

Enterprise Startups and Y Combinator - rmorrison
http://blog.rmorrison.org/enterprise-startups-and-y-combinator

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brd
I think the lack of enterprise startups boils down to one simple issue, most
people interested in startups have no understanding of enterprise.

As an enterprise guy, I read HN discussions on subjects and there is just a
lack of understanding about why enterprise companies do what they do, why
they're so risk adverse, what they look for in tech, etc.

Sure, a lot of enterprise sized solutions aren't that sexy. Sure, enterprise
sales is a pain. But really, the kicker is that most 20 somethings just don't
have a strong grasp of what makes the enterprise tick.

~~~
notastartup
can you please write about this? I'm a 20-something looking to create a SaaS
for Enterprise customers, and I'm constantly coming up dry. There's a lot of
literature revolving around 20 bucks/month for a simple web app but pretty
much lost and overwhelmed by the technical language behind most Enterprisey
websites and the sheer number of features that seem dumped into a product
which confuses the software engineering inside of me.

I've begun researching Oracle Partnership and Salesforce, but even then, I am
just lost as to how I can acquire my first enterprise customer because I don't
know what they want and what they are looking for.

I understand that enterprise sale cycles is long and I've posted numerous
questions about hacking my way into this space with little response.

~~~
brd
So just to give some quick answers to points you've brought up:

Pricing for Enterprise is tricky, mostly because there are magic numbers where
you go from 1 channel of approval to another. The goal is to price yourself
high enough that they take you seriously without pricing yourself so high that
you end up needing approval from a guy who doesn't care about the problem
you're solving (unless of course you're ready to pitch to that audience).

The long list of features is a side effect of the risk adverse nature of
enterprise. One of the big things enterprise looks for is solutions to "what
ifs". What if X happens, what if Y operates different, how do we know when Z
occurred? Ultimately you are trying to sell them a solution that doesn't
create a whole host of new problems and the feature list helps ensure that.
Besides that, long feature lists help with the sales pitch.

As for finding customers, that is where the real battle exists. Ideally you
already have a short list of potential customers that you can talk to and work
with while you create your initial product. Creating something from scratch
and then trying to sell it is a much harder path to go down. I think there are
hacks to this involving partnerships with other 3rd party solution providers
but ultimately getting your first customer is going to be the biggest hurdle
to overcome.

Personally, I've shied away from enterprise startup ideas because 1) If I'm
doing a startup, its probably to get out of the enterprise world and 2)
Selling to the enterprise truly is a long, arduous experience that I'd rather
avoid.

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btrautsc
Our team put a lot of thought into deciding whether YC was a good fit for
Ambition (YCw14) - well, after it was a possible option - as my cofounders
actually didn't know I'd applied to YC for us until we were invited to
interview.

We thought (as many do) YC was largely for consumer, idea stage companies, and
that B2B was not a focus.

Demo Day was yesterday; YC has been an incredible experience and value add for
Ambition. The partners are incredibly smart and apply product/ market/ sales
expertise across various industries Cumulatively they have seen everything, so
the knowledge base is deep.

Targeting customer segments, simplifying product, meeting investors, and being
strategic about marketing, partnerships, and media.

Bottom line: our company is probably _years_ ahead of where we were in Dec
2013. We now have a backlog of customers, relationships with a great group of
investors/ partners, and our product is delivering.

If you're doing enterprise or B2B, I would _strongly_ recommend looking at YC.

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nwenzel
Great post Rick! I'm thankful that companies like Comprehend led the way for
enterprise companies at YC. After my batch (S2013) and the most recent Demo
Day, I think it's pretty clear that YC provides a lot of value to enterprise
startups.

For any B2B founder wondering if YC is a fit for your company, don't let old
stereotypes get in the way of applying. YC is not just consumer. It's not just
20-year olds (I was 35). YC is a network of the smartest, most passionate
people you've ever met.

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AndyNemmity
I do a lot of Enterprise Startup evaluation for the company I work for. I read
hacker news regularly, but consider it entirely separate from my job. I don't
see much about Enterprise at all through YC or discussed here.

Perhaps it's just me, but I find it odd that I share so much in common with my
job evaluation and hackernews as a concept, and yet I consider reading and
viewing here a personal activity that has no relevance to my work.

I think that has something to do with Enterprise startups not being considered
sexy, or on the radar of most people.

Perhaps it's that people who are most likely to build startups through YC are
people who haven't been in Enterprises for years, and thus don't have
visibility to the needs or considerations.

If I were creating a startup today, I'd target the Enterprise sector because
there are needs that aren't filled, and being bought by a large company is a
quite reasonable exit strategy.

Selling it to Enterprise can be expensive, but you only really need a few
successful hits as opposed to generating a massive hockey stick of users.

~~~
capkutay
I see enterprise discussed on HN when its related to scalable infrastructures
or NoSQL databases. However, it'll only be 'sexy' ones like open source
solutions, something amazon built, or something ex-facebook/ex-googlers came
out with.

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sdesol
My product is aimed at the enterprise and I actually thought about applying to
YC and may still, but it was really off putting seeing the video requirement.
I really don't understand the purpose of it. Once you know my name you'll be
able to find my linkedin profile with my picture:

[http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/ab5e41c4c804017c36e071b54cb20...](http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/ab5e41c4c804017c36e071b54cb20bd7.png?s=120&r=pg&d=identicon)

What is the purpose of the video?

I like to think I'm pretty articulate but I really hate speaking into the air
with no visible recipient. It is the same reason I despise leaving voice
messages. Maybe their is a technical term for this, who knows.

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corry
"The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed."

Nowhere is this more true than in enterprise / gov, which is gradually being
pulled out of the tech dark ages. It's inevitable - even if it's 5 years
behind the rest of society, the tech profiles of these organizations WILL
shift (ARE shifting).

Enterprise startups get a lot of hate, but I encourage everyone to consider
what a joy it is to blow the mind of an enterprise user by solving their
problem in a way they didn't realize was possible.

It's like being a doctor and a magician at once.

