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Specifically what is often not in the DNA of founders are sales skills. 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. I boil it down to this: sales people are sales people.
Specifically what is often not in the DNA of founders are sales skills. 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. I boil it down to this: sales people are sales people.
This is part of a series that describes a sales methodology for technology companies or frankly many other types of companies, too. We developed this at our first company and called it PUCCKA – the overall methodology is described here. Often companies will require you to go through a tech audit before signing your contract.
The company--which originally started in Austria--set up shop here two years ago to further expand its footprint in the US, and most recently hired away the entire Los Angeles marketing team of crosstown CRM software developer Nimble. The manager is our buyer, but the sales people using it really like the software.
San Diego-based Somaxon Pharmaceuticals said this morning tha tit has scored a $15M, revolving line of credit from Comerica Bank, and also engaged a contractsales force firm. Somaxon said it has tied with Publicis Touchpoint Solutions to recruit and deploy an additional 35 sales representatives for the firm.
San Diego-based SmartDrive Systems , the developer of video-based, fleet safety systems, said yesterday that it has named Dane Smith as its VP of Worldwide Sales. SmartDrive said that Smith has previously been at VMware, where he was VP Americas Field Operations and Global Vice President of Systems Integration and Outsourcing.
Monrovia, California-based AeroVironment , which develops unmanned aerial vehicles, said late Monday that it has received a $8.5M military salescontract from an un-named, U.S. According to AeroVironment, the $8,584,734 firm-fixed-price U.S.
Los Angeles-based TaskUs , which provides business process outsourcing, said this week that it has named Jarrod Johnson as Senior Vice President of Sales. Johnson was most recently SVP of Sales, Marketing, and Client Development at FacilitySource, and also had served at IBM and Xerox. Johnson will be based in Dallas.
I recently did a post for startups on understanding sales people. I know this will fall like a lead balloon to the many people who believe it is possible to have a [insert: startup incubator or technology accelerator or technology consultant or outsource firm] build your technology. I don’t believe that one exists.
Early-stage companies shouldn’t: outsource core product development, have consulting firms build it for them to speed up time-to-market, shouldn’t hire too many business people until product is complete and early product/market fit tested. Don’t hire “relationship management” sales people too early.
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. I believe it’s flawed.
Key Functions with High Impact Generative AI is revolutionizing sales by enabling dynamic pricing and personalized customer interactions, boosting conversion rates and customer satisfaction. Post-sale, AI analyzes customer data to improve service and loyalty, making it a cornerstone of modern sales methodologies.
Simi Valley-based unmanned aircraft systems developer Aerovironment reported a $5.9M contract win this week, saying it signed a deal to deliver its Puma 3 AE aircraft systems to a European allied nation. Department of Defense Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract award.
Carlsbad-based MaintenanceNet , which develops software used to manage maintenance and service contracts, announced Wednesday that it has raised a round of growth equity from private equity company Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors. maintenancenet private equtiy funding software growth service contract' READ MORE>>.
So when I meet with GRP portfolio companies that do enterprise sales I try to emphasize the following: 1. Often your sales engineers can do the customizations without bugging the core eng team. Importantly, make sure that you retain IP rights to your custom work which needs to be part of the engagement contract.
Carlsbad-based MaintenanceNet , the developer of software-as-a-service used for managing service contracts and service quotes for manufacturers and others, reported today that it has had a record year. billion in service contracts for its customers. billion in service contracts for its customers. READ MORE>>.
Hawthorne-based OSI Systems , a developer of electronic systems for the homeland security, defense, aerospace, and health industries, said this morning that it has snagged a $11M contract from an undisclosed country for its cargo and vehicle inspection systems. The firm said the sale was made in the Asia Pacific region.
The firm, which develops software-as-a-service used by companies to automate warranty and maintenance contract management, reported another win this morning, with Panasonic. billion in service contracts for its customers last year. The firm hasn't given any actual financials, but did say it generated more than $2.3
Rather than directly explaining their value proposition with all the passion and heartfelt stridency that only an entrepreneur can deliver, they outsource this communication to a Public Relations (PR) firm. Beyond PR, such roles include: Sales, Product Development, Strategic Planning and Fund Raising. Thought not.
But while universities are developing online content they are not fundamentally disrupting leaning because the method of delivery is not a new business model. The numerator (return) encourages more sales, which is fine. “Online education is truly going to kill us.” He spoke about ROCE (return on capital employed).
Looong Appendix (only for those interested in reading another story about losing a sale & key lessons): A personal story of losing a sale that haunted me for years. I had been competing to win a contract at Thames Water, the largest water company in the UK. I was to tell noone until the contract was signed.
Looong Appendix (only for those interested in reading another story about losing a sale & key lessons): A personal story of losing a sale that haunted me for years. I had been competing to win a contract at Thames Water, the largest water company in the UK. I was to tell noone until the contract was signed.
We immediately recall the razor and blade analogy to illustrate the point when planning product development and release. Xerox in its formative years, even though barely having enough cash to market its then revolutionary copier, elected to lease rather than sell the units.
