SalesFounders - Startup Sales Strategy, Venture Capital, Entrepreneur, and Sales Development

"Our company mission is to help people experience the joy of food" - Scott Porter What comes to mind when you think about customer service? Do you think about United Airlines and the infamous passenger escort? Do you remember that restaurant server who rolled her eyes when you asked for gluten-free? Or do you think about that grocery store clerk who remembered your first name and asked if your child was feeling better? We all know what it feels like to have an incredible customer experience. We evangelize, we promote, and we rave about those companies. The same is true of horrible experiences. Happy customers spend 140% more than unhappy customers yet, too often, founders obsess over profit margins or process flows and then wonder why they are struggling to grow, or much less, survive. My guest this week is Scott Porter, founder of San Diablo Artisan Churro's. Scott has a unique perspective when it comes to customer service. In fact, Scott leveraged customer service to rescue a nursing home from bankruptcy. It might be fair to say that Scott worries more about his customers than his own business. On the other hand, that's probably why his business is booming! ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: DIABLO

Throughout this season of SalesFounders we have covered a number of themes that seem to exemplify winning startups: Leveraging domain expertise, validated learning, mentorship, and strategic sales growth. Josh Ellars, founder of Patri, exemplifies all of them. In fact, his startup story is a case-study in how each of these components blend together to create a powerful growth trajectory. Josh believes that a founder needs critical feedback and an openness to adaptation. On this episode Josh explains how he has leveraged 10 years of public sector sales expertise, 10,000 linkedIn connections, a powerhouse advisory board and a lean methodology to bootstrap a solution that is will forever change the way companies sell to the public sector. ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

Most entrepreneurs acknowledge the importance of customer validation. Few, however, are as curious or relentless in the pursuit of customer feedback as Whitney Casey. Following her Emmy-winning career as a talk show host and NYC anchor, Whitney created Finery.com, a startup in the Fashion/Technology space. Along with her best-friend and co-founder Brooklyn Decker, Whitney has assembled a stellar team of brainiacs, in NYC, who are revolutionizing the way you interact with your wardrobe. Whitney joins us this week to explore the value of customer feedback and the strategy every founder should model before attempting to scale. ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: wardrobe operating system

Justin Edwards is the VP of Sales Practice at Mercato partners. His focus is optimizing and accelerating sales performance within each of their portfolio companies. Leveraging his sales experience in startups and Fortune 100 organizations alike, Justin has demonstrated a unique ability to help founders identify sales inefficiencies and develop highly scalable sales teams and processes. ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: high velocitypeople

Knowing why you win and lose deals might be the most valuable information your company can have. Unfortunately, 60% of sales professionals are wrong about why they win and lose deals. Not surprisingly, founders make critical errors when they use such assessments in strategic decisions. My guest this week is Clozd founder, Spencer Dent. Leveraging his experience at Bain, and Qualtrics, Spencer co-founded Clozd with the mission to help companies uncover the truth about why they win and lose. On this episode, Spencer shares some of the most common pitfalls, and why win-loss analysis should be an integral part of your growth strategy. ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

Michelle Weinstein, also known as The Pitch Queen, has leveraged an exciting sales career, and an entrepreneurial rollercoaster to refine a skill that has become her secret weapon - the Pitch. Michelle has pitched her way into Costco, onto Shark Tank, and into the world of millionaires, athletes and coaches. Michelle joins SalesFounders this week to talk about the art of the Pitch and a few of her strategies to help entrepreneurs build relationships, gain rapport, and generate powerful sales traction. ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

"More than 90% of startups fail, due primarily to self-destruction rather than competition." The Sales Gap is perhaps the most daunting stage of entrepreneurship. Most founders will agree that their primary objective is to leverage product market fit into scalable sales growth as efficiently as possible. However, the majority of startups self-destruct during this transition as a result of premature scaling. In this keynote excerpt from Founders Weekend, Brad Harker explores the concept of "sales validation," and the roadmap he has developed to help organizations preempt the dangers of premature scaling, and generate sustainable sales growth. ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: 4 Prerequisites to sales validationDefining 4 Stages of the Sales Process7 Components of Sales Validation

"Nobody want’s to be sold anymore.” With so many products and solutions competing for our attention, buyers want simple solutions from people they know like and trust. Meet Steve Nudelberg, author, speaker, and “serial salesman” who has built a successful career by being valuable, authentic, and connected. Steve will argue that, for more startups, cold calling is a waste of time, and that entrepreneurs should spend less time hiding behind their brand and more time engaging with their customers. On this episode, we explore the evolving sales landscape, the biggest sales challenges entrepreneurs face and some secrets to help startups connect with their customers and keep their sales pipelines full.

