CybelCafé: New CRO Jeff Gore is Fired up

Welcome back to the CybelCafé. Today we’re meeting Jeff Gore, the newly appointed Chief Revenue Officer here at CybelAngel. 

Good morning Jeff! What did you order from the CybelAngel Café today? 

I ordered a Dunkin’s decaf with three pumps of cream and a pumpkin swirl. I’m already pumped, so it’s best to skip the caffeine. 

Your energy jumps right off the camera. A new company, new role, let’s get to what people want to know: Tell me about your new role at CybelAngel.

As Chief Revenue Officer, the task I have been assigned is to make sure the organization is aligned on our go-to-market strategy and to be, as I describe emphatically, an advocate for sales and customer success. It’s my job to communicate effectively to the whole organization what is working very well so we can replicate it and everyone has that playbook. It’s also to find out what the challenges are and what the blockers are to alleviate them. 

On the numbers side, I would say that it’s driving ARR and making sure we’re converting using all our resources, including our relationships. I’ll say one more thing about alignment: I make sure everyone is on the same page, they have the same info, and their goals support each other—that way, we’re selling not just a product, but a brand, a partnership-driving ROI. 

That sounds great, even trees need guides to grow. I’m curious what drew you to CybelAngel? 

The team. And the marketspace. Cybersecurity is an active community, and there’s a real need. Companies are getting hit daily with threats to their brand, ransomware, data leaks, and fraud. CybelAngel, a Gartner recognized leader in Digital Risk Protection Solutions, is in a real position to help. That has me excited. 

The existing management team is extraordinarily motivated, they’re smart, and they work together in a uniform way to help the whole organization. I also got referred to the organization by someone who is loving what they were doing.

Do you mind if I ask who?

 No, I’m totally transparent. Nate Alden, Pre-Sales Manager, referred me. His father and I built a company together, and once upon a time, Nate was an intern that worked under me. He heard they were looking for someone and one thing led to another. 

So it’s still your early days here, but what does your day consist of? 

Right now, it’s drinking from the fire hose. (Laughs) My day consists of prioritizing what is needed for the go-forward strategy. It’s finding and hiring the right people who are motivated to help us make things seamless. So that when we talk to our customers, it’s clear how we win and service customers appropriately.

On a day-to-day basis, it’s my job to have my finger on the pulse of the staff and the team so I can make sure they have what they need, to give them a voice. Once those things are done over the course of the day, I’ll transition to being an evangelist by talking to people I know in the marketplace that will derive value from CybelAngel. Not just the product but who we are.

In the end, it’s prioritization, people, and net new revenue.

Your drive is clear. Are you just wired that way or is there a story behind it? 

If I believe in the company. If I believe in the team, believe in the product, that gets me fired up to kick ass and be my best. What drives me every day is my family. I’ve been married to my wife for 23 years, and we have three boys. Two ages 20 and 18 are in college, and the youngest is 15. I work for them to provide for them. It gives me motivation every day. 

What are you most excited about for the future of CybelAngel?

Seeing the “uplift” when we are optimally aligned. Where CybelAngel is today is only the beginning. We’re just scratching the surface. As we help the org communicate forward and backward, there’s going to be a moment, an inflection point, where our clients become ambassadors and those ambassadors become a community that helps us sell.

It’s happening now, during a pipeline review call, Nisha Kappillil our Senior Customer Operations Manager connected prospect, sales, and industry customers that trust us to help move a deal forward. That’s our goal.

What has surprised you the most since joining CybelAngel? 

I’m surprised by how sophisticated the company is for 150 people. I tip my hat to those who have enabled that. To have these business units to be aligned to one goal is rare and makes a great base to build upon. Some companies are just starting sales enablement, but here it’s highly developed. To see the brand, product marketing, and demand gen tightly aligned is great. 

Do you have any advice for candidates interested in joining CybelAngel? 

Some people think that careers are straight paths, always moving upwards. But it doesn’t always work out that way. You’ve got to jump on opportunities; try it. Thirty years ago, I was given the opportunity to run a company, and I found myself on a ride. Waves like that are rare opportunities. At CybelAngel, I feel we’re riding a big wave. Where it goes in three or four years, who knows? But these opportunities are infrequent, so jump in when you can.

What do you do in your free time?

I love to cook. At one point, I planned to be a chef. But I pretty quickly realized that wasn’t going to be enough for me and might make having a family difficult. So I take that energy and bring people together by sharing a meal. I also play golf, travel, but really it’s spending my time with my family.  My wife and I are both driven people, so quiet together time is important.

That’s all the time we have for this episode.  To learn about joining Jeff and the team at CybelAngel, visit our Careers page.