Selling your ideas to your audience.
Almost 25 years ago, I was part of a company that was very early in the birth of online backup and ultimately the beginnings of the Software-as-a-Service business model. Free trials came in the form of special software licenses, not recurring service plans. I remember that VCs didn’t want to fund a start-up with a […]
Stop Giving Stuff Away for Free Read More »
It is very easy to conflate sales and marketing, especially from the outside. If you’re an engineer or an operator, it’s understandable how salespeople and marketers could seem like the same thing — with transferable skills. I’ve seen this pattern many, many times — an engineer founder hires a super charismatic former sales manager as
Don’t Let Sales Leaders Run Marketing (EVER!) Read More »
I’ve been very fortunate to meet and spend real time with the founders of many companies across a diverse spectrum of industries and have seen them struggle with startup storytelling. I’ve found a pattern — almost none of them can quickly articulate what they do. Instead of being the best at startup storytelling their own product
Why Founders Suck at Telling Their Own Stories Read More »
Turning ideas into sharable emotional journeys But, I’m not a salesperson Despite their sometimes sketchy reputation, sales skills are amongst the most valuable in life. We’re constantly selling ourselves and our ideas. We sell ourselves to our potential partners, friends and employers. Much of our daily communication is largely about selling our ideas. Think about
Selling 201: Storytelling (Or, How I Came To Love Stories) Read More »
Let me start by saying that I have no interest in any of the companies/products I mention below. But, I AM fascinated about why some products really stand-out to me and what I might be able to learn from that. Seth Godin’s Purple Cow basically makes the case that great and differentiated products are their
5 Products I Love and Why Read More »
One of the best stories I have after spending many years in the field with sales is about a simple, but brilliant approach one field rep took to making and building great relationships. He was an account manager in the southeastern US. I was visiting to meet with some customers/prospects with another sales rep. As
“I will never waste your time” Read More »
For some reason, I’m strangely attracted to taking surveys. They seem like a great window into the minds of survey creators. They may also explain a lot about why companies often build the wrong products. When done well, they can often answer important questions and occasionally provide some real insights. But, most surveys aren’t very
A respectful survey? Read More »
I’m a little puzzled by the fascination/obsession with C-Level targeting and selling. It feels like a relic of a different era. It might make intuitive sense that a CFO would be a target for a new accounting package or a CIO for a new storage platform. But, my experience suggests that most decisions are made
Myth of “C-Level Selling” Read More »
I’ve been struck by how many times I’ve heard people say – “I hate marketing.” As someone who’s created, promoted and depended on quite a bit of marketing content, this sentiment always made me uneasy. I think what they’re really saying though is that hate BAD marketing. They dis-like being “marketed/sold to.” They really don’t
Perhaps the most frustrating part of building new products or innovating in general is that you’re almost never right when you start. No matter how much analysis you do before you start, how confident you are, you’re still almost always wrong about most things. Almost all great breakthrough products succeeded after they failed – often
Celebrating failure – the catalyst for evolution Read More »
I’m a huge fan of Nassim Taleb – especially his Black Swan Trilogy (Fooled by Randomness, Black Swan and Antifragile). It struck me recently that perhaps the biggest obstacle I’ve had to face in selling ideas, obtaining funding and building new businesses is that the people around me don’t have skin in the game –
