Schulich Masterclass Certificate in Venture Sales

To create a repeatable, scalable sales engine, start with who you are selling to. Learn how to validate assumptions, define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), and narrow your focus to prospects most likely to buy.

• Develop a clear ICP and buyer personas
• Use customer discovery to gather real insights
• Avoid “boiling the ocean” by aligning messaging to real-world pains
• Determine the best frameworks or strategies to apply for your stage or industry

Lay the groundwork for an early-stage GTM plan: how to reach, engage, and convert your target customers. A great GTM strategy can provide the clarity necessary to make critical decisions and to move quickly in a high-pressure environment. 

• Map your GTM motion from first touch to close 

• Choose the right channels for outreach and brand building 

• Understand the role of marketing vs. sales vs. customer success 

• Identify the different types of GTM based on business model – e.g. B2B SaaS 

Craft messaging that resonates. The average attention span is 8 seconds, so making the right impression (and a powerful one) matters. Learn how to create a compelling narrative that sets you apart, even before product maturity and well before product-market fit. 

• Develop a clear sales narrative and point-of-view positioning 

• Apply messaging frameworks to outbound and sales calls 

• Learn how to lead with insight, not just features 

• Understand why the right sales narrative affects problem-solution fit and other key considerations 

From the first meeting to the closed deal, set yourself and your team apart by operationalizing your sales engine. Build a process that gives structure and predictability to your sales efforts. Learn the tools, strategies, and design behind great sales cycles and the structures that power them. 

• Define sales stages, qualification criteria, and exit points 

• Forecast deals and manage pipeline 

• Learn how to run great discovery, demos, and follow-ups 

• Know the latest sales tools, software, and resources used by startups to scaleups 

Many early-stage startups focus too much on inbound to drive their sales, leaving too much to chance. Create pipeline from scratch using modern outbound methods: leveraging AI early and often for email, LinkedIn, phone, referrals, and more. 

• Structure an outbound cadence and messaging sequence 

• Learn to warm leads through personalization and relevance 

• Track and optimize outbound performance 

• Assess different channels and their effectiveness for the outcome(s) being achieved 

Bring structure to your GTM. Use data to drive improvements, scale what works, and prep for hiring. This module is key in building the structure necessary to power sales at a scaleup level and beyond. 

• Understand sales funnel metrics and attribution 

• Use data to refine messaging, process, and targeting 

• Build a foundation for repeatability, hiring, and scale 

• Learn best practices on managing, understanding, and communicating this data to different stakeholders 

Each learner will build their own custom Sales Playbook, tailored to their company, product, and target market. Using the six modules above, consolidate your learnings into a practical document that will benefit you, your team, and your organization. A strong playbook creates a high-performing culture that can create, drive, and grow sales, despite the internal and external circumstances it may face. This will include: 

• Defined ICP and personas 

• Messaging templates 

• Sales cycle and stage definitions 

• Outreach cadences 

• Key metrics and reporting structure 

This playbook becomes a living asset they can immediately apply (and refine as they grow).