Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Welcome to Opfocus’s podcast RevOps Rockstars. Join hosts David Carnes and Jarin Chu as they interview RevOps professionals and explore the challenges they face today. Throughout the show, we dive into how guests got started with their careers, their best tips and tricks, and what excites them about the future of the industry.
RR - David Carnes
===
David Carnes: I think the number one piece of advice would be to play. So, what do I mean by play? Um, uh, if you're creating dashboards, so there are 11 components now on dashboards. There are two additional ones that unlimited edition have. Try them all out. You know, try out, just try and see what it looks like.
Jarin Chu: Today on the podcast, we have a very, very special guest. It's a person who is a three x Salesforce M V p, author of the Newly Released Mastering Salesforce Reports and dashboards host of a Dashboard Dojo, which is a biweekly series of these reporting deep dives. The leader of the Boston Salesforce admin group, founder and chairman of Op Focus, and the co-host of this very podcast, David Cards.
Welcome to the show, David.
David Carnes: Thank you, Jaron. It's great to be on the other side of the microphone.
Jarin Chu: This is a unique experience, I think for our listeners as well, and very special considering this is now our 30th episode on the show.
David Carnes: Amazing.
Jarin Chu: I think what I'd love to focus on today, and for all the listeners that have been following us for the last number of episodes is to really actually learn more about the book you just wrote. Uh, you're on this worldwide book tour speaking to all these. User groups around the world and certainly share with the audience the very cool background that you've built and developed over the years in the Salesforce community and beyond.
And with that, I would love to jump in right away and ask you, first of all, around your three x Salesforce M V P experience. Because of this role and because of your passion in the Salesforce space for Rev ops. For Salesforce reporting, you spend quite a bit of time speaking around the world to different user groups, uh, different admin groups, even at Dreamforce.
I know you've done that a few times. What are some of those questions that you are getting asked the most these days when you're speaking around the world and that gets the audience most excited?
David Carnes: I suppose they come in a couple of different categories. Jaron, uh, you know, one is around career development and people trying to navigate their careers. Another is probably more specific to what I talk about a lot is around reporting and whether it's specific things like writing formulas or trending or maybe broader things around what kind of metrics should I be developing.
Um, the, the, the Salesforce community's very, very special. As you know, the Ohana is real all around the world, and it's just been so great to be greeted. So warmly and to see this community in action, you know, at so many events and user groups, uh, around the world.
Jarin Chu: I have the benefit of sometimes jumping on calls with you, David, and you're calling in from cool. Location A and exotic location. B, can you share with the audience how many countries you've now traveled as part of your speaking tours and, uh, what countries did you enjoy speaking at the most?
David Carnes: You know, they, they've all been great and special. I've spoken at a number of dreaming events. These are community led, volunteer driven. Events within the Salesforce community, and they're all so special if you haven't attended a dreaming event. They tend to be very affordable and just great content from speakers, uh, that are just bringing, sharing their passions with the technology.
Uh, I've been fortunate to speak, uh, over in the uk, in France, in Canada, in Australia. Um, Czech Republic, Morocco, sort of on and on. Just really cool locations in person. Uh, but what's also been very special is having the opportunity to speak to groups virtually, and especially with the pandemic, a number of groups.
Uh, it's just a preferred, uh, Preferred way of getting together. Uh, that's given me opportunities to speak to groups in Ireland and to, uh, speak to, um, Pakistan dreaming and, uh, speak to groups in New Zealand and the Philippines and, um, in South America and, and so on. So really, really lucky that the, uh, the community is just continues to grow.
I think we have over a thousand user groups around the world now.
Jarin Chu: Is there a country that you have yet to speak at that you would love for an opportunity if one. Of our listeners happens to be from there that you would love for an opportunity to be able to go and share your Salesforce knowledge there.
David Carnes: You know, it's been a little too long since, uh, we were last in Iceland, Jaron. So I, I think, uh, that would be kind of cool. It's so close to Boston. It's closer than California. I think there are certainly other, uh, locations, uh, you know, across Europe or or in Asia. That would be really fun to, to, to go, uh, uh, be in person and, and speak to a group there.
Jarin Chu: All right, well, rev Ops rock stars. You heard David himself. If you know of folks in Reykjavik or in Iceland who is in that Salesforce community, we'd love to share some of David's latest and greatest there. Op focus is increasingly known as a SaaS rev ops hub. Um, you know, there's round tables, there's, you know, podcasts like this.
