much better place to be.

I've spent 30+ years in corporate America, worked at three startups, and founded two companies myself.  Building teams was and is the most challenging part of the job.

For the past five years I've been working with companies in the following areas:

-Product/market fit
-Marketing strategy and content
-Board advisory and consulting
-Attracting and retaining talent

If you'd like to learn more about how we can work together, please DM me or send me an email at

pdurand@cruxiblepartners.com

Pete Durand

Haven't posted in a while.  

Got me thinking:  "What am I doing here?"

I know many talented people who've used LinkedIn to build a brand or a business.  It didn't happen overnight.  They put in YEARs of work and tweaked their approach along the way.

To name a few:

Alex B Sheridan
Ravi Rajani
Darren McKee
Tom Simmons

I don't "do" business on LinkedIn, but I use it - to network, learn and when appropriate, offer insight into my POV and background, for those who care.

So why did I come back today?

The people I mentioned above keep putting out content I enjoy, learn from and find inspiring.  That simple.

I should do more here, and share what makes #Instrumentum such a great place to work.  I'm blessed - our team is incredible and we've built something special.  

Mishaps along the way, but that's the good stuff.  Mistakes, bad assumptions, pleasant surprises and lessons that help us steer the ship.

Hopefully your feed is full of smart people sharing their knowledge (and scars).

Check out Alex, Ravi, Darren and Tom; you will learn from them every day.

President, Instrumentum | Host of the Eating Crow Podcast | Chairman, Cruxible Partners

taplio

The Battle

Steve Schmidt

Pete Durand

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreSteve Schmidt's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScorePete Durand's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Steve Schmidt

Pete Durand

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);}Steve Schmidt's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScorePete Durand's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreSteve Schmidt's LinkedIn Performance