From Building a Billion-Dollar Business to Helping Others Grow
We've been on your side of the table. Our approach comes from building businesses, developing people, and doing the work of finding the next customer.
From Salesperson to President and CEO
My career began with four years as a solo salesperson, learning firsthand how to find customers, earn trust, and win business. Later, I helped grow a sales organization from 30 to 130 people as company revenue rose from $90 million to $500 million.
As my responsibilities expanded, I pursued distribution agreements with major technology companies, including Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, and Intel. Those relationships, together with four acquisitions, helped propel SED International from $30 million to $1 billion in annual revenue.
I went on to serve as President and CEO of the publicly held company. That meant more than sales: it included leading operations, working with shareholders, participating in shareholder meetings, and helping raise $60 million through a secondary public offering.
The Common Thread? People.
At a fork in the road, I moved into executive search. Why? Because SED was built around people. I'd spent years hiring, training, mentoring, and developing teams, and I wanted to help other businesses find the people who could move them forward.
For 15 years, I worked in recruiting and staffing, helping clients strengthen their teams and leadership.
From Finding Leaders to Helping Businesses Scale
Eventually, I missed the operational nuts and bolts of moving a business forward: solving problems, making decisions, and putting growth plans into action. That drew me into five years of business coaching and consulting, including work with Vistage, helping owners and executives scale their companies.
One question kept surfacing: where will the next customer come from?
Why Shay and I Built PRSTO
That question brought me full circle to lead generation. Technology has changed, but the fundamentals haven't: find the right people, start conversations, earn trust, and build relationships.
If you don't plant the seed today, you won't have the opportunity to win that customer tomorrow.
Shay and I built PRSTO to combine that firsthand business experience with modern LinkedIn and email outreach software, AI-assisted tools, and done-for-you services. Our goal is to help businesses create a more consistent flow of conversations and opportunities—without depending entirely on referrals.