Sarah Smith

Inquirer
DISC Type : cd

Senior Manager of Innovation and Partnerships at VentureFuel

Portland, Maine, United States

Overview

Sarah is a strategic thinker who builds innovation partnerships at VentureFuel, connecting high-growth startups with enterprises like Comcast NBCUniversal. With a background at EYs wavespace™, she excels in scaling programs focused on corporate innovation and ecosystem development. Sarah is a graduate of Georgetown University and holds a certification in human-centered design.

Passionate about creating local impact, Sarah is a community organizer and a board member for Startup Maine. Her experience includes scaling Charlottes innovation ecosystem as a Venture For America Fellow. This drive for community building is a consistent thread throughout her career and volunteer activities.

Unique fact: Sarah previously worked as a cheesemonger, educating customers on over 80 different types of artisanal cheeses from around the world.

Personality Overview

Demanding

Upfront

ROI Conscious

They focus on objectivity in a pitch and pay little attention to bells and whistles.  They care equally about the product and its potential impact. They respond well to confident salespeople.

Topics They Care About

Startup Ecosystems
Her career shows a deep commitment to fostering local innovation, from scaling Charlotte's ecosystem to her current board role at Startup Maine.
Corporate Innovation
She specializes in connecting corporations with startups to pilot new technologies and solutions, a core function of her roles at VentureFuel and EY.
Human-Centered Design
A certified practitioner, she has led teams in using this methodology to solve complex problems for executive teams and drive client innovation.

Media Appearances

Sarah has no verified media appearances

Work History

10-2024 - 10-2025
Senior Manager of Innovation and Partnerships at VentureFuel
7-2023 - 10-2024
Manager of Innovation & Partnerships at VentureFuel
9-2022 - 7-2023
Cheesemonger at The Cheese Shop of Portland
10-2020 - 1-2022
Manager - Innovation, Strategy & Community Engagement at EY wavespace™ at EY
10-2018 - 10-2020
Senior Consultant - Innovation, Strategy & Community Engagement at EY wavespace™ at EY

Education

2012 - 2016
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from Georgetown University
2008 - 2012
Education details unavailable from Choate Rosemary Hall

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 8 Location : Portland, Maine, United States Job Level : N/A Designation : Senior Manager of Innovation and Partnerships at VentureFuel
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Insights For Selling To Sarah

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Be crisp while making the pitch
  • Stress on the business value that your product offers
  • Tell them that you are there to help them create visible impact within their organization

DONT's

  • Don’t expect them to change their mind quickly if they say no once
  • Refrain from asking too many questions
  • Do not give up if they are not convinced, try again with a different approach

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Sarah is

  • Conviction in the product matters to them, followed by proof points and strong testimonials.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Sarah

  • They may not be very forthcoming, but they will say no if needed.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Sarah move?

  • They are neither the fastest decision makers nor the slowest.
  • Can Sarah take some risk or not?

  • They can take risks but after weighing up the pros and cons.

You And Sarah

Personality Compatibility


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