Selling B2B has an entrenched playbook, and some might say it’s so ingrained that it needs to be disrupted. Our guest today is Ross Rich, Co-Founder and CEO of Accord. Accord is a platform that leverages collaboration and community to make the B2B sales and onboarding process smoother. Ross shares how he got accepted into YC based on a hand-drawn piece of paper presentation and no working prototype and how Accord has been able to land high-profile customers like Figma and Stripe in their first year of operation.

About Ross Rich:Ross Rich has an entrepreneurial mindset, starting an events company in school with his brother, transitioning to managing music acts then working at Columbia Records, before landing at Stripe. In 2019 he co-founded Accord, a Customer Collaboration Platform for high-growth startups who need to build a repeatable sales & onboarding process to hit ambitious revenue goals.

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In this episode we discuss:

02:43 How Ross landed on the path to founding Accord03:25 Lessons from the Music Industry that he still uses today06:09 The open culture at Stripe07:26 What Ross took from his time at Stripe11:55 Early misperceptions about partnerships Ross had15:52 How Accord got accepted into YC with no working prototype22:05 The problem Accord solves24:20 Advice to sales teams working to create relationships with potential clients26:30 How to setup a more modern B2B customer pipeline29:02 Why collaboration is at the core of what Accord does31:44 How Accord helps manage communication and collaboration35:54 Advice to early startups to build their customer journey38:06 Things startups should avoid in B2B sales40:07 Use cases from Accord successes like Stripe43:53 How Accord leverages social media in its own marketing45:58 Plans for the next 12 months

Fast Favorites:

* 🎙- Favorite Podcast: 

* All In Podcast w/ Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

* 📰- Favorite Newsletter /Blog: 

* SaaStr or First Round blogs on early startup advice

* 📲- Favorite Tech Gadget: 

* Airpods, noise canceling (especially on flights)

* 📈-  Favorite New Trend: 

* WFH

* 📚- Favorite Book: 

* The Alchemist 

* 🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson: 

* Your greatest strength is your greatest weakness

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