Someone Thought You Should Talk to Summer Poletti
Most people who land on this page were sent here by someone they trust. So instead of a long explanation or pitch, this page gives you a quick sense of how I work and what kinds of situations usually lead to that introduction.
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If any of the moments below sound familiar, that’s usually where our conversations begin.
• Growth has slowed, but you're not sure exactly why
• Your pipeline looks healthy, but deals keep slipping
• Sales and marketing don’t seem aligned
• You hired salespeople, but the results weren’t what you expected
• You're still personally involved in too many deals or clients
• Things are working, but they feel harder than they should
None of these mean something is broken. They usually mean the company has reached the point where the revenue playbook that got you here doesn’t deliver the results it used to. The hidden cost of success.
What I actually do
I'm Summer Poletti, Founder of Rise of Us and Producer and Host of the Revenue Remix podcast.
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For more than 20 years, I’ve worked inside growth companies $2M - $30M) helping leadership teams rebuild their revenue systems when growth starts to stall. Not as a motivational coach. As an operator.
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Some call it the "messy middle" but I think it's the most exciting stage. The org has survived startup mode and is getting ready for much bigger plans.
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Most of the work begins with diagnosing where the revenue system is starting to break down: pipeline structure, sales leadership, marketing alignment, onboarding, or execution.​ From there, we rebuild the parts that need to scale. Most companies don’t need to start over. They need the right parts of the system rebuilt so growth becomes predictable again.
You don't have to burn everything down
Most Companies Don’t Need to Start From Scratch. One of the biggest fears companies have when talking to consultants is that they’ll be told to throw everything out and start over. That’s rarely the case.
Most companies already have pieces of the system working well. The work is identifying the few structural points where growth is getting blocked and rebuilding those. Think of it more like architectural work than demolition.
How this is different
This Isn’t Sales Coaching. Most of the companies I work with already know how to sell. They don’t need scripts, motivation, or generic sales training. They also don't need campaigns or email templates that, in an AI-first world, will become outdated by the time we write them.
What they’re dealing with is something different: the company has grown, but the revenue system hasn’t evolved with it. And they need a resilient system designed to evolve as quickly as market conditions and buyer preferences.
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That usually shows up as things like:
• pipeline that looks full but doesn’t convert
• friction between marketing and sales
• founder still carrying too many deals or saving too many clients
• difficulty hiring or onboarding salespeople
• revenue leaking between stages of the funnel
Solving those challenges requires system work, not kumbaya motivation.
When this work makes sense
The companies that tend to benefit most from this work usually look something like this:
• B2B SaaS, fintech, or tech-enabled companies
• roughly $3M – $30M in revenue
• founder or CEO still involved in sales
• growth slowing, stalling, or becoming messy
• just had a great year and want to reinvest to keep up the momentum
Not every company is at this stage. But when they are, the patterns tend to look very similar.
Revenue systems usually don’t break overnight. They slowly break down as the company grows. What worked when the company was smaller starts to strain under new expectations: new hires, more deals, more complexity. At first it just feels messy. Or harder than it used to.
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Then it starts showing up as things like slower growth, missed forecasts, or teams pulling in different directions. Left alone long enough, companies often respond by adding more people, more tools, or more activity.
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But that usually increases the complexity instead of solving the underlying structure. The earlier the system gets realigned, the easier it is to restore momentum.
Want to Get a Feel for How I Work?
The easiest way is to listen to a short segment from the podcast. Revenue Remix is where I talk with founders, operators, and revenue leaders about what actually happens inside scaling companies (the messy middle between early traction and real revenue structure.) If you'd rather get a feel for how I approach these conversations before we talk, these episodes are a good place to start.
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70% of B2B sellers miss quota, a panel discussion on what the smartest leaders are doing to win in today's market. Listen here.
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Customer onboarding and success should be an extension of sales and marketing, not checklists and after-thoughts; a conversation with 4x founder. Listen here.
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6 strategies to increase revenue without adding more sales capacity - a cornerstone of the work I do. Listen here.
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What to do before you hire a salesperson, an insider discussion with a close collaborator. Listen here.
Each one is a real conversation about the kinds of challenges companies hit as they grow. You’ll quickly get a sense of whether my style of thinking resonates with you.
What happens if we talk
If We End Up Talking it usually it starts with a conversation to unpack your goals and explore your challenges. No pitch. Honestly. I don't know you well enough yet to know if we'd work well together. This is simply a chance to understand what’s happening inside your revenue system and whether there’s a clear path forward. And whether I'd be good at that work.
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Sometimes the answer is obvious. Sometimes it becomes clear deeper structural work is needed. And sometimes the best answer is pointing you toward someone else who’s a better fit. Either way, the goal is clarity - for both of us.