
How I burned $10M so you don't have to - gr2020
https://medium.com/reboot-leadership-resiliency/how-i-burned-10-million-dollars-so-you-dont-have-to-4e9e83754ce9#.kq0c7y3y7
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ser0
The article was a lot better than I expected to be given the slightly click-
baity title.

The key note for me is that move fast and break things is a motto that works
well in a software/systems context where the cost of failure is low. However,
when dealing with business, the cost of failure can mean layoffs and serious
disruptions to peoples' lives.

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heisenbit
Good read. It is instructive to see how a business on a slow ramp can get off-
rails by forcing strategic growth decisions prematurely and without sufficient
reflection

> We searched frantically for a head of sales. It took three months to find
> someone, and she only took the job on the condition we open a second office
> in North Carolina. We opened that office. Grew it to 14 people. Then, when
> it was quickly clear spreading a sales team across two locations so early
> was crazy, we shut it down. All within 12 weeks. There’s $500k eviscerated.

So there was a LA based sales team that was working and the customers I assume
are media companies. The sales model working was individuals making direct
sales. Then in NC ramping up another team so big and so fast? Another model in
another place? Where was the board providing a check here? The problem here
was not too senior too early but getting someone senior that was not properly
aligned and letting that person dictate the sales strategy.

Enterprise sales is hard. Cycles are typically long. Some sales people are
gifted and some come with well established connections. Initial success can be
a factor of the latter - then comes the chasm. Judging velocity and scaling up
can be non-trivial.

~~~
privateprofile
>> We hired too senior too early.

This is more a sign of a junior "CEO"...

