In a new episode of Path to Market, our Director Natasha Lytton and her co-host Micah Smurthwaite, Partner at Pipeline Ventures are joined by Ryan Lieber, an experienced Go-to-Market Leader and one of Snowflake’s earliest employees and its first SDR. Together, they discuss Snowflake’s impressive growth trajectory, the challenges and strategies of category creation, key sales methodologies like MEDDPICC, the best approaches for scaling internationally, and cross-functional sales efforts.
Ryan shares his experiences from joining Snowflake as an unknown startup in 2014 to its current status as a data giant with over 7,000 employees and a market capitalization of over $50 billion.
He also delves into when and how founders should hire their first SDRs and sales leaders, the metrics for measuring their success, and the role of marketing alignment in scaling sales. Moreover, he emphasizes the importance of understanding regional cultural and communication nuances and how to leverage partnerships in new markets. Lastly, Ryan discusses his current role leading Snowflake’s startup program in Europe, aiming to help next-generation data-intensive startups succeed using Snowflake’s data cloud.
Here’s what’s covered:
05:01 Building the EMEA Team
08:19 Finding the Ideal Customer Profile
13:57 Sales Methodology: MEDDPICC
21:48 The Daily Grind of an SDR
22:01 Key Traits for Sales Success
23:30 Red Flags in Sales Hiring
27:07 Effective SDR Metrics
34:54 The Power of Marketing in Sales
36:49 Scaling Internationally
42:26 Snowflake’s Startup Program
You can watch it here or add it to your episodes on Apple or Spotify 🎧 chapters for easy navigation are available on the Spotify/Apple episode.
From Startup Hustle to Global Scale
Ryan recounts Snowflake’s early years, the challenges of creating a new category, and how structured sales frameworks like MEDDPICC helped shape their go-to-market engine.
He provides practical advice for founders wondering:
When to hire your first SDR and sales leader
What to look for in those early hires
How to align sales and marketing for growth
The critical role of cultural nuance in international expansion
Why partnerships matter more than ever
Key Takeaways from the Conversation
Start sales early. Hiring SDRs sooner frees up founders to focus on product — and it’s cost-effective.
Sales leaders must be hands-on. Your first head of sales should be close to the ground, iterative in their approach, and hungry to adapt.
Go regional, not global. Expanding internationally isn’t a copy-paste job. Understand local norms, buyer behavior, and partnerships.
Take a partnership-led approach. Collaborating with local players accelerates credibility and market entry.
Iterate and qualify. A strong sales process moves from wide outreach to laser-focused, qualified opportunities.
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