“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.”
Leaders are finding inspiration in various ways as they guide companies through the COVID-19 crisis. For Outreach CEO Manny Medina, it’s a Thomas Paine quote that is helping him right the ship at his Seattle startup.
“I try to be visible and set the tone,” he said.
Outreach is in a unique position amid the global pandemic. The billion-dollar sales engagement company, one of a handful of “unicorn” startups in the Seattle region, helps customers automate and streamline communication with sales prospects.
The sales process looks quite a bit different in the COVID-19 era. Face-to-face meetings at fancy restaurants or big conferences are no longer possible given social distancing orders and work from home mandates amid the global pandemic. Deals are getting done over video conferencing tools, not a dinner and a handshake.
Despite the economic slowdown, Medina said business is still humming along and the 550-person startup has avoided laying off staff. The company, which raised a $114 million round a year ago, is bucking the trend as more than 360 tech startups have cut nearly 36,000 positions to weather the COVID-19 storm.
“A lot of customers are coming to us looking for guidance on how to get through this,” Medina told GeekWire. “They want insight into how to manage their teams remotely and how to pivot their business.”
Some Outreach customers such as DoorDash, DocuSign, and Tableau are seeing surges in demand. They’re using Outreach to help manage the flood of inbound requests as more people order food delivery or use cloud-based software.
Other clients are pulling back on spending as revenue dries up. Outreach is helping them pivot and test new product-market fit, value proposition, and more, Medina said.
Medina said the company doing “more check-ins than ever” with customers and is “working hard to master the ability to create trusting relationships — at a distance.”
“Only two months ago, it was religion that you needed to meet someone in person to build trust … now we are doing it all over video,” he said.
Outreach, ranked No. 12 on the GeekWire 200 list of top Pacific Northwest startups, is also rolling out new products for its 4,000-plus customers. On Monday it debuted Kaia, an voice-powered AI assistant that helps enhance customer conversations in real time.
It also kicked off its annual Unleash event today, moving the sales conference online for the first time ever. Outreach videotaped and produced keynotes and other sessions from speaker’s homes across the country. It also created virtual demo booths; Slack channels for its 11,000-plus attendees to interact with each other; and even made an Outreach coloring book for kids. Medina called it a “herculean effort.”
Tech check and prep for @outreach_io Unleash is no joke! Planning a high tech remote multi-person keynote Covid-style has been a unique experience. Come join us for "10 Don'ts from $0 to $1B". Over 5000 registered so far. https://t.co/6VucyXcsaU pic.twitter.com/zxp4EOMTOT
— Kelly Breslin Wright (@kellybwright) April 30, 2020
Internally, Medina said he’s over-communicating and staying as “talkative” as he can. He switched from sending weekly emails to sending weekly videos — “it helps me be visible and showcase both a serious tone and an optimistic one,” he said — and holds weekly office hours via Zoom.
Transparency is also huge at Outreach right now, Medina said, in regard to how the business is doing, ongoing changes, and future plans.
“I’m struggling with the same things everyone is — entertaining my toddler while trying to do my job,” the CEO said. “I’m missing the energy I get from in-person interactions. But I want to make sure everyone knows we are in this together and we have each other’s backs.”
Outreach is giving $100 per week to employees who are parents for the purchase of educational materials, tutoring, tools, supplies, etc., and is offering additional support beyond its healthcare plan to employees whose families are impacted by COVID-19.
The startup did not apply for a small business loan from the Paycheck Protection Program, despite pressure from investors, Medina told The New York Times last week.
Medina, a former director at Microsoft, originally launched a recruiting software startup called GroupTalent in 2011 with his co-founders Andrew Kinzer, Gordon Hempton, and Wes Hather. But the entrepreneurs pivoted in 2014 to focus on building tools for salespeople.
Outreach competes with companies including Vymo, InsideSales, and SalesLoft.
