# Scott Leese

> Scott Leese is a 6x sales leader, 5x founder, 3x author, and one of the most authentic voices in B2B sales. He scaled six consecutive early-stage startups from near-zero to $25M+ ARR, survived nine surgeries and beat opioid addiction, and turned those experiences into a consulting empire, a Costa Rica surf-and-sales retreat, and three bestselling books. Based in Austin, Texas, he now runs Scott Leese Consulting, Surf and Sales, GTM United, Thursday Night Sales, and Milos Ventures - a new venture fund investing in AI, robotics, and cleantech.

- **Role:** CEO & Founder at Scott Leese Consulting
- **Organizations:** Scott Leese Consulting, Surf and Sales, GTM United, Thursday Night Sales, Milos Ventures
- **From:** Chico, California, USA
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A. in Psychology (minor: Religious Studies), Dominican University of California, Master's in Learning & Instructional Technology / Educational Technology, Arizona State University
- **Known for:** Scaled six consecutive early-stage startups from ~$0 to $25M+ ARR in under 3 years each, 3x winner, AA-ISP Top 25 Most Influential Inside Sales Professionals, Amazon #1 Bestseller with 'Addicted to the Process' (2017), endorsed by Jeffrey Gitomer

## Career timeline

- **~2000-2004** — Graduate studies at Arizona State University; severe illness begins at age 23 - diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and autoimmune disease
- **~2004-2007** — Nine surgeries including total colectomy; beats opioid addiction cold turkey against doctor's orders
- **~2007** — First sales job at age 27 - $30K salary at a Bay Area startup, zero prior sales experience
- **~2011-2013** — VP Sales at Main Street Hub; grew team from 2 to 200 reps, opened offices in Austin, SF, NYC, LA; company made Inc. 5000 twice
- **2013-2015** — SVP Sales at OutboundEngine; drove 650% revenue growth; company ranked Inc. 5000 #136 (2015) and #95 (2016)
- **2015-2016** — Sales leadership roles at Payfirma and MediaValet
- **2016** — Founded Scott Leese Consulting; joined Qualia as SVP Sales
- **2016-2019** — SVP Sales at Qualia; scaled company from $0 to ~15% market share; grew headcount from 25 to 200+; Qualia became a unicorn
- **2017** — Published 'Addicted to the Process' (Amazon #1 Bestseller); co-founded Surf and Sales with Richard Harris and Jeff Coleman
- **2018** — GoDaddy acquires Main Street Hub (former employer) for $175M
- **2019** — Launched Surf and Sales Podcast with Richard Harris
- **~2020** — Co-founded Thursday Night Sales ('world's largest virtual sales happy hour') and GTM United
- **2021** — Published 'More Than a Number: The Modern VP Sales Playbook' and 'From Rep to Manager' (co-authored with Ryan Walker)
- **2024** — Founded Milos Ventures - angel/venture investing in AI, robotics, defense, energy, cleantech; portfolio includes OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq, Scale AI, Perplexity AI

## Achievements

- Scaled six consecutive early-stage startups from ~$0 to $25M+ ARR in under 3 years each
- 3x winner, AA-ISP Top 25 Most Influential Inside Sales Professionals
- Amazon #1 Bestseller with 'Addicted to the Process' (2017), endorsed by Jeffrey Gitomer
- 160+ companies worked with or accelerated as consultant/advisor
- 15 exits as operator and advisor, including the $175M GoDaddy/Main Street Hub acquisition
- 12 unicorn companies in portfolio/history including Qualia, Salesloft, Gong, Lavender, Fundbox
- Top 1% of U.S. LinkedIn creators; ranked #13 in U.S. Sales, #30 globally
- 127,000+ LinkedIn followers
- Co-created 'Thursday Night Sales' - largest virtual sales community event
- Surf and Sales Podcast named Best Sales Podcast and Top Sales Podcast

## Latest updates

- **2024-01** — Founded Milos Ventures, an angel/venture fund co-led with Taylor Leese, focused on AI, robotics, defense, energy, and cleantech
- **2024-06** — Milos Ventures portfolio includes OpenAI, Anthropic, Thinking Machines Lab, Groq, Scale AI, Perplexity AI, Lambda, and Rescale
- **2025-01** — Continues running Scott Leese Consulting with 160+ companies served; active as fractional CRO and GTM advisor
- **2025-04** — Remains top 1% LinkedIn creator with 127,000+ followers; ongoing Surf and Sales Summit planning

## Links

- Website: https://www.thescottleese.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottleese
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/thescottleese
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thescottleese/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/scott-leese
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-26