Episode 97: Dickie Kapparos – An Unorthodox Approach to Sales
It’s not just about what you’re selling, it’s about how you’re selling it. For Dickie Kapparos, it comes down to trying to provide value to a customer, rather than just selling for profit.
Now a Sales Development Executive at memoryBlue, Dickie, found that when he made this shift as an SDR, it not only changed the way he approached his cold calls, but the way prospects received his calls. People can hear the difference between a sales pitch and a genuine desire to help. Being able to demonstrate the latter will increase your chances of keeping prospects on the phone and getting those meetings booked.
In this episode of Tech Sales is for Hustlers, Dickie Kapparos gets into how to be successful at cold calling, the value of competition, and the importance of being genuine and sincere as an SDR.
Guest-At-A-Glance
💡 Name: Dickie Kapparos
💡 What he does: Dickie is a sales development executive (PPM) at memoryBlue.
💡 Company: memoryBlue
💡 Noteworthy: Dickie was born in Long Beach, California, and moved to Dubuque, Iowa, when he was two years old. Even as a child, he enjoyed competitive sports, and that competitive spirit helped him become a successful salesman. After losing his financial aid for college in Iowa City, Dickie got a full-time job — working the night shift in plastic manufacturing for 12 hours a night — to return to school. However, he dropped out of school and started working at his best friend’s manufacturing facility, grinding steel for eight hours daily. After that, he started working at memoryBlue, and today, Dickie is a sales development executive (PPM).
💡 Where to find Dickie: LinkedIn | Website
Key Insights
⚡ Competition is key to personal and professional development. Although competition can create pressure, it is great for business because it forces businesses to be resourceful, nimble, and demonstrate their value to every customer. According to Dickie, competition is the healthiest thing in the world because if somebody’s not trying to beat you, you don’t need to do better. “As a kid, I was super competitive. If I lost a game, I was like, ‘My day’s ruined,’ and my dad’s like, ‘It’s just a game.’ I’m like, ‘No, do whatever it takes to win.’ And I thought that was a huge aspect in sports. And that’s why I love to do it. I love to get on the field and do my best and try to be better than the opponent in every aspect of life.”
⚡ Find your true value. Dickie worked for a metal company, and his job involved buying steel and scrap and selling them to the mills. They couldn’t compete on price because they were a small company, but they could offer to be available for any questions. After all, we must be aware of our capabilities and operate accordingly. “My differentiation was service. You give me a call at any point in time if something’s not happening, and I’m going to make it happen for you. […] Service was the biggest aspect. We had no value in any other aspect besides me being there for them and providing that customer service. And the reason I was so successful is because I wasn’t trying to pitch anything else.”
⚡ Being authentic is very important for an SDR. Dickie started working at memoryBlue as an SDR making cold calls, and in the first two months, he didn’t reach his quota. But he used that time to improve himself. As he points out, he learned how to listen more and that the most important thing is to not just to be genuine and sincere but also to be well-prepared for a cold call. “If you’re not being true to yourself on a phone call, and you’re not being a genuine person, people can tell. My approach is very unorthodox, but you’re getting Dickie on the phone. You’re not getting anybody else, you’re getting me. No matter what product I sell, I’m going to be myself, and they can tell that I truly care about them, not only if I ask them a personal question, but also if I ask about their business because you have to be a trusted advisor.”
Episode Highlights
Dickie’s Entry Into memoryBlue
“I was selling email communications; it was a very interesting product. But I think it is a cool thing that when you come into memoryBlue, you not only get thrown right into software sales, but you also get an understanding. You’re talking about different software with everyone within the office; you’re talking about software that you didn’t even know about. I didn’t really know anything about cybersecurity, and if there’s one thing I know coming out of this place, it’s cybersecurity.”
Good Preparation Is Crucial for Cold Calling
“The really cool thing about my development is hearing all the AEs on ten different products, like a sponge. They’ve done their due diligence on their product. They know what questions to ask. So I take those questions. I listen. I see what questions are most important. I see what questions they value. So when I do present them with the next conversation, I can already answer those questions, we can skip that. Like, ‘You don’t need to ask that. Let’s get to the bread and butter, and let’s talk about the next steps.’ So I think the main thing is that I will always ask questions that I already know the answers to. […]
The cool thing about memoryBlue that I thought was most pivotal in my development is watching these discovery calls, listening to these AEs, listening to every aspect that they think, finding your true value in the products, and putting that on the phone calls.”
PPM Team
“On the retention aspect, you work with one client, you make a fixed salary and things of that nature, and it’s very one-on-one. And that’s a really good thing to better understand the foundational aspects, like learning one product, better understanding how software sales work, getting real-time feedback from the clients on your successes, on your failures, and on things that you should work on to better sell that specific product. And then, PPM is more like if you’re successful, you can make a lot of money. […] I’ve been on 13 different clients. I’ve learned every aspect of software. You get your feet wet, you better understand so many different products, and you’re also able to sell so many different products.”
Culture Club President at memoryBlue
“The reason that I wanted to be a Culture Club president is because I truly believed in what memoryBlue was doing in the aspect of culture. I truly believe in networking with people that you grind in the trenches with every day and having a couple of drinks with somebody. I think work and the culture have blended so well at memoryBlue that I wanted to make sure that it was always provided to the people that came in and that everybody had an open door. I built so many lifelong relationships at memoryBlue due to the culture, and I wanted to make sure that when I was providing that, I gave all those same opportunities. It mattered to me because that’s the reason I stayed at memoryBlue — culture.”
Transcript:
[00:00:00] Dickie Kapparos: I will always ask questions that I already know the answers to.
[00:00:03] I will ask questions specifically where I think that it’s gonna bring into the pain. We’re gonna talk about their real issues. We’re gonna talk about what the product was. I think understanding great questions is gonna help you get those fruitful C whips.
[00:00:15] Marc Gonyea: Dickie Kapparos live and direct from Austin, Texas, Chris.
[00:00:43] Chris Corcoran: The ATX coming at us live.
[00:00:46] Marc Gonyea: Dicky.
[00:00:46] Chris Corcoran: I’m right here on.
[00:00:48] Dickie Kapparos: I’m doing good. I’m doing good, Chris, Marc. I appreciate you having me on the podcast. I’m excited to have, have a conversation and see what goes down here.
[00:00:56] Marc Gonyea: I could be totally wrong. I will think I am, although I’ve known to be, is Dickie the first PPM SDE on the podcast?
[00:01:05] Chris Corcoran: You might be. I think we may, we may have our first.
[00:01:09] Dickie Kapparos: I’m honored. I’m honored. They choose to fill.
[00:01:13] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, well, legendary status, Dickie. You’ve done, been doing an excellent job for us. It’s our version of an extreme SDR.
[00:01:22] Dickie Kapparos: There you go. There you go.
[00:01:24] Marc Gonyea: Well, we’ll get to that.
[00:01:24] Dickie Kapparos: That’s a good way to put it.
[00:01:26] Marc Gonyea: I wanna talk about the car I broke down of yours, but we’ll get, we’ll get to that a little bit later, but for now, for the folks listening, let’s have them get to know you a little bit better, Dickie. So, what, and Chris and myself, I’m just the audience. Can you share with everybody kind of your story, where you from, where you grew up, a little bit about that, growing up? What kind of mossy along, from there?
[00:01:45] Dickie Kapparos: Yeah, a hundred percent. So, I was actually born in Long Beach, California. Moved when I was like two to Dubuque, Iowa, small town in the middle of a cornfield, spent most of my time there, played hockey when I was a kid till about high school, played, wrestled a little bit.
