In episode nine of the Second in Command Podcast Cameron sat down with Anton Sepetov, VP of sales of App Sumo – an online based company that discovers the newest software and businesses and offers great deals on these discoveries.
Anton’s Background
Anton immigrated to the States as a child with his family from Russia. He watched as his parents turned a couple hundred dollars into a multi-million dollar biotech company in the heart of the Silicon Valley. Living this experience and shadowing his father’s time as CEO shaped Anton, this is where he realized that growing companies was his passion. He is one of the founding members of the Sumo group and has helped grow to eight-figure sister businesses (App Sumo and Sumo.com).
App Sumo ROI Policy
With a 30-day money-back guarantee, they also have a Return on Investments policy in place. They ask their clients to contact them for a full refund if they are not receiving, at minimum, a 200% return on their investment. This means that if you are investing $200 and are not receiving at least $400 back then App Sumo is not doing their job. If you are doing business with someone and they are not happy, there should be some sort of consensus where both parties work together to find an agreement.
Early Stages of Hiring for App Sumo
In the beginning, there were four members of the group and finding a fifth member was a difficult task. Since they knew they would be spending a lot of time with this fifth member, it was important to find someone that they liked. As cliché as it sounds, they wanted someone they would enjoy having a beer with at the end of the day and getting to know better. Their second priority was finding someone who could wear multiple hats and quickly adapt to different situations. Specializing in one particular field would not be an asset for this position. They had to be a self-starter, someone who at the end of the day would walk themselves through the systems and processes required to be efficient at their job – Self-trainers.
Advice to COO’s
One important tip to consider is the dynamics within the leadership team of your company. Working together is crucial, and confronting issues that might restrict a positive work environment will, in the end, benefit the team and company. There is a book called “the five dysfunctions of a team†by Patrick Lencioni. Both Cameron and Anton have read this book and have used the exercises to promote discussion and solidify leadership team ideas for the future of the business. This process can help discover what problems are being faced and what solutions can work best for everyone.
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