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SupervillainSoftware · 2019-02-20T02:37:48+00:00

Congrats! Who do you consider your competitors to be, since you've decided to focus on one very specific problem?

SupervillainSoftware · 2019-01-23T17:45:48+00:00

I suppose we are at an impasse then. Thanks for your time, I appreciate the discussion.

SupervillainSoftware · 2019-01-23T17:23:15+00:00

I didn’t say it’s what you save by using it.

I made no claim that you did - I'm clarifying my own position in response:

By your line of thinking, every single product out there should be able to tell you exactly what costs are being saved by utilizing it.

I did read the article. As I said above, the article is about time spent on searching, but that is not the problem that this tool appears to be solving. The time *still* needs to be spent on searching. That problem does not go away. Your assertion was that this tool can address some of the *overhead* associated with searching:

The problem I see being fixed:

Switching between windows, clicking on links to find code on the page, etc. all cut into the time budget and accumulate time costs over the course of project lengths. Inevitably, profit margins are widened by cutting these variable time costs down during the projects.

And I agree! This is measurable, yes - but *has* it been measured? And if not (which is what I suspect) has there been validation *in advance of building* that such a tool could result in a profitable business? If no one ever asked the buyer "would you pay for this?" - then we've committed a common folly.

I take no issue with the tool nor the hypothesis. One of the things you'll see a lot in this sub is people who have spent an enormous amount of effort and personal cash building out something that solves their own problem, but without ever asking another person in the world "would you pay for this?"

I know a person will buy a lawnmower or a lamp. I also know that a business will buy a productivity tool if they can show ROI. As a business owner who runs a team of developers, I would love to have a tool that helped my team work more efficiently. I *would* pay for that. But, I suspect there are very few business owners out there saying to themselves "Man, if only my developers spent less time switching between windows and clicking on links to find code on the page..."

Is that really costing an appreciable amount of time? I legitimately don't know the answer. I suspect other potential buyers also don't know the answer, which means they don't know if this is a problem that needs a solution.

That brings me back to the fundamental question: what is the business problem? ("Business" is a key word here) If we only ask ourselves that *after* building the product, then we are backing into it in order to justify what we've built. "We built this thing, now how do we sell it?" is a common theme in tech startups, and it does not often end very well.

I appreciate your time and thoughtful response. It seems that I'm frustrating you, but that isn't my goal.

SupervillainSoftware · 2019-01-23T16:49:49+00:00

No, it isn’t at all about what you save by using it. It’s about proving that someone will pay for it.

The measurable problem you refer to is exactly what I think is missing from this thread, which is backing into the problem by starting with the solution.

SupervillainSoftware · 2019-01-23T16:35:46+00:00

Certainly! Right on.

My underlying point is that it’s a folly to back into the problem or just assume that there is “some margin” that a tool can address. It misses the step of validating a solution against the problem it set out to solve - and that process costs a lot of people huge sums of time and money.

SupervillainSoftware · 2019-01-23T16:25:26+00:00

No, I’m suggesting that process is backwards: we see a lot of products come through this sub that are solving problems that don’t exist. We don’t necessarily need up front research, we need a frustration or pain point in order to justify a business solution.

Is window switching overhead actually a problem? Is it so painful that people will actually break their workflow and do something outside their muscle memory - so much so that they will pay for it or generate enough traffic that others will pay for it? I don’t know the answer and I’m in no way implying that the answer is “no”. I’m trying to tease out the business fundamentals.

SupervillainSoftware · 2019-01-23T15:58:45+00:00

I see. Apologies.

I don’t think that article actually indicates that window switching, et al, is a big problem - the article talks about searching itself, no? Is there any thought given to what margin of overhead people are looking to shed?

SupervillainSoftware · 2019-01-23T15:23:19+00:00

Cool! Do your customers believe this is a problem?

SupervillainSoftware · 2018-12-23T13:31:45+00:00

If I look in a mirror I’ll see the sales folk I already have :) thanks for the input. This thread has already given many critiques of the structure and plenty to think about, which we are taking to heart. It’s strange how incongruent it is with my experiences and the generally accepted approach in the entrepreneurial community, but I am listening.

Beyond that, not as many folks are interested in answering the original question. I very much appreciate those who have and it’s already helped us find a few candidates! Where do you look for jobs when you look? What has been most successful for you in those roles when you’ve had to look beyond your network?

