RevGenius Member Spotlight: Sebastien van Heyningen
If you’ve written for the RevGenius Mag, you’ve likely talked to or heard of Sebastien. As one of our core editors, he’s been instrumental in driving new article submissions, editing articles, and publishing them. With a community of 15,000 members as of writing this spotlight, he has done a tremendous job of being an editor.
Sebastien started as an SDR and ended up working at a consultancy. Now, he runs his own RevOps consultancy that is quickly scaling.
Below is our interview with Sebastien van Heyningen:
Introduce yourself to our audience. Tell us who you are and what you are currently focused on.
I am an eclectic Rev Ops leader that was lucky enough to accumulate a ton of useful and related experience in the field. I’m currently the President of Central Metric and focused on scaling and multiplying an already successful Revenue Operations Consultancy. My background is in Lead Gen & SDR-Work.
How did your journey lead you to Central Metric?
I’ll give the abridged version: My journey would not be possible without my network. Got an internship at a Series A startup with 15 employees through a classmate. Earned an SDR position there (on a team with an unfinished product and training process). We grew together. When I left, they were finalizing Series D and I was chasing a Manager position. I hopped around a bit after that until a total twist of fate. I walked into a recruiting office at a company sharing space with a mid-sized consultancy and ran into ANOTHER classmate. They were starved for consultants so I got ramped up quickly. A couple years in, myself and my business partner realized we could build our own consulting brand and the rest is history.
What advice would you give to people who are looking to get into consulting?
I’d say re-read that last blurb. NETWORK is what will drive your success. Also, before striking out on your own, find a consultancy that needs help in the field you want to become an expert in. I’ll give you an example: Central Metric is looking for Technical Partners with expertise in Salesforce & Hubspot. You can make your own company and have several jobs, or you can join an active consultancy and work on the skills that matter most to you.
What gets you out of bed every morning?
A constant battle with impostor syndrome. A while ago I decided that you never stop proving that you belong. I’d say that’s doubly true for minority groups. That combined with my lofty goals, and I’m surprised I ever get to sleep.
What would you say your personal superpower is?
I’ve got 2. Project Management & Arguing.
I’m a natural organizer of ideas and action. I will not leave a meeting until all relevant topics have been discussed and action items (with due dates) have been assigned. I always keep the strategic goal in mind and my work cascades down from there. I actually enjoy looking at processes and pointing out how they can get better. I’m weird.
I’m a talker. Which makes sense. My career started with 100+ cold calls per day for 3 years straight. But more than that, I’m a listener with a high EQ. It’s easy for me to relate to people, discover their incentives, and align my argument with them in a way that all parties benefit. Please read “Thank You for Arguing” by Jay Heinrichs. A truly foundational book in my development of this skill.
Why should other sales and marketing professionals join RevGenius?
Haven’t you joined already??? The reasons go on and on. You get to walk into a room filled with people dealing with the same sh*t as you. Great opportunity to share ideas and grow together. You can develop yourself by finding a mentor. You can give back to the community by finding mentees. We’ve got an incredibly active community of both job seekers & job postings if you’re looking for either. I could go on and on, but that should be enough! Join now!