Stephen Hakami is the Founder and CEO of Wiza – the most accurate way to find verified contact information for B2B prospects. Stephen started the company in 2019 after a sales career of being frustrated with bad data, and set out to build a prospecting tool that’s powered by live LinkedIn data.
Discussed in this Episode:
- The frustration with bad data and the inspiration behind building Wiza.
- The importance of email deliverability and strategies for improving it.
- The recent acquisition of Drift by Salesloft and the topic of consolidation in the sales tech stack.
- Stephen’s journey from sales to CEO, highlighting the value of creative prospecting.
- The hardest lesson Stephen learned in sales.
- Effective tactics of cold email and deliverability.
Highlights:
(3:27) Strategies for email deliverability.
(08:01) The journey from sales to entrepreneurship.
(11:06) Sales technology and the consolidation.
(20:41) Strategies for effective cold emails.
(25:49) Understanding your competitors.
(27:38) The importance of being a true consultant.
(28:32) Redefining your competitors.
(31:55) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Stephen thinks is bull$***.
(34:26) One thing that is working for Stephen/Wiza in go-to-market right now.
Guest Speaker Links (Stephen Hakami):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-hakami-5babb21b0/
Website: www.wiza.co/
Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/
Sponsor:
Today’s episode is sponsored by The ELG Conference, presented by Crossbeam and The ELG Alliance. The smartest companies are embracing Ecosystem-Led Growth, or ELG.
Join us at the gorgeous Proper Hotel in Austin on May 15-16 and hear how the top SaaS companies are leveraging partner ecosystems in their GTM motions aka Ecosystem-Led Growth. Early-bird tickets expire next week.
What you’ll get at ELG Con:
- Case studies from companies like Datadog, Cloudera, and more.
- A chance to tour (and maybe even race on?) Austin’s F1 track.
- Candid, off-the-record conversations — no recordings here.
- A highly curated group of 200 GTM leaders, 85% director level and above across Sales, Marketing, and Partnerships.
Claim your tickets today, including a limited number of special two-for-the-price-of-one tickets.
The GTM Podcast
Don’t miss The GTM Podcast dropping every Tuesday discussing true stories and experiences including trials and tribulations in the Go-To-Market world.
