As most of you know, at Gainsight we strongly believe in radical transparency. That’s why we share everything—wins, losses, finances, board feedback, strategy, and more—with every Gainsight teammate at our all-hands huddle each week. I’ve also been doing Reddit-style AMAs both in person at our various offices as well as over video calls. All our employees know that nothing’s off the table or taboo to ask me about. I don’t have an office door, but if I did it would always be open!
That’s why I felt it was important to address what I did in the server room last month. I know this might make some people uncomfortable, but it needs to be out in the open, and I’d rather you see it for yourself than hear about it from someone else. Please, just watch:
Okay, I apologize for the “clickbait-and-switch” in case you were expecting (or maybe hoping for) something scandalous! Obviously this isn’t the first time I’ve been caught singing or rapping on camera. In fact, my reputation for loving karaoke is what led to this video. I’ll give you the context:
We recently hired Jonathan Cope as our newest Senior Director of Strategic Accounts. He came over from Medallia, which, like Gainsight, deeply values Childlike Joy. To sum up that concept, we believe that there’s a false dichotomy between business and pleasure—or in other words, between what you’re passionate about and what you’re obligated to do. At Gainsight, we’re always looking for new and deliberate ways to suffuse our day-to-day with a sense of pure joy, of fun and flow. It’s not always easy, but it’s a big part of how karaoke became a cornerstone of basically every Gainsight event. In my one-on-one with Jonathan during the hiring process, he asked me, “I know you guys like karaoke at Gainsight, but is it okay if I rap?”
It was clear he’d done his research! I love rap karaoke and routinely do Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” at company parties. He mentioned his go-to was “Ice Ice Baby.” We knew we wanted Jonathan, and that fun fact was just the icing on the cake! Anyway, that same day, we recorded our “Ice Ice Baby” parody video in the server room as a quirky way to offer him the job. But here’s the best part: Jonathan came right back at us with possibly the greatest notice of acceptance in the history of B2B enterprise SaaS. Check it out:
How awesome is that?! As weird as it might seem to some people in the traditional, “professional” corporate world, these types of shenanigans are actually pretty common here at Gainsight—and as long as I’m CEO, they always will be! So if you’re looking to join the greatest team in the Customer Success business, you can never go wrong taking a page out of Jonathan’s book.
