Jessica Livingston: Why Startups Need to Focus on Sales, Not Marketing
wsj.com
Jessica Livingston: Why Startups Need to Focus on Sales, Not Marketing
One of the most common types of advice we give at Y Combinator is to do things that don’t scale …. The most common unscalable thing founders have to do at the start is to recruit users manually. Nearly all startups have to. You can’t wait for users to come to you. You have to go out and get them. There are two reasons founders resist going out and
... See moreAndrew Chen • The Cold Start Problem: Using Network Effects to Scale Your Product
At the earlier stages of the company, when you're actually out trying to get some customers, do whatever the hell the customer wants. If they're going to pay you, the customer is right. Because you need that initial money. You need that customer on the list to go get the next one. If you have to give away whatever you're doing, give it away. Get th
... See moreJessica Livingston • Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days
Being a startup CEO is a sales job
When starting Astronaut, I pictured building cool products, working with incredible people, and redefining how brands engage with their customers.
But there's one aspect I was unprepared for—the sheer amount of selling involved!
Selling isn’t just part of my job—it IS my job.
As CEO, I spend most of my time selling cu
... See more