Episode 3 Danny Holmoe | Qualtrics
Listen to episode 3. Danny helped turn Qualtrics, a survey company, into an iconic brand.
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Danny is one of the earliest members of the Qualtrics Creative and Marketing team. Danny joined Qualtrics when there were about 100 and has been instrumental in creating the cool, sexy brand of one of Utah's most successful companies.
Interview transcription:
Danny Holmoe:
The first day President Obama spoke and the reception of President Obama was just huge. And there were tons of people there and it was kind of chaotic getting everyone into main stage and making sure that everyone had a seat. And so in between days one and day two, we got feedback that not everyone was able to get a seat in the main stage area. And that, that experience wasn't as good as we would've liked it to be. And so that night Keilan was trying to figure out how many seats were in the main stage area. And so I said, yeah, let me go run and count them half joking, half serious. And I looked at him and he said, okay, yeah, go ahead and do that.
Braydon Anderson:
This is the early years a show about influential early employees at the most successful companies and their stories have made a lasting impact. I'm braiding the Anderson and on today's show how a survey company became cool and sexy and eventually purchased for $8 billion. Have you ever taken an online survey if you have odds, are that you're likely not thinking about how the survey was made or who made it, or how a company in Utah that creates software for online surveys was purchased for $8 billion. Now you may have heard of Qualtrics, and now they're recognized as an experience management platform, but in its early days, companies best in Qualtrics as a survey tool, simply be collect market research and customer experience data on their customers. Today, we're joined by Danny Holmoe, one of the earliest members of the Qualtrics creative and marketing teams, Danny joined Qualtrics when there were about a hundred employees. And when there really was no marketing, your creative team at all, Danny has been instrumental in creating the cool, sexy brand of one of Utah's most successful companies prior to joining Qualtrics. Danny had an interesting dilemma in front of him as he was graduating from Brigham young university, a friend he grew up with offered him a position as a cofounder at a new startup back in San Francisco, where Danny grew up as he's preparing to make the move. He met his now wife, Carly now needing to stay in Utah. He started meeting with CEOs of rising tech companies. And so he lined me up
Danny Holmoe:
With probably about three to five CEOs. And one of those happened to be Ryan Smith. Who's the CEO of Qualtrics. Hmm. I met with Ryan and after having done these like three to five different meet and greets, um, I realized that Ryan was who I wanted to work for the sexually really interesting, like what, what were some of the factors that led to that? Yeah. And so a lot of it didn't really even have to do with what Qualtrics was as a company. Um, you know, at the time it was pitched as survey software, making sophisticated research simple. And, um, to be honest, you know, that's not sexy at all. And I come from like a brand background. I was an advertising major. I'm really drawn to like consumer products and things like that. And so, um, it might seem out of left field for me to be drawn towards Qualtrics, um, because it's B to B and, you know, survey software, but Ryan's charisma and his vision for what he wanted to accomplish was just so strong compared to the other people that I met with that I knew that like he would take the company wherever he wanted to take it. And that anyone that worked for him would buy into, you know, what he was doing and what he was selling. And so I wanted to be a part of that journey and a part of that ride. And it was early enough to where I felt like I was going to be able to make a good impact, um, creatively, but also just, um, culturally within the company. Yeah. How, how big was Qualtrics when, when you first met with, with them? Yeah. So when I met with Ryan, they were on the first floor of a Provo office building and it was only half of the floor. Hmm. Okay. There were probably a little over a hundred employees at the time. Okay. Um, my employee number, it's two 70 and then, uh, fast forward to today, my active employee numbers, 54, I think. So, um, there's only 53 people at Qualtrics who have been there longer than I have.
Braydon Anderson:
So you've seen it all. You've really experienced a lot. It's great. Yeah.
Danny Holmoe:
So I've been around the block or two. So you meet with Ryan and you start having these conversations. Did you have a sense of what you were going to do? Right. You're kind of fresh out of college. Um, did he, what, what roles or positions did you guys talk about that aligned with what you wanted to do to contribute as much as you wanted to contribute? For sure. So at that point I didn't necessarily care so much, um, what I would be doing, I wanted to get my foot in the door. Um, and obviously I wasn't going to do sales or anything like that just cause that's not at all where my passion lies, but, um, I knew that they didn't really have like a structured marketing department, Ryan at the time was probably the marketing department.
