1.
STARTUP SALES 101
a general framework for
early stage sales
Miles J. Varghese

2.
CREDIBILITY
● From “finance guy”
● To “startup sales guy”
● Proud LiveNinja Alum
● Current: Cetus Labs

3.
“SALES IS
AN
_______art.”X

4.
“SALES IS
A
____________________process.”(That’s tightly tied to Product + Marketing)

5.
YOUR FIRST SALES HIRE:

6.
PRODUCT MARKET FIT
MARC ANDREESSEN
a16z, Netscape
MIKE MAPLES, JR.
Floodgate Capital
ANDY RACHLEFF
Benchmark Cap,
Wealthfront

7.
HOW DO YOU GET TO P.M.F ?
● Prove your product’s Hypothesis
○ Great Idea ≠ Great Product
● Build, Deploy, Sell. (Iterate)

8.
CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT

9.
MUST
READ:

10.
SO WHO DO YOU HIRE?
● 2009 CEB Inc study
● 6,000+ interviews.
● 5 Different Profiles:
○ The Relationship Builder
○ The Challenger
○ The Problem Solver
○ The Lone Wolf
○ The Hard Worker
● Which of these would you hire?

11.
THE CHALLENGER 💪🏾:
53%
of customer loyalty is driven by the
sales experience - not brand, price,
or even the product.

12.
MUST
READ:

13.
SO HOW DO YOU HIRE?
“Employees, managers, and
employees need a new
relationship framework where
they make promises to each other
that they can keep.”
-REID HOFFMAN
LinkedIn

14.
THE HIRING FRAMEWORK
● Lifetime Employment = 💀
● Employment is an Alliance (NOT a “family”)
● Alliance Agreement
○ “Tours of Duty”
● Measure for intellectual curiosity
● Sales role play
○ Ex. live sales cold call

15.
MUST
READ:

16.
MODERN CANDIDATE PROFILE:
“ABL”

17.
“ALWAYS BE
LEARNING”
1. TechCrunch
2. TechMeme
3. ReCode
4. Marketplace Tech
(APM)
5. WSJ Tech News
1. Bowery Capital
2. SaaStr
3. SalesHacker
4. First Round
Capital
5. Founding Sales
1. Lean Startup
2. Predictable
Revenue
3. Hacking Sales
4. Fanatical
Prospecting
1. SalesStack
(Slack)
2. #MiaTech
(Slack)
3. Closing Call
4. Rainmaker
(Conf)

18.
SO HOW DO YOU SELL?
● strategy
● process
● methodology

19.
SALES STRATEGY:
strategy = revenue generation model
= inbound vs. outbound vs. hybrid
inbound = content to capture prospects
= to produce qualified leads (MQLs)
outbound = proactive sales activity
= to produce qualified leads
(SQLs)
hybrid = Account Based Marketing (ABM)

20.
SALES PROCESS

21.
SALES METHODOLOGY:
methodology = the “approach” you use
= challenger selling
= solution selling
= consultative selling
= SPIN selling
= trigger-based selling
= social selling
= agile selling
= ….hit your KPI’s + close.

22.
EXAMPLE:
1. AUTHORITY
2. NEED
3. URGENCY
4. MONEY
1. Money
2. Economic Buyer
3. Decision Process
4. Decision Criteria
5. Identifying Pain
6. Champion
7. Competition

23.
MUST
READ:

24.
SALES STACK:
sales stack = the tools, vendors, and
processes that support sales activities
= at scale
= internal (SLA)
= prospecting
= to CRM
= to signature

25.
EXAMPLE:

26.
CUSTOMER SUCCESS:
● Account Management
● Quota carrying
● “Farming”

27.
Q+A:
thx!