Paul Homer
- Vice President, Customer Identity Revenue Strategy
- Okta
School Information
School: University of Washington
College Major: Business
Years at College Works: 2001 to 2003
Career Information
Working For: Okta
Title: Vice President, Customer Identity Revenue Strategy
Industry: Software
Brief Description of Duties / Responsibilities:
Built and managed an incubator for go-to-market initiatives covering PLG, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success. The incredible team of strategists initiated programs worth $200M+ in net ARR for Okta. It was a privilege to focus on revenue-generating and cost-saving initiatives outside the scope of traditional Revenue Operations.
What Has Been Your Proudest Accomplishment Post-CWP?That I’ve never applied for a job. I’ve always had people ask me to come work for them because they heard about my experiences through College Works Painting then future jobs after that.
College Works Career Impact
In one sentence, what has CW meant to you?
I learned invaluable lessons about organizing projects and people, dealing with customers, and balancing managing others with diving in and doing some work myself!
How did your CW experience impact your career? Immediately after graduation? Now?
The experiences I had and knowledge learned allowed me to get into sales management less than two years after I graduated college.
What was the greatest lesson you learned from your CW experience?
You have to be able to trust others. If you try to do everything yourself you won’t grow others and your team will be weak.
Advice
What advice do you have for potential CW participants? Current CW participants?
The effort you put in now will pay off. It’s really tough, but know that your experience will launch you into a completely different trajectory than if you take it lightly.
What’s your best advice for someone interested in entering your career field?
Sell first! Sales Operations should have sales and sales management experience before helping run a sales business. To get into software, use Software-as-a-Service products yourself before trying to get into an industry that sells it.
What’s your favorite memory from CW?
President’s Club in Cancun and all the stories I can’t tell about it.
Last words of wisdom?
College Works Painting was challenging and it’s not the most glamorous way to spend a summer, but it provided a launching point to my career and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.