icp-team-leads

name

icp-team-leads

description

Find and connect with team leads/VPs running observability/ELK stacks at ICP companies. Use when: (1) Researching decision-makers at a company that passed ICP company research, (2) Finding VP/Director/Team Lead contacts (VP Platform, Director SRE, Infrastructure Lead), (3) Verifying someone's role includes observability/platform, (4) Connecting with buyers who have budget authority, (5) Discovering new ICP companies through team lead profiles. Workflow: Company from CRM → DuckDuckGo → PinchTab → LinkedIn MCP (verify + connect) → Add to team_leads CRM. Flipped discovery: If team lead runs platform/observability but company isn't in CRM → add company as 'Discovered'. This skill DOES connect on LinkedIn.

ICP Team Leads Skill

Find and connect with team leads/VPs who run observability/ELK stacks at ICP companies. These are your buyers—they have budget authority and feel the pain directly.

Who You're Looking For

Target Titles:

• VP of Platform / VP of Infrastructure
• Director of SRE / Director of Platform / Director of Infrastructure
• Platform Team Lead / Observability Team Lead
• Engineering Manager (Platform/Observability)
• Head of Infrastructure

Key Signals (Look for ANY ofThese):

Primary (Decision-Maker Signals):

• Title indicates platform/infrastructure/SRE leadership
• Manages team responsible for observability
• Budget authority (hiring, toolingdecisions)

Bonus (Stronger Match):

• Experience mentions: ELK, Elasticsearch, observability platform
• Skills: Elasticsearch, monitoring, logging, observability
• Bio: Platform infrastructure, uptime, reliability

Why These People:

• They have budget authority (headcount budget, not tooling budget)
• They feel the pain directly (team can't deliver fast enough)
• They're understaffed but can't hire quickly
• ELK/observability is mission-critical to their success

Note: Team leads may not have "ELK" explicitly in their profile—they manage the team, not necessarily hands-on with the stack. Look for: observability, platform, infrastructure, SRE, reliability, uptime.

Prerequisites

Before using this skill:

1. Company must pass ICP company research (use icp-company-research skill first)
2. Company should be in the companies CRM with Status = "Target" or "Hot"
3. Have company name ready for research

Flipped Discovery: Finding Companies Through People

While researching people, you may discover potential ICP companies.

When analyzing a team lead's profile, if their role/company suggests an ICP fit:

ICP Company Signals from Team Leads:

• Title: VP Platform/Infrastructure at a small-medium company (50-500 employees)
• Experience: "Platform team manages ELK/observability", "On-prem infrastructure"
• Company type: MSSP, SOC-as-a-service, SIEM provider, security monitoring
• Business model: Observability/monitoring IS their product (like OmniSock SOC)
• Team context: Small team, understaffed, critical infrastructure
• Bio: Mentions uptime, reliability, on-call, incident response

Action: Add the company to CRM withStatus = "Discovered" for later investigation:

• Company Name
• Source: "Team lead discovery - [person's LinkedIn]"
• Why discovered: What signals made them interesting
• Next step: Run icp-company-research skill to validate

This flips the discovery flow:

• Normal: Company → Research company → Research people
• Flipped: Research people → Discover company → Research company

Both are valid paths to finding ICP companies.

Research Workflow

Step 1: Get Company from CRM

Query the companies CRM to find the company you're researching:

SELECT * FROM v_companies WHERE Status IN ('Target', 'Hot')

Note the company name and any LinkedIn URL.

Step 2: DuckDuckGo Search

Find potential team leads at the company:

Search queries:

"[Company Name]" "VP Platform" LinkedIn
"[Company Name]" "Director SRE" LinkedIn
"[Company Name]" "Platform Team Lead" LinkedIn
"[Company Name]" "observability" "engineering manager" LinkedIn
"[Company Name]" "infrastructure" "director" LinkedIn

Extract from results:

• Person name
• Title
• LinkedIn profile URL
• Company name

Step 3: PinchTab (If Needed)

Use PinchTab when:

• DuckDuckGo results are thin
• Need to browse company team/leadership page
• Need to find LinkedIn profiles from company website

PinchTab workflow:

1. pinchtab_navigate({ url: "company-website.com/team" })
2. pinchtab_wait_for_load({ load: "networkidle" })
3. pinchtab_get_text() - Look for leadership/team page
4. Find names and titles of platform/infrastructure leaders

Step 4: LinkedIn MCP (Primary Research)

This is the main tool for team lead research.

