Travis Hess - CEO of BigCommerce and veteran of the digital agency landscape (Accenture, LiveArea, PFS) - joins MarTalks to discuss leading a $350M+ public software company through a major strategic pivot.

• Fixing a broken Go-To-Market: Why "trying to be everything to everyone" is a public market trap and how to narrow focus to ideal customer profiles (ICPs) for real growth.
• The "Services" Advantage in Software: Why a background in business outcomes and holistic systems beats a traditional "pedigreed" MBA in today’s disrupted landscape.
• Surviving Economic Cycles: Critical advice for the "generation of plenty" on navigating downturns and the "insourcing vs. outsourcing" swings that define tech cycles.
• Leading with Radical Authenticity: The mindset shift from "scripted" leadership to improv-ready, collaborative management where the best idea always wins.
• Software Transformation as a "Full Contact Sport": How to manage the "warts" of integration and the board-level reality of moving from defense to offense in a competitive market.
• Bonus: The CEO Playbook for Disruption - Learn why Travis believes most leaders rise not from steady growth, but from pushing through professional dysfunction and adversity.

Perfect for Founders, CEOs, CROs and investors seeking a masterclass in authentic leadership and large-scale platform transformation. Steal the strategy Travis is using to take on industry giants and navigate the "agentic" AI era.

#ExecutiveLeadership #SaasTransformation #BigCommerce #MarTech #CEOInsights #BusinessOutcome #MarTalks

Rosenstein Group: martech & ecommerce executive search

Rosenstein Group is the only martech-specialist exectutive search firm. For over 20 years, we've been matching leadership talent in sales, marketing and customer success to pioneering startups in ecommerce, supply chain and sales enablement, and for digital agencies.

Our experience with recruiting e-commerce technology leaders for companies like SAP Hybris and Demandware has established us as an authoritative and trusted liaison for startups seeking their first sales leader, and scale-ups on their way to IPO.

Visit RosensteinGroup.com to find out more.

Jamal Reimer – author of Mega Deal Secrets, ex-Oracle Key Account Director, and closer of multiple $50M+ deals – joins MarTalks for a masterclass on landing uncommonly large enterprise deals.

• Why pipeline building is brutally hard in 2025 (and the simple fixes most reps miss)
• The #1 mistake sellers make with executives – and how to speak their language with financial value stories
• How to turn any financial reality (margin pressure, working capital lockup) into a compelling point-of-view that wins sponsors
• Why executives ghost you, how to earn trust fast, and the exact questions that create “aha” moments
• Selling to executives vs. users: the mindset shift that 10x’d Jamal’s deal size
• Bonus: Free Point-of-View Trigger Document (link in show notes) – your cheat sheet to instantly craft executive-level POVs from any financial trigger

Perfect for CROs, enterprise reps, founders, and anyone tired of small deals and endless demos. Steal the playbook Jamal used at Oracle to dominate the largest accounts – and start closing mega deals today.

Get Jamal’s book Mega Deal Secrets and the free POV Trigger Document in the show notes.

#EnterpriseSales #MegaDeals #SalesTips #ExecutiveSelling #ValueSelling #MarTech #MarTalks

Rosenstein Group: martech & ecommerce executive search

Rosenstein Group is the only martech-specialist exectutive search firm. For over 20 years, we've been matching leadership talent in sales, marketing and customer success to pioneering startups in ecommerce, supply chain and sales enablement, and for digital agencies.

Our experience with recruiting e-commerce technology leaders for companies like SAP Hybris and Demandware has established us as an authoritative and trusted liaison for startups seeking their first sales leader, and scale-ups on their way to IPO.

Visit RosensteinGroup.com to find out more.

Vanessa Cartwright – 25-year digital agency titan (Astound Commerce, Blast Radius, Fluid) and the sharpest M&A / transaction-readiness advisor in the game – goes completely unfiltered on MarTalks:

• Why women still walk into mostly-male boardrooms in 2025 (and how the loudest voices in tech are currently celebrating zero-empathy leadership)
• The brutal loneliness of being CEO: no real peers, can’t show weakness up or down, and the myth of “having all the answers”
• The hidden deal-killers in agency exits: client concentration, founder risk, missing recurring-revenue rigor, and profitability by service line
• Why some agencies are waking up to find their beautiful recurring revenue just got eaten by Shopify + composable
• How to productize services without losing the creative soul clients pay for
• Building safe, competitive-free peer groups for first-time CEOs (especially women)
• And yes… restoring 100-year-old wooden sailing boats, hoisting sails next to polar bears in the Arctic, and why every CEO needs a real hobby

If you’re a female founder, first-time CEO, agency owner eyeing an exit, or just want the real talk on power, money, and empathy in 2025 tech, this one hits different.

#WomenInTech #DigitalAgency #FemaleFounders #CEOlife #AgencyExit #Commerce #MarTech #MarTalks

Rosenstein Group: martech & ecommerce executive search

Rosenstein Group is the only martech-specialist exectutive search firm. For over 20 years, we've been matching leadership talent in sales, marketing and customer success to pioneering startups in ecommerce, supply chain and sales enablement, and for digital agencies.

Our experience with recruiting e-commerce technology leaders for companies like SAP Hybris and Demandware has established us as an authoritative and trusted liaison for startups seeking their first sales leader, and scale-ups on their way to IPO.

Visit RosensteinGroup.com to find out more.