Danny Holmoe:
Okay. And so, um, they didn't have a creative team. Um, at that point, most of the work that they were doing was done by an outside creative agency. So I really said like put me to work. Um, where can I help? So Danny takes a role on a pseudo design team. His job was to work with the best design teams of the biggest companies in the world. We're talking, Google, Nike, Facebook, you name it. And he was working with them. What did he do? He helped them develop custom looking surveys that would match their brand. And that was a great learning opportunity to not only learn how to code and use HTML and CSS, but also to learn the culture of Qualtrics, um, learn more about the brand, learn more about what Ryan was trying to do with the brand. And so it was kind of like, um, while I was doing these survey themes, I was also kind of learning the internal workings of the business and the brand.
Braydon Anderson:
Yeah. So how does that turn into, you know, what, what you're working on today, like what your current role is, what walk me through maybe that path of going from, you know, designing the survey themes to having a big part in controlling the entire Qualtrics brand?
Danny Holmoe:
Yeah. So, like I said, I did that for about a year and then I had the opportunity to design a shirt or something. Um, Ryan came with an idea and asked if I'd help. And, um, it was pretty easy to work with them on it. Um, we have similar styles and so it just seems to be a pretty natural flow. And after I did at one time, it, you know, trickled into two or three and then it trickled into five or six until eventually I was probably splitting my time, like 50% on the themes team and then 50% on, um, Qualtrics related design projects centered around the brand and the look and feel of Qualtrics as opposed to the look and feel of the themes that we were sending out for other people.
Danny Holmoe:
And, and sometime during this point, um, uh, marketing team was stood up. Um, but it was a very small team. And so during this time they utilize me a lot for the design work because they didn't necessarily have someone who was like a true designer. Gotcha. So basically my understanding is it turned in from, Hey design, a couple of shirts for us. You knocked that out of the park too. Hey, we need you to keep doing some additional projects for sure. And I think that that's what the goal was, um, going into Qualtrics was have flexibility. Um, yeah, because, like I said, in the beginning, when I met with Ryan, I just wanted to get my foot in the door and then I figured I could be a sponge and absorb everything. And then as my talents like Rose, then they would be able to slot me where they needed me to help grow the business and the brand.
Braydon Anderson:
That's really awesome. And so let's, let's talk a little bit more about the brand. Um, you know, when I think about Qualtrics, like you said earlier, it's a, it was a survey tool early on. Um, so sophisticated research made simple, right? I believe that was their tagline for a really long time. How do you make a survey technology company? Cool. Because when people think about Qualtrics, they don't just think about this survey tool. They there's so much more to it. It really has created this kind of iconic brand. How did that happen?
Danny Holmoe:
So I credit Ryan, um, a lot when it comes to developing a cool brand within like the B2B space. I think Ryan, um, is a really style conscious person. Um, not even when it comes to business and the company, but just generally speaking, he's always got a fresh pair of Louis Vuitton sneakers on, and he was wearing the, you know, man purse before it was a thing.
Danny Holmoe:
Um, and so I think that that kind of naturally bled over a little bit into what he was doing at Qualtrics. And I think, um, one way that I like to describe it is Qualtrics has always tried to market as like a B2C company, even though we're very much B to B. Um, the companies that you think of that have great design are generally product companies and consumer driven, um, companies. So even though we were a B2B company, um, we wanted to compete as it related to design and brand with the biggest B to C companies out there, the Nike's and the apples and the Airbnbs. And so we didn't want to get stuck in the B2B box and do everything that was done in the B2B space. We wanted to separate ourselves and we wanted to, um, make B2B sexy and cool.
Braydon Anderson:
So how did, how did you do that? Like, are there any examples that you can share that like specifically illustrate you, all the things that you were able to do to create this perception of a cool, maybe more B2C type of a company?
