About Us

About Meddic Academy

Darius Lahoutifard
Founder

Darius Lahoutifard, founder of MEDDIC Academy, is a best-selling author, serial entrepreneur, and former executive at PTC, Oracle, and others. His last venture, Business Hangouts, a Google G Suite live broadcasting app, was acquired in just three years, with millions of users.

Originally a robotics engineer, Darius transitioned to sales, excelling rapidly and becoming CEO of a Schlumberger subsidiary at 28, managing a $10M business. At PTC, he grew revenue from $4M to $27M in three years, leading 150 people in France’s competitive market against Dassault Systèmes. During this time, he and fellow sales leaders laid the foundation for MEDDIC and MEDDPICC sales methodologies.

Darius later founded four startups, achieving two exits, and contributed to companies like Agile/Oracle and Think3. As a founder, he often played the first salesperson role, signing up  the first few customers and securing $20M across five funding rounds.

He holds an M.S. in Robotics Engineering from Ecole Centrale de Paris, now Centrale-Supelec (ranked first in entrance exams) and a Certificate in Organizational Analysis from Stanford. A patent holder and published author in three different languages, he has lectured at University of Washington and National Defense University. Darius has worked globally and has been living in California since 2009.

A longer version of his bio is available here.

Elisa Lahoutifard
Director of Sales

Elisa Lahoutifard is a skilled sales executive with extensive experience in enterprise account management and customer engagement. Starting in January 2025, she runs Sales at MEDDIC Academy, where she focuses on driving strategic partnerships and delivering tailored solutions for clients.

Elisa’s career highlights include impressive achievements in quota attainment, such as ranking as the top global performer at Sprinklr with 205% of her quota achieved in a single quarter. She has also contributed to the success of Dell Boomi, where she generated nearly $3M in annual contract value within her first year, while being based in San Francisco. Her recent role at Kong further showcased her ability to navigate complex enterprise environments and foster meaningful client relationships.

After attending University High School in Irvine, CA, Elisa graduated from California State University, Fullerton, CA, with a major in Business Marketing.

She joined MEDDIC Academy after successfully practicing the MEDDIC framework at three top tech companies with enterprise sales teams, leveraging her expertise to empower others through innovative sales training. Additionally, she has honed her skills in sales through certifications from MEDDIC Academy and Sandler Training.

With a dynamic approach to sales and collaboration, Elisa continues to excel in high-growth, innovative environments.

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