Senior Account Executive @ Morning Brew

As a sales leader in the B2B Media space, I think of myself as a translator.

A great salesperson is able to bring clarity to complexity and, in our ever-changing world, there is more complexity than ever. Buyers are overwhelmed with options, sellers are under pressure to perform, and my role is to connect the two by ensuring products and solutions are clearly positioned, problems are deeply understood, and conversations lead to action that makes a meaningful difference. 

At TLDR, we help tech marketers reach the hardest-to-reach tech decision makers. You know, the people who hate advertising: devs, CISOs, engineers, etc... We have cracked the code on creating messaging that reaches those professionals and is engaged with at the highest levels in the media industry. 

My background spans agency partnerships, media, and adtech. I’ve worked with companies from fast-growing startups to the largest enterprises in the world to help them refine messaging, build omni-channel marketing campaigns, launch outbound systems, clean up data flows, and scale revenue.

What ties it all together is a focus on systems that work and communication that resonates. I bring structure to chaos, ask the questions that matter, and prioritize building trust in every interaction.

If you're thinking about improving your go-to-market motion, looking for a partner that can help you reach the hardest-to-reach tech decision makers, or just want to trade notes on what’s working today, I’d love to connect.

A couple years ago, I worked with one of the biggest IT consulting firms in the world on a newsletter campaign, and I knew from day one it wasn’t going to work.

They were trying to drive bottom funnel, 7-figure consulting engagements without ever building any awareness or demand upstream.

That motion barely works for a high-velocity product cycle, let alone a long and drawn out cycle like consulting relationships.

The campaign I ran was performance math with no pipeline physics behind it.

Problem I ran into was that, instead of telling them the truth, I bit my tongue.

I didn’t want to hurt the relationship. I didn’t want to be the asshole. I didn’t want to deal with the tension or, even worse, miss out on the revenue.

So I let them run the campaign the way they wanted.

Guess what happened?

It flopped.

And I lost that relationship.

The thing I learned the hard way from that campaign is that the only thing worse than saying the hard thing in sales is hiding the hard thing and letting someone crash into a wall they didn’t see coming.

You can and will lose some deals by being honest. It’s part of the game. But you will also lose trust by being passive, and that’s far more harmful to the long-term success of your sales career.

Consultants tell the truth before the evidence shows up and mediocre salespeople wait until the evidence forces the truth.

Which one am I going to be tomorrow?

That’s one of the questions we should be asking ourselves as sellers.

Mitch Schoenman

As a revenue professional in the digital marketing and advertising technology space, I see myself as a translator.

In certain situations, when two people are speaking different languages, a translator is needed to ensure that both parties understand each other and are getting what they need.

The same is true in the digital marketing space. 

Our world is so full of technologies, channels, and strategies that you'd have to dedicate a team of 100 researchers and 18-hours of each of your weekdays to be able to keep up with all of it.

The problem is that there are also thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of brands and agencies that need to leverage those technologies, channels, and strategies to ensure that they are driving optimal performance for the businesses. 

I pride myself on being able to speak both languages.

Through my experience in the agency world and the advertising technology space, I have worked with clients big and small to help them deploy omnichannel paid media campaigns, grow their presence on social media, design new websites, help them accomplish greater levels of data integrity, and more.

I've been fortunate enough to be mentored by some of the brightest minds in the industry and am well-versed in how all of these technologies and strategies fit into different business models.

I value my relationships and go above and beyond to ensure that the people I am working with have the best experience possible. 

Whether you're looking for programmatic advertising help, need an intro to someone in my network, or just want to chat about each other's backgrounds, feel free to reach out.

I love meeting new people and look forward to hearing from you!

B2B Sales Leader | Director of Sales @ TLDR | Crafting Full-Funnel Campaigns For The World's Largest Tech Companies

There’s old sales advice out there that says, “Bring the energy!” We’ve all hear it.

Problem is it's only half-right.

The right advice is, “Bring the right energy or you’ll kill the deal before it starts.”

I used to start every call the same way. I was upbeat, confident, smiling through the screen.

But sometimes it just didn’t land.

Then I started noticing a pattern. One buyer was clearly mid-fire drill. Short answers, camera off, distracted.

Another was deeply skeptical with crossed arms, narrow eyes, and a resting bitch face, and a third was sharp, fast-talking, and clearly knew their stuff. Okay, there were more than three but you get the point.

Every time I opened with my standard “high energy,” I created distance if that wasn't their style.

Here’s the fix: Calibrate, then lead.

It’s a 3-step move.