[00:02:04] Did my fair share of competitive sports, is somewhat say I’m a little too competitive, but I’m in sales, so it’s a different breed here, other than that. What was your personality like, as a kid growing up, you were playing sports, I mean, were you the, were you the, the guy full of energy and, and life as you are now? Or just tell us a little bit about you as a, as a young person.
[00:02:24] Yeah, I, I would say I was a sort of a class clown, loved to talk, loved to steal the show in those aspects, but yeah, I was always, I always loved talking to people, and I think that’s kind of what I’ve developed in the sense of where I thought my true value was
[00:02:41] in my professional aspect of life because I just love building connections, I always liked meeting strangers, better understanding their stories, even as a kid, I didn’t really know what I was doing, but looking back at it as a child I just wanted to hear what people had to say,
[00:02:55] and I wanted to build true relationships, and I thought that was a huge thing that I’ve always developed, but some people were like, “Why are you always talking?” I was like, “I wanna know what people are all about. I wanna go out there and understand everybody’s journey.”
[00:03:06] That’s why I found myself in sales, and I think as a kid, I was super competitive, like, if I lost a game, I would, I was like, my day’s ruined, my dad’s like, “It’s just a game.” I’m like, “No.” Do whatever it takes to win, and I thought, I thought that was a huge aspect in sports, and that’s why I love to do it, I love to get on the field and do my best and try to be better than the opponent in every aspect of life, so.
[00:03:29] Marc Gonyea: Where do you think that competitives came from? Was it just innate, did you, you know, or siblings, or what, friends? Is it all sports, or what?
[00:03:38] Dickie Kapparos: Well, I was, I was the youngest brother and my sisters always tried to make sure that I put my best foot forward and I think they expected a lot out of me.
[00:03:47] And I think my main thing was just really trying to find my true value, and I thought value was really, like, winning, like winning was my true value that proved, like, if sports was a test, if I won, I passed the test. I wasn’t, I wasn’t the greatest test taker in the sense of academics, but in sports, if that was an opportunity for me to prove myself,
[00:04:11] winning and performing and putting up stats was my main focus. And I think that’s where competitive was just natural to me because that’s what I truly valued is really being competitive and dominating my opponent, and I just loved it. I truly loved competition.
[00:04:26] That’s great. No, that’s good. I mean, that comes out, I think in your profession too, which is good. We’ll get to that. I’ll take a side alley here. Chris is on a tops trip, remember blue tops is like our president club trip for people who are listening. Dickie and Jackson Hawkins went to, uh, went to play golf and they had a, they got another ridiculously competitive person, Jackson, and these guys, the golf trip was legendary, like, they had to stop playing. Did you guys even finish the round? I finished the round; Jackson didn’t finish the round.
[00:04:56] Marc Gonyea: Jackson didn’t finish the round, it was that hot, these guys, like, going after each other. So, I like hearing those sorts of stories, right? That golf match, the, the was, was it important to you both?
[00:05:06] Chris Corcoran: But why don’t, why don’t we have Dickie tell the story?
[00:05:07] Marc Gonyea: Tell the story, Dickie.
[00:05:08] Dickie Kapparos: Well, there’s two sides to every story, so. So, well, I always love to tell mine, Marc. So, me and Jackson decided to golf during our tops trip, we decided to bet some money, it went well for the first, let’s say six or seven holes, but then Jackson wanted to play it like it was the PGA, out of bounds is two strokes, every aspect of it. So, we all, all four of us tee off and I hit a ball, maybe 30 yards, everybody else hits the ball out of bounds.
[00:05:37] And then, he’s like, “Well, let’s just all tee off again.” I was like, “No, I’m not taking a drop. I’ll just hit my ball.” And then, at that point, me and Jackson are yelling at each other on the tee box, and he’s like, “I just cannot stand you.” And I’m like, “I’m telling you, I’m not taking two strokes, we’re playing for cash, this is what it is, I’ll hit the ball 30 yards,” and it ended up just being a real heated conversation, but I think that’s why me and Jackson, like, we fight like brothers, like, even though it was probably something that really didn’t matter, both of us are right even if one of us is wrong.
[00:06:08] And I think that’s the real aspect that I’ve really gained from Jackson is that we stand at what we believe in even if that means one of us leaving the golf course. So, I think that was a, a really fun time ’cause tops trips, even though we didn’t see eye to eye at the golf course, we had a great time in every other aspect of the trips.
[00:06:27] Marc Gonyea: That’s great. Of course, you guys did. So, when you’re going back to your youth, what did you think you wanted to do when you grow up? When you grew up?
[00:06:35] Dickie Kapparos: That’s a good question, Marc. I think I wanted, I wanted to build something like specific, like I wanna be an entrepreneur, I just didn’t, I like, I wanna be an idea guy, but I feel like I’m more just like pinpoint accuracy, like, I can be the face of a franchise, but I wanted to build an organization at some point in my life.
[00:06:56] I want to build a real estate portfolio, but I don’t think I really had like, you know, like, I wanna be an astronaut or anything of that nature, I just wanted to be myself and I wanted to build a picture of myself that I thought was able to, people were able to look up to, like, I never had, like, that, like, “Oh, I wanna be an NHL player.” I think I was a realist. I’m, I’m 5’7, maybe, 5’8 if people are asking.
[00:07:20] So, I think my true aspiration was just building something for myself, like, having financial freedom, and I think, like, when I’ve came, like, in my high school, I always thought I wanted to build a real estate portfolio.
[00:07:31] I think that’s kind of coming to fruition with the opportunities that memoryBlue has given me, like building capital and having able, having a little bit of financial freedom, and I think memoryBlue is kind of that first aspect of being able to have that money to build something, something real, something, like, that I can provide for a family
[00:07:47] ’cause I, I feel like, I always have wanted to be a provider as a kid, but didn’t have that like cool sense of like, oh, astronaut, teacher, doctor, it was just always, like, build something for myself, like I just wasn’t able to grasp it, and I think, like, the financial freedom aspect is gonna come, and I think memoryBlue is a huge outlet to that.
[00:08:08] Like, I was working pay, paycheck to paycheck for a long time, and I was like, “When is it gonna change? When is it gonna change?” And, like, now I see all these aspects of who I want to be, I want to just be a better person than what I thought I would be.
[00:08:23] Marc Gonyea: Just get to that, Dickie, you’re immensely talented. And so, I wanna hear about, but I wanna hear about your journey a little bit ’cause, right, ’cause we got people who might be listening to this or thinking about coming to work at memoryBlue that can relate to your side of things, kind of where you are now and how you got here. So, let’s go back to that.
[00:08:36] Dickie Kapparos: I have one of them on, on Orthodox journeys, that you can think of. So, I graduated high school,
[00:08:43] Chris Corcoran: Just start from high school, yeah, start from high school.
[00:08:44] Dickie Kapparos: Yeah. I graduated high school, wasn’t standout, I, I think the main thing that really helped me back in high school is I was, I was always looking to do the bare minimum, like, whatever, like, let’s just slide by, let’s get the diploma, whatnot.
[00:08:57] And then, I went to Community College in Iowa City and that first year, like, I’m 18 years old, Marc, Chris, I’m like, let’s go, like, when you move to Iowa City, biggest party college town, like, I really bonded in the culture and I really didn’t focus on education, and like, so, I went into community college thinking like, oh, just do, go to my classes, whatnot.
