B2B Go-To-Market Leaders

Use cases, not just features.

That’s how Simon Ooley, co-founder of Veles,  a YC-backed startup reshaping how enterprise sales teams engage buyers, and former sales leader at Procore and Builder, reframes the future of enterprise sales. Instead of selling products, he helps teams sell outcomes—anchored in urgency, ROI, and the real problems customers are trying to solve.

In this episode of the B2B Go-To-Market Leaders podcast, Simon joins Vijay to unpack his journey from BDR to founder and YC-backed entrepreneur. 

They dive deep into:

• Why traditional sales roles are merging under the GTM umbrella.
• How can large teams eliminate inefficiencies in quoting and deal desk processes?
• The power of use case-based selling to drive urgency, personalization, and long-term customer success

Simon breaks down why founder-led sales isn’t just about hustle, but about curiosity, experimentation, and relentless clarity on what your buyers actually care about. You’ll learn how Velus is shifting sales conversations from product features to business cases—and why that shift might be the most important evolution in GTM strategy today.

Whether you’re scaling a sales team or starting from zero, this conversation is packed with tactical insight and a whole lot of heart.

Connect with Simon Ooley on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonooley/

Connect with Vijay Damojipurapu on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijdam/

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In this episode of the B2B Go-To-Market Leaders podcast, Vijay sits down with Karthik Suresh—co-founder of Ignition and DoubleO.ai—to explore his unconventional journey from high-frequency trading to building one of the fastest-growing platforms in the AI agent space.

Karthik shares how early career lessons in finance shaped his product mindset, why user empathy became his north star, and how doubling down on positioning and messaging turned go-to-market into a product strategy.

You’ll hear how Ignition was born out of a gap in product marketing tools, why the team pivoted to DoubleO when GenAI exploded, and the exact steps they took to validate product-market fit—from leveraging community partnerships to gating product access behind payments.

Other topics covered:

• How to break into startups without prior experience
  
  
• The secret to founder-market fit and team dynamics
  
  
• Why most AI tools are vaporware (and how to tell the difference)
  
  
• Building brand trust through market education
  
  
• Why “pay if it works” is the next frontier in SaaS pricing

Whether you're navigating an early-stage startup, experimenting with agents, or refining your GTM playbook, this episode delivers tactical insight with startup grit and product clarity.

Connect with Karthik Suresh on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/karthiksureshlbs/

Connect with Vijay Damojipurapu on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijdam/

Brought to you by: stratyve.com

Modern B2B sales success lies in shifting from scripted selling to strategic listening—by elevating discovery calls and building trust through thoughtful messaging, Leslie’s approach turns reps into advisors and conversations into conversions.

Dive into the latest episode of the B2B Go to Market Leaders podcast, where Vijay interviews Leslie Venetz, a B2B sales strategist and founder with deep experience navigating outbound sales in enterprise environments. Leslie unpacks her journey from learning the ropes in sales to helping SaaS companies refine their go-to-market strategies with bold, focused tactics.

She emphasizes that real progress comes not from hustling harder but from selling smarter—prioritizing meaningful discovery conversations, segmenting accounts with care, and aligning messaging with executive-level pain points. Leslie’s methods helped one team double their close rate and trim nearly two weeks off the sales cycle by simply reworking their approach to AE discovery.

The conversation explores everything from the mechanics of outbound strategy to why building your personal brand on social media is essential, not just for visibility, but for attracting talent and creating credibility. Leslie challenges the myth of company loyalty and shares why, in today’s landscape, your reputation is your leverage.

Connect with Leslie Venetz on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramsba

Connect with Vijay Damojipurapu on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijdam/

Brought to you by: stratyve.com

Go-to-market is defined as a cohesive, interconnected machine involving sales, marketing, product, and customer needs working together like a flywheel. A successful GTM strategy centers on four key elements: understanding the customer’s pain points, delivering clear product value, ensuring ease of consumption, and aligning cross-functional teams toward common goals.

In this insightful podcast, Ramesh Prabagaran, a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur and two-time founder, shares his journey from product manager to successful founder and CEO. With over 20 years in the computer networking industry, Ramesh discusses his experiences at Juniper Networks, his co-founding of Viptela (acquired by Cisco), and his latest venture, Prosimo. He dives deep into go-to-market strategies, the iterative process of startup development, and the challenges of finding the right customer segments and value propositions. 

Ramesh provides valuable lessons on fundraising, mentorship, and navigating the shifting landscape of cloud networking, with particular emphasis on product-led growth (PLG) and enterprise sales. His story highlights the importance of capital constraints, building the right team, and developing a cohesive, customer-centric strategy.

