For years, sales leaders were taught to avoid POCs at all costs.
They slow deals down. They spiral out of control. They kill momentum.
So what happens when a longtime CRO—who preached that exact advice—becomes CEO of a company built to automate POCs?
This conversation gets into the uncomfortable truth: POCs aren’t the problem. The way most teams run them is.
Steve Davis, CEO of Provarity, has spent three decades in Silicon Valley sales—BDR to CRO to CEO. He breaks down why pre-sales has been ignored for years, how manual POC processes quietly destroy win rates, and what changes when you stop trying to avoid technical evaluations and start using them as a competitive advantage.
If deals keep stalling late, or “technical evaluation” feels like a black hole, this one will hit close to home.
Key Discussion Points
00:00 – Why “avoid the POC” became sales dogma
02:05 – The real reason POCs fail (and it’s not the buyer)
03:27 – How most teams still run POCs today
05:34 – Why POCs are no longer optional in modern buying
07:53 – The hidden revenue cost of unmanaged evaluations
10:32 – Turning POCs from a liability into leverage
12:07 – Where POCs actually go off the rails
15:19 – Why pre-sales were ignored for 30 years
18:24 – Early-stage vs. mid-stage CEO reality
20:29 – What lack of focus really does to a company
23:08 – Making decisions for where you’re going, not where you are
26:48 – Building a career by following great people
29:13 – Why most sales engineers struggle as AEs
30:34 – What true category leadership looks like
32:49 – Educating a market that doesn’t know it has a problem
44:55 – Where to learn more about Provarity
If this conversation sparked something:
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💬 Share the takeaway that challenged your thinking
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#ScalingWithoutBreaking #B2BSales #PreSales #RevenueLeadership #StartupScaling #GoToMarket #SaaSSales #SalesEngineering #TechLeadership #FounderJourney
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