[00:09:17] And then, it ended up being just partying, partying, partying, and partying, and like, so, I went there for two semesters, and then they’re like, “Hey, we’re gonna pull your financial aid, we’re gonna pull all this stuff.” And I’m like, “Oh, snap!” Like, real life hits me, and I’m like, “This isn’t as cool as I thought it was.”
[00:09:32] But, like, I took a month back, I took a step back, grabbed a full-time job, worked night shift in a plastic manufacturing job for 12 hours at night to pay, ’cause then I was like, “I don’t have any financial aid, how am I supposed to go to school?” So, I had to work 12-hour night shifts to go back to school, and then I had to pay as you go, to go to school.
[00:09:50] So, like, I would work 12-hour night shifts, go to an econ class at 9:00 AM after I worked six to six, like, I did a lot of savage things, but then what was even kind of crazier about that aspect is I did so much to get back into school, like, I got my AA, and I’m like, “I don’t even wanna go to school.” Like, I did all these things to like, go to school, and I was like, “I don’t even wanna go to school.”
[00:10:12] Like, I was just so bought into the ideal picture of, like, hey, go get a degree, you get a good job, things of that nature. And then, so, I dropped outta school in that aspect, but I did what was so weird is I felt like I grew so much because I worked those 12-hour night shifts to get back to school that I truly knew that that’s not what I wanted.
[00:10:31] Like, my freshman year, I like, got drunk all the time, never went to school. And then, I was like, took it back, I was like, “Yo, I need to finish this school thing. I need to do this. I need to work these 12-hour shifts. I have to pay for school to get back into it.” And then, when I got to school, did all these things, and I was like really taking school seriously.
[00:10:46] Dickie Kapparos: I was like, I, it just didn’t make sense to me, and I think it makes sense to a lot of people, but it just didn’t make sense to me ’cause I had so many life experiences and what I truly valued wasn’t, you know, the foundational educational, like it wasn’t. So, then after that,
[00:11:01] Marc Gonyea: What have you triggered that? Was it the work part, the experience, work, or was it experience?
[00:11:05] Dickie Kapparos: I, I think it was experiencing work and I think it was experiencing, like, so like, when you go into a 12-hour plastic manufacturing job and you work with those people, and like, you just understand their mindsets and you understand, like, what they truly value, and just like where everyone has came from because, like, the 12-hour plastic manufacturing is the bottom of the totem pole in blue collar work,
[00:11:33] like, and I was just understanding people and like, when I took those classes, I thought that I got a good understanding of like, you know, accounting, economics, business management, but when I took those classes on an educational stance, I just didn’t think that it provided me true value of what I wanted to do with my career.
[00:11:53] So, it was just a really eye-opening thing because, like, I had this grass and this idea of like, graduating from a university and doing all these things, but I think just personally, I made a decision that I was going to take a different path, and I think that path is so vital for a lot of people, because I think people do need structure and I think people do need, like, that sense of accomplishment.
[00:12:22] Like, I put my nose to the wheel for four years, and it’s a milestone. And I think a lot of people have to go through that milestone to develop as a person and to build a professional career and to really have that drive, but I just felt that it was instilled in me to find success no matter what aspects I take.
[00:12:40] Like, and that’s why it’s so unorthodox because after I got outta community college, I worked at my best friend’s manufacturing job, I was grinding steel, Marc and Chris, I was grinding steel for eight hours a day.
[00:12:51] Marc Gonyea: That’s not that, what does that mean? ‘Cause most, I don’t know what
[00:12:53] Dickie Kapparos: that means.
[00:12:53] Yeah. So, like, so, like, a hand power tool, with your hand, like a straight power grinder, just grinding burrs off of steel parts for eight hours a day, just mindless work. And I, it, I worked there for like four months, and I was like, “Okay, I gotta figure out what to do, I gotta figure out what to do.” Because I, ’cause I had to make such a weird transition.
[00:13:13] It’s like, yeah, I dropped outta school. I gotta make money. So, I just hopped into this manufacturing, another manufacturing job working nine, working, I think it was 6 to 2:30, just grinding steel. And it was just, it was such a thing. And then, it, it’s so funny how life works because, like, I decided that that’s definitely not what I want to do.
[00:13:33] And then, I got an opportunity at metal place, and they said, “We need a sales guy.” I said, “Great.” I said, “I think I could do sales.”
[00:13:43] Marc Gonyea: All right. How did that, so how did that happen? Like, did you find it?
[00:13:45] Dickie Kapparos: I was just searching. I was just search, yeah, I was just searching through, I applied at a couple sales jobs, you know, some insurance, whatever.
[00:13:53] Marc Gonyea: What year was this? Or how, how long ago was this?
[00:13:55] Dickie Kapparos: I wanna say it was 2015. 2015, 2016, and…
[00:14:04] Marc Gonyea: And you’re still living in Iowa?
[00:14:05] Dickie Kapparos: I’m not really sure, I’m not really sure at timelines, Marc, I’m just…
[00:14:08] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, you still, but you’re still living in Iowa?
[00:14:10] Dickie Kapparos: Yeah, I’m still living in Iowa. So, so, I go to this place, and they say, “Hey, we’re looking for sales guy.” I say, “Great.” I say, ” What are you looking for sales?” They’re like, “We’re looking to build relationships with manufacturing places in the area, and we’re looking to purchase things.” And I said, “Well,” and they really gave me no structure, which I thought was almost a crotch because not only was it my first sales job, I also had no direction. So, it was kind of the first time I ever realized that, like, sales is what I am, like.
[00:14:42] So, they said, “Hey, here’s,” they gave me, like, 10 sheets with, like, manufacturing company’s names on it, handwritten whatnot, and I was smash dialing gatekeepers, smash dialing gatekeepers, saying, who do I need to talk to about purchasing steel? And I did that and I, like, I would smash dial for like two hours, and the next thing you know, I’m getting in meetings and I’m signing contracts for the biggest manufacturing companies in our area. And it was just so crazy to see, like, it was so crazy to see that how natural I was at building relationships.
[00:15:18] Like, all the childhood things that I thought people kind of looked down on, like, “Oh, you’re talking all the time. You wanna talk to everybody? Talk, talk, talk, listen, listen, listen.” Like, very institutional, like I felt like all those aspects of my life had really came into fruition because then I was meeting with VPs of purchasing in their boardroom, talking about how we’re gonna provide service.
[00:15:38] And it was just the craziest thing signing two-year contracts, like, bringing in steel where, where, it was a small for shot, we, I was like, “We need more drivers, we need more, we need more product, like, we’re making moves out here.”
[00:15:49] So, it was a really cool thing to see. And I think that’s where it all clicked. And then, like, I was selling steel for, I think a year or two, market went terrible, and I was like, I gotta make a transition, like, because it’s, the steel market’s, like, stock market, and it just started crashing with the economy and everything.
[00:16:04] So, I was like, I gotta make a move. It was so crazy, packed up on my stuff, I was like, I need to get into software. I’m moving to Austin, Texas, packed up all my stuff, quit my job, moved to Austin.
[00:16:15] Marc Gonyea: How’d you know about that tho? So, how did the guy from Iowa who’s working, slinging steel, slinging, working in the steel, grinding up the burrs, and then sling it.
[00:16:24] And then, like, I got the, you know, cyclical nature, I guess, of the steel industry, apparently, yeah. I gotta get in the software, I moved to Austin, like how did, where did that come from? How did your knowledge tech and moving to Austin?
