If you are trying to raise capital, whether its Friends & Family, Seed, or A round, you already know this is a tough job, fraught with many tough decisions. Who are the best sources for money, how much shopping around is too much, how do I know when the term sheet is right? There are no right or wrong answers to these questions and no shortage of opinions on what you should or shouldn't do. This morning I was reading an article by Fred Wilson where he shares one of his op

Sales Process can take many different forms and will certainly need to be tuned to your company, your product, your business objectives. No matter what, however, it is the mechanics of your Sales System. Sales process can be viewed as the series of actions and events that you and your team follow to close a sale(s) with your customer including the criteria for advancing the customer to the next actions. Depending on your product and your company, your sales process might in

Ever been in a presentation where the presenter clearly said something like, "Starting tomorrow our new product will become available." but when leaving the presentation your normally astute colleague said: "I'm really disappointed that they are discontinuing their old product tomorrow." How is it possible that's what she heard the presenter say? That's not what you heard and clearly not what was said... Most likely she was concerned that the product she was familiar with

Sales IQ is a fundamental measurement of your team's awareness of the company's intent to trade something in exchange for compensation. It is part of your overall strategic alignment within your team. How you measure Sales IQ varies depending on the nature of your Sales System and business plan. It is an important metric representing your current state of being. Good news, there is no right or wrong result. We care specifically about this metric for several reasons. The f

Not only is your Sales System one of the most important systems you will create, it is also one the most challenging. Why is it so challenging? Perhaps it's because sales is often a significantly undervalued part of early planning processes. All too often it's merely an afterthought.You may feel that you don’t need to worry about sales until later because you don’t have a product to sell yet. Maybe one of your founders is an amazing salesperson so you’ve got it covered, or