Pre-Sales Unplugged: Leadership Playbook

Pre-Sales Unplugged is the show for anyone serious about winning in modern GTM across SaaS and tech. Hosted by Arvi Carakanji, founder of Elite Talent Recruiting and one of the most vocal champions for Pre-Sales and Post-Sales as revenue functions, not support functions. Each episode goes deep on the conversations that actually move the needle. From hiring and leadership to revenue strategy, sales execution, and what it takes to level up as an individual contributor, we cover the full picture of how today's best GTM teams are built and run. Honest conversations with the founders, operators, revenue leaders, and individual contributors shaping the future of sales. People who have actually done the work and are willing to share what it really took. Whether you're a CRO building a Pre-Sales team, an SE growing into leadership, or a founder figuring out your GTM motion, this one's for you. Past guests i

Pre-Sales Unplugged: Leadership Playbook is a business podcast hosted by Arvi Carkanji, with 27 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Arvi Carkanji hosts Pre-Sales Unplugged: Leadership Playbook, a business show with 27 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #27

  Ep. 27- How to Build Outcome-Driven Customer Success (Not Reactive CS) with Andrea Mulligan

  Aug 12, 20261h 2mS1

  Give us Feedback on this episode Your customer success team is only visible when something breaks. Most CS orgs are still stuck in the "I am your advocate" era. In practice, they're just escalation points. When customers are unhappy, CS swoops in to save the day. But between crises? Nobody knows what they do. Andrea Mulligan, fractional Chief Customer Officer and outcome-driven CS strategist, is shifting how leaders think about customer success. Instead of last-minute saves at renewal time, she's builds departments where value is delivered daily, measurably, and obviously. So renewals and growth happen naturally. In this episode … We're talking outcome-driven customer success, how CS structure changes by company stage (1-10 vs 50-150 vs 300+ employees), where AI fits in, and what separates a good CS hire from an A-player. This is for founders and GTM leaders building their CS function from scratch or scaling it right. Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter. We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks. They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster. We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers. If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos. Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/ Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/ All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

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  Episode #26

  Ep.26- Jack Porter Googled 'What Is an Account Executive.' Two Years Later WhiteWhale Ran 1,500+ Demos

  Jul 23, 202658 minS1

  Give us Feedback on this episode Most sales leaders are still guessing at top of funnel. More tools, more sequences, more noise, and demo numbers barely move. Jack Porter has the opposite problem. He is 24, co-founded WhiteWhale two years ago, and his team has already run over 1,800 demos combined across 2025 and 2026. WhiteWhale sits inside 700+ sales teams, so Jack doesn’t JUST know what works for his own company, he knows what is actually working across the industry right now. On this episode of Pre-Sales Unplugged we get into: - How WhiteWhale went from an idea nobody would pay a dollar a month for to a real business, built off 200+ cold calls with zero product - What is actually working in cold email, LinkedIn, and cold calling right now versus what everyone assumes still works - His take on hiring and AI, straight from a recent post that got people talking - What it is like building a company before you turn 25 If you lead a GTM team or you are the one carrying the number, this is a conversation worth your 45 minutes. Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter. We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks. They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster. We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers. If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos. Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/ Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/ All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

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  Episode #25

  Ep. 25- How the Sales Engineer Role Is Evolving in Enterprise SaaS, with Ori Weizman

  Jul 15, 20261h 2mS1

  Give us Feedback on this episode Enterprise SaaS deals are getting more technical, and more complex, than ever. So who's actually driving them across the finish line? I'm sitting down with Ori Weizman, a sales engineering leader who built out an EMEA region from scratch and has a lot to say about how the SE role is evolving in complex, high value deals. We're getting into the real difference between a champion and a technical buyer, why SEs are playing a bigger role earlier in the cycle, and what he thinks GTM teams of the future need to look like. We'll also dig into AI, where it genuinely helps GTM teams and where the hype is outrunning the reality. If you're a GTM leader building out your team or an SE wondering where your career is headed, this one's for you. Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter. We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks. They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster. We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers. If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos. Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/ Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/ All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

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  Episode #24

  Ep. 24- Building & Selling Companies: Lessons Every SaaS Founder Needs with Stan Markuze

  Jul 1, 202647 minS1

  Give us Feedback on this episode Most founders know how to build a product. Far fewer know how to build a company that can actually scale and eventually be acquired. On the next episode of PreSales Unplugged: The Leadership Playbook , I'm joined by Stan Markuze , CEO of Balance. Stan has built and successfully sold two technology companies, invested in real estate for over a decade, and is now leading a fast-growing SaaS company helping businesses better manage their cash. In this episode, we'll discuss: ✅ Building companies with long-term value in mind ✅ Lessons learned from multiple exits ✅ Founder-led sales and knowing when it's time to build a sales team ✅ How customer feedback led to a major product pivot ✅ Practical ways founders can think differently about cash flow and operational efficiency ✅ Hiring lessons from scaling an early-stage startup Whether you're building your first startup or scaling your next one, this conversation is full of practical lessons you can apply immediately. Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter. We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks. They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster. We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers. If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos. Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/ Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/ All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

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  Episode #23

  EP. 23- Stop Automating Dysfunction: The Pre-Sales & GTM Evolution with Investor Mark Nix

  Jun 24, 202653 minS1

  Give us Feedback on this episode Most SaaS leaders are betting big on AI right now. But here's the uncomfortable truth: most of those bets won't pay off. Not because the technology isn't real. Because the fundamentals aren't there. I'm sitting down with Mark Nix, an executive with experience leading crossfunctionally across Solution Engineering, Product Strategy, Product Marketing and more and now more recently a Limited Partner at Stage 2 Capital Venture. Mark has helped scale organizations from startups to global enterprises across multiple technology cycles, and he has a very clear-eyed view of what actually survives when the hype fades. We're going deep on: • How to evaluate real market potential vs. noise • Why business process matters more than technology • What most AI companies are getting wrong right now • How presales and the FDE model are reshaping enterprise GTM • And what Customer Value Realization actually means for the future of pre and post-sales If you're a CRO, VP of Solutions, SE leader, or a founder figuring out your GTM motion, this one is going to hit. Elite Talent Recruiting helps B2B SaaS leaders hire high performing Pre Sales and Post Sales talent when speed and quality actually matter. We are on a mission to prove Pre Sales and Post Sales teams are just as crucial to revenue as offensive linemen are to quarterbacks. They accelerate sales, fuel growth, and help SaaS companies win bigger deals faster. We build SaaS GTM teams by headhunting top Pre Sales and Post Sales talent and delivering hires in 35 days or less, including Sales Engineers, Solutions Consultants, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, and Technical Account Managers. If your team is stretched thin, specialized roles are sitting open too long, or you are scaling fast and need reliable recruiting support that actually moves the needle, we help you hire the kind of talent that drives growth, innovation, and customer success without wasting months in interview chaos. Check out our website: https://elitetalentrecruiting.io/ Connect with Arvi directly on LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvi-carkanji/ All other resources: https://linktr.ee/elitetalentrecruiting

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