#70 Being the Number 1 SE at a Startup

Sam prefers passion over technical knowledge

It’s not everyday I talk to the number 1 SE at a startup, but today was my chance. Sam Pena is the Sr. Director of Sales Engineers at Pluralsight, and he was the number 1 SE at that organization. He has a hand in building the Sales Engineering department, he is running his own blog site to share his experiences with other SEs, and he is one of the organizers of the different meetups for SENY. So he’s busy but he really enjoys sales engineering. 

In this show we will discuss:

  • How Sam became the number 1 SE at a startup
  • What it’s like to be the number 1 SE
  • Implementing different processes
  • Some differences between Customer Success Management and Sales Engineering
  • Technical Skills needed for Pluralsight
  • Background of SEs working for Pluralsight
  • Being a generalist SE, and how that differs than being a Sales Manager
  • Becoming an expert
  • Starting his blog
 

Some more links from the show:

Music on the show: Watchmaker’s Daughter by Reeder