BARRETT/FRACTIONAL
Presales · Security Startups · EU/US Remote
Fractional Sales Engineering

Founders shouldn't be running demos.

Barrett Fractional builds the technical sales muscle that closes enterprise deals: POC frameworks, demo environments, and SE foundations, without the $250K senior hire. Built and led by a cybersecurity sales engineering veteran of almost 20 years.

Sales motions built for teams later acquired by
OpenDNS
→ CISCO · 2015
StackRox
→ RED HAT · 2021
Balbix
→ SAFE SECURITY · 2025
What people say

From the rooms where the deals happened.

"Scaling early-stage technology is incredibly difficult, but Matt makes it look natural. His fingerprints were all over the groundbreaking security technologies we built and sold together. Any seed or startup founder looking to build a world-class technical sales function needs him in their corner."

Mark Murtagh · GVP, Solutions Architecture · CrowdStrike

"I'd hire Matt again in a heartbeat. His demo and POV craft consistently shortened sales cycles and directly influenced 7-figure deals. Beyond revenue impact, he elevated the whole team with new sales instruments, creative solutions, and relentless drive. A true builder and leader."

Krishna Krishnamoorthy · Sr Dir, Field Product Mgmt · Zscaler
01 / The problem

Great products let down by tepid demos and stalled evaluations.

Early-stage cybersecurity companies don't lose deals on technology, they lose them in the pre-sales process: demos built on empty dashboards, POCs with no exit criteria, and founders getting pulled into every technical call. A senior SE leader fixes this, but in early stages the math on a full-time hire rarely pencils out.

[ x ]Founder or CTO is the de-facto sales engineer
[ x ]Demos show slideware and screenshots
[ x ]POCs run 90+ days and end in "let us think about it"
[ x ]First SE hire keeps getting deferred because the profile is unclear
02 / The solution

Pick your starting point.

PKG-01 · 2-3 WEEKS$8,000

Demo-to-Close Sprint

Stop running science experiments. Start running presales motions that end in signatures. A full audit of your current process, rebuilt into a framework your whole team can execute.

  • Audit against your last five deals (closed or not)
  • Demo revamp, use-case development, evaluation scoping and guardrail implementation that forces decisions
  • Scoping, success & exit criteria documents
  • POC runbook mapped to your product and buyer
PKG-02 · 3-4 WEEKS$12,000

Demo Environment Build

A security product can't be demoed against an empty dashboard. Get a realistic, repeatable environment: simulated customer networks, relevant device types, seeded traffic, and simulated attacks. Delivered on our in-house test environment builder stack.

  • Simulated customer environment matched to your ICP
  • Realistic device inventory and network traffic your product can react to
  • Customizable, run on your own cloud or on-prem infrastructure
  • Demo runbook and talk track so any rep can drive it
PKG-03 · 2 WEEKS$5,000

First SE Playbook

Make your first sales engineering hire the right one, and enable your future team to be productive in weeks instead of quarters.

  • Hiring profile, interview rubric, and comp benchmarks
  • 30/60/90 ramp plan with demo certification
  • SE/AE rules of engagement and deal support model
RETAINER · MONTHLY$6,000/mo

Fractional SE Leader

Senior presales leadership embedded in your deals, roughly six hours a week. The full SE function without the headcount.

  • Live deal support: demos, technical deep dives, POC oversight
  • Demo coaching for founders and early reps
  • Competitive positioning and objection handling
  • Founder advisory on technical GTM and SE org design
Founding client rateThe first two clients receive 25% off any engagement in exchange for a case study and testimonial.
03 / Who you're working with

Almost 20 years turning technical products into closed deals.

Barrett Fractional is led by Matt Barrett, a technical sales engineering leader who has built and run the full presales motion from seed-stage startups to enterprise, multinational organizations. He's hired and trained SE teams, built demo environments and innovative sales instruments, designed proof-of-value frameworks and competitive battlecards, and run customer enablement. He can run the function or be the function.

ScopeEnterprise and SMB security sales cycles, from first demo through procurement
CraftPOC design, demo environments, competitive positioning, SE hiring and enablement
FitSeed to Series A security vendors, pre-first-SE-hire or small teams
Read the full track record →
04 / Next step

30 minutes. Bring a stuck deal.

The intro call is a working session, not a pitch. Bring your hardest live in-process deal and leave with at least one thing to change this week. If there's a fit, we'll scope an engagement.

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