Erik Carlsen

Revenue executive who builds the commercial system above the sales function — connecting go-to-market strategy, pricing, margin, marketing, revenue operations, and technology across multiple business units. 25 years in digital infrastructure and mission-critical services: satellite and remote communications for energy, mining and maritime operations; private cloud and managed services; network-as-a-service; cybersecurity. Full P&L ownership. Created multiple business units from inception and grew recurring revenue valued at a 17X multiple. 28 acquisitions integrated commercially and two completed sponsor exits.

Recipient of ConvergeOne's Chairman's Award. MBA, Carlson School of Management.

Chief Sales Officer at Impact Networking (2025-07 – Present)

Recruited by the Board of Directors to lead a double-sided transformation: pivot a traditional hardware business into an elite IT Managed Service Provider while halting an 86% expiring-contract churn rate.

• Doubled win rates to 64% quote-to-close by installing a structured GTM playbook that improved deal qualification, execution, and close discipline across complex MSP environments.
• Grew net-new logo sales 44% YoY and cut three months from the sales cycle by rebuilding the sales process and the talent layer — replacing isolated deal closers with a scalable development culture and recruiting sales operations, leadership, and frontline talent.
• Launched a third route to market via partnerships with Sandler Partners, Marsh McLennan, and Gallagher, and realigned corporate marketing to MSP decision-makers — lifting MQLs 15% YoY at a 132% conversion rate.
• Commercialized expanding service lines across managed IT, cloud, cybersecurity, and AI/automation, positioning outsourced capability as strategic investment.
• Stemmed severe expiring-contract churn by addressing root causes of customer friction and instituting rigorous pipeline management, deal-running discipline, and cross-functional alignment to drive durable revenue expansion.

Chief Revenue Officer at Join Digital (2024-09 – 2025-02)

Recruited by the founder ahead of the company's next funding round to build the commercial engine of an AI/ML-powered Network-as-a-Service platform from the ground up. The funding round did not close and the product was not yet market-ready; the company eliminated the commercial leadership layer. The GTM strategy, pricing model, and enterprise pipeline built during the engagement remain in place.

• Architected the global go-to-market strategy and messaging framework, including Ideal Customer Profile definition, market positioning, and enterprise sales targeting against incumbent networking vendors.
• Built the commercial operating model — multi-tier compensation plans across Account Executives, Solution Architects, and Customer Support, plus channel partnerships to extend market reach.
• Rebuilt pipeline infrastructure to 3X quota coverage by implementing rigorous qualification criteria and opportunity scoring.

Chief Revenue Officer at Meriplex (2023-04 – 2024-09)

Recruited by the founder, Vitruvian Partners, and Clairvest to design and execute an integrated sales and marketing engine for a $250M PE-backed managed services and cybersecurity platform, and to prepare the business for organic and inorganic growth.

• Delivered 21% organic revenue growth in year one and 26% CAGR in year two, driving multi-million-dollar contract wins and expanding share across key verticals.
• Integrated the commercial organizations of 14 prior acquisitions — consolidating overlapping coverage, unifying pricing and packaging, and retaining acquired customer relationships through transition.
• Reduced marketing spend 40% while improving ROI, profitability, and business valuation through disciplined demand generation, resource reallocation, and margin-aware deal governance — scaling top line and profitability together.
• Modernized the commercial tech stack with Salesforce, Salesloft, and Marketing Cloud, using analytics and automation to make forecasting and coverage decisions data-driven.
• Reported directly to the board and sponsor value-creation teams on commercial performance against the investment thesis.

Senior Vice President, Global Sales — Maritime, Energy & Government at Anuvu (2021-10 – 2023)

Joined the senior leadership team of the former Global Eagle Entertainment immediately after it emerged from restructuring under a first-lien investor group including Apollo Global Management, BlackRock, Eaton Vance, Sound Point, Crestline, and Arbour Lane. Owned the global commercial organization for the MEG business.

• Engineered a 146% revenue increase in 12 months commercializing mission-critical connectivity across six market units — cruise and ferry, energy, enterprise, government, yachting, and media — each with its own pricing and margin profile.
• Executed the strategic divestiture of the maritime and land-based communications group, maximizing valuation and ensuring a clean post-transaction transition.
• Revitalized an underperforming global sales organization through hands-on training, executive sponsorship, and a structured train-the-trainer model — winning four of the top five global cruise operators and the world's largest superyacht fleet.
• Secured a $3M first-to-market SpaceX contract in the offshore energy sector by adapting the product offering for greenfield penetration.
• Led the acquisition and integration of Signal Mountain, strengthening the Government Services division and expanding federal and defense capability.

Senior Vice President, Sales, Business Development & Marketing at ITC Global (Panasonic Avionics → Marlink Group) (2020 – 2021)

Tasked with stabilizing the business through the COVID-19 pandemic and preparing it for a strategic exit. Panasonic sold 100% of ITC Global to Marlink Group, backed by Apax Partners; served as ITC Global's named executive contact on the transaction announcement and closing.

• Produced record sales of $174M in total contract wins — $150M in new contracted recurring revenue plus $24M in one-time project work — building the multi-year recurring base that established the business's enterprise value and enabled the transaction.
• Retained 100% of key customers and employees through business-unit reorganization while exceeding corporate objectives.
• Built and scaled the commercial organization, deploying vertical-specific selling into mission-critical energy, mining, and maritime operations where uptime and service-level commitment drive the buying decision.

VP, Cloud & Managed Services Sales & Enablement · Sr. Director, Private Cloud Solutions at ConvergeOne (2015 – 2020)

Founded and scaled three business units from inception — Private Cloud, Managed Services, and As-a-Service — building recurring revenue valued at a 17X multiple inside a business taken private by CVC Capital Partners at a $1.8B valuation.

• Grew the cloud and managed services business from $350K to more than $776M in total contract value in under five years — including $585M in managed services and private cloud — and closed the company's largest single account at $70M TCV.
• Integrated the commercial organizations of 13 acquisitions as the division scaled through buy-and-build.
• Architected the pricing, packaging, and margin model for recurring revenue inside a project-and-product organization, plus the consultative selling motion that let a large distributed team sell it consistently across business units.
• Led in-house customer financing services generating $85M in annual revenue, driving $250M in annual sales at margins above 40%.
• Exceeded quota five consecutive years: 103% (2019), 119% (2018), 151% (2017), 174% (2016), 312% (2015).
• Received the 2019 Chairman's Award — the company's highest executive honor for building the cloud sales organization and transforming go-to-market strategy.

Executive Director, Cloud & IT Finance at Hitachi Financial Services

Sales leadership and front-line management roles at Ricoh USA, Winthrop Resources, and Lloyd's of London

MBA – University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management

BA in Communications – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign