Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

Specifically what is often not in the DNA of founders are sales skills. Nor do they exist in the investors of early-stage companies. The result is a lack of knowledge of the process and of sales people themselves. I had never had any sales training so everything we did for the first couple of years was instinctual.

Sales 316

Sales Technical Review Matching Hiring 316

The Startup Magazine

MAY 3, 2024

For startups eager to establish an efficient operational framework from the start, the decision to hire Microsoft Dynamics experts becomes instrumental. As a versatile ERP system, Microsoft Dynamics caters to a variety of business needs, supporting everything from sales management to customer interactions.

Early Stage 158

Early Stage Technical Review Software Review Operations 158

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 31, 2010

This is part of my ongoing Sales & Marketing Series. In the first part of this post I talked about how sales in a startup is often evangelical , requires as consultative sale and needs constant adjustments based on customer feedback. We had 4 or 5 sales reps that had been around since the early days.

Sales 286

Sales PR Forecast Technical Review 286

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2020

In addition to being the startup entrepreneur, there are other key roles where Boomers can be a force in driving successful startups, in concert with leaders from Gen-X and Gen-Y: Early-stage angel investors. Marketing and sales to Gen-Y customers. All the learning from parenting pays big dividends here.

Advisory Board 312

Advisory Board Startup Dividend Angel Investor 312

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

I am fond of quoting that about 70% of my investment decision of an early-stage company is the team. Don’t hire a homogenous team. Your first sales people should be consultative sellers who can fuel evangelical sales. Don’t hire “relationship management” sales people too early.

Cofounder 388

Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 388

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

You alone will never find enough hours in a day to keep with all the challenges of sales, support, and scaling the business, in addition to developing and delivering your solution. Actually, building and nurturing the right team is the hard part, requiring communication, hiring, and leadership. Survival requires regular updates.

Intellectual Property 432

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Technical Review Angel Investor 432

Up and Running

APRIL 12, 2018

Review sales goals and look to see if there are any aspects of your business in need attention, and therefore financing. For instance, if you want to increase sales, outline how this is going to happen. For instance, if you want to increase sales, outline how this is going to happen. Consequences of your plan.

Forecast 77

Forecast Early Stage Software Review Technical Review 77

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 3, 2021

Still, you need to find some way to pull your company out of this early-stage quicksand. You’ll build momentum with marketing, advertising, sales, and other strategies optimized for quick, self-sustaining growth. You can’t afford to hire a full team or place a Super Bowl ad, so you’ll need something more reasonably priced.

Early Stage 125

Early Stage PPC Retention Churn Rate 125

Hunter Walker

MAY 13, 2023

Especially in the early days of mobile/iOS engineering, if you hired strong technical talent into your early stage company, you basically created an acquisition outcome floor. Those who do, often believe they can hire from the open market without the hassle of an acquisition. Very different.

Early Stage 117

Early Stage Cap Table Acquisition Sales 117

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 8, 2010

Very few of them are started, in my experience, by sales people and very few early stage companies really understand sales. That’s why I started the Sales & Marketing Series and at one point I will do a bunch of posts on the sales methodology we developed at my first company called PUCCKA.

Early Stage 350

Early Stage Startup Sales Campaign 350

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 7, 2019

Having a carefully-developed sales strategy is crucial if you want to grow your business. Whether you’re setting up your sales strategy for the very first time, or updating your current document, here’s our top pointers for developing a clear and well-rounded plan that will help drive your business’ growth.

Sales 113

Sales Argentina Technical Review B2B 113

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 4, 2019

Most early stage startups tend to do well in this area because entrepreneurs generally launch their startups believing they have a great product idea. What does this mean for their early stage investors? Weak revenue architecture poses the greatest near-term risk of failure for most early stage startups.

Framework 127

Framework Architecture Cleveland Early Stage 127

YoungUpstarts

MAY 24, 2019

Most early stage startups tend to do well in this area because entrepreneurs generally launch their startups believing they have a great product idea. What does this mean for their early stage investors? Weak revenue architecture poses the greatest near-term risk of failure for most early stage startups.

Framework 113

Framework Architecture Cleveland Early Stage 113

techcrunch.com

AUGUST 12, 2012

Zachary Bogue And Matt Ocko Launch Data Collective, An Early Stage Fund For Big Data Startups. Data Collective has already made 46 investments from its first fund, which it calls “comparable with other seed and early stage funds” (Ocko and Bogue wouldn’t reveal fund size.). Headphones. CrunchBase.

Early Stage 70

Early Stage San Francisco Los Angeles Southern California 70

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. But the “no sales people” mantra isn’t what I’m here to take on. .”

Technical Review 403

Technical Review Software Review Startup API 403

View from Seed

JULY 5, 2022

RH: What’s your favorite thing about being an early-stage founder? One hour I’m deep into product development, the next I’m thinking about our hiring needs and recruiting, to the next on a sales call. And your least? CC: Being a founder is a rollercoaster ride. . My favorite part is how many different hats I wear.

DC 156

DC Software Review Government Boston 156

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

Running a company is distinctly different from simply having operating experience – (working in bus dev, sales or marketing.) Every potential early-stage Venture Capitalist should take a year and do it before he or she makes partner. Today, you can start a web/mobile/cloud startup for $500,000 and have money left over.

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital Early Stage Technical Review Startup 333

The Startup Magazine

JULY 1, 2019

While hiring a CPA may be quite costly for a startup that is yet to establish a footing in the business world, it does have its own benefits. Needless to say, you don’t need to hire a CPA for his or her accounting services on day one. With just simple accounting software, you’ll be able to: Track sales and expenses.

CPA 92

CPA Software Review Bankruptcy Early Stage 92

Up and Running

DECEMBER 23, 2020

Technology tools such as a CRM system can also help you get a strong understanding of your sales cycle and pipeline. Technology helps you stay accountable for some of the difficult decisions you’ll need to make, so it’s worth it to prioritize that expense early. Weigh hiring an employee versus implementing software.

Entrepreneur 149

Entrepreneur Sales Cycle Early Stage Texas 149

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 25, 2023

As soon as you have 2-3 months' worth of sales data to work with, use a formula to calculate stock reorder levels to ensure you always have stock ready to go, especially if you're promoting your products on platforms known for viral content, like TikTok. Every element on the page needs to be tuned to help convert visits into sales.

eCommerce 134

eCommerce Omaha Entrepreneur SEO 134

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

As a startup in this phase you often raise capital, get press, hire staff and everything feels possible. As an early-stage VC I love this phase. I always push companies to hire “an operationally focused CFO” during this phase because in order to systematize you need somebody who brings economic rigor to decision making.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 11, 2022

Founders seem to disproportionately come from engineering, product and sales/business unit career paths. Seed Stage Startups Don’t Hire Fulltime For These Roles, And Certainly Not Senior Hires. Hiring Marketing or Comms Consultants/Agencies At Seed Is Often a Terrible Idea. Nor Do VCs.

Seed Stage 102

Seed Stage Cap Table Founder Marketing 102

Hunter Walker

MAY 17, 2024

It’s also not an accident that, upon stepping back from being Textio’s CEO, I’ve built a sizable exec coaching practice working largely with early stage founders. HW: Textio is open to remote hires from a specific set of states which I found interesting. As a CEO, I was at my best when I embraced this side of myself fully.

Cofounder 103

Cofounder Founder Technical Review Seattle 103

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2014

In addition to being the startup entrepreneur, there are other key roles where Boomers can be a force in driving successful startups, in concert with leaders from Gen-X and Gen-Y: Early-stage Angel investors. Marketing and sales to Gen-Y customers. All the learning from parenting pays big dividends here.

