Company secures $10M seed round to build first-ever AI-powered go-to-market platform, unveils Managed Services and Executive Council
XFactor, a new company revolutionizing go-to-market and annual operations planning, launched following a $10M seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners as well as family and friends. Founded by Mike Carpenter, a veteran sales leader who most recently served as President of Global Sales and Field Operations at CrowdStrike, XFactor provides technology and services for enterprises, startups, and venture capitalists to modernize annual operations planning and eliminate unwarranted go-to-market risks. Following today’s launch, the company will deliver its go-to-market platform which leverages AI to provide real-time data and intelligent modeling to enable always-on operations planning.
Go-to-market, and operations planning has traditionally been executed in a siloed fashion, based on insufficient data and subjectivity. This antiquated approach leads to misaligned priorities and bad decision-making that impacts the bottom line. True growth and success requires an always-on, transparent, and unified operating plan — that’s where XFactor Platform comes in.
“Every business today relies on successful annual operations planning to foster growth and maintain a competitive advantage, however that process has historically been hamstrung by a number of factors,” says Mike Carpenter, founder, and co-CEO at XFactor. “XFactor was born out of the necessity to fundamentally shift how companies approach go-to-market and annual operations planning because the reality is that change is constant. XFactor takes advantage of innovations in AI, market research, and intelligence to create a scalable platform that delivers the insights required to make the best decisions all year round, ensuring durable growth against an organization’s business plans.”
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Today, the company is unveiling its Managed Services and Executive Council. The XFactor Executive Council is a group of expert advisors from across the technology industry that will provide proof-of-concept and product market fit analysis for startup founders and investors. The first Executive Council member advisors include Bryan Bayless VP, GTM Operations at Gong; Brad Hargrave, VP, WW Sales & Revenue Operations at Proofpoint; Martin Bally, Chief Information Security Officer for Campbell Soup Company; and Anthony Belfiore, Chief Security Officer at Wiz. Blake Sallé, Chief Revenue Officer at Proofpoint, will serve as the first member of XFactor’s Board of Directors, leveraging his go-to-market expertise and years of experience scaling companies across industries.
“Now more than ever, startups and VCs are concerned with scalability and ROI as relentless innovation increases competition,” said Blake Sallé, founding member of XFactor’s Board of Directors. “XFactor’s Executive Council offering affords experienced business leaders the unique opportunity to work hand-in-hand with the next generation of founders, harnessing their expertise to provide support and guidance for their go-to-market strategy efforts.”
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XFactor’s Managed Services provide ongoing support for customers to optimize planning, sales, and revenue operations. Initial customers will include Lightspeed portfolio companies. Following the Managed Services and Executive Council, XFactor will launch its go-to-market platform which leverages AI to provide real-time data and intelligent modeling to empower always-on operations planning.
“Mike has a proven track record scaling some of the most successful startups and leading some of the strongest enterprise go-to-market teams,” said Arif Janmohamed, Partner at Lightspeed Ventures. “Under his leadership and with the strength of the XFactor team, the company is poised to transform the way businesses make critical go-to-market decisions that could mean the difference between white-hot growth and a flop.”
Together, the XFactor team has more than three decades of combined go-to-market, operations, security, sales, and marketing experience. As part of its official launch, the company has also named Joe Mattioli, former Chief Revenue Officer of Axis Security and former VP of Emerging Technology Sales at CrowdStrike, as co-CEO and Matt Ansoorian, former VP of Creative at CrowdStrike, as Chief Brand and Marketing Officer. The two veteran executives join XFactor with a proven track record of scaling and differentiating organizations, vital elements of a successful go-to-market strategy.
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