About Me
Meet Mike
In 1997, I embarked on a journey in tech sales, leaving behind two years in field marketing. I joined the pioneering team at HotJobs.com, becoming their first Account Executive in San Francisco and the 14th employee company-wide. My success in exceeding sales targets led to a swift promotion to team leader, contributing significantly to the company's growth. I spearheaded the establishment of our Chicago office, recruiting and leading a team of 35 Account Executives, transforming it into the company's top-performing office in terms of individual AE output.
Our efforts culminated in HotJobs.com's initial public offering in August 1999, and the company's subsequent acquisition by Yahoo! in 2002 for $440 million, with an impressive $120 million in annual recurring revenue. In the following years, I managed the enterprise and strategic divisions for North America.
After a four-year stint in private equity and commercial real estate, I reunited with Dimitri Boylan, co-founder and former CEO of HotJobs.com, at Avature in 2006. This B2B SaaS company was pioneering the Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) category. We approached recruiting as a key sales and marketing endeavor and developed tools to transform corporate recruiting into a strategic operation. I was instrumental in securing our first paying client and, as the Senior Vice President of Sales, I led the creation of our market presence in North America. Avature, a self-funded company, has achieved remarkable success with substantial annual recurring revenues.
In 2015, I moved to SmartRecruiters, a Series B company with around $5 million in ARR, to shift the business from a freemium to an enterprise SaaS model. As Chief Sales Officer, I established and expanded key departments including BDR, Enterprise AEs, RevOps, and Pre-Sales, along with our EMEA market presence. Under my leadership, SmartRecruiters grew to $75 million in ARR and secured a successful Series E funding round, valuing the company at $1.5 billion. Before my departure, I managed sales teams targeting various market segments across North America and the Asia-Pacific region.
When I'm not working I enjoy spending time with my three adult kids, traveling, surfing, skiing, and cooking.
My Mission and Values
My Mission
In the dynamic landscape of B2B SaaS, founders must navigate through four significant challenges: 1) The technical barriers to launching a new SaaS venture are diminishing, leading to a saturated market with over 26,000 competitors in the HR/Work Tech space alone; 2) the purchasing behavior of enterprise B2B clients is increasingly mirroring that of individual consumers, demanding a more personalized approach to software evaluation and acquisition; 3) increasing interest rates have prompted a pivot from the previous "growth at all costs" mindset to one of capital efficiency; and 4) the seemingly overnight explosion of AI presents unparalleled opportunities for product innovation and enhanced go-to-market efficiency and automation.
My goal is to empower clients to successfully position their offerings in the market—or in new segments—by establishing distinctive strategies that not only stand out amidst the competition but also resonate with modern buying habits. I aim to transform the purchasing process into a strategic asset, employing repeatable and scalable methodologies, all while maintaining fiscal prudence and leveraging automation to control expenses and spur growth.
I specialize in guiding companies within the HR | Work Tech sector, ranging from those in the pre-revenue stage up to those with $100 million in annual recurring revenue, by providing fractional Chief Sales Officer services, strategic consulting, or executing project-based initiatives to address immediate operational requirements.
My Values
1. Honesty
2, Empathy
3. Mindfulness
4. Self-Improvement
5. Gratitude
6. Diligence
7. Loyalty
8. Fairness
9. Generosity
10. Accountability