Entrepreneur 266

Entrepreneur Advisory Board Dividend Angel Investor 266

Mucker Lab

MAY 28, 2020

Before you indulge in marketing, sales and blinged-out offices, find product-market fit. Test your sales and marketing a few feet from the ground, first – not from an airplane. Hire the wrong people. Bad hiring decisions are often a symptom of premature scaling. Why hire a sales team when you have nothing to sell yet?

Startup 78

Startup Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Review 78

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 4, 2020

Our families — and the families of the employees we eventually hire—come first. For example, do you fly out to a big indus­try conference to close some sales, or do you stay home to attend your daughter’s high school graduation? Yet, especially in the early stages of your business, you will have to drive the whole of that process.

Entrepreneur 205

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Silicon Valley Bandwidth 205

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

I recently wrote a post about why I didn’t think early-stage startups should have COOs. One great solution I see is to hire an outstanding CFO who runs both. Still, I’ll bet that functionally you divide areas of competence like sales & marketing, product, engineering, biz dev, etc. .

Operations 292

Operations CTO Hire Startup Early Stage 292

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

profitable and companies like Amazon who chose to focus on growth > profitability were not losing money on each book sale (ie they were gross margin positive). But often this doesn’t tell the whole story because often companies are also spending money on PR and other marketing activities in order to support the sales process.

Metrics 150

Metrics Cost Acquisition Startup 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. After celebrating success at that level, they often find themselves ill-prepared to move to the next stage, for scaling their business into a high-performing enterprise. Hire more help than helpers.

Mezzanine 368

Mezzanine Private Equity Bandwidth Metrics 368

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 3, 2021

They’re hiring lots of folks across engineering, product, design, marketing, sales and such! This includes not just observability and explainability but fairness. A great, inclusive culture and team plus a brand new $15m Series A round means it could be your next job.

Early Stage 145

Early Stage Management Startup Portfolio 145

View from Seed

MARCH 29, 2016

Founders need to make sure the quality of the startup’s offerings remains high and provide adequate sales and service support for prospective customers and new users. Founders furiously work their networks, post open positions on every reasonable-looking job board, and hope to quickly start hiring.

Metrics 120

Metrics Founder CTO Hire Technical Review 120

The Startup Magazine

DECEMBER 13, 2018

Get a company ready for sale: per due diligence work and support during the sale process. As you have a history of building early stage companies, what is the most important thing you tell startup founders? I suggest companies put systems and procedures in place as early as possible. Quality control?

Technical Review 99

Technical Review Founder Due Diligence Early Stage 99

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

What I love about my job is getting to see teams of super-early-stage companies develop ideas that while raw have potential to make an impact on the market. For a well-funded seed company I have controversially recommended hiring a great office manager that doubles as an administrative assistant.

Operations 150

Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

OnlyOnce

SEPTEMBER 8, 2022

In most startups, the founder is the first salesperson and while it may be difficult to let that go you’ll eventually scale, add sales reps, or maybe some form of a Sales Manager once there are more than a couple of reps. Here are some of the telltale signs that will help you figure out if you should bring in a CRO.

Revenue 62

Revenue Hiring Forecast Early Stage 62

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 19, 2010

Early stage startups have that task many times over after they receive their first funding. That's why hiring at the stage that our companies tend to be at is a unique proposition.one that can seriously create or destroy a ton of value. We're going to adjust the frequency of the Key Hire Wire and perhaps wind it down.

CTO Hire 99

CTO Hire Hiring Portfolio Early Stage 99

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2013

This is final part of a series that describes a sales methodology for technology companies or frankly many other types of companies, too. Well think of it this way – you have your sales process. And with scarce resources it’s your job to decide which door this lead must go through – sales or marketing.

Customer 324

Customer PR Marketing Technical Review 324

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

You don’t have to hire as many sales people because much can be sold online. There is also True Ventures that does early stage, seed investments. This is producing a “boomlet&# or a bubble in early-stage investing. I have written more in depth on this topic in the past. That’s OK.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311