Leading the charge: How two german sales leaders found their home in Dublin's tech scene

Meet Alexander Gebert and Marc Benedicter — two German sales leaders who made Dublin their launchpad for extraordinary tech careers. Alexander leads the Outbound SDR team for Germany at Rippling, while Marc heads up the Go-To-Market sales team. Together, they're building something special: a high-performing German sales team in the heart of Europe's tech capital.

Where are you from in Germany?

Alexander: I'm from Munich in Germany.

Marc: I am from Lindau in Germany, at the Lake of Constance.

How long have you been in Ireland?

Alexander: I've been living here now for more than 4 years.

Marc: I am living for the third time in Ireland! All good things come in threes. I was first here in 2001, then came back and started my professional career in Oracle in 2008 until 2010. I had a break and lived in Switzerland for 4 years, but because I missed Ireland and Dublin so much, I came back in 2014, and I've been here for 11 years since then.

What brought you to Ireland?

Alexander: Great opportunity in tech sales, to make it short.

Marc: The people. I like the culture, the people, the Irish people, and also the great opportunity you have here in your professional career with all the tech companies based here. You can build up a great network in Ireland for your future career.

If you stayed in Germany, would you have had the same career opportunities?

Marc: No, definitely not. Especially at the start of your career, you wouldn't have the opportunity that you have here in Dublin. At a later stage, you might have opportunities coming up, but to learn the basics of the job in sales, in the tech world, it's the perfect opportunity also to develop your professional network for your career, meeting and working with people from different countries and regions.

Alexander: I agree. I worked for a tech giant in Munich before. Probably it's possible to have the same career path 100%, but it would take you longer. It's easier to progress in Dublin, and having the advantage to speak another language than English definitely helps you progress faster in your career.

Tell us about your roles at Rippling.

Marc: I've been at Rippling now for 2 months, and I am leading our go-to-market sales team for Germany and I am responsible for Head of Sales Germany

Alexander: I've been here since September, leading the SDR team for Germany — the outbound SDR team.

What makes a successful AE, BDR, or SDR? What are you looking for when you're hiring?

Alexander: I like to make it short with adjectives: intellectually curious, resilient, and coachable.

Marc: Important in this kind of job is that you're willing to learn, especially when you're in the beginning of your career, that you have resilience, and also that you like to work in a team. You need to enjoy working with other people and have a certain passion for sales and building up relationships with other stakeholders.

What excites you most about your career in sales?

Alexander: You are super close to the customer. You get to know so many different companies with different pain points, with different visions, and at the end you're offering a solution, a product that should make their life easier. You can really see the impact and how you transformed their company or their processes.

Marc: I'm working now since 18 years in the sales environment, and what I like most is that you can learn every day something new. Sometimes you think you have seen everything, but then the next day happens and you experience something completely new. Working together with customers, seeing all these different companies, being close with them, and helping them solve their daily business challenges — bringing them a solution that makes their work life better — it's a really nice thing to experience and be part of.

Sales can be challenging. How do you manage the tough moments and support your teams?

Alexander: The most challenging part of the SDR position is that you hear many, many, many no's before you hear a yes. It's very important to help people build up resilience — this is part of the job — while staying curious. Try to learn something from the customer, even if it's a no. Take the positive output from the call. But really, when you finish work, when you leave work, disconnect yourself from the job. If you take this home all the time, you won't build resilience. I see it as my job to help them set up resilience and start their career in sales.

Marc: You're facing a lot of challenges — sometimes ups and downs — but from the downs you can learn a lot and motivate yourself. Sales is a team sport, and everybody works together and listens to you. It definitely helps when you're in difficult times to share those moments, learn from others, and motivate yourself again. It's also important to take your time outside of work, disconnect, and come back stronger afterwards when you take a break.

How would you describe yourself as a leader?

Alexander: The SDR position is usually the first position you have in sales, so I really see my position as a player-coach. I want to be close to the SDRs, especially in the beginning, listening to calls, shadowing with them, giving them advice, but also being able to move them to the next position, to Marc's team. When we hire, we don't only hire the SDR; we're also hiring the next AE. I definitely see my role as empowering the SDRs to move forward in their career because ideally, they are not in my team for more than one and a half to two years. They'll be the next super AE at Rippling.

Marc: I want to develop people in my team in their sales career. I want to be acting as a role model, and I would like to give people a lot of advice for their future career so that they may one day look back when they were working together with me and say, "We could take some positive advice for our careers from the time we worked together."

What do you like about working at Rippling?

Alexander: What I really love about Rippling is the culture itself, the people. The first day I entered the building, I really felt welcome. We have a very open culture. On the sales floors, we work together as a team—you can really feel this. It's not against each other, it's really within the team. We share the wins, we share the losses. The culture that has been implemented here is amazing. And besides that, it's a very, very fast-moving company, probably the most fast-moving company I've ever worked for. That's an amazing opportunity when you just start your career. In one week, you probably experience more than in one month at other companies. Really control the controllables, be curious, and be happy that you're part of this rocket ship.

Marc: There's an amazing energy in the team, in the office, with all the people. Everybody supports each other and helps, especially new starters, so they get integrated as quickly as possible. The amazing thing about Rippling is that all people in the office have one vision. The company has an amazing product and amazing potential, especially in the EMEA market at the moment, and everybody is working towards that goal together.

What advice would you give someone in sales looking to relocate to Dublin?

Alexander: First of all, be a sponge. This is an amazing opportunity for you if you are open to change. Dublin is the place to be when you want to start your sales career. Outside of Rippling, the city itself is breathing IT and tech. Be very open, don't have any stereotypes or a very narrowed view that is blocking you. Be a sponge, be open for this opportunity, and you will profit at the end, 100%.

Marc: Dublin is the place to be, especially when you want to be in sales and in the tech industry. People are supporting you from day one. You will have an amazing environment, having people from all around the world meeting in Dublin. They're all in the same situation as you are. The great thing is that you will find friends for life. Maybe you even stay there until the rest of your life, like me, suddenly having a family in Dublin and being part of the country. Change is never easy, change is something new. If you're open for a change, if you're open to starting an incredible career in the tech world and in sales, Dublin is the place to be.