WHY SALESPEOPLE DON'T START STARTUPS

I came across an article by the entrepreneur turned VC, Mark Suster, which intrigued me. He highlighted how salespeople rarely take the risk of founding companies.
‘Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. Specifically what is often not in the DNA of founders are sales skills. The result is a lack of knowledge of the process, and of salespeople themselves.’
I found this intriguing because I’m a sales guy born and raised, but I’m also a founder. Why are other salespeople reluctant to take the big step? Are they missing out? Here are what I believe the reasons are.
Why take the risk?
Leaving your sales role to start something new is a massive risk. A good salesperson will already be doing pretty well, so they’ll be reluctant to roll the dice.
Sales leaders are generally the highest earners in a company. They’re busy all the time, and are likely to be motivated by mortgage payments and childcare bills, not disrupting industries and changing the world. It’s a big sacrifice to make.
Additionally, sales leaders have a lot of power and kudos at a company. They know they’re the drivers for growth, and without them, there isn’t really a business. They perpetuate their legend by maintaining that sales is an art rather than a science, and only they have the necessary tools for the job. Everyone else the company needs to support them. When you’re in the position, why would you want to start again at the bottom?
Salespeople are smart. They appreciate that starting a successful company will lead to big rewards in the future. However, they’re not smart enough to go and do it themselves. They want money to spend today, not in a few years’ time.
It’s too hard?
Founding a company is no easy task. If it was everyone would do it. If you’re a salesperson, who has found they’re good at something that pays well, it may be better to quit while you’re ahead.
When you're a sales leader at a successful company, you have the benefit of being able to sell an effective product. It’s likely to be a product that has sold in its millions before, that customers love and are happy to advocate, a product that works.
At a startup, you don’t have that luxury You have to cobble together a minimum viable product (MVP), then go to the market and sell it. Certain features won’t work well, if at all. It’s a tough sell.
All this is before you have to consider the other things founders have to do. Raising money, running teams of developers, building teams, dealing with technical problems. It sounds like hard work, you could be forgiven for wondering if you’re up to the job.
No one asked?
The reasons I’ve mentioned before put a bit of blame on salespeople themselves for not embracing startup life. However, I now want to turn it on its head.
I think there’s a natural distrust between technical people and salespeople, and when the technical people have an idea and want to start a startup, they don’t approach a salesperson to become a co-founder.
The old stereotype of slick sales jerks, economic with the truth, still exists. Why would a technical founder want to work with one of them at such an early, critical stage in their startup’s life?
Of course, the salespeople I know are thoughtful, analytical people who aim to solve their customers’ problems rather than line their wallets, but some stereotypes are difficult to overcome.
Maybe technical people need to open their eyes too.
Are we missing a trick?
That’s why I believe salespeople are founding startups right now. I want to pose one more question though. Are we missing out on great opportunities through our reluctance to play in this space? I believe so.
From the startup’s point of view, it’s obviously better to have someone who knows how to sell on board from the beginning. VCs love to see it too.
Sure, from a short-term salesperson’s point of view, it may not be a risk worth taking, but from a human viewpoint, it definitely is. Starting a company is hard work, but massively rewarding. Plus, it gets better the more your company grows. It’s great to take on a challenge. It’s great to expand your horizons. Who wants to do the same thing until you retire anyway?
If you ever get the opportunity to join a startup as a co-founder, please, for me, don’t just write it off because it’s comfortable at the top.
Over to you now, why do you think salespeople don’t start startups? Leave us a comment down below.

WRITING WEBSITE CONTENT: KILLER TITLES THAT INCREASE TRAFFIC

Writing killer titles for your web content pushes your site up the search rankings and increases web traffic. Effective online titles must help the search engines to understand your content and be interesting enough to attract readers.

In the old days of print all a newspaper headline needed to do was to make people curious enough to pick up the newspaper. Journalists used puns and irony to attract attention to their articles. This curiosity technique doesn’t work on-line as most people are searching for specific information. They don’t respond to surreal or unclear headlines that don’t offer to solve their immediate concerns. A newspaper headline only had to compete against a few others on the news-stand. On-line articles have millions of competitors.