4A: Search for People at Company

mcp action=call server=linkedin-mcp tool=search_people params={
  keywords: "VP Platform Director SRE Team Lead infrastructure observability",
  company: "[Company Name]"
}

Filter for:

• Titles matching target list (VP, Director, Lead, Manager)
• Current role (not past employees)
• Location (optional)

4B: Get Person Profile

For each candidate, get full profile:

mcp action=call server=linkedin-mcp tool=get_person_profile params={
  public_identifier: "[LinkedIn ID or URL]"
}

Analyze for relevance:

• Title: VP/Director/Lead/Manager of Platform/SRE/Infrastructure ✅
• Experience: Platform, observability, infrastructure, reliability ✅ (ELK = bonus)
• Skills: Monitoring, observability, reliability ✅ (ELK = bonus)
• Bio: Platform infrastructure, uptime, reliability ✅

4C: Verify Right Person

Strong Match (Connect Immediately):

• Title: VP of Platform, Director of SRE, Platform Team Lead
• Experience: Platform, observability, infrastructure (ELK mentioned = bonus)
• Skills: Monitoring, observability, reliability (ELK = bonus)
• Company: Verified ICP

Good Match (Add and Connect):

• Title matches target list
• Experience mentions platform/infrastructure
• Company is ICP

Research Needed (Add for Follow-up):

• Title indicates leadership but unclear scope
• Need to verify they manage observability/team

Not a Match (Skip):

• Title doesn't indicate platform/infrastructure leadership
• No relevant experience
• Left company or role changed

Step 5: Check for Company Discovery

While researching a team lead, check if their COMPANY might be ICP-worthy.

If the person has leadership role in platform/observability but the company isn't in the CRM yet:

Add to companies CRM if:

• Person is VP/Director/Lead of Platform/SRE/Infrastructure AND
• Company appears to be small-medium (50-500 employees) AND
• Company type suggests observability is mission-critical (MSSP, SOC, SIEM, observability platform)

Company Discovery Signals:

• Platform/observability team mentioned → core infrastructure
• Company in security/monitoring space → observability IS the product
• Small team context in bio → understaffed, needs leverage
• Uptime/reliability focus → critical infrastructure

Add discovered company to CRM:

INSERT INTO companies (Name, Status, Source, Notes)
VALUES ('[Company Name]', 'Discovered', 'Team lead: [Person LinkedIn]', '[Why they look like ICP]')

Then run icp-company-research skill to validate.

Step 6: Connect on LinkedIn

Connect with Strong and Good Matches.

mcp action=call server=linkedin-mcp tool=send_invitation params={
  profile_id: "[LinkedIn ID]",
  message: "" // Blank connection request (no message)
}

Connection Rules:

• Send blank connection requests (no note)
• Connect with Strong and Good Matches
• If connection fails or uncertain, add to CRM with Status = "Not Connected"

Step 7: Add Team Lead to CRM

Add to team_leads object with all research:

Required Fields:

• Name
• Title
• Company
• LinkedIn URL
• Status: Connected / Pending / Not Connected
• Match Quality: Strong / Good / Weak
• Platform Relevance: Yes / No / Maybe
• Notes: What makes them a good fit

Example entry:

Name: Thomas Mark
Title: Director Platform Engineering
Company: Foresite Cybersecurity
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/thomasemark
Status: Connected
Match Quality: StrongPlatform Relevance: Yes - Runs platform team for MSSP
Notes: Perfect ICP. Director of platform at MSSP, observability is core business.

Match Scoring

Strong Match (Connect Immediately)

• Title: VP/Director/Lead/Manager of Platform/SRE/Infrastructure
• Experience: Platform, observability, infrastructure mentioned
• [+] ELK mentioned = bonus signal (not required)
• Company is verified ICP

Action: Connect on LinkedIn + Add to CRM (Status: Connected)

Good Match (Connect)

• Title matches target list
• Experience indicates platform/infrastructure role
• Company is verified ICP

Action: Connect on LinkedIn + Add to CRM (Status: Connected)

Weak Match (Add for Tracking)

• Title is close (Engineering Manager, but not platform-specific)
• [?] Unclear if they manage observability/team
• Company is ICP

Action: Add to CRM (Status: Not Connected, Match Quality: Weak)

Follow-up: Research deeper or look for better contact.

