Sales Development Leadership Portfolio

Louis Casale

I build sales development engines that create pipeline — and people.

I’ve spent my career building the systems behind high-performing sales organizations — from ICP and segmentation to messaging, outbound motions, hiring, coaching, technology, measurement and SDR-to-AE development. At Varonis, that operating system ultimately scaled globally to 85 SDRs and roughly $50M in annual pipeline across North America, EMEA and APAC.

BUILDER  ·  OPERATOR  ·  COACH
~$50MAnnual SDR-generated pipeline
85SDRs at global scale
244SDR promotions, 2020–2025
146Promotions into closing roles
3 RegionsNorth America · EMEA · APAC
How I Build

The Sales Development Operating System

Great SDR teams are not created by asking for more activity. They are built by connecting people, process, operating rhythm, data and technology to a clear revenue outcome.

01 · TARGET

ICP & Segmentation

Define who matters, why they matter, what signals create priority, and how the message changes by account, persona and segment.

02 · CREATE

Outbound Engine

Build messaging, cadences, channels and testing around relevance and buyer problems — not mindless volume.

03 · DEVELOP

People

Hire for curiosity, grit and coachability. Build onboarding and career paths that develop sales professionals, not appointment setters.

04 · COACH

Performance System

Coach from a playbook, the data and the actual work. Diagnose whether the gap is skill, will or process before prescribing the fix.

05 · ALIGN

SDR + AE Partnership

One revenue team: shared account strategy, clear qualification, disciplined handoffs and a recurring operating cadence.

06 · MEASURE

Pipeline Economics

Activity is an input. Conversion, pipeline quality and revenue are the scoreboard. Inspect the funnel and improve the constraint.

Building From Zero

If you gave me five SDRs tomorrow...

I would not start with a dial target. I would build the system that makes the activity productive, measurable and repeatable.

ICPSegmentationMessagingCadencesTechnologyHiringOnboardingCoachingKPIsPipeline
“I don’t start by asking SDRs to make more calls. I start by building the system that makes those calls worth making.”
The Next SDR Operating Model

AI should make SDRs better sellers — not better spammers.

The opportunity is not to bolt AI onto yesterday’s workflow. It is to redesign the work so technology handles friction while people spend more time exercising judgment, curiosity and buyer-facing skill.

AI HANDLES FRICTION

Research · Signals · Prioritization · Preparation

Use AI to accelerate account research, identify relevant signals, prioritize targets, prepare outreach, assist personalization and reduce administrative work.

HUMANS CREATE VALUE

Judgment · Curiosity · Conversation · Discovery

Protect the work that develops great sellers: asking better questions, understanding business problems, earning attention, learning from conversations and building relationships.

Automate the friction. Augment the seller. Protect the human interaction.
The Talent Engine

Build sellers, not SDRs.

I believe Sales Development should be one of the company’s most important talent factories. The goal is not to keep your best SDRs forever. It is to build people the company does not want to lose.

244

SDR promotions

From 2020–2025, creating meaningful internal mobility and a visible career path.

146

Into closing roles

Sales Development became a feeder system for the next generation of sellers, while also developing future leaders.

Hire: Curiosity · Grit · CoachabilityOnboardCoachConsistent AttainmentReadinessAE / Leadership
The Scoreboard

Meetings aren't the goal. Revenue is.

Every stage tells you something. I want leaders and reps to understand where conversion breaks, why it breaks, and what behavior or process needs to change.

ActivityConversationMeetingShowOpportunityPipelineRevenue
~70%Historical show rate
~10%Meeting → opportunity
~$50MAnnual SDR pipeline
~$30MRevenue influenced
30–35%Company pipeline from SDR
If I Joined Tomorrow

My first 90 days.

Listen first. Codify what good looks like. Coach against it. Measure the outcomes. Then scale what works.

DAYS 1–30 · DIAGNOSE

Understand the system

  • People and leadership
  • ICP and segmentation
  • Funnel and conversion
  • Messaging and sequences
  • Lead flow and speed
  • Technology and data
  • AE / Marketing alignment
DAYS 31–60 · BUILD

Codify the motion

  • Playbooks and messaging
  • Qualification standards
  • Operating cadence
  • Coaching system
  • KPI definitions
  • Manager expectations
  • AI-enabled workflows
DAYS 61–90 · SCALE

Make it repeatable

  • Scale winning motions
  • Kill low-value work
  • Tighten conversion
  • Establish forecasting
  • Inspect pipeline quality
  • Build talent roadmap
  • Create continuous testing loop
No 100-page strategy deck. Build, test, measure, coach, improve.
How I Lead

Coach from the front.

Builder

I do not inherit process and protect it. I ask whether it should exist, then build what the business actually needs.

Operator

Strategy means very little if the frontline cannot execute it Monday morning. Systems have to work in the real world.

Coach

Feedback should be candid, specific and actionable. I want reps to understand why something works, not memorize a script.

Talent Developer

Success is today's pipeline and tomorrow's leaders. I coach BDRs and SDRs as sales professionals from day one.

Proof of Scale

Built small. Led big. Stayed close to the work.

GlobalSpec · AE → Sales Manager → Senior Sales Manager

Top 5% AE in the first year. Led top-performing teams and earned Sales Manager of the Year three times.

Varonis · North America

Helped turn an inconsistent regional SDR motion into a disciplined outbound engine with structured cadences, KPI tracking, dashboards and coaching.

Varonis · Global Build

Built the operating system behind Sales Development and expanded the model across North America, EMEA and APAC.

Varonis · VP, Global Sales Development

Led 85 SDRs and six direct reports; owned an engine producing roughly $50M in annual pipeline and 30–35% of total company pipeline.

What's Next

Bring the lessons of building and operating at scale to an organization ready to build, modernize or reinvent Sales Development.

Let's Build

Building the next great Sales Development engine?

I’d welcome the conversation.

V1 portfolio · next iteration: interactive playbooks, scorecard, hiring rubric and AI workflow examples.