Danny Holmoe:
Um, I think it just comes down to like where thought process starts as creatives and designers. A lot of the times you're mood boarding and you're looking for inspiration and most people who would be starting off a design project for B2B company would look at the competitors' sites and what the competitors are doing and go from there. But I think, um, at Qualtrics, within our team, um, when we're looking for inspiration and we're looking for the way that we want to present ourselves to the world, we look at the Nike's, um, inspiration, and we look at fashion and we look at art and we don't like put ourselves in this B2B box where we have to look like companies, a, B, and C that do similar things to what we do.
Danny Holmoe:
Um, even if our product is more similar to theirs, we want our brands to be more similar to those cool brands that I mentioned before. Yeah. How do you think that it's paid off, I guess is maybe a fair question. Like when you compare yourself to maybe some of the other competitors out there, do you feel like this has been a strong differentiation for Qualtrics? Yeah, I think so. Um, one way that I think you can tell us through our event, um, which is now known as X4. I think there are a lot of tech companies that have conferences and most of the time, those conferences are a reflection of their brands. And so you'll talk to people who go to 10, 20 events a year and they always come to Qualtrics' X4 event and say like, wow, this is like completely different from all of the other events.
Danny Holmoe:
And it's so refreshing. And I think that is kind of a good example of how we've taken this a different approach to inspiration and design and things, and, and kind of made it tangible in this physical event that we do. Yeah. Yeah.
Braydon Anderson:
I don't think you can question the value of an event like that, especially when it comes from a branding perspective and the perception that your customers and potential customers will have on your company. And, and I've, I've actually had the opportunity of attending this conference and it's unbelievable. Um, tell me how that shaped. What was the process early on? I believe it used to be called the Qualtrics summit. You then rebranded to X4, um, walk me through kind of that whole process and what that looked like in the beginning.
Danny Holmoe:
It was more of a user conference for Qualtrics users to collaborate, to learn about what was new within the product, um, to network with other researchers. And I think, um, we soon realized that we wanted to create an event that was more inviting to anyone within the tech community to come and be inspired. We wanted not only customers and users to be there, but also prospects. And so, um, I think that's kind of when it transitioned to X4, we kind of pulled back the Qualtrics branding a little bit and push forward this X for branding so that we could, um, present ourselves kind of more along the lines of a, a SXSW or a Sundance film festival, um, something that anyone would love attending. And you would still gather a lot of real tangible insights.
Braydon Anderson:
Yeah. So what does X4 even stand for you guys shifted from this Qualtrics user Qualtrics summit two X four, what does that even mean?
Danny Holmoe:
Yeah, so Qualtrics focuses on four core experiences. Um, the first being customer experience, then you have employee experience, brand experience and product experience. And so those we call, you know, the four X's. And so that's where X4 comes from.
Braydon Anderson:
Okay. So obviously this event is, is a really big way to show your brand. And you mentioned how people just love it. What, what are some of the things that you guys do at this event to really just go, you know, that make it so impactful and make it such a big branding event for you?
Danny Holmoe:
For sure. So I think, um, it all starts with like design and our visual representation of the event. When people first walk through the doors, we want them to be blown away with the scale and the size and the detail that goes into the event. Um, a lot of the times you go to an event, especially within tech and especially within B2B and you see these underwhelming rooms with like a pull up banner and we wanted it to be the antithesis of that. Just like completely opposite.
Braydon Anderson:
I've been to some of those events and I know exactly what you're talking about, for sure.
Danny Holmoe:
We wanted it to feel like, um, you were going to a rock concert or like going to South by Southwest or Coachella or something where like there's an excitement. And so whether it's having a DJ that's spinning live, right, as you walk in or a screen that's, you know, 150 feet wide, we want it to feel like grandiose. Um, but in a Qualtrics way. Yeah. And you also even do things like have these amazing headlining, um, bands come and provide a free show. Is that correct? For sure. Yeah. So it starts with, you know, the visuals, but then it's, um, extended throughout the event with concerts, um, charity events, breakout sessions, keynote speakers, like Oprah Obama. Um, Ellen was coming this year, uh, Ashton Kutcher, you know, you name it and they probably have been to X4.
