Date post: | 21-Oct-2014 |
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Business |
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Go-To-Market for GeeksHow to fake it ‘til you make it
October 16, 2009
What is Go-To-Market?
• The B-School Answer:
The Problem for Startups
• You may not have the right Product
• You have no idea how to Price it
• You don’t know where to Place it
• You have no money to Promote it
Fight One Battle At A Time
Product: Ship Early, Ship Often
• Get your product in front of people as quickly and as often as possible– Friends & Family– Early adopters
• If you’re charging money, start right away– eBay– Craigslist
For More Detail: Eric Ries
• “The minimum viable product is that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.”– http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/
Price: Necessary, Not Sufficient
• Pricing can hurt the business, but rarely helps (at least for startups)– Price based on value, not cost– Price based on how the market likes to buy
• Purchase vs. License vs. Subscription• Unit pricing vs. Flat rate
– It’s always easier to reduce prices– For self-service products, always test
• eBay, Craigslist, AdWords
Place: Don’t Be Afraid To Sell
You Can’t Avoid Sales
• Distribution Catch-22– The channel only sells what’s already selling
• The Underpants Gnomes Principle– Salesmen can’t tell you what to sell
• (and they can’t sell what they can’t understand)
• Talking To Customers Is A Good Thing– Sale/No Sale doesn’t provide enough info– Customer contact is too valuable to abdicate
Founders Must Learn To Sell
• Talk to real potential customers
• Understand their need *before* you try to solve it– “What problem are you trying to solve?”– “What are you doing about it right now?”– “What would you like to happen?”
• Demonstrate the product and listen to their feedback (instead of arguing)
• Ask for the order!
The Three Types of Sales
• Field Sales (“The Bag Man”)– 6-figure deals, 6-month sales cycles– In-person wining & dining– On-site pilots & sales engineers
• Telesales (“The Boiler Room”)– 4- or 5-figure deals, 0-3 month sales cycles– WebEx demos & time-based trials
• Direct Marketing
Promotion:TechCrunch is Not a Strategy
Money Is Not The Answer
• If you tell a VC, “We need the money for marketing,” you won’t get the money.– Exception: 1999
• You have to prove the model before you ask for money– Exception: Mark Andreesen
Promotion On A Budget
• The old way:– $15K/month for a PR firm– Brief analysts, brief press, wire release– It’s all about relationships & unwritten rules
• The new way:– Do your own PR– Friend/Retweet prominent bloggers, speak at
conferences– It’s all about relationships & unwritten rules
Turn Weakness Into Strength
• You’re unknown– Give folks the chance to “discover” you and
take credit
• You’re playing David & Goliath– Use “retail politics” to reinforce the friendly,
accessible nature of your company• Blogs, Twitter, Facebook are your friends
• You don’t know what you’re doing– Ask for advice and get people to buy in
Last Thoughts
• Don’t strategize, iterate!
• There is no magic formula and every business is different.
• Product alone isn’t enough
• You can more of this than you think…
• …But don’t get too cocky—the market is smarter than all of us.
How To Reach Chris
• Chris Yeh– [email protected]– http://chrisyeh.blogspot.com– http://www.asktheharvardmba.com– http://twitter.com/chrisyeh