I'm a VP of Sales!

(This post first appeared July 21st on my SaaS Sales Blog QuotaClimb)

A few months back I wrote a post on the quotaclimb.com sales blog sharing my personal goal of becoming a VP of Sales. I'm writing today to let you know that I've realized that goal! I'm now about 2 weeks into my new job as Vice President of Sales @ *Blackbird Technologies. I was ready for the challenge and folks were willing to give me the opportunity. Its only been a short while but I can report that its been an amazing couple of weeks. I'm having a blast and learning a ton. Every day I alternate between sheer excitement and sheer terror. J/K...sort of  :) 

It took me some time to figure out what I was going to write about in this post because I didn't want it to come across as braggy or boastful. So I'll keep it very short. I only have an opportunity like this because I've been extremely lucky. Yes I've worked hard and had some success to get here but I've also been insanely lucky. Working for 2 companies in a row that go public is really hard to do. Even if you are trying to do just that and have the best connections in the world, so many things can go wrong in business. I'm very grateful to have been so lucky.

I'm also lucky to have friends/colleagues like Jim Herbold, Jerry Clarno, Justin Roberts & Russ Thau. My respect for them grows each day as I learn more about what this job means. I'm grateful to know them well enough to be able to ask questions about their experiences. They each try their best to prepare me for the unique aspects of taking on a job like this! I'm excited to have the opportunity to tackle a bigger challenge and I'm anxious to make an impact. The truth is getting the job isn't the real trick. The real trick is doing the job well in order to keep it! So on that front I haven't accomplished a whole lot yet. 

I've been spending the majority of my days evenly split between learning product, getting to know the team, meeting customers, joining discovery calls, talking overall strategy and doing some good old fashioned cold prospecting! I'l keep checking back in with periodic updates on new things I've learned and/or insights I've gained. 

*Its not that Blackbird rather this Blackbird. The company is a stealth startup focused on teaming advances in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning with Enterprise Software . The name will likely change and our website is currently being built! I told a few of my friends and family that I was looking for a startup! This is one of the most start-upy startups I could find :)

Nikhil & Manju are exceptional founders with incredible technical acumen. They are passionate about what we are building and have assembled a top notch technical team to execute their vision. I'm excited about what the future holds!

* You can learn more about me on my Linkedin page or on Twitter *

* If you see an acronym or word anywhere on my blog that you haven’t seen before, I might have posted an explanation on my glossary of terms. If not tell me and I’ll add it!*