Ace Marks is a brand of handcrafted Italian dress shoes that has leveraged a direct to consumer sales strategy to disrupt one of the most established industries. In the past year alone, Ace Marks have sold in more than 80 countries, and has become the worlds most funded footwear project through Kickstarter. Founders Paul Farago and Julian Gonzalez join SalesFounders to talk about their relentless focus on customer experience, the domain expertise behind this disruptive brand of luxury shoes. On this Episode we Discuss:

Roy Morejon is the President of Enventys Partners, a full-service product launch agency that has created more than 450 brands, 65 companies, and made over $1 billion for entrepreneurs and corporations. Roy's passion is helping entrepreneurs launch great ideas and Eventys Partners has a comprehensive solution that supports entrepreneurs with everything from product design and development, to crowdfunding and marketing. Roy joins us this week to talk about product validation and the system that has helped 21 brands break the million dollar crowdfunding mark. On this Episode we Discuss:

Traffic & Funnels co-founder, Taylor Welch, joins us to talk about the challenges entrepreneurs face when it comes to lead growth and predictable funnel strategies. On this episode, Taylor walks us through the anatomy of traffic & funnel strategy as well as the secret behind their 6 million dollar webinar. We'll talk about why validation is the key to establishing a powerful marketing message and the 4 steps they use to convert your core message into lead faucets of predictable revenue. ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: validationPaid Trafficone thingMoneyTimeFeeder FunnelsfaucetKPI’sLeadsConsumptionApplicationnormalize "You have to know the levers that correlate to income and chose not to do the thousands of things that take away from the activities that matter."

Heather Havenwood is a serial entrepreneur, best-selling author, and authority on the subjects of digital marketing and sales coaching. Heather is helping entrepreneurs "break the rules" and implement proven marketing and sales systems. As an Entrepreneur.com contributor, performance coach, and one of Huffington Posts Top 50 Must Follow Women Entrepreneurs, Heather is a power-house when it comes to entrepreneurship. She joins us this week to talk about her challenging journey in entrepreneurship, sales systems, and why more women need to give themselves "permission" to thrive as entrepreneurs. True freedom is the presence of alignment - Heather Havenwood ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

Alex Hermozi has perfected the sales launch. What started as a passion for weightlifting and fitness, became a $55k investment in his own gym and a steep learning curve to profitability. In time, Alex figured out how to scale his efforts into 6 highly profitable gyms. Realizing the value of the "system" he had developed, Alex sold his gyms and turned his attention to the thousands of struggling gym owners across the country. Today, his "gym launch" system helps gym owners fill their gyms in less than a month and scale towards million dollar businesses. "Launching a gym is like baking a cake" says Alex, and on this weeks episode, he shares a number of his plays that can help any startup identify the ingredients of a powerful sales launch. "The amount of money you make is in direct proportion to the number of offers you make." -Frank Kern ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

Startup Accelerators have become a powerful source of guidance and support for aspiring entrepreneurs all over the world. One of the pioneers of startup acceleration is Robb Kunz, a seasoned entrepreneur and angel investor. Following his seemingly endless struggle to find entrepreneurs with sufficiently validated business models, Robb co-founded Boom Startup, a mentorship-based seed accelerator for entrepreneurs in the disciplines of technology, education, government, and space. 7 years into this rapidly changing industry, Robb joins us on SalesFounders to talk about the future of seed acceleration, and some of the most valuable lessons he has learned from 18 exits and thousands of entrepreneurs. ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: The biggest problems angel investors face in todays startup world 3 ways Boom Startup is changing the nature of seed acceleration The 5 stages of validation within Boom Startup What are the components of a great founding team? Tracking 18 exits, these are the two consistent traits of the highest performing startups How to build a winning sales culture from the start The value of bringing outside sales guidance before making the big sales hires

