First-Pick CRO: How to Become the Person VCs Call Before the Job Goes Public

On this episode of Hunters and Unicorns, hosts Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne sit down with Parm Uppal, Chief Revenue Officer at Chainguard, to unpack what it actually takes to become a "first-pick" CRO, the person VCs and founders call first when they need world-class go-to-market leadership. Parm shares hard-won lessons from his career at AppDynamics, DataRobot, Benchling, Luminary, and now Chainguard, covering:

Why "develop down" beats "manage up" and how strong foundations make everything else easier

Building internal champions and followship the right way

The 3-stage framework for scaling revenue teams: product-market fit → repeatability → scale

The "elephant, deer, and rabbits" method for structuring sales territories

How his personal CRO scorecard cuts through inflated pipeline data in board meetings

Mistakes made chasing hype cycles and picking startups at the wrong stage

Why coachability and character are the hardest things to interview for

Building a genuine CFO-CRO partnership and a common language with the board

Why open-source software security is the next seismic shift as AI coding tools accelerate

If you're a sales leader, aspiring CRO, or founder building your go-to-market org, this conversation is a masterclass in leadership, hiring, and scaling with intention.

This episode is sponsored by Aurasell—intelligently automate every aspect of your sales cycle with the first AI-native, full-stack GTM platform. 🔔 Subscribe for more conversations with top revenue leaders and operators.