Elissa Fink, former CMO, Tableau Software

      Source: Erin Rinabarger

Recently retired as CMO for Tableau,¹ Elissa Fink led all marketing strategy and execution for 11 years, from pre-IPO startup with ~$5 million annual revenue to public enterprise with $1 billion+ in revenue. She knows growth, scale, and building disruptive brands. Prior to Tableau, Elissa served in marketing, product management, and product engineering executive positions. Now semiretired, Elissa advises tech companies, serves on multiple boards, and teaches at the University of Washington.

      In this interview with Elissa we are going to explore how to charge a brand with culture and how this also helps in hiring people.

      Alexander: As CMO you were creating a culture that is unique for a B2B software company. How did you discover Tableau? How did you become Tableau's CMO?

      Elissa: I discovered Tableau as I was browsing the web — my very first exposure was when I was looking for Excel add-ins to help me force Excel to be an analytical tool. In fact, I was a Tableau customer before I even joined the company!

      But Tableau became front and center to me when I wanted to relocate to be closer to my extended family. I read a LinkedIn job description, and the way that the company described itself intrigued me. I had downloaded the product, and I knew this product was going to change the world. So I really wanted to be part of this company.

When I interviewed with Christian Chabot² on the phone, I asked him what the mission of the company was. He said it was to help people see and understand their data. And then he stopped. Silence. No long-winded blather about stakeholders, just a mission with a clear purpose. That was it. I knew this was the right company for me.

      Alexander: That is indeed an amazing journey. How far in advance did you plan? Did you have a vision for the first six months, first year, or even five years?

      Elissa: Because I saw from the start how the product was just going to change things and revolutionize the industry and the way people use data, I always had a long-term sense of where we were going to go. Being a small startup, you do have to think deeply and think long term, but act quickly in the short term and constantly be taking small steps that prepare you for the long term.

Sometimes you're so excited about the big that you start building for the big before you're ready for it and you don't focus enough on what's needed in the current so you can get to the long term. But on the other hand, you don't want to be acting so reactively in the short term that you're not ready for the future. So it's a real balancing act.

      Community in particular is a great example of that. I knew the community was going to be a critical linchpin even before I joined the company. We have always been mindful of making sure that our community, even when it was small, really felt part of something and they were connected to each other.

      Alexander: Very interesting approach. How much did you have to adjust your vision over time? How much did you have to align your vision with the C-level team? How much freedom did you get?

Elissa: Our founders are so amazing. CEO Christian Chabot and chief development officer (and inventor) Chris Stolte³