Kicking off the dust of stupid corporate politics and incompetent bosses. Early retirement. Expensive cocktails. Fabulous vacations. Having to worry about inheritance taxes and not raising entitled children. Ah, the daydreams of startup life. We get it. We’ve been down that road more than once. (And believe me, getting a reliable crew for both the yacht and the private jet … Read More
We want magicians. Our hope when we hire our first salesperson is that they will work magic. It’s not a realistic hope, it’s not even spoken out loud, and we might not even be conscious of it, but we want them to work their sales magic and make it rain money. It’s no wonder we are so often disappointed. Through … Read More
Relationships and reputation are the keys to your startup brand. Outside of the founder and the performance of your product, the biggest impact on both is your first Sales hire. Outside of the founder, the first Sales hire is the biggest brand evangelist and brand ambassador. They are the first individual your clients will meet and likely be the person … Read More
Last week we highlighted how B2B tech founders can deal with the Great Resignation. This week we’re taking a look at the Great Layoff and what that means for our B2B tech founder. While the Great Resignation requires a degree of thoughtfulness in terms of how to compete given that dynamic, the Great Layoff presents opportunity albeit with a note … Read More
Van Gogh or Monet? Picasso or Warhol? Or, perhaps even from left field, Gaudi or Rodin? Difficult to choose a preference? You bet it is. Naturally, it depends on what you like, but in a professional context more pertinent factors are what need and purpose is being served. Perhaps more relevant points of focus in practical terms are the last … Read More
Stargazing can be amongst the most stimulating and peaceful of pursuits. Hours can drift by in seemingly a blink such is the enchantment of the constellations. The sheer scale of our own Milky Way galaxy, let alone the wider universe, is mind boggling beyond comprehension. The distances are vast: more than 200 billion stars and a diameter of ~200,000 light … Read More
“Candidates who have experienced failure with a back catalog of tales of adversity in their careers are of the most interest to me; in short, I am looking for someone who has failed”, to paraphrase the interviewer’s opening gambit. The occasion was a first interview to facilitate a move from one well established and mature industry into a relatively new, … Read More
Many B2B tech founders struggle to successfully make their first sales hire. Why is it so difficult? There are three main reasons. 1) what sales support founders think they need and what they actually need to get their business to scale are often misaligned. Founders often lean towards salespeople with the best rolodex or who are the most extroverted, neither … Read More
Execution around sales and marketing remains a major challenge for B2B tech startups looking to move along the growth/valuation curve. Despite founders readily accepting the importance of sales and marketing in moving from startup to scale-up, execution remains a major barrier to success. As a gauge of the challenge, less than 1 in 5 startups accepting seed investment ever make … Read More
You’re a B2B tech founder. You’ve won some early deals proving that some people will pay for a solution to a problem you address. What now? How do you scale the knowledge and passion that you’ve inevitably brought to those early forays into the market? The temptation (and well trodden approach) is to look to hire as ‘experienced’ a salesperson … Read More
