Get to know Propeller’s world-class team in our new, ongoing employee spotlight series. Today, we talk to Dave Schoenfeld, who serves as our vice president of sales and is based out of our Denver, Colorado, office.
What do you do at Propeller?
I am the VP of sales. My job is to make sure that the sales resources of the company have everything they need to be successful in communicating the value of our solution and giving our customers a great buying experience.
I manage the sales resources in Australia as well as the United States, which is comprised of pre-sale engineers, who help customers understand the technical capabilities of our product; account executives, who ensure customers have a smooth buying process from start to finish; and sales development representatives, who are tasked with qualifying opportunities that come into Propeller, plus generating opportunities for companies that fit our ideal customer profile.
What’s your career background?
I’ve been building and leading sales organizations in early- to mid-stage startups for the last decade. While I’ve never worked in the construction industry before coming to Propeller, the solutions built around acquiring, organizing, and sharing data is a space that I’m very familiar with.
I’ve had the benefit of working in, and taking to market, data solutions for the world’s largest retailers and brands, as well as the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers—and now the world’s largest construction companies with Propeller
Before working at Propeller, what’s the strangest or most interesting job you’ve held?
I’ve had two really interesting ones. One, I worked at a pawn shop, which is a fascinating study of the human condition. That was really interesting. I learned a lot about people. Hard work though—a lot of time on your feet and a lot of people down on their luck.
Two, I did a short stint on the Geek Squad at Best Buy helping people with their computers and WiFi and networking. That was back in 2003, during the dawn of the internet, home computing, wireless networking—it was a very interesting and busy time. There are a lot of crying people that come in because they’d lost their work, their school work, their computer won’t start, they had viruses. So you really can be a superhero for folks, or have to deliver very bad news on occasion
Where did you grow up?
I grew up here in Colorado, along the Front Range. I went to elementary school in Littleton, Colorado, just outside of Denver. Then moved to Colorado Springs, where I went to high school and lived in the Black Forest. Then I moved to Castle Rock in 2005, and have been there ever since. I’m a true local.
What’s your favorite Propeller memory?
I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as hard as when we had Drone Battle Day at the office. It was hilarious having these teeny tiny drones—they fit in your hand—whip around the office. We had people race against each other and try to knock each other out of the sky.
My first day was also incredibly memorable. Getting to meet the team, really being welcomed, and just having everyone go out of their way to spend time with me during the onboarding process made it one of the most memorable so far.
If you could be any piece of worksite equipment, what would you be?
I’d probably be one of those big, giant haul trucks. I’m a drive-through-the-puddles kind of guy, so I can just imagine how great it would be to run over anything and everything on site that I wanted to.
If you could attend any professional sports game, what would it be and why?
For this, I’d actually say the World Cup. It’s a big party. I would love to go see that when it’s held in an exotic destination someday—hopefully with the USA playing.
While I’m a huge Broncos fan, having grown up in Colorado, I have actually seen the Broncos in the Super Bowl. It was one of the greatest weekends ever.
Any fun facts, talents, or secret superpowers to share?
I once won a spelling bee. I tend do pretty well at trivia, too. I am a huge repository of useless knowledge.
Do you have an office nickname? What is it?
I don’t know if I have an office nickname or not—at least not one anyone calls me to my face! My friends call me Showey, a nickname I’ve had forever
If you could do any job on a worksite for just one day, which would you choose?
I’d love to run one of the excavators on a mine or a quarry. Put me in any type of equipment where I get to either drive or where the machinery is big, and I’d be happy.
