1.
Go-To-Market for Geeks How to fake it ‘til you make it October 16, 2009

2.
What is Go-To-Market? <ul><li>The B-School Answer: </li></ul>

3.
The Problem for Startups <ul><li>You may not have the right Product </li></ul><ul><li>You have no idea how to Price it </li></ul><ul><li>You don’t know where to Place it </li></ul><ul><li>You have no money to Promote it </li></ul>

4.
Fight One Battle At A Time

5.
Product: Ship Early, Ship Often <ul><li>Get your product in front of people as quickly and as often as possible </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Friends & Family </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Early adopters </li></ul></ul><ul><li>If you’re charging money, start right away </li></ul><ul><ul><li>eBay </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Craigslist </li></ul></ul>

6.
For More Detail: Eric Ries <ul><li>“ The minimum viable product is that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.” </li></ul><ul><ul><li>http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/ </li></ul></ul>

7.
Price: Necessary, Not Sufficient <ul><li>Pricing can hurt the business, but rarely helps (at least for startups) </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Price based on value, not cost </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Price based on how the market likes to buy </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Purchase vs. License vs. Subscription </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Unit pricing vs. Flat rate </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>It’s always easier to reduce prices </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>For self-service products, always test </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>eBay, Craigslist, AdWords </li></ul></ul></ul>

8.
Place: Don’t Be Afraid To Sell

9.
You Can’t Avoid Sales <ul><li>Distribution Catch-22 </li></ul><ul><ul><li>The channel only sells what’s already selling </li></ul></ul><ul><li>The Underpants Gnomes Principle </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Salesmen can’t tell you what to sell </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>(and they can’t sell what they can’t understand) </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><li>Talking To Customers Is A Good Thing </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Sale/No Sale doesn’t provide enough info </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Customer contact is too valuable to abdicate </li></ul></ul>

10.
Founders Must Learn To Sell <ul><li>Talk to real potential customers </li></ul><ul><li>Understand their need *before* you try to solve it </li></ul><ul><ul><li>“ What problem are you trying to solve?” </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>“ What are you doing about it right now?” </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>“ What would you like to happen?” </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Demonstrate the product and listen to their feedback (instead of arguing) </li></ul><ul><li>Ask for the order! </li></ul>

11.
The Three Types of Sales <ul><li>Field Sales (“The Bag Man”) </li></ul><ul><ul><li>6-figure deals, 6-month sales cycles </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>In-person wining & dining </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>On-site pilots & sales engineers </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Telesales (“The Boiler Room”) </li></ul><ul><ul><li>4- or 5-figure deals, 0-3 month sales cycles </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>WebEx demos & time-based trials </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Direct Marketing </li></ul>

12.
Promotion: TechCrunch is Not a Strategy

13.
Money Is Not The Answer <ul><li>If you tell a VC, “We need the money for marketing,” you won’t get the money. </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Exception: 1999 </li></ul></ul><ul><li>You have to prove the model before you ask for money </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Exception: Mark Andreesen </li></ul></ul>

14.
Promotion On A Budget <ul><li>The old way: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>$15K/month for a PR firm </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Brief analysts, brief press, wire release </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>It’s all about relationships & unwritten rules </li></ul></ul><ul><li>The new way: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Do your own PR </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Friend/Retweet prominent bloggers, speak at conferences </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>It’s all about relationships & unwritten rules </li></ul></ul>

15.
Turn Weakness Into Strength <ul><li>You’re unknown </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Give folks the chance to “discover” you and take credit </li></ul></ul><ul><li>You’re playing David & Goliath </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Use “retail politics” to reinforce the friendly, accessible nature of your company </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Blogs, Twitter, Facebook are your friends </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><li>You don’t know what you’re doing </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Ask for advice and get people to buy in </li></ul></ul>

16.
Last Thoughts <ul><li>Don’t strategize, iterate! </li></ul><ul><li>There is no magic formula and every business is different. </li></ul><ul><li>Product alone isn’t enough </li></ul><ul><li>You can more of this than you think… </li></ul><ul><li>… But don’t get too cocky—the market is smarter than all of us. </li></ul>

17.
How To Reach Chris <ul><li>Chris Yeh </li></ul><ul><ul><li>[email_address] </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>http://chrisyeh.blogspot.com </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>http://www.asktheharvardmba.com </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>http://twitter.com/chrisyeh </li></ul></ul>