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Brooks Cunningham
Empowering developers to run, secure, and deliver websites and applications
Professional Background
Brooks Cunningham is a dynamic and esteemed professional in the field of technology and sales engineering, known for his extensive experience and remarkable ability to navigate complex business environments. He currently serves as a Principal Sales Engineer at Fastly, where he leverages his technical expertise and interpersonal skills to drive sales strategies and enhance client satisfaction. Previously, Brooks held significant roles at leading cybersecurity companies such as Imperva and Distil Networks, where he influenced product development and service delivery through his strong commitments to excellence and innovation.
With a solid foundation in management and business principles, Brooks has cultivated a reputation for fostering collaboration and building productive relationships with clients and stakeholders alike. His journey through various roles demonstrates a commitment to learning and adaptation in an ever-evolving industry, emphasizing his ability to lead teams and projects to successful outcomes.
Education and Achievements
Brooks earned a Bachelor of Science in Management from Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business, a program renowned for producing leaders in various sectors. His education provided him with critical insights into organizational management, strategic planning, and operational efficiency, skills that have proven to be paramount throughout his career.
Career Trajectory
Brooks started his career as an Implementation Engineer at Distil Networks, where he was instrumental in the deployment of solutions that secured websites against online threats. His hands-on technical expertise allowed him to manage multiple projects seamlessly while also gaining invaluable experience. His growth within Distil Networks saw him rise to the role of Manager of Implementation Services, where he oversaw implementation teams and enhanced client onboarding processes.
Following this role, Brooks took on the position of Service Operations Manager at Imperva, a transition that further developed his leadership capabilities. In this capacity, he optimized service operations, ensuring that the company's cybersecurity offerings met high standards of efficiency and reliability.
Eventually, Brooks returned to Imperva as a Principal Sales Engineer, where he skillfully combined his technical knowledge with his sales acumen to help clients understand the value of Imperva’s solutions, closing significant deals that contributed to the company’s market position.
In addition to his roles at major tech companies, Brooks has held a variety of positions that showcase his adaptability and willingness to learn across different fields. His early career included consulting roles at Citrix, where he served as a Senior Consultant and Staff Consultant, guiding clients through technology implementations and product optimizations.
Brooks also took on internships and part-time roles that further diversified his experience. For example, before stepping into technology directly, he worked as a Financial Representative Intern at Northwestern Mutual, gaining insights into financial services. His early exposure to leadership and instruction can be seen through his role as a Teachers Assistant at Tulane University's A.B. Freeman School and as a Guitar Teacher at Brooks Music Lessons, showcasing his approach to nurture talent and knowledge.
Additional Experience
Brooks has also experienced various roles outside the immediate tech realm, including being a Video and Media Assistant for Tulane Athletics and an Assistant Manager at Turnkey Landscaping. These diverse experiences illustrate his multifaceted skill set and ability to manage and adapt to different industry demands. Whether working in direct technical roles or overseeing operational aspects in management, Brooks has consistently demonstrated a strong work ethic and dedication to enhancing organizational effectiveness.
With this unique mix of technical skillsets and managerial acumen, Brooks Cunningham stands as a leader in his field, continuing to contribute to the industry with his innovative solutions and collaborative approach. His commitment to excellence and customer satisfaction is evident in every role he has undertaken, making him a valuable asset to any organization.
Achievements
- Principal Sales Engineer at Fastly, focusing on enhancing client solutions and driving strategic sales initiatives.
- Successfully transitioned through multiple roles at Imperva, gaining in-depth expertise in cybersecurity solutions and service delivery.
- Leadership in project management and operational efficiency at Distil Networks, ensuring high levels of client satisfaction.
- Strong foundational knowledge in management from Tulane University, contributing to a holistic understanding of business operations.
- Demonstrated adaptability and a learning mindset through diverse roles in technology, finance, education, and the arts.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.