Not a Match (Skip)

• Title doesn't indicate platform/infrastructure leadership
• No relevant experience
• Left company

Action: Skip, don't add to CRM.

CRM Object: team_leads

Fields:

Field	Type	Description
Name	Short Text	Person's full name
Title	Short Text	Current job title
Company	Link	Link to companies object
LinkedIn URL	URL	LinkedIn profile
Status	Select	Not Connected / Pending / Connected / Rejected
Match Quality	Select	Strong / Good / Weak
Platform Relevance	Select	Yes / No / Maybe
Experience Notes	Long Text	Relevant experience excerpt
Skills	Multi-Select	Platform, observability, infrastructure, etc.
Notes	Long Text	Research notes, why they're a fit

LinkedIn MCP Tools Reference

Tool	Purpose	When to Use
search_people	Find people by keywords/company	Initial search for candidates
get_person_profile	Full profile details	Verify role, experience
send_invitation	Connect on LinkedIn	Strong/Good matches, blank message
get_company_profile	Company details	Verify company size/industry

Common Scenarios

Found Multiple Team Leads

Query company → 3 potential contacts:
1. VP Platform (Strong Match - platform experience) → Connect
2. Director SRE (Good Match - SRE leadership) → Connect
3. Engineering Manager (Weak Match - unclear scope) → Add, don't connect

Can't Connect (LinkedIn Limit)

1. Add to CRM with Status: Not Connected
2. Notes: "Connection limit reached, retry later"
3. Prioritize Strong matches for retry

Person Left Company

1. Check if new company is ICP → potentially recycle
2. If not ICP → skip
3. Don't add wrong company to CRM

Unclear if Right Person

1. Add to CRM with Match Quality: Weak
2. Notes: "Need to verify if they manage observability/team"
3. Look for better contact or research deeper

Output Format

For each team lead researched:

## [Name]

**Title:** [Current title]
**Company:** [Company name]
**LinkedIn:** [Profile URL]

### Match Assessment
| Criteria | Status | Evidence |
|----------|--------|----------|
| Title Match | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [Title] |
| Platform Relevance | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [Platform/observability mention] |
| Company ICP | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [ICP status] |
| ELK Mention | +/— | [If mentioned, where] |

### Experience Highlights
- [Relevant experience excerpt]
- [Key skills mentioned]

### Action
- **Status:** Connected / Pending / Not Connected
- **Match Quality:** Strong / Good / Weak
- **CRM:** Added / Skipped

### Notes
[Any additional context]

Remember

1. Company First: Only research team leads at companies that passed ICP company research
2. ELK is Bonus: Team leads may not have ELK explicitly—look for platform/observability/infrastructure
3. Title Matters: VP/Director/Lead/Manager of Platform/SRE = buying power
4. Connect with Strong + Good Matches: Blank connection requests
5. Add Everyone to CRM: Even weak matches for future tracking
6. Status Tracking: Track connection status for follow-up
7. Flipped Discovery: If person leads platform/observability but company isn't in CRM → add company as "Discovered" for later validation

Quick Reference

DuckDuckGo Search Terms

"[Company]" "VP Platform" LinkedIn
"[Company]" "Director SRE" LinkedIn
"[Company]" "Platform Team Lead" LinkedIn
"[Company]" "infrastructure" "director" LinkedIn
"[Company]" "observability" "engineering manager" LinkedIn

LinkedIn MCP Tools

search_people → Find candidates by title/company
get_person_profile → Verify platform/observability in experience
send_invitation → Connect (Strong/Good matches, blank message)

Title Keywords

VP Platform, VP Infrastructure, Director SRE, Director Platform,
Platform Team Lead, Observability Lead, Engineering Manager Platform,
Head of Infrastructure, SRE Lead, Infrastructure Manager

Experience Keywords (Any of These)

platform, observability, infrastructure, reliability, SRE,
uptime, monitoring, logging, availability, distributed systems
(ELK/Elasticsearch are bonus signals, not required)