Evolving with the Market: Equity Management Solutions

Shownotes

This episode of Sunny Side Up features Jeff Perry, chief revenue officer at Carta, a cloud-based provider of equity management solutions. This fast-growing company started out as a provider of software products but has grown to include an equity management platform now serving more than 20,000 companies (at all stages of growth) as well as more than 2 million investors, law firms, and employee accounts. Originally known as eshares, the company’s initial focus was on capitalization tables and valuation software. But these days, Jeff is responsible for marshaling core products and burgeoning new frontiers related to investor relations and data and computational tools. Learn about Carta’s latest offerings, sales strategies for keeping up with what’s on the horizon, and recommended reading for anyone interested in the world of business.

About the Guest

Jeff Perry is the Chief Revenue Officer at Carta. Jeff has been at Carta for three years and helped scale the revenue team to 200+ members today. Before joining Carta, Jeff grew the SMB sales organization, including New Business and Upsell motions at DocuSign and several vertical teams. Jeff previously led and built larger sales organizations at Oracle.

Connect with Jeff Perry

Key Takeaways

• How sales strategy has evolved over recent years.
• The ways in which Jeff is constantly assessing and reassessing where it is as a company and what is coming up ahead.
• How Carta has positioned itself to capitalize on the current cash-flush VC market.

Highlights from the Episode

What are you up to entering a new year?

The scoreboard starts over this time of year, so we’re putting a bow on 2021 and looking ahead to replicate another great year. We’re all about building on the momentum and excitement about it. The year also kicked off with an offsite at which the team solidified plans that had been in the hopper at the end of last year. Executives, product, marketing, sales – everyone is aligned and ready to run!

Can you share a little about Carta, its history, and mission with listeners?

While it started off as a software company (originally under the name eShares), Carta, at the 10-year mark, has evolved along with the industry, expanding into investor relations, data benchmarking, and a computational product. The focus is also widening to augment software tools designed to support companies with a platform geared towards employees, which will help manage equity, taxation, and financial wellness.

How have sales tactics and teams evolved during your tenure?

Fundamental core ingredients are front and center: segmentation and enablement. But at the same time, there has to be the agility to adapt and change in concert with the company’s growth and market conditions. We’ve built out teams to support private companies and investor services as well. Next up is Carta’s computational product, which is also taking off.

How does your revenue organization capture some of the current cash-flush markets?

One of the biggest challenges associated with leading a sales team is leading teams and providing resources in the present while also keeping an eye on the big picture for what is coming down the road. We put a lot of time and effort into constantly assessing the behind-the-scenes operational and strategic component – what’s happening now, and what can we anticipate three or six months from now? We’re also always building out structures to support new products as they come on board.

What’s on tap for Carta going forward?

There’s a lot to do! The corporation’s business is still growing, and the investment resources out there are still plentiful. We currently have 2 million Carta account holders who have received equity through us. We have a free product – Carta Launch – for companies at an early stage, and that has significantly increased the number of companies coming on board. The goal is to keep those companies throughout their journeys to maturity and offer services to support them with a full spectrum of equity management solutions.

Recommended Reading/Resources

Basic core principles: “The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America,” by Warren Buffett.

• Studying paths to success: “Out of the Pocket: Football, Fatherhood, and College GameDay Saturdays,” by Kirk Herbstreit, Gene Wojciechowski.
• Podcasts: The 20-Minute VC and Collin Cadmus Podcast.

Shout-Outs

Heidi Johnson, – Chief Product Officer, Carta

Chris Degnan, – CRO at Snowflake

Olivia Nottebohm, – CRO at Notion

Laura Spiekerman, – CRO at Alloy

Robin Joy, – SVP at Docusign