There's obviously a lot of content that, uh, you've worked to put out. Where did that idea of shaping OP focus to become that sas? Rev ops have come from.
David Carnes: I think it's multi-pronged. We saw an opportunity within the market, within the, the SaaS community specifically that we support, uh, to help, uh, define and shape, uh, company's rev ops experiences and rev ops departments. So I think we've seen companies sort of relabel. Sales ops into rev ops and sort of get started that way.
But rev ops is and can be so much more. So we, we saw the need within the marketplace, I think within op focus culture. So, uh, excellence through education has always been important for us. And a great way to learn something is to prepare and teach it. And also another great way, uh, within this community, because there aren't really places to go learn rev ops.
Uh, nobody's coming out of school with a degree in rev ops yet. Hopefully that happens. But, um, uh, so, you know, we've been, uh, as you know, through, through the pandemic, getting groups together to host round tables. Uh, had, we've had dinners. We, uh, have started up the podcast and had a number of other, uh, types of events and activities around, uh, becoming a rev ops hub and just really trying to support the community that we serve.
Jarin Chu: I love the idea. That as part of building excellence in ourselves, teaching is a part of it. Being able to share about it, talk about it, that actually helps elevate our own skillset while making everyone else in the community benefit from that learning process as well.
As part of the the Rev Ops hub here at OP Focus, you personally host a number of monthly gatherings with this curated group of Rev Ops execs, Salesforce architects. I know there's lots of other groups that, uh, are budding. What are the types of topics you're hearing about the most these days, especially with the economic uncertainty?
Is there anything that's particularly top of mind for the folks who are attending your round tables?
David Carnes: You know, uh, because we've had groups, uh, meeting on different levels, I'd, I'd say that the answer can be quite different depending on the group. So within the, the VP of Rev ops group that I've hosted now for a couple of years, I guess we're in our fourth year, um, which is a long time. Uh, Uh, but been amazing.
Uh, tech stack planning org, merge planning, uh, trying to sort out, uh, C P Q use. Uh, those are big topics as well as, uh, things like team building. Also people are curious what's next, because rev ops has emerged so recently as a career path. People are thinking about what's next. And that's been fascinating.
As you've seen, you know, as you know, on this podcast, we've asked so many what they're thinking about, uh, for, for next. So at the VP level, that's been amazing. That, those set of topics. I think as we go to some of the other groups, um, it might become a bit more system specific, just a little bit more a tactical, somebody has a challenge with this particular integration or they're trying to sort out territory management or forecasting what, whatever it is.
Um, within the architect group, what's fascinating is everyone's trying to elevate their game around getting organized. These tech stacks, as you know, have become so complex. The development environments have become so complex that, that, you know, architects are really trying to be the force behind, um, improving just the development environment and the development processes so that they're not shooting themselves in the foot.
Uh, so, uh, it's been, uh, just an amazing set of topics, uh, across these last number of years and, and it's, uh, so special to be part of all of this. Career growth, uh, that's going on as people try to figure out, uh, what can be a lonely role. So rev ops, uh, can be a lonely role in some organizations, and rev ops leaders can be a bit lonely.
They're, they're running so ragged all the time that, uh, it's nice to be able to get folks together for dinner or to, to host a round table for people to share their ideas, uh, with and experiences with each other.
Jarin Chu: Yeah, you mentioned earlier that most people we know in rev ops certainly have not gone to school for rev ops. And what's incredible witnessing, uh, in even my own, uh, round. Tables with the Rev ops women leaders is how much we are absolutely at that cutting edge, how much we are trying to share best practices while experimenting with the latest and greatest that's in the marketplace right now.
And that really only happens with actual practitioners doing it every single day. It's really hard, I think for there to be curriculum to teach. And I think part of why this podcast has, uh, gone the following an audience it has over the last number of years.
You are currently on this multi-month book tour. Uh, your, your book came out, was it a month ago or two months ago now?
David Carnes: It's only been out for a few weeks in the the printed copy, but yes, Amazon had it listed probably two months ago for pre-orders, and then they made the electronic orders available. Within days of me reviewing the final copy edits, uh, you know, because we're working directly within a, a book production environment and they can just, you know, produce the final electronic copies.
But, uh, so yeah, it's just been a few weeks since the book's come out.
Jarin Chu: That is incredible and I'm really curious to hear. When you've started sharing about your book, uh, when you told them, Hey, it's about mastering Salesforce reports and dashboards, what has been most unexpected that you've heard from folks who are hearing you speak about it or maybe who who've actually opened the book and flipped through some pages already?
