Scaling Success: HubSpot's Latin American Expansion with David Torres

(upbeat music) - Hello, David. How are you? Lovely to connect and see you. - Right here. I am happy to see you today. I'm very excited. - I am very happy to see you too, because this takes me back 10, 11 years when we started our whole, I'm so adjoining for everyone listening to this podcast. Today we've got David Torres, who is the OG of everything. He is the sales director for Midmarket at HubSpot. Is that right? Where he's been a part of HubSpot's Cross story for more than 11 years. That's what I mean by he's the OG. And he's been a key driver and one of the reasons for HubSpot success across Latin America. Open businesses transformed their sales processes and growth strategies. So thank you, David, for being with us today. I appreciate your time. I appreciate your mind and everything. You're gonna share. And I just wanna start off by kicking off with your journey from Columbia to one of the most dynamic markets and a global tech company. Tell me about that. - Ranya, first of all, thank you. It is an honor for me to be here to talk to you again. My journey starts from a very interesting perspective. I think every individual in them has the ability to be brave. And I learned that because I think of my mom as one of the bravest people that I've ever had the opportunity to meet, obviously she's my mom. But it's one of these things where when I look back and when I'm faced with the circumstances and the challenges of being an adult, I see my mom and I recognize her not as my mother, but as a really brave individual. 'Cause we moved from Columbia to United States in 1999. I grew up in the United States. And we left Columbia because in 1990, like five, to like 2003, there was this incredible recession where if you were above a certain age, you ultimately did not get to have a job again, right? If you were older than 35, no company would hire you. So you could either be a entrepreneur and give it a go yourself or see when your savings would run out. My mom, when faced with that decision, she decided to emigrate to the US. So I grew up with my mom as my main source of support while also growing up in the land of opportunity. 'Cause I do have to recognize the United States as an incredible blessing. It's a massive economy with opportunity for those who are willing to work hard. And when I was going through school, through college, university, and ultimately got my job at HubSpot, in the back of my mind, the idea of man, it's so hard to be an entrepreneur in Latin America never left my mind. So when I'm growing up at HubSpot and seeing how our business HubSpot meaning has a mission which is help of millions of entrepreneurs and millions of organizations grow better, I started to think about what that would be for Latin America. And it just so happened at that time because of our inbound strategy. We had this segment of the man that came from, let's call it the border with Texas. So Mexico down to the little tail of the Patagonia in Chile/Varginitina, the Tierra y el Fuego type of thing. And I found this opportunity to have that impact in my geography, in the countries where I had grown up surrounded by folks from Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peruvians, Chileans, Ecuadorians, Venezuela. And I had that opportunity to say, whoa, here's a company HubSpot that has a better methodology to help entrepreneurs grow, that has a better way to help people make them most out of the opportunity cost that they carry in being brave. And now it's my turn to be brave and to try to have this segment grow into something important. So the question you asked me was quick, the answer's a little more convoluted, but it is this collection of belief, right? I think if there's anything that defines my career so far and I'm gonna knock on what's so hopefully it continues like this, but it's the idea that it's very easy to be a cynic. It's very easy to find a thousand and one reasons why something's not gonna work, something's gonna break, something's not worth it. But I think cynicism has had its time and I do believe this world is for the romantics, right? The people who believe that something can be done differently, the people who believe that, you know, just because the way that businesses was led in Latin America, hierarchical top down, that's what it has to be or because the only way for a woman to get ahead in career was to do things that they're not so proud of, like all that is, it deserves to be challenged, deserves to be different. And I do think if you choose to be a romantic, it doesn't mean that you make yourself blind to the challenges, but it means that you have hope in your ability to make a change. And I think in short, that's what's taking my career to where it is now where we went from a team of eight people sitting in Cambridge, Massachusetts to now, an office based in Boa, with Takalumbia, with hundreds of employees with a team that used to think, "Oh, I'm only gonna be here for a little bit to people who are now making careers." And from a small sample size of customers to now over 10, 12,000 customers in the region, where we feel proud of the work that we've done because our success is the success of our customers. But that does start from a standpoint of, "You