Ross Tennenbaum

Inspirer
DISC Type : id

President at Avalara

Seattle, Washington, United States

Overview

Ross Tennenbaum is the incoming CFO of Dropbox, leveraging a unique background that blends financial leadership with hands-on operational experience. He previously served as President and CFO at Avalara, after a decade as a software investment banker at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse. He holds an MBA from The Wharton School and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Outside of his executive roles, Ross has an appreciation for creative team-building activities, demonstrated by his promotion of a company-wide golf swing challenge at Avalara. He values fostering a spirit of teamwork and friendly competition within his organization to celebrate employee energy and engagement.

He began his career as the first and only finance hire at an early-stage web collaboration software company.

Personality Overview

Decisive

Achievment Oriented

Charming & Persuasive

They respond well to objective pitches but also attach some value to relationships.  They measure a product on its merit but can be influenced by strong testimonials. They don’t mind taking a stand if they believe in something.

Topics They Care About

Scaling Companies
As CFO and later President of Avalara, he was instrumental in scaling the business to exceed $1 billion in annual revenue.
AI in Business
He will join Dropbox as the company increases its investment in AI-powered tools. At Avalara, he promoted new AI capabilities for tax compliance.
Software M&A / IPOs
Spent a decade as a technology investment banker at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse, advising software companies and leading Avalara's IPO in 2018.

Media Appearances

Ross has no verified media appearances

Work History

4-2024
President at Avalara
4-2020 - 4-2025
Chief Financial Officer at Avalara
3-2019 - 4-2024
Executive Vice President, Strategic Initiatives group at Avalara
9-2014 - 3-2019
Managing Director, Software Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs
12-2012 - 8-2014
Vice President, Software Investment Banking at Credit Suisse

Education

2007 - 2009
Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from The Wharton School
1996 - 2000
Bachelor's Degree from University of Florida

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 22 Location : Seattle, Washington, United States Job Level : N/A Designation : President at Avalara
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Insights For Selling To Ross

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Focus on the big picture and the strategic value of your product
  • Get them to a point where they are ready to bat for your product internally
  • Clearly address the competitive aspects

DONT's

  • Don’t keep repeating the same information, it could make them impatient
  • Avoid focusing only on the product or its ROI, keep building trust subtly
  • Don’t be very informal even if they are being so themselves

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Ross is

  • Confidence in the product’s value is critical, followed by relationship and a sense of achievement.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Ross

  • They will not hesitate to say no if they do not develop conviction.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Ross move?

  • If they develop confidence in your product and you, then they can make fast decisions.
  • Can Ross take some risk or not?

  • If necessary, they have the ability to take risky decisions.

You And Ross

Personality Compatibility


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