
Peter Pan Syndrome – The Startup to Company Transition (2010) - bootload
https://steveblank.com/2010/09/20/the-peter-pan-syndrome-–-the-startup-to-company-transition/
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gamerDude
I find this very relatable. We currently lease space from a startup that is a
little bit ahead of us, but our revenue are catching up quickly. My co-founder
is an aggressive salesman, so much so I have to push hard to keep up product.
Which is good, we are moving quickly.

But the company we work next to is having trouble with sales. None of the
founders have sales experience and then they hired a sales person straight out
of college. That kid is an excellent guy, he tries as hard as he can, but he
has no idea what he's doing. The number one thing holding this company back is
the founders being willing to look outside their bubble and hire an
experienced salesman who is going to make them uncomfortable, tell them they
are wrong and move their business forward. But at the same time, I know it's
hard. We hired a head of Operations totally different than us, but still fit
our core values. And she pushes us all the time. And we do the same. And while
it's been hard, it's definitely made us better.

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ska
This is pretty common - many startups have literally nothing compelling to
offer many experienced, successful sales person with deep domain knowledge and
networks. So you are much more likely to end up with something else, unless
you are lucky.

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meesterdude
You need domain knowledge, you need sales, and you need marketing.

At my last gig, i asked my boss about developing a mailing list. he said it
was "done". I didn't push further, but thats just not how mailing lists work.

find a channel or a few channels and develop a presence. You're building a
relationship, not just selling something.

get their info. ask for it. on a web form, on the phone, and in person. Keep
in touch with them. Do drip marketing. Get them involved.

Word of mouth, blog posts, tweets and facebook pages only carry you so far.
For some, its plenty far enough. For others, they need to inject more hustle;
cold calls, chance meetings, going door to door if need be.

Know how to hustle your customers; what they want, what they need, and what
they'll pay.

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kristineberth
Absolutely. The right marketing people will take that entire lead
gen/relationship building/RFP process to a whole new level.

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edshiro
I think the end of the article sums it all up very nicely: "But first you need
to become a domain expert. Spend a year in Washington". They basically have no
deep knowledge of the domain in which they operate and how to win the sales
game. However brilliant you are, if you don't understand the rules of the
game:

-> you are not playing the right game

\--> you cannot win

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secstate
More like,

-> you are not playing the right game \--> you will only win by luck

