Author Archives:
Understanding & Hiring Sales at a Startup
As a follow-up to a hallway conversation I had at BarCamp Tampa I thought I should start a rant on the perception of marketing and sales roles in a startup. Then I saw this video by @msuster from the Both Sides of the Table blog about how to hire a sales team.
This is a good overview of some of the mistakes even seasoned executives make when hiring, managing and paying the first few sales people.
I agree strongly with Mark’s position on not placing a VP as your first sales hire. So many VCs (and boards) get wrapped up in hiring higher up on the food chain than needed and get all warm and squishy when candidates flaunt their Fortune 500 Roll-o-Dex.
I also take issue with the guest’s representation on what sales people should do in an early stage company. Building relationships and trust is important, but the sales folks are not out there with a blank sheet of paper to help discover new pain and new features. The first sales guy in the door needs to have a pretty tight agenda on what the product does and what the company needs to have validated by the market. The market feedback aspect is critical, but all too often the sales team turns into the product management team setting dev priorities, promising new features and chasing low probability prospects that will never turn into paying customers.
I did like Vince’s answer on choosing the right club (sales guy) for the right market or product, but for most startups it should be the smart guy. Research, analysis and validation are the strengths needed to come back with valuable feedback vs. anecdotal interest. If you hire the pretty sales team, customer interaction becomes a beauty contest not a journey to find the right fit.
I’ll circle back later with some thoughts on the original rant idea “why do people hate marketing?”
Tampa Gets its Geek On!
Another BarCamp (the 4th for Tampa Bay) has come and gone. Many thanks to the three ingredients that make events like this possible:
1. The volunteers – @Sean_Davis and his crew of volunteers made it look easy (it ain’t).
2. The sponsors – especially KForce for the generous use of their campus for the second year, but also the others that stepped-up to make this event financially possible:
@BuddyBrewCoffee @SourceToad @TampaBayWave @StartupTampa
TBCS @HOLMedia @ArisLiterati @HanekeDesign
@Grooveshark @MaderaLabs Red Hawk Interactive Agile Thought
3. The tech community – by the last count I heard, over 360 people attended this year’s BarCamp. We’re not the biggest, but this level of participation puts us right up there with the major cities. Thanks to everyone that came out and participated, you add the content and the hallway discussions that make these events memorable.
Now it’s up to you:
A. Go out on Monday and tell a coworker or your boss what you did this weekend to make Tampa a more start-up friendly, tech savvy town.
B. Make plans to participate in (or even help host) the 5th annual BarCamp Tampa in the Fall of 2012.
C. Collaborate with someone you met at BarCamp to build and launch something cool (and tell us about it at next year’s event).
A special thanks to Mayor @BobBuckhorn for dropping by first thing Saturday morning to greet the campers and lend his support to the grass roots tech community.
Check out this Storify mashup of BarCamp pictures and Tweets by @araytpa.
Other BarCamp Tampa recaps and background info by:
@Sean_Davis @Radinfo @Jonadair Steve Buehler
One Week Count Down to BarCamp Tampa
By this time next week the 2011 Tampa BarCamp will be history. Make plans now to be part of this great annual gathering of Tampa Bay’s most creative and talented techies. I’ve said it before BarCamp is only as good as the people that show-up and speak-up.
The topics are diverse, but will appeal to anyone who has an interest in technology and the internet. This is an event for web designers, software developers, marketers, copy writers, sys admins and anyone who operates a web-based business to get together and share knowledge.
The endearing quality of the unconference format is that you have options all day. If the presentation you choose isn’t what you were expecting, you can always jump over into another room and check out something else.
This year Tampa Bay is part of the national BarCamp Bus Tour and will be visited by frequent TBBC presenter Kevin Hale from WuFoo.
Details:
Saturday September 24th 8:30 – 6:00 KForce in Ybor 1001 East Palm AvenueTampa, FL 33605
Come on Tampa, Get Your Geek On!
Register NOW. As always, the event is FREE thanks to our great corporate and community sponsors, but do the right thing and drop a little coin to show your appreciation to the organizers and volunteers that make this event possible.
If you don’t know what BarCamp is all about, check out the info at Wikipedia or the list of all upcoming BarCamps.
Evolving a great idea into a product requires a mix of innovation, instinct and basic business discipline. Our mission is to help early stage founders understand startup challenges, build their confidence and establish their credibility. We sponsor workshops, coworking and other tech community events so that you never feel like you’re left swinging from a tree.