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SalesFounders - Startup Sales Growth | Venture Capital | Crowdfunding | Sales Strategy |

SalesFounders is a weekly podcast that focuses on sales growth and strategy for startups. We interview VC’s, entrepreneurs, and industry experts to discuss the strategies that will help founders bridge the sales gap and accelerate their most profitable channels of growth.
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SalesFounders - Startup Sales Growth | Venture Capital | Crowdfunding | Sales Strategy |
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Now displaying: April, 2017
Apr 25, 2017

In 2004, David Williams was asked to help close down a startup that had amassed $2.5 million in debt and still had no product to offer. When David arrived on the scene, what he saw was “the opportunity of a lifetime.” On this episode, we explore the power of Social Capital and how 6 employees and 1 strategic partnership helped David  transform Fishbowl into the leading inventory management solution. Sure, his approach might have “broken a few rules” but the results will compel you to reconsider the way you lead your organization.

“No individual has sufficient experience, education, native ability and knowledge to ensure the accumulation of a great fortune, without the cooperation of other people.”  - Napoleon Hill

  Talking Points

  • Searching a troubled startup for signs of life.
  • Why Social Capital should be given the highest priority.
  • How to manage relationships with strategic alliances and channel partners.
  • Why a startup needs a 100 year plan (even if you plan on selling in less than 5 years).
  • How to build a culture of loyal employees.
  • Should equity be given to employees as stock options?
  • How to manage underperforming employees in a startup?
  • Leadership and the simple skills that lead to big profits

Meet David Williams

Since 2004, David K. Williams has been the Chief Executive Officer of Fishbowl, the maker of the #1 manufacturing and warehouse management software for QuickBooks. He has worked in numerous industries during his career, and he has worked hard to help Fishbowl become one of the fastest-growing and most successful software companies in the state of Utah. Fishbowl has won numerous regional and national awards from a number of respected organizations, including Inc. 5000, Deloitte, MountainWest Capital, and Global Red Herring.

In July 2013, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. published Williams' book, which he wrote to inspire his fellow business professionals and leaders, The 7 Non-Negotiables of Winning: Tying Soft Traits to Hard Results. In it, he detailed the secrets of his success as an entrepreneur. He writes a weekly column for Forbes, and he has also contributed to Harvard Business Review and Inc. Magazine in the past.

In addition to his work at Fishbowl, Williams also acts as the President of the Woodbury School of Business National Advisory Council at Utah Valley University, and he is a member of the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce's Executive Board of Directors. For more information about Williams, visit the Wikipedia article dedicated to him.

Apr 18, 2017

Entrepreneurs need to constantly be thinking about lead sources and profitable strategies to generate customers. In spite of so many overpriced lead strategies, the most powerful and often underutilized lead source is your own expertise.

My guest this week is Brian Horn, a best-selling author, investor and entrepreneur who helps professionals leverage their knowledge to gain authority status and national media exposure. On this episode, we explore the strategies of thought leadership and how entrepreneurs can convert their expertise into scalable revenue.

Visit https://salesfounders.com/007-thought-leadership-funnel/ for more information. 

 

Apr 11, 2017

What does a venture capitalist look for in a winning startup? How does an entrepreneur know when it's time to scale? In this episode of SalesFounders, we explore the playbook of venture capitalist, Paul Ahlstrom, and take a deeper dive into his book, Nail it Then Scale it. Paul shares 4 key strategies that every startup must understand: What is a minimum feature set? How do I validate my solution? What is my go to market strategy? and Why VC's have no interest in your business plan. Do you know what it takes to build a scalable startup? Join us and find out!

Talking Points

MINIMUM FEATURE SET

  • Understanding the difference between Minimum Viable Product and Minimum Feature Set
  • Start with the features that solve the customer problem. What is the process to accomplish that.
  • Focus on the feature set that is most compelling to the customer.

NAILING THE GO TO MARKET STRATEGY

  • Level 1 - You and your company - what are the things that I can do with my company to go satisfy that customer?
  • Level 2 - Partners - Who are the people that are on the same side of the table as me wanting to sell that customer.
  • Level 3 - Influencers - Boundary Spanners - both sides of the line - the people that are the glue of the industry - analysts and guru’s, press and media - key influencers in the space. Don’t go there till 1 and 2 are figured out.
  • Level 4 - Advertising and Marketing - This is a branding exercise - the whole industry should scream your name -

Customers can validate but they cannot innovate - Paul Ahlstrom

NAILING THE BUSINESS MODEL

  • Getting the essence of the model figured out before you have too much infrastructure is important. It get’s harder to adapt the bigger you get.  
  • The truth about business plans - a big fat guess
  • Getting into the business model competition -
  • Hypothesis - requires the big idea canvas
  • Go into the field and start having a conversation around this. Discover and uncover the value exchange.
  • Sensitivity analysis - When we have the interjection around 15 minutes, that would be good to narrate something different into it.

CROSSING THE CHASM

  • What he didn’t know was the step-by-step process
  • That’s been my mission - how do we increase the startup pace
  • How do we increase the speed of doing things right more

DISRUPTING POVERTY

  • One of my life missions is to disrupt poverty
  • Global corruption index (see below)
  • Global poverty index map
  • Intangible wealth - effective government and trust and effective judicial systems. It’s what we enjoy in America.  
  • So how do you transport or create that wealth in other countries.

 

Paul Ahlstrom is a co-founder and managing director of Alta Ventures, an early-stage venture fund and co-author of Nail it Then Scale it. For more than 30 years, Paul has operated on both sides of the table as a venture-backed entrepreneur (founder of Knowlix, sold to Peregrine Systems, sold to HP) and as an investor. To date, he has raised over $1B and directly invested over $500M in more than 125 startup companies. He earned his BA in communications from Brigham Young University and an honorary doctorate from the Netanya Academic College in Israel.

Apr 4, 2017

Entrepreneurs are often fascinated with the idea of disruption. The reason is obvious - it is typically associated with entrepreneurs who have defeated a giant, and/or redefined an industry. The reality is that disruption is arguably the most difficult and risky approach to entrepreneurship. 

My guest this week, Andrew Weinreich, is an expert when it comes to the topic of disruption. Andrew founded SixDegrees (the first social networking platform) and is the "father" of social networking. Andrew joins SalesFounders to share his views on innovation and how he has founded multiple companies that all have one thing in common - massive disruption.

Andrew Weinreich is a serial entrepreneur, social networking pioneer, and active presence in NYC’s Silicon Alley for 2 decades. To date, he’s founded 7 startups and has been awarded 2 software patents.

Since 2013, he has sold 2 businesses, including Xtify to IBM, while advising 5 tech startups. He is currently the co-founder and Chairman of Indicative, a data analytics startup.

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