Meet Chad Lindsey: One of CRN's 100 People You Don't Know But Should 2020

We’re excited to share the news that Chad Lindsey, Sales VP, Americas Field Operations for Barracuda, has been recognized in CRN’s 100 People You Don’t Know But Should 2020. This annual list pays tribute to the below-the-radar best and brightest who power the channel every day.

To help you get to know Chad a little better, we recently sat down to talk with him about his time with Barracuda, his work with our channel partners, and one of his biggest passions outside of work.

Q&A with Chad Lindsey, Sales VP, Americas Field Operations

How long have you been with Barracuda? How has your role evolved over the years?

I started at Barracuda about nine years ago. I knew a couple of folks at Barracuda who really enjoyed working at the company, and they encouraged me to explore opportunities here. So, I started working here in an entry level sales role in early 2012, and in January of 2013, I was promoted to an account executive role where I covered field sales and mid-market accounts in the Southeast. . In 2016, I moved to the management side and have worked leading various sales groups since then. In March of 2019, I took over as the sales vice president of Americas Field Operations, and then in spring of this year, I was asked to take on the additional responsibilities of interim channel chief  for the balance of 2020 as we search for a new Americas channel leader.

What have been some highlights along the way?

As an inside sales rep, I was selected as “Rookie of the Year” for North America in 2012, and then as an account executive, I received the “Worldwide Salesperson of the Year” award in 2015. Those were obviously highlights for me personally, but I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have worked on some amazing teams with unbelievable leaders who invested their time and energy into me to help me succeed. One of the most significant highlights, however, was when we were acquired by Thoma Bravo in 2018. This acquisition has been transformational for the company in a number of ways, and it’s been really fun to see how much we’ve grown in the past couple of years under their guidance and support. Outside of work, a lot has changed in my personal life the past nine years, too, as my wife and I have had three kids since I started at Barracuda!

You've gotten to see a few different phases of the company: per-IPO, public, and then private. What differences stand out to you?

As mentioned, I have especially enjoyed working under Thoma Bravo’s guidance since they took Barracuda private in 2018. Any acquisition can be daunting at first, but TB has been extraordinarily supportive of our initiatives since the acquisition, and they’ve given us a strong framework to operate within. I think that has been the biggest catalyst for a lot of our growth, and we've been able to innovate more over the last few years than ever before.

What do you enjoy most about working with our channel partners?

As a channel-driven company, our partner community is essential to every aspect of our business. The most rewarding part of working with our channel is combining forces with our partners to jointly deliver value to customers to help address some of their most complex security and connectivity obstacles.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned working with our channel partners?

While working with our channel partners is crucial to business, the truth is our partners also make work more fun, too. Many of our partners are essentially an extension of the Barracuda family, and I’m incredibly grateful for the friendships and strong bonds I’ve had the opportunity to create within our channel community during my years at Barracuda. I've developed some friendships along the way that I'll have for the rest of my life. Because we have genuine, strong relationships with our channel partners, it also allows us to deliver more value to customers and make that experience as is beneficial as possible to them.

What are your goals for your team and for the channel partners you work with?

When I took over as the interim channel leader in March, I was extremely fortunate to inherit an unbelievable team filled with strong leaders and passionate channel team members. Together, we’ve taken a look at new and unique ways we can engage and enable our channel.  In August, after a few months of planning and development, we released our updated Americas channel strategy where we introduced our new Partner Growth Acceleration Program. This program centers around providing partners with comprehensive sales, technical, and marketing enablement programs that are uniquely designed to grow our partners’ businesses and maximize our collaboration and engagement in ways we have never done before. The initial feedback on this initiative has been tremendous, and I’m looking forward to seeing the accelerated growth with our partners who opt into this program with us.

What’s something partners would be surprised to learn about you?

One of my biggest passions in life is advocating for children and adults of all ability levels. I proudly serve on the board of a non-profit organization called Java Joy, which is a mobile coffee cart company run by adults with special needs. Java Joy was founded in Athens, GA in 2016, and has recently begun to spread to numerous cities across the US. My wife and I are also part an incredible team of people who are championing the efforts to bring a Java Joy franchise expansion to Atlanta, GA, which is set to launch this month! Java Joy’s mission is to become the largest employer and best place to work for adults with special needs in the US, and as parents of a child with special needs, my wife and I are honored to help support this organization in any way we can. 

I also can’t thank my Barracuda family enough for their ardent support of Java Joy as well. Since experiencing Java Joy for the first time at a company event in 2018, Barracuda has gone above and beyond to support Java Joy through donations, event/office bookings, and even by donating a vehicle to Java Joy Atlanta! Thoma Bravo Principal, Andrew Almeida, was even so personally moved by his experience with Java Joy that he decided to start a Java Joy franchise to San Francisco, which launched late last year. The way my colleagues have embraced Java Joy is truly special, and it’s just one of the many examples of what makes Barracuda such an incredible place to work.