A Non-Linear Sales Career: An Interview with a VP of Sales at an AI Startup
I had the pleasure of interviewing Elisa Phillips, an experienced business leader in digital media, advertising, and emerging technology platforms. She spent much of her career at Google in the US and Europe, and built businesses with early-stage products and ad platforms including Search, Video, App Ads using new Machine Learning technologies, and Immersive Ad experiences, to name a few. After Google, Elisa joined DoorDash, the leading delivery platform as Director of Enterprise Ad Sales and led a team to drive triple digit revenue growth and product adoption for Doordash’s new advertising and promotional business. Elisa is now Vice President of Sales at Omneky, an innovator and leader in Generative AI which creates AI-powered personalized ads and content at scale. She is responsible for Sales, Business Development and Growth Marketing. Elisa is driven to make a lasting impact that contributes to innovation and sustainable business growth.
How did you break into a career in tech sales?
I studied Psychology and Sociology in university and wanted to apply my education to a non-clinical setting. I came across the book Ogilvy on Advertising written by David Ogilvy, and it sparked my interest in advertising and a need to deeply understand the consumer to see successful outcomes. I was living in San Francisco California, an epicenter of technology, and I got a job as an Account Executive at a technology focused magazine within International Data Group, IDG (now Foundry). My client portfolio was Fortune 1000 Tech B2B companies and I immersed myself in understanding the technologies and products these companies were developing as well as the target customer profiles they were aiming to reach. Digital advertising was on the rise and my aspiration was to be more involved with digital advertising and emerging platforms. I had a fortunate opportunity to work at Google which accelerated my career in tech sales.
What has been a highlight in your sales career?
There have been many milestone moments. One highlight, which was both professional and personal, was moving to London, UK with Google. I was part of accelerating Google’s UK and EMEA business and partnered with brands to expand their digital media strategies to reach new customers and grow their business. I highly recommend working in an international market, even for a short period of time. I was able to travel extensively and it broadened my perspective on market nuances, cultural differences, and I made some lifelong friends in the process.
What led you to work for a start-up like Omneky?
I’m a builder. I enjoy working on early-stage businesses and products, and taking it from 0 to 1 and 1 to 100. Generative AI is the next computing platform and offers unprecedented capabilities for data analysis, personalization, and autonomous generation and automation. Combining my advertising expertise with the latest innovations in Generative AI to solve problems is an interesting intersection to explore and build within. Moving to or working at a startup allows you to wear many hats and learn quickly.
How do you think Generative AI is changing sales?
Generative AI advancements have transformed sales and also marketing roles significantly in the past 6 months. We’re seeing many types of AI-powered tools assist sales leaders and marketers to quickly develop content, create more tailored ads and messaging, and analyze sales pipeline activities and forecasts. It’s an exciting time for sales teams to leverage new technologies and to learn more about how your customers are using these technologies.
What “words of wisdom,” would you give to people in Sales who are in the earlier stages of their career?
A few lessons I’ve learned that apply throughout a career trajectory:
- Be resilient — navigating ambiguity in the market, with a project or with a customer’s needs can be complex, however if you have a resilient mindset, you will find a path.
- Your career isn’t linear — take a career opportunity you think is exciting, nurture your relationships and find your tribe as they may take you somewhere you didn’t necessarily have in your plan, and keep learning.
- Respect the user, the opportunity and each other — when serving your customers, developing products, and creating high-performing teams, be principled and respectful in your approach, hypotheses and decision making.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Get in touch with me on Linked In, I’d love to connect!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisaphillips/
This was very insightful. Thank you so much for joining us!
