I’ve been thinking about empathy a lot lately in the realm of sales and a host of other real-world opportunities. Empathy via the Oxford dictionary is defined, “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” Is it any surprise, then, I’ve been thinking about empathy a lot lately in the realm of sales […]
Hopping back in the blogging world! Yes, yes, thanks for the welcome back. I’m immersed again in the joy of startups and entrepreneurship. That now includes so much more perspective in the engineering and product world. My role as a Director of Solutions provides me incredible insight in the “other side” of the house of […]
I met with an aspiring entrepreneur recently who was deep into the customer discovery process with potential first customers. He was sharing with me how he was speaking to different customers but they were really of different market segments with different challenges. That was a big reason why he was hesitant around what features to […]
I just finished one of the first books in a long time called The Hard Thing About Hard Things. This one is by VC Ben Horowitz of Andreesen Horowitz. Ben shares the lessons he learned during the tumultuous years of building LoudCloud then Opsware which was later acquired in 2007 by Hewlett-Packard for $1.6B. The […]
When it comes to sales, perhaps the biggest challenge a buyer is wary of is the risk to his / her job. Selection of a product or service can have consequences to the results of a key initiative. The success of the selection can help a mid-level manager rise to a leadership position—the ability to […]
Stock options are not restricted stock units. That’s my big lesson from this week. I thought I knew what getting equity was all about, but given I’ve gone through few meaningful liquidity events other than Burner Rocket, I didn’t know what options truly meant. Burner Rocket, after all, was a much simpler transaction that my […]
I was speaking to a colleague recently working in private equity, and I heard about a very interesting concept called “add backs”. Add backs can play a big role in the valuation of a company. Add backs can be expenses made prior to an acquisition that are one-time and can further the growth of a […]
Last week was the first time in a long time I just said, “eff it, I’m not posting”. I could’ve still posted later like I had done for several weeks prior. However, I just didn’t. Maybe it’s time for a break? The last several months have been a whirlwind for me with travel all around […]
My [new] wife and I are out in Hawaii checking out the sands and crashing waves of the North Shore, and we’re approached by a man looking straight at me saying, “you look like you’re from around here”. I’m dressed like I am definitely not–pure “tourist” on me. But I know what he’s up to. […]
I’ve spoken to a few marketers and entrepreneurs recently about reinvigorating old customers in more transactional sales. These types of sales can be layups if done right, and though, would likely not yield 100% conversion, these opportunities can still have a high conversion rate. At least, if customers had a positive experience before. In one […]