SaaSy Talk S02.09: Beyond the Glassdoor

Description

About The Guest(s): Stephanie Jenkins is the VP of Global Sales at PandaDoc. Prior to PandaDoc Stephanie served as the CRO at rapidly growing Series C startups, and at Glassdoor as the VP of Sales where she scaled the company from an unknown, small-scale start-up to a SaaS recruiting giant (8M →400M ARR). In 2018, she led the team through a successful exit event, an acquisition from Recruit Holdings for 1.2B. Stephanie’s strengths are adaptability, agility, building systems and processes for scale, and creating mission-driven teams.

Episode Summary: In this episode, Stephanie shares her journey into the tech industry, starting from her desire to move to California and work in the tech industry. She discusses her experience at Glassdoor and the lessons she learned during the company's rapid growth. Stephanie also talks about the importance of work-life balance and how she prioritizes her family while still achieving success in her career. She provides insights into adapting and innovating sales strategies, the impact of her career decisions on her personal life, and her leadership philosophy in motivating her team. Stephanie also discusses the future of Pandadoc and her excitement about AI and its potential in the tech industry.

Key Takeaways:

Stephanie's journey into the tech industry started with her desire to move to California and work in the tech industry, which led her to join Glassdoor and eventually become the Global VP of Sales at Pandadoc.
Glassdoor's growth taught Stephanie the importance of adaptability and experimentation in sales strategies, such as bundling products together and running effective proof of concepts.
Stephanie prioritizes work-life balance and believes in creating a system of regular review of metrics to deliver the right performance while still being present for her family.
As a leader, Stephanie focuses on understanding her team's goals and helping them achieve success both in their careers and personal lives.
Stephanie is excited about the future of Pandadoc, particularly in the areas of AI, contract lifecycle management, and configure price quote solutions.

Notable Quotes:

"It's not the strongest or fastest species that survives, but the ones that can adapt the fastest." - Stephanie
"You have to find the thing that makes you love what you do, that you get up excited to do every day." - Stephanie
"You have to think about who you're working for, what are we doing, how are we helping people, and then how am I helping this company and helping further that mission." - Stephanie

Chapters

00:25 Stephanie's Journey into Tech

03:31 From Sales Beginnings to Global VP

05:17 Lessons from Glassdoor's Growth

07:23 Adapting and Innovating in Sales Strategies

10:56 Exploring Work-Life Balance and Career Choices

14:59 Work-Life Balance in the Tech World

20:28 The Impact of Career Decisions on Personal Life

21:59 Leadership Philosophy and Team Motivation

24:01 Implementing Work-Life Balance in Sales Teams

27:07 The Freedom and Responsibility Model in Sales

30:31 A Week in the Life of a Sales Leader