I.
David Carnes: Oh, um, you know, it's really fun, uh, just from having met so many people. So I've been in the Salesforce community for 18 years, as you know, starting my 19th year, which just seems. Crazy. Uh, I've met a lot of people along the way and what's been really fun is how many people have said, I can hear your friendly voice as I read the pages of the book.
And that, that's, that's kind of cool because you think, you know, probably during the editing process, you know, certain ways of, you know, phrases and stuff. Some of the stuff gets hammered out because the, the grammar police come in and, and, and clean things up. But, um, so that, that's been, uh, that's been a lot of fun I think.
Lining up the book tour has been great, and I'm realizing that we're still in this post covid world. I was very excited to, I've reached out to probably about 25 user groups in, in different cities. Said, Hey, I'd love to, you know, come, you know, speak to your group. I'll bring a few copies of the book, uh, you know, and sign them and that sort of thing.
Um, There are a number of groups in this post covid world that are still meeting virtual only, and, and so it just feels a little different. I'm so happy to speak to groups. Virtually what I'm talking about mostly is reports and dashboards, so the subject of the book, uh, but, um, but boy, being in person is just great.
So I'm off, uh, today to Minneapolis to speak to the Twin Cities user group. Last week I was in Austin. I'll be in Charlotte in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to that. Just really fun to have. You know, all these, uh, great cities and, and great groups to look forward to meeting.
Jarin Chu: And that's such a powerful thing because you did mention earlier how, uh, be that in rev ops or maybe sometimes specific Salesforce roles, it can feel very lonely, right? There's not exactly clear curriculum for it and being able to publish. This book, uh, that O'Reilly really approached you for, and I'd love to hear more about that in a minute.
Um, I think that's remarkable that you can bring together community in this way, but also help document some of this knowledge that kind of lives in just tons of admins and users' heads. How did you decide to write this book on reports and dashboards?
David Carnes: Well, it certainly didn't hurt that O'Reilly reached out to me and asked that I write a book on Salesforce analytics, so that, that, that was really special. Uh, I, in the late nineties, was doing web development. O'Reilly books were my go-to books in the early two thousands that did a master's in software engineering.
O'Reilly books were my go-to books when writing Pearl or learning X M L or that sort of thing. So, uh, uh, to have, just think of them asking me to, to, you know, share what I know about Salesforce. Was, was pretty great. I had already started the Dashboard Dojo, so we meet, uh, once or twice a month. We're coming up on our third anniversary and we have about 40 hours of recordings on all different, uh, Salesforce reporting topics, whether it's formulas or whether it's trending or.
Joined reports or cross filters or just all kinds of topics. So I think, um, the, the, the timing was very lucky. Having had started the Dashboard Dojo. The Dashboard Dojo really has been the research for the book. Just preparing for Dojo Sessions has been my research. I. Um, so it, it's, um, it's really lucky when you can write a book about something you're passionate about that makes the hours go by ease more easily.
And it certainly makes the research more fun because all along the way Salesforce has continued, its steady drumbeat of three releases a year. So we've had a lot more, uh, things to, to write about and things have changed, and even just figuring out things that may not be documented so well yet. What is actually going on, and even the difference between a beta feature and when it goes, uh, becomes generally available or ga there are subtle differences that I've included in the book.
So, um, I was really glad about the timing. The summer 23 release was just about to drop. I had access to pre-release work. Pre-release orgs and also the, the Salesforce product engineering team was so wonderful to me. It's for some last minute screenshots for maybe unlimited edition. I didn't have access to something and you know, they would very kindly gracious, graciously jump on calls to let me grab screenshots or ask a couple of questions.
I.
Jarin Chu: How cool it is to be able to have essentially that bat phone with the Salesforce reports and dashboards team and be able to. Validate, but also be aware of what's coming next and, um, help prepare your readers for that. Why do you think a book like this is so important? I mean, I'm sure it was not easy every step of the way.
I know you mentioned the research was part of what you were already doing for Dashboard Dojo, but I don't even know. Have you done an estimate for the number of hours it took to write this book yet?
David Carnes: You know, it, we, uh, the, the work was across 18 months. I think O'Reilly was thinking it would be about a 15 month project. Uh, there were some months that I didn't write a lot and other months that I wrote pretty furiously. Uh, so. I, I've been maybe jokingly saying a thousand hours, but I'm not, I'm not really sure.
So it was a lot of time.
Jarin Chu: Wow.
