Guillaume Emery

The challenge

Verso is launching its embeddable payroll API and needs to sign its first design partners: B2B SaaS publishers (HRIS, staffing, HR verticals) ready to co-build the product in exchange for a commercial advantage. Without qualified design partners signed, there's no product validation, no testimonials, and no commercial momentum for the upcoming fundraising.

The solution provided

I took charge of the entire end-to-end acquisition chain:

1. Definition of the design partner ICP: qualification of the ideal profile (size, stack, signal of interest in embedded payroll), building a targeted, enriched list.

2. Building the outbound machine: multi-channel sequences (email + LinkedIn), copy adapted to product/CTO decision-makers, sending infrastructure, tracking, and weekly operational reporting.

3. Prospect qualification: pre-qualification of responses, discovery scripts, structured handover to the founder for qualified meetings.

4. Continuous market mapping: capitalizing on signals from each meeting (objections, jobs-to-be-done, competitive landscape) to refine ICP and copywriting in real-time.

The impact

In 2 months, the acquisition machine generated two types of value: sales pipeline and actionable market intelligence for the future.

Quantitative:

20+ qualified meetings held with ICP decision-makers (PMs, CTOs, founders from HRIS publishers and B2B platforms).

Qualitative:

- ICP refined by field feedback.

- Verticals excluded (no-go) clearly identified: segments where the sales cycle is too long or the problem is not aligned with the value proposition.

- Defensible verticals (moat) identified: segments where Verso has a structural competitive advantage and where the buyer has a real problem to solve.

- Competitive mapping: mapping of direct and indirect challengers and recurring objections, ready to be used for sales copywriting and post-mission positioning.

Full Stack Business Developer at Skopai, a data startup specializing in startup scouting and business intelligence for innovation professionals (corporates, large enterprises, technology transfer firms).

Full stack = the entire sales chain: outbound prospecting, qualification, demos, closing, for large enterprises and international clients in France and abroad. In parallel, building and operating the internal outbound machine (email/LinkedIn sequences, enrichment, automations).

My dual tech + sales background allowed me to speak with product/CTO decision-makers and tinker with my own acquisition tools. This is where I developed a taste for GTM Engineering.