The first $1M in enterprise revenue is an architecture problem, not a hustle problem.
I'm Jim Light. Fifty-five years in enterprise technology. Thirty-plus building the go-to-market systems that move emerging companies from founder-led selling to repeatable revenue — including an EMC system integrator channel that grew to $1B+ in annual revenue and a joint offering with EDS that drove $480M by its second year. I find the wedge, design the motion, build the partner ecosystem, and hand you a repeatable revenue engine. In 90 days, I'll architect yours.
Most early-stage enterprise companies don't have a sales problem. They have a GTM architecture problem.
The pattern is consistent. The product works. A few early deals closed through the founder's network. Then growth stalls — not because the market isn't there, but because nothing under the hood is built to repeat what worked.
There's no defined ICP — just a list of logos that look like a fit. No buyer-aligned messaging — just product features rearranged into slides. No outbound system — just LinkedIn activity. No partner motion — just hopeful conversations. No qualification framework — so every deal feels custom and every forecast is wrong.
This is fixable. It's also not fixable by hiring a VP of Sales and hoping they'll figure it out. The architecture has to exist before the hire.
The 90-Day GTM Architect Engagement
A fixed-scope sprint to install the go-to-market system your next ten enterprise deals will run on.
Days 1–30
Diagnose & Define
- Ideal Customer Profile with named target accounts (accounts, not personas)
- Buyer mapping across CTO, CISO, Cloud Security Architect, DevSecOps, and economic buyer roles
- Value proposition refinement and competitive positioning
- Current pipeline and funnel reality check
Days 31–60
Architect
- Messaging framework by persona and stage
- Multi-channel outbound system: LinkedIn, email, and phone cadences
- Qualification framework (MEDDPICC or fit-for-purpose equivalent)
- Strategic partner and alliance strategy: GSIs, boutique firms, technology partners
- Pricing and packaging review
Days 61–90
Install & Transfer
- Live outbound execution against the named account list
- Sales playbook documentation handed to your team
- Founder coaching on enterprise sales conversations
- First-hire scorecard — so the next person walks into a working system, not a blank page
What you have on Day 90.
- Named-account target list (40–60 accounts, researched)
- Persona-mapped messaging library
- Multi-channel outbound cadences, ready to run
- Qualification and forecasting framework
- Partner strategy with prioritized GSI and boutique targets
- Sales playbook documentation
- First-hire scorecard and interview guide
This engagement is built for a specific moment.
A fit if you're —
- B2B enterprise software, seed through Series A
- Selling into Fortune 1000 or regulated enterprises
- Average contract value $50K+ ACV
- Founder-led sales today, with 1–5 closed deals
- Preparing to hire a first VP of Sales or first AEs
Not a fit:
- SMB or PLG motions with sub-$10K ACV
- Pre-product or pre-design-partner stage
- Looking for a fractional VP of Sales to run your team day-to-day
About Jim Light.
Fifty-five years in enterprise technology. Thirty-plus building the go-to-market systems that turn emerging companies into market leaders. The work has always been the same shape — define who buys, build the system that reaches them, install the partnerships that scale it — across very different stages and categories.
My career started as a systems analyst and programmer in the United States Air Force, including a tour at Cheyenne Mountain as liaison between the Air Force and federal contractors during the Philco-to-Honeywell Multics modernization. From there: Honeywell, Syracuse University systems development, and a decade at Data General — where I joined Tom West's MV/8000 "whiz-kids" team (the machine Tracy Kidder wrote about in The Soul of a New Machine), closed $6M in new account business in 1984, and built the federal systems integrator partnerships with CSC, PRC, and Martin Marietta that became the foundation of DG's Federal division.
I crossed from technical pre-sales to enterprise sales at Alliant Computer Systems in 1986, selling to Morgan Stanley for automated trading. Then to Solbourne, where I worked alongside Geoffrey Moore while he was writing Crossing the Chasm — figuring out in real customer conversations what it took to move technical products to business buyers.
At EMC Corporation, I was recruited by the Board of Directors to build the company's system integrator channel from zero. Focused on SAP storage, it grew to over $1B in annual revenue within five years. Inside that program, I designed the GTM consulting services partnership with Deloitte Consulting that produced $50M in first-year sales, and created the storage-on-demand joint offering with EDS — the largest single solution revenue stream in EMC's history at the time, with $200M in year one and $480M in year two. I also spent three years in Tokyo establishing partnerships with consulting firms across Japan, China, Australia, Hong Kong, and Korea, training local sales teams on how to sell through the channel.
At VCE (EMC/Cisco/VMware), I established Vblock as the preferred converged infrastructure for EPIC EHR — which became the cornerstone of VCE's healthcare vertical. The EMC/Dell EPIC partnerships generated over $1B in revenue between 2012 and 2017, accounting for more than 10% of overall VCE revenue.
At Blue Prism, I established GTM partnerships with EY, Deloitte, TCS, CGI, and others; negotiated the AT&T MSA in 14 months (record time, according to AT&T); and expanded Bell Canada and Rogers each to 200+ digital workers in under 18 months.
I founded Optimal Strategies Inc. in 2003 to do this work directly with growth-stage companies, with engagements at Accenture, SAP, Silicon Graphics, NetApp, StorageTek, Hitachi Data Systems, and Agami Systems. Today I'm focused on a small number of B2B enterprise technology companies at the moment in their growth where architecture matters more than activity.
Asked & answered.
Why fixed-scope 90 days instead of a monthly retainer?
Retainers reward presence. Fixed scope rewards outcomes. A 90-day engagement forces clarity on both sides about what gets built and when it ships.
Do you do the selling, or just design the system?
I architect and install. During Days 61–90 I execute live outbound against your named accounts to prove the system works and train your team. After Day 90, your team runs it.
What's the investment?
The 90-day engagement is fixed-fee. Pricing is shared on the fit call once we've confirmed scope and that we're a match. If we're not a fit, I'll tell you on that call.
How many clients do you take at once?
Two to three concurrent engagements, maximum. The work requires depth, not volume.
How is this different from a fractional CRO or VP of Sales?
A fractional executive runs the function. I build the function so someone can run it. Most founders who hire a fractional CRO without first installing the architecture end up paying that executive to build it from scratch.
Book a 30-minute fit call.
No pitch. We spend the call diagnosing where your GTM stands today and whether a 90-day engagement is the right next move. If it's not, I'll tell you what is.
Book the call →