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Launch HN: Flockjay (YC W19) – $0-upfront tech sales academy for diverse talent

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Re: Launch HN: Flockjay (YC W19) – $0-upfront tech sales academy for diverse talent

#11

Post by shath2018 »

neya wrote: post #7

Is there any way someone outside of the US can get access to these trainings? That would be awesome for someone like me trying to switch gears from being in development and just entering sales. I understand the other alternative is to provide $5k in advance, but for someone considering moving to the US soon, would this requirement be relaxed?

Right now, we're focused on working with students who are eligible for full-time work in the US (residents, citizens, and those with visas already). We're investing upfront in an extremely high-quality education for our students, and we ask for nothing until hired. Email us at hello@flockjay.com and we can see if we can help.

Re: Launch HN: Flockjay (YC W19) – $0-upfront tech sales academy for diverse talent

#12

Post by shath2018 »

rajacombinator wrote: post #9

Sounds like a reasonable idea, but I’d drop the college admissions essay bit about overcoming hardship etc now that you’re already in YC.

Ton of hard work ahead for us to do that doesnt end with YC - making sure we're building for and serving people from underserved, non-traditional, and disadvantaged backgrounds. Reaching them requires sharing our stories and listening to theirs.

Re: Launch HN: Flockjay (YC W19) – $0-upfront tech sales academy for diverse talent

#14

Post by shath2018 »

multani787 wrote: post #6
shath2018 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, more popular than you might think, especially as a)SaaS products get more technical and b) roles like sales engineering grow. Some of the best performers in sales become thought leaders in the industry they work in. We get applicants who went through coding bootcamps, who realize their skills are best served in sales roles, merging technical knowledge with understanding/solving complex business problems.

I went the opposite route and would have loved to have had something like FlockJay at the start of my career.

Cool thing about these roles is they're a killer combo of skills - best way to understand product-mkt fit is to talk to customers and truly listen to what they want (and what they need).

Re: Launch HN: Flockjay (YC W19) – $0-upfront tech sales academy for diverse talent

#15

Post by shath2018 »

hwjwill wrote: post #13

Is it possible to pace our my own sales class? We are trying to do B2B sale but it's really hard fresh out of school. I can corroborate that our school doesn't offer training like that.

Our classes are live, online, and interactive, from 5-8pm PST Mon-Thurs, with new ones starting every month. Most schools we've talked to (>250) don't offer courses with this training. We'll be expanding to more timings/options in the near future.

Re: Launch HN: Flockjay (YC W19) – $0-upfront tech sales academy for diverse talent

#16

Post by goatherders »

Love it. I've been in tech sales for 20 years and even started a company that provides sales services for tech companies. I truly believe that a number of great tech companies die because they dont "figure out" sales early enough. Lead gen...pipeline management...pitches...these things matter. I've helped crappy products destroy competitors just by paying attention to the sales process. TLDR: a better mousetrap is worthless without a sales strategy.

If I can offer my time or experience to help you drive this forward I would be excited to do so. I tell people often "I wanted to be in tech but I'm an awful engineer. So sales was my way to enter this sector."

My contact info is in my profile. Good luck to you.

Re: Launch HN: Flockjay (YC W19) – $0-upfront tech sales academy for diverse talent

#17

Post by shath2018 »

goatherders wrote: post #16

Love it. I've been in tech sales for 20 years and even started a company that provides sales services for tech companies. I truly believe that a number of great tech companies die because they dont "figure out" sales early enough. Lead gen...pipeline management...pitches...these things matter. I've helped crappy products destroy competitors just by paying attention to the sales process. TLDR: a better mousetrap is wo…

"Make something people want" only works if people know you exist. I'll reach out to follow up.

Re: Launch HN: Flockjay (YC W19) – $0-upfront tech sales academy for diverse talent

#18

Post by milanstranger »

I would love to get my mother signed up for this as she has been wanting to transition into tech sales. What types of roles do you believe a graduate of the program would start out with? ADR/SDR? SMB AE? Other? And what about remote opportunities?

Re: Launch HN: Flockjay (YC W19) – $0-upfront tech sales academy for diverse talent

#19

Post by goatherders »

shath2018 wrote: post #3
fernandorojo wrote: post #2

This reminds me of Lambda School (in a good way). Will 10% of students' first year income be a sufficient cut for you? I assume a salesperson's first-year commissions will be much lower than future years. Also, have you considered doing in-person courses at some point? It's less scalable, of course, but people may be more open to committing a portion of their future salary to a program they engage with in-person. I s…

The goal is to shift costs over time to the employer, while still aligning incentives with students, so they have skin in the game. Companies struggle to predictably hire top sales talent, and our graduates come in with a big leg up - not only learning best practices for SaaS selling from experts, but learning tools like Salesforce and Outreach. We emphasize personal, 1v1 mentorship and coaching, which is our way of…

Not everyone can be a good salesperson. But those that can be good can be trained to be GREAT. Sales isnt the last refuge of people that cant do anything else. It is a profession with actual skills that can be developed through training, process, and experience.

I love the idea of someone saying "oh yeah...sales MATTERS" in a world that screams "tech tech tech tech." If you are a non-technical person wanting to work for an exciting tech company then sales is a great place to gravitate. And if you are a tech company that ignores investing yourself in sales then you are fighting with 9ne hand tied behind your back.

Re: Launch HN: Flockjay (YC W19) – $0-upfront tech sales academy for diverse talent

#20

Post by shath2018 »

milanstranger wrote: post #18

I would love to get my mother signed up for this as she has been wanting to transition into tech sales. What types of roles do you believe a graduate of the program would start out with? ADR/SDR? SMB AE? Other? And what about remote opportunities?

We'd love to help. Ton of ageism in tech, and we're looking to help fix this (we have many students from those backgrounds). We focus on ADR/SDRs now, with the goal being that with our training, they get promoted 6-9mo faster than peers to AEs. We're doing some SMB AE work as well.

Email us at hello@flockjay.com and I'd be happy to personally share more. We're focused on fulltime, on-site positions for now, but over time will do more with remote.

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