Braydon Anderson:
Danny, when you think of this X4 event, you know, maybe what's one of your favorite stories, um, that you can share from this event.
Danny Holmoe:
One that I can think of happened to X4 last year. And so the first day President Obama spoke and the reception of President Obama was just huge. And there were tons of people there and it was kind of chaotic getting everyone into main stage and making sure that everyone had a seat. And so in between days one and day two, we got feedback that not everyone was able to get a seat in the main stage area. And that, that experience wasn't as good as we would've liked it to be. And so that night we were up working on the presentations for the following morning, and I kind of had a break in what I was working on and Kylan was trying to figure out how many seats were in the main stage area. And so I said, yeah, let me go run and count them half joking, half serious. And I looked at him and he said, okay, yeah, go ahead and do that. And so I went over and I counted each of the chairs in the main stage auditorium. And it was like something like, it was something like 11,000 plus chairs. And that story is just kind of like a visual representation of how much Qualtrics cares about the details of the events and the business and the brand is like, rather than just like adding more, they're like, we need to know exactly how many chairs are there. We need to know how many we need to add, and then we need to figure out how we add them. So that each person in that main stage has the best experience for day two, because we're an experienced company. We can't just like, think we'll get them next time. And like, we'll improve for them next year. We need to change it real time and we need to change for that very next session. And so I think that that was a cool story to me that showed, you know, how much everyone in that room cared about the experience of the attendees.
Braydon Anderson:
Wow. That's fantastic. Um, I also understand that Qualtrics and I believe you have, have worked with the Utah jazz, the national basketball association team. Um, how did that all happen? And tell me a little bit more about that relationship.
Danny Holmoe:
Yeah. So a few years back the NBA decided that they were going to introduce corporate logos, corporate logo sponsorships on the NBA jerseys. And so at that time, um, companies like GE did the corporate sponsorship with, uh, the Boston Celtics. And so if you look at the Boston Celtics, they have the GE patch on their Jersey. And, um, the 70 Sixers have StubHub, I believe.
Danny Holmoe:
And so the StubHub logo is on, um, the 76ers jerseys. And so Ryan, um, had the opportunity to sponsor the Jazz's Jersey, but instead of using Qualtrics and putting the Qualtrics logo on there, they came up with the idea to donate that sponsorship to our charitable organization, five for the fight. Five for the fight is a cancer organization that is based on the premise that everyone can give $5 to fight cancer and help eradicate the disease. That's touched everyone's lives. There isn't anyone out there that hasn't been affected by cancer in some way, be it through a family member or a friend or a loved one. Yeah. What, what specifically have you been involved with, with in this effort? Yeah, so from the very beginning, um, I was asked to help, uh, brainstorm different designs for the patch. I was asked to help design the webpage where people could go and buy, um, five for the fight branded merchandise. I have collaborated with the Utah jazz on some five for the fight, um, gear that is co-branded with five for the fight and the Utah jazz. I've met with people at the stadium about merchandising that stuff. So within their team store and things like that, I've been able to be a part of the video shoots at the arena where, um, you know, Donovan, Mitchell and Rudy go bear and Ricky Rubio talk about the battle with cancer and how it can be eradicated if everyone just gave $5 to help, uh, fund the research that we're doing.
Braydon Anderson:
Yeah. That's such an awesome experience. Um, I'm sure it's interesting for you to think about know when you started at this company, the you'd eventually be working with NBA players and professional sports teams. So, you know, thinking back to when you first started, I'm curious, tell me what it was like in the early days, you know, there were about a hundred employees. What was that like?
