CRO Obsidian Security, Bob Kruse: Building a Winning Sales Culture
In this episode of Go to Market Grit, Obsidian Security CRO and sales veteran Bob Kruse shares his thoughts on culture, and how it impacts sales teams. Bob and Joubin discuss why having a strong culture is critical in sales, as well as the benefits of deploying a multifaceted channel program.In this episode of Go to Market Grit, we cover: Why having a strong culture on your sales team can serve as a competitive advantage — and why it needs to be treated as a top-down initiative.Why it’s important to prioritize transparency, integrity, trust, and authenticity in sales.Viewing sales as a team sport — and why reps need to work together as a single unit. How inclusivity, and bringing different types of employees into the sales process like engineers can be beneficial to the company and help to achieve common goals.Tips for improving your odds of success when hiring, such as being completely comfortable with prospects and prioritizing referrals and recommendations.Tips for keeping sales teams motivated, yet working hard and in touch with reality — and why complacency is death. Bob’s thoughts on the channel — including how it’s changed due to SaaS, and how a multi-faceted channel program can help sales teams expand and grow, and open new doors.LinksConnect with Bob on LinkedIn: LinkedInObsidian SecurityConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: gtmg@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
29 Jun 202046min
VP of Sales at Palo Alto Networks, Jeff StClair : Discovering, Recruiting, and Coaching Sales Talent
In this episode, Jeff StClair, currently VP of Sales at Palo Alto Networks and most recently VP Sales at Evident.io shares his thoughts on how startups can more effectively discover, attract, and retain top talent, and in doing so take their organizations to new heights. We also dive deep into what makes a great sales rep.In this episode of Go to Market Grit, we cover: Key qualities that Jeff looks for when recruiting sales associates.Why hiring should be a group effort for startups, with team members agreeing on new reps before bringing them on board. Considerations for hiring in a startup environment, versus an organization that’s growing at scale.The importance of nurturing and developing talented sales associates, by giving them opportunities to continuously challenge themselves to work beyond their capacity. Why top tier sales associates typically make poor managers and leaders -— and what it takes to thrive in a leadership role. The difficulty — and importance — of building a competitive team that integrity and a strong culture. Links Connect with JeffLinkedInPrisma CloudPalo Alto NetworksConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: gtmg@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
22 Jun 202033min
Chief Sales and Success Officer at Slack, Bob Frati: Exploring Slack’s Key Growth Levers and Competition
In Episode #1 of Go to Market Grit, Slack’s SVP of Sales and Customer Success, Bob Frati, gives the inside scoop about the company’s sales and go-to-market strategy, and why they have been able to scale their go to market so quickly and effectively over the last few years. Bob and Joubin discuss two key topics in detail, outlining the next four years for Slack and key growth levers they can pull, along with growing competition in Slack’s market and what that means for their future. In this episode of Go to Market Grit, we cover: Key growth levers for Slack, and why the company is positioned for continued market dominance.Slack’s response to growing market competition, and why it’s ultimately better for the consumer and for the company.How Slack identified a business need and strong product market fit, and then worked to expand the solution to a broader audience. The importance of having a strong and developed customer-facing team to navigate complexities in large enterprises, and push business forward to completion.How Slack grew its sales team from 300 to 2,000 people — quickly, and effectively. Some of the factors that Slack looks for when hiring customer-facing sales staff, and why they value these characteristics.Why hiring should be a mutual fit for both the candidate and the employer.Identifying motivated individuals, and finding ways to tap into their motivation that will drive them to be successful. Bob’s career journey from sales rep to manager — including why and how he executed the leap. Why much of Slack’s success can be attributed to tight collaboration between its engineering, product, sales, and success teams. Slack’s ability to not only deploy a solution in an organization, but to help manage through the change and ensure success — and why this is a game-changer.Slack’s role in ushering a new way of working, and why it transcends the tired and overused digital transformation narrative in business.Links Host company: https://www.kleinerperkins.com/Loom: https://www.loom.com/ Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rfrati/Host Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoubinmirHost Email: gtmg@kleinerperkins.com
16 Jun 202050min
Grit Trailer
About the Joubin MirzadeganJoubin has been with Kleiner Perkins since 2019 where he advises the KP portfolio companies on how to build and scale a robust go-to-market strategy. Additionally, he enables the firm’s portfolio through high impact relationships with F500 executives and key ecosystem partners. Joubin was previously at Palo Alto Networks as a global district sales manager for the Central US based in Chicago where he scaled the Central Cloud business from 1 enterprise rep and $2M ARR to 12 reps and $50M+ ARR in 4 quarters. He has also worked for Evident.io as an enterprise account executive and at Bracket Computing (acquired by VMWare) where he built the inside sales team from the ground up.
20 Apr 202045s
