People often ask me how I ended up at Mixpanel.

Well, several years ago, I began hunting for a new job, and I was very methodical about my process. I was working at a company that sold services rather than a product, and I found this exhausting. I wanted to find a really great product, with a loyal customer base. I wanted to sell something that sells itself! (Shouldn’t every sales person want that?)

I came up with a plan: I would research which products people were raving about, and then hunt on LinkedIn to see which companies had no sales or marketing. I figured that must be surely be an indicator of a brilliant product.

I started by reading Quora to see which companies the tech-savvy were talking about. I started with this list:

https://www.quora.com/What-10+-person-tech-startups-are-based-in-San-Francisco

I researched these companies to see which were enterprise companies, and stalked their employees on LinkedIn to see how far along the company’s business ops were. Most of these startups already had VPs of Sales and Marketing on LinkedIn, and that’s not what I wanted.

Mixpanel was soon at the top of my list. No sales, no marketing, no PMs – just a few engineers in a fourth floor walk-up with a coed bathroom and a killer product.

Now I just needed to get in the door. I discovered a mutual friend with the CEO, Suhail Doshi, and she forwarded along my message to him: “Ready for a sales hire?” It turns out, my timing was just right.

Suhail gave me a shot.

We’re now 150 people and growing rapidly, with nearly a billion dollar valuation. I now run a team of 16 sales reps, and our entire sales org is closer to 60.

It’s been a hell of a ride.

So, my advice for anyone looking for a new gig: figure out what matters to you, be methodical, and be proactive. Your dream job is out there, but it won’t land in your lap. Only you can make it a reality. Good luck!

(Oh, and we’re hiring!)