As five Austin-based companies rapidly expand, they know the key to success is recruiting talented team members who can clearly communicate their products’ strengths and nurture lasting customer relationships.
Although the industries these featured companies represent vary widely — from security to real estate, software and more — they each rely on standout marketing, sales and customer success representatives to meet the ambitious goals they set for the year ahead.
Adtech agency MVF, for example, is in the midst of launching a new branch of its marketing team, with plans to triple the size of its U.S. business over the next three years. Atmosphere, a TV streaming platform for businesses, is aiming to increase its overall distribution network beyond the 50,000 venues it already anticipates by the end of this year.
To achieve these impressive goals, leaders are searching for go-to-market team members who are curious, resourceful and competitive. They need people who thrive in fast-paced environments and maintain positive attitudes in the face of unpredictability.
“The most successful members of our go-to-market team are able to specialize and adapt,” said Meghan Diethorn, director of customer success at Luxury Presence. “As we continue to grow, we’ll be looking for more teammates who can do the same.”
Built In Austin connected with leaders from CrowdStrike, Luxury Presence, MVF, WP Engine and Atmosphere to discuss team cultures, priorities for the year ahead and whom they’re looking to hire to help accomplish those goals.
CrowdStrike, a cloud-based security platform provider, is focused on scaling its business. The IT company has grown rapidly over the past five years, from approximately 500 employees to now more than 6,000. Along the way, its team embraced collaboration by embodying the CrowdStrike mantra: “One team. One fight.” As the company continues to expand, leaders are looking for go-to-market candidates who are curious about their customers and the ever-evolving security industry.
What’s one character trait that a successful candidate should have to land a spot on your team?
Curiosity. While there is a learning curve for new hires when they first join, the learning opportunities don’t end there.
The people who are the most successful at CrowdStrike continue to level up their knowledge on our growing portfolio, their customers’ businesses and the changing security ecosystem. It’s really important to me to see candidates come to an interview with thoughtful and engaging questions that demonstrate both their preparation and curiosity about our business, team and future.
From a customer perspective, curiosity is equally as important. I always say customers are the first to be able to tell if you aren’t truly interested in what you’re talking about. Taking the time to express your excitement and interest always yields more engaging and fruitful conversations.
The people who are the most successful at CrowdStrike continue to level up their knowledge on our growing portfolio, their customers’ businesses and the changing security ecosystem.”
What’s the biggest priority for CrowdStrike’s go-to-market teams in 2023, and why is it important?
Scale. Being with CrowdStrike for more than five years, I’ve seen our organization go from approximately 500 to more than 6,000 employees. With such rapid growth, we must be extremely focused on scaling our processes, knowledge sharing, onboarding, training and, ultimately, challenging the status quo for the betterment of our customers and our business.
The more effective and efficient my teams can be, the more they are able to make time for new, creative and strategic activities to grow a customer’s investment with CrowdStrike. This is all while helping them realize the return on their current investment with us.
Retention and growth are the key pillars of our teams. It’s simple at its core, but comes with dynamic and exciting challenges along the way.
How would you describe your team culture in a single word, and why?
Collaborative. Shawn Henry, CrowdStrike’s chief security officer and president of services, is known for a CrowdStrike mantra: “One team. One fight.” I can’t think of a better phrase that embodies how our teams work.
It has been amazing to see the strength of peer-to-peer relationships that formed through workplace collaboration. Investing in hiring the right people has allowed us to build a culture where there is never a question of whether your teammate is willing to help you on a customer call, address a question you’re unsure about or jump into a situation you haven’t faced before. I know definitively that our teams would not have reached this degree of success over the years if we did not buy into a shared conviction of the importance of collaboration.
Luxury Presence, a SaaS marketing system provider for the real estate industry, wants its customer success teams focused on fostering a “raving fanbase.” The real estate marketing technology company values transparency, which is evident at its monthly all-hands meetings when leadership provides key updates on the business. As they recruit members for their go-to-market teams, leaders are looking for resourceful, resilient people who can work successfully in a fast-paced environment.