1️⃣ Scan for signals- 

⚫ Are they rushed or relaxed? 
⚫ Are they curious, cautious, or checked out?
⚫ How are they speaking? Fast, slow, quiet, loud?

2️⃣ Match tone, pace, and posture

⚫ If they’re calm, slow your speech.
⚫ If they’re skeptical, be direct and grounded.
⚫ If they’re fired up, don’t kill momentum by being monotone.

3️⃣ Gradually lead them where you need

⚫ Once you’ve built resonance, then raise the energy to create momentum.

We don’t want to mirror their every move like a robot. But we do want to meet them where they are so you can walk them where they need to go.

We could create a thousand examples, but just for illustrative effect. Think about the below.

🧯 Buyer sounds stressed ➡️  “Hey, sounds like it’s been a full day already. Want to take a breath before we dive in?”

😒 Buyer seems skeptical ➡️  “I’ll be straight with you. This may not be a fit, and I’m okay with that. But let’s see if it’s worth your time.”

💬 Buyer is sharp and fast ➡️  “Let’s get right to it. Here’s what I think might matter most for you…”

The best reps tune in and mirror their prospect. It’s psychology 101.

Too many teams treat sales like a math problem.

There’s some math to it for sure, but it’s also a lot like jazz. 

And our jobs as sellers are to listen for the key before you start playing.

Imagine if a personal trainer just handed you a workout plan the moment you signed up with them and then stood by you and counted your reps.

You’d fire them immediately.

A good personal trainer goes far beyond the above.

They ask about your injuries, your sleep, what you do for work, what you eat when you’re stressed, how often you actually get to the gym vs. how often you say you do, what motivates you, what your goals are, etc..

Then they design a system that holds up for you over a long period of time based on the intimate knowledge they have about you.

When a trainer shows up every week, tailors the plan, tracks the data, pushes you when you’re slacking and pulls back when you’re burning out, you trust them with the long game.

You want to keep showing up, because you know they’re invested in you achieving your best outcome.

Sales works the same way.

There are transactional sellers and long-term operators.

One’s chasing a signature and the other’s chasing sustainability.

It’s tempting to chase a signature, but there’s magic in chasing sustainability.

Show up with short-term goals in mind and you’ll get short-term results.

Operate like the trainer who’s thinking 3 years ahead and you start building relationships that last and create a career that lasts long-term.

Every rep I’ve ramped has closed their first deal in less than 30 days.

I know that’s not possible in every deal cycle, but the reality is that most teams are losing to a broken ramp philosophy.

Here’s how we’ve found success ramping new reps: 

Week 1: Obsess over the ICP and mock relentlessly.

We start with the people instead of the products. My take is that this is where most teams go wrong.

They create product pushers, but the issue is that nobody cares about your product. They care about their problems and goals.

Reps have to understand this immediately to get to that ‘Closed/Won’ column quickly.

What does the ICP care about? What do they fear? What pressures are they under? What’s changed in their world over the last 6 months?

If a rep can’t explain the buyer better than the buyer can explain themselves, they’re not ready.

The other thing we obsess over is mock calls.

Most teams do one or two surface-level role plays and call it “training.”

Not here.

Our reps mock with their other teammates, with leadership, with me, with anyone who can play the prospect. They play prospect frequently as well to get a better grasp on what our ICP cares most about. 

Fast-paced, high-pressure, real scenarios. Over and over.

The first week is focused on building the right muscles. 

By the time your reps get on a real call, it shouldn’t feel like their first.

Week 2: Get on the phones early.

No more certification theater or reading through enablement decks.

We get live fast, because nothing teaches faster than feeling the real pressure of a real call. The goal is pattern recognition.

Hear the tone. Hear the objections. Hear what lands. Hear what dies.

Weeks 3 & 4: Debrief, adjust, rep again.

We review calls, tweak messaging, shorten intros, and reframe objections.

And by the end of the month, they’re closing.

They’re able to do it because they understand the buyer, they’ve repped it 50 times, and they’ve earned their confidence under live fire.

That’s it.

It’s not fancy and definitely doesn't look sexy in a slide deck.

But it works and it builds killers.

I know this will look different in different sales orgs and industries, but the main point to take away is below.

Most teams over-index on knowledge and under-index on exposure.

We flip that and the results speak for themselves.

One of my favorite reads this year has been 'How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big' by Scott Adams.

Sounds like a clever/gotcha title, but it’s actually a damn good operating manual for people who want to continue their forward progress without burning out.

If you’re one of the fools that doesn’t believe that burnout is real, then this post isn’t for you. Do not pass go.

One of the core ideas from the book that continues to stick with me is very simple. Systems > Goals.

