Six years in startup-time can feel like an entire lifespan.
Due to how quickly and frequently startups tend to evolve, spending six years at the same scrappy business can offer a professional ample opportunities to try on different hats, expand their skill set, operate under pressure and be impactful in a company’s success.
Emma Van Degna is one such professional who fast-tracked her upward mobility at startup OwnBackup, an automated solution that helps enterprises protect their mission-critical Salesforce data.
“In my six years at OwnBackup, I’ve grown from the first account executive to leading the enterprise and public sector sales teams in the Americas, and have for almost three years,” Van Degna said.
The area VP of enterprise sales attributes much of her career growth to her teammates and their motto: “We win as a team and lose as a team.” Van Degna said that collaborative spirit makes both closing deals and dealing with rejection easier. And working so closely with her teammates means she’s filled with pride when she sees them move up the career ladder at OwnBackup and get closer to their professional goals.
Below, Van Degna shares more about her career trajectory and what it takes to make it in startup sales.
Scaling a career and a team
What sort of new challenges and opportunities have you been able to take on as a result of your ongoing growth at OwnBackup?
Working at a startup means you can wear many hats, which is a big opportunity. I’ve found that it’s important for people to take on responsibility outside of their core job functions to ensure a company’s success. However, there’s a balance because you still need to remain focused on doing primary tasks at the same level instead of doing them at 50 percent.
What opportunity have you had to build a team from the ground up at OwnBackup?
I scaled the initial sales team in the U.S. and also helped to start each of our three market segments. From there, I took on the enterprise group and scaled that team from three to almost twenty-five reps. Building and scaling teams over the past four years has certainly been a crash course in management, but I’ve appreciated being able to work with many different types of people. I’m always trying to ask questions and hone in on what makes an A-player.
I’ve enjoyed seeing AEs who were the core sales team move into management and enterprise roles.”
Is there anything about the ubiquity of Salesforce that makes working at OwnBackup different from other startups?
It’s a very defined market when it comes to prospecting. As a partner, Salesforce offers events, support and the AppExchange. All those elements make it easier to connect with prospects, which is different from other markets I’ve worked in. Additionally, they are growing fast, and more large companies are using their technology to deliver a digital experience and transform their businesses.
What sales accomplishment are you most proud of from your time at OwnBackup?
I’ve enjoyed seeing AEs who were the core sales team move into management and enterprise roles. Seeing them accomplish the goals they set when they joined has been awesome.
Also, when I arrived at OwnBackup, getting a deal over $3,000 was exciting. Now we have customers spending seven figures. Watching the product, market and customer base mature has been really cool.
What do you think it takes to be a successful salesperson at OwnBackup?
There is no substitute for hard work and getting scrappy to hit quotas. At the same time, people who can focus on what they need to get the deal done and not get distracted by the little things tend to crush it at OwnBackup.
How would you describe the collaboration among sales team members at OwnBackup?
Overall, selling to Fortune 500 companies is both challenging and rewarding. To overcome the challenges, we embrace the idea that we win as a team and lose as a team. Beyond that mantra, I personally believe that enterprise sales is a team sport. I always tell my team that they should get a manager involved in deals, even if they lose. When leadership has skin in the game, it betters our chances of winning. And if we lose as a team, we’re all in it together.
