Fundamental change in societies occurs at the edges and works its way to the center. The edge is often a border where different cultures interact in much different ways than at the center where a society reinforces its basic characteristics. The edge of the enterprise software civilization comprises the raw startups who have potentially disruptive […]
There is a clear trend today toward a metrics-driven enterprise sales model and the impersonal, interruption marketing needed to make it work. Some managers actually count the number of emails, phone calls, face to face calls, events that a rep makes and make that a determinant of his or her performance. This is highly
Enterprise Sales—More Art Than Science? And Why It Really Matters Read More »
Several former colleagues called because they want a sales job with a disruptive startup. They are tired of their life at VMware, HP, Oracle and want both the financial upside and the thrill of doing something really innovative. Delivering disruptive technology is like being a farmer—everyone wants to do it at 11:00 in the morning but
So You Want To Work for a Disruptive Startup? Part 1 Read More »
Several years ago, I was brought on to launch a territory in the Texas area for a struggling logistics software company. They had never sold a single deal in the region, had gone through 3-4 reps over 6 years and had nothing to show for it. Their product was a highly specialized offering and was
Disruptive startups with technologies that shake an established market often take in early venture equity—to their detriment. Of the many activities they then embark upon is the movement toward a “process driven, process centric” sales and marketing engine. Process is not bad—but it is deadly early in a startup’s lifecycle. The raw startup is
There is a very prominent west coast tech company, selling a social media management system, making the classic case for sales monkeys vs. creative, innovative sales talent. And it is indeed instructive to watch. What is a sales monkey in the enterprise software space? Sales monkeys represent a well-known “sales model” delivered by transaction Sales
Confrontational marketing is a streetfighting mindset, used for tech startups, to harness hidden market dynamics and get a tech product to market fast with minimal or zero equity dilution. Hidden market dynamics? Well, yes. Prospects, the ones you need to sell, absolutely loathe current marketing practices. They know when they download a “white paper,” which
Confrontational Marketing—Taking The Market Away From The Bland Read More »
Last week, the CEO of one of the hottest security startups in Texas visited and wanted to know how to set up his early market sales force. His product, while still in stealth mode, has won three Fortune 50 logos and one of the 3 largest telcos—as their means of cyber security for their enterprise-wide mobile
Why A Sales Quota Should be $5 Million Per Year—And Zero Base Salary Read More »
Enterprise sales personalities are typically broken down into “hunters” or “farmers.” These wildly inaccurate depictions can be broken into far more descriptive terms—those that give real meaning to the category. A hunter is usually someone who finds new business and the farmer works accounts where a product is already installed. VMware people are farmers, startup people are
A technology startup needs about everything. Sales, marketing, patent protection, a benefits program to attract talent and not drive it into insolvency and a hundred more things. So if you need everything, where does one start? And where is building a Business Development program on that list? Business development means finding partners who need
Business Development—Critical or Window Dressing? Read More »