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Fred Braun
Helping companies simplify their collaboration and communication
Professional Background
Fred Braun is a versatile professional with a robust background in both sports and the corporate world. With a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing from the University of Louisville, Fred has successfully navigated the challenging landscapes of sales and marketing, showcasing his ability to adapt and excel in diverse environments. Starting his career as a professional soccer player, Fred has played for several notable teams, including the San Antonio Scorpions FC, Orlando City SC, and the Portland Timbers, demonstrating not only his athletic prowess but also his ability to work as part of a team and thrive under pressure.
Following his athletic endeavors, Fred transitioned into the business world, where he has held a series of significant roles that leverage his background in marketing and customer relations. Most recently, Fred served as an Account Executive at Zoom, a leading platform for video communications. In this role, he was responsible for driving sales initiatives and building strong relationships with clients, ensuring their needs were met while contributing to the company’s growth and market expansion.
Prior to his tenure at Zoom, Fred held crucial positions at Lifesize, where he was involved in enterprise sales, and at Influence Health, where he excelled as a Regional Account Executive for the West Region. Both positions allowed him to hone his skills in strategic sales and client management, which are critical in today’s competitive marketplace. As a Regional Sales Manager at Act-On Software, Inc., Fred further developed his leadership abilities, guiding his team to achieve and exceed sales targets while cultivating a positive work environment.
In addition to his corporate roles, Fred also served as an Account Manager in the entertainment division at IM360 - Immersive Media, where he utilized his creative marketing knowledge to engage with clients in unique and innovative ways. His background in sports has undoubtedly equipped him with a competitive spirit and a strong work ethic, qualities that have propelled him throughout his professional journey.
Education and Achievements
Fred Braun attended the University of Louisville, where he pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing. This formal education provided him with a solid foundation in marketing principles, consumer behavior, and business strategies, important components that have contributed to his success in various sales roles. His academic expertise, combined with his hands-on experience in professional sports and several corporate environments, has positioned him as a knowledgeable and influential figure in sales and marketing.
Throughout his career, Fred has achieved numerous accolades, including recognition for his sales accomplishments and contributions to team success in both athletics and corporate environments. His ability to bridge the gap between sports and business demonstrates his exceptional versatility and commitment to excellence. Fred is known for his outstanding communication skills, strategic thinking, and dedication to customer satisfaction, which have played a significant role in his professional achievements.
Notable Contributions
Fred's journey is marked not just by his roles but by the contributions he has made at each stage of his career. His experience as a professional soccer player enriched his understanding of teamwork and leadership, qualities that he seamlessly transitioned into his business career. In every organization he has been a part of, he has made meaningful impacts that speak to his proactive nature and innovative thinking.
At Zoom, he worked diligently to enhance the customer experience while driving sales and growth for the company. His time at Lifesize provided him the opportunity to engage with enterprise clients, allowing him to refine his approach to customer relations in a technology-driven landscape. At Influence Health, his role as a Regional Account Executive enabled him to build extensive networks while showcasing his ability to adapt marketing strategies to fit the unique needs of each client.
Fred’s time at Act-On Software highlighted his leadership skills, as he focused on mentoring and developing his team, fostering an environment where creativity and collaboration thrived. His experience at IM360 immersed him in the entertainment sector, where his marketing acumen complemented his passion for engaging audiences through various media.
Conclusion
Today, Fred Braun stands as a testament to the power of adaptability and continuous learning. His unique combination of skills in sales, marketing, and teamwork, developed through both athletic and corporate experiences, truly sets him apart. As he continues to forge his path in the business world, he remains committed to achieving excellence and delivering unparalleled results for the companies he represents. His journey is a compelling narrative of success, driven by hard work, passion, and an unwavering focus on growth.
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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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- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- 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.