Lars Nilsson

With almost three decades of sales and operations experience in the technology sector, Lars is a global leader in enterprise software and selling solutions.

Lars has the rare distinction and honor of helping take four companies to IPO status as a Sales leader. He started his career at Xerox and has since led teams at some of Silicon Valley’s most influential companies. Lars has been intricately involved in every aspect of the sales cycle.

Prior to serving as CEO of SalesSource, Lars was VP of Global Inside Sales for Cloudera, the company that revolutionized enterprise Big Data management. In an incredibly competitive space, he focused on two areas to help make Cloudera the industry leader:

High Velocity Inside Sales - During his tenure, his team at Cloudera developed the Account Based Sales Development methodology. His teams innovative approach revolutionized the way businesses communicate with high-value targets.

Revenue Operations - As VP of Inside Sales at Cloudera, Lars noticed the importance of supporting sales roles. He led Sales Operations, Sales Enablement and GTM planning. By leveraging data and streamlined systems, Lars allowed his team to focus on accounts that mattered most.

Lars has served in sales executive roles at ArcSight/Hewlett Packard, Riverbed Technology and Portal Software – all three of which achieved IPOs, in addition to Cloudera (2017).

Lars is also a special advisor at True Ventures were he helps True portfolio companies implement best-of-breed sales technologies and processes enabling efficient revenue operations. His unique blend of leadership skills and sales acumen has benefited dozens of startups in the Valley and beyond. Mentoring sales teams is one of his greatest passions.