John Besteman
About John Besteman
John Besteman serves as the Senior Vice President of Sales and Account Management at Karat, where he has worked since 2018. With extensive experience in sales leadership across various companies, he has significantly contributed to improving hiring efficiency and candidate experience for Karat's clients.
Work at Karat
John Besteman has served as the Senior Vice President of Sales and Account Management at Karat since 2018. In this role, he has been instrumental in enhancing the efficiency of the hiring process for clients. He played a key role in helping clients reclaim 60% of engineering hours per hire. His efforts contributed to a 25% acceleration in achieving hiring goals for Karat's clients. Additionally, he ensured that 95% of candidates rated their interview experience with Karat positively, reflecting a commitment to improving candidate engagement and satisfaction.
Previous Experience in Sales Leadership
Before joining Karat, John Besteman held several senior leadership positions in sales. He worked at Forrester Research as the Senior Vice President of Sales for the Strategic Region from 2013 to 2017. Prior to that, he was the General Manager and Vice President of Sales at Slalom Consulting for one year in 2006. He also served as the Senior Vice President of Sales at Wheels Up from 2017 to 2019. His extensive experience includes a long tenure at Gartner, where he was the Group Vice President of Sales for the Americas from 1992 to 2006, and a role as Regional Vice President at Xerox from 1984 to 1992.
Education and Expertise
John Besteman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business and Math from the University of Puget Sound, where he studied from 1980 to 1984. His educational background provides a solid foundation for his extensive career in sales and account management. His expertise encompasses strategic sales leadership, client relationship management, and operational efficiency in hiring processes.
Career Timeline
John Besteman's career spans several decades with a focus on sales leadership. He began his career at Xerox, where he worked as Regional Vice President from 1984 to 1992. He then transitioned to Gartner, serving as Group Vice President Sales, Americas, for 14 years. Following this, he held the position of General Manager/VP of Sales at Slalom Consulting for one year, before moving to Forrester Research as SVP of Sales from 2013 to 2017. He briefly worked at Wheels Up as SVP Sales before joining Karat in 2018.