Grit

For some, expanding their horizons is something that they, as individuals, strive to do. Fortunately, Philip Lacor, CRO at Unqork, takes those expansions to another level. Philip thrives as a cross-functional leader and leaves his own stamp by creating challenging and diverse environments for a wide variety of people. From his philosophy on building global teams, to how he rears his own children,...

Language is without doubt the single most valuable tool we use, and in its use, it ironically builds barriers. Fortunately in recent years with the rise of companies like Duolingo, those barriers are becoming more opaque. In this episode, Bob Meese, Chief Business Officer at Duolingo, joins the show to discuss all the innovative ways that Duolingo is making language learning a more feasible aspect...

To make the leap from HR to sales may seem like a significant obstacle to surmount. For Jennifer Brannigan, CRO at Pendo, it was an easy choice to make. Her decision to pursue her own interests and passion over a high salary set her on a path toward where she is today. And for her, the journey still continues.  As she puts it, her professional roadmap is much like a jungle gym, as it is varied and...

Integrity and humility barely begin to describe Brian McCarthy, CRO at Rubrik. Brian’s story is one of hard-won progress that is bound to inspire anyone who listens. Coming from a blue-collar household, Brian has always viewed work as a gift and now takes advantage of what it has afforded him and turns it back to building strong communities. Brian’s humble beginnings set the stage for his inspirin...

"Crypto" is a term that has recently re-shaped the way the world thinks about money. For Emilie Choi, President and COO at Coinbase, it has been at the forefront of her work and mind for quite some time. Emilie is a true workplace warrior and that is reflected in her leadership at Coinbase as she has cultivated an ethos that endears her entire organization and those she works alongside. In this ep...

Carving her own path is certainly one way to describe how Christina Augustine, COO at Bloomreach, has chosen to do her work. With a distinct set of experiences, beginning with a unique college thesis, to owning her own patent, and eventually leading Bloomreach through successful product launches, Christina has held her own over the course of her career. And her fortitude is now paying off.  Christ...

Mark Anderson, CEO at Alteryx, joins Joubin to talk about how he crafted his leadership ethos, which he often compares to a great game of golf. While Mark is currently at Alteryx, it is his foundation at Palo Alto Networks that serves as the bedrock for how he approaches his work.  In this episode, Mark reflects on his time at Palo Alto and offers insight that anyone would be wise to pay close att...

Mike Gamson, CEO of Relativity, has joined the show this week to provide his take on leadership, sales, and the evolution of his career leading up to Relativity. Mike’s path into becoming a CEO is a varied one and his diverse range of experiences has helped him hone in on essential insights, which he very humbly shares.  With a background in liberal arts, Mike has an interesting story about how he...

Mike Clayville, CRO at Stripe, joins this week’s conversation to discuss what it's like to turn companies into forces of nature, using Mike’s chosen metaphor, the tornado. While Mike might be the first guest to compare company growth to a natural phenomenon, his insight is invaluable.  Mike comes from a small town outside of Declo, Idaho, and grew up working on the family farm and ranch. It was th...

Rob Lehman, Chief Business Officer at Compass, has an entrepreneurial spirit that has already set him forward in a burgeoning and exciting career at a young age. Rob’s path has come by no accident. His determination to be at the innovative edge and his unconventional approach to finding his bearing at Compass speak to Rob’s unique take.  Rob’s business-focused mindset developed early on in his chi...

To say that Brian Frank, Chief Operating Officer of Cameo, comes from a non-traditional background into the career field of sales might be an understatement. Brain’s career began in law and he spent nearly a full career there before transitioning to sales in 2008, where he has been exceedingly active.  Brian’s multifaceted background has given him a wide range of skillsets and a deep wisdom that h...

Marc Maloy’s storied career with IPOs and acquisitions has helped him develop essential insights into career success, leading him to become President of Field Ops at BetterUp. While Marc’s history is steeped with successful transitions, at each step he never failed to stay focused on the people. Marc remains focused on empathy, developing leaders first, and helping everyone in an organization reac...

Since the 1990s, Scott Jones has had a successful career working in sales at technology companies including SAP, Tableau, and Alteryx.  In early 2021, Scott took a job that had never before appeared on his resume — the role of Chief Executive Officer at Incorta, a company creating direct data analytics software. On this episode of Go to Market Grit, Joubin and Scott talk about Scott’s career, the...

