Jane Kim, chief revenue officer at CircleCI

Jane Kim is chief revenue officer at CircleCI . Jane oversees the company’s global revenue to ensure that the company delivers on its mission: to provide developers everywhere the power to build and deliver software at high levels of speed.

Jane is known for building global, high-performing revenue teams across enterprise, mid-market and SMB through both field and inside sales teams, tackling problems in engineering, marketing, sales, HR and e-commerce. She has an MBA from Stanford Business School and a bachelor’s in economics from Columbia University.

LinkedIn shows your impressive career timeline. What highlights or challenges on the journey to chief revenue officer does LinkedIn not tell us?

Throughout my years in tech, I’ve experienced the fluctuations of the industry — from periods of growth to times of turbulence, such as the dot-com bust and the Great Recession. Dealing with these uncertainties were challenging, but they also opened up opportunities for me along my career path.

I used each challenge as an opportunity to try something new, which ultimately furthered my expertise. The most interesting career moves are the ones you make for yourself.??

What’s something you believed early in your career that you now think is wrong?

I thought that my career would be linear. Focusing only on one-year, five-year, and ten-year career plans can box you in, or at least it did for me. I had my “aha” moment after a mentor gave me a piece of advice I still use to this day: It’s fine to think about your next step, but what is your next, next step? When you start thinking like that, you open yourself up to new opportunities that can help round out your background.

You’ve been at CircleCI for more than six years. Could you elaborate on how you transitioned from being the vice president of revenue to becoming the CRO? Additionally, what significant distinctions have you observed in your role since the transition?

When I was promoted to CRO, our CEO challenged me to think about what it meant to be a C-suite executive at CircleCI, and it got me to think about the type of leader I wanted to be and the impact I could make on the organization. From a business standpoint, my role is to help push CircleCI’s mission forward, which is to manage change so software teams can innovate faster.?

Our product and customer strategies have to be built in concert because our super strengths lie in our ability to provide immediate value. We can build the best product, but if it doesn’t align with our customers and what they’re trying to accomplish, then it doesn’t matter what we build.?

From a leadership perspective, I aim to be someone who develops high-performing leaders. I’m fortunate enough to work with an amazing team who is out there every single day supporting our customers, so my role is to ensure they’re as successful as possible.?

What do you think is the most significant barrier to female leadership in sales? What advice would you give to women climbing the ladder??

Most importantly, we need more women in leadership roles. Reflecting back on my career journey, especially as a Korean American woman, I remember feeling alone at times. Being able to identify with those in positions you want to be in is so important. This is where mentorship plays a vital role.?

What are your top tips for making the sales-planning process less painful across departments? What are the biggest pitfalls with planning and what lessons have you learned over the years in sales?

When taking on a new challenge, it’s important that you and the organizations you are collaborating with have a solid understanding of the shared goal that everyone is marching towards. Effective communication and listening will go a long way when it comes to identifying dependencies and constraints. ?

It’s also important to have empathy. By putting yourself in the shoes of the person you’re collaborating with, and taking the time to understand their goals and motivators, you can better understand their perspective and work towards a solution together.?

What’s your biggest sales industry pet peeve?

My biggest industry pet peeve is the bad rap that sales cultures are sometimes associated with. In my experience, sales is way more than chest bumps and gong hits. In fact, I’ve seen a lot of amazing, thoughtful and empathetic leaders born out of sales teams — especially today, where more teams are celebrating a diversity of backgrounds and creating a culture with shared values. Culture can change, but it requires everyone to work together to build one they want to be part of.??

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