Ryan K. Berner

Hiring your Founding AE might be the most important hire in your SaaS journey — and one of the easiest to get wrong. The AE who crushed it at $50M ARR might crumble at $1M ARR. Early-stage SaaS needs a different kind of seller: 💡 Adaptable – thrives without a playbook. 💡 Curious – great at discovery, not just pitching. 💡 Builder – helps create the sales motion. 💡 Resilient – handles rejection and iteration. Your Founding AE doesn’t just sell — they help you build the machine. Full breakdown here 👇 👉 https://lnkd.in/d5SPdbGg #scalewithstrive #accountexecutive #gtmhiring

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Your SDR team can't scale outbound because personalization breaks at volume. Writing custom emails for 200 prospects weekly is humanly impossible. So reps make a choice: send generic blasts that get 2% response rates, or cherry-pick 30 high-value accounts and leave pipeline on the table. Both options lose. The first trains prospects to ignore you. The second caps your growth at however many personalized touches one human can produce daily. The constraint isn't effort. It's that real personalization requires research, context synthesis, and message adaptation for every single prospect. Most teams can't operationalize that at scale, so they default to templates with merge tags and call it "personalized." Prospects see through it immediately. Enter This Week's Featured Agent: AiSDR AiSDR removes the personalization constraint entirely. It handles prospect research, contextual message writing, response management, and meeting coordination as a complete workflow. The agent researches each prospect across 323+ data sources, including recent LinkedIn activity, company news, job postings, tech stack changes, and funding rounds. It then writes messages that reference specific business context rather than generic pain points. When prospects reply, AiSDR responds within 10 minutes. If someone says "we're focused on other priorities right now," it doesn't mark them closed-lost. It schedules a follow-up for when their roadmap likely shifts. When they ask technical questions, it provides specific answers and moves the conversation toward a demo. When they raise objections, it handles them using your company's playbooks. The agent operates from your actual inbox through Gmail or Outlook integration, learns your messaging patterns through its persona builder, and maintains consistent positioning across every interaction. Your reps stop spending hours on email composition and sequence management. They focus on the conversations AiSDR has already warmed up. This fundamentally changes your outbound economics. The bottleneck shifts from "how many personalized emails can we write" to "how many qualified conversations can we handle." Your pipeline becomes a function of market size and offer strength, not human capacity to research and write. That's the unlock. Most SDR teams are productivity-constrained when they should be market-constrained.

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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗗𝗥 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹. In most B2B orgs today, the real challenge isn’t effort or headcount, it's focus.  • SDRs spend hours chasing leads that aren't in-market  • Personalization often defaults to "Hi {First Name}"  • Sales cycles are longer than ever, while buyer engagement is happening behind closed tabs 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁? Wasted touches, burned budget, and pipelines that look full… until the quarter closes. 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘁: 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗗𝗥 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁? This is where intent data becomes a revenue lever, not just another tool. According to Demand Gen Report:  • Companies using intent data see 2.5x conversion rates  • Sales cycles shrink by 28%  • 68% of marketers say it’s critical for ABM performance At S2W Media, we help marketing leaders solve this with a full-funnel, intent-driven strategy:  • 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 + 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁-𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, pinpoint buyers already researching your solution or evaluating your competitors  • 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴, SDRs focus on verified, high-intent accounts  • 𝗛𝘆𝗽𝗲𝗿-𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, informed by real behavioral signals, not assumptions The outcome? Predictable pipeline. Faster velocity. Higher ROI. No more guessing games. No more wasted touches. As marketers, we don’t need "more leads."We need better intelligence to drive a meaningful pipeline. If you're ready to align sales & marketing on who to target, when to engage, and what to say, let’s connect. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 - https://lnkd.in/dq3Qbvzt