[00:16:35] Dickie Kapparos: Yeah. So, my sister lived here, and she said, “Dickie, you gotta get down here. You gotta get down here. I think there’s a lot of opportunity here.” Like, small town, Iowa, like, there is not a lot of opportunity there, and that was very small minded, like, all my friends, like, like, it was very hard to make that leap outta my hometown because that’s where I felt most comfortable.
[00:16:53] Like, I go in any bar, like, “Hey, Dickie.” I go anywhere, you see everybody, my mom’s there. There was a lot of things holding me back to chase my dreams, and I think, like, after that opportunity kind of fizzled out and I didn’t really see like a long-term play, I was like, I gotta make a different move.
[00:17:11] My sister said software’s really huge on here, she’s also in the car business. She’s like, “Dickie, you’d be one hell of a car salesman.” And I’m like, “Oh, the hours are terrible. I can’t do it.”
[00:17:21] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, there you go. Okay.
[00:17:22] So, I quit my job, moved down to Austin with no job in about $6,000, went on LinkedIn when, and then Kimmy reached out to me and it, I read about memoryBlue, and I was like, ” This couldn’t make more sense, this is a launchpad, my tech career.” And it, it was like, and then Kimmy called me, and then I started working. I think I was job searching for, like, six weeks down here, I moved into a house site unseen, saw some pictures, signed a lease, and I was like, “I’m coming.”
[00:17:54] Marc Gonyea: Good for you.
[00:17:55] Chris Corcoran: So, Dickie, when you were selling steel, I’m very curious about this, you’re selling essentially a commodity, right? How would you different, why should someone buy steel from you and from the company you were working for versus a different company other than you could sell it for less, like, how are you differentiating?
[00:18:11] Marc Gonyea: Good question.
[00:18:11] Dickie Kapparos: A hundred percent differentiating. So, what’s super crazy about that is I wasn’t even selling like new steel. I was purchasing steel and purchasing scrap steel and selling it to mills. So, not only did we have a four-person company, our only competitor was essentially a monopoly. So, it was called Alter Recycling, they’re the largest metal recycling company in the world.
[00:18:35] And what I would do, the only different, like, we couldn’t even give ’em better pricing, the only thing we could do is I say, “Hey, you’re working with me, not them.” Like, my differentiation was service, like you gimme a call at any point in time, if something’s not happening, I’m gonna make it happen for you.
[00:18:52] Like, these big corporations, these things, they don’t provide this human touch, this is a family-owned business. What we do is we’re gonna give you a trans, like, we can’t compete pricing wise, there’s no way, we just don’t have the value and we don’t have those relationships, like, what I can do is make sure that if you have any questions that need to be answered, I’m gonna answer ’em and I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be there, I’m gonna provide that service,
[00:19:13] service was the biggest aspect, the only, we had no value in any other aspect, besides me being there for them and providing that customer service, and I think that was the reason I was so successful is because I wasn’t trying to pitch anything else, like there, like I wasn’t gonna pitch, we got better numbers, I wasn’t gonna pitch anything that didn’t act, I was gonna say, “Hey, we’re gonna be there at any call, anything, any aspect, we are going to provide you customer service that the other organization does not.”
[00:19:40] Marc Gonyea: Excellent. That’s good insight.
[00:19:42] Dickie Kapparos: So, you’re finding your true value.
[00:19:43] Marc Gonyea: Finding your true value.
[00:19:44] Dickie Kapparos: At any product.
[00:19:45] Marc Gonyea: There you go. There you go, Dickie, spoken like a, a of that.
[00:19:50] Chris Corcoran: So, you’re at memoryBlue, you went through the interview process. What can you tell us about that? What do you remember? And how long ago was that? That was, like, what?
[00:19:57] Dickie Kapparos: Almost two years ago.
[00:19:58] Marc Gonyea: Two years ago, yep.
[00:19:59] Dickie Kapparos: Yeah. The interview process, Kimmy is a saint, like, when I talked to Kimmy, I was like, this is the nicest person ever, and like, I went through the interview process, I think I met with Tyler, Casey, Cliff, Jace, yeah, Cliff, Jace, and then Jackson was my phone call, and I think I asked Jackson
[00:20:24] to take a meeting for me, like, six or seven times he kept saying no, and I was like, ’cause I was asking close ended questions, I was just doing a bunch of stuff, and he’s like, “Hey, I love the tensity, but I said no.” And I was like, “Oh, well.” That was a really cool thing.
[00:20:41] I thought the process went really smoothly, I thought they saw, I thought they, like, even though my application was a little like unorthodox, like, hey, doesn’t have a four year degree, like I think the main thing that I was looking for, and I think the main thing that memoryBlue gave me was an opportunity to prove myself, like, no matter where you come from, you guys provided me the foundational aspects to be a successful person in tech, and I think that did wonders for my career direct, trajectory, I really do.
[00:21:09] Marc Gonyea: Yeah. It’s amazing, like, to this day it blows my mind that someone like you was looking for a job and was it fine and something that, that, you know, worked for you and worked for the employer ’cause you’re, you’re really good at what you do and your background is a little nontraditional, but that’s the type of stuff that attracts us to you.
[00:21:25] And I’m, we’re fortunate you end up working here. I’m very fortunate. So, and I, I appreciate your gratitude to the company as well, but you took advantage of the opportunity, which is really inspiring to me, personally. So, you started, yeah, the firm, who is, whose team were you on, Jackson’s team from the word go?
[00:21:41] Dickie Kapparos: No, I was on Cliff’s team and I was selling, uh, email communications called Front, it was a very interesting product, but I think that was a cool thing is that, like, not only when you come into memoryBlue do you get thrown right into software sales, but you also get an understanding,
[00:22:00] like, you’re talking about different softwares with everyone within the office, like, you’re talking about software that you didn’t even know, like, I didn’t really know anything about cybersecurity and if there’s one thing I know coming out of this place, it’s cybersecurity
[00:22:16] Marc Gonyea: That’s right. What was it like the first day? What’d you think?
[00:22:18] When I first walked in, I was like, cool, new place and I’m new here. So, that’s the main reason I wanted to work in office is because I was like, I moved to Austin, I don’t know anyone, like, and I found some of my best friends in, in the office. So, when I first came in there, I thought that the energy was good, I thought that everybody, like, everybody was like, hey, like, came to me, and I’m like, yeah, like, I love talking.
[00:22:39] Dickie Kapparos: So, I mean, I don’t get, I don’t get nervous or anything like that, but I thought they welcomed me with open arms. And that was a really cool thing, and I think culture is a real pivotal part of why I love memoryBlue, just like, every aspect of it, I think everybody’s out there to be better.
[00:22:54] And I think not only do they want to help me, but I want to help them in the aspect for them to be the best that they can be, and I think that I think competition is the healthiest thing in the world because if somebody’s not trying to beat you, why do you need to do better?
[00:23:08] So, I think that was the huge thing when I first walked in is that there was a little bit of competition because I think right when I went in there, I, that’s what was really humbling is that once I went in there, I was like, sales, I was doing sales, and then I got on a cold call, I’m like, oh, geez, this is a little bit different animal.
[00:23:26] Chris Corcoran: Hey, Dickie. So, you said competition is critical when you, your first few days there, who did you fear the most? Who had the best game on the, on the floor in Austin?
