 So tell me what is your role here at Hypothesis? Yeah, so I am the VP of revenue and so I oversee the sales and marketing and revenue operations teams I like to think of my role as really being the voice of the customer for the entire Organization so that we can continue to tell our story about what a fantastic product we've got here at Hypothesis But also make sure that you know what we're doing is aligned with what our customers need the most Whether that's making sure that our buying process is seamless for them and easy for things to be set up With a prospect and customer or just making sure we're telling a story. That's a meaningful context for the folks that we serve and Most recently you were the VP of global sales at another ad tech company called labster Tell me a little bit about them. What did they do? Yeah, I just got off a pretty wild ride at labster after about four and a half years Labster is the world's leading provider of virtual science courseware Most people know them for their award-winning virtual labs But they actually provide a full science learning platform that includes not just labs, but libraries and images animations multiple choice quizzes in theory a labster's mission was to empower the next generation of Scientists to really provide access to a million dollar lab anywhere at any time and really just Find the next generation of scientists overall one of the big company missions was one day to hopefully have a Nobel Prize winner who was inspired by using a labster simulation and How big were they would you join them and how much revenue were they doing? Yeah, so four and a half years ago. They were pretty small actually globally They were probably about the size of hypothesis today and when I joined they were just starting to build out the North American team I was one of the first hires in the Boston office Recruit revenue was sub a million dollars and then you know over the next four and a half years We grew over 400 employees with offices not just in the US But also in Denmark, Switzerland, Spain and Bali during that time revenue grew beyond 25 million dollars a year So that's a pretty incredible journey to bring a company through that much growth in that period of time as Anybody who's started one of these companies knows what were some of the big challenges you faced in doing that? Yeah, there are definitely a lot of challenges I think if it were easy everybody would have a startup, right and I think one of the first things early on that we faced Was just simple brand recognition and who we were we knew we had a great product But folks hadn't heard of us before and especially being in Boston I think people thought a lot more about lobster than lobster So in addition to just that simple recognition We had to really challenge that status quo of what can and can't be accomplished online Especially in science a lot of the instructors that we spoke with early on believed in real science and didn't understand Really how simulations work and we had to frame it for them in a way that made sense talking about how flight Simulators train the pilots that take us wherever we go every day and how that can actually give a meaningful experience to students As we continued to grow I'd actually say one of the other challenges that we faced was COVID It transformed our business like so many others But I think it also put us in an interesting position with our customers Left a perception of a tool like what we had was simply a COVID Band-Aid or a replacement And so then our team had to become a lot more than a sales team. We had to really be consultative but we had to share that What we were doing today was actually going to transform what the future of education was going to look like I mean, let's face it whether people like it or not Online education is a lot more accessible and a lot more convenient to a lot of types of students around the world And it's an option that needs to be provided for any student So whether students looking for in person with some additional supplemental material or looking for hybrid or even high-flex Schools that are looking to grow their enrollment and service their populations need to find ways to get in front of those students every day and one of our biggest challenges was just educating our buyers who were really smart people and When you're talking to smart people you have to really show them the data that's going to back up How the work that you're doing and the tool that you can provide is Going to give guidance as to how they can move forward So Were there any particular lessons you learned from some of those challenges? Oh, man I'd say I learned a lot but I think two things that I really learned first our scaling is really hard and Second planfulness is extremely important particularly with the remote team One thing I learned is we scaled up so quickly as in a startup There are a million different roles that people can fill and that means there's a lot of possibilities We ever read the book good to great by Jim Collins. Yeah, I Haven't It's a really good book it talks about some companies from actually the 80s and 90s and how they were able to really Stand out in their categories and one of the things from that book that's always stuck with me is Just the concept of when you're building a world-class team The most important thing is getting people on the bus and deciding where the bus is going to go together And then finding out where people sit is almost secondary And so as we grew the team one thing that I learned was the role You thought someone was gonna be perfect for it wasn't always the role where they'd end up and that's completely okay and so I think what was a really important lesson for me was just First thinking outside the job description and getting an understanding of who a person is and how they define success And secondly, how can their definition of success and their particular skill set Actually help us grow and expand to where we need to be with some pretty aggressive goals And that was that was a surprise to me I I was a sales guy for a very long time and I just knew my job was to sell and that was something I like to do but I learned a lot about other people and how they can contribute to a team Especially through rapid growth because the person you thought was gonna be the one to provide a solution Wasn't always that person and you get to learn so much that way You just mentioned how hard scaling is What What did you find, you know, I guess what what were some of those? Key challenges really around the scale Yeah, I think first was just the volume. I mean we were growing quickly We were trying to service a rapidly growing customer base and it was in a time when It was quite competitive to land top quality sales talent a players if you will And so just making sure that our entire hiring process Was aligned around finding people who understood our mission Understood that in a startup not everything's figured out and it requires some flexibility And the fact that we were all gonna be learning this together was super important to bring the right profiles in especially During the great resignation There were a lot of folks who left their jobs looking for another opportunity that Didn't really think it through so, you know What we had to do as we were screening our team and really trying to bring on world class talent Was make sure that we could dig into what was most important for the folks that we were working with And not only could they functionally do the job, but were they going to fit in in terms of culture? I mean we had over 400 people around the world by the end of my time there And the culture was still probably one of the things that got me most excited every day So how do you maintain that replicated as you bring new people in it's a lot harder than you might realize Other than hard work, of course What why do you think you're successful in this role? What's your secret? I think the most important thing for me has always been Trying to find The wins every day I think especially when you're in a startup