David Carnes: but, but, but it was enjoyable time. So that's the thing, you know, it's like the research. I'd be doing the research anyway. Because I'm interested in the features. Um, and you know, I think one of the fun things is sort of a fun memory. When I was approached, they said, all right, well the next step if you're interested is to put together a proposal.
And the proposal was essentially the chapters of the book with sub-bullets for the subheadings and jar. You know, that only one, there was only one major change to what I had Submitted eight, you know, 18 months earlier, which was, uh, the analytics tab, which hadn't been, it might have been talked about, but it hadn't been released yet.
It was, it was certainly a, a thing in the future in the roadmap. And then there were a few other changes like Salesforce earlier this year rolled out the, uh, the updated and improved mobile reporting experience, and it's fantastic. And so I actually had to rewrite the chapter because they made so many impo important changes, uh, and sped things up and really just improve the experience.
So I had to take out all those nasty things I said about mobile reporting and replace them with adulation. Yeah. So, um, For, for a book like this. Um, not every company has proper BI tools. Uh, I want for all of our clients to have more sophisticated tools. So Salesforce has c r m analytics and they bought Tableau.
There are many other real proper BI tools, uh, out there. The reality is that the majority of users worldwide in the Salesforce world, all they get is reports and dashboards, and they still have to manage their day. They still have to run their teams. They still have to make decisions that drive their businesses.
So I felt like, you know, even though the tools are limited, they're not as sophisticated as a BI tool. It's still important for people to know the full set of features available and to start to understand the power that comes when you combine these uh, features.
Jarin Chu: I love that. I think it's the baseline of being able to take action and understand the data that we're collecting every single. Day when we're interacting with the system. And to your point, I think for a lot of companies they graduate from, or maybe they elevate from the out of the box Salesforce reports and dashboards.
Not everyone has, uh, oth all these other plugins and fancy BI tools, but we still need to be able to report back and report out on, um, how the team is doing. So starting here makes tons of sense. What are some of those most important takeaways from the book as kind of a teaser for the folks who maybe now are interested or about to click buy on that Amazon page?
David Carnes: You know, um, I, when speaking at events and certainly in the Dojo and in the book, I talk about how formulas solve problems, and you really can extend your reporting reach just by understanding how formulas work and how they can help you. I. You know, uh, calculate ratio or change a data type or, or manipulate data in a way that you need to present it on your reports or dashboards.
Um, I mentioned earlier this idea of the combination of features is very powerful as well, so realizing that. Uh, the, the base set of features available, which we cover in the book extensively. And then, you know, uh, this idea that by combining some of the features, you can extend your, your reach. Um, the, the, um, the other thing I'll say is, I included a chapter later in the book on trending, and it's such an important thing that a lot of us report writers don't really get around to.
We just don't, don't produce trending, but it's so meaningful to leadership teams to know where we've come and have a sense of where we're going. So there are many trending options that are available and, uh, those should be explored, you know, and thought of as tools on your tool belt when, when creating reports and dashboards,
Jarin Chu: I feel like in a way, um, The audience and readers of your book will probably be best served if they were to sign up for your dashboard dojos. As the number of Salesforce releases continue and new features, uh, keep rolling out.
David Carnes: Yeah, everybody's welcome.
Jarin Chu: So on that point, you know, Salesforce keeps innovating. Um, sometimes the speed at which those new features come out are so fast that. Something like a printed copy of a book can, um, you know, really quickly require an update. How do you personally stay on top of the changes to reporting and relatedly, do you see yourself maybe doing an update to the book?
Every once in a while I.
David Carnes: Great question. Well, if O'Reilly will have me back, uh, certainly. Um, and, you know, there is this, uh, pace of innovation that we have to keep up with and, and the, the reports and dashboards engineering team. They've just been great. They, uh, they've been great and very great to me in a number of important ways.
Sharing what they're working on, asking questions about things that might be more important or less important, so that, that all's really been been great, allowing feedback, um, on the features. Um, one thing that I love to do, so next week, the pre-release orgs for, uh, Salesforce, uh, the winter 24 release are coming out, so three times a year we have the new releases before the new releases come out, probably six or eight, eight weeks before the releases come out.
There are Salesforce makes pre-release orgs available. You can play in a pre-release org for a week, and people call it Hunting for Treasure. Uh, you know, have a week before the release notes are formally unveiled and it's just fun to find stuff, uh, you know, look around and look for new things that didn't exist before.
So I'm in that category of very excited. So I've got it on my calendar. Um, you know, I think it's, uh, in just not, not many days from now, I'll be able to log in, set up a, a pre-release org and start to play.