gotta believe." - Yeah. And you, so many people. - And you and I, you're both my heroes. - You just bam, you hit Adam and so much in what you were saying. And then, and I agree with you. I think what, what Hobbspot and the partners and the customers and everyone built in Latin America is, it's incredible. Like it's mind-fever indebted to Chile for my experience there. Surviving a move that, very similar to what you were describing when you moved from Columbia to the US. And if I was to rewind back, you, when you were in the US, you started teaching English to teenagers and adults and Boston. Is that right? - Yeah, I did. There was something called the intergenerational literacy program. Back in university, I was studying sociology because I very much, I get excited about things which is might be coming through, but if we're in a big networking event, I'm the person in the corner with their two friends and the second those two friends say, "I wanna leave," I'm gonna be like, "I'm right there with you, let's go home." That's me at it as a fault. But through studying sociology, I learned to observe. And I learned how, when given different circumstances, the way that culture can evolve and can bring out the best in people or can drown people. So as a part of this through the university, there was this nonprofit called the intergenerational literacy program whose mission was to teach or to help parents and their children learn English. So parents could be more involved in their kid studies. And this was primarily aimed at a Latino community in some of the most dangerous parts of the city of Boston or most immigrant working class neighborhoods. And I found a lot of passion for teaching because it was the ability to say, "Hey, let's give you a different perspective." Let's create a safe place for us to grow. And I don't want you to be ashamed by your accent. I don't want you to be ashamed if you can't find the right words. I want you to be brave and to try. And to me that was really helpful or because I'm inspired by people. I'm inspired by the mom who works two jobs and yet is trying her very best to make sure that she can help her kid with her homework. Like that stuff's inspiring, right? That's a real key. Like we all know what it's like to have a busy day. So to see someone doing their very best, that means everything to me. So I enjoyed those moments and I did that for about a year, I believe. Right up until graduation. I thought about staying longer as a full-time employee. Life had other plans for me and I had a amount of student that I had to pay off. Life finds a way for you. I remember talking about a student debt. I remember when we first met you and we were doing our hopes for onboarding years ago. And I remember you said to Izzy and I, so what are your goals? I think we're like goals. We never even thought about it. And then we asked you and you said, my goal is to pay off our student debt. I will never forget that moment. I was like, whoa. Yeah, I remember it like it was yesterday. And so you've been a hub spot for 11 years and there's a saying that goes 10 years and that's your max in companies. What is it that keeps you motivated or you're drive? Like what makes you stay so long? Like what's holding you there? Is it that connection with Latin America and give back what's right. - That's a really good question, Ranya, 'cause I sometimes I ask myself those questions all the time. I love HubSpot. I think it has been a transformational career for me, the company, the culture, the ability to earn like RSUs through comps, like all those things have been fundamentally light changing for me. I think the reason I found my mission to stay is I realized how, and I'm gonna use the word lucky, but that might not be the right word, but that's the one I'm gonna use. I've recognized how lucky I am to have these opportunities fall my way. I got to manage my first sales team when I was 24 years old turning 25. Who trust that kid to have run a team? And yet in this gentleman named Corey Beon and a gentleman named G. Tumakani, I found that opportunity and these folks developed me and they would give me questions and they would make me feel frustrated and be like, yeah, it sucks to be frustrated, doesn't it, David? What are you gonna do about it? And they very much made me a active participant in my career versus a spectator in my career. - Yeah. - As the years unfolded, I got to hire my boss, the VP of Latin American now. Like who had the opportunity to hire their boss, right? Who does that? I had that opportunity. And one of my first dialogues was like, "Hey, man, I'm just so you know, I'm in mature, I'm emotional, I got gannas, I have desire, I have will. How are you gonna develop me?" And he answered the question. I think about the opportunities that I've been given at HubSpot and I find myself so lucky that I got to live those opportunities where it would be an incredibly unfair for me to say, and I'm out. Like I feel a debt of gratitude and I don't mean this in a bad way. Like I'm so grateful that it's me who gets to carry the opportunity to help others too. So mentorship, there's a bunch of folks that throughout the organization, even Lattam and in North America, who might be Latinos, who might be African-American, who might be a African descent, African career. And I like to mentor them, right? 