20Sales: What I Learned Scaling Datadog from $60M to $1BN in ARR | How to do Outbound in 2024 | Why Discounting is Dangerous and Contract Sizes are Misleading with Dan Fougere
Dan Fougere, a top sales leader known for scaling Datadog's revenue from $60M to $1BN ARR, shares crucial insights. He discusses the key lessons learned during his journey, including the mistakes made and what he'd do differently. Dan emphasizes the dangers of discounting, advocating for consistent pricing strategies, and highlights the importance of hiring the right sales team, including his unique interview techniques. He also tackles the future of outbound sales in 2024, offering advice for founders navigating evolving sales landscapes.
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Qualifying Deals
Expect bullshit and look for weaknesses in every deal.
Use the MEDDIC framework to qualify deals quickly and effectively.
insights INSIGHT
Targeting Strategies
At Datadog, they initially targeted practitioners implementing the cloud, not CIOs/CTOs.
At Medallia, they sold to C-level execs because the product required changing business practices.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Capital One Deal
Dan found a small $600 Datadog deal with Capital One while in the cafeteria.
This led to a $1.4M deal after they helped Capital One with a Linux update issue during a production app rollout.
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Published in 1925, 'The Great Gatsby' is a tragic love story, a mystery, and a social commentary on American life during the Jazz Age. The novel is narrated by Nick Carraway, who moves to Long Island and becomes entangled in the lives of his wealthy and mysterious neighbor, Jay Gatsby, and Gatsby's obsession to win back his first love, Daisy Buchanan. The story delves into themes of honesty, the temptations of wealth, and the struggle to escape the past, ultimately reflecting on the disintegration of the American Dream.
Moneyball
The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Michael Lewis
The book tells the story of the Oakland Athletics' 2002 season, where General Manager Billy Beane and his assistant Paul DePodesta used advanced statistical analysis, known as sabermetrics, to assemble a competitive team despite a limited budget. The approach, pioneered by Bill James, focused on metrics such as on-base percentage and slugging percentage rather than traditional measures like batting average and runs batted in. This data-driven strategy allowed the Athletics to compete with teams having much larger payrolls, like the New York Yankees, and achieve significant success, including a 20-game winning streak and a playoff appearance[2][3][5].
Dan Fougere is one of the most successful sales leaders of the last decade. Most recently, Dan was Chief Revenue Officer for Datadog, growing revenues from $60 million to $1BN ARR. Before Datadog, Dan was Head of Global Sales at Medallia where he created the Mediallia sales playbook. In addition, Dan is also a minority owner of the New York Yankees.
In Today’s Episode with Dan Fougere:
1. Lessons Scaling Sales to $1BN in ARR at Datadog:
What did Datadog not do that Dan wishes they had of done?
What did they not do that Dan wishes they had done?
What does Dan know about scaling sales to $1BN in ARR that he wishes he had known at the beginning?
What stage of the scaling process was hardest? Why?
2. How to Hire the Best Sales Team:
What are the top signals of the best sales candidates?
How does Dan structure the interview process for new candidates?
How does Dan use tasks and take-home assignments to test candidates?
What does Dan think of hiring panels?
What are the biggest hiring mistakes Dan has made? What did he learn?
3. Discounting, Logos and Deal Reviews:
Is discounting always wrong? How should sales leaders use it?
How important is the quality of logo in the early days vs revenue in the door?
What is the right way to structure deal reviews? What makes good vs great?
Is outbound dead in 2024? Advice to founders on outbound?
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