One of the reasons I write is to try to draw together the various threads of my life.
I’ve loved history almost as far back as I can remember and I suspect I always will. One of my earliest memories is of my dad taking me to see a replica of a 16th century sailing ship. I was smitten and I’ve never recovered.
As I grew up, I decided to start my career as a lawyer, largely because I loved public speaking. I switched to the tech sector and became a salesperson so I could be at the center of the action.
I currently serve as Founder at P.S.I. Selling, a consultancy I created to help early-stage software as a service companies build sales processes that prove value and sales teams that can execute.
Previously, I founded the Mid-Market Sales Team at Coursera, a public ed-tech company. At Coursera, I was a key player in growing our enterprise business from ~$3M ARR to ~$180M ARR and was named Manager of the Year. I also served as the VP of Sales at a Series A SaaS company, leading a team of account executives and SDRs.
I got my J.D. from Yale Law School and my B.A. in History from Williams College. My full professional profile is here.
My aspiration is to combine the best of both parts of my career: the action orientation of a salesperson and the thoughtfulness of an attorney. It’s been an interesting journey and I like to think it helps me add something different to the teams I’m a part of.
You can get a sense of my thoughts on history by checking by checking out my article on medieval castles or my post on the Second World War. For a sense of my thinking on sales, check out my article on structuring software demos for impact or my post on the Hidden-Gem Hiring Process.
My favorite history books are Postwar by Tony Judt, which covers Europe since the end of the Second World War, and SPQR by Mary Beard, which chronicles the rise of Rome. Both authors excel at spotting the driving forces of change and laughing at the ironies of momentous events.
My favorite race car is the late-1960s Lotus 49. Race cars have gotten faster and, thankfully, much safer. But they haven’t become more beautiful.