Here’s the difference (and why it matters):

A goal is “I want to make $250K in 2026.”

A system is “I prep better than any other seller for every single call, I prospect every day during my golden hours, I spend a half hour a day sharpening myself as a seller, and I evaluate 2 of my own discovery calls per week to ensure I’m constantly running more effective discovery.”

Of course, there are other things to add to that system to be a great seller but I’m writing this quickly and making the point that the goal is the outcome.

Without a system to get there, the goal is a wish.

This matters because goals are binary. You hit them or you don’t.

Systems are ongoing. You win every time you run the play.

Chasing a promotion? Build the system of documenting your wins weekly, sending end-of-week recaps to leadership, and proactively solving problems before being asked.

If you’re working on growing a client book, build the system of daily outbound, weekly content, and monthly business reviews that stack into retention and referrals.

It’s not that setting goals doesn’t matter. Setting goals for sure makes a difference. There’s a lot of proof to back that up.

But, without a system behind the goal, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.

What I took from this book was that we need to give ourselves permission to stop obsessing over outcomes and start designing better systems so that the outcomes take care of themselves.

And on top of it being a great read, it’s pretty funny too. 

Who else has read this one?

Thrilled to share that TLDR just made Inc.'s Best in Business list in the Best Bootstrapped category! 🎉

If you're looking for a place where quality matters, where we’re growing the right way, and where your work has real impact, we're hiring. 

See our open roles in the comments 👇

🏆 TLDR Named to Inc.'s 2025 Best in Business List - Best Bootstrapped! 🏆

We're thrilled to announce that TLDR has been recognized on Inc.'s 2025 Best in Business list in the Best Bootstrapped category.

Inc.'s Best in Business list highlights companies making a meaningful positive impact - on customers, communities, and their industries - while growing in a healthy, disciplined, and sustainable way.

The Bootstrapped category is particularly special. It recognizes companies that have built something exceptional without external funding, proving that world-class businesses can be built through craft, discipline, and delivering value to customers.

This recognition belongs to the people who make TLDR possible:

Our team – who raise the bar every day with their craft, speed, and relentless focus on quality - the force that makes TLDR what it is
Our readers – for opening, sharing, and trusting TLDR to keep you informed every single day
Our customers and partners – for trusting us with their campaigns and growth

Building TLDR has been a journey powered by reader value, customer trust, and sustainable growth. This award validates that approach and reminds us that doing things the right way isn't just possible, it's worth celebrating.
Want to work with us?

Sponsorships: Reach millions of engaged readers through TLDR's newsletters at https://lnkd.in/gGYE2qQu

Careers: Join a team that's building with craft and long-term thinking at https://lnkd.in/gE5DdAEC

Subscribe: Stay ahead of what matters in tech, AI, infosec, crypto and more at https://tldr.tech

Thank you to everyone who's been part of this journey. Onward! 🚀

#BestInBusiness

Most people don’t have a strategy problem. 

They just don’t stick around long enough to see anything through.

I say that because I’ve done it.

I’ve built things, second-guessed them too early, pivoted before the idea had legs, and talked myself out of momentum because it didn’t feel fast enough. 

I’ve walked away from things I should’ve stuck with.

Not because they were broken, but because I couldn’t sit in the silence long enough to let them work.

That’s the real game. It’s not about coming up with the best idea or building the sexiest website. The win comes from staying in it when it’s boring, quiet, slow, and thankless.

A great mindset is what shows up when no one else is clapping. It’s what keeps you sending the email, showing up on the call, refining the offer, etc.. Even when nothing’s clicking.

I used to think I needed to do something big to win. Now I know I just needed to stop quitting early.

If you’re in that slow stretch right now, don’t pivot. Don’t burn it down. Stay with it.

The ones who win aren’t always the best. 

They’re just the ones who keep going.

Just finished reading Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor.

It’s technically a book about animal training, but secretly one of the best behavior change books I’ve ever read.

For those of you wondering, it’s not really about dogs.

It’s about people and habits, and how much of our day is shaped by unintentional reinforcement.

The core idea is that behavior that gets rewarded, gets repeated.

Obvious, right?

But, from my observation, we forget how often we:

⚫ Reinforce the wrong behavior in others (complaining gets attention, procrastinating gets leniency)

⚫ Reinforce the wrong behavior in ourselves (stress eating = comfort, skipping hard work = temporary relief)

⚫ Miss chances to reward the right behaviors when they show up quietly

This all got me thinking about what behaviors I reward in my work, even unintentionally.

How I could reinforce my own habits with better cues and rewards? What would it look like to treat myself more like a learner than a screw-up?

