Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

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.

Startup 403

Startup Sales Software Review Technical Review 403

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

I spend a lot of time with startups and thus hear many companies talk about their approach to sales and their interactions with customers. Given customers & sales are the lifeblood of any organization you’d imagine everybody would respect their customers. Contrast that with a VC conversation I had. You can’t.

Customer 341

Customer Custom Venture Capital Software Review 341

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 3, 2013

A “deal room” is an electronic or physical space dedicated to storing the massive amounts of data to be used in due diligence by a buyer, lender or by an investor. That’s a comprehensive piece on a company for use by a buyer in determining fit. Email readers, continue here.]

Software Review 191

Software Review Patents Startup Email 191

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 20, 2017

Santa Barbara-based TrackStreet , a provider of internet brand protection and analytics software, said today that it has named Ryan Erickson as Vice President of Sales. Erickson was most recently Vice President of Sales for Teva North America, a division of Deckers Brands, and also has served at Timberland, Rockport and Reebok.

Sales 124

Sales Santa Barbara Software Review Technical Review 124

Berkonomics

AUGUST 27, 2020

A “deal room” is a cloud-based or physical space dedicated to storing the massive amounts of data to be used in due diligence by a buyer, lender or by an investor. That’s a comprehensive piece on a company for use by a buyer in determining fit. Your data room and its contents. Who will use it and when? When to start a data room?

Software Review 156

Software Review Startup Patents Email 156

TechEmpower

MARCH 4, 2024

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.

Generative AI 297

Generative AI TechEmpower CTO Hire Outsource Development 297

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

You race back to the office to tell everybody how well it went and you wait for the follow-up call to have a partners’ meeting or talk about term sheets or at least dip into due diligence. I always tell people that fund raising is a sales process. What do I do now? Weren’t you the one who went to … oh, no. That wasn’t you.

Software Review 381

Software Review Startup Email Conference 381

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

Reviewing financial & operational performance. By now you have many smart people around your board but probably people who don’t totally understand the nuances of your employees, customers, sales reps, marketing messages, technology challenges, competitors and strategic choices. how to build an initial sales organization.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

InfoChachkie

JUNE 23, 2014

Review the company''s press releases, the recipient''s LinkedIn profile, etc. It could be a significant sale to a large enterprise, the opening of a new office, a key hire or a promising partnership. BCC Email – If you don''t have your target''s email address, review the press releases issued by their company. Congratulations.

Networking 241

Networking Software Review Email Press 241

socalTECH

JANUARY 23, 2020

San Diego-based artificial intelligence software developer Brain Corp says it is saw "record sales and revenue growth" in 2019, on strong retailer demand for autonomous, mobile robots. The company said its software is now used on approximately 10,000 robots. READ MORE>>.

Artificial Inteligence 113

Artificial Inteligence Sales Software Review San Diego 113

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

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. .

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

socalTECH

DECEMBER 17, 2008

Aliso Viejo-based Buy.com is continuing to report good sales this holiday season, saying today that it has seen its revenues grow over 40 percent for the first 15 days of December, compared with 2007. Buy.com also reported that average customer orders are up by over 20 percent due to bigger purchases. READ MORE>>

Sales 100

Sales Software Review Report Sites 100

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

Our sales guys were on the front line and heard what they needed to win deals. He decided that our largest customers would be involved in the setting of our priority lists (we did some of this internally in the early years but we saw it mostly as a sales process). The Outside In organization had a one-way flow.

Organization 280

Organization Customer Custom Tips 280

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

I spent nearly a decade building software for large companies and then advising companies on the same. Your head of sales thinks she should fire somebody. You’re sales person is getting blocked by the CTO who says she shouldn’t go above him but the CTO isn’t approving the deal. What lovely charts!

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 8, 2012

Santa Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand , the developer of software-as-a-service for talent management, learning, and human resources management, said today that it has promoted three of its executives. The company said the promotions come due to recent growth and expansion at the company. READ MORE>>.

Cornerstone OnDemand 157

Cornerstone OnDemand Santa Monica Software Review Resource 157

InfoChachkie

JULY 7, 2016

Note: I invest almost exclusively in b-to-b software companies. Sales Mode – Demos intrinsically cause Founders to launch into sales mode. In contrast, we value entrepreneurs' time and thus our diligence generally includes introducing them to potential customers and partners. Don’t Demo Me Bro.

Venture Capital 176

Venture Capital Product Software Review Technical Review 176

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

I had to be successful at my new software company. My sales tax payments were due in the next few days, and I didn’t have the money. But I did have an appointment, a sales opportunity the next morning. In an hour I received a phone call from the friend who was in the office where I was due later that morning.

Startup 204

Startup Software Review UCLA Sales 204

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

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 was working hand-in-hand with my close friend and associate Stuart Lander who was running our UK office and with one of our local sales reps.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2011

We actually built that about a year and a half ago, and are bringing that back due to overwhelming demand. In April of 2010, we put up Dealcurent.com, and we started indexing number one on Google for daily deals software. We had our contest software, ArtisticHub, driving some revenue. How do clients license your software?

