At Cockroach Labs, we value not only our company’s collective culture, but sharing a view into the culture driving teams across the company. In the Meet the Team series, you’ll meet wonderful Roachers who help Enable Every Developer to Build World-Changing Applications.
This entry is part two in our feature of the East Sales team, where we sat down with Matt Vaughn, Brad Lewis, and Anthony DiMaggio. See part one to meet Vincent Giacomazza, VP of East Sales.
Matt Vaughn (Senior Manager, Southeast Sales)
Why did you join Cockroach Labs?
I joined Cockroach Labs for a number of reasons, but I have to be honest: my first instinct when I came across the opportunity was to look elsewhere. I thought “why in the world would I join yet another database company in a crowded space?” After 3 years here, I realize I couldn’t have been more wrong. I heard about Cockroach through our CRO, Jeff Miller, and other teammates who’d come to Cockroach from a previous company. I really valued their opinions, values, and work ethic so I knew the culture and team would be great.
When I started to really unpack the technology, I found myself amazed by what the founders were able to achieve. Every use case that was too complex or just impossible had been solved by CRDB. The shift to the cloud along with disruptive technology made coming here a no-brainer. A lot changes in three years, but I’m so glad I got the call from Jeff and that I have been able to be a very small part in what has been accomplished to this point. There is much more to do!
What do you think makes a successful sales manager?
I think what makes someone successful in my role is the desire to coach and assist others. I’ve always loved teaching and my role allows me to do this every day. My favorite coaches and teachers have all had similar attributes. They have a constant positive attitude, they hold me accountable, and they clearly demonstrate how to be both successful and happy in what you do. Leading a sales team allows me to do that with prospects and customers by bringing new ideas and technology to them, identifying where we can help drive value, and most importantly, implementing that vision to a reality. At the same time, I get the privilege to guide a team on how to do the same for their customers.
At Cockroach Labs, one of our core values is balance, and it’s not enough for me to have a team of folks who are just great at their job. Their job has to be great for them, too; helping my team establish balance and find fulfillment is one of the most important aspects of my role.
Brad Lewis (Account Executive)
Why did you join Cockroach Labs?
When I evaluate an opportunity to join a new company, there are a number of things that I consider to be of highest importance. I’ll highlight a few:
The Leadership: The One Team approach here at Cockroach Labs drives a culture of inclusion, collaboration, and shared success. With our incredibly strong leadership comes the trust, dependability, and focus required to truly change the database landscape as we know it. With strong leadership also comes an unparalleled opportunity for career development and advancement, as we are able to follow in the footsteps of & learn from people we trust & admire.
I know that I will become a better version of myself each and every day that I am here learning from both my immediate management and the broader leadership, which is invaluable to me.
The Product/Technology: The question in deciding to sell a B2B product is: does it have the potential to drastically improve a customer’s way of doing business? As we have now proven (and continue to prove each quarter), CockroachDB is overhauling the legacy database and is being chosen as the tech-select for mission-critical applications within both the Fortune 500 and some of the most innovative startups on the planet. There is no company on the planet that I would rather work for than Cockroach Labs.
The TAM or Total Addressable Market: This one is somewhat self explanatory, but it is very important to consider the broader implications of our company’s success. To what extent will our success here impact the broader market? Understanding our vast potential here at Cockroach, or what “we are playing for”, is a huge source of daily motivation for me as we continue to build a truly revolutionary company in the gigantic cloud/database market.
What do you think makes a successful Account Executive?
Success as an Account Executive is about determination, consistency, and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and self improvement. The best AE’s are often described as extremely “hungry,” which can mean something different to different people. Whatever the source of an individual’s motivation, if it’s applied with determination and consistency, it can lead to success. A constant desire for knowledge, be it product knowledge, better understanding of a customer’s pain points, or something else, also goes a long way.
The best AE’s keep a positive attitude, hit the ground running every day, and refuse to be defeated by challenges or hurdles of any size. Like CockroachDB, they’re resilient.
Anthony DiMaggio (Commercial Account Executive)
Why did you join Cockroach Labs?
I’ve been in the database industry since early 2016 and got my start at Oracle. As I progressed throughout my career and entered into the distributed database market, it was clear to me that ours was the direction most organizations will be heading towards moving forward. More and more frequently I kept hearing prospects bringing up CockroachDB, and eventually several colleagues of mine took the leap to join the Cockroach Labs rocketship. When the time came to make a change myself, I had a list of important items that I used to help guide my decision.
Product - Does the company have a product that truly offers value to its customers, that I can passionately get behind to sell?
Culture & Learning Opportunities - Will I be joining a team that is fast paced, challenges me daily, and pushes me out of my comfort zone to keep learning?
Manager & Leadership - Is this a team I want to be working with on a daily basis and that I feel I can trust?
Compensation & Overall Potential - Beyond a competitive salary and equity package, it’s important for me to find an organization I can see myself growing with for 5+ years.
After several rounds of interviews with a variety of companies, only one organization checked all of the boxes for me: Cockroach Labs.
What do you think makes a successful Account Executive?
There are so many different qualities that can contribute to an individual in my role achieving success. Understanding how to speak to a customer’s business and the value our solution can offer them is important. Having some sort of technical expertise in your field can show the prospect there is a different perspective you can provide to their team. Ultimately, for me, there are a few other components I’ve found useful in my career.
Put the Customer First - Always make sure you are doing right by the customer and putting their requirements/ success criteria at the forefront of your engagement.
Battle & Believe - Don’t stop plugging away each and every day. You never know what one email or phone call can lead to.
The More You Try Understand, The Easier It Is to Sell - Leveraging some Force Management teachings, the more we try to sell to a prospect the more we push them away. Aim to understand their business drivers and pain, and your solution will sell itself.
Don’t Get Too High & Don’t Get Too Low - The sales world comes with plenty of ups and downs; it’s important to stay level headed through the different cycles and stay consistent with your approach.
Stay Organized & Resilient - There will be tough days and more rejection than success. Resilience and organization on follow-ups will be crucial to overachieving quota and landing new customers.
Our team gets up every day to make an impact on the database market. If you want to be a part of what we do, check out the open roles on our careers page.
