How to Sell by Tyler Bosmeny

Tyler Bosmeny from YC alumnus Clever shares his expertise on how an early stage company should think about sales and about building an enterprise sales team.
You can find the lecture transcript and slides here: www.startupschool.org/videos/43
Learn more at www.startupschool.org/

[@lotusli9144]

The best line of this video is " who will even take your call". As an early stage of start up with a minimum product, the percentage is about 1% for early user feedback/validation. Most of start ups fail within one year because of that- it's hard, psychologically hard especially if the founder hasn't done sales in his/her career... it's a trial .. yet, one thing can triumph over the fear/frustration- true passion and belief of their products. If you come out this becoming even stronger and more passionate with what you do, congrats! You already beat 90% start ups that fail within a year.

[@Jeevanmn]

This is more useful than all dan lok videos combined!

[@anatolikirigwajjo9580]

Hahaha😁

[@SJ-eu7em]

He is a fraud so obviously

[@hhhenglish]

I agreed

[@fooflateka]

Lolll

[@thisislindoluthuli]

😂😂💀💀💀

[@PrinceKumar-pp4ts]

18:55 cold emails: Short, to the point, personalised, actionable, 20:55 conversations: Sales is about listening. (Number 1 advice). Best sales people are listening 70% time and are asking questions. 26:00 you need to have inhuman willingness to continuously followup. Just remember sometimes you have to remind them that you are still there. Being persistent is not rude if done in the right way. 27:30 small startup needs to figure out where to spend time and hence shorter sales cycle of yes or no will help you get more bandwidth for new potential prospects. 28:50 you need to have a agreement to propose first hand. YC has the open source sales template though it may require customisation. Don't give free trial but you can give them the term that if they don't like there money shall be refunded.

[@bossgd100]

💯

[@anarismayilov3143]

Always nice to come back to visit Tyler's goldmine sales advice, when things aren't going well in our startup, but with this advice, each time you fall in sales you fall to a higher level than your last fall. Tyler, thank you so much if you ever read this comment, your impact has been global

[@cliffhregis]

One of the best videos so far...very informative. Educational videos about "Sales at startups" are under-represented out there. Thanks, YC

[@Neonb88]

He did so much work to structure the talk so well, edit it so thoroughly. Very very helpful and well done! I especially thought the blog post was useful: ( christophjanz.blogspot.com/2014/10/five-ways-to-build-100-million-business.html )

[@travispercy]

So true! Thanks for sharing! Started a channel about generosity in online entrepreneurship. Just released a bunch of content on mastering sales & marketing from lessons learned at Harvard & from other experts. Feel free to check us out and join the conversation if you can. Best, Trav

[@nelliorlova3593]

And what are the other good videos on sales topic you'd recommend?

[@wonderbowl951]

Best sales advise ever received. Thank you Tyler and thanks YC.

[@DEFIROMED]

Great lecture, one of the best form all YC partners. Thank you Tyler. I literally changed an email following your specs and it worked, magically!!!!

[@KelechiBenny]

4years in and this is still super valuable. Thanks YC!

[@mmdls602]

Superb as usual. More talks around sales, first traction etc would be super useful. Because we all know “sales fixes EVERYTHING” 👍

[@danieltannor6647]

Love it. The one thing I disagree about is asking the customer 'what would your ideal solution look like?', don't look for solutions from customers.

[@jakemorgan2236]

I just wanted to mention, on the Y Combinator website, the two doc pages for safe financing and sales are the same thing. - Different links, but with the same content. Thanks for the video's you all make, it really is nice to see such a wealth of knowledge!

[@Mark3ng3lhardt]

Sales cures all. And this video offers great insight how to do it, I especially loved the part about flies vs elephants. Thanks, YC!

[@vedanshbagadia]

This video single handedly changed my priorities for the better, as it has so many actionable steps. I always knew how important it is to talk to people but now I know how to do it. Thank you!

[@HaulywoodSafety]

This was a great talk. I used to work in corporate sales at Pitney Bowes. I wish Tyler had come in to give this talk. Thanks for posting.