Now, I’m trying to start reinforcing the inputs you want more of instead of reacting to outcomes.

Want to write more? Reward the act of sitting down to write, not just the final product.

Want a calmer mind? Pause when you catch yourself blindly reacting and mentally reward that.

Want a better team? Praise the behaviors you want repeated, not just the wins.
Most of us try to change results.

Smart behavior shapers focus on reinforcing patterns.

That’s how habits get built, broken, and rebuilt better.

If you’ve read Don’t Shoot the Dog or used training principles outside the obvious, I’m curious:

What behavior did you train in yourself (or others) without even realizing it?

Many sales teams fall into the trap of testing messaging by vibes. 

I’d rather test by doing and seeing what actually shifts the buyer.

Here’s a simple way to A/B test talk tracks on real calls without turning into a robot or needing a spreadsheet with 10k rows.

1️⃣ Pick one moment of the call to test.

I usually focus on openers or problem frames because those set the temperature of the call fast.

Testing the entire pitch at once is how you confuse yourself and, worse, how you confuse your prospects.

Pick the highest-leverage moment and go deep on that.

2️⃣ Create two versions to test.

Example if you’re testing an opener-

Version A: “We work with growth-stage B2B teams who are struggling to hit pipeline targets despite outbound volume. Sound familiar?”

Version B: “There’s a trend we’re seeing right now. Outbound performance is dropping even for teams doing everything ‘right.’ Are you running into that too?”

Same goal. Two different energies.

3️⃣ Run 5–7 real calls per version.

These need to be real conversations. Relying on emails and gut feels won’t cut it.

Also avoid tweaking your versions mid-test. Just let both versions land and watch for how fast the buyer engages, how their tone shifts, what questions they ask, how deep the convo goes, where resistance pops up, etc..

The metric is “which one opened the door to a real conversation?”.

4️⃣ Debrief quickly, like you’re watching game tape.

One bullet per call:

⚫ “A stayed surface-level”
⚫ “B triggered a story and numbers”
⚫ “A crushed with managers, fell flat with VPs”
⚫ “B got objections but the useful kind”

You’ll spot patterns way faster than you think if you do this.

Guesswork doesn’t win in sales.

Teams that win test and iterate over and over again. 

Treat calls like a live lab and the buyer will tell you what actually works if you’re paying attention.

Who’s heard Warren Buffett talk about his “Too Hard” pile?

When a problem or opportunity looks messy, unclear, or overly complex, he doesn’t force it. He just puts it in the “Too Hard” pile and moves on.

This could be misconstrued as laziness. Not wanting to do the research or put in the “hard work” of figuring out whether something’s a good opportunity or not.

It’s not, though. It’s actually a tremendous example of focus.

The reality is that there are more good ideas than there is time and more opportunities than there is energy.

The best operators I know have a strong “no” muscle. 

They don’t chase every lead or build every product. They don’t take every meeting.

They keep the main thing the main thing and, when something feels off, they walk away. 

That’s what discipline looks like.

The “Too Hard” pile is how you keep space for the stuff that actually wins.

Rejection is something we talk about all the time in sales. 

”Rejection is just part of the game.” 

”Most of the job is rejection.”

We hear that all the time.

The fact is, though, most buyers aren’t rejecting you. It’s something way more psychologically complicated than that.

Most of the time a prospect is rejecting the mental effort required to deal with another sales conversation.

It’s cognitive fatigue that’s the real culprit.

The science says that when people are cognitively taxed after a day of meetings, choices, and context-switching, their ability to process new information drops very quickly.

They default to shortcuts, they stop thinking critically, they say “circle back next quarter” because it’s easier than engaging.

This is decision fatigue.

And every vendor call they take that feels like the last one makes it worse.

Now layer in the paradox of choice. If you haven’t read it, it’s worth your time. But the crux of the issue is that the more options you present and the more questions you ask, the harder it is for someone to make a confident decision.

So when you’re running discovery like a qualification checklist, you’re not helping.

You’re adding mental load for your prospect.

Smart salespeople do the opposite.

They reduce mental friction, they bring clear insight and POV in the first 90 seconds of the call, they trade value up front to earn the buyer’s trust and attention, they simplify, reframe, and guide their prospects.

Notice what they don’t do. They don’t interrogate or chase contracts.

There’s this misconception that a seller’s only job is to find pain or align with a goal.

Wrong.

You also have to create cognitive relief.

The best discovery calls feel lighter, not heavier.

That’s what moves deals and earns trust.

That’s what tired buyers actually want.

Start selling like someone who understands the brain on top of the product and industry and you’ll start to separate yourself from the crowd in a very positive way.

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