Web titles need to speak directly to as many viewers as possible with dynamic adjectives and believable promises. Titles also need to let the search engines know exactly what the accompanying web content is about. Killer titles increase your web traffic by both engaging the reader and informing the search engines.

Headings

The heading of this article is an example of a killer on-line title. The first part speaks directly to the search engines and tells them that the text is about writing web content. The second half uses a dynamic adjective to grab attention and then promises to solve a common problem. Who doesn’t want to increase the amount of traffic to their website?

When you start writing killer titles for web content always use a colon to divide the title into two parts. The first part is descriptive and designed to tell the search engines what the content is about. The second half engages the reader and offers to solve their problem.

Keywords

Include the most important keyword in the first half of your killer title. If your content is about pet hairy caterpillars then make sure that the search engines know it. Put the keyword phrase “pet hairy caterpillars” in the title before the colon. Use the second half of the title to make the reader want to know more about pet hairy caterpillars. Keep your killer title below ten words as some search engines stop reading longer headings. This split-title technique helps you to focus on the dual nature of the killer on-line title. First, please the search engine and then draw in the reader. After a while the need for the colon disappears as your title-writing ability grows. This article could just as easily be titled “writing killer titles that increase traffic to your website” or “increase traffic to your website by writing killer titles.”

Titles

Killer on-line titles increase traffic to your website in two ways. More people will read your content, bookmark your website and recommend it on social networks. The search engines will reward your keyword-rich, relevant titles by pushing your website up the search rankings. The higher you appear in the rankings the more traffic you get.

Write killer on-line titles and your traffic will increase as your website or blog rises up the search rankings. The more people that see your title the more readers you will get. Follow up on the promises in your killer titles and they will return to your website over and over again.

GROUND RULES FOR MANAGERS

Some managers are perceived as micro managers while others are so far removed from the day to day they just administrate. So what’s right? I don’t think the answer comes down to style, but to situation.
How do you know when it is time to dive in versus when it is time to delegate? Below I have spelled out five rules for managers in any industry that will make work better in the Age of Entrepreneurship.

Rule #1: It Is All About Talent

Implement policies and practices that attract the best talent in the marketplace.  Many practices that traditional companies have employed, such as a tops down culture and awards based on years of service no longer appeal to today’s top talent.  Honestly assess where you rank in your industry as a talent magnet for the best of the best.  There are many reasons why you might not be top for appealing to talent (company strategy and market position, compensation philosophy, etc). You should know where you are and design a strategy to get to where you aspire to be.  Even in a company with challenges, the best talent often migrates to working for the best leaders.  Look at what these people are doing to attract and retain them.

Rule #2: Be The Employer Of Choice Every Day

Your best people are the ones who provide a disproportionate share of value to your company—and are also the ones most likely to be sought after by competitors.  What are you doing to be the best place for that top talent?  Top talent wants to keep learning and being challenged, so you must do everything to help these people remain engaged, help them achieve their career goals and become the CEO of their own destinies.

Rule #3: It’s About Inspiration and Motivation

Motivating individuals and teams to do their best is essential in today’s world.  Get teams to continually reach new heights and raise their own expectations of what is possible. When properly encouraged, we find there is more in all of us to give.

Rule #4: Demand a Meritocracy

If it’s all about talent, then you need to assemble the best team.   If someone is dragging the team down and not doing their jobs, work with them (quickly) to get it fixed, and if not, address the performance issue fast, and make a change, but do so humanely.  It is unfathomable that some of our worst performers get the best severance packages in order to avoid lawsuits, yet when the best talent leaves management gets upset at losing a key resource and is bitter about it.  We need to continually work to get our teams to perform better both individually and collectively.

Rule #5: Provide Mentoring and Coaching For Employees

Understand your employees’ goals and work to help them achieve them.  Provide career development and mentoring outside of the performance review process.  Consider allowing the employee to get confidential external mentoring.

TARGET THE FUTURE OF YOUR BUSINESS

The question of "What business am I in?" is not as simple as it seems.

To identify your career or business goals, you must first learn to define your business in terms of what you do for your customer or for your company.

