PeopleLinx hires longtime sales training exec David DiStefano

After more than two decades at sales training company Richardson, David DiStefano has jumped ship for the startup world.

David DiStefano. (Photo via LinkedIn)

DiStefano, 54, is the new Chief Revenue Officer at PeopleLinx, the “social selling” startup announced. It’s a new role at the company, which will be focused on sales.

He was most recently the president and CEO of Center City-based Richardson, where he worked with “hundreds of blue-chip companies,” according to a press release. PeopleLinx wants to capitalize on those relationships.

“He’s incredibly well known,” said spokesman Michael Idinopulos. “He knows everyone we’re selling to.”

The hire is one indication of PeopleLinx doubling down on the enterprise market. Another is the recent launch of its app on the Salesforce AppExchange. The app integrates with Salesforce and gives users alerts on what to do on social media to push a sale further along (for example, “Set up a Google alert for this company” or “Follow them on Twitter”).

The app costs $30 per user per month and PeopleLinx pays Salesforce an undisclosed commission on each sale, Idinopulos said. The company will still sell its flagship product because not every one of its customers uses Salesforce, he said.

PeopleLinx is still in the process of hiring a new chief technology officer, Idinopulos said. Former CTO Keith Fitzgerald left the company last fall, along with three other PeopleLinx devs, to launch a running startup called Hurdle.

PeopleLinx, which employs 25 full-time, is also relocating to another floor in its current building (1835 Market Street) because the new space gives the company the option to expand further. (Plus, cofounder Nathan Egan told us it has more windows and isn’t tucked away around the corner like their current office is.)