Grit - podcast cover

Grit

Kleiner Perkinswww.kleinerperkins.com
Grit explores what it takes to create, build, and scale world-class organizations. It features weekly episodes highlighting the leaders who are pushing their companies to make a difference. This series is hosted by Joubin Mirzadegan, go to market operating partner at Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm investing in history-making founders.
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Episodes

Board Director at Fastly, Kelly Wright: How She Went from Selling Door to Door to Board Director

Kelly Wright has had a remarkable career in sales, from her early days selling books door to door to joining Tableau as a developing startup and helping them grow into a multi-billion dollar company as a key member of their executive team. Today, she is board director at Fastly, a leading cloud services provider. In this episode of Go to Market Grit, Joubin and Kelly discuss Kelly’s incredible career path, including her decision to attend business school, how she landed at Tableau, and how she s...

Jan 11, 202149 minEp. 17

CRO Auth0, Dave Wilner: Discussing Growth and Leadership

Dave Wilner joined Auth0 in November of 2014, and has played an instrumental role in growing the company to $1 billion in valuation. In this episode of Go to Market , Joubin and Dave discuss Dave’s unique career journey, including his background as a former lawyer. They also discuss the pressures and expectations of succeeding in a high profile sales role and how Dave has managed to be so successful. In this episode of Go to Market Grit, we cover: How and why Dave made the transition from law pa...

Dec 28, 202038 minEp. 16

CRO Atlassian, Cameron Deatsch: Exploring Atlassian’s Unorthodox Strategy

Atlassian is one of the most unorthodox technology companies in the world. Almost everything the company does is completely different than what you would expect. And yet, the organization has been massively successful and efficient in achieving growth. In this episode of Go to Market Grit, Joubin and Cameron discuss how Cameron built a $44 billion business without a sales team, and some of the company’s key growth levers. In this episode of Go to Market Grit, we cover: Cameron’s role as CRO of A...

Dec 14, 202055 minEp. 15

CRO Twilio, Marc Boroditsky: A Behind the Scenes Look at Twilio’s Go to Market Strategy

Marc Boroditisky brings a unique perspective to the table as CRO of Twilio, as a founder and builder who has led several companies. In this episode of Go to Market , Joubin and Marc discuss his unique background and journey that led him to Twilio, and how his experience and passions — like his love of startups and discovering product-market fit — have shaped his revenue leadership strategy. Joubin and Marc also discuss Twilio’s go to market motion, and their approach to customer service. In this...

Nov 30, 202052 minEp. 14

SVP and Head of Sales at AppsFlyer, Mar Brandt: Leadership Insights

Mar Brandt is a sales veteran and ad tech expert who has spent time at leading organizations including Experian, Sitecore, and most recently AppsFlyer. Mar is also a founding member and senior executive sponsor of Leadership Connections Women, an Experian Women's Network group. In this episode of Go to Market Grit, Joubin and Mar discuss Mar’s sales evolution as a sales leader. They also explore what it's like to be a woman in sales and what it takes to be a leader in a competitive environment. ...

Nov 16, 202045 minEp. 13

COO of LinkedIn, Dan Shapero: Discussing Go to Market Leadership

Imagine taking a company like LinkedIn to a billion dollars in sales in just a few years, only to leave at the top of your game to rebuild your career and pursue a different path in product. That’s exactly what Dan Shapero did — and in this episode of Go to Market Grit, he explains his perspective, along with some can’t-miss insight on business and leadership. Joubin and Dan discuss two key topics including the future of sales leadership and go to market leadership. In this episode of Go to Mark...

Nov 02, 202051 minEp. 12

B2B General Manager of Calm, Jim Herbold: Describing ‘Unicorn Meat’

Jim Herbold played an instrumental role in scaling Box, growing the company from $600k to $200m over the course of seven years — only to pivot and leave the company a year before their IPO. In this episode of Go to Market Grit, Joubin and Jim discuss Jim’s background and role at Box, his new position at mental fitness app Calm, and the real meaning of “unicorn meat.” In this episode of Go to Market Grit, we cover: Why Jim prefers hyper collaboration over autonomy when building companies. Box’s u...

