I'm an operator →
For portfolio managers and the investors behind B2B tech companies

Your portfolio company needs to sell more. You need an outside read on how to do so.

I tell you what's solid, what needs fixing, and then give you the plan to unlock growth.

My Thesis

What I usually find.

When sales aren't closing, the people driving them are too close to the problem so can't tell you why. The founder or head of sales' read is optimistic, the team's is anecdotal, and mixed signals blend together pipeline, hiring, and process problems.

What I find is usually some mix of:

  • The founder, or the first rep, has a key-person dependency in sales cycles.
  • A sales process exists that people talk about but no one follows.
  • Pipeline that's a wishlist, not a forecast backed up by client behaviour and data.
  • Sales hires who looked good on paper but aren't ramping.
  • Surface-level qualification so closing is weak.

This is what a sales org looks like when revenue grows faster than its operating system.

Research

The field notes.

Written for the executives running a company and the people overseeing it from a board seat. The same lens I bring to a company you own. No email required.

Cover of The Six Patterns Between $500K and $10M The Six Patterns Between $500K and $10M The six structural failures that recur across B2B sales orgs, in the order to fix them. Download PDF Cover of The Six Signals The Six Signals How to tell a real sales fix from activity that only looks like progress. Download PDF
Who I am Ben J. Abbey

I'm Ben J. Abbey.

I've spent 22 years carrying a number in B2B tech sales and more than 10 years in leadership. Notably I built SADA's Canadian business from a standing start to the highest-transacting Google Cloud partner in the country, selling cloud, SaaS, and services. Then I moved into a North American leadership role where I helped lead the entire company's GTM transition. Since leaving SADA in early 2025 I work with a small number of B2B companies at a time, $500K to $10M in revenue, diagnosing and rebuilding how they sell.

I know what breaks and how to fix it because I've run it, not just advised on it.

How it works

The Sales Engine Diagnostic.

Typically a fund introduces me to a company that should be selling more than it is. I run the Sales Engine Diagnostic: a fixed-scope, two-to-four-week investigation of how the company actually sells to uncover what is structurally broken, in what order to fix it, and what it is costing the model so you can size the commercial risk before you commit more capital.

I tell you what is actually wrong, including if it's fixable in-house or if it needs hands-on work from me.

In diligence, or when a company's growth stalls

The diagnosis, fast and fixed-scope, before capital or more time is added. You get truth and the order of operations for fixing sales.

When you want it rebuilt, not just diagnosed

I embed and fix what the diagnostic found, then hand back an engine that properly runs. Often I'll embed for a period of time afterward to make sure the fix holds.

For funds that want a standing partner across the portfolio, that is a longer conversation.

When to call

Bring me in when

  • A portfolio company is missing targets regularly.
  • You're about to add sales headcount but aren't sure the system underneath works.
  • Diligence flags commercial risk and the picture is murky.
  • One of your backed founders says, ‘We just need more pipeline’.
The deliverable

What you receive

The diagnostic ends in a written read you can act on, or hand to your board:

  • Executive summary
  • Root-cause analysis of what's limiting sales
  • Revenue-risk and forecast-confidence assessment
  • Prioritized remediation plan
  • A clear recommendation: fix it internally, hire, or bring me in to fix sales.
From the field

What it looks like in practice.

The patterns hold across SaaS, cloud, AI, and professional services, including investor-backed B2B tech like the companies in your portfolio.

Tracktile · BDC-backed SaaS for food-production planning and compliance

Revenue growth had stalled, and the CEO, Jordan Rose, was ready to promote a rep and hand sales off. The problem: there was nothing concrete to hand over. No discovery and qualification system, no real sales process, and no plan for the org that rep would join. I built the discovery motion and the sales playbook, designed the org around it, then trained the rep who took it over. Finally, I embedded directly as an advisor and fractional Chief Revenue Officer to ensure what we built continued to operate.

7% → 37%win rate, within a quarter
H1 2026 > all of 2025new revenue closed

Passetto · analytics and advisory for GTM and finance leaders

Growth had flatlined. The co-founder running sales, Carolyn, was sure the reason they weren't closing was that she was not a career salesperson. She was wrong: she simply had no process. There was no discovery, no filter for ICP fit, no selectivity: they pitched everyone without knowing why the prospect would buy. I added discovery before any pitch, installed frame control and sales fundamentals, ensured every meeting books the next one, and codified how they sell so it was repeatable.

3×more good-fit ICP meetings
4×win rate
60% shortersales cycle (3 meetings, not 8)

SADA · Google Cloud partner, moving from resale to services

Google was reshaping the partner program and resale margin was drying up so SADA had to sell services or stall. The services motion existed, but it was not consultative and it carried real delivery risk. I rebuilt the services sales process and trained the whole company on it. We closed major enterprise logos. Even with these headwinds, under my leadership, SADA became the highest-transacting Google Cloud reseller in Canada, while becoming a top services and SaaS ecosystem partner.

3% → 25%services deal win rate, under 12 months
#1 in Canadahighest-transacting Google Cloud partner, against a shrinking program
2 → 200+employees in Canada during my term as Country Managing Director
References

Feedback on my work.

As a technical founder leading enterprise sales, I knew I had gaps. Ben pointed them out with empathy and rigor, and pushed for structural fixes so they would last. I feel far more confident in my sales process now.
Shaunak Chatterjee Technical founder
Ben is a force of nature. He single-handedly launched our Canadian market, going from individual contributor to Country Managing Director in record time. He built a high-performing team and exceeded revenue targets.
Tony Safoian CEO, SADA
The work Ben did to redefine our pitch, pipeline, process, and playbook directly contributed to us being recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in the western United States.
David Yunger Founder, Vaital

I take on a small number of engagements at a time, and only where I can see a clear path to ROI for you. If I can't, I'll tell you in the first conversation.

Meet with Ben