Following a lucrative exit from the sale of his first company, Shane Cox let it all ride on his second venture that quickly became an unscalable and capital exhaustive business that bled him dry. After liquidated all of his assets, and selling the last of his prized possessions, Shane doubled-down on the one promising component of his solution - the QBall - a microphone imbedded into a dodge-ball. Over the course of the next two years, Shane scraped by, often sleeping in his car to afford any event that would allow him to pitch his product. In time, the product gained traction and on his third attempt, Shane was invited onto the set of Shark Tank. This Sunday, October 1st, Shane's moment in the tank will be featured on the season premier. On this week's episode of SalesFounders, we explore the business Shane has built and his rollercoaster ride of validation and traction that has led him to one of the most coveted entrepreneurial stages.

More than a third of the US workforce is comprised of freelancers. Freelancing has become a trillion dollar industry that can be challenging for founders to navigate. With so many experts to choose from, it can be hard to know what to look for, and how to integrate hired talent into your organization. My guest this week is Connor Gillivan. After selling more than $25 million on Amazon from his dorm room, Connor went on to create FreeeUp.com, a freelancer marketplace that connects businesses with the top 1% of freelancers in eCommerce, digital marketing, virtual assistance, and web development. Not only has Connor leveraged freelancers to build his Amazon business, but he has also built FreeeUp into a multi-million dollar business using...well...freelancers. Connor joins us this week to talk about this booming industry, the challenges he has faced in his journey, and why freelancers might be the perfect solution for your startup.

Every entrepreneur needs an occasional moment of honest, personal reflection. How are things really going, and to what extent you are aligning with the needs of your business? The tendency for most founders is to add more process and clutter when they should be finding ways to simplify. Meet Steve Krebs; the accountability coach. His mission is to rescue entrepreneurs from the process holes and bottlenecks, cut through the BS, and establish some accountability to systems that generate growth. This is an episode unlike any we've done. Join us for a blunt, no holds barred assault on mediocrity, fear, and the limiting beliefs that are robbing your business. ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

Burnout can be a major problem for entrepreneurs . In spite of a seemingly limitless supply of automation tools, entrepreneurs still over-extend themselves to the point of exhaustion. Every entrepreneur needs help, and specifically, the right help. Meet Nicole Wipp - entrepreneur and small business consultant whose speciality is helping entrepreneurs create powerful teams. Leadership requires a very different mindset than entrepreneurship and on this episode, Nicole shares 5 strategies that will help you develop and lead a world-class organization. There's a good chance your next hire is the not the right hire. ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

On the heels of a failed startup in 2002, Aaron Ross stumbled into a call-center position at Salesforce.com. Looking for sales perspective, Aaron discovered something much bigger. The discovery, covered in his best-selling book Predictable Revenue, was a revolutionary approach to outbound selling that led SalesForce from $5M to $100M in sales. Since then, Aaron has helped companies like Uber, SAP, and Oracle figure out how to build scalable, predictable revenue. These strategies, as well as the concepts of "hypergrowth" covered in his recent book with co-author Jason Lemkin, are a just few of the topics we cover as we explore the secrets of predictable sales growth. “The things that will change your growth rate are often the things you don’t feel comfortable doing.” On this episode, you'll learn: SalesForce.comemail template fixationtrust gapupmarket

Surviving the early stages of a startup to reach growth is a significant milestone for any founder. It is also the beginning of new chapter of challenges and opportunities. There is a science to accelerating growth, and few who know it better than Greg Warnock, managing director and co-founder of Mercato Partners. Greg is a technologist, innovator, and PhD-equipped entrepreneur who is well versed in every stage of entrepreneurship. On this episode, Greg walks us through his formula for success, the benchmarks he uses to qualify opportunities, the 3 pillars of growth that define the Mercato performance team, and some of the most common pitfalls that challenge and stifle growth. Drawing on a portfolio that includes companies like SkullCandy, Domo, Stance, and Observepoint, this episode is guaranteed to change the way you look at growth. ON THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN: