Sales for Start Ups - Reaching Revenue

Agenda

• Who is this guy?
• Entrepreneurial Challenge - Reaching Revenue
• Customer Development Process
• Pricing
• Managing The Floodgates
• Surviving

Who is this guy?

• Northwestern Undergrad - Econ & Communications
• Nearly 15 years Entrepreneurial Experience
• Founded & Sold the Apex Group to Level 3 (NYSE: LVL3)
• Sales Expert(ise) - B2C, B2B, B2BC International Sales [EMEA]

What am I doing now? .

• Building Graphene Ventures
• Venture Capital company investing in US high-growth tech companies
• Value add around defining and implementing growth strategy (Sales, Mkting, BD)
• Helping scale revenue

How To

Challenge: Reaching Revenue

• Start-up company with: * Great product idea & infinite possible features * Limited resources * Few, if any, customers * Need cash flow / investment ASAP

REACHING REVENUE - FRAMEWORKS

• Customer Development Process
• Pricing Model
• Managing Demand
• Surviving

Customer Development Process

• Deeply understand & engage your target customers
• Ask for advice and you’ll get money
• Listen. Adapt. Repeat.
• Be passionate domain expert.

Pricing

• Multi-tiered Pricing Framework (competition, cost, value)
• Remove All Friction to Buying
• List Higher, Discount as Needed

Managing the Floodgates

• Create a Waiting ListSequential MVPs with Hard Delivery Dates
• Sequential MVPs with Hard Delivery Dates
• Grow Following
• Build Customer Steering Committee

Surviving

• Bootstrapping
• Pre-payments & Annual Contracts
• Service-Based Revenues
• Scheduled Patience
• External Investments

Alex Giannikoulis
General Partner, Graphene Ventures
www.graphene.vc
@giannikoulis