Jarin Chu: As part of being so enmeshed in this Salesforce, uh, reports and dashboards world, do you also have this opportunity to be able to like collaborate with that Salesforce reports and dashboards team? Like I know you get to get these sneak peeks of what's available. What is that relationship like with Salesforce?
David Carnes: You know, it, it began in a funny way, it was at a Dreamforce maybe 10 years ago, and I, I happened to be, uh, at a presentation from someone on the reporting team, and the gentleman standing next to me was the VP of reports and dashboards. Uh, so, uh, we, we got to chatting. I said something, you know, I think cross filters is my favorite feature.
And he turned to me and he said, I wrote, I wrote the, uh, patent for that, uh, that feature. And, you know, we've been friends since. Uh, but he was very gracious to say, Hey, next time you're in town, let's have you meet the team. And I went in with pages of questions like, why is this like this? And who would in the right mind would do that?
You know? And then some of it was, you know, might've been a little contentious, but they were very open to talk about stuff and, you know, You know, very proud of what they had put together. 'cause they, you know, started from scratch years ago. I think they had some basic ideas of what reports should look like and what dashboards should look like, but they certainly have done a lot of innovations over the years.
So it's been, it's been a great relationship. Uh, and I really feel lucky that they've been so supportive.
Jarin Chu: I imagine that initial meeting with the team might be a bit like Charlie visiting the chocolate factory.
David Carnes: Yeah, it was, it was very exciting.
Jarin Chu: One last question on the book, and I actually wanna kind of pivot us to look ahead about some future projects you might be working on. For those out there that might consider themselves reportedly challenged, what kind of advice or what kind of encouragement would you wanna give to them?
David Carnes: Oh. So, um, I think the number one piece of advice would be to play. So, what do I mean by play? Um, uh, if you're creating dashboards, so there are 11 components now on dashboards. There are two additional ones that unlimited edition have. Try them all out. You know, try out, just try and see what it looks like.
there's nothing stopping you from using the same report. On the same dashboard shown, showing that same report using multiple components, and just pick the one that looks the best. And that's an example of playing. another example playing would be to clone a report or dashboard, save your own copy of it and try to improve it.
Uh, is just, uh, you know, what could be better? How can we show the, information? More effectively. there are a number of, modules on Trailhead related to reports and dashboards. There's a super badge on lightning reports and dashboards. there were some, uh, some badges on formulas, and that's a nice way to, get started.
I think either setting up a dev org or even in, what might be a sandbox, in, your own product, your own, work environment. Just trying out creating reports. So a second piece of advice would be to really, um, understand the underlying data model. So every organization will customize Salesforce, add new objects, add new fields.
Those are things you can take advantage of, um, in reporting. So understanding the data model and then, uh, equally as important is understanding the data itself. Um, I suggest when people create new reports to start off with no filters. And see, okay, we have 2 million contacts in our system. Great. And then maybe if you're gonna add a bunch of filters, add them one by one.
And you're learning about the database. So how many are in this industry, and how many are in this geography, and how many have this particular data issue. Um, but it's, it's a nice way to build up your understanding so you know what to expect when you go ahead and create, uh, reports and dashboards.
Jarin Chu: Those are great tips and I think just that encouragement at the baseline to play, to tinker around with it, to not be afraid of breaking something, right. Cloning a copy of a report that you already have and just. Asking that question, how could it be better? I think that those are great reminders for people who, um, maybe day in, day out are presented with dashboards or reports, but hey, how do I kind of own my ability to understand even the data within the system better?
And I think that data model piece you mentioned as your second tip is very powerful. Also, do I even understand what that structure is when I'm trying to pull data out of the system?
Having written, well, you're 18 plus months into the project, and now with the book published, it's on an Amazon listing. I feel like this might be a good opportunity to kind of do a little bit of that look back. What are some of those biggest misconceptions that you've found and realized about writing a book and like, would you give yourself advice, you know, on day one of embarking this project, uh, that's different from what you knew.
David Carnes: I think one, one thing in particular, so when working with a publisher like O'Reilly, you're paired with an amazing editor. So that was just, you know, God bless the editor. That was, that was amazing. Um, editing takes long, as long or longer than writing does. So I'd, I'd sort of go off and go into my whole and, and write a chapter and then produce the chapter, and then my editor, Rita would go, Review the chapter and come back with feedback.
