Take the Shot — But Do the Work First
Confidence is great. But experience still pays the bills.
The other day, a candidate messaged me on LinkedIn and pitched herself for an SVP of Sales role I’m working on.
She wasn’t on my radar. But she was assertive, confident, and made her case. I replied, called out a few gaps — mainly her lack of experience scaling software sales teams from $15M to $50M, and not managing the size of team we needed.
She pushed back a bit. Said she did have the experience. I agreed to a video call — partly because I respected her hustle.
We talked. She had strong leadership chops and a solid track record. But she didn’t have the experience we needed for this role, in this industry. And I was honest about that. She took the feedback like a pro and even agreed with it.
She just wasn’t the right fit. And that’s okay.
Here’s what I loved: she took the shot. Found the person in charge. Made a direct ask. That’s rare. Had she checked all the boxes, I would’ve passed her straight to the hiring team.
But here’s the real takeaway for creators, builders, and candidates alike:
Be bold. Go after it. But do the research.
Sales pros often try to sell their way into roles — but if you don’t have it, you don’t have it. Cool if you sold software to gym owners, but that doesn’t translate to selling professional services to executives. It quickly shows when your network is full of gym bros and gals — not decision-makers in the boardroom.
You can’t fake experience. But you can go out and build it.
Your next job should make you a little nervous. So should the outreach. That means you’re growing. But in a market with 300 applicants per role, you have to stand out — with effort, not ego.
Keep swinging. But make every swing smarter than the last.
P.S. – If you need someone with solid experience selling hardware and energy products, I can introduce you.