Let me tell you one thing: don’t let vc’s intimidate you with the stuff they put out. Build your product, test it in the market, and heck, if it has a demand, you might not even need vcs.
Great functional leaders indeed are no brainer hires, but the problem is having a high hit rate in making those hires work (both picking right one and onboarding them) is too low for most startups to invest ahead of cashflow. And to get really good at making those hires, is a big investment in itself (great head of people, COO, whatever). The more your company lacks the "technology" to make great exec hires, the more it makes sense to just swing it and make a bet on a junior candidate. Cause the risk of spending big on a "great hire" that turns out to be a waste is pretty big, especially if head count in their team(s) need to increase to see if the exec hire can do their magic. So I don't think conservatism in VP hiring is necessarily implying the founder being bad, it's just an acknowledgment of where the startup is in terms of sophistication. Jason takes his rolodex of proven VPs that he knows from experience he likes to work with too much for granted.
Kyle knows how to drive GTM efficiency in sales. Here are my 6 key takeaways from him on scaling outbound: 1. Data-driven ICP definition 2. Invest in high-quality prospect data. 3. Optimize BDR to AE ratio 4. Focus on operational excellence. 5. Implement strong performance management. 6. Align sales compensation with customer outcomes.
So true, customers love to talk to the founders. I've sold all 250 of our first subscriptions, and I'm still in sales mode. I spend time with them, I care about their needs, I take notes on feature requests, and I'm able to close 70 to 80% because I know their friction points so well, and I have solutions to solve every one of them 😊
So good and so true. I had a mentor encourage me on a Saturday to tell my new sales rep on Monday that on Friday - they would get the opportunity to give me a demo of the software we built. Friday came around and while I channeled my inner lead, she scored 35% of the questions correctly. It was so obvious then that she couldn't work for our company. Such good advice, and it was Wolf of Wall Street! But Glen Gary Glen Ross is one of my all-time favorite movies, a must watch for any sales rep ❤
This is from a interview a while ago, I remember it then and I'm remembering now and this information will always be true ✨ We launched a feature where you can scan a QR code and a patient chart and the entire doctor patient note is charted with AI and our users are going bonkers over it 😊
VW is a great lesson in what happens when management fails to hold this value. They aren’t selling enough cars to keep their factories operating, and say they’ll have to break a job security promise that’s held up since at least 1994. (A promise made by a long gone management team, which current executives apparently feel no duty to honor.) If executives held car drivers and owners in esteem, caring that they should find every drive a delight, they would treasure the customer relationship. They would design the motor vehicle experience that drives sales instead of trying gimmicks like rebates to push sales.
7:00:00 How can she go to the stage and complain about being rejected. She could use that time to raise a nice question and make the chat interesting instead of putting him on the wall.