environment It could seem like every problem is one of the most dire that you're going to face and it needs to be solved right now and You can solve it right now, but it's going to be a quick Fix and nine times out of ten. It's going to come back to bite you later And so I think that's one thing that's really helped me is just at the end of every day Trying to think about what's been accomplished for myself and for the team And how that's going to make tomorrow a little bit easier So rather than trying to play let's fix it all today and a quick win Let's think about the long game and how's this going to impact us 30 days down the road 60 days down the road six months down the road And just continue to move the needle forward. It's not going to always be a home run But if you can get solid wins every day that helps to build the momentum that you need to do really big things What do you what do you enjoy most about the head of sales role? I think it's just working with people. I think when you're an individual contributor In sales, you're all about the business and all about the number and as you grow You're more in the people business than you are in the sales business I've been lucky enough to work with So many fantastic people that are either just starting in their career Or if they've made career changes or been in the education space for a really long time And each one of them has some really unique experiences that they they can bring to the table And so when you help someone achieve a target or achieve a goal You're helping them sort of build what their next chapter is going to look like I really enjoy just having the opportunity to have an impact on a team like that and help people build their own careers As well as build the company that we're a part of What do you like about ed tech? And and the ed tech space and and what do you resonate most about the the the mission? Here at hypothesis Yeah, I mean education is super important to me. I mean one in six people in the world. They're in school Even from a more personal perspective, you know, I was the first one in my entire extended family to even graduate from college My dad didn't finish high school. He had to help his mom Who was a single mom raised in two kids? And I think that education is a great way for folks to Sort of level the playing fields in terms of opportunity and with ed tech I think what makes it really impactful and exciting for me is It can support anyone. You don't have to go to the best schools to use a tool like hypothesis You don't have to be in the us to use an ed tech tool It actually gives students anywhere the opportunity to have the same chance to learn That somebody at one of the best funded universities in the world could have And I think that that's one of the reasons that I decided to come here more than anything Is there's this whole layer of information on the internet That is just waiting to be unlocked to waiting for students to be able to collaborate on And just sort of breaking down some of the silos that are out there Whether it's gated to an lms or gated to a publisher or gated to a courseware provider There hasn't been a product that actually sort of unifies all these things And that's one of the beauties of hypothesis as it has the opportunity to do that And we're even seeing some of the partnerships that have been signed over the last few months working with idle stores Which is one of the biggest online textbook providers in the world works with almost half of the universities in the country Our partnership with jstore, which is one of the premier academic libraries That's used in libraries around the world and that gives an opportunity to start connecting dots That are really important for students because just like I mentioned earlier jam with you know People coming into a sales team where they have different experiences and different backgrounds It's no different classroom and if students are going to be collaborating I think one of the Beautiful things about the product is it allows them to bring their own experience in and compare it to what they're reading and Sort of open up the world a little bit for their classmates And so I think that was one of the reasons that I joined here specifically But with edtech in general you can sell a lot of things and you can do a lot of great stuff But at the end of the day is a sales force license going to change some of these Life probably not except a salesperson But something that can impact how a student learns and their career path That's pretty exciting And it gives you one of those small wins that I referenced every day Just knowing that you helped a student do something that maybe they couldn't do before Absolutely At just in closing we're going to be expanding the team here quite a bit over the next Year what kind of people and sales Within the sales team in particular. Do you think will be most successful Here at hypothesis So That's a good question I think there are three things I look for in anyone that joins a team that I'm a part of First is belief in what we're doing if you don't believe in what you're selling You're never going to be successful So having an understanding on how the product Can actually make an impact for our customers and for their students or ultimately the end users Probably the most important thing Next thing I always look for is as I said earlier flexibility and to start up all the best laid plans Are going to go to the side at some point because you're going to see a curveball that you either expected and didn't plan enough for Or didn't expect at all and that could be a negative or a positive So just being able to be flexible pick your head up and keep moving and focusing on the end goal is super important And then there's coachability. I think that goes actually both ways We're going to be learning a lot together and we're going to find out what works for the company In terms of building what we need to do service our user base but Maybe someone's come and done it differently. Maybe they can help us really streamline a process that's been driving us crazy every day I think the best people that can join our team are folks that are receptive to coaching But also are willing to provide coaching to the team around them so that we can continue to share those experiences Um, I mean i'm a pretty hard worker. I'll run through a wall for the team I like people that have that same mentality, but I think that there's different Ways that that can manifest in the people that you work with some of the best sales people have ever met or introverts at the end To the day you would never believe that and so I think there's never the perfect recipe for who's going to be successful in sales But there are qualities that we like to see Uh, coachability flexibility and passion are important But I also think just natural curiosity understanding why someone may or may not make a decision that they do Or why instructor teaches the way that they do or why they think that student participation in the class is important You think of it that at first glance and you think you know the answer But every time you have a conversation with the prospect whether it's a faculty an administrator or even someone that's just interested in what we do They're going to have a different perspective on what we have and for us to be successful We need to be able to really tell that story In a way that shows we've been thoughtful about what our buyers are thinking And that this is not a one size fits all but a one size fits many and we can help tailor that So I think being able to think outside the box and really take input from the people that we speak to is probably The most important quality that you look for in a sales person awesome Well, thanks for taking a few minutes Really looking forward to the adventure ahead and What what we can all do together. Yeah, I mean, it's been it's been amazing six weeks and a lot more to come I'm really excited to see what the future brings. I I'm really confident that we've got a lot of great accomplishments ahead of us