Patrick Taylor is a Vice President at TechOperators. Throughout his career in software, he has held operational roles in most functional areas, ranging from founder and senior executive, to sales, marketing, product management, business development, and development manager.
Prior to joining TechOperators, Patrick co-founded and served as CEO of Oversight Systems for 15 years and then served on the Oversight Board of Directors for two years until the sale of the company to Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) in 2020. Oversight is a market leader in reducing waste and fraud in accounts payable, T&E and corporate cards. Oversight’s AI-based technology successfully serves hundreds of Global 2000 companies, as well as numerous government agencies.
Before co-founding Oversight, Patrick held senior marketing positions with Fast-Talk and Air2Web. For the preceding five years, Patrick led a business unit for cybersecurity company Internet Security Systems (ISS). He also oversaw ISS’ industry relations marketing and product management operations. Starting as the twelfth employee at ISS, Patrick’s tenure there saw explosive growth to over 1,400 employees and becoming a publicly traded company. Prior to ISS, Patrick worked at Symantec, Oracle, and RedBrick Systems in Silicon Valley in a variety of field and channel sales roles.
He serves on the board of Tugboat Logic, Basis Code, and Integrated Biometrics, as well as on the Board of Advisors at the Georgia Tech College of Computing. A graduate of Georgia Tech in Mechanical Engineering, Patrick also has an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
I’m interested in the science and art of customer purchasing behavior – how they buy, why they buy. Obviously, large corporations buy differently than small and medium sized businesses, but you have to unpack these differences in context to your own sales and marketing challenges.
I love to deeply understand the nuances of a company’s approach to their target market since it’s central to their ability to succeed.
What is the risk profile of the target in dealing with a startup? Will “innovation” be a strong motivator – or even be a positive? People charged with keeping the trains running on time might even resist innovation. What are the planning cycles for the prospect, and do regulatory requirements have an influence in decision making? These are just some of the factors that drive buying behavior across companies, departments, and roles, and these all matter a ton in developing and executing a successful go-to-market.
Another factor is the emotional aspects of the purchase. Everyone has dozens of “good ideas” with a positive ROI that they’re already not doing. (Come to think about it, this is true for our personal lives too.) Why should they add another “good idea” to the backlog? Often, it takes an emotional hook to motivate action.
There just isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to identifying a company’s ideal go-to-market approach. Digging in with companies on these questions is fun, and I enjoy helping companies through this process along the start-up journey.
I’m open for meeting with any entrepreneurs at any stage. Whether or not there’s a match with TechOperators, one of the rewarding parts of my work is finding ways to be helpful to entrepreneurs.