Oct 19, 20201 hr 10 minEp. 11

VP and GM at Shopify, Loren Padelford: Breaking the Rules in Sales

Sales is full of doctrines, or commonly shared beliefs, that are repeated over and over again, often without question — from hiring to business development. And blindly following can inhibit growth and lead to missed opportunities. In this episode of Go to Market Grit, Shopify VP and GM Loren Padelford points out some of these doctrines and explains why he recommends avoiding them. Loren also sheds some light on Shopify’s unique approach to sourcing talent and driving sales. In this episode of G...

Oct 05, 202053 minEp. 10

SVP Sales Modern Health, Hannah Willson: Overcoming the Stigma of Mental Health in Sales

In this episode of Go to Market Grit, Modern Health VP of Sales Hannah Willson explains how Modern Health is working to normalize and de-stigmatize cognitive wellbeing health in the workplace. According to the CDC, depression interferes with a person’s ability to complete physical job tasks about 20 percent of the time, and reduces cognitive performance about 35 percent of the time. What’s more, only 57 percent of employees who report moderate depression, while 40 percent of those who report sev...

Sep 21, 202040 minEp. 9

Chief Sales Officer at Brex, Sam Blond: Recruiting Talent

If there’s one person who knows a thing or two about sales growth, it’s Brex Chief Sales Officer Sam Blond, who has been a part of some legendary sales runs during his career. Sam joined Zenefits in 2013, and helped transform the company into the fastest SaaS business of all time. Then, he left and joined Brex, and was part of a team that scaled from 46 to 455 employees in just two years. Was it luck that led Sam to these companies, or is Sam naturally gifted in discovering opportunities? In thi...

Sep 08, 202051 minEp. 8

CRO Cockroach Labs, Jeff Miller: Building an Effective Open Source Go to Market Strategy

In a study from Red Hat, 95 percent of respondents said open source was strategically important to their organization, while 77 percent agreed that open source will continue to grow. Yet, that doesn’t guarantee an easy sell. Selling open source software at the enterprise level requires an entirely different strategy than traditional software. For insight, we turned to open source sales expert Jeff Miller. Joubin and Jeff discuss two topics, including Jeff’s career journey, and how open source sa...

Aug 24, 202036 minEp. 7

VP Sales at Mixpanel, Meka Asonye: Exploring Analytics, High Velocity Sales, and Stigmas

Topics: Is there a stigma around intelligence in sales? How to enable high velocity sales Many organizations today are struggling to strike a balance between being data-driven and gut-driven. For pointers, we turned to Meka Asonye who has deployed data at the highest level in sports doing statistical analysis for the Cleveland Indians. Meka provides tips about using data to discover opportunities and gain a market advantage. Meka also talks about his transition into sales, touching on important ...

Aug 10, 202053 minEp. 6

CRO CircleCI, Jane Kim: Leading with Vulnerability and Making Mistakes

In this episode of Go to Market Grit, CircleCI CRO Jane Kim shares valuable insight about her experiences growing a global organization, and trying to build an effective team and strategy. Joubin and Jane discuss and debate two key topics, including leading with vulnerability, and five common mistakes that first time managers make. “Vulnerability is not knowing victory or defeat, it’s understanding the necessity of both; it’s engaging. It’s being all in.” - Brene Brown Leading with vulnerability...

Jul 27, 202046 minEp. 5

CRO TripActions, Carlos Delatorre: The Science of Sales

In this episode of Go to Market Grit, TripActions CRO and Silicon Valley sales legend Carlos Delatorre opens up about what it takes to build powerful and effective sales teams and strategies. Joubin and Carlos discuss two key topics, including the value of relationship building, and making your go-to-market strategy a competitive differentiator. In this episode of Go to Market Grit, we cover: Carlos’s criteria when vetting new opportunities including the size of the market, whether the solution ...

Jul 13, 202055 minEp. 4

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 impor...

Jun 29, 202047 minEp. 3

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 tea...

Jun 22, 202034 minEp. 2

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 episo...

Jun 16, 202051 minEp. 1

Grit Trailer

About the Joubin Mirzadegan Joubin 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 t...

Apr 20, 202045 sec
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