Grit

Guest: Erica Anderson, SVP of Revenue at GitHub

In this episode, we cover: 'The Home of Open-Source Software': How GitHub is used for software development and when Erica joined the company. (3:12) ... How Erica was promoted to VP of Worldwide Sales at GitHub despite never having been a quota-carrying salesperson herself. (5:35) ... The Value of Partnerships: What a successful relationship between sales operations and a sales leader looks like. (8:51) ... 'Listening and learning': The methods Erica used to develop a new skill set for the sales leadership job she had never done before. (10:47) ... Hiring too soon: The 'very painful lesson' Erica learned at GitHub about hiring and expanding before fully understanding product-market fit. (15:43) ... Finding what fuels 'internal drive' — and the differences between external and internal competitiveness in sales. (19:18) ... How Erica's overall focus changed when promoted to a sales leadership role from a sales operations position — and the importance of individual forecasting for sales reps. (23:36) ... Sales motions: The 'internal selling' Erica did to convince GitHub to embrace top-down selling in addition to its existing bottom-up sales structure. (27:41) ... 'Aggregating customer feedback': How GitHub decides which product feature requests to prioritize. (34:01) ... The counterarguments made when Erica and her team advocated for a top-down selling motion to enterprise clients at GitHub. (38:03) ... How Erica defines grit. (41:37)

Show Notes

Erica Anderson had never carried a bag before she was promoted to Vice President of Worldwide Sales at GitHub in 2019. 

With a successful career as a sales operations leader under her belt, Erica has since been promoted twice at GitHub — most recently to Senior Vice President of Revenue. 

On this week’s episode of Go to Market Grit, Joubin and Erica talk about the lessons Erica has learned about leadership throughout her career and the combined bottom-up and top-down selling approach of GitHub.

In this episode, we cover:
  • 'The Home of Open-Source Software': How GitHub is used for software development and when Erica joined the company. (3:12)
  • How Erica was promoted to VP of Worldwide Sales at GitHub despite never having been a quota-carrying salesperson herself. (5:35)
  • The Value of Partnerships: What a successful relationship between sales operations and a sales leader looks like. (8:51)
  • 'Listening and learning': The methods Erica used to develop a new skill set for the sales leadership job she had never done before. (10:47)
  • Hiring too soon: The 'very painful lesson' Erica learned at GitHub about hiring and expanding before fully understanding product-market fit. (15:43)
  • Finding what fuels 'internal drive' — and the differences between external and internal competitiveness in sales. (19:18)
  • How Erica's overall focus changed when promoted to a sales leadership role from a sales operations position — and the importance of individual forecasting for sales reps. (23:36)
  • Sales motions: The 'internal selling' Erica did to convince GitHub to embrace top-down selling in addition to its existing bottom-up sales structure. (27:41)
  • 'Aggregating customer feedback': How GitHub decides which product feature requests to prioritize. (34:01)
  • The counterarguments made when Erica and her team advocated for a top-down selling motion to enterprise clients at GitHub. (38:03)
  • How Erica defines grit. (41:37)

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What is Grit?

Grit explores what it takes to create, build, and scale world-class organizations. It features weekly episodes highlighting the leaders who are pushing their companies to make a difference. This series is hosted by Joubin Mirzadegan, go to market operating partner at Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm investing in history-making founders.