2016 is shaping into the year of livestreaming, with the internet hosting live broadcasts of everything from the Democratic National Convention to professional sports games. At the helm of this trend is Livestream, an eight-year-old company that wants to bring every event online. The company works with some of the most notable organizations in the world to help them broadcast live events and reach a wider, global audience through technology.
Last year, Livestream streamed over six million events. This year, the company’s first hardware product, Mevo, became the first camera that works with Facebook Live. A large factor in Livestream’s success has been its robust sales team, which makes up about a quarter of the company’s 200 employees.
We caught up with Sam Jacobs, Livestream’s SVP of Sales and Marketing, to learn more about the company’s culture, and how he leads such a hungry group of salespeople.
Built In: What is unique about Livestream’s sales team?
Sam Jacobs: Sales candidates can think about working at Livestream as being a part of a sales MBA program. We’re really focused on professional development and training. My goal for everyone that comes in and works at Livestream is that for however long they stay with us, which we hope is at least two to three years, they come out with real career growth, such as making more money and getting to manage teams. That’s very much the focus of the sales organization at Livestream — ultimately, the team helps grow our top line revenue, but we also to provide an immersive learning and professional development experience for a career in sales.
BI: What is the culture of the sales team like?
SJ: The culture is a combination of a competitive high energy sales environment, but it’s also very collaborative and team oriented. I really believe in communication as a growth tool for how an organization can scale effectively and I think it’s important to give as much information to people as possible so they can do their jobs more effectively. And that starts with a daily huddle that we have. Every day at 8:52 we get together and talk about what we’re going to commit to for that day—a core part of our culture is accountability. If you’re a sales development rep, it will be how many new sales opportunities you’re going to create. If you’re an account executive it will be what business you’re going to close. And it’s certainly okay if you don’t close any business that day, but it’s important that you’re held accountable.We do that every single day and throughout the course of the day we’re trying to celebrate everybody’s success.
BI: Any traditions?
SJ: Part of our culture is really about teamwork and rewarding and acknowledging great performance—so at the end of the week we have a weekly wrap up meeting where everyone on the team gets one vote to nominate another member of the team that they think did the best job for whatever reason that week. Whoever gets the most votes is Livestreamer of the week and they get acknowledged in the call across the company.
BI: Can you speak to employee culture as a whole at Livestream?
SJ: We’re really focused on open and honest communication, as well as trust. We recognize and reward people at every level of the organization. It’s really about giving everyone a voice at Livestream.
BI: What qualities do you look for when hiring?
SJ: I’m primarily looking for four qualities: desire, outlook, commitment and responsibility. For desire, we’re looking for people who really want to be successful in life and have set a high bar for themselves. For outlook, we’re looking for people who are positive because in sales you get a lot of rejection. For responsibility, we want people who hold themselves accountable to what they say they’re going to do. And for commitment, we want to hire people who have a willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed. Overall, we’re looking for people who hold themselves to high standard and do whatever it takes to be the best. And in doing what it takes to be the best, these people are able to put themselves in uncomfortable situations and change based on feedback that they get. Intellectual curiosity and coachability is key in what we’re looking for.
BI: What are some lessons learned from leading the sales team at Livestream?
SJ: You can never overinvest in training, coaching and professional development. There’s never enough time in the day and this always has to be a priority. The importance of communication is paramount. You may feel like you’re repeating yourself, but that’s only when you feel like you’re repeating yourself that the knowledge is going to kick in. Pick a few key themes and hammer them over, over again.
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