[@fouzanjaved6195]

Thanks alot. Motivated me alot. I am stuck on sales and it gave me alot of answers.

[@adennyh]

Super insightful! Thanks for this video! Really appreciate the wisdom!

[@tewar93]

Starts at 2:35

[@AlabamaCare]

Hey Walter Montes we are doing research on KZbin timestamps and wondering why you timestamp and how often

[@andreivilla9009]

@@AlabamaCare I would guess we as viewers don’t have the time to listen to an hour video. And if we can cut to the chase it would be appreciated.

[@sebastianjimenezbienen7045]

I am literally navigating through all these problems right now since we just started selling last month. This is perhaps the most opportune video that has shown up on my recommended list.

[@jimmyadaro]

So, how’s your business now?

[@denniskiprono8559]

Golden advice, very informative. Thank you ycombinator for making it public

[@RoadToSalvationX]

Tons of great info presented concisely. All of these YC startup school talks are super valuable, much thanks!

[@AccidentalScience]

Informative and insightful, really interesting, thank you.

[@sandeep007ization]

Best one hour of my day, Thanks a lot!

[@conw_y]

Great ideas, inspiring talk! His thoughts about listening and sales remind me a bit of 'The Theory and Practice of Selling the AGA Cooker' by David Ogilvy, which I find somewhat relevant even in this era!

[@travispercy]

So true! Thanks for sharing! Started a channel about generosity in online entrepreneurship. Just released a bunch of content on mastering sales & marketing from lessons learned at Harvard & from other experts. Feel free to check us out and join the conversation if you can. Best, Trav

[@nandakusumadi]

Fantastic advice with great examples. (Tyler also reminds me of Scott Forstall, in a great way.)

[@Ezequiel_Anibal]

YC should have much more subscribers and views!!!!! Very very informative channel

[@deleanuteo7303]

This is the real piece of experience! Most of the people dream of scale and sale right away. Thanks for inspiring!

[@mariolattuga3053]

Amazing. Thank you for this!

[@TechGalaxy292]

Extremely awesome. Thank you :D

[@mphakamisidingwayo3841]

Thank Tyler, best lecture.

[@oln3678]

GOLD...thank you. Sales is everything

[@Bjhgjh659]

Whyyyyy doesn’t Tyler have more material on KZbin!! I think this is one of the best sales video I’ve found in the last four months of searching and consuming content! His teaching style is the perfect mix of thoroughly deconstructed material as well as NOT BORING. I find some of the best material is thrown at the audience so fast with poor examples of implementation. I could learn a lot from Tyler and would show up for anything he posts!! Please come back!!

[@ycombinator]

Tyler will be getting in front of the camera again soon :)

[@ahmed.ea.abdalla]

flies vs elephants is something that'll stick with me forever. simplicity is the ultimate sophistication

[@tothemoonentrepreneur5673]

Great and informative! One really has to tailor every single outreach missive! =)

[@ba8e]

Awesome presentation!

[@albus6966]

So insightful. Thanks.

[@johnmurphyable]

Excellent video! example email at 20:00 which was very helpful to me!

[@sunn-e]

19:28 For those who need the cold mail template: John - my name is Tyler and I'm the CEO of Clever. My company has developed new technology that reduces the time spent doing SIS integrations by 80%. I figured this might be of interest to you given the new middle school reading software Scholastic just released. I'd love to get your feedback even if you're not in the market for this right now. Do you have 20 minutes this week? I'm open Tuesday at 1 or 2pm ET if either may work. Tyler

[@Nikita-hd7tw]

thank you!

[@PraveenaSarathchandra]

Brilliant talk!

[@irynasavruk8339]

Great tips! Thanks!

[@paulcnichols]

Excellent advice.

