From BDR to YC Founder: Simon Ooley's GTM Playbook for 0 to 1 Artwork

B2B Go-To-Market Leaders

Behind the scenes with top go-to-market practitioners from the B2B tech industry to understand their mindset and tactics: how they define go-to-market, their journey to the top role, team size, top of mind challenges and goals. Learn how product, sales, marketing and customer success leaders create internal alignment, achieve desired outcomes and help their teams perceive their customer in a human way. Hosted by Vijay Damojipurapu. Presented by Stratyve

All Episodes

B2B Go-To-Market Leaders

From BDR to YC Founder: Simon Ooley's GTM Playbook for 0 to 1

July 30, 2025 • Vijay Damojipurapu • Episode 87

Use cases, not just features.

That’s how Simon Ooley, co-founder of Veles, a YC-backed startup reshaping how enterprise sales teams engage buyers, and former sales leader at Procore and Builder, reframes the future of enterprise sales. Instead of selling products, he helps teams sell outcomes—anchored in urgency, ROI, and the real problems customers are trying to solve.

In this episode of the B2B Go-To-Market Leaders podcast, Simon joins Vijay to unpack his journey from BDR to founder and YC-backed entrepreneur.

They dive deep into:

Why traditional sales roles are merging under the GTM umbrella.
How can large teams eliminate inefficiencies in quoting and deal desk processes?
The power of use case-based selling to drive urgency, personalization, and long-term customer success

Simon breaks down why founder-led sales isn’t just about hustle, but about curiosity, experimentation, and relentless clarity on what your buyers actually care about. You’ll learn how Velus is shifting sales conversations from product features to business cases—and why that shift might be the most important evolution in GTM strategy today.

Whether you’re scaling a sales team or starting from zero, this conversation is packed with tactical insight and a whole lot of heart.

Connect with Simon Ooley on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonooley/

Connect with Vijay Damojipurapu on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijdam/

Brought to you by: stratyve.com