Sinz1.

The Bottom-up approach.

Software companies used to sold their products by hiring a sales force of MBAs, and Executives. Their mission was to sell as much as possible, by placing cold calls, sending a bunch of emails, flying all over the world to pitch VPs and CXOs with a PowerPoint. This process is called Top-down approach. To sell, you’re going to approach the high level of the organization.

Gone. No more. 

New companies and most of the startups that I know, including us, have completely embraced a new route. No sales guys, no MBAs, just an API targeting developers, no matter where they come from, or in which layer of the organization they work.

These new companies organize hack days not conference days, these companies will throw their products into the hands of hundred of developers not into the hands of CIOs.

As Paul Graham, pointed out: API = Self-Serve Business Dev.

It’s called Bottom-up, because the new product is going to be introduced/sold into a new organization from a developer/employee  already working there, not from Executives, CXOs or Decision Makers, but from the bottom of the organization.

Some good examples of companies that have embraced this new approach are:

• GitHub
• AWS (still using a lot of bottom-up. 2011 revenue: +$1B)
• Heroku
• Aviary
• Twilio
• Braintree
• Stripe
• Musixmatch
• Parse/Stackmob
• Chute
• ReportGrid
• Urbain Airship
• ReportGrid/Mailgun

Yes, once you reach mainstream you will start to add a Sales Department. At one point, when the company starts to become quately popular, you will have big enough demand from the Fortune 2000 companies; their Executives will start to call you, and you need to be prepared in a certain way at that point. 

But the entire market/product fit and the first Growth phase can be done with just a few Developer Evangelists = way cheaper than having a big sales force.

Yes, I do think that the Developer Evangelist is the new Sales Guy. A developer evangelist will push your products in the hands of the people that are “actually” going to use it, EVERYDAY. They want to be happy, they want to use tools they like.

We will see more and more of this trend in the coming years. 

Google transition

People think that because some good employees are leaving Google and making noise, then, Google is in a bad shape and is losing it’s power. 

The reality is that few people in this world are willing to embrace, accept and understand a transition phase. I know it’s hard to live in a transition phase, humans like stability and not uncertainty. The process of moving from A to B is always tedious and hard. If you are doing a startup, you know what I’m talking about, you live in a transition phase all the time.

Google is in a transition phase. 

It doesn’t mean that Google has lost his path, it means that Google is adding a new path to its life. Some of the existing employees may don’t believe in this new adventure and they jump off the ship; while new employees may believe in the new path even more, and they jump in super excited.

This transition of culture and people is just a natural step to move from a path to another. When you’re entering in a new territory, you need new warriors, persons with a different expertise, a different culture, because the landscape is completely different, the “enemies” have a different DNA, thus, you need a different kind of army to win in the new territory.

There is noting wrong with a transition phase (Apple entered in a transition phase in late ‘90, and a lot of people left), companies need to evolve to stay ahead of the wave.

Those who will accept changes will last forever.

Steve Jobs on Startups

daslee:

“I hate it when people call themselves ‘entrepreneurs’ when what they’re really trying to do is launch a startup and then sell or go public, so they can cash in and move on. They’re unwilling to do the work it takes to build a real company, which is the hardest work in business.”