All Podcasts
real talk

Listen

Podcast: Founder Real Talk
Date: April 19, 2018
Title: How to Build a Winning Sales Team, with Kelly Wright
Length: 37 Minutes
Episode: 11
description:

Kelly Wright tells the story of how selling books door-to-door shaped her approach to start-up sales and how she went from the first salesperson at Tableau to becoming the EVP and scaled the company to nearly $1B in revenue.

Kelly brings 20 years of experience in leadership and sales roles, including ten years at Tableau selling the company’s award-winning applications. She has previously held positions at a number of high-profile companies, including VP positions at At Hoc, a major venture-backed software company in Silicon Valley, and sales and management positions at Southwestern, Inc., Dale Carnegie and Bank of America. With an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an undergraduate degree from Stanford University, Kelly has also spent time at strategic consulting firms Bain & Company and McKinsey & Company, helping executives solve strategic questions about organizational structures, channel conflict, operations, pricing and international expansion.

Highlights:

3:47 Why did you choose a sales role? What attracts you to sales?

4:16 What was it like to be the first salesperson at Tableau and scale it to close to $1B in revenue and become EVP?

9:14 How do you decide between working with advisors vs. hiring experts?

10:23 What advice were you given on how to scale?

12:50 How do you build and maintain a positive culture?

16:06 As the company scaled, how did it change how you managed the team?

20:20 How did you coach the sales team?

26:51 How did you manage your time as a sales leader?

29:58 What were some of the best life lessons you’ve learned?

33:19 Hot Seat Questions

Recent Podcast

Signals with Gwen Chen

Zero to a billion: Kelly Breslin Wright on sales

January 28, 2026

Length: 48 Minutes

Signals with Gwen Chen Podcast explores the intersection of AI, business, and strategy. In each episode, Gwen Chen (ex-AWS and Google AppSheet, now Co-Founder and CEO of SolCrys AI) sits down with leaders across marketing, sales, and product to unpack how companies are built, how stories are written, and how business are scaled. Conversations span technology breakthroughs, product narratives, customer insights, positioning, decision-making, and career journeys-alongside the latest trends in AI and their impact.

In this episode, Gwen sits down with Kelly Breslin Wright, a renowned sales and go-to-market expert who played a pivotal role in scaling Tableau from zero to nearly a billion-dollar business.

Kelly shares her journey from selling books to leading revenue organizations at Tableau and Gong. Learn about the importance of emotionally connecting with customers in the age of AI, the significance of understanding your company's mission, and the balance between reacting to competitors and staying true to your path.

Whether you are an early-stage founder or a seasoned executive, Kelly's insights on first deals, sales strategy, and building iconic tech companies will provide valuable lessons and inspiration.

00:00     Introduction to Kelly Breslin Wright

00:51      Kelly's Early Career and Sales Journey

03:35      Key Sales and Leadership Lessons

05:12      The Importance of Mission and Vision

07:41      Early Days at Tableau

14:55      Balancing Customer Requests and Mission

18:37      Finding Product-Market Fit

22:09     Aligning Corporate and Go-to-Market Strategies

28:17      The Role of AI in Sales

38:25      Hiring the Right Salespeople for Startups

45:49     Final Thoughts and Advice for Founders

Learn More
Show All