[00:23:37] Dickie Kapparos: Who did I fear the most, Chris, I’m trying to think here. One thing that really came up to me is like, with the DHR thing, like, I don’t think anybody in Austin I feared because, like, not that sense, it’s just my personality, like, I don’t fear anyone, like, if you think you’re gonna go head, head to head me in sales, this is what I do, this is my art, this is what I love, like, and I truly believe that in every of my…
[00:24:03] Chris Corcoran: Who was coming for you? Who’s coming for you?
[00:24:05] Dickie Kapparos: Who’s not coming for me, Chris? Who’s not coming for me?
[00:24:07] Chris Corcoran: Well, there’s a lot of people who aren’t coming for you.
[00:24:10] Dickie Kapparos: That day I’m coming for him. No, I’m just kidding. No, that was a huge thing, when I’ve seen the DHR, I’ve seen Dan at the top of it, I, like, that was my thing. When I came in, I saw Dan was at the top, I was like, what am I gonna do to be Dan? What am I gonna do to be Dan?
[00:24:23] And then that’s why I moved to the PPM team ’cause I wanted to have the opportunity to compete with Dan. I want to compete with the best, that was my main focus is be on an even playing field and compete with the best. And Dan has become one of my greatest friends, like, I think he loves this as much as I do. We share that, we share that same, that same thing as that, we love to do this.
[00:24:44] Marc Gonyea: Go, we’ll come back to that. We’re gonna get there. What was the learning process like? So, you were going from, you know, you had figured out how to do the steel sales for that particular role and those personas.
[00:24:57] And you said something about, you asked a bunch of open, close-end questions. So, apparently you, you know, we all learned new things. What did you learn? What did you have to learn or relearn coming into the SDR role, doing tech stuff?
[00:25:09] Dickie Kapparos: That it’s a lot easier to say no to me over a phone, like when I’m in a business room, in a meeting room and we’re talking, they don’t, they can’t just walk out, you know, they didn’t have that opportunity. And I think that was a huge thing is that, like, my sales process was very like shake hands, eye contact, you know, read the room and things of that nature. And I think on a cold call, the thing, like, I don’t think I hit quota for the first two months just because I was just trying to figure it out.
[00:25:43] And I think management had a huge thing to do this is that I had that sales voice, like, it was very like, “Hey, this is Dick,” and I had those things, and I, and I think once I, like, after those two months, I think I truly started listening, like listening to the prospect, listening to their tone and things of that nature.
[00:26:03] Dickie Kapparos: And once I truly tried to perceive that I was trying to provide value in a business, and I think I came from a genuine aspect is that they could feel it on the phone that I was genuine, that I was trying to provide value within their business, I’m not trying to sell you something, I’m trying to provide you a tool
[00:26:21] that’s actually gonna provide value on a whatever aspect. If it’s a sales, provide more revenue. If it’s security, make sure your data’s secured. Like, I’m not selling you smoke and mirrors here, guys. Like, I think that’s what everybody gets from cold calling is like, “Hey, bad juju, like, da, da, da, da.” Like, I’m calling you and helping you do your research because if you’re not informed in those aspects of your business, that’s not on me.
[00:26:46] That’s on you. Like, I truly believe that, like, when I give a VP of cybersecurity a call, I’m trying to let him know about a product that might be able to help, and if he doesn’t wanna listen, I’m not here to push the envelope, I’m here to provide value, if you don’t wanna have, if you wanna take the opportunity to listen on a product that actually might be able to help you, actually might save your business, then I’m not gonna throw you in a 2006 Honda Accord, like, I’m not, Honda Accord, I’m not, like, I’m gonna provide you something that’s truly verified value.
[00:27:15] I’m not trying to use car sales you, I’m trying to listen to you, be helpful and actually be a resource within your business, and I think there’s a real, like, weird concept of cold calling is like, hey, these guys are trying to bother me,
[00:27:28] and these trying to, like, no, that’s not it, like, I did my research to make sure that I gave you a call and let you know that you were the right person that was gonna see value in a product because software is gonna help save your business. And if, if you can automate things in all of that nature, if you can be more efficient, that’s gonna help the bottom line.
[00:27:47] And I truly believe that. So, I think that people are like, oh, coco, you’re trying to sell me something. Well, yeah, something that’s gonna help out your business is gonna cost money.
[00:28:00] Marc Gonyea: Yeah. So, the, I just, I wanna dig into that a little bit.
[00:28:04] Dickie Kapparos: Yeah, sure.
[00:28:05] Marc Gonyea: Here, the first two months you hit quota, and if I’m, replay what I think I heard, you learn, learned how to listen more? Is that what you’re saying?
[00:28:14] Dickie Kapparos: Yeah. I feel like I, when I was on first, I bullied a lot of prospects, like, I was like, this is what I have to say, this is what I have to say.
[00:28:22] Marc Gonyea: Why can’t you do that?
[00:28:23] Dickie Kapparos: Because it comes off very used car salesman, it really does, like, if you actually aren’t authentic, and that’s the one thing that was a huge thing that really pushed me over the top to really understand the art is that if you’re not being true to yourself on a phone call and you’re not being a genuine person, like, people can tell.
[00:28:43] That’s why my approach is very unorthodox, but you’re getting Dick on the phone, like, you’re not getting anybody else, you’re getting me. No matter, no matter what product do I sell, I’m gonna be myself, whether that’s building or poor, and they can tell that I truly care about not only if I ask ’em a personal question,
[00:28:59] if I ask about their business, because you have to be a trusted advisor, like, if they’re gonna talk to me about cybersecurity and they think that I’m some sleazeball, that’s not gonna work. It’s just truly not gonna work.
[00:29:09] Marc Gonyea: There’s certainly vibe from you and you’ve got an amazing personality and you understand, like, I think your why as it comes to sales, but talk a little, a little more about the technique, the techniques, like the skills, right? ‘Cause you just can’t be a complete force of personality and have it work.
[00:30:29] It’s not gonna work. And you said a little bit about being genuine and sincere and listening, but what are some of the other things that you’ve had it develop, uh, you think people need to develop to be good, even people with amazing personalities, so to speak.
[00:30:42] Dickie Kapparos: I think specifically developed to get good is that you have to be prepared, you have to, I think the really cool thing about my development is hearing all of the AEs on 10 different products, like a sponge, like they’ve done their due diligence on their product, they know what questions to ask. So, I take those questions, I listen, I see what questions are most important.
[00:31:06] I see what questions that they value. So, when I do present them with a next conversation, I can already answer those questions, we can skip that, like you don’t need to ask that, let’s get to the bread and butter and let’s talk about next steps. So, I think that was the main thing is that I will always ask questions that I already know the answers to.
[00:31:21] ‘Cause I’ve been doing this a long time, like, I will ask questions specifically where I think that it’s gonna bring into the pain and bring into the pain, we’re gonna talk about their real issues. We’re gonna talk about what the product was. I think understanding great questions is gonna help you get those fruitful C whips.
[00:31:37] Build that rapport because not only are you asking questions, you’re asking questions that they should understand, and they’re like, oh, this guy has an understanding of what things I’m experiencing within my strategy and things of that nature, but I think the cool thing about memoryBlue that I thought was most pivotal in my development is watching these discovery calls, listening to these AEs, listening to every aspect that they think, finding your true value in the products and putting that on the phone calls because,
[00:32:06] like, if you can ask the right questions and you can come and come from a sense of knowledge with these prospects, whether it’s director of IT, VP of IT, whether it be cloud, anything, as long as you perceive yourself as an expert in the technology, like, I don’t want you to get in the weeds if you get in the weeds, that makes no sense, but you need to ask those qualifying questions and you need to know what questions to ask specifically those titles, where it’s gonna hit true, or it’s gonna hit home.