Now, to incorporate that feedback would take as long or even longer than writing the chapter in the first place. And it's for a whole bunch of reasons, including you're trying to process now what is exactly they're saying and why are they suggesting that this paragraph be moved up here and you know, all kinds of things.
And then when you start having multiple chapters, there may be recommendations to take a hunk of the book and put it in another chapter. To reorder so that this chapter is similar to that chapter in the order and thing, things like that. So that, that was one, um, aspect to it. Uh, you know, I think we probably all have different ways of writing.
I would, uh, Maybe sit at the desk and not accomplish a lot and then sort of feel the pressure late in the day. And I, I just sort of crank through midnight until three or four in the morning and, and get another chapter done. I just felt like the need to break it into smaller chunks and that became more evident at the very end of the book.
'cause we were going through different phases of editing and I just wanted to get all of the images reviewed and resized, or I just wanted to get. Through incorporating, uh, suggestions, uh, you know, there were just a number of things to break it into, smaller chunks to, uh, but it was very exciting when I could see the light at the end of the tunnel and as I kept getting closer and closer.
Jarin Chu: So it sounds like, um, you have. Haven't talked yourself out of writing a book again, and if you were to have the opportunity O'Reilly, uh, to write another book, what might that be on?
David Carnes: You know, it's funny, uh, when I finished I was, you know, humming. I, by the time I finished, I was humming and I'd figured it out. And I sort of felt like it's kind of a shame that I didn't come up with another topic because I could have just kind of kept the motor, kept the motor running. I think, um, there's so much going on with Salesforce's emerging AI capabilities and I think there's, uh, you know, stuff we've had for a number of years, some of the predictive stuff with Einstein.
Then there's this whole new, uh, generative world that Salesforce is stepping into and then weaving those into the existing clouds. That there, I think there's a lot there. I think it would be even more at risk of, by the time you finish the project, you really couldn't, it couldn't be an 18 month project 'cause so much would change during those 18 months.
Um, but, uh, I, yeah, somewhere, something in, in that realm I think would be a lot of fun to research and, and write.
Jarin Chu: And
David Carnes: go on another book tour.
Jarin Chu: Another book tour on ai. I mean, the, the number of folks, uh, who I, I promise we do not seat these answers, but the number of folks who on the podcast when we ask, Hey, what do you think is the next big disruption? What do you think is going to fundamentally change rev ops? I mean, I.
Folks are saying Gen AI left, right, and center right. And I'm like, I promise I did not tell them to say this. So, um, I can definitely see how Salesforce's emerging AI capabilities would be an area that a lot of folks are very curious about, especially to be able to separate kind of the PR and the hype from the actual capabilities of, of that platform and tool we've.
I've been talking quite a bit about your work. Um, obviously the book itself, the speaking you've been doing around the world. I feel like for a lot of our listeners, um, they'd actually be very, very interested to learn more about your personal path and journey that's led you to now being the author of a book, but certainly also, uh, the chairman, op of op focus, uh, Salesforce, m v p, all of these things.
Very, very cool roles. You mentioned earlier, you know, this is, uh, we're we're talking about 18 some years in the Salesforce ecosystem now. How did you first come across Salesforce, and how on earth did you decide to build a business around it back then?
David Carnes: Oh yeah, great question. I, I had worked for three software companies early in my career and I was lucky to be given a lot of latitude to just figure things out. So the third, so software company I was at was an early marketing automation, uh, vendor called Market Soft. I was the corporate apps manager by day and I worked on ops at night 'cause I loved it.
And I was, you know, at the time battling with client server based systems that I was, man managing upgrades. There was such a pain dealing with, you know, security issues, hacker attempts. Um, uh, hardware failures. There were just so many issues that were such a big waste of time that, you know, we had a couple of, of tools and Salesforce wasn't the only one at the time, but Salesforce was doing some things in a very special way, I thought.
But this whole idea of the SaaS model that somebody else can deal with the upgrades and the hacker attempts, you knows, security certifications, all that stuff, and just keep, keep innovating so that we had more tools in the toolbox. Box. When I first touched Salesforce, it was pretty simple. There wasn't a lot we could do.
We really had to be really creative to extend it. Uh, but there was a sense that there was a platform here that they were going to, and, and the AppExchange didn't exist. Apex didn't exist. Visualforce didn't exist. It was, you know, it was, but it was just a sense that more, more was coming. So it was, you know, very lucky to get started and what I thought it would allow me to do.
And so we've had the name out focus for 17 years and now in our 18th year, um, I thought it would allow us to help companies optimize their business operations and, and that has proven true as well. So I was very lucky with those two hunches.
