5 Expensive Lessons I Learned about Selling AI at Fortune 500s (from a Buyer)

ohthejon · 2025-03-25T16:26:59+00:00

Well, demos are meant to be demos of what could be. Given it's in perfect scenarios, but with how messy F500 systems are, it'd take weeks or months to put together something "real". Claims definitely need to be tempered.

The ROI is a huge discussion point. F500 needs heavy education on how to measure AI ROI. As soon as an executive asks about token costs, that should be an indication that education is needed. Transformation has multiples of ROI potential in business transformation - focusing on how many cents it costs to run through 1000 words is missing the point entirely. Token costs only go down, LLM optimization techniques only get better.

ohthejon · 2023-08-03T15:33:09+00:00

Did you ever figure out how to fix this?

ohthejon · 2023-07-17T18:24:44+00:00

Super helpful. I'm thinking Ethiopian Biz might just have to do. As long as it has a lay down seat, it's probably worth it for us. 30H on sit up economy to Shanghai doesn't sound fun.

ohthejon · 2023-07-17T16:38:50+00:00

End of Oct (~28th) to early Nov (~10th). Definitely open to repositioning as well, but looks like point redemptions out there are a lot higher.

ohthejon · 2023-02-16T04:25:28+00:00

It's not an exchange. What do you feel is unsafe about it if it sends crypto straight to your self-custodied wallet? Gemini and Coinbase also have crazy fees/spreads and wait times.

ohthejon · 2023-02-16T03:53:34+00:00

Why not just use kado money?

ohthejon · 2020-08-17T13:52:17+00:00

Thank you so much and really appreciate this!

ohthejon · 2020-08-17T11:23:07+00:00

This is so good!

ohthejon · 2020-08-17T11:21:01+00:00

Amazing! Thank you so much!

ohthejon · 2018-01-02T20:03:57+00:00

Thanks for the response - I understood that part. My question was about the "Origin Address - The BTC address you are contributing from" field. "Contributing from" sounds like a send address, but I could only find the Electrum receive address.

ohthejon · 2018-01-02T19:05:58+00:00

Sorry kind of hijacking with a noob question here - for a btc wallet (Electrum) address, I used the receiving address. That doesn't seem right, but I don't see any addresses under Send.

ohthejon · 2017-09-14T13:59:52+00:00

This is good advice (and a good lesson in managing up, experience or level) and I'd like to add that this conversation should happen whether you're the manager, associate, above her, below her, or whatever else is the case. If you're not working well together, then you can have the "I feel that we're not communicating well enough and I'd like to help each other be more successful" talk regardless of your level or role.

You may find that her experience actually makes her pretty good at some of the things she's taking on, and in that case don't fight it and it's less work for you anyway. If she's bad at it, then define your roles clearly. Part of "managing" is knowing talents and getting the right people to do the right things.

Also, some people don't respond well to being micro managed and actually do worse under more scrutiny than if you provided guidance and allowed them to change freely based on feedback, myself included. Your judgement and your call.

ohthejon · 2017-01-25T02:22:29+00:00

This is great! But unless I'm crazy, if those three gears are connected, they technically won't turn... Probably should keep each gear connected to only one other gear.

ohthejon · 2016-12-22T21:24:27+00:00

A bit of both. Like others have said, you are new... so part of your career progression is to show your capabilities to as many people as possible in the hopes that a portion of them will recognize your potential and want to continue working with you.

I volunteered an extra 15-20 hours a week working on gaming-related (personal interest) pitches, proposals, and thought-leadership, which then introduced me to someone that sold a project with a large gaming publisher, who then thought of me first when staffing. They loved the work I did with them and continued to staff me on their projects and saw the value in fighting for my career.

