Ryan Walsh
Founder & CEO, repvue
GET TO KNOW RYAN...
Hometown:
Charlotte, NC
Alma Mater:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Hobbies:
Spending time with my family, playing golf, hiking, other outdoor activities
First Job:
I was a short order cook at a swimming club snack bar. I thought it was great. I ate everything I wanted!
Q: Tell us a little about your background.
A: I grew up in Charlotte and attended UNC – Chapel Hill. My first job after college was in 1999 at an internet start-up and I quickly found my passion (or maybe just what I could make money at!) which was sales. I then spent nearly 17 years at ecommerce platform ChannelAdvisor, leading the organization through it’s IPO as the Chief Revenue Officer.
Q: When did you start RepVue?
A: I founded the company as a side project in 2018 and launched it out of beta in 2020. Then, at the end of 2022, we launched with a full rebuild and redesign of the entire platform. So, I've been working on it in some capacity for over five years, and it's been live in market for about three and a half years.
Q: As a career sales exec, do you miss your role in sales leadership now that you are leading a company?
A: I still spend about 60% of my day selling—even at this point. The best value I can add to the business is my sales expertise, so I spend a lot of time selling on a day to day basis. Since the company is still small, I’m actually doing more selling now than when I was leading sales for an 800-person company because back then I was spending more time managing people and process.
Q: What is the biggest thing you have learned as a founder?
A: The key to being a startup founder is to understand not only your strengths and weaknesses, but also your team’s strengths and weaknesses, and properly deploy each individual to drive the most value to the company. Because people wear so many hats at the early stage, I’ve found it’s best to just get the best people possible, regardless of whether there’s a perfect fit in the org chart for them at the time.
Q: How is fundraising different than sales?
A: For me, fundraising is an extension of sales. When you're pitching your company, you're pitching your vision, your traction, the future value of what you're building. There are so many alignments and parallels with fundraising and selling. As a veteran in go-to-market and sales roles, it’s been a natural progression for me. Sales is the balance of art and science. The art is the pitch and the value proposition, and the science is knowing your numbers. In this case, how many VC prospects should I have on my list? Can I grow and nurture that from 25 to 85 to 135? Do I have enough contacts? Do I have enough at-bats? And of course is my message resonating.
Q: What has RepVue done to gain visibility with investors?
A: We have benefited from focusing on building brand visibility with investors. We have a heavy presence on social channels, including LinkedIn and Twitter. Outbound marketing and outreach efforts with investors is a long process—to find them, engage them, etc. If you can generate even a small a portion of your conversations through investors reaching out to you, it makes it a whole lot easier and more efficient. We’ve been fortunate on this front.
Q: What is the best advice you have received?
A: I go back to Scot Wingo, my first employer and current board member. More than a piece of specific advice, he gave me the encouragement and confidence to commit to the risk of starting something. I didn’t know if this company was going to be successful, but I knew I wouldn’t succeed if I didn’t try. Committing to the risk was the encouragement that pushed me over the edge to take this leap.
Q: Who has been your biggest supporter in this business journey?
A: My wife and family have been so supportive of me taking this risk—leaving a stable, corporate job with an incredible salary and benefits to work more hours for less money. This is a sacrifice for the entire family, and they encourage me all the way. This is massively important in a position like this. I don't think startup founders would be able to do it if they didn't have the support of those around them.
Q: What do you look for in a great employee?
A: In business, we know that nothing’s perfect and there are always challenges. Some problems may be evident, and others aren’t. We're really looking for employees who can highlight problems in conjunction with solutions—not just problems. The most valuable employees are the ones that have already fixed the problem before you even know about it.
Q: Do you have any hobbies or passions outside of work?
A: I love to play golf, and I spend a lot of time playing golf with my daughter and son. We also love spending time at the beaches and mountains in North Carolina. The beach is my relaxation time, and the mountains are great for activities like hiking and rafting.
RepVue provides a platform to collect and aggregate unbiased, objective data from sales professionals based on their experiences selling at the world's most well known sales organizations. RepVue has converted this data into highly consumable, visually appealing profiles that enables sales professionals to gain an understanding of what it's really like to work in these orgs. More info: www.repvue.com.
“I didn’t know if this company was going to be successful, but I knew I wouldn’t succeed if I didn’t try.”