Episodi

  • Your Champion Isn't Enough Anymore [9]

    Your Champion Isn't Enough Anymore [9]
    May 6 2026
    In a deal review, Nate asked one of his SE Directors a single question: who's going to be in the room when this gets signed off? She couldn't answer. Four months into the deal, strong champion, and she couldn't name a single other stakeholder. In this episode: why 'arm the champion and trust them' has stopped working, and the concrete tool to replace it.
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    5 min
  • What Am I Actually For? [8]

    What Am I Actually For? [8]
    May 4 2026
    A six-week-old new hire asked Ava a question she couldn't answer in the moment: if AI does the research, drafts the RFP, handles the standard demo, and now negotiates quotes — what am I actually for? Ava's first answer was good. Nate tells her it's dangerous. Together they land on a better one.
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    5 min
  • You Were Never Actually In That Deal [7]

    You Were Never Actually In That Deal [7]
    May 1 2026
    One of Nate's SE Directors just lost a deal she was convinced she was winning. Three-vendor shortlist, great demo, champion fired up. Week two — gone. Nate explains why the deal was probably lost before it ever showed up in her pipeline, and what that means for how SE teams should operate.
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    5 min
  • I Cancelled Every Technical Deep-Dive [6]

    I Cancelled Every Technical Deep-Dive [6]
    Apr 29 2026
    Ava pulled her team out of every standard post-demo technical deep-dive. Her team thought she was insane. Win rates went up. In this episode, she tells Nate what triggered it — and Nate pushes back on the 'cancel them all' framing with a sharp point about necessary theater at enterprise scale.
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    5 min
  • One Skill Per Quarter — That's It [5]

    One Skill Per Quarter — That's It [5]
    Apr 27 2026
    Nate shares the hard lesson that changed how he develops SEs: pick one skill per quarter, go deep, and watch mastery compound.
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    7 min
  • How Are You — Really? [3]

    How Are You — Really? [3]
    Apr 24 2026
    Nate and Ava explore why the standard "how are you" check-in fails SE leaders — and what to ask instead to surface real signals before you lose your best people.
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    6 min
  • The One Question That Reveals Everything [4]

    The One Question That Reveals Everything [4]
    Apr 24 2026
    Ava reveals the single question that exposes whether a deal is real or just activity — and how going deep on one deal beats going shallow on eight.
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    6 min
  • Your 1:1s Are Broken — Here's the Fix [2]

    Your 1:1s Are Broken — Here's the Fix [2]
    Apr 24 2026
    Most SE leaders run their one-on-ones the same way: open the pipeline, go deal by deal, close the laptop. Ava shares a structure that changed everything for her team.
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    6 min