Elizabeth Campbell of Sentry: Mastering the art of partnership

She has a knack for developing strategic partnerships and solving sticky problems. Elizabeth Campbell, a.k.a. Lisa, is a Yale University graduate based in San Francisco, USA. She is Director & Head of Business Development at Sentry, a startup that provides open source error tracking to help developers monitor and fix crashes in real time.

Before Sentry, Elizabeth was at Dropbox and Facebook, where she worked on strategic partnerships and operations. Outside of work, you can find her reading every newspaper she can find.

Koreatechdesk.com asked Elizabeth Campbell 10 questions to know about her advice for startups.

1.How did you join Sentry, where you work currently, and what is your role?

I asked the smartest engineers I knew about the tools that made their work-lives meaningfully better. So many of them mentioned Sentry that I thought, “There’s something here.”

I lead business development, which means that I work with our external partners. But at a startup, everything’s your job, so you need to be versatile and flexible. In my case, I have responsibilities in strategy and operations as well.

2. What have you learned so far in your industry, and what do you want to achieve in the future?

People matter more than anything else. Before you take on a new opportunity, do your diligence about the team. There’ll be good days and bad days, and on the bad days, having good people around you will matter. A lot.

For me, having people around who can make me laugh is important. Sentry has a good sense of humour; you can see that just from reading our web copy.

I try not to think too much about the future. But I do try to make the most of the opportunities I see in front of me.

3. What are the main reasons that startups have difficulties in working or partnering with corporations in your industry?

Some larger companies have “partner programs” that don’t provide a lot of value to startups—you’re just one in a long list. As a startup, you have to be thoughtful about who shares your vision for the space and who will invest in you as an innovation thought partner.

4. What’s your advice for entrepreneurs who have a chance to meet industry experts like you?

People like to be asked for help, especially if they have expertise in a certain area. But you have to know what your initial ask is, and make it easy for someone to say “yes.”

I’ve had meetings with entrepreneurs who seem to want my advice on their partnership strategy, but spend our time together telling me more and more about their product instead of asking for my help or point of view. Have the courage to make the right ask.

5. How do you want to support Korean startups in the future?

I’d like to support startups who’re thinking creatively about distribution channels.

6. What’s your general thought about the term “Global?”

For me, a global society is one where a child born into one set of circumstances (nationality, etc.) has the same chances for success and fulfilment as a child born anywhere else.

7. What are the important factors for Korean startups to consider in a US expansion in your industry?

If you’re thinking about US expansion, work to define what success from a US expansion would look like. In my opinion, many startups—especially those that are R&D-led or have technical founders—undervalue marketing.

8. As you know, our Media Group name is “beSUCCESS.” What’s your definition of the term “success” as an industry expert?

Having the luxury to decide how you spend your time.

9. What are the one or two things that you would do if you could go back to 10 years ago?

Sleep more. Sleep leads to better decisions.

10. When you come to Korea next time, what kind of Korean entrepreneurs and startups you would want to meet?

Anything consumer-oriented, especially food delivery and Korean beauty related startups.

Elizabeth Campbell will be attending TIPS X beSUCCESS KOREAN STARTUP SHOWCASE as one of the prominent judges on March 12th, 2019 at JW Marriott San Francisco.

What’s your thoughts?