Expand the definition of your business so that it is as broad as possible. Never stop with the first answer. Take the first answer to this question and find new applications, new markets, and new definitions for it.

Let me give you an example...

Railroads

At the beginning of the last century, the railroads that defined themselves strictly as railroads—providers of rail transport—failed to see that new technologies and methods of transport, such as trucks and airplanes, were a potential threat to their business. If they had defined themselves instead as movers of goods and people—providers of transportation—their response to the changes in technology might have been different.

When you define your business, think in terms of how your products or services affect the lives and work of other people and organizations. Consider both existing customers and those customers that you would like to acquire.

Target the Future

The next question to ask is, "What business will I be in if things continue the way they are today?" Think about your career or business two years from now, then in five years. If you do not change the way you define your work or your business, what kind of work will you be doing?

Is it a sound and viable strategy to continue in your current way of working or doing business, or should you be looking at changing in some way? Start by imagining what business you could be in.

Where would a dramatic change in knowledge or skills, products or services, or industries and markets lead you? To express it another way, if you were willing to take stock of the environment for your career or business and commit to taking action, what business could you be in, if you really wanted to be?

Analyze your Market

Take the analysis a step further and think about what business you should be in. To do this, take a careful and comprehensive self-inventory. Examine your skills, your abilities, your ambitions, your energies, and especially your heart’s desires. Then analyze the market in which your career or business will be operating. Is there a fit?

If not, either evaluate the changes you would personally need to make to create the career or business that would flourish in that market, or select a more appropriate market.

These questions are among the most important of your life: What changes will you have to make to become the kind of person who can live the life and do the work you would really like to be doing in the future?

Action Exercise

What business are you in? What business could you be in? What business should you be in?

What actions are you going to take immediately?

7 SMART WAYS TO STOP SMALL MISUNDERSTANDINGS FROM ESCALATING

Hey, it happens to the best of us. Humans are complicated creatures, and we get our wires crossed all the time. Usually, it is a completely innocent mistake on both parts. Little assumptions we make when we are rushing about lead to gaps in communication, which lead to misunderstandings.
Sometimes these are silly things we can laugh off, and sometimes they get a little out of control and cause us a problem with friends, family, or most worryingly, our colleagues or our boss. Here are seven smart ways to nip small misunderstandings in the bud.

1. Do not rely on text or email

This is a very modern communication pitfall, and we all get caught out here. How many times have you received a written communication that you took the wrong way, only to later be corrected when you had a proper conversation about it Meaning gets lost in text. Just pick up the phone and ask a question. Or even better, wait until you can speak to the person face to face.

2. Do not let your emotions take over

Nothing escalates a small break in communication like an emotional over-reaction. If you feel you are being insulted, played, or dismissed in some way, just think before you react. Take a breath, and then double-check the facts. Not everything in life is quite how it seems at first. You may have missed something.
If you happen to already be stressed, anxious, or in a bad mood before the misunderstanding, be aware that your state will have made things seem several times worse that they were. Of course, we can’t switch our emotions off. But being aware of them makes a huge difference.

3. Make sure they have heard your point of view

Conversely, the other person will not automatically see where you are coming from. Once you have heard them out, you can offer them your point of view. Be sure to do this as calmly as possible.

4. Ask more questions

The next step is to ask more questions. And do so openly, not angrily. Give the other person ample opportunity to explain. Trust that people are generally good and give them a chance. If it turns out they were being rude, you can always open that can of whoop-ass later. These things do not expire that quickly.
But joking aside, give them a chance first. When we approach life from the perspective that most people mean well, life is a lot less stressful. This isn’t about being naive, just being ready to see the best in people.

5. Ask for their point of view

Everyone’s situation is unique to them, and often we do not consider that when misunderstandings arise. Be curious and open. Ask them where they are coming from. Most people just want to be heard and will appreciate you asking.

6. Pause

If in doubt, take a break. It only takes a split-second to perceive a situation the wrong way. Your brain then triggers a series of chemical events that result in anger, anxiety, and stress. So pause. Before you let your mind pull you down the rabbit hole of despair, tell yourself to mentally take a step back and consider all the angles.