Ever wonder how McDonald’s came up with its famous “I’m Lovin’ It” tagline? Brandon Snow knows all about it — in fact, he worked for the German advertising agency Heye & Partner when it pitched the winning slogan years ago.  With an impressive career that took him to live in Poland, Germany and China, Brandon has worked for not only Heye & Partner, but also the NBA as a senior marketing le...

When Oliver Jay worked for venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates in the late 2000s, he found that the most rewarding aspect for him was working with portfolio companies and watching the beginnings of sales operations. “But as an associate, let’s be honest, I was there to crunch numbers, and write memos, and source deals,” Oliver said. “That’s why I decided to leave. Even though I loved th...

Eric Morse is unabashedly a “super nerd.” With a degree in physics from Duke University, Eric taught himself how to program and joined a consulting firm where he worked at implementing PeopleSoft, a human resource management system. Eventually, Eric found his way into sales — working at Google, NetSuite, and Ayden — until he eventually and most recently became SVP of Sales at Affirm, Inc. in 2018....

Many successful LinkedIn alumni have been welcomed as guests on this podcast — and this week, the insightful LB Harvey will be joining those ranks. After starting her sales career as a Sales Executive at Corporate Executive Board, LB spent six years as an account executive and sales leader at LinkedIn before moving to Intercom to work in sales leadership. Now, LB serves as Chief Revenue and Succes...

Dan O’Connell’s career is an impressive display of how hard work can catapult a person from the bottom of the sales hierarchy to the very top of business leadership. Having started as an account coordinator at Google AdWords in 2003, Dan has climbed the corporate ladder — eventually becoming the CEO and President of TalkIQ in 2017. Now, Dan serves as the Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Revenue Offic...

When it comes to building a profitable business, Amanda Kleha has learned by doing.  Amanda’s seven-year tenure in multiple senior marketing and sales positions at Zendesk saw the company make an IPO, grow from 12 employees to 2,000, and go from $1 million to $300 million in revenue. Now, as Chief Customer Officer at Figma — a company recently valued at $10 billion that is creating collaborative d...

When Steve Rowland studied at Texas A&M University to get his degree in engineering, he likely wouldn’t have expected that his career would shift into one of an extremely successful sales leader. Over his 20+ year business career, Steve’s built successful teams at technology companies such as BMC Software, Appigee, and DataStax. Now, Steve serves as Chief Revenue Officer of Okta, a company sel...

Take one look at Renu Gupta’s resume and it’s immediately clear that she is a talented — and successful — sales leader.  With experience at companies such as Google, Dropbox and Slack, Renu has led large sales teams and produced results. Now, Renu serves as Vice President of Sales at Thrive Global, a company founded by CEO Arianna Huffington, that seeks to end workplace burnout with behavior chang...

When Jan Zeman was hired as a sales development representative in the early 2000s, he had a unique background in management consulting and venture capital.  Jan has since risen through the sales ranks, having helped his previous company, Responsys, grow from $25 million in ARR to $200 million, among other successes. Now, he serves as SVP Sales, America at Iterable, a company creating a cross-chann...

Not many people can say they’ve held leadership positions in marketing, sales, and HR during their business career. Well, maybe except for Rachael Powell, who has done all three and says it’s just her “natural curiosity” that brought her on such a path.  Having worked for over 25 years at digital and technology companies, Rachael now serves as Chief Customer Officer at Xero, a company creating clo...

Ryan Barretto knows all about what it takes to successfully scale a business. After an impressive 10-year career in sales leadership roles at Salesforce, Ryan took a role as SVP of Global Sales at Sprout Social — a business creating social media management tools — where he helped grow the company from $30 million in revenue to $170 million.  Now, one IPO later, Ryan is President of Sprout Social —...

Erica Anderson had never carried a bag before she was promoted to Vice President of Worldwide Sales at GitHub in 2019.  With a successful career as a sales operations leader under her belt, Erica has since been promoted twice at GitHub — most recently to Senior Vice President of Revenue.  On this week’s episode of Go to Market Grit , Joubin and Erica talk about the lessons Erica has learned about...