Diva Tech Talk interviewed Jenny Coupe, Senior Director, Americas Marketing at Akamai Technologies (www.akamai.com).  Jenny began life as an “Army brat,” and moved 22 times in 18 years, forcing quick adaptation to new people, circumstances and venues. Jenny’s father, an Army judge, encouraged her to “be who I wanted to be, irrespective of gender.”

Jenny moved to Silicon Valley and graduated from The University of the Pacific, then began an entry-level position at Silicon Graphics Inc. (www.silicongraphics.com) in a “gender-blind culture.”  She credits her “fantastic boss” during her first 6 years for her swift career development. At SGI, she moved into marketing, followed her boss to WebMD (www.webmd.com) as employee #10 and became Director, Worldwide Corporate Marketing --- on the team that took WebMD to IPO status.  After WebMD, Jenny had eight different senior level marketing executive roles with companies ranging from giants like IBM to startups like Tegile.  Eventually, she migrated to Vice President of Customer Acquisition at Soasta, Inc. now acquired by Akamai.

Along the way, Jenny received many marketing awards including the distinction of being named to the list of the TOP 50 women in revenue you should know. “The number one value I bring to the table is hustle,” she said. “I hustle 24 x 7. I think because I’ve done so many different types of roles, I can come in, assimilate quickly, assess the situation, figure out what to do and what not to do. “

To Jenny, tech marketing has “certainly changed a lot” from the beginning of her career to now.  She sees it as evolved from “soft skill” (“providing air cover, brand marketing” but nothing measurable) to one that involves having a “science behind everything that you are doing.”   A big believer in diverse teams, Jenny “encourage folks to build teams that are different ages, different genders, different cultures.” One of Jenny’s favorite quotes comes from Silicon Valley veteran, Jim Clark: “Religion is death in a startup.”  In other words, “if you are wedded to one idea, and one way of doing things, you are not going to grow ---- as a business, or as an individual. Everyone is learning lessons, regardless of who they are, what they are, and what they are doing.”    Jenny’s other great lesson is “Don’t forget to have fun.   Don’t be afraid to try it.  Try to minimize your regrets!”

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