7. Keep things simple

Too many cooks spoil the broth. If the boss tells the assistant to tell your line manager something to pass onto you… are you getting the original version? The chances are you are getting a “Chinese whispers” version, distorted and lost in translation.
If in doubt, go back to the source and ask for clarification. Do not be afraid to ask the boss directly. If they are a sensible person, they will appreciate your willingness to ask a question and get things right.
When a misunderstanding is approached with openness and a good attitude, pretty much anything can be resolved. If we have not overreacted and said something we couldn’t take back, then that small misunderstanding is something we can easily laugh about later.

10 THINGS SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE DO ON FRIDAYS

Depending on your occupation, Friday can be one of winding down and preparing for the weekend or crunch time. Unanswered emails, meetings, and reports can elevate your stress level on Friday to new heights. Time to take note of how the successful people everyone looks up to handle their end of the work week so you too can be as positive about the weekend as they are.

1. Prioritize the coming week

Though you have two days between Friday and the next work week, knowing what to expect come Monday will help you relax over the weekend. Get a rough outline put together about the upcoming events, tasks, project deadlines, and other things that will be done. Discuss what will be happening in the future with your colleagues to make sure everyone is on the same page.

2. Go for a walk

If you have a decent lunch break, recharge your batteries by getting up from the desk and taking a walk. It does not have to be outside. Simply stretch your legs, meander the office space, and let your mind wander. If you can get outside, head somewhere where there is plenty of greenery, as this will boost your mood and make you feel more awake. Better yet, bring a group along for the trip for some team-building.

3. Visit your coworkers

A valuable resource in the office would be your coworkers. These people are tackling the same matters you are. Walk around the office, stopping by every desk to simply check in with people and learn a little about them.

Successful CEOs also use the end of the week to notice the accomplishments of their employees. Not only is it great to know the people you are working with, but the simple action of checking in with everyone creates a sense of community that boosts morale to finish the week on a high note.

4. Make a routine

Many CEOs and successful people are notorious for having routines. Organization is crucial to success, after all. Take 15 to 30 minutes every Friday to clean out your email inbox, clean the office, organize your files, catch up on the latest industry news, and reduce all that psychological clutter that could bog down your Monday.

5. Tie-up loose ends

Wrapping up every single project, conversation, decision, and discussion on time is impossible, especially on Friday. Successful people realize that they need a certain amount of flexibility to make things work. However, they also endeavor to tie up any loose ends that can be accomplished by Friday evening. That way, they can go into the weekend with all boxes on the to-do list checked off.

6. Have some fun

A part of the Friday ritual or routine usually involves something that kicks off the weekend and helps close the door on the week. This usually involves going out with coworkers to get a meal or drink, taking a fitness class, or anything else that they enjoy. The key point is that it has to be something you look forward to and can treat as a reward for finishing up another week of work.

7. Ignore the phone

Bosses and entrepreneurs usually are glued to the phone throughout the week, but you may notice that they are on it significantly less on Friday. That is because they do not want to start anything that would be looming over them all weekend, so calls are not scheduled after a certain time on Friday. They instead use the quiet moment to do other actions present on this list.

8. Reflect

One thing successful CEOs and entrepreneurs never fail to do is look back on their progress. Friday is the close of a long week, and so reflection on where the company started off on Monday and where it is ending is integral to how the next work week will begin. This way, if something was off or ineffective, they can target that, change it, and figure out a way to make the next week better than the last.

9. Think about weekend plans

Nothing lights that internal fire like thinking about all the fun that awaits on Saturday and Sunday. When motivation is lagging, successful people will tell themselves that the weekend can’t start until ‘X and y’ are accomplished.

10. Set accessibility ground rules

Work life balance is important. Successful people realize this and are keen on setting availability ground rules for their weekend. They will often let their colleagues know ahead of time if they plan on disregarding their work email and phone over the weekend. That way they can focus on life instead of work.

You do not have to necessarily plan out every minute of your Friday, but you should learn how to maximize your efforts to wrap everything up and leave the office satisfied.

Successful people are who they are because they understand how to balance their work with other facets of their lives and rarely let one negatively impact the other. By staying prepared and ahead of the game, you can be successful too!