Cut Through the Noise with a POV - Doug Landis, Growth Partner at Emergence Capital

Summary

In this episode, Doug discusses the exciting developments in AI and how it can be leveraged to improve sales conversations. He emphasizes the importance of building a point of view and hypothesis for each conversation, as well as using AI to gather insights and research about the industry and company. Doug also highlights the need for sellers to get back to the fundamentals of selling and the value of time in sales. Lastly, he provides advice for sellers joining startups, emphasizing the need for grit, transparency, and the ability to wear multiple hats. The conversation covers the challenges and statistics of startup success rates, the difficulties in scaling a company, the importance of the early stage, building a point of view, understanding customers, and the definition of an elite seller.

Takeaways

Leverage AI capabilities to gather insights and research about the industry and company before sales conversations.

Build a point of view and hypothesis for each conversation to demonstrate that you have done your homework and add value to the buyer.

Focus on the fundamentals of selling, including thorough preparation, following a process, and adding value to the buyer from the start.

Understand the strategic initiatives of the company and the persona you are selling to in order to align your point of view and recommendations.

When joining a startup, be prepared for the challenges and uncertainties, and be willing to test, track, and adapt your approach. Only 10% of technology startups that have raised three million or more in capital make it to 30 million in revenue.

Only 1% of technology startups make it to 100 million in revenue or a billion dollar valuation.

Challenges in scaling include market conditions, execution, leadership, bad hiring, and pipeline requirements.

Early stage is where companies face the most challenges but also have the opportunity for growth and learning.

Building a point of view involves challenging the customer and leveraging insights from similar customers.

Understanding customers and their customers' needs is crucial for successful selling.

An elite seller always puts the customer at the forefront of their thinking and focuses on helping them.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Exciting Developments in AI

03:21 The Importance of Building a Point of View and Hypothesis

08:12 Developing a Hypothesis and Point of View for Each Conversation

14:23 Using AI to Drive Hypotheses and Better Conversations

19:18 The Fundamentals of Selling and the Value of Time

25:02 Advice for Sellers Joining Startups

33:38 Startup Success Rates

34:09 Challenges in Scaling

35:08 The Importance of Early Stage

35:59 Building a Point of View

38:39 Understanding Customers

39:15 Definition of an Elite Seller