Chris Sheehan
Executive Vice President, High Tech & AI Sales, Applause
Currently EVP of High Tech & AI Sales at Applause (Vista Equity Partners), where I run a $100M P&L across the company's fastest-growing segments. Before Applause, I spent eight years as a General Partner at CommonAngels Venture Funds — which shaped how I think about SaaS scale, unit economics, and what actually drives durable growth.What I've built
• A $100M P&L grown from a $20M base inside a Vista-backed portfolio company
• 127% average NRR across strategic enterprise accounts — significantly above SaaS benchmarks
• A zero-to-one GenAI practice: AI model evaluations and red-team safety testing serving 20+ enterprises
• An AI-native customer segment built from scratch in a competitive market
• President's Club 9 consecutive years; Global Sales Manager of the Year (5 of last 6)
My approach
I focus on three inflection points where most SaaS companies struggle:
• 0-to-1 GTM development — building new markets, products, and motions from scratch
• Upmarket migration — moving from mid-market to 6-7 figure enterprise deals
• AI transformation — integrating GenAI into products, GTM workflows, and delivery
The investor lens shows up in how I think about revenue: unit economics, CAC:LTV, forecast rigor, and the business-model decisions that drive valuation, not just quota attainment. I operationalize MEDDPICC and value-selling methodology across teams, coach senior AEs into leadership, and design comp and territory structures that match the growth motion.