[00:32:34] ‘Cause once you ask those questions, then they’re like, okay, great. And then, you can pivot into it, switch to a meeting, and I think understanding good questions is gonna change the conversations for you.
[00:32:45] Marc Gonyea: And just go back to that. So, you learned a lot from listening to your peers, but also listening to the client’s AEs.
[00:32:51] Dickie Kapparos: Yeah. Client discovery calls, and I’ve been through a lot of them.
[00:32:56] Marc Gonyea: And what’s your role on those? You, you kind of just listened in?
[00:32:59] Dickie Kapparos: Just sit and listen. Like, I’m just
[00:33:01] Marc Gonyea: The guy who talks a lot with good talk, or is the guy who just sits and listen.
[00:33:06] Dickie Kapparos: I’m just the fly on the wall, and it’s so cool to see everybody’s techniques because I think another thing that was really aspect is that I tried to mimic a lot of things, like I tried to mimic people that I thought were good and I thought that, and, and like, that was where I was not finding success because what works for someone doesn’t always work for everyone else.
[00:33:26] I think that once you find what you do well, whether that be discovery questions, rapport building, anything of that nature. Once you find out what you truly are good at and you zone in on that, you’re gonna find your success. Like, I don’t think any, like me and Dan on the phones, we’re two completely different people, but we both found our successes.
[00:33:48] Chris Corcoran: And so what would you say that it is that you do well?
[00:33:53] Dickie Kapparos: Rapport building.
[00:33:54] Chris Corcoran: And how, how do you do that?
[00:33:56] Dickie Kapparos: I, I, I, there’s no secret to the men as Chris, like, it’s so crazy when I get on the C web, like, I just feel like my understanding of people and like, just how I build communications, like this one guy, this one CEO I had yesterday, he literally said, “I just like the way you talk to me.” And, I just, there’s no method of the man is Chris, I honestly think that.
[00:34:20] Chris Corcoran: Now. So, so, I’ll dispute it, right?
[00:34:22] Dickie Kapparos: Let’s dispute it because I’m, I’m, I’m looking for answers. I’ll give you my take. I don’t know if it’s an answer because the beautiful thing about working at memoryBlue for as long as I have and Chris, and being in sales, as we see all sorts of different personalities, right?
[00:34:36] Marc Gonyea: And all sorts of game and technique and approaches, and yes, there’s, it’s undeniable that you’re a, a transcended personality to key, right? I don’t wanna pump you up anymore, but you’ve got something that most people don’t have, most people would kill for. I have seen plenty of people with similar personalities who they’re like a, a flare, right?
[00:34:57] Like a, like a shooting star, and they kind of, and they kind of, ’cause they don’t have the grit sometimes, flame out, they flame out. You, yes, it’s how you talk to people and those things, and that’s who you are, your whole life’s been talking to people, but you, like, you learning how to do this stuff on the phone, people who you can’t see, who know a lot more about the tech than you’ll ever learn, or the space, that’s all technique too.
[00:35:18] And I’ve heard one of your calls and your preparation is amazing and you have a shit ton of credibility with people, like, you learn the space. So, I think, yes, your personality is powerful and the rapport is to die for, but I, that stuff isn’t, if it’s not backed up by credibility and knowledge, it actually, it’s a deterrent, I think.
[00:35:41] ‘Cause then people think you’re full of it. So, the person, I’m not trying to take away what you’re saying, but I think you’re underplaying, and for people listening who are like, man, I’m never gonna have this guy’s personality. How am I gonna do this job? Right? It’s, that’s part of your weaponry, but like, the other part is all these other things which anyone can do, which is the preparation, the fly on the wall, learning the tech as much as you can, figuring out what questions to ask. So, not everybody does that.
[00:36:06] Dickie Kapparos: And I think that’s a huge thing to point out, Marc, is that if you don’t put in the work, it’s not gonna happen.
[00:36:13] Like, yeah, I do have natural talent and rapport building, but I made sure to be a sponge, like, I’ve made sure to put myself out there in literally just anything that specific to, I think my career and my success I take in and I take, like, I don’t take notes physically, but I take mental notes like crazy.
[00:36:33] Anything that I think’s gonna help me in my career, whether that be better understanding my products, better understanding techniques, better understanding, like, full sales cycle, anything, you just have to make sure that you’re listening, and I think that comes to the root of everything is just listen to everything around you.
[00:36:50] And in memoryBlue, there’s so much knowledge, like there’s so many different avenues of knowledge for you to be successful in the text phase, and I think that’s why memoryBlue has been so successful, and I think it has provided great career paths for a lot of people.
[00:37:04] Marc Gonyea: Love that. So, I agree. Let’s talk about your transition. So, you’re working with memoryBlue, you’re assigned to some clients, you’re doing the S DAX fixed fee, whatever you want to call it, you figure out how to quota, right? And if you look, anyone looked at Dan, excuse me at Dickie’s LinkedIn, my, you can see the, the clients who worked with some pretty cool, interesting clients.
[00:37:23] When did you make the transition, like, or what did you realize what you wanted to do, like, when did you make the transition? Okay, I wanna go join this PPM team.
[00:37:30] Dickie Kapparos: I think, like, I wanted to learn more technologies, but also I wanted to make money. And I think Jackson was the biggest part of me looking at that as an opportunity. He said, “Dickie, I think you can make a lot of money there, I think it’s a good thing.” He said, “I’ll talk to the right people. Let’s get this party started.” And then,
[00:37:52] Marc Gonyea: That’s move by Jackson, right? ‘Cause you were essentially moving off to his team.
[00:37:55] Chris Corcoran: Well, so, we need to explain to the listeners what this whole thing is, right, you wanna have them do it? Do you wanna do it?
[00:38:00] Marc Gonyea: No, Dickie can do it.
[00:38:02] Dickie Kapparos: Do what?
[00:38:03] Marc Gonyea: Share with the listeners a little bit about what, like, what do you mean by PPM and PPM team because a lot of the listeners, they don’t work at memoryBlue, or they’re thinking about working here. And so, they’re not to understand the kind of inside baseball terminology. So, if you could explain a little bit about what you were doing previously, and then the team you, you joined and, and why you ultimately decided to make that switch.
[00:38:25] Dickie Kapparos: Yeah. So, like, on the retain aspect, you work with one client and you make a fixed salary and things of that nature, and it’s a very one-on-one, and that, that’s a really good thing to better understand, like, the foundational aspects, learning one product, better understanding how software sales works, getting real time feedback from the clients on your successes, on your failures, on things that you should work on to better sell that specific product.
[00:38:53] And then, PPM is more, if you’re successful, you can make a lot of money, it’s like pay per meeting. So, every meeting that you book and accrue that’s qualified, a qualified lead, everything, there’s a couple different things that matter specifically for that to be a qualified lead that you get paid per meeting.
[00:39:11] And the salary is a lot different, but it definitely is a good thing. So, that’s the huge thing is that I think the retain side is a great thing on learning products, getting into tech sales and things of that nature. PPM, you learn, I’ve been on 13 different clients. I’ve learned every aspect of, every aspect of software.
[00:39:32] You really get your feet wet, you better understand so many different products, but also you’re able to sell so many different products, like, my style stays the same throughout the products, but also I come prepared, like Marc said, kind of harped on is that I come prepared. I know the product that I’m selling.
