Welcome

Fascinated with genetics since forever. But the goal wish of a cloned wife ended after my first genetics class. (In hindsight, might not have been able to clone a more amazing wife.) 

Followed my brother’s footsteps into banking and Bank of America seemed like the perfect safety net. Very quickly it became black & white.

Got bit by the entrepreneurial bug - started CoffeeStainResearch with my roommate in college, took the leap with LazyZach, launched PlayItNowApp and now on to my 4th venture called DineAndDone. 

It’s been a rollercoaster ride which I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.  

Account management.

It was an amazing learning experience and would recommend it for anyone out of college. You get to be the CEO of your own book. Juggle multiple issues, sandwiched between tough clients and managing up. 

You learn the art of creating opportunities, prioritization, and professional relationships. My most important take away has been “customer experience" is the foundation of a business in all it’s forms.  

 I work at one of the coolest adtech startups around, called Pathmatics. 

And I recently started doing Strategic Sales & Partnerships there. 

My one big focus this qtr is to secure the [let's call'em the ABC Agency] deal. It's one of the largest ad agencies in our space. 

For the last 18 months or so I've been working with a multiple stakeholders and trying to secure that relationship. I'd say we are almost 60% there but the last part is going to be an uphill battle. 

[Why?] Let’s just say there are multiple moving parts and every "part" has a decision maker that needs to be showcased the value of the platform. 

 It would be to bring onboard the "ABC Agency". This would be any sellers' dream. 

In the art of sales, my dad said it best recently - “Clog the toilet, man!” Unpacking this phrase, I quickly realized a "sales pipeline” is much like a toilet. Fill it up with shit (i.e. opportunities/deals) and keep plunging. 

 Final round interview at Bank of America I quite honestly had admitted to the Interviewer - "Sales ain't for me". His response impacted my life in more ways than I think to imagine. 

This man’s name was Reggie Pretty. He said from what I remember, “ ...every morning one of the first things you do is sell! (Huh?) You look in the mirror and you sell yourself to you.” 

Mind = blown. 

I didn’t know I wanted to do sales. 

As an account manager, I knew the product inside out. Due to which (I believe) I earned my clients' trust. And then it hit me - the “car sales” type of selling is definitely a stereotype. 

Sales today is quite the opposite - it's based on honesty & trust. It's consultancy - understand the over arching issues, target the ones you can solve for and if the relative value > the price tag of the product, a deal will happen.