He asked each sales / biz dev person to call customers and tell them they had to change their contracts. I just knew that our sales sucked wind and we were burning through tons of cash. We couldn’t cut product development (we had 23 people!) Hold the phone far away from your ears. We were SMOKING cash.
The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. If you hire 6 sales reps in January at $120,000 / year salary then you’ve taken on an extra $60,000 per month in costs yet these sales people might not close new business for 4-6 months. “COGS” represents the amount that each sale costs you.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked away from deals where the entrepreneur insists on a start-up premoney valuation that is so high, no angel could expect to make a return upon the investment, even with a reasonable sales price for the company down the road. Why fight about valuation, or disappoint the founder at the outset?
Los Angeles-based digital cinema technology developer Cinedigm said Tuesday that it has named Dan Sherlock as its President of Cinedigm Software. Cinedigm said that he will be responsible for production, technology, business development, sales, and marketing at the company. READ MORE>>.
Santa Monica-based private equity investor Clearlake Capital said this morning that it has acquired Tolt Services Group , an outsource, IT services company, and merged it with Kyrus Solutions , to form a new company called Tolt Solutions. Financial details of the deal were not announced. Tolt will be based in Greenville, South Carolina.
Minimize one-time sales in your business model. Facilitate rapid growth through contracted resources. In this age of the gig-economy, you can more quickly hire and manage freelancers, contract workers, and contract operations. Every new business has unexpected pivots and adjustments, and outsourcing is easier to manage.
Carlsbad-based MaintenanceNet , the developer of sales channel management and service agreement renewal software, reported that it's expanding Down Under today. The firm said it has signed a new, value added distributor in Australia, Westcon Group Australia, who will offer its product to its resellers for free. READ MORE>>.
In the initial phases of any new market you’re developing a product (hopefully with a minimal set of features), getting feedback from customers, refining your product based on user feedback and then re-launching your product. Markets develop for a complex set of factors that are often beyond all of our control.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked away from deals where the entrepreneur insists on a start-up pre-money valuation that is so high, no angel could expect to make a return upon the investment, even with a reasonable sales price for the company down the road. And here’s the “why.”.
I could easily go into the board rooms of major European companies (I was based in London) and land $500k – $1 million contracts so my order book grew rapidly. It soaked up all of our development resources and didn’t allow us to focus on what we felt our company strategy was. We had to do intense training sessions.
Companies were saying--we want to outsource these kinds of things, because they''re not our core competency. However, when they went to build out a second, disaster recovery site, they figure out that they had been there and done that, and didn''t want to build another one--they decided to outsource it. Grant Kirkwood: No, not at all.
Thousand Oaks-based Amgen said Tuesday afternoon along with Boehringer Ingelheim, that the firm has agreed to sell rights in and substantially all of the assets of its Fremont, Calfiornia development and manufacturing facility. The facility and employees will become part of Boehringer Ingelheim and its contract manufacturing business.
First Principles. Steve Blank , January 25, 2010 10 Tips for Adding Game Mechanics to a Non-Gaming Service - ReadWriteStart , September 21, 2010 Startups & VCs: Learn How to Design, Market, & Eat Your Own. -
Inphi , the semiconductor developer which has a major part of its operation in Westlake Village, has sold off its Memory Interconnect Business unit to Rambus , the companies said this morning. It's unclear how that sale will impact the company's Southern California operations. READ MORE>>.
Santa Barbara-based HG Data , which has been developing software that helps companies understand the technology stack their operations depend on, has rebranded itself as HG Insights , and launched a new platform it calls the HG Insights Platform. READ MORE>>.
Mobile/Desktop App Developer w/Linux,Flex/Air or IOS Exp. Looking for a place to exercise and grow your talent in software development and work in an environment that values your ideas and strives for excellence? Vice President, Sales and Marketing , Stanton Chase International. Enterprise Data Technologies, Inc.
At Silicon Beach Fest Hollywood 2012 Kevin Winston organized a panel called “How to Find and Hire a Developer”. Always have a developer do a test project before hiring them to make sure they deliver quality work. This will prove your product is worth building to you and to the developer. Ask for is code samples.
MaintenanceNet develops cloud-based software used by companies to manage the renewal of service contracts and maintenance contracts, automatically handling quoting, notifications, and also online renewals. Carlsbad-based MaintenanceNet has been acquired by Cisco , in a deal worth $139M, Cisco said late Tuesday.
Very few entrepreneurs have the range of skills and experience to be the solution creator as well as business creator, or operational as well as sales leader. If both of you are experts at software development, even though one loves design and the other loves coding, that still won’t get the marketing done. Marty Zwilling.
Los Angeles-based Velocify , which develops a software platform used by sales teams to accelerate the handling of sales leads, has named Joel Ginsburg as its new General Counsel. Ginsburg was most recently Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Guidance Software. READ MORE>>.
I often get asked for advice on Business Development. I’ve spent most of my career in sales (or some sales like function), and here are my thoughts on how to be better with your BD. The Sale Begins After the Deal is Done – You closed the deal, so what! 10 Tips for Better BD. Now the real work begins.
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