What character traits should a successful candidate have to land a spot on your team?
Resourcefulness and resilience. We need people in the role who can follow a map, and also find their way without a playbook.
In a fast-paced environment, no day is the same, and it can be somewhat unpredictable. Candidates need to be able to embrace the change, keep a positive attitude through ambiguity and remain focused on solutions.
As we scale, we need to constantly innovate our technology and processes to grow with the business. When the company first launched, our account managers were responsible for being the point of contact for our customers, building their websites, project managing marketing campaigns and providing real-time support. Three years and 5,000-plus customers later, we have five different roles that specialize in delivering these services for our customers.
The most successful members of our go-to-market team are able to specialize and adapt. As we continue to grow, we’ll be looking for more teammates who can do the same. With this type of growth comes a lot of opportunity.
We need people in the role who can follow a map, and also find their way without a playbook.”
What’s the biggest priority for Luxury Presence’s go-to-market teams in 2023, and why is it important?
One of our focuses in 2023 is to create raving fans, both internally and externally. In order to do this, we need consistency, accountability and execution. It’s important to the business as a whole because more people will talk about a bad experience over a good experience. By mitigating the amount of negative experiences, we are growing our raving fanbase, which influences both sales and retention.
Our customers are made up of the top real estate agents and brokerages in the industry. They themselves are customer-facing, serving an ultra-successful clientele, and thus expect a high level of service in return from their providers. We take great pride in our ability to help our clients serve their clients and grow their businesses. For our team to continue to scale the success we’ve already had, we are prioritizing building a team of customer-focused contributors who take pride in providing a seamless experience for our clients.
How would you describe your team culture in a single word, and why?
Transparent. This is how I’ve always described myself as a leader, and it is a goal of mine to foster this culture within the teams that I lead from the very beginning.
This is no easy feat, and it’s a huge time commitment initially because a leader cannot build trust from a distance. However, the ability to have open conversations in a team starts at the top, so the time commitment is well worth the benefit of candor among a team.
At Luxury Presence, this example is set at the top. Our leadership team provides us with transparent insights into the health of the business, fundraising and strategy at monthly all-hands meetings. This allows everyone on our go-to-market teams to understand how their daily contribution impacts our collective success.
MVF, a customer generation business, decided in May to launch a new branch of its marketing team in Austin, which was already home to its U.S.-based sales office. With plans to triple its U.S. business over the next three years, the adtech agency is seeking candidates with entrepreneurial mindsets, proactive attitudes and inquisitive natures. Leaders see the company’s aggressive growth as a testament to its ambitious team culture.
What’s one character trait that a successful candidate should have to land a spot on your team?
An entrepreneurial mindset. Austin has been home to MVF’s U.S. sales office since 2015, and now we’re on a mission to build out our local marketing team. We need people who can get up to speed quickly, seek out new opportunities and solve complex problems in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
At MVF, we are looking for people who always ask “why?” Our top performers are those with inquisitive natures who enjoy seeking out the details in everything they do and striving to accelerate their learning curves.
A proactive, self-starting attitude is a must for this role, as you will often be working in completely new and uncertain circumstances. If you thrive when thrown in at the deep end, then this is the role for you.
We plan to triple the size of our U.S. business over the next three years, so our new team will be on the ground and at the forefront of driving this growth.”
What’s the biggest priority for MVF’s go-to-market teams in 2023, and why is it important?
Our biggest priority for 2023 is establishing and generating value from our new U.S. marketing team. In May 2022, MVF made the strategic decision to build out a marketing presence right here in Austin, with five experienced marketers relocating from the United Kingdom.
This team, alongside our local hires, is going to completely transform our marketing approach and supercharge collaboration with our sales team. The United States is MVF’s key growth market. We plan to triple the size of our U.S. business over the next three years, so our new team will be on the ground and at the forefront of driving this growth.
How would you describe your team culture in a single word, and why?
