Win Investors By Not Being A Sheep, Build a World-Class Sales Org - Tactician #0061

"In a world full of sheep, be a zebra. That's what I told them. 'Why a zebra?' they asked. 'Because it's unexpected, and have you ever seen a zebra get lost in a crowd? Exactly.' I don’t think they got it.”

20/02/2024

Win Investors By Not Being A Sheep

Harry Stebbings, Founder at 20VC interviews Roger Ehrenberg, Managing Partner at Eberg Capital, on the evolving venture capital landscape, challenges in liquidity, the state of IPO and M&A markets in "20VC: [...] Roger Ehrenberg, Eberg Capital"

• Focus on Building in Non-Hyped Areas:

  • Ehrenberg suggests that founders should look beyond the hype of trending sectors and focus on areas that are not currently saturated with venture capital.

  • "I would literally be spending almost no time in pure AI... I would be looking for other things where there are still massive opportunities but that are not getting the attention that the hype themes of the moment are."

• The Value of Strong VC-Founder Relationships:

  • He highlights the importance of having a VC as a partner, especially in the early days, not for dependency but for strategic advice and psychological support.

  • "I think the best Founders benefit from really good VC to act as a sounding board especially in those earliest days and to and to give them honestly empathy and psychological support because that is often the hardest thing to get when you’re struggling at the beginning and trying to get the product Market fit."

• Don’t Be A Sheep:

  • For startup founders looking to raise capital, Ehrenberg advises being distinctive and taking calculated risks to stand out to investors.

  • "Be different, take risk, don’t play it safe, have a deeply held thesis and just put it out there. Be shocking, don’t be a sheep, don’t follow the playbook."

Build a World-Class Sales Org

Lenny Rachitsky, Author at Lenny’s Newsletter, interviews Jason M. Lemkin, SaaStr Founder, to uncover insights and actionable strategies for building and scaling a world-class sales organisation in “Building a world-class sales org”

• Hire your first salesperson when reaching a customer and time threshold:

  • "Hire your first salesperson when you have closed the first 10 customers and are spending more than 20% of your time on sales." This insight suggests that a founder should wait to hire a salesperson until they have proven demand for their product and the founder's own time is significantly consumed by sales activities.

• Look for salespeople who you would buy from:

  • "Don’t be swayed solely by impressive resumes or acronyms; instead, seek out those individuals who you would personally buy your product from." 

• Hire two salespeople to start:

  • "Why you need to hire two salespeople" points to the strategy of hiring in pairs to enable benchmarking, foster competition, and ensure redundancy in the sales process.

• Wait to hire a VP of Sales:

  • "Instead of rushing to hire a VP early in the startup phase, wait until you have established a repeatable sales process and witnessed success with initial sales reps hitting quota." 

• Ensure the VP of Sales is still willing to sell:

  • "Make sure your VP of Sales actually wants to sell, not just manage." 

• Follow the 'rule of eights' for scaling:

  • "Jason recommends that founders follow the 'rule of eights' when scaling their sales org: 8 sales reps need a manager, 8 account or sales executives need a director, and a VP may have 8 senior reports."

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