[00:39:48] I know the true value, and I’m making sure that I do my due diligence on making sure that I provide my client with the best meetings, but also I provide value, and I think that’s a hard thing to mix, but when you understand what you need to do, like those questions, then you’re able to provide value, then you’re able to work on 10 different clients and provide tab a funnel for all of them.
[00:40:09] Marc Gonyea: Right. So, one, one of ’em is, has uncapped earning potential, the other one is more capped, and the one that’s capped has more dedication to your client versus you’re kind of like freelancing, you’re, you’re, it’s uncapped and you can go and work on whatever clients you want, you get exposed to all these different technologies, AEs, sales cultures, et cetera.
[00:40:31] Dickie Kapparos: Exactly. That’s exactly the difference, and I think being exposed to so many different technologies has been the true value of PPM. The money’s great, but being exposed to all those different technologies and having the opportunity to, like, I work for so many great companies on the PPM function that it’s, it’s a cool thing to, cool thing to say you’ve been a part of.
[00:40:52] Marc Gonyea: In all that exposure, I would argue, accelerates your professional development because you’ve been exposed to so many different, not only technologies, but personas, sales cycles, just all that stuff accelerates your growth.
[00:41:09] Dickie Kapparos: Yeah, a hundred percent. I think that’s the main thing is that when you make that transition in PPM, you get thrown in and you either sink or swim, like you truly, you sink or swim in the aspect of, can you really ramp up on these things?
[00:41:23] Can you, like, it really pushes your development, like, can you learn a product in three days? Can you make sure that you’re providing top of funnel for 10 different clients? Like, I think it’s a true test of how you can perform in a really crazy environment. It’s very fast-paced, it’s very competitive, but when I come out of PPM, I’ve sold damn near everything under the sun.
[00:41:50] Like, like, and I think that was a, that, that’s the coolest part about PPM is like, you see so many different aspects of the tech space, and I think that when I come outta memoryBlue is that I will have such a great understanding of the industry as a whole, not only the specific things,
[00:42:08] like, I think when you take a career path as an SDR at one organization, it’s kind of that retain side, it’s kind of like, “Yeah, this is one thing, do you like it or love it?” I’ve tasted everything, and I think that cybersecurity is my true passion and I’ve been able to make that decision due to the variety of clients I’ve worked with, like, I can make an educated decision on it.
[00:42:28] Marc Gonyea: You can, you’re right, you, but, Dickie, cyber’s so hard.
[00:42:32] Chris Corcoran: While I’m on a cyber campaign, it’s not fair.
[00:42:35] Dickie Kapparos: I think, I think when people say cyber’s hard, it’s just, like, I’m just not a man of excuses, I really am not, like, I just think that if you need to do something, you just need to do it.
[00:42:50] Like, it’s really that simple, like it, it’s not that simple in the fact that you might have to figure out a couple different things to make sure that you figure out that solution, like, “Hey, I’m not getting C whips.” Are you calling the right people? Are you making sure that the information’s, right? Are you making sure that you’re calling them at the right time of day?
[00:43:07] Are you making sure that you’re doing your due diligence on cadences? I think when people say cyber’s hard, it’s specifically because you see another guy booking 20 meetings on a, on a campaign, that’s, that’s a little bit easier, you know, you’re not the thing that I’m, appreciate the most about cyber is if I can sell cyber, I can sell anything.
[00:43:30] Marc Gonyea: That still dropped on pretty hard though.
[00:43:32] Dickie Kapparos: Yeah, it is.
[00:43:35] What’s really good about you, you’re, would you say you’re money motivated?
[00:43:39] Dickie Kapparos: More than anything, Marc.
[00:43:40] Marc Gonyea: More than anything? What do you mean by that?
[00:43:43] Dickie Kapparos: Money provides me financial freedom. I, I, it’s actually kind of funny that you bring up the money thing is, like, I always wanted to be like super materialistic.
[00:43:51] Like, I wanted all the cool things. And then, like, when I got, like, when I had the first taste of, you know, a decent amount of money, it just didn’t click like I thought it would, like, you know, like when I had, like, when I never had to question anything, I purchased, like, it never really, all the small things, because I was working paycheck to paycheck I had eviction notice on my door, like me and money never were, never were the best friends, like.
[00:44:14] And then, when it came to me, I was like, I thought it would click, but I think I’m more freedom motivated, money provides me freedom, like, everybody’s like, “Oh, you want money, money, money,” and I was like, “No, I wanna be able to have freedom. I wanna be able to do what I want, and money provides true freedom.”
[00:44:31] No, we are, this is America, this is capitalism at its finest, if you don’t have money, you don’t have freedom. And it’s a tough pill to swallow for a lot of people, but I think doing your due diligence and making sure that you provide yourself with the right aspects of revenue, then you can build, like, I don’t want my kids to worry about college debt.
[00:44:49] I have college dept, like, I don’t want that stuff for my family, I wanna provide for my family and money is the way to do it. Like, I wanna make sure that they have the things, like not silver spoon fed by any means, they’re gonna have to work for their stuff, but I wanna be able to have that backbone for them and be able to provide them financially, so I can provide them opportunities. The main thing that comes with money is opportunity and opportunity is the true value, I think, of success.
[00:45:13] Marc Gonyea: There you go. I think I like to point out the fact though that you, are you, or were you culture club president, in the office?
[00:45:19] Dickie Kapparos: I was, I was culture club president, I took a step back, now, Hanna Cummings is taking over that and doing a beautiful job so I can appreciate that she has filled the role perfectly.
[00:45:28] Marc Gonyea: And, but I wanna point out, too, like, sometimes people made mistake if someone’s money motivated, no matter if it’s freedom or not, like, they’re more selfishly motivated, but if you’re, you know, you weren’t getting paid more to run culture, you know, you sound like you help people, right? You’re not a manager, but I know you like helping people get where they want to go.
[00:45:44] Can you expound on that a little bit? Because I think some people get it twisted that they’ll say all he cares about money, selfish, like, wants all for himself.
[00:45:52] Dickie Kapparos: Yeah. And I think, that’s usually how money motivated is perceived, but I think that what I would do with money is help a lot of people.
[00:46:00] And the reason that I wanted to be a culture club president is because I truly believed in what memoryBlue was doing on the aspect of culture. I truly believe that networking with people that you grind in the trenches with every day, and have a couple drinks with somebody, and really just, not only, like, I think work in
[00:46:17] the culture has blended so well in memoryBlue that I wanted to make sure that it was always provided to the people that came in, and everybody had an open door that you can have a drink with your, like, I built so many lifelong relationships at memoryBlue due to the culture, like, and I wanted to make sure that when I was providing that, I gave all those same opportunities,
[00:46:36] it really mattered to me because that’s the reason I stayed at memoryBlue, was culture, and I wanted to make sure that everybody understood what we do here is such a beautiful thing. And I wanted to make sure that I planned those events, and I wanted to make sure every, and I wanted, you know, text everybody to make sure to get there, like, show up to the culture events, this is a huge thing.
[00:46:58] And ’cause that’s where I met my, like, literally, I think 80% of my friends are memoryBlue alumni. It’s kind of cr, like, outta Austin, like, it’s kind of crazy that, like, even though they’ve left memoryBlue, they’re still a huge part of my life. And I think that was mainly because we gave that open door to build true relationships.
