Planet, a leading provider of daily data and insights about Earth, announced an expansion of its leadership team with the addition of Michael Goldberg, Vice President of Sales Operations, Debbie Queen, Vice President of Sales, Americas, Simon Alford, Vice President of Global Pre-Sales, and Leslie Mertz, Global Director of Sales Development. Earlier this year, Planet entered into a definitive merger agreement with dMY Technology Group, Inc. IV , a special purpose acquisition company, to become a publicly-traded company.
“To accelerate humanity to a more sustainable, secure and prosperous world by illuminating environmental and social change.”
As Planet scales its business and readies itself for the public market, these experienced sales leaders join a global, world-class team that is focused on accelerating the company’s growth. Planet drove over $110 million in revenue in FY2021A. As Planet prepares to go public, among the uses for capital raised will be further expanding the sales and marketing function.
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“We are at a pivotal moment in Planet’s journey. Nothing is more important than bringing in top sales talent to drive new customer-centric programs and build a robust sales pipeline. With the exceptional combined leadership experience of Michael, Leslie, Debbie, and Simon, we feel confident that Planet is now set-up for even greater success,” said Planet’s President Kevin Weil.
As the Vice President of Sales Operations, Michael Goldberg brings over 25 years of experience in the technology industry to Planet. He predominantly worked in sales operations and financial planning and analysis, most recently serving as the Head of Global Business Operations for OneLogin and the Senior Director of Sales Operations and Enablement at Skuid. Michael is skilled in streamlining sales tools and processes, improving integrations, and optimizing cross-functional and customer-facing initiatives in support of business objectives. This expertise stems from his long history of leadership roles in companies, including Salesforce, Seagate, Autodesk, and Nextel Communications.
As the Vice President of Sales, Americas at Planet, Debbie Queen brings over 18 years of business to business sales experience and leadership expertise in acquisitions and account management. Before moving to Planet, Debbie was the Sr. Manager – Design & Manufacturing, North America Territory Sales at Autodesk. She has a proven track record in strategic vision implementation for solution sales and has worked extensively in developing sales team structures. Prior to Autodesk, Debbie worked as the Director of Sales at ReadyTalk, a cloud communications provider, where she was responsible for the performance and success of Account Executive and Inside Sales teams. She also served as an Account Manager at Aerotek, supporting new business acquisitions and account growth.
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Joining Planet as the Vice President of Global Pre-Sales, Simon Alford brings a wealth of knowledge and experience leading global Pre-Sales and Products teams. Prior to joining Planet, he served as the Director of Global Pre-Sales – Digital Manufacturing Group at Autodesk, and their Director of Automotive Products. Simon has a proven track record scaling innovation and operations excellence, helping create the conditions for high performance. Prior to Autodesk, he was Head of Pre-Sales & Services at an Autodesk Manufacturing Partner, worked in product management and user experience at Siemens Digital Industries Software, and began his career as a design engineer in the Automotive industry.
Leslie Mertz joined Planet as the new Global Director of Sales Development. Leslie brings over 20 years of experience in sales development and marketing in life sciences, sustainability and technology. Prior to joining Planet, she was the Business Development Manager at Aurora Solar, a technology company that builds software solutions for distributed solar projects. There, she scaled the sales development team, oversaw pipeline development for Mid Market, Enterprise, and Strategic Accounts, and supported exceptional levels of company growth with the generation of new logos and expansion revenue. Prior to Aurora Solar, Leslie worked closely with revenue teams to support sales development at ProspectCloud, Insperity, and Escalent.
As Planet joins the public market, the company will become a public benefit corporation (PBC), in which its mission will be encoded into its corporate DNA, obligating Planet’s directors to stay true to their mission as part of their fiduciary duty to their stockholders. Planet’s public benefit purpose is: “To accelerate humanity to a more sustainable, secure and prosperous world by illuminating environmental and social change.”
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