Jarin Chu: Wow. Those are some bold vets. And, um, like you said, you know, we're now very, very deep into Salesforce having these multi-cloud capabilities. Um, obviously the, the industry that, um, the company has chosen to focus on, which is primarily SaaS, has been very fast developing rev ops or even BizOps like you described, um, in that original slogan for our focus continues to be very quickly developing.
Two decades in, well, almost two decades in what continues to keep you excited and engaged about Salesforce or SaaS or Rev Ops and BizOps because they're, I mean, you've been in it for a long time.
David Carnes: Yes. And while I do like the idea of fly fishing more, Um, you know, each of these areas, so Salesforce SaaS and rev ops are evolving, changing, and that that's thrilling, exciting. There are opportunities within that. I think a lot of it for me has been around the people. So I was lucky to, to be part of a dinner in Boston, hosting a dinner the other night.
Um, and there are people that I've known for over 10 years, uh, in this community. It's been amazing to watch their rise up through the different ranks. I. Up to senior leadership leading rev ops teams or, or systems teams to have been part of their journey and now to have the opportunity to be part of their team's, uh, journeys.
Uh, so all of that is very, very energizing. So as a longtime trainer in the community, it's really cool when people that I had trained a long time ago, trust me to train their teams on, on the technology.
Jarin Chu: I remember early on, uh, when I had joined Op Focus, and this is close to a decade ago also, um, you had mentioned, you know, what we do here is to help. People look like rock stars. And you know, going back to your point about people being the most rewarding part of the journey to be able to see their development and growth because of the work that, um, you know, you and the team have helped enabled, is very, very impressive and exciting.
David Carnes: Thank you.
Jarin Chu: So outside of. You know, running this podcast, leading the Rev ops hub, creating community, you know, hosting dinners and doing the dashboard Dojo. And oh, by the way, uh, wrote a book. What do you actually do? You have free time left, and what do you end up doing in your free time?
David Carnes: I have a lot of free time because of the great team at Op Focus, uh, you know, stepping up and, and taking on the reins and run, running the business. So thank you to everyone that's doing that. Um, I, uh, try to cook every day. I've, I've got a whole stack of, uh, vegan cookbooks behind me, and so that's been a lot of fun.
I have access to a lot of great, uh, you know, vegetable vendors and mushrooms and, uh, you know, all kinds of legumes and things like that, and it's been fun to just keep learning so that I'll do the rest of my life. Uh, I started fly fishing with my son maybe six years ago. That's been great. It's allowed me to explore a lot of different parts of Massachusetts, Vermont.
Um, uh, and get to know the area. And then more recently, I've started to take my truck into the back woods. I hired an overlanding guide the other week up in Vermont, and it was so much fun. We spent nine hours driving in the deep woods and it's, it's as much fun to get stuck and figure out how to get unstuck, uh, as it is to, you know, you know, show up at a, at a mountaintop overlook.
Um, but. We crossed, uh, the Appalachian Trail and just, you know, thought, oh, I bet we could sit here all day and not see any hikers. And within a minute, hikers came from both directions on the trail and it was just really just great, great to be out. Um, so, uh, I think, you know, also the opportunity to speak at so many events like Dreamforce coming up, just being given the opportunity to speak again and, and, um, uh, just enjoy that fellowship with others who are learning the platform.
Jarin Chu: I'm starting to form this image of you, David, where you are, uh, overlanding in your truck. You're finding beautiful rivers to go fly fishing. You're cooking every day and meanwhile traveling to Salesforce user groups and admin groups around the world
David Carnes: New Zealand would be great for fly fishing. Iceland would be great for fly fishing and, and for Overland Australia.
Jarin Chu: All right, so we're gonna need to have, uh, some of our listeners make some introductions to folks in New Zealand and Iceland and, um, let's make that happen for David. We're coming towards the end of our time here. How can people find out more about the book and of course, follow you and the many postings you do about reports and dashboards?
David Carnes: Sure. I'm, I'm posting a lot on both LinkedIn and Twitter, so my Twitter handle is just David p Carnes and the number. Three, similar on, on LinkedIn, but I, I post regularly being part of the Boston Salesforce admin group has me posting and then dashboard jojo has me posting and I'll usually list when I have an upcoming speaking date, uh, as well.
Jarin Chu: And I'm guessing people can just go on Amazon to look for your book mastering Salesforce. Ports and dashboards.
