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AJ Tennant

👤 Person
459 total appearances

Appearances Over Time

Podcast Appearances

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

Unpack that. Accelerators are essentially ways to, if someone goes over 100% of their quota, an accelerator just gives that rep the ability to move faster in terms of accelerated comp. And so what it's doing and why I say that's the number one thing, whether it's CSMs, BDRs, AEs, is you're rewarding the top, top performers.

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

Unpack that. Accelerators are essentially ways to, if someone goes over 100% of their quota, an accelerator just gives that rep the ability to move faster in terms of accelerated comp. And so what it's doing and why I say that's the number one thing, whether it's CSMs, BDRs, AEs, is you're rewarding the top, top performers.

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

Unpack that. Accelerators are essentially ways to, if someone goes over 100% of their quota, an accelerator just gives that rep the ability to move faster in terms of accelerated comp. And so what it's doing and why I say that's the number one thing, whether it's CSMs, BDRs, AEs, is you're rewarding the top, top performers.

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

My process is understand the deep history of the individual over a chronological period of time. I didn't realize that that was a hiring methodology until Bob Frati taught me that at Slack, which is the who hiring method, what we call a chronological interview. I ask people, what did you do in high school? Why did you go to the college you went to?

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

My process is understand the deep history of the individual over a chronological period of time. I didn't realize that that was a hiring methodology until Bob Frati taught me that at Slack, which is the who hiring method, what we call a chronological interview. I ask people, what did you do in high school? Why did you go to the college you went to?

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

My process is understand the deep history of the individual over a chronological period of time. I didn't realize that that was a hiring methodology until Bob Frati taught me that at Slack, which is the who hiring method, what we call a chronological interview. I ask people, what did you do in high school? Why did you go to the college you went to?

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

What was your proudest accomplishment in college? And I do that through every, why did you leave the first job you did? Why did you go to the next job? And I go really try to understand because what you can build is an understanding of like the deep motivations that people have.

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

What was your proudest accomplishment in college? And I do that through every, why did you leave the first job you did? Why did you go to the next job? And I go really try to understand because what you can build is an understanding of like the deep motivations that people have.

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

What was your proudest accomplishment in college? And I do that through every, why did you leave the first job you did? Why did you go to the next job? And I go really try to understand because what you can build is an understanding of like the deep motivations that people have.

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

You ask people while you're going through that process of who is your boss? Who is the hardest person you worked for? Who is someone like you didn't like working for? And then you in the moment say, how do you spell their name again? You basically quiz them to say, you know, I'm curious if I reached out to that person, what would what would they give you constructive feedback on?

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

You ask people while you're going through that process of who is your boss? Who is the hardest person you worked for? Who is someone like you didn't like working for? And then you in the moment say, how do you spell their name again? You basically quiz them to say, you know, I'm curious if I reached out to that person, what would what would they give you constructive feedback on?

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

You ask people while you're going through that process of who is your boss? Who is the hardest person you worked for? Who is someone like you didn't like working for? And then you in the moment say, how do you spell their name again? You basically quiz them to say, you know, I'm curious if I reached out to that person, what would what would they give you constructive feedback on?

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

And, you know, sometimes I even fluff it and I'm like, oh, I think I'm connected to this person. And I might, you know, my text them and call them. You want to get people off of their whatever their sales skill game and get real and challenge them on that. That's one way.

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

And, you know, sometimes I even fluff it and I'm like, oh, I think I'm connected to this person. And I might, you know, my text them and call them. You want to get people off of their whatever their sales skill game and get real and challenge them on that. That's one way.

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

And, you know, sometimes I even fluff it and I'm like, oh, I think I'm connected to this person. And I might, you know, my text them and call them. You want to get people off of their whatever their sales skill game and get real and challenge them on that. That's one way.

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

The other is what I think what we were talking about before I came in here was actually have people send materials of the work that they've done.

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

The other is what I think what we were talking about before I came in here was actually have people send materials of the work that they've done.

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

The other is what I think what we were talking about before I came in here was actually have people send materials of the work that they've done.

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

Yeah. Part of the going deep into the why and the chronological side, we move from there to a panel interview. And that panel interview is they get an hour, they get a prompt. That prompt is tell us your history. Tell us about like, you know, your biggest career challenge. Talk about.

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20Sales: Biggest Lessons Scaling Slack from $6M to $1BN in ARR | How to Build a Customer Success Machine and Where Most Go Wrong | The Framework to Hire All Sales Reps: Take-Home Assignments, Hiring Panels and more with AJ Tennant @ Glean

Yeah. Part of the going deep into the why and the chronological side, we move from there to a panel interview. And that panel interview is they get an hour, they get a prompt. That prompt is tell us your history. Tell us about like, you know, your biggest career challenge. Talk about.