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weathering the storm

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Podcast: Work-Bench
Date: May 1, 2020
Title: Weathering the Storm: 2008 and Now with Kelly Breslin Wright
Length: 46 Minutes
description:

Kelly Breslin Wright, former Executive Vice President of Sales at Tableau, shares her experiences and key lessons learned from building and scaling Tableau from $0 to $1B and managing over half of the 3400 person global team, including learnings from the 2008 financial crisis. Kelly shares tactics for enterprise founders and sales leaders on how to scale companies, best engage with customers and motivate teams. As a current board member of multiple enterprise startups, Kelly also shares how she is seeing companies weather enterprise sales during this time.

Check out our blog post recapping the top takeaways: https://medium.com/work-bench/mission-vision-purpose-how-a-challenger-sale-can-help-you-weather-the-storm-588e7b075647

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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

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