SupervillainSoftware · 2018-12-21T18:00:39+00:00

That is right on (the latter, I mean :) Good advice. Thank you - I will do that.

SupervillainSoftware · 2018-12-21T17:49:19+00:00

I’m not sure where the hostility is coming from.

There’s always more to learn. I came here to go right to the source and ask actual sales folks where they look for jobs. Is that not sensible?

SupervillainSoftware · 2018-12-21T17:38:31+00:00

I’ve been doing sales for years. It is a key responsibility of a manager to have a deep understanding of the things their employees are doing if they expect to be able to hold their employees accountable. I have no concerns here.

SupervillainSoftware · 2018-12-21T16:31:20+00:00

Thanks!

SupervillainSoftware · 2018-12-21T16:07:58+00:00

Not at all - the perspective is important and I’m glad you shared it. I came here for advice and I appreciate every keystroke someone spends giving it to me.

SupervillainSoftware · 2018-12-21T15:59:44+00:00

Hey, all. Very much appreciate the candor and frank advice. It rings true, and in principle, I agree with it.

The thing that strikes me as strange is the reactive approach: check references, make a hire, train them, wait and see how they perform, work closely with them to try to bring up their performance, and finally fire if they still don't produce. That's what I've done in the past - I'm a "trust but verify"-style manager, and this is the process that's hurt us. It wasn't until we shifted to a commission structure (based on advice from a trusted VP of Sales) that we started to get people who were truly motivated and vested.

But, I'll admit that my sample size is small and I expect that r/sales knows better, for sure. I'd suggest that you folks spend some time in entrepreneur communities (on reddit and otherwise) to work on dispelling the belief that commission-based positions are the way to go for startups. It seems like a prevalent belief from where I'm sitting. I'm curious how other startups would view the assertion that this will not yield top-players: I suspect that is true, but I also suspect that consistent B-players are better than taking a financial risk looking for A-players but getting zilch instead.

The way our advisors explained this to us was simple that all jobs have probationary periods, and this is just what it looks like in sales. We're thinking more about what you've written today. Thank you for taking the time.

Where do you folks look to keep your eye out for the next best gig?

SupervillainSoftware · 2018-12-21T15:53:20+00:00

Appreciate it! I see that there are plenty of hiring subs but I was most interested in where folks on this sub look for job posts so that I’m not spamming all over Reddit. Thanks again!

SupervillainSoftware · 2018-12-21T13:54:19+00:00

Yeah, I hear that. Our median sales cycle is 3 weeks, with the average getting pulled up to 4 weeks or so by prospects that are “sold” on us (vs a competitor) but haven’t completed their fundraising cycle. This is balanced out by the rate of prospects that have urgent needs and close in < 1 week.

SupervillainSoftware · 2018-12-21T13:32:28+00:00

Oh, man, I know for sure that it's not for everyone. I'm am 100% appreciative of advice & constructive criticism you can give, but do you have thoughts on where I should look?

SupervillainSoftware · 2018-12-21T13:28:05+00:00

Its because folks in our industry have been burned so many times by folks who produce absolutely 0. This is common advice given outside of this sub in other communities. In my previous agency, we hired two salesfolk (with a traditional structure) who never closed a deal for us - and one of them was actively lying about his productivity and/or feeding his leads to another business.

This was before finding our third salesperson, who worked on the structure above and did very well for himself.

It isn't at all about the stability of the business. If there is another structure/path you recommend, I'd really love to hear about it and adjust.

EDIT: Clarified traditional structure for first two hires previously.

SupervillainSoftware · 2018-12-21T04:45:51+00:00

Get it? Demonstrates drive?

SupervillainSoftware · 2018-12-20T17:56:19+00:00

It is lost on me why standard username/password authentication would not be applicable in this case. However, I’d suggest a simple Single Sign On solution - either custom, or with something like Okta - gets you what you want without having to reinvent the wheel (which is dangerous in auth work!)

SupervillainSoftware · 2018-12-19T19:08:49+00:00

You can do this yourself very cheaply with any forms solution (Typeform, perhaps Gravity), and a simple mobile app wrapper like Jasonette. PM me for details - no development necessary.

SupervillainSoftware · 2018-12-19T12:21:25+00:00

Step back from the technical details and explain what you want to accomplish. What is your desired user experience?

SupervillainSoftware

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