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Running a SaaS business in Canada right now? It’s not easy, and I’ve been thinking a lot about why. Founders I talk to are juggling more than just growth targets. You’re dealing with: ✅ Privacy rules like Quebec's Law 25 ✅ Buyers cutting redundant tools and demanding clear ROI ✅ Cross-border complexity when selling into a U.S. enterprise ✅ Economic pressure that makes every dollar count Here’s the thing: these aren’t just compliance or finance problems, they’re sales problems too. And that’s where strong sales leadership can make a real difference. As a VP of Sales, I’ve learned that the job isn’t just about closing deals. It’s about: * Turning compliance into a trust signal that wins enterprise buyers * Building ROI stories that help customers consolidate and stick * Shortening deal cycles with pre-approved security packages * Driving efficiency metrics like CAC: LTV and multi-year contracts * Feeding real buyer insights back into the product roadmap In 2026, the SaaS companies that will win in Canada will be those that sell trust, value, and resilience, not just features. If you’re a founder or revenue leader thinking about these challenges, let’s connect. I’d love to swap ideas on how sales strategy can turn friction into growth. #SaaS #SalesLeadership #CanadianTech #RevenueGrowth #GoToMarket #PrivacyCompliance

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Why most SDR teams struggle to scale outreach We’ve seen it happen again and again: • SDRs spend 50%+ of their time on repetitive admin work • Leads go cold because follow-ups aren’t consistent • Outreach feels generic instead of personalized • Expensive tools pile up, but ROI doesn’t The result? Missed revenue opportunities. That’s where Clento AI SDR changes the game. Instead of adding more tools or headcount, Clento acts as your autonomous SDR team: 1. Automates prospecting & outreach 2. Personalizes at scale without sounding robotic 3. Follows up relentlessly until closure 4. Integrates seamlessly with your CRM The outcome? - Higher pipeline conversion - Consistent, quality meetings - Lower outreach costs The smartest sales teams aren’t just working harder. They’re working with AI that never drops the ball. Discover how Clento helps your sales team scale without the growing pains. #SalesAutomation #AISDR #TechForSales #SalesDevelopment #B2BSaaS #Clento

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Too Much Admin Work → Less Selling Time 📉 One of the biggest hidden challenges in sales today isn’t the competition. It’s administrative overload. Research shows that roughly 72% of sellers say administrative work negatively impacts their productivity. Every minute spent on a spreadsheet is a minute lost on a discovery call. The "Silent" Time Thieves 🕵️‍♂️ Think about what actually fills a typical sales rep’s day: ✅ CRM Hygiene: Manually logging activities and updating stages. ✅ Reporting: Preparing internal status updates for management. ✅ Tool Fatigue: Constantly switching between 5+ different sales tools. ✅ Red Tape: Managing complex approvals and internal coordination. These tasks are necessary, but they quietly eat into your most valuable asset: Time with customers. The Cost of the Friction 💸 When selling time shrinks, the business feels it immediately: 🔹Pipeline creation slows down (top of funnel dries up). 🔹Deal velocity drops (momentum stalls in the middle). 🔹Quota attainment becomes harder (burnout increases). The High-Performance Shift 🚀 Top-tier sales organizations don't just tell their reps to "work harder." They focus on removing friction by: 🔹 Automating administrative data entry. 🔹 Simplifying the tech stack to reduce context switching. 🔹 Improving CRM data capture through AI-driven tools. 🔹 Streamlining internal approval processes. The bottom line: Every hour spent on admin work is an hour not spent creating revenue. How much time do sales reps in your organization actually spend selling versus managing the system? #SalesLeadership #SalesPerformance #RevenueGrowth #SalesProductivity #B2BSales #SalesStrategy#SalesCapability

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Your SDR agent can book meetings. Cool. But can it also answer product questions from a PDF you hand it? Here’s how to make that happen in Agentforce: 📄 Upload your product reference sheet as a PDF 🧠 Build a prompt in Prompt Builder using Flex template 🔗 Use dynamic free-text inputs (Product Name + Product Question) 📘 Attach your new prompt to a custom agent action 🎯 Add that action to your “Respond to Prospect” topic The result? Your SDR agent can now pull details directly from your reference doc — and reply in real-time like it’s product-trained. Ready to level up your AI sales assistant? ▶️ Watch the full demo: 🧪 Or check out SOLVD.cloud to learn more #Salesforce #AIagent #SDRautomation #Agentforce #Salesenablement #SOLVDcloud

