Welcoming Matt Heinz as Amplitude’s Chief Revenue Officer
CEO Spenser Skates sits down with Amplitude Chief Revenue Officer Matt Heinz to talk about growing sales teams and the opportunity we see for product intelligence.
Over the last year, we’ve seen more and more companies–from Fortune 100 enterprises, like Microsoft, to high-growth innovators, like Intuit–leveraging behavioral data and product intelligence to build fantastic product experiences. To meet this increasing demand, we’ve invested in shipping a number of advanced analytics solutions and, just last month, we brought over 1,200 product and growth pioneers together for the world’s largest product conference.
To support our continued investment in product intelligence, I am excited to announce that Matt Heinz is joining Amplitude’s leadership team as Chief Revenue Officer. Matt has spent over a decade leading sales teams; prior to Amplitude, he spent eight years overseeing revenue operations for Marketo, and continued to do so after Marketo was acquired by Adobe. We’re excited to have Matt here to help Amplitude grow its sales efforts worldwide.
ref Read the press release.
Spenser Skates: Tell us a little bit about your background. How did you start your career?
Matt Heinz: I started my career working for a Big 5 consulting firm focused on implementing packaged software solutions like PeopleSoft, Ariba and Commerce One. I was focused on the technical implementation and learned how to code which I was not very good at and led to my short consulting career.
SS: Why did you join Amplitude?
MH: From a professional standpoint, I joined Amplitude because I believe there is a tremendous opportunity for the category of product intelligence. Similar to CRM for Sales, Marketing Automation for Marketing, HCM for HR, etc., I believe the product organization is one of the few parts of the business that has not adopted a platform that will operationalize and drive insights that will materially impact the business.
From a personal standpoint, I love the opportunity to build sales organizations. There are incredible sales people at Amplitude and I hope to have the opportunity to impact their career growth and personal aspirations.
SS: How would you describe the role of the CRO?
MH: The CRO owns the go-to-market number at its core. That being said, I think the CRO drives so much of the cross-functional alignment within the company because the go-to-market team touches so many parts of the organization–product, marketing, HR (hiring), finance. Ultimately, the best CROs break down the potential silos that exist within an organization to ensure the company is creating the best possible experience for its customers.
Ultimately, the best CROs break down the potential silos that exist within an organization to ensure the company is creating the best possible experience for its customers.
SS: How do you think about growing and coaching a sales team?
MH: Hiring great talent is at the epicenter of driving incredible business outcomes. How we enable and invest in that talent will ultimately drive our long-term success. It is critical to me that we spend the time understanding what motivates each member of our sales organization. The output is a personal plan that will evolve over time, but ensures the needs of the business remain aligned with the aspirations of our people. Ultimately it is consistent feedback and individualized motivation that will help our sales organization grow.
ref We’re hiring. See open roles at Amplitude.
SS: After winning a new customer, how do you think about showing them continued value?
MH: Often times I have seen companies view winning a customer as the end point rather than the beginning. For me, there is nothing more gratifying than partnering with a customer through their transformational change. It drives outcomes for the company and impacts personal career trajectories. At Amplitude, it is critical that we internalize our customers’ challenges and collaborate on a plan that can be measured over the course of our partnership. It is this maniacal focus on what our customers are trying to achieve that translates to the value we are delivering through our products and services.
For me, there is nothing more gratifying than partnering with a customer through their transformational change.
SS: If you could describe Amplitude in 3 words, what would it be?
MH: Customer-centric, humble, curious.
SS: Costume karaoke is a long-standing Halloween tradition here at Amplitude. What’s your go-to karaoke song?
MH: No one EVER wants to hear me do karaoke. If forced, “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond is a crowd favorite that will hopefully drown out my own voice.
Spenser Skates
CEO and Co-founder, Amplitude
Spenser is the CEO and Co-founder of Amplitude. He experienced the need for a better product analytics solution firsthand while developing Sonalight, a text-to-voice app. Out of that need, Spenser created Amplitude so that everyone can learn from user behavior to build better products.
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