Ambitious. MVF’s planned growth is a testament to our big ambitions, and so is our decision to take the plunge and launch a new team in Austin. However, we know that growth can only continue if our people grow with us.
We want to hire the best talent and give them the best employee experience possible through training, progression opportunities and fantastic benefits, including an annual $1,500 personal training budget.
We create an environment where people are constantly striving to improve, learn new skills and further their personal growth, alongside the growth of the business itself. This is shown by the internal progression on display throughout MVF, and it is something I experienced firsthand since joining in an entry-level marketing role straight out of college.
MVF rewards employees based on the value they add to the business. This means smart and ambitious people are given the opportunity to accelerate their careers.
Over the next year, WP Engine, a WordPress hosting platform, is focusing on working with its agency partners to create efficient solutions for their customers. The software company prides itself on its inclusive culture, and it’s looking to add sales team members who are competitive — with their teams, other teams and themselves.
What’s one character trait that a successful candidate should have to land a spot on your team?
I think being competitive is such a necessary trait in sales. Compete with your team, other teams and yourself. Competing with yourself is the key to sales, not just for meeting your quota or numbers, but for leveling up your sales skills.
For example, read sales books and articles. Read about the business you’re in — so for us, read about WordPress. Working one on one with your manager on pitches and doing role plays for different scenarios are other ways to level up your skills.
Sales isn’t just about having knowledge of a product; it’s about being prepared, knowing what questions to ask and practicing empathy. When you are competitive with yourself, you will always get better at whatever you do. Set goals, then smash them.
What’s the biggest priority for WP Engine’s go-to-market teams in 2023, and why is it important?
We are leaning into the digital agency side of things quite a bit. We found so much success working through our agency partners that we are doubling down there. This involves creating solutions that enable agencies to do right by their clients and work more efficiently. When agencies win by pleasing their clients, we win.
The managers at the company actually care, they don’t just say that. It comes all the way from the top with our CEO Heather Brunner.”
How would you describe your team culture in a single word, and why?
Inclusive. It’s not just the team, it’s the whole company. I’ve always felt like I belong. The managers at the company actually care, they don’t just say that. It comes all the way from the top with our CEO Heather Brunner.
I love working here. I think Heather and the leadership team do an amazing job of inclusion. I think that one of the best things a company can do culturally is make people feel like they belong. I’ve worked for companies in the past that were very cliquey, but I’ve never felt that way here at WP Engine.
Marketing technology company Atmosphere sees its team members as trailblazers who are working to revolutionize the world of TV for businesses. The company, which provides a streaming platform for businesses, is recruiting hungry sales representatives who go above and beyond in their work.
What’s one skill set that a successful candidate should have to land a spot on your team?
One thing that successful sales representatives on my team have in common is they do not settle for the bare minimum. They all have the hunger and desire to go above and beyond, and it’s reflected in their performance.
What’s the biggest priority for Atmosphere’s go-to-market teams in 2023, and why is it important?
First, our strategy is to hire more account executives each month and invest in training and skill development for both our sales representatives and leaders. By doing so, we can reach many business owners who could benefit from streaming Atmosphere.
Our goal in 2023 is to continue to increase our overall distribution network. Atmosphere will be streaming in 50,000 venues by the end of 2022 — and the next stop is the moon! The best and most effective way we’re going to hit all of our goals is by hiring the sharpest and hungriest account executives. Whether you have five-plus years or zero years of experience, our amazing training program, led by Cory Terre, will set you up for success in 2023 and beyond.
The best and most effective way we’re going to hit all of our goals is by hiring the sharpest and hungriest account executives.”
How would you describe your team culture in a single word, and why?
Trailblazing. We are innovating the world of TV for businesses. We are selling against an unspoken issue: the muted programming and subtitles that plague daytime TV.
We are connecting with thousands of business owners every day to spread the word about Atmosphere and our streaming content. We are selling a product that is free to use and helps business owners better allocate their entertainment budgets. We are growing fast and evolving daily. We are trailblazers.