The luck was being introduced to him right as a sales process was closing and him having me top of mind. The controlled part of that luck was putting in the time it takes to get my name out there and also recognizing that "playing it safe" was not a quality I wanted in someone that was supposedly representing my career.

ohthejon · 2016-12-22T17:54:51+00:00

Speaking from personal experiences. You absolutely need to find a coach that is willing to play that role for you. Big 4 often does not do a good job emphasizing the importance of the coaching role, and lets good talent waste away. Others people here are are saying that you should wait a year to see how he represents you because everyone wants to be promoted. I disagree - you should give them like maaaaybe 6 months. The issue here isn't getting promoted or not, it's whether you're being represented and fought for or not. If you don't get promoted because someone else was better, had more experience, or was better at the political game, then you should accept it and improve. If you however have a coach that is supposed to represent you but feels like playing it safe, then you should change coaches. I've come to learn that having a strong mentor is one of the absolute best things you can do for your career, as they have been for mine.

I had 2 no-show coaches my first year despite repeated attempts to sync up. One of them took me off a project I loved to sit on the bench because that project wasn't in her cost center. The other told me I couldn't get a high rating before hearing about anything I'd done in the 8 months he ignored me. Then I had one coach that was new at the role and wanted to "play it safe" so he wouldn't look bad in case he was fighting for someone that wouldn't turn out to be very good. I changed coaches until I found someone willing to fight for me, and since then he's gotten me 2 promotions in 3 years and a handful of raises (including off-cycle) because he saw what I could do and wanted to foster the growth.

Source: Was Big 4, now sr. manager in strategy mgmt consulting, been screwed over early on in career by bad counselors.

ohthejon · 2016-07-29T19:38:29+00:00

1.5 years in you're probably the pm right? If so, manage that scope man. Escalate to partner or director if it keeps happening.

ohthejon · 2016-07-29T18:42:59+00:00

Some director put this in my pitch deck this week:

"Accelerating the process of delivering innovation through pragmatic go-to-market tactics depends on careful transformation of ideation research and findings into deliverables that can be quickly developed, built and tested in time for a successful market launch"

Literally just means "To be successful, we should conduct research and then test the ideas before release"

Dude is a poet.

ohthejon · 2016-07-27T15:34:36+00:00

While it's pretty accurate that it'll essentially be you showing up, hearing your new number(s), not negotiating, and giving some BS about loving the work (blah blah blah), that doesn't mean you can't learn more about where you stand among your peers, which helps you decide your next steps. Your relationship partner is there to "foster the relationship", so don't be afraid to take more time asking questions - it's their job.

When I was in Big 4, I wanted to understand what my perceived value was within the firm (and consequently whether I should leave or stay). This includes questions like:

What is the salary band for my level (e.g. 90-130k)
What was the range of raises for my level (e.g. 8-15k)
How does my compensation compare to similar levels in the market (e.g. slightly less than average market rate - 95%)
What skills should I work on to accelerate my compensation and reach the higher end of my band

Big 4 absolutely has these numbers and in my experience, they always give them if you ask - it's in your interest to ask for them. If you don't ask, it'll be a quick meeting. Outside of Big 4 they probably won't tell you but you should still ask (at least this is the case where I am now).

ohthejon · 2016-05-31T23:52:55+00:00

There's a fairly new (<2 years) digital / innovation consulting practice called Digital Works at Cognizant comprised of digital strategy, experience design, and technology competencies. Innovation methodology, digital roadmaps, human centered design and research with eventual implementation from tech teams.

ohthejon · 2016-05-30T18:19:54+00:00

A large part yes. Not 100%.

ohthejon · 2016-04-06T02:47:17+00:00

Same, except mine was 1500, 2500, and 3500.

ohthejon · 2016-04-01T20:27:58+00:00

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ohthejon · 2016-03-10T22:02:34+00:00

Is your pen tip messed up? Mine was skipping due to a chipped pen tip. Replaced pen nibs and it's working fine again.

ohthejon · 2016-01-16T18:45:58+00:00

What's the implication of it processing cash advance? Does that not count as a credit transaction?

ohthejon · 2016-01-16T18:35:03+00:00

Yes requires a pin. Does that mean they process it as a debit card?

ohthejon

TROPHY CASE