Pre-Sales Pathways

Delivering keynote presentations. Facilitating executive engagements. Publishing thought leadership content. Could this be your dream role?In this episode, Derek Laney joins Chris Clark to discuss his role as Technology Evangelist at Salesforce.We cover:How Derek got into pre-sales: After a brief stint as an actor, Derek pivoted into tech, initially in implementation before getting involved in pre-sales.What Derek's role involves: Derek's role combines high-frequency customer engagements with public speaking and developing original thought leadership content.What's driven Derek's career success so far: A focus on maximising value creation and being open to opportunities have both driven Derek's career success.This episode is a must-listen for anyone that's enjoyed public speaking and wants to make it a bigger part of their career.

What does it take to be a Principal Solutions Engineer (SE) at not one, but three iconic software companies: HubSpot, Slack, and Atlassian?In this episode, Lotta Mikkonen, Principal SE at Atlassian, joins Chris Clark to discuss what the Principal SE role involves.We cover:How Lotta got into pre-sales: After studying software engineering, Lotta realised she enjoyed the people-oriented aspects of the work and so she applied for a Sales Engineering internship at Salesforce.What Lotta's role involves: She is responsible for managing the relationship and architecture of her own accounts as well as scaling the overall team's success through mentoring and strategic projects.What's driven Lotta's career success so far: A combination of curiosity, self-reflection and taking on difficult projects have all contributed to Lotta's career success.This episode is a must-listen for anyone curious about the Principal SE role looks like at tier 1 SaaS companies.

How can a Solutions Engineer (SE) provide global leadership and scale their impact without directly managing people? In this episode, Andrew Nikolic, Distinguished SE at Slack, joins Chris Clark to discuss the unique responsibilities of a high-level individual contributor (IC) role. We cover:How Andrew Nikolic got into pre-sales: He was in an IT generalist role when a sales rep invited him to a customer meeting, which exposed him to the excitement of a sales cycle and a preference for meeting with customers.What Andrew Nikolic's role involves: As a Distinguished SE, he operates at a strategic level as an overlay resource for complex deals involving topics like AI and security, while also providing thought leadership and building internal tools to automate demos at scale. What's driven Andrew Nikolic's career success so far: His success is rooted in a mindset of staying curious, proactively building relationships with stakeholders in headquarters, and the conscious decision to pivot from management back to an IC path to focus on his craft. This episode is a must-listen for pre-sales professionals looking to understand how to advance to the highest levels of the individual contributor track while maintaining a massive organisational impact.You can follow Andrew on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewnikolic/You can follow Chris on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-james-clark/

Can technical enablement go beyond just training to become a strategic engine for go-to-market (GTM) success? In this episode, Dan Iacono, GTM Engineer & Technical Enablement Manager at Augment Code, joins Chris Clark to discuss his role in evolving technical enablement at companies like Snowflake, Glean and Augment Code.We cover:How Dan got into pre-sales: After realising the lucrative nature of web development compared to his TV production degree, Dan pivoted to technology and landed a startup pre-sales role that doubled his expected salary.What Dan's role involves: He focuses on the problems teams are facing and works back from there, building systems like AI role-play programs that allow sellers to practice customer-facing interactions without the risk of losing a deal.What's driven Dan's career success so far: His success stems from a willingness to tackle necessary but avoided tasks, such as building onboarding programs, alongside a commitment to continuous learning in a rapidly changing industry.This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to understand how technical enablement goes beyond just training and serves as a more holistic problem-solving function for GTM.You can follow Dan on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniacono/You can follow Chris on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-james-clark/

What does it truly take to be the first Solutions Engineer (SE) at a high-growth startup, balancing customer demands with product development? In this episode, Shivam Trivedi, Head of SE at Factory and former Founding SE at Glean, joins Chris Clark to discuss the unique challenges and rewards of being a founding SE. We cover:How Shiv got into pre-sales: After starting his career in corporate security, Shiv realised he missed customer interaction and saw Solutions Engineering as the perfect bridge between his technical background and his desire to work with people. What Shiv's role as a Founding SE involved: As a founding SE, his work spanned from managing every deal and troubleshooting early-stage products to providing a tight, consultative feedback loop directly to the engineering team. What's driven Shiv's career success so far: His success is built on ruthless prioritization, the ability to write and communicate raw ideas quickly for clarity, and a "customer-obsessed" approach that focuses on building trust and technical champions. This episode is a must-listen for anyone curious about the high-stakes world of early-stage startups and the "grit" required to build a pre-sales function from the ground up. You can follow Shiv on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivamctrivedi/You can follow Chris on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-james-clark/