[@user-qg8qc5qb9r]

00:00:00 - Introduction and Welcome 00:00:41 - Importance of Feedback and Metrics 00:02:41 - Introduction to Tyler Bosmeny from Clever 00:03:16 - Tyler's Journey to Sales 00:06:00 - Introduction to Sales for Founders 00:07:42 - Advantages Founders Have in Sales 00:09:55 - Understanding the Sales Funnel 00:11:27 - Prospecting: Finding Leads 00:14:20 - Effective Use of Conferences 00:18:09 - Crafting Effective Cold Emails 00:21:17 - Conversations: The Importance of Listening 00:25:09 - Navigating the Sales Process Steps 00:28:34 - Closing Deals: Agreement and Redlining Process 00:30:36 - Managing Early Customer Agreements 00:31:35 - Avoiding the Feature Request Trap 00:33:04 - Handling Free Trials 00:34:35 - Understanding Different Sales Models 00:35:09 - Closing Remarks and Encouragement 00:38:18 - Q&A Session

[@Ambrosha385]

This was incredibly valuable. Wished they just called this: watch this first

[@travispercy]

So true! Thanks for sharing! Started a channel about generosity in online entrepreneurship. Just released a bunch of content on mastering sales & marketing from lessons learned at Harvard & from other experts. Feel free to check us out and join the conversation if you can. Best, Trav

[@shesastylist]

This was great.

[@samyakjain2474]

Tyler's ways are so authentic and true. I have discovered them myself as well and hearing someone verify that as legit methods makes me believe that I am a sales natural. haha.

[@anikebabson7455]

Great video, thank you.

[@travispercy]

So true! Thanks for sharing! Started a channel about generosity in online entrepreneurship. Just released a bunch of content on mastering sales & marketing from lessons learned at Harvard & from other experts. Feel free to check us out and join the conversation if you can. Best, Trav

[@julianarodriguez642]

Gold! Thanks for sharing

[@nuddle2360]

Find some interesting tips what I can do, so thank you for these ideas

[@photon2724]

It feels illigal that this much insight and knowledge is actually free... Save this if your serious about startups.

[@dthanhhoa]

Many thanks for the sharing!

[@SandeepKumar-tj1jz]

A "Clever" man who will be "Bos" of "meny". Great video with practical advice.

[@BrianSchoedel]

Optimizing for speed is a great sales tip for founders. Quick wins help you gain sales velocity and develop reference customers which will allow you to level up from self-serve, mid-market to enterprise customers. Good term “Renaissance Sales Professional” will figure it out.

[@efexzium]

Thanks 🙏🏽 for this gold nuggets

[@tanvisurti]

Great talk!

[@diaguilidiagana9314]

This is great!!

[@JapiSandhu]

how does this apply to social media? he mentioned 1. Personal Network 2. Conferences 3. Cold Emails what about social media? or forums or online communities?

[@momobadilak]

The Troll says "Don Draper was in creative - Roger Sterling was the account guy" ;) ;)

[@murrayclarke2171]

Really great.

[@sreramk1494]

This video is priceless! I am VERY GLAD that I signed up for YCombinator

[@careya]

Amazing video. What I wished he would’ve mentioned is that early adopters have different characteristics from late adopters, aside from the fact that they adopt a different times. Figure out what those characteristics are through user interviews and you can drastically decrease the number of people you have to talk to get to yes.

[@lotusli9144]

That's a very good point! I'm going through this right now. MVP is launched. The industry is where my career is centered. That said, I've got tons of connections on LinkedIn who could be potential users. Reached out to 50 of them for early user feedback, with few response.

[@SergeyfromUSA]

Thank you!

[@yicancu56]

Does anyone have the link to the Sales Agreement? I clicked a hyperlink on YC's blog but it sent me to their SAFE agreement page.

[@samgoodwin89]

He reminds me of Jerry sienfeld. Amazing talk

[@flesteyto_]

Good talk. I want to be accepted by YCombinator even if it is only about meeting Tyler. bold moment 44:45

[@flesteyto_]

why do the dev guy is watching "sales"? 🤔

[@MBNOWNet]

​Because a lot of dev guys are founders & in the early stages the best person to sell is the person with the vision.

[@TINTUHD]

Golden

[@WrestlingTournamentsDotCom]

I’m guilty of 7:30. Thank you.

[@antonioalejