My Plan & Philosophy
My Guiding Philosophy
‘No’ is a growth opportunity, not a roadblock. Externally, it's a signal to dig deeper. Internally, it's a challenge to build a stronger case.
Solving any client problem. I believe CF can solve virtually any customer challenge. My role is to orchestrate the right people and resources to make it happen.
The power of customization. Our strength lies in creating bespoke solutions that perfectly fit each client's unique needs, not selling one-size-fits-all products.
Playing the long game. Our goal is long-term partnership, not a single transaction. We must think years ahead to anticipate client needs and build lasting trust.
Focus on strategic accounts. The key to exponential growth is identifying high-potential clients and cultivating deep, multi-threaded relationships.
First 30 Days
Strategic Audit, Team Recalibration & Quick Wins
Goal: Leverage my internal knowledge for rapid diagnostics and to initiate transformative actions, not basic learning.
Focus on Team & Internal Processes:
- Strategic 1-on-1s: Recalibrate manager-report relationships, discuss vision, and define "quick wins."
- Managerial Audit: Conduct a deep audit of sales processes, data hygiene, and funnel bottlenecks.
- Activate Internal Network: Align priorities and secure support from leaders in CS, Support, SE, and Products.
Focus on Market & Strategy:
- Cross-Regional Knowledge Sharing: Connect with US Digital Native teams to adopt best practices.
- Immediate Application of MEDDPICC: Introduce and apply the framework to key deals from day one.
Expected Outcomes
- New manager-report dynamics established.
- Formal audit document with action plan is ready.
- Initial agreements with cross-functional leaders are in place.
Days 31-60
Focused Execution & Strategic Engagement
Goal: Act on the audit's findings to implement high-impact changes and accelerate strategic initiatives.
Focus on Team & Internal Processes:
- Accelerated Hiring: Launch an effective hiring process, leveraging my internal network for referrals.
- Implement Process Improvements: Execute changes from the audit (e.g., streamline client hand-off).
- Establish Coaching Cadence: Launch weekly MEDDPICC-based coaching and deal reviews.
Focus on Market & Strategy:
- Executive Relationship Mapping: Build relationships with key executives in top strategic accounts.
- Activate Strategic Partnerships: Develop concrete, joint go-to-market plans with 1-2 key partners.
Expected Outcomes
- Hiring pipeline is active with qualified candidates.
- At least one significant process improvement is implemented.
- Regular coaching and forecasting rhythm is established.
- Executive-level engagement initiated with 2+ strategic clients.
Days 61-90
Scaling Success & Long-Term Vision
Goal: Solidify gains, demonstrate measurable results, and lay the groundwork for future, scalable growth.
Focus on Team & Internal Processes:
- Deliver Team Enablement: Execute targeted workshops based on needs identified (e.g., advanced negotiation).
- Measure Performance Improvements: Showcase tangible results from new processes (e.g., higher forecast accuracy).
- Establish Cross-Functional "Council": Formalize collaboration with key department leaders.
Focus on Strategy & Future Growth:
- Strategic Account Planning: Lead a team session to develop long-term (12-18 month) plans for top 10 clients.
- Propose Long-Term Team Structure: Present a data-driven proposal for the potential future merger of GIG and DNB teams.
Expected Outcomes
- Team demonstrates higher skill levels and adapts to new processes.
- Measurable improvements in key sales metrics are documented.
- A long-term vision is established with strategic proposals.
Plan to Scale: Capturing the Market
View Targeted Accounts by Country
2025 Digital-Native TAM & SAM (USD $M)
| Country | DN TAM | DN SAM (Total) | DN SAM by Product Pillar | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App Sec | App Perf | Network | Cloudflare One | Developer Platform | |||
| Poland | $308.6 | $171.4 | $18.8 | $28.9 | $3.5 | $50.9 | $69.2 |
| Czech Republic | $254.8 | $158.3 | $12.9 | $31.7 | $2.3 | $44.3 | $67.2 |
| Israel | $399.7 | $212.7 | $27.1 | $39.4 | $4.7 | $58.2 | $83.2 |
| Greece | $64.6 | $42.2 | $3.0 | $5.0 | $0.5 | $20.3 | $13.5 |
| Hungary | $88.2 | $49.7 | $4.3 | $10.3 | $0.9 | $12.2 | $22.0 |
| Rest of Eastern Europe | $368.4 | $133.1 | $19.0 | $9.2 | $3.7 | $55.2 | $46.0 |
| Total | $1,484.2 | $767.4 | $85.2 | $124.5 | $15.6 | $241.0 | $301.0 |
Market Analysis & Strategic Accounts
Regional Market Analysis & Go-to-Market Strategy
Key Takeaways by Sub-Region:
- Russian-Speaking Markets: Well-penetrated with 50 clients and $14M ARR, but faces a significant ~$4.5M churn risk from specific accounts and geopolitical factors.
- Israel: Strong footprint with 94 logos and $9.4M ARR. High adoption of App Security, but significant whitespace in Cloudflare One and Developer Platform.
- Czech Republic & Poland: Under-penetrated markets with 26 logos ($5M ARR) and 13 logos ($1.5M ARR) respectively. Almost no adoption of Cloudflare One or Developer Platform, indicating a major growth opportunity.
- Rest of Europe: Solid base of 33 logos ($7M ARR) with good App service penetration, but low adoption of the Developer Platform.
Strategic Focus & Action Plan:
- Product Penetration: The primary focus will be on driving adoption of the Developer Platform across all sub-regions. Network Services are a lower priority for DNB clients who typically leverage cloud providers.
- Heatmap Strategy: I will implement a heat map for all top accounts to visually guide AEs on which technologies to prioritize for cross-selling.
- Multi-Threading: AEs will be tasked with identifying the incumbent vendors for each product area, mapping out different lines of business, and building relationships with multiple champions within each target account to become trusted advisors.
High-Potential Upsell Accounts
- PicsArt: Target Developer Platform ($500k) and R2 ($2M) to offset large GCP consumption.
- Exness Global: Explore containerization for trading workloads.
- Raritex Trade Ltd: Drive migration of static assets from AWS to Cloudflare.
- SUOL INNOVATIONS (inDriver): Leverage existing ZT win to drive a broader AWS replacement strategy.
- FaceApp Inc.: Position Cloudflare for hosting text-to-image AI models.
- QUAD CODE HOLDING: Strategic Akamai replacement initiative.
- Epam: Target 60k employees for a major Zero Trust deal (displacing Proofpoint/Cisco).
- Ecompay: Expand existing ZT footprint.
- SOL Networks: Consolidate security stack by replacing Akamai and Qrator.
- Leverage Relationships for New Use Cases:
- Gartwell LTD
- Skroutz
- Advanced IT Technologies (wallet Telegram)
- Wrike, Inc.
- Forex Club
- EverAI Limited
- PropellerAds LTD
- Adguard Software Limited
Target New Logos
- Trading Point Holding (XM): Long-term Akamai and Zscaler replacement play.
- Miro / Joom / Aviasales.ru / Prisma Labs: Target major AWS replacement opportunities.
- Zeal Group Llp: Focus on Akamai displacement.
- TradingView: Pursue Zero Trust and core services adoption.
- Telegram: Develop a strategic approach to penetrate a closed ecosystem, focusing on improving call performance (similar to the Discord deal).
- Unlimit / Payabl / Omilia / Veeam / Workfusion: High-priority greenfield targets.
Team Growth & Targets (2026-2029)
Total Quote: $8,400,000
| Name | Poland | Czech Rep/Slovakia | Baltics/Rest CEE | Cyprus/Malta/RCIS | Ukraine | Israel | Greece | Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandr Valyshkin | x | $1,500,000 | ||||||
| Evgenia Galchenko | x | $1,500,000 | ||||||
| Liya Khaziakhmetova | x | x | x | $1,300,000 | ||||
| Andrei Letcanu | x | x | $1,300,000 | |||||
| New guy from Baltics | x | x | $1,300,000 | |||||
| Eric or Guy | x | $1,500,000 | ||||||
| To hire 2026 H2 | x | ramp | ||||||
| To hire 2026 H2 | x | ramp |
7 Wonders of Sales
Talent Attraction
Attract: Hire right, build a world-class team.
Pipeline Discipline
Build: Build pipeline proactively and strategically.
Team Performance
Coach: Develop top talent through structured coaching.
Strategic Execution
Drive: Drive opportunities with operational and deal excellence.
Future Planning
Elevate: Grow leaders, plan succession, and enable internal promotion.
Predictive Leadership
Forecast: Forecast revenue with precision, consistency, and insight.
Culture & Retention
Guard: Retain talent, nurture culture, prevent burnout.
Guiding Principles
Respect the team's time: every team meeting has an agenda.
Every meeting has an external guest to talk about technology from PMs, SA, or SEs.
Focus on a continuous learning plan and use case discussion.
Prioritisation of companies and targeting specific logos.
Ask the right questions during forecast calls to provide guidance on deals.
Conduct regular pipeline reviews and heatmap analysis; every customer should use multiple technologies from CF.
Prioritize education on specific technologies (Developer Platform and Zero Trust/SASE).
Give people an opportunity to speak up: every team member should prepare a 5-10 minute topic once a month about what they love or what drives them.
Prepare and share a short summary of sales books I read and how to apply their principles ('Never Split the Difference', 'Like Switch', etc.).
Main Principle: Let AEs concentrate on selling while coaching them through books, speakers, examples, and defining the strategy.
Meet new people in the company and introduce them to the team.
Make strategic changes of accounts between AEs or implement verticals annually to avoid stagnation.
Digital Native Partner Ecosystem
Key Partner Performance (ACV)
Potential Partners to Consider
Ecosystem Strategy
DNB Partner Enablement
Deepen relationships with existing DNB-focused partners by providing advanced, in-depth technical workshops.
Technology Alliances
Co-host targeted events and marketing campaigns with strategic technology partners (e.g., CrowdStrike, Okta).
Find New Partners
Actively recruit, register, and fully enable new DNB-focused partners for the region.
Executive Events
Organize exclusive CTO Dinners and other high-touch events with partners for key customers.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Find 2 new DNB partners, register and enable them by June 2026.
- Plan 1-2 events per partner for 2026.
- Plan 2 events for 2026 with Strategic Alliance partners.
- Nebius fully enabled as MSSP in 2026.
- EPAM fully enabled as MSP in 2026.
Strategic Projects
- MSSPs / Resellers (e.g., Nebius): Focus on partners who resell services to their existing cloud customer base. (Also consider Freedom Cloud).
- MSPs / System Integrators (e.g., EPAM): Focus on partners who can manage complex implementations and migrations for larger clients.
Strategic Ideas & Initiatives
Marketing, Community & Evangelism
- Market Presence: Identify and participate in key conferences relevant to the Digital Native audience across the territory.
- Proprietary Events: Organize exclusive, high-touch events, such as "CTO Dinners," to build strong, personal relationships with key decision-makers.
- Community Building: Form and nurture local, developer-focused communities in each key sub-region (e.g., Poland, Baltics, Caucasus).
- Thought Leadership Podcast: Launch the "Tech Leaders of New Europe" podcast, featuring regional CTOs, founders, and VCs.
- DNB Academy: Establish educational, vendor-neutral bootcamps to solve core technical challenges for startups and scale-ups.
Partner Ecosystem
- DNB Partner Enablement: Deepen relationships with existing DNB-focused partners by providing advanced, in-depth technical workshops.
- Technology Alliances: Co-host targeted events and marketing campaigns with strategic technology partners (e.g., CrowdStrike).
- Strategic Regional Partnerships: Develop a two-tiered partner strategy with key regional players for MSSPs/Resellers (e.g., Nebius) and MSPs/System Integrators (e.g., EPAM).
Strategic Customer Programs
- Edge Council Client Advisory Board: Create an exclusive, invitation-only advisory board of top DNB CTOs to provide direct feedback to global product teams.
- Voice of the Region Feedback Loop: Implement a formalized process for collecting and presenting product needs from the CEE/CIS region to the global product organization.
Commercial Strategy & Market Intelligence
- Venture Sales Model: Introduce a flexible "Pay-As-You-Grow" commercial model for high-potential, VC-backed startups to remove initial budget friction.
- Competitive Analysis: Continuously study and document the strategies, offerings, and activities of key competitors within the regional Digital Natives segment.