Selling IT Services To Silicon Valley

Selling services to Silicon Valley startups is both a science and an art. In this session we’ll review the cultural and communication style that will position your business as Valley insider to win that business

Transcript

1. SELLING IT SERVICES TO SILICON VALLEY SPEAKING THEIR LANGUAGE
2. DEC PDP-10 MAINFRAME, 1976 By Michael L. Umbricht, The Retro-Computing Society of RISun-collector at en.wikipedia, from Wikimedia Commons
3. Photo courtesy Computer History Museum
4. ‹#› “PEOPLE FROM SILICON VALLEY CAN DO ANYTHING” -Elon Musk Image by OnInnovation
5. Optimism, Confidence & Excitement Closing Deals With Standard Terms Avoiding Expectation Disconnect Telling the Right Story
6. HEWLETT-PACKARD HEAQUARTERS, 1939 Image Courtesy of the Computer History Museum
7. ‹#› “I wasn’t a founder in the sense that I contributed anything scientifically, but in the sense that I signed the corporation papers and owned founder’s stock.” - Arthur Rock Image By Singhaniket255 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
8. Optimism, Confidence & Excitement Telling the Right Story Being Comfortable & Familiar Avoiding Expectation Disconnect
9. ‹#› THE FIRST MEETING IS ABOUT THEM, NOT YOU
10. BEING A “GREAT SOFTWARE COMPANY” IS NOT ENOUGH
11. ‹#› 1. WE TRIED 2. WE FAILED 3. WE LEARNED 4. WE SUCCEEDED 5. NOW WE HELP OTHERS
12. “Fail fast, fail often.” - Silicon Valley Saying “VCs bury their dead very quietly.” - Shikhar Ghosh, Harvard Lecturer
13. Optimism, Confidence & Excitement Being Comfortable & Familiar Avoiding Expectation Disconnect Telling the Right Story
14. ‹#› COMMUNICATION IS THE MOST COMMON DEAL BREAKER
15. USE STANDARD AMERICAN TERMS
16. AN AMERICAN LLC WILL HELP CLOSE DEALS
17. NEVER COMPETE ON PRICE
18. Optimism, Confidence & Excitement Being Comfortable & Familiar Avoiding Expectation Disconnect Telling the Right Story
19. BE THE RIGHT KIND OF ROCKSTARS
20. ‹#› HELP THEM MANAGE THEIR MONEY TO BUILD A TRUE PARTNERSHIP, HELP THEM MANAGE THEIR BUDGET
21. ‹#› “90% of VC’s add zero value to a startup.” - Vinod Khosla, CEO Sun Microsystems
22. WHAT EVERY SILICON VALLEY STARTUP REALLY WANTS Image by ForgeMind ArchiMedia
23. By 2020, there will be 1.4 million new computer science jobs, but only 400,000 US computer science students. US Venture Capital funding is on track to reach a record $70B this year.