Kevin Nothnagel on finding a great product and team

Account executive Kevin shares what brought him to Dropbox Austin.

Kevin Nothnagel needs a couple of things to be happy at work: a great team and a stellar product to sell. He’s found both things at our Austin office, where he’s part of the Dropbox for Business sales team.

What did you do before Dropbox?

I sold advertising to large customers at Google for over seven years, working across Google’s Midwest offices in Chicago and Ann Arbor, MI. Prior to that, I worked as encyclopedia editor, focusing on digitization of some of Shakespeare’s works.

Why did you decide to join Dropbox?

An old boss of mine used to tell me, “Who you work for and who you work with are the two most important factors in your choice of jobs.” So, the people at Dropbox are what drew me here. They’re a phenomenal group to be around everyday: the perfect combination of smart, high-energy, and humble. I also craved the opportunity to work at a smaller, fast-growing company where it’s possible to have more impact.

What is your role at Dropbox?

I work on the Dropbox for Business sales team. It’s my job to reach out to potential customers to evangelize how our product can help companies save time and money, while enhancing collaboration amongst their teams.

You moved from Chicago to Austin. What inspired this move, and how are you finding Austin?

I called Chicago home for nearly four years, though I was pondering a move to Austin for two of those years before finally making the leap. To me no city in the U.S. compares to Austin right now — the music, the food, the tech community, access to the outdoors, warm weather year-round… I could go on. It’s why people are moving to this city. Plus, the culture at Dropbox Austin is special, and something you notice as soon as you walk in the door.

What surprised you about Dropbox when you joined?

Dropbox has grown tremendously as a business in the last year, yet the original entrepreneurial spirit still runs deep throughout the company. If an employee has an idea about how Dropbox can improve, they’re empowered to pursue it. We’re always looking for new ways to help enrich the lives of our users through technology.

What, in your view, is unique about doing sales at Dropbox?

It’s inspiring to talk to my clients and hear how mission critical Dropbox is to running their businesses. We’re selling a service that’s core to improving productivity in businesses — I find that companies genuinely want to work with us to understand how they can be using Dropbox across their organizations. We started as a consumer product that you use at home, and not many people know we are used in over four million businesses today. It’s fun to be the public face of such a fantastic company and product.

What have been some of your favorite moments at Dropbox so far?

It’s hard to pick a favorite moment when I’ve had so many in such a short period of time! So I’ll highlight two. First, when Drew Houston (one of our founders) visited Austin and held a fireside chat for the whole office, and took us out for dinner and karaoke. It was inspiring to see his commitment to the growth of our office, as well as a few of our local partners.

Second, when we took a recruiting trip to the University of Michigan and I got to see how excited students were to talk about opportunities at Dropbox. It’s great to have more Wolverines joining us next year after graduation!

What have you done that few people have done?

I try to take a long road trip every year. This year I did an expanded version of the “Great Lakes Circle Tour” which takes you around Lake Michigan, through Wisconsin, and the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. I grew up in Michigan so it was a great experience to explore every nook and cranny of my home state. In previous years, I’ve driven thousands of miles through the American South and West.

What are your interests outside of work?

I’m a big baseball nerd. Even though I’m a Detroit Tigers fan, I have a huge collection of Cal Ripken Jr. cards. His work ethic appealed to me from a young age — they called him “The Iron Man” for breaking the record of most consecutive games played.

If you weren’t in sales at a tech company, what would you be doing?

I’m intrigued by the idea of doing foreign service through the U.S. Department of State. The State Department offers a great variety of roles that take you all over the globe and teach you new skills. Dropbox is the place for me right now, though I wouldn’t mind doing an international rotation for Dropbox at some point to appease my sense of adventure.

What are you looking forward to at Dropbox?

I’m looking forward to growing with the Austin office over the next few years. We have big plans for our growth here, with a brand new office on the way and plans for more engagement with the community. From a product standpoint, I look forward to seeing what we build as we continue to execute on our mission of building a home for everyone’s most important information and bringing it to life.

How would you describe Dropbox Austin in three words?

1) Quirky. Austin is a city is known for the slogan “Keep Austin Weird,” so we’ve adopted the slogan “Keep Dropbox Weird.” It comes across in the little things, such as how we have a cowbell instead of a traditional sales gong.

2) Techy. Many of us around here are pretty nerdy, so everything about our office is cutting edge, from standing desks, to the dual-widescreen monitors, and of course, the latest Xbox.

3) Family. We’re a smaller group right now so everyone knows everyone else, and we do lots of activities together outside of work, like concerts and film screenings.