Redgate hails from another era of the internet: the dot-com boom that ended (painfully for many) in the late ‘90s. Today, much like Amazon, Google, Alibaba and Overstock — contemporaries who also made it past the dot-com bust — Redgate has matured into one of the most trusted brands in the world, with more than 500,000 users worldwide.
Redgate’s IT software solutions are used by 90 percent of companies in the Fortune 500, and the company continues to attract top talent from all corners of the industry. While Redgate is headquartered in the U.K., its U.S. presence is formidable, with offices in Los Angeles and Austin.
We sat down with Greg Tillman, president of Redgate’s U.S. division, to learn more about his twelve-year journey with Redgate from Cambridge to Los Angeles — and where things are headed next.
Before moving to LA, you worked out of Redgate’s Cambridge office. Tell us about the transition and what it’s like to be part of LA’s growing tech community.
Apart from missing a good cup of English builder’s tea, the tech community in LA is not dissimilar to Cambridge. For me it’s exciting as both locations have strong tech communities that Redgate can support and play a role in. In LA we’ve hired some of the most talented people I’ve worked with in the tech industry, and it’s certainly one of the most exciting cities to live and work in, in the world.
What does a day in your life look like?
I’m the President of Redgate Inc. (the U.S. branch of our company), responsible for overseeing our U.S. operations in general. Together we sell to 91 percent of the Fortune 500 and more than 35,000 other U.S.-based companies.
A typical day for me usually includes collaborating with our sales and marketing leaders to determine the best strategy for scaling our accounts, as well as working with our enterprise accounts sales team to coach them on how to best work with our customers. We’ve grown U.S. new license sales by 140 percent over the past two years, so it’s a very exciting time to be part of our U.S. team.
You’ve been with Redgate for 12 years. How has the company grown?
When I joined Redgate, we were still small enough to enjoy a pub lunch together once a week. Twelve years later, we are a global company with operations in four locations and plans to expand further in 2019.
We’ve stayed true to our culture and values, which underpin the way we work. In sales, our approach has changed as we’ve learned more about our customers and developed new solutions. The customer has always been at the heart of how we sell, and this continues to be true today.
We’ve grown U.S. new license sales by 140 percent over the past two years, so it’s a very exciting time to be part of our U.S. team.”
Talk to me about company culture. Is it something that develops organically or deliberately?
Redgate was built on an incredible company culture and values, and it is everyone’s responsibility to cultivate these each day at work. Our values guide the way we make decisions and interact with each other and our customers. We’re so proud of our culture that we wrote a book called “The Book of Redgate” that talks about what life is like at the company — it’s available to download for free from our website.
What’s your vision for the next year at Redgate?
We’ve got so much work to do in 2019. We’re continuing to grow the team and work with more customers in more geographies and markets than ever before. Our products are developed continuously, and we always have new things to talk to our customers and community about.
In sales we’re continuing to change the way we sell and work with the rest of the organization, particularly with our account-based approach and SDR functions. It’s an exciting time to be part of the team!
How do you build a team that aligns with that vision?
We work to develop and nurture our top people and provide exciting growth opportunities for them to develop. We’re also always looking to hire in sales, marketing and management positions in the U.S. One of our core values is to continuously improve, and we know that having a talented, developing team is critical to our success.
What top qualities do you look for when hiring?
After 19 years recruiting top people, we’ve boiled this down to a few key things. We’re always looking to bring on smart, driven and dynamic professionals who are serious about pushing their careers to the next level. We want people who will never stop trying to improve themselves, their teams and the processes around them. Redgate wants people who are going to do their best work, and we’ve built a company that can support and help this professional growth.
