(This post was inspired by Startup CXO and was originally published by Techstars on The Line.) In most startups, one of the founders is the first salesperson — often out of necessity as much as passion. But as startups scale they add sales reps or maybe some form of a Sales Manager once there are more than a couple of reps. But how do you know when to bring on a senior sales leader? Too soon and you have a very expensive employee, too late and your sales reps are creating their own processes and approaches. As a CEO there are several telltale signs that you need to hire a CRO, for example: You wake up in the middle of…
Tag
Anita Absey
The Best Place to Work, Part 1: Surround yourself with the best and brightest
First in my series of posts around creating the best place to work is to Surround yourself with the best and brightest. This one is simple. Build the best team you can possibly build…as you need it. As a founder, you may be the best person at doing everything in your company, especially if you are a technical founder. But as my long-time Board member at Return Path Greg Sands always says, when the organism grows, cells start to specialize. Eventually, you need a liver and a brain. Just like companies need a head of sales and a CFO (not to imply that Anita likes the occasional cocktail or that Jack likes math – turns out both like both). How…
Productive Eavesdropping
Productive Eavesdropping We’re in the midst of some pretty extensive renovations of our offices in New York at the moment. For better or for worse, we’re doing this work without moving out. We’ve basically crammed everyone into the back half of the office right now while the contractors are working on the front half. When that’s done, we’ll all move into the newly-refinished front so they can do the same in the back. One of the interesting side effects of this project is that I’m sharing my office with Anita Absey, our head of sales. It’s the first time I’ve shared an office in quite a while, at least since the first year of the company’s life when we all…
Who Are Your CPO and COO?
Who Are Your CPO and COO? Every senior management team needs a CPO and a COO. No, I’m not talking about Privacy and Operations. I’m talking about Paranoia and Optimism. On my leadership team at Return Path, many of us are Paranoid and many of us are Optimistic, and many of us can play both roles. But I’m fortunate to have two business partners who are the Chiefs – George Bilbrey is our Chief Paranoia Officer, and Anita Absey is our Chief Optimism Officer. Those monikers fit their respective roles (product and sales) as well as their personalities. My view is simple – both traits are critical to have around the management table, and they’re best when they’re in some…