Larry Shurtz: How to Hire, Train & Retain the Best Vertical Teams | E1151

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

May 10, 2024

Duration

1h 2m

Channel

The Twenty Minute VC

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Larry Shurtz is the Chief Sales Officer at Genesys where he oversees the company’s global go-to-market strategies, including commercial activities, field sales and partner ecosystem operations. Larry has nearly three decades of experience in the software industry, from leading Confluent to delivering more than 60% revenue growth and doubling customer count as Chief Revenue Officer, to scaling a 1,300-person team at Salesforce to $2.1 billion in revenue. ----------------------------------------------- Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (00:48) Entry Point into Sales (03:12) Sales Leaders' Prioritization Pitfalls (05:55) Art vs. Science in Sales (09:13) Definition & Purpose of Sales Playbook (10:55) Structure of Hiring Process (25:29) Lessons in Scaling Sales Teams (35:33) Quality vs. Quantity in Sales (39:02) Interplay between CS & Sales (51:32) Why Larry is Good at Sales Forecasting (59:10) Quick-Fire Round ----------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode with Larry Shurtz We Discuss:

1. From Robotics Student to $2.1BN Sales Leader at Salesforce How did Larry lead 1300 people to $2.1 billion revenue at Salesforce? What were his takeaways? What did Larry learn about building vertical sales playbooks at Salesforce? Which framework did Larry learn at Salesforce that he still uses at Genesys?

1. Mastering Sales Leadership What are the biggest mistakes sales leaders make on prioritization today? What are Larry’s “3 Rs” to master prioritization? What does Larry think are the most common reasons fast scaling teams break in sales? Has Larry ever caused bad culture in a sales team? What did he learn from the experience? Does Larry think sales is more art or science? How does Larry blend the two?

1. Building the Best Sales Team How does Larry structure the hiring process for a new sales hire? How big should your recruitment team be? What are Larry’s most commonly asked questions when interviewing? What were Larry’s biggest hiring mistakes? What did he learn from them? How does Larry structure the comp? How does he get it right? What do most new hires care about today?

1. The Onboarding: The Dos & Don’ts How does Larry structure the onboarding process? Why does Larry onboard new hires with big customers? What is the buddy system? How does Larry tell if a new hire is bad? What are the biggest red flags to look out for? What does Larry mean when he says “You can make all the physical errors, you cannot make mental errors?” Does Larry agree with Max Levchin @ Affirm that “When there’s doubt, there’s no doubt?” ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Larry Shurtz on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LarryShurtz Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #20vc #harrystebbings #larryshurtz #genesys #salesforce #cso #founder #venturecapital #startup #leaderrship #hiring #salesteam

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Larry Shurtz

  guest

• Harry Stebbings

  host

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Larry Shurtz and Harry Stebbings, Larry Shurtz: How to Hire, Train & Retain the Best Vertical Teams | E1151 explores larry Shurtz Reveals How Elite Sales Leaders Build High-Performing Verticals Larry Shurtz, CRO at Genesys and former Salesforce leader, breaks down how to hire, train, forecast, and vertically organize sales teams that consistently hit their numbers. He emphasizes ruthless prioritization around people, the number, and customer success, and argues that EQ, empathy, and leadership “art” still separate the great from the merely good despite rising sales science and tooling. Shurtz details his philosophy on hiring rigor, onboarding, compensation, discounting, forecasting, and when to cut bad hires, as well as why verticalization must go far beyond just the AE. He also shares lessons from mistakes earlier in his career, especially around empathy, culture, and how great leaders handle tough customer situations.

🔗 RELATED EPISODES

Inside Legora: Jude Law Generated $50M Pipeline | Are They Undervalued at $5.5BN? | Patrick Forquer

Cliff Weitzman: What I Learned from 100 of the World’s Top CEOs & Why Tokens Will Outspend Salaries

Shopify CEO on How AI is a Scapegoat for Mass Layoffs & Trump Derangement Syndrome in Canada

Inside Clay's Sales Playbook | Becca Lindquist

Jackie Reses: The Most Powerful Woman in Finance; Making $50BN for Yahoo on Alibaba | E996

Tom Hulme & Stan Boland: Lessons from Jensen Huang & How to Fix the UK Tech Ecosystem