[00:47:15] It’s not like head down, see ’em at 9, leave at clock out, and then never see ’em again, I think that was a huge aspect to my development, specifically to the relationships professionally, because not only did these people move to memoryBlue, the memoryBlue alumni, now I have networks and a lot of different tech companies.
[00:47:31] Marc Gonyea: Mm-hmm, absolutely right. Yeah.
[00:47:33] Chris Corcoran: Hey, so, Dickie, answer this for me. So, I’m a PPM team, it’s clear that you build your skills at a much more faster pace, much faster. You get exposed to many, many times the number of technologies and sales cultures. And the truth of the matter is, is on that team you can make at least twice as much, given all of those benefits, why do so few people pursue it?
[00:48:00] Dickie Kapparos: I think it’s an intimidating thing. I think people don’t like to be challenged. I think that a lot of people take the easy way out in life, and I think that a lot of people that don’t think the PPM function provides the true value should really look internally and see if they want to be challenged.
[00:48:20] If they really want to take that next step in their career, if they really want to develop as fast as they’re capable of, not only, I think a lot of people don’t think what they’re truly capable of. When I was 19, when I was 20, like a lot of memoryBlue people, I just don’t think, like, I’m a, I’m an old man.
[00:48:34] Like, I’m 29 years old, like I’ve been through it, like, I feel like I’ve learned a lot, and the fact that memory blue, like, if I had this same opportunity when I was 21, 22 years old, we’d be in a lot different place.
[00:48:52] Marc Gonyea: In what way?
[00:48:53] Dickie Kapparos: I would be doing wonders, like if I was in the tech space in, what, 2012, and I’ve been in the industry for 10 years, I’d be a monster here, but I think that’s what people don’t realize is that I’ve been through, I’ve done the shitty jobs, I’ve done all, like, I’ve really lived life in the aspect of things aren’t always greener on the other side, like I’ve had those struggles, I’ve had those life struggles, I develop, like when you come into memoryBlue, like a lot of people, they just like, “Oh, yay.
[00:49:23] First job outta college, great, woo, woo.” Like, they need to really take things serious, they need to really take their career serious because not only what you do in your early twenties will either make or break your life. Like, if you don’t take these jobs serious and you don’t take your development as a professional serious,
[00:49:44] that’s gonna affect your trajectory more than you will ever know. You need to take things serious, you need to take your professional life serious, and you need to do the things that matter, and you need to, like, if you don’t wanna join the PPM function ’cause it’s too many clients, too many, like, hold yourself accountable and really see the true value, like.
[00:50:01] People are special people and you just need to unlock that extra step, like, you not, you don’t need to be scared to do things that feel a little uncomfortable, I’ve been uncomfortable a lot my whole life, and I feel like I’ve grown a lot.
[00:50:11] Marc Gonyea: I mean, I don’t know what to say. That’s beautiful.
[00:50:14] Chris Corcoran: What else, Dickie? I’m just chitchatting with you guys, I’m just truly thankful for the opportunity to be on the podcast, I’m truly thankful for a lot of things that you guys have done, what you’ve built, like, just your story, it, it come, I, I can just relate a lot to it.
[00:50:26] Dickie Kapparos: Like, you guys had an idea, it came to fruition and you guys have just really built something that you truly believed in, and I couldn’t be more thankful on that aspect. Like, I think a lot of people don’t understand what the true value is, is like, they’re giving you something that no other organization does in the tech space.
[00:50:46] If you think that somebody’s gonna let you work, and then they’re gonna let you be hired out by another person, that’s not how life works, like they’re, like you guys are essentially the leaping path for opportunity, and I really do appreciate that, and I’m, I’m excited to see where my career goes, but I’m always thankful that we’ve crossed paths in life. I think building relationships with people like you is a really good thing for your overall growth.
[00:51:10] Marc Gonyea: I would agree, man. My only regret is that I don’t get to work with people like you more closely, you know, so, Chris all the time.
[00:51:16] Chris Corcoran: Yeah.
[00:51:16] Dickie Kapparos: I’ve put myself in a bubble.
[00:51:18] Marc Gonyea: It’s good. No, no, it’s good.
[00:51:20] Chris Corcoran: Well, Dickie, we appreciate you taking the opportunity, right? Like, so, lots of people have been given the opportunity, very few people have really seized it, particularly to the degree that you have.
[00:51:30] Dickie Kapparos: I think that’s so true, too, and I just think that, if I could just tell the people one thing is just seize the opportunities, like, do not miss opportunities, I missed so many opportunities in my life that I just didn’t seize until, like, memoryBlue came, and I was like, “This is the opportunity I need to make the best of because I missed so many other opportunities, like, it’s just crazy to think, like, if you don’t take full advantage of opportunities when they’re right in front of you, like, you’re only, you’re just gonna regret them,
[00:51:59] Marc Gonyea: Man. So, Dickie, what, where are we going with all this? Like, you’re still, you’re talking, you’re freaking me a little bit, you’re talking like you don’t work here anymore, but you’re still employed with, by memoryBlue, right? You’re still a big baller on the PPM team, but in all seriousness, where do you see yourself going?
[00:52:13] That’s a good thing to ask because I’m just not a hundred percent sure, like, I feel really comfortable in the PPM function. I know what I’m doing. It’s a very good thing. I’m still learning. I’m still making those decisions, like, my main focus is to, obviously, get in a close year role at some point, but I’m, I’m looking to start my real estate portfolio within the next year, really dial in on passive income and things of that nature.
[00:52:37] Dickie Kapparos: So, I think, just professionally, I just, I’m just not a hundred percent sure, and it’s okay not to know what you wanna do, I’m 29. So, if you’re 22, 23 and you don’t know what you’re doing, that’s okay, but is memoryBlue gonna give you a real taste of everything that you need to know to make an educated decision in the tech industry? Yes.
[00:52:54] And I’ve been here two years and I do have a really good understanding, like I do think that I want to get into cybersecurity and I want to be, I want to be in a closing role at some point, and I want to, you know, build a true pipeline and close deals and things of that nature because, do I miss that back in when I did steel? Yeah, a little bit, but it was a lot, it was, it was, it was a lot of headaches, you know, it was a lot of headaches.
[00:53:16] Marc Gonyea: Well, you certainly have a certain, uh, a bright future ahead of you, Dickie, and we’re thrilled to have been a small part of it.
[00:53:22] Dickie Kapparos: Exactly. And I, I’m thrilled that you guys were too, I always have a, it’s always a great time seeing you guys, it really is. I, I think every time we have conversations, I always take a little bit of something out of each conversation, and, and that’s what a lot of people should think is just really listen to the conversations you have with people like Marc and Chris, like, these guys have done it, they’ve been truly successful. If you listen to what successful people have to say, you will essentially be successful.
[00:53:48] Marc Gonyea: Very good, that, I, I don’t get anything else.
[00:53:51] Chris Corcoran: That’s, that’s it. Well, Dickie, we appreciate the wisdom, we appreciate the time, and look forward to kind of watching you star in the future.
[00:53:59] Dickie Kapparos: Well, see if I flare out guys.
[00:54:01] Marc Gonyea: No, I don’t think, no chance, man.
[00:54:04] Dickie Kapparos: I’m just kidding.
[00:54:05] Chris Corcoran: Thanks, Dickie.
[00:54:06] Dickie Kapparos: Hey, it’s been a pleasure.
[00:54:07] Marc Gonyea: Pleasure’s ours.
[00:54:08] Dickie Kapparos: Take it easy guys.