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Stop losing leads before your team talks Save this if you want SaaS growth without burning hours Most SaaS companies struggle with slow, costly qualification calls that waste SDR time and inflate CAC. The real bottleneck isn’t your sales reps or tools— it’s how you orchestrate workflows and AI voice agents to pre-sell effectively. Here’s how n8n and AI agents can change the game: Trigger: Incoming demo request or product inquiry via CRM Decision: AI voice agent classifies lead intent using NLP Scorer: AI rates lead quality based on CRM data + behavior Executor: AI agent answers FAQs, highlights pricing tiers, and handles objections without human aid Verifier: AI routes only ‘high intent’ leads to SDRs via Slack Integration: Sync seamlessly with Stripe for real-time pricing checks, CRM for lead enrichment, and email for follow-up Real example: We deployed this at a SaaS scale-up easing SDR load by 45%. Demo-qualified leads increased 30%, while CAC dropped 20%. Teams saved 8 hours per week on repetitive calls. Revenue impact? Adding AI voice agents synchronized by n8n workflow shaved three weeks off our sales cycle and boosted NRR by 12% within two quarters. Expert takeaway If your AI agents aren’t automated, they’re just expensive demos. Want to see the exact workflow diagram? DM me to get a step-by-step n8n blueprint tailored for your SaaS stack. How much revenue could you unlock if AI voice agents handled your pre-sales calls flawlessly?

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Your SDRs move slow. Your market doesn’t. In 2025, sales teams win with agility. Markets shift. GTM strategies evolve. New products launch overnight. And if your SDR team can’t keep up, your pipeline’s at risk. Bad news: Most internal teams aren’t built to move that fast. Good news: Outsourced SDRs are. Here’s why they’re built for the modern sales org: 🔄 Pivot to new ICPs without missing a beat 🚀 Launch-ready teams, no hand-holding required 📊 Real-time reporting to optimize on the fly 🎯 Performance-based models (not just warm bodies in seats) The future of SDRs isn’t in-house—it’s on-demand. Want to pick the right agency to keep your pipeline fast, flexible, and future-proof? We’ve got the guide for you 👇

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Most technical deals don't die because the prospect said no. They die because you stopped following up. The data backs this up:  - 80% of sales require 5+ touches to close  - 44% of reps give up after one attempt The average sale needs 8 touchpoints before conversion. But here's what makes technical sales different. Your buyers aren't ignoring you because they're uninterested. They're ignoring you because they're buried in deadlines, firmware bugs, and manufacturing timelines. The follow-up that works isn't "just checking in." It's: → Sharing a technical insight related to their architecture → Referencing a specific constraint they mentioned → Connecting your solution to a problem they're actively solving Every touchpoint should prove you understand their world better than the last rep who gave up. This is how we approach persistence at Bluebird: each follow-up earns attention by adding value, not asking for it. #B2BSales #TechnicalSales #SalesStrategy #OutboundSales #GTMStrategy #SalesLeadership #EmbeddedSystems #IoT #RevenueGrowth

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Every scaling SaaS company wrestles with it: Should your SDR/BDR team sit under Sales or Marketing? 📈 Sales reporting = closer alignment with AEs, quota ownership, and faster pipeline feedback. 🎯 Marketing reporting = tighter connection to campaigns, lead flow, and inbound conversion. In reality? The “right” answer depends on whether your SDRs are focused on outbound hunting, inbound qualification, or a mix of both, and on your growth stage and motion. At The New Network, we’ve seen Sales-led, Marketing-led, and even hybrid RevOps models succeed. The common thread is clear ownership, defined metrics, and alignment across the funnel. How does your company structure it? 🔗 See how we help scaling SaaS teams build functions that last: newnetwork.ca  #SaaSSales #StartupTalent #StrategicHiring #TheNewNetwork

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