With Dominican roots, Ysiad Ferreiras grew up in the Bronx where fear was not unusual thing and where hard life would be an understatement. He has made some bad decisions in his early life but he managed to pivot his way into right path doing well academically, learning how to code, and breaking into the tech space.
Currently, he serves as the VP of Sales at Hustle, a text messaging platform which is now being used by major politicians and people in nonprofit and labor organizations including the teams of Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Planned Parenthood, UFCW, and more.
Hustle is still in the seed stage but is now experiencing tremendous growth sending over 60 million messages. Ysiad and his sales team have taken it from zero to over $5 million in booked revenue, one of the fastest growing sales trajectories in Silicon Valley history.
About:
| Years in Tech | 5 |
| Home Town | Bronx, NY |
| Current Job | VP of Sales |
| Date Recorded | 5/9/2017 |
Show Notes:
[05:08] As VP of Sales, Ysiad talks about how he and his team got to grow the company so quickly in just 18 months.
[06:40] Being the first salesperson for Hustle, Ysiad walks us through their sales process and breaks down the different roles on their team.
[11:55] Traits of an Account Executive (AE) and a Sales Development Representative (SDR) and qualities you must have to do well in any sales organization.
[19:22] What the acronym MEDDICC stands for and how these are applied by the SDR and AE roles.
[26:30] Salary range for SDRs and AEs at Hustle and the differences between a seed-stage company and a series D or E company in terms of specialization of roles[30:20] Ysiad differentiates B2B versus B2C sales and how you can add value during the sales process so people want to talk to you
[34:25] Ysiad describes living in two different worlds – his hard life in the Bronx and studying at the prestigious Horace Mann School through a scholarship from Prep for Prep.
[45:30] Ysiad taught himself how to code using a laptop he found in the subway.
[47:17] Ysiad recalls getting arrested at 15, being on probation from 16 through 21, and the circumstances that led him to make bad decisions.
[52:12] While on probation, Ysiad aced academically in school, getting scholarships and internship until he got out of probation and worked different jobs.
[1:01:10] Why Ysiad left the Hedge Fund, doing nonprofit work in India, starting another company in the U.S., and eventually moving to the Silicon Valley
[1:04:00] Ysiad talks about his role as a sales engineer at a startup, getting promoted to Director of Sales Engineering, and working as a Director of Sales and Marketing at another company.
[1:05:00] His advice to people who are figuring out what career path they want to take and whether he thinks sales is being undervalued in the tech space
[1:09:20] Ysiad describes the upsell process after the deal has been closed and generating annual recurring revenue via the SaaS model.
[1:14:00] How Hustle works in helping political campaigns and nonprofit organizations and its impact on poor communities.
[1:21:20] Ysiad’s future plans for his sales teams, some book recommendations, his advice to his younger self, and some strategies in pitching yourself
Contact Info:
Ysiad Ferreiras
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ysiad/
Twitter: @ysiadf
Email address: ysiad@hustle.life
Articles & Mentioned Resources:
Learning Resources
Book Recommendations:
The Challenger Sale by Brent Adamson and Matthew Dixon
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Endless Referrals by Bob Burg
The Sales Development Playbook by Trish Bertuzzi
Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross and Marylou Tyler
