Lecture 19: Sales and Marketing – How to Talk to Investors
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Lecture 19: Sales and Marketing – How to Talk to Investors
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Re: Lecture 19: Sales and Marketing – How to Talk to Investors
#2Anybody have an idea where can you find the YC open source template document Tyler is talking about? Thanks.
Re: Lecture 19: Sales and Marketing – How to Talk to Investors
#3Anybody have an idea where can you find the YC open source template document Tyler is talking about? Thanks.
I haven't watched the lecture but I believe he is referring to YC's SAFE docs - https://www.ycombinator.com/documents/
Re: Lecture 19: Sales and Marketing – How to Talk to Investors
#4Anybody have an idea where can you find the YC open source template document Tyler is talking about? Thanks.
I haven't watched the lecture but I believe he is referring to YC's SAFE docs - https://www.ycombinator.com/documents/
Hi Raja, he was actually talking about the Sales/Closing document/contract that is given to clients, not about financing documents. But thanks for the reply. :)
Do watch the lecture, it's nice and very helpful! :)
Re: Lecture 19: Sales and Marketing – How to Talk to Investors
#5Anybody have an idea where can you find the YC open source template document Tyler is talking about? Thanks.
Hi Michie, Tyler here. Last I heard YC is working on the official docs and hopes to have them up soon.
But... if you need a copy sooner, feel free to send me an email (tyler at clever).
Re: Lecture 19: Sales and Marketing – How to Talk to Investors
#6Anybody have an idea where can you find the YC open source template document Tyler is talking about? Thanks.
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Re: Lecture 19: Sales and Marketing – How to Talk to Investors
#7Question for Tyler (or anyone who signs contracts with their customers):
What's the minimum deal size that you'd want to have a contract with a customer? If you're a $50/month SaaS, it probably doesn't make sense, but I could see the benefits as you approach $50k+ / year deals.
Is the primary benefit to lock in the customer (ie. annual commitment)?
Re: Lecture 19: Sales and Marketing – How to Talk to Investors
#8The first 20 minutes of this, with Tyler, are the best thing I've seen in this lecture series so far. And, in particular, this slide:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/axgpmehewplt7hs/Screenshot%202014-...
... has to be a contender for the most valuable single slide they've shown in the course. It is dense in an almost Tufte-sort of way:
* It exhorts you to diligently follow up with prospects
* It gives you an idea of how much work it takes to convert a prospect
* It gives you permission to follow up when prospects go dead(!)
* It reassures you that this is what actual, real, live prospects really look like
* It tells you what you're in for with real prospects and so shows instead of simply telling why you need to get good at lead qualification.
So great. Could go on and on. There should be, like, an "email (no response)" tattoo we all get. This was outstanding. Thanks for publishing it.
The "talking to investors" stuff is good too. I liked Michael Seibel's One Simple Trick for arranging first meetings with investors to create competition. And Dalton and Qasar's mock investor pitch was funny --- but if they wanted full verisimilitude, they'd have ended the worst conceivable pitch with the investor saying "We're excited! We definitely want to invest!"
Re: Lecture 19: Sales and Marketing – How to Talk to Investors
#9Question for Tyler (or anyone who signs contracts with their customers): What's the minimum deal size that you'd want to have a contract with a customer? If you're a $50/month SaaS, it probably doesn't make sense, but I could see the benefits as you approach $50k+ / year deals. Is the primary benefit to lock in the customer (ie. annual commitment)?
I'd recommend using contracts when you have sales people involved. That typically describes products that cost >=$5k/year (at least for inside sales).
The primary benefits for you are: predictable usage, predictable revenue, and easier commissions. It also turns out that most companies prefer/expect to buy these products this way.
Re: Lecture 19: Sales and Marketing – How to Talk to Investors
#10Question for Tyler (or anyone who signs contracts with their customers): What's the minimum deal size that you'd want to have a contract with a customer? If you're a $50/month SaaS, it probably doesn't make sense, but I could see the benefits as you approach $50k+ / year deals. Is the primary benefit to lock in the customer (ie. annual commitment)?
It is at about $10k ACV for negotiated terms, and driven primarily by cost concerns. Below $10k, the cost of contract negotiation and signing blows out the sales model. Your reps would need to close ~25 deals a month, and that is hard when redlined are flying back and forth.
Contracts of adhesion you'll have from $1.
The primary benefit of negotiable contracts to a SaaS business is unlocking deep pockets which require specific, custom language to buy anything (or anything "expensive.")
Edit: For bonus karma, spot the error I made while posting before first coffee.