Platform 263

Platform Training Software Review Advertising 263

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 23, 2021

The company aims to have its first product approved by European regulators by 2023 and notching commercial sales by 2025. Meatable has a long road ahead of it, because, as Gates acknowledged in his interview with MIT Technology Review (ed. Use code “TCARTICLE” at checkout to get 20 percent off tickets right here.

Chief Technology Officer 261

Chief Technology Officer Technical Review Software Review Product 261

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

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 was working hand-in-hand with my close friend and associate Stuart Lander who was running our UK office and with one of our local sales reps.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

socalTECH

MAY 14, 2010

Los Angeles-based CyberDefender , the developer of anti-spyware and anti-virus software headed by Gary Guseinov, reported its results Thursday afternoon, saying that its revenues jumped to $9.5M The company also reported gross sales of $11.8M, up from $6.2M Tags: cyberdefender antivirus antispyware software earnings.

Software Review 140

Software Review Report Sales Los Angeles 140

Berkonomics

JANUARY 3, 2013

Even though that reduced short term earnings, lease revenues over time far outweighed any combination of sale and maintenance revenues, and Xerox grew into a major company based upon its innovation and its recurring revenues. Email readers, continue here.] Think of the portion of fixed overhead covered by recurring revenues.

Outsource Development 197

Outsource Development Software Review Sales Demand 197

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 26, 2012

Your IT Reviewer. They’ve had years of business-unit managers buying software solutions they didn’t need and that eventually become shelfware. Your business unit buyer isn’t used to negotiating software and if you won over the IT team with your prowess then you’re feeling pretty good.

Development Team Review 293

Development Team Review Software Review Pricing Startup 293

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

Fast forward to almost exactly one year later, and a lot has changed for the payments and software startup. Since its 2017 inception, SpotOn has been focused on providing software and payments technology to SMBs with an emphasis on restaurants and retail businesses. Image Credits: SpotOn.

Technical Review 296

Technical Review Software Review Invest Acquisition 296

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2013

And a natural sales person. I worked in both before leaving to work in a software company at 17. I had a business class seat due to status of flying a lot and my family was in economy. I’ve sat through so many meetings where sales reps didn’t ask for the order. Even today. She was a hustler. And a ball buster.

Sales 416

Sales Class Training Technical Review 416

InfoChachkie

MAY 5, 2014

Introduced in 1986, Symantec''s pcAnywhere was the dominant remote access software solution at the time of GoToMyPC''s release, with a market share of, “76 percent of the retail remote control market" according to PC Data''s 1999 Retail Share report. Clearly, a rabid focus on form without regard to function is an assured path to failure.

Symantec 227

Symantec Technical Review Software Review Design 227

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2009

One the one hand I feel great because we went out and built software that solved an industry problem. This includes writing product specs, going on sales calls, handling customer complaints, building the financial model and a host of other activities that will ultimately owned by functional experts. I did all of the sales myself.

Startup 299

Startup Venture Capital Technical Review Training 299

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2022

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.

Software Review 154

Software Review CTO Hire Outsource Development Startup 154

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

Government customers abundantly waste both of these assets by negatively impacting a startup’s cash flows while causing it to spend unnecessary time participating in laborious approval processes and elongated sales cycles. This is nearly impossible to quickly determine when the sales process is rigidly defined by arbitrary rules.”

Startup 207

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Sales 207

socalTECH

AUGUST 13, 2012

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>>.

Outsource Development 124

Outsource Development Software Review Sales Software 124

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 9, 2012

OpenX is profitable, and its ad serving software dominant among online publishers. positions on its site, ranging from software, sales, marketing, to finance. range of software products, and which has offices in Calabasas and Santa Barbara. Deploying software in the cloud? The company recently reported record.

Technical Review 279

Technical Review Company Companies Southern California 279

socalTECH

MAY 8, 2019

Playa Vista-based point-of-sale equipment and software provider Appetize says that its recent move to offer up "self-service" kiosks to its customers, has resulted in its customers seeing more spending and demand.

Services 133

Services Software Review Technical Review Demand 133

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

I had my sales teams telling me we needed certain features to be competitive. They had to spend time training our new resources, reviewing code, refactoring where mistakes were made, attending meetings, etc. He didn’t feel my pressures on sales, marketing and ops. We technology leaders also make this mistake.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

Software as a service (SaaS) is a popular business model because it facilitates the delivery of incremental value to customers, while allowing the vendor to adjust their prices over time. For most companies, existing customers are the most economical and lucrative source of incremental sales. 1% - 3% of the additional sales).

SaaS 215

SaaS Pricing Sales Customer 215

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2012

They are more likely to be the “bottom end of the sales funnel” or in other words close to “point of purchase.” I have talked with people in the industry who tell me that mobile movie sites convert ticket sales much higher than desktop websites. Try writing long reviews of a restaurant.

Web 334

Web Mobile Startup Software Review 334

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 15, 2017

Santa Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand has hired investment banking firms Centerview Partners and Goldman Sachs, in a move that could result in either a sale of the company, or help in fighting off an activist investor, according to a report.

Cornerstone OnDemand 100

Cornerstone OnDemand Software Review Invest Report 100