How to Sell (YC)

Tyler Bosmeny from YC alumnus Clever shares his expertise on how an early stage company should think about sales and about building an enterprise sales team.

Timestamps

07:33 The reality (not Don Draper style)
10:28 The sales funnel (Prospecting, Conversations, Closing, Revenue)
18:55 cold emails: Short, to the point, personalised, actionable,
20:55 conversations: Sales is about listening. (Number 1 advice). Best sales people are listening 70% time and are asking questions.
26:00 you need to have inhuman willingness to continuously followup. Just remember sometimes you have to remind them that you are still there. Being persistent is not rude if done in the right way.
27:30 small startup needs to figure out where to spend time and hence shorter sales cycle of yes or no will help you get more bandwidth for new potential prospects.
28:50 you need to have a agreement to propose first hand. YC has the open source sales template though it may require customisation. Don't give free trial but you can give them the term that if they don't like there money shall be refunded.
35:22 5 ways to build a $100M business (ARPA vs. # Customers-matrix)
43:27 Setting the right price
49:54 When to hire sales people (not before you've done sales on your own!)
50:44 "Renaissance" Sales vs. "Coin Operated" Sales (hussle & grit Renaissance sales reps)