'Cause I remember what it was like when I was the only person of color on the sales team. I remember where it was like to be the first time I got promoted to management. I remember what it was like to be like, "Oh, this meeting is not going my way, everything is blowing up in my face." And I'm blessed that I got to learn from those opportunities. So I feel like it's my job to make sure that I developed that talent and others. And that keeps me learning and it keeps me motivated. And yeah, it's also really cool to take part in financial planning and to think about how we grow the region next year and to see the impact from customers that I sold to back in 2015 here in 2024. Like all those things make it worth my while where I'm always learning something. I'm always trying to grow in some area. And I'm probably not gonna be at HubSpot for the rest of my life. But every day that I am at HubSpot, I do feel happy to be there. And I think happiness is not something that just happens to you. It's something that you have to chase and it's something that you have to make a choice to be happy. And that doesn't mean circumstances are easy, but it means you look for joy when you can capture it. And I feel like the reason I'm still at HubSpot and that's why it's so rare is I found that ability to find my joy in what I'm doing every day. - Yeah, and it's aligned with like your purpose as an individual, as a soul. It's a lot more than a joke. Yeah. - Well, there was a gentleman you interviewed, Jose Martin's, who once told me there's a difference between achievement and fulfillment. And that explains it all, right? I feel so good. - You're hitting it on the head again, brilliant. Super. And then moving away from HubSpot and technology and stuff like that, you're big into Brazilian Gigi-Tsu and improving guitar skills. So I'm a friend believer that sports always impact our approach also of work, leadership, of mentorship, team building, and all of that together. How have those two hobbies, the guitar and you did to help you maintain balance and manage on guessing in the role you have at HubSpot, there must be stresses that appear every day. - So my original plan in life was to fight mixed martial arts. I'm very happy then to choose that career path 'cause I'm gonna be honest with you, Rania, I'm not the most athletic individual on this planet and there's kids out there who would have been the crap out of me. So I'm glad that I chose what I chose. But as I got older and my career started to get tougher, I just, okay, I can't box anymore 'cause I can't take punches through the face. Moitai is getting a little bit beyond me, but Jujitsu was something that I found so much more mentally and physically engaging 'cause the cool thing about Jujitsu is that it does become, it is submission wrestling where your end goal is to put somebody in a precarious disposition where either they're gonna lose a limb or they're gonna be choked to sleep. And it's like, it has a sport that has the ability to have dire consequences in a very controlled environment. The reason I love Jujitsu is it's an incredibly humbling sport because no matter how good you are, Jujitsu rewards those that keep showing up. So there's guys that show up to the gym a year ago and I'm able to beat them in a minute and a half and I can decide how I'm gonna tap them out. But if that guy keeps training and keeps showing up and I don't, that person's gonna get my number and that person's gonna be my own me out. So there's this element of you can't ever feel like you're on top of the world 'cause the sport's gonna humble you. The second thing that I appreciate about it is new techniques come every day and evasion comes out every day. There's new stuff 'cause new people will get interested in the sport and they'll bring some of that. So like the judo players will bring leg trips and then the wrestlers will bring like wrestling pressure and beating you with raw athleticism. Then someone like the nerd of your guys will be like, "Well, if I do this, I'm gonna find the Pokemon." And there's always so much to learn within the sport itself that it makes, it's a violent sport, it's a violent activity but there's this freedom to play and to be creative that you don't find at many places in life. That's why I love Jujitsu and also when you're rolling, when you're training, you can't think of anything else. So for stress management, the best stress management that I found in the world. - Yeah, you can't. - Maybe I should try this. - Yeah, I think it's a blast. - I think it's a blast. I think everyone should try Jujitsu at least once in their life. Now they get caught on the other hand. That is probably my second source of most frustration if not the first 'cause it's so hard. I'm not like, when I was growing up, I played a bunch of punk rock and playing punk rock, you don't have to be good. You just have to have energy and be willing to just turn up the embryo of the loud. I'm Mary now, my wife's an attorney. My have this dream where my wife is working on a case and I can just sneak into her office and play a little guitar. That's not gonna happen if I'm going in their office playing anarchy in the UK by the second. It's like, that's not gonna be something that's