Rise of RevOps
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1

Balancing Data and Gut Instincts

On this episode, Sean talks about prioritizing during growth, important qualities in GTM teams, and how he balances data driven decisions with gut instincts.

Weka offers WekaFS, the modern file system that uniquely empowers organizations to solve the newest, biggest problems holding back innovation. Optimized for NVMe and the hybrid cloud, Weka handles the most demanding storage challenges in the most data-intensive technical computing environments, delivering truly epic performance at any scale. Its modern architecture unlocks the full capabilities of today’s data center, allowing businesses to maximize the value of their high-powered IT investments. Weka helps industry leaders reach breakthrough innovations and solve previously unsolvable problems.

Industry
Software Development
Founded
2014
Sean Hiss

Guest Bio

Sean Hiss is the VP of GTM Operations at Weka, responsible for essential go-to-market strategy and enablement programs including market and competitive analysis, metrics, and reporting. Hiss joined the company from Hitachi Vantara, where he was VP of Marketing Strategy and Planning + Global Head of Revenue Marketing. He has held senior positions at Equinix, DataStax, Cisco, and Adobe Systems.

Guest Bio

Sean Hiss is the VP of GTM Operations at Weka, responsible for essential go-to-market strategy and enablement programs including market and competitive analysis, metrics, and reporting. Hiss joined the company from Hitachi Vantara, where he was VP of Marketing Strategy and Planning + Global Head of Revenue Marketing. He has held senior positions at Equinix, DataStax, Cisco, and Adobe Systems.

Episode Summary

This episode features an interview with Sean Hiss, Senior Director of Go-to-Market Operations at Weka: a venture-backed data platform for AI. Sean is an expert in go-to-market strategy and revenue marketing, having previously held multiple senior leadership roles at technology and data powerhouses like Cisco Systems, Equinix, Datastax, and Hitachi Vantara.

Key Takeaways

  • Focus on customer outcomes and experience first.
  • It’s easy to look at too many metrics. Decide which handful of metrics truly matter most to the health of the business, and start your conversations there.
  • Perfect is the enemy of the good. Get comfortable with good enough, and have a bias for urgency and action versus perfecting every detail.

Quotes

“I think fundamentally, most of us who go into operations, we do it because we're helpers and doers. I think my whole team is this way. And I would imagine that most of our industry is like this ‘we before me’ kind of a scenario.”

Episode Highlights

*(01:13) Meet Sean Hiss

*(01:37) What is Weka?

*(03:10) Go to Market (GTM) vs RevOps

*(05:40) How Weka’s GTM team is different

*(07:54) Sean’s first 90 days in the role

*(10:04) Segment 1: RevObstacles

*(12:22) Setbacks Sean has faced

*(17:52) Segment 2: The Tool Shed

*(20:45) Sean’s favorite Metrics

*(26:58) Sean’s Spreadsheet Tips

*(30:33) Segment 3: Quick Hits

*(32:11) The Biggest RevOp Misconception

*(33:37) Some Final Advice from Sean

Episodes Transcript

  • Focus on customer outcomes and experience first.
  • It’s easy to look at too many metrics. Decide which handful of metrics truly matter most to the health of the business, and start your conversations there.
  • Perfect is the enemy of the good. Get comfortable with good enough, and have a bias for urgency and action versus perfecting every detail.
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