Danny Holmoe:
Yeah, it was fun. Um, there weren't that many people, so everyone had a lot of responsibility. Uh, one of the things that people would always say at Qualtrics is you can't ever say, that's not my job. Um, you always had to wear a lot of hats and if you wanted to do something, you kind of had to do it yourself. And I think that along with other cultural aspects of Qualtrics have maintained, even as we've grown, a lot of the times, my favorite projects are the ones that I initiate. I just come up with an idea and I pitch it, um, to either Ryan or Kylan our CMO. And a lot of the times they just say, yeah, go ahead, run with it. And so it's not really, there's not a lot of red tape. It's more of, you know, if you have an idea, bring it to life and make it happen, but they're not going to necessarily put a full team in place. And just let you come up with ideas. You also have to be willing to put in the legwork and execute if you want to see it happen.
Braydon Anderson:
So I guess just in your eyes, what did Qualtrics do right early on?
Danny Holmoe:
Uh, that can be answered in a couple of different ways. I think, uh, one of the things that I hear a lot is that Qualtrics attacked the academic market, which, um, wasn't necessarily what businesses would do. Um, but Scott Smith, one of the founders and Ryan's dad, he came from academia. And so they were connected through that, um, kind of world of academic academics and marketing. And so they got a lot of the top schools, I think, um, for the longest time we've had 99 of the top 100 business schools on Qualtrics. And so as those people went through business school, using Qualtrics, then they would go to the fortune 500 companies to work and they would integrate the Qualtrics platform within what they were doing at those various companies. So I think that's kind of a cool anecdote of something that Qualtrics did, right. From like a business perspective. And then I think from a brand perspective and a culture perspective, I think just giving people autonomy from the beginning is something that I think is important and something that Qualtrics has done fairly well is letting people make mistakes, letting people lead and own projects from the get go.
Braydon Anderson:
Yeah. And, and tell me a little bit about, uh, I know one of the founders was originally at Google and how that impacted, I would assume the culture throughout the country, for sure.
Danny Holmoe:
Yes. So Jared Ryan's brother, he, uh, worked at Google and came back to help, uh, run Qualtrics with his brother, Ryan and his dad Scott. And he brought over a lot of the culture from Google. Um, that's really trendy in today's tech community that's stuff like catered meals and dogs in the office and things like that. Um, but in the early days of Qualtrics, this wasn't necessarily the norm throughout Utah County and throughout the country. And so it was a real differentiator here, locally that we had some of those perks. And I think we took what he brought from Google and made it our own and then just kept piling on. And so if you looked at Google today and Qualtrics today, although they have like a little bit of overlap thinking of like a Venn diagram, there's still like a lot that Qualtrics does and has implemented that Google doesn't and vice versa
Braydon Anderson:
Uh, so the last question is, is Dan just, you know, what, what piece of advice would you give to someone that's currently in the early years of a startup?
Danny Holmoe:
Yeah, I think just be flexible and be willing to do, whatever's asked of you. I think a lot of the times people get hired for a specific role and they think like that's all I'm here for is to do this one job. And I feel like that's the wrong way to look at it. I think, um, you're hired because of your personality. I think you're hired because of what you bring to the culture. I think you're hired because of your skillset. Um, but so much more than that. And so I think it's limiting too think that you can only do what you were hired to do. And I think that some of my greatest opportunities, some of my greatest experiences at Qualtrics have been working on things that weren't part of my core job or core responsibilities at all. And some of the things that I've loved the most about Qualtrics have been the fact that they let me kind of do my own thing and, you know, I might pitch 10 things. Um, and three of them might come to fruition, but those three things are more valuable than a lot of my day to day tasks that are just kind of checking boxes sometimes. Yeah. So I'd say advice for people at, um, startups would be just learn every aspect of the business, get to know the people, um, be helpful to anyone who is within the organization. Um, don't think that like, just because you're in creative that you can't help finance or that you can't help recruiting or that you can't help sales, um, just be a resource that anyone can turn to. And then that just makes you so much more versatile and so much more usable. Um, and then like the likelihood that something sticks or something blows up or something is great for your career. Um, it's just way more prevalent.
Braydon Anderson:
That's Danny Holmoe, the man that turned Qualtrics, a survey company, into an iconic brand. Thanks for listening to today's show subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And, if you know someone that we should interview for this podcast, email braydon@theearlyyears.show. I'm Braydon Anderson, and this is the early years.