Operator-authored perspectives on how the economics of custom software have fundamentally changed. Real insights on designing and deploying infrastructure around how your business actually operates.
Over the past several years, I've had the opportunity to work with companies across a wide range of industries and stages of growth. While the challenges are often different on the surface, I've noticed something remarkably consistent underneath.
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For most of my career, the build versus buy conversation was reserved for large enterprises. If you were a Fortune 500 company with a massive IT budget and an internal development team, building custom software was a realistic option. You had unique workflows, complex requirements, and enough scale to justify the investment. Everyone else bought software.
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Growing companies have a funny way of creating their own problems. The things that helped them become successful in the first place eventually become the things that hold them back. I've seen this happen countless times with revenue organizations. A company gets off to a great start because everyone is aligned, communication is easy, and decisions get made quickly. Revenue grows, the team expands, and the business becomes more complex.
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In the podcast, Brian is interviewed by Sho Rust and Thomas Belhacene, who are founders of SHO.ai, a tech startup in the branding industry. They discuss Brian's background and the sales profession as a whole.
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Hiring the right sales leader is one of the most critical decisions a company can make, especially for startups and small businesses. The sales leader not only drives revenue but also shapes the sales culture, influences team dynamics, and sets the tone for customer relationships. However, making the wrong choice can lead to significant repercussions that extend far beyond the immediate financial implications.
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In the fast-paced world of startups, the search for the right executive can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. As a founder, you may find yourself dreaming of a "player-coach" who not only possesses the experience and strategic insight to guide your company but is also willing to roll up their sleeves and contribute on the ground level. But is this ideal candidate truly out there? And if so, can you afford them without jeopardizing your startup's financial health?
Read Analysis ⮕In the podcast, Brian is interviewed by Sho Rust and Thomas Belhacene, who are founders of SHO.ai, a tech startup in the branding industry. They discuss Brian's background and the sales profession as a whole.
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Does your business rely on revenue to fund itself? Of course, it does! Even if it's supplemented by capital from outside sources, your business should always strive to rely on customer revenue to power its operations. If revenue is so important to all businesses, then the 2 most critical objectives in business are retaining existing revenue and adding new revenue. In many startups, however, these critical functions are an afterthought but why?
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What most non-salespeople don't understand is the struggle to build trust & rapport between seller and prospect. Sure, follow up is important and persistence is key. But, the cadence of your follow up should be dependent on the prospect and not when your manager has to provide their boss with an update.
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We all deal with insufferable people at work. Maybe the worst of the bunch is the person who has no problem telling you how great they are. There is a certain level of arrogance and dishonesty in these people that I'll probably never understand. It's even more difficult when those people are in charge. The truth of the matter is that about 2/3 of the people you interact with at work are mediocre at their job, half of them are below average, and over 15% of them are really bad.
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Remote work and work from home was a movement well before we were all hit with this pandemic but the coronavirus forced many who were unwilling to give it a try. Low and behold, there are many benefits to work from home. This gave the work from home (WFH) movement steam but people have been writing about "the changing workplace" for several years. In some cases, businesses will finally make the transition to a permanent work from home stance or at least the option to work from home if you'd pref
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Going through the interview process can be uncomfortable. From the front line recruiters to hiring managers and beyond, job interviews are stressful. But just as much as job interviews are about the company interviewing and assessing your ability to provide value to the company, you should be evaluating the company and whether or not you'd enjoy working there.
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Congratulations! You've just raised a nice big round of funding. Now what? Time to grow, but how? For some, the focus for so many months, the goal for so many months, has been raising capital. So once you get there, panic can set in because you haven't done much planning for what happens next. You get across the finish line you and then realize that, in fact, you're actually at the starting line of another marathon.
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As your company grows, you will inevitably need to add sales people to your team. You'll create the job ad, get tons of applications, screen lots of resumes, and start interviewing. But now, the big question is, "what are you looking for in a sales candidate?" There are a multitude of attributes that may be leading indicators to success in sales. Sales leaders will have differing opinions on what those may be but there is one simple rule that you should always follow when hiring.
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Maybe this is a radical idea but hear me out. I think every single new employee at your company should spend at least one week as a business development representative (BDR) or sales development representative (SDR). From the C-suite down to entry-level, I mean every single employee should do it. It's the most critical position when it comes to getting the ground-level truth about the product and the customer.
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Without a doubt, one important characteristic of being successful in sales is competitiveness. But that may come in a few different forms. It's one of the things I'm looking for when I interview salespeople.
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For some reason, as I sat there and pondered on what made people successful in life, I kept reading things and coming up with words that started with the letter "c". 🤷🏻♂️ Here are 10 of them. Believe it or not, there are more that didn't make my list.
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I think about my time as a high school student, my time as a college student, and my time as a professional. College is widely considered "the best years of your life" by many. Why do you think that is? Aside from the partying, I have an idea.
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Creating and managing corporate culture may be one of the hardest things in building a successful business. It's something that is sort of vague and hard to define but everyone agrees has a massive impact on the performance of the business. Not only is it important for the bottom line, its important for recruiting top talent.
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I have played basketball my entire life. I fell in love with the sport when I was 8 years old and eventually turned it into a scholarship and an opportunity to further my education. I've played on teams that have cut down nets and I've played on teams that struggled to compete. I've been the best player on the team and I've been a role player. Through success and failure in basketball, I learned a lot about business. Now that I have a career, the similarities between the two are undeniable.
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A lot can be learned about a person by playing basketball with them. I am a life-long basketballer. I like to watch and I like to play. Even after my collegiate career ended, I still try to mix it up in pickup games or recreational leagues. As my professional career has progressed and I started playing with people from the office, I noticed something. There is a correlation between how a person operates on a basketball court and how they operate in the office.
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Startups are fun, kind of. It’s exciting to work for a company that is on the brink of disrupting an industry and changing lives. We’ve all heard stories or seen movies or TV shows that romanticize life in a startup. However, the truth is that working in a startup environment isn’t always rainbows and butterflies. It’s not for everyone. In fact, it isn’t for most people.
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I've gotten into arguments about this. People often confuse the three, primarily benefits and value. Salespeople talk about their "value proposition" and then go on to list the features and benefits of the product they are selling. In my mind, there is a very distinct difference between the three and it is important to understand not only when selling but when building a valuable company (pun intended).
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I'm writing this article in the downtime between sessions at a conference for wealth management representatives. I had an interesting conversation with one of the reps in attendance. He told me a story about a friend of his that had a very successful wealth management firm that he grew from the ground up to multi-billions in assets under management. It was built on gritty cold calling and aggressive selling techniques 30 years ago.
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Let's start with an exercise. Go to your favorite online bookstore and search for titles containing the word sales or selling. Then, compare that to the number of publications about any other business unit. Overwhelmingly, more books, articles, blogs, etc. are written about how to sell effectively (a quick search on Amazon produced 15,000+ books about professional selling).
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Without a doubt, one important characteristic of being successful in sales is competitiveness. But that may come in a few different forms. It's one of the things I'm looking for when I interview salespeople.
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What makes people born during that 20-year window between 1980 and 2000 so different from the generations that preceded them? (Yes, we are different). Is it because they were promised they can be anything they want when they grow up? No. Is it because they were given participation trophies and told, "it's not about what the scoreboard says, it's about having fun!" Nope. Is it because all Millennials are addicted to the devices in their hands, on their wrists, and in their pockets?
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Part of my job consists of interviewing people for the entry-level sales positions we have available. Every conversation usually follows the same structure and ends with me asking if they have any questions they'd like me to answer. One of the most common questions interviewees ask me is, "What does it take to be successful here?"
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