Questions

Getting first b2b customer with limited budget

AAnonymous ·May 26, 2015 ·7 answers

This question may have been answered but my situation is unique.

Started this company back in 2007, having quit a nice paying corp job, and had some limited success in the sense that I got some credible LoI letters from potential early adopters (enterprise but consumer facing). But due to the recession or whatever lack of resources, it didn’t make it as we thought (as a Founder and CEO I am to blame 😉

Fast forward, today I have a few patents, SaaS product launched as proof of concept and marketing material done. I am employed with another corp, but is not inline with my original startup.

I am planning to hire a part time 1099 sales person to get the first 5 potential early adopters.

My question is: what is the best way to get early big enterprises with limited budget? I am in a hot area (security) but so much competition and we have our differentiators.

How can I keep my day job going while marketing and prospecting and helping/working with sales?

Also big enterprises need solid teams and deep pockets that startups don’t have. How do I convince them?

I want the early adopters to sign up so I can raise loans ( am tired and sick of giving lap dances to VCs)

Thanks for reading and answering my Qs and sharing pointers

7 answers from the community

AAnonymous· May 26, 2015

Do you have a customer support strategy as well? In the event you have an aggressive sales person and they generate demos/appointments, the question "who do I call when I have a problem" may kill your momentum.

In my experience, 1099 sales reps have horrific turnover. Even if you are paying way above industry averages on commission, if you have a 3 month sales cycle you are asking alot of your rep.

I would take a hard look at a business development strategy where you find a partner who could cover the sales and support.

Its hard to keep one foot on the boat and one foot on the dock.

AAnonymous· May 27, 2015

Your insights much appreciated! Yes, once it takes off and When I can draw a decent salary I wanted to jump back in. However, as you also described, will be struggling with customer support and thus a sales & support partner might be a better idea. Also, when still at crossing the chasm and getting those biz partners would also be a tough cookie to crack.

Instead I want to get the first customer myself I..e I attend the pitching sessions to potential enterprise prospects (have done that before I jumped backed to corp world) by working with Sales rep (1099) and then handover the customer to a potential IT support partner. That's what I am looking at right now.

Any further feedback, I would love to hear (mil thanks in advance )

AAnonymous· May 26, 2015

Why does your security product rise above what's out there right now ?

AAnonymous· May 27, 2015

Well, what your idea? Is it right now a proof of concept or already ready to go to market?

When do you expect to have your first release? Could you sign up early adopters for a discount?

Do you have a reputation in the security industry?

AAnonymous· May 27, 2015

yes, I have earned CISSP and other certs for this industry reputation sake and also have been working in security space since I took a break from startup. Product is now easily integratable with Google apps (that's the proof of concept and some users are using now), sales force and Microsoft Too.

I am bootstrapping with some cash left out of my paycheck. So I can onboard to my product any potential prospect for free and let it soak till they are ready to make the move on sale...

Security in consumer space is not what I am looking for, as nothing more than a freemium is a no-go in b2c and we need volume. Hence focussing on enterprise space.

Btw, Anyone interested startup guys or IT partners can contact me by using contact author link at the top. If you have LinkedIn profile that's preferred too :)

AAnonymous· May 28, 2015

I have helped someone launch a Security startup after also spending 10 years in security. Security is a good and tough business. I am in the space myself with my current startup.

My learnings were:

Government & Govt Program Sales sound great, but they end up Nickel & dime contracts at first - and can take years to close.
If you go for Enterprise, going head on with some of the major players will kill you. Depending on what you're talking about in "security", players like IBM, Oracle, CA, etc ...... they tend to almost always win. They don't choose on price.
Most CISO's are dead meat. Most stay in their jobs only a few years (average) and are just fighting to not get fired.
TVM (Threat & Vulnerability Mgmt) is where most of the budget is right now.
Cloud security...... can be dicey, as major players have filled it in.

My suggestion is to come at the market with an angled product, since it is dramatically different than other markets. Look at PhishMe, and how they were in the "security" space, but had few direct competitors.

My two cents. I'm taking these learnings and doing the same.

AAnonymous· May 28, 2015

Your assessment on gov market is spot on. Though at one point I missed deadline for NSTIC grant :)

If you have some spare bw on mentoring or quick syncup that I can tap in, pls let me know ... I can be reached via contact author link.

Thanks a bunch in advance!

Getting first b2b customer with limited budget

7 answers from the community

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