Connect with Ramesh Prabagaran on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramsba

Connect with Vijay Damojipurapu on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijdam/

Brought to you by: stratyve.com

Chapters:

 00:00 - How Ramesh Defines B2B Marketing in Startups
 06:47 - From PM at Juniper to Multi-Time Founder: Ramesh’s Career Journey
 12:35 - Why Ramesh Entered the Networking Space
 15:22 - First Startup: Identifying Market Disruption Through Cost Arbitrage
 18:40 - Second Startup: Lessons in Timing, Buyer Personas, and Messaging
 39:32 - How to Fundraise Smartly Based on Market Readiness
 48:56 - Ramesh’s Three Deepest Sources of Support
 53:50 - The Power of Giving Back and the Silicon Valley Culture
 56:00 - Advice to His Younger Self: Deprivation Drives Clarity 

Trust the process, embrace resilience, and understand that challenges often lead to greater success.

Dive into the latest episode of the B2B Go to Market Leaders podcast, where Eli Rubel shares his entrepreneurial journey from tech startups to service businesses. 

Eli details his transition from chasing venture-backed dreams to creating lifestyle businesses that align with his personal values. The conversation spans his decision-making process, the creation of Matter Made and NoBoringDesign, and his newest venture, Profit Labs. 

Eli emphasizes his "tricycle life" philosophy—prioritizing work-life balance while building profitable businesses.

Connect with Eli Rubel on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elirubel/

Connect with Vijay Damojipurapu on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijdam/

Brought to you by: stratyve.com

Chapters:

00:00 - From Waiting Tables to a $3M Exit: Eli Rubel’s Origin Story
 02:32 - How Eli Defines Go-To-Market: Influence, Trust, and Speed
 06:45 - Leveraging Influencers to Accelerate Sales and Build Trust
 09:53 - From Art School Dropout to VC-Backed Founder: Eli’s Path into Tech
 18:12 - The Glider Story: Pivoting to Product-Market Fit and a Surprise Acquisition
 26:45 - How a Last-Minute Meeting Saved the Company from Shutdown
 34:02 - Building MatterMade: From $40K/Month Dream to $4M+ Profit Agency
 43:36 - Launching No Boring Design to Survive the Tech Recession
 51:55 - Introducing Profit Labs: Financial Services for Agency Founders
 59:22 - Final Advice: Trust the Process and Keep Putting in the Reps

It's important to price for customers, not just the product itself, as humans ascribe value.

Dan shares his career journey, starting as a software engineer and transitioning into product management and eventually pricing consultancy. He emphasizes the critical role of pricing as a strategic lever in successful B2B SaaS go-to-market strategies, drawing on his extensive experience helping companies overcome common pricing challenges.

Dan provides valuable insights for B2B SaaS leaders looking to leverage pricing as a key component of their go-to-market efforts.

Connect with Dan Balcauski on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/balcauski/

Connect with Vijay Damojipurapu on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijdam/

Brought to you by: stratyve.com

Strategic partnerships can be the catalyst for business growth and long-term success. In this episode, Emir Elliott-Lindo highlights the significance of cultivating strong relationships with partners and how collaboration can lead to mutually beneficial outcomes. 

Emir delves into the essential steps for fostering these relationships, from identifying the right partners to establishing clear communication and shared goals. 

Learn how leveraging partnerships not only creates new business opportunities but also helps brands gain credibility, expand their reach, and innovate together. 

Connect with Emir Elliott-Lindo on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emirelliottlindo/

Connect with Vijay Damojipurapu on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijdam/

Brought to you by: stratyve.com

Dive into the latest episode of the B2B Go to Market Leaders podcast, where Gururaj Pandurangi shares groundbreaking insights on evolving GTM strategies, focusing on problem-centric selling, scalable outreach, and building trust to drive business growth.

They explore how trust-building conversations and validating problem statements with potential buyers can lead to co-creating impactful solutions.

Listeners will gain practical knowledge on building trust by addressing key problems, validating challenges with ideal customer profiles, leveraging automation to overcome cold outreach limitations, and adapting to modern sales and marketing dynamics.

Connect with Gururaj Pandurngi on LinkedIn

Brought to you by: stratyve.com

Dive into the latest episode of the B2B Go to Market Leaders podcast, where Kathri Mariappan, the founder of Hippo Video, a B2B SaaS company. Kathri, with a rich background in engineering and over 16 years of experience in product management at Zoho, shares his entrepreneurial journey, highlighting the pivotal moments that shaped his approach to building and marketing products. This blog post delves into the key themes and insights from the episode, offering actionable advice for entrepreneurs and business leaders.

Kathri emphasizes that a go-to-market (GTM) strategy is much more than just sales and marketing. It begins where product development ends. Once a product is ready, the focus shifts to effectively communicating the problem it solves, the positioning message, and understanding the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). These foundational elements are crucial for successful sales and marketing efforts.

Kathri's journey with Hippo Video exemplifies the power of clarity, focus, and continuous learning to achieve business success.

Brought to you by: stratyve.com