Satya Tammareddy on joining a diverse sales team

After falling in love with the product, Satya jumped at the chance to be part of the founding sales team at Dropbox in Sydney.

What did you do before Dropbox?

I studied economics and law in Sydney, and started my career in finance as an equity analyst. I covered stocks at UBS, then moved over to investing at Morgan Stanley, and eventually became interested in startups and tech while going to business school in the United States.

I ended up co-founding a company called Travspire, which aims to connect travellers with unique and offbeat experiences in Asia. While traveling through India we’d found that, unless you knew a local, it was incredibly difficult to discover and book unique experiences. So my co-founder and I decided to bring these experiences online.

Finally, I did a brief stint at Salesforce Australia before moving to Dropbox!

Why did you decide to join Dropbox?

I decided to join Dropbox for two reasons: I loved every single person I met who worked there, and I’d always adored the Dropbox product due to its great user experience. So when I first met the Dropbox Sydney landing team at a scouting trip happy hour, I was blown away by not only how talented the whole team was, but also how warm and humble they were. I was super excited for the opportunity to be part of the founding team of the Sydney office.

What’s it been like to be one of the first hires joining the Sydney team?

The team was extremely welcoming. I was the first Australian hire in the Sydney office that was full of American Dropboxers. Sometimes I’d actually forget that I was working in Australia because I was surrounded by American accents! I still learn something new about the American culture every day. It’s only recently that talk about the American football league and World Series has been replaced by cricket!

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

As clichéd as it sounds, the most unique aspect of doing sales at Dropbox is the people on the team. The sales team at Dropbox Sydney is the most diverse group I have come across, with backgrounds ranging from entrepreneurs, neuroscience graduates, and investment bankers, to the more traditional enterprise account executives from software companies like Oracle. Each person has their own unique selling style, and it’s been great learning new strategies and techniques from everyone.

What have been some of the most memorable moments at Dropbox been so far?

One of the most memorable moments at Dropbox so far was when our Sydney team jumped into Bondi Icebergs pool for the Ice Bucket Challengeearlier this year. Ridiculous given it was winter, but a really great moment!

Another memorable moment was volunteering with three of my colleagues at the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) as part of Dropbox for Good, our employee-run group that helps Dropbox build partnerships with community organizations. We trained some of the staff at the NCIE on how to get more out of their CRM system to achieve their business objectives. It was great to support a local nonprofit and help them with their initiatives.

What are you looking forward to for yourself and for Dropbox?

The Dropbox Sydney office has grown from eleven to eighteen people in the three months I’ve been here. I’m looking forward to being part of this fast-growing office, establishing the Dropbox brand throughout businesses in Australia, and helping to build one of the best workplaces in the country!

What’s something most people don’t know about you?

I used to be terrified of heights. I was walking up the steps of The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona a few years ago when I looked over the edge and froze — I couldn’t continue, so I had to stop climbing and wait for my friend to help me. Recently I decided to kick this fear by jumping out of a plane! I went skydiving earlier this year, and have since found that I’m not so scared of heights anymore.

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

I would probably try my hand at running my own business again, probably in the food space. I’m a big foodie and am particularly interested in healthy eating and locally sourced produce, so I might have ventured that way.