gonna relax my wife. So I decided about a few years to get serious about learning guitar and it has been one of the most humbling experiences that I've thought 'cause I'm not a dumb person but put music theory in front of me, the circle of fifths, understanding all the notes in the fretboard and it's the type of thing where I consistently have to again remind myself, I'm not here to be the best, I'm here to learn. I'm not here, I'm not gonna be a professional guitar player. I'm not gonna be this generation's guitar here. I'm not gonna be Jimmy Hendrix. That's not who I am. I'm not Stevie Ray Vaughan. I'm David who's trying to be better than he was yesterday and that's why I'm putting on this stupid metronome. I'm trying to stupid exercise and I'm gonna try as many times as I can hopefully get it right. And this is fun, I'm relaxing. But I enjoy going through those motions 'cause it's a way to, I don't know, to put things into perspective and I find that activities that humble me, allow me to remember that. I'm at my best when I'm empathetic. I'm at my best when I listen. I'm at my best when I'm patient. And if I can do that with myself, I'm gonna be able to do that on my teams. - Yeah, and I'm at my best when I'm vulnerable. And I, I think the guitar thing I took on this crazy idea of the beginning of this year to learn how to drum. - Oh yeah, that's so cool. - Sure, I'm feeling the restriction because I keep listening to beats. But it's good to stretch yourself and try things you've never done before somehow. And I do have one more question. I have many more questions. If you're open to it, I would love to do a part two. - We do this as many times as you want 'cause it's a pleasure to have more. - Yeah, it's a pleasure to have more. - Awesome. So my last question for today, 'cause unfortunately I have a hard stuff. But I can't change is, you mentioned Latinos, African Americans, different heritages. So this caught me thinking about different cultures and diversity and that whole concept. And I know Hubsbott has a great culture code around that. How, what has it been like or what have you done or what advice actually would you give to companies that want to implement, an approach and a strategy and a framework to embrace cross-cultural teams, diverse teams, and not shy away from it because someone has a weird accent. I find that a lot of people here diverse and inclusion-belonging things like that and they're like, "Ah, not have to walk on fricking excels," right? I'm going to say the wrong thing. People can't take a joke anymore. No, it has nothing to do with that. To me, and this is the advice I would give any company that's seriously thinking about this, it goes back to learn to be curious, learn to appreciate the fact that someone has a life experience that's different than yours, and they too have it in them to be just as successful because not in spite of how they were brought up and how they find their moments of bravery, of passion, of forgiveness, of growth, of learning. I think that's incredible, right? Because what I learned watching my mom, someone else learned by growing up in a farm in Wisconsin, United States, and waking up at five in the morning to go milk the cows. Like, it's something where there's a human experience element that is shared, and if you're curious, you find so many more places where we're similar than we are different. So that's tip number one, the second tip, which is super action oriented. I, again, I think this world is further romantics. I think leadership, you have to be a romantic. I think leaders who tend to be ego-filled will get their come-upins at some point. Yeah. What do I know? But I think when you're a leader and you're trying your best to be more inclusive and to find strength and diversity, it really comes down to helping or to finding something to root for in every individual you work with. Because sometimes we just think, "Oh, you're here to do a job." No, I don't want you just to do a job. I want to to leave root for you. I want to learn so much about you and get to know you to the point where, when you say blue, I recognize what blue means to you, and when you tell me that it's blue, I'm so happy for you. I'm an over-the-moon for you because I root for you. So I think those are two very easy ways to get started and to get the ball rolling. To me, it matters because, again, I'm blessed with the opportunities that I've had, and I feel like I've done a good job. Imagine the people who don't have those opportunities who are just as capable if not more so. Yeah, I echo everything you're saying to me, it matters a lot. Just my own experience living in so many continents and countries and being that outsider, but being given a chance in every new place I went to, it's overwhelming. This has been amazing, David. I really do want to do a part two. You're going to be reaching out if that's very okay. We have so much more to talk about. I would have loved to have extended this one, but I have a sales call. You're going to crush it because that's where Ranya does. I'm happy to always pick this up back up. Thank you. We'll definitely do that. I appreciate this. I appreciate you. Have a beautiful day and stay tuned everyone. We will have part two. Thank you. Bye. Thank you. Bye. Bye. (upbeat music)