David Carnes: Yes, so both on Amazon and on the O'Reilly, uh, website, uh, Amazon may be easiest for people to, to find, uh, find the book and if they want, order it or write a review.
Jarin Chu: We'd love those reviews. Dashboard Dojo, you mentioned you host these once or twice a month. Um, how do people sign up for that? How do people tune in? Um, what is the format of these Dashboard Dojo sessions and is it interactive? Do people, um, bring their questions? How does that work?
David Carnes: Yeah, so great question. So just dashboard dojo.com. Uh, d o j O. So dashboard, d o j o, all altogether.com. Uh, on the site, we have over 40 hours of recordings from the episodes we've done over the last three years. We just pick a topic and run with it, and so I'll usually have topics listed a few out. So the next two topics are in September, the next two sessions.
The first one will be on Einstein activity Capture and reporting on the on the activity object, which has always been a pain for people. The second one will be on the winter 24 release. Uh, so what's coming for reports and dashboards? So those two are in September, but we've also got that recordings tab.
People can, can look back. Um, the session's usually about 50 to 60 minutes long. I. People can ask questions. We do use a webinar and it allows us to have polls and and controls. So we have people on mute, but people can raise their hand and come off mute and we can talk, talk things through. It's really that interaction that's been so special all these years in the Dojo, I.
Jarin Chu: Very special. And you had referenced earlier that, um, you've got some speaking opportunities come up coming up. Uh, you mentioned Dreamforce, you mentioned some user groups. Where can people find out and tune into, or maybe even meet you in person, um, and get their copy of mastering Salesforce reports and dashboards signed?
David Carnes: Oh, that's great. Yeah. Thank you. So, uh, I will be at Dreamforce. I'll do four, um, circles of success on sales reporting. So there's four opportunities at Dreamforce. Uh, I also, on LinkedIn, I've been posting my upcoming, uh, Book tour dates. So I mentioned I'm off to Minneapolis today. I'll be in Charlotte the end of August.
I'll be speaking in, uh, Toronto. I'll be speaking in London, uh, Dallas, Chicago. So a number of real nice opportunities. I think Denver's on the list as well. Jacksonville just reached out, so it's been a lot of fun, but I think LinkedIn is probably the best place, uh, because I'll post what's, what's coming.
Jarin Chu: Great. Awesome. Well, for our listeners and audience who are interested in meeting David, in person, getting that book signed, I think following David on LinkedIn, um, will help you make sure that you'll know when he's coming to a town near you. Well, David, uh, I didn't realize we would have this opportunity, but I'm so glad to have been able to spend, uh, the na last, um, number of minutes here, chatting more in depth, not only about the passion you have for Salesforce reports and dashboards, but also getting to learn about your, your journey along the way.
I think a lot of people look up to Salesforce MVPs and they're like, wow, like, how did you get there? Um, so I appreciate you sharing a little bit about. How you were able to see that promise in Salesforce as a platform all those years ago, and then the ways you've been able to slowly contribute and share, give back to the community to get to this place where you now have a book, you're, you are obviously recognized by Salesforce, valued by Salesforce.
My takeaways from the conversation thus far today. Um, you, your encouragement to play an experiment, uh, with reports and dashboards. It's not intimidating. Uh, you're not gonna break anything if you clone it. Um, that is awesome. I think the other thing I'm hearing a lot about is, you know, joining and being part of communities to be able to share the latest and greatest, to also realize that not everyone knows, and there's also not a right answer because we're very much at that innovating, um, cutting edge.
And then, you know, the final thing I heard. Particularly in the way you described how you wrote the book is to recognize that that speed of innovation is happening at such a clip that working in smaller chunks, being able to get feedback early and sooner is a nice way to kind of, um, keep the momentum going without kind of, I think you described it, going into your cave and, um, coming out with a big chunk of work.
So David, I'm so grateful to finally be able to turn the mic on you. And get to know your journey and process a bit more. Um, and certainly for you to share your experience with our audience today.
David Carnes: Thank you, jar. It's really been a lot of fun to, uh, to have the conversation today.
Jarin Chu: Wonderful. And, um, certainly really wanna give thanks to our audience that's followed us for the last 30 some episodes. Um, this has been very, very special for us to do this one, uh, for my co-host here. And if you haven't already, please of course, go on by David's book. But you can also, um, follow, subscribe, do whatever you need to do on any of those podcasting platforms.
And, um, stay up to date on the latest of Rev Ops. And this has been another exciting episode of Rev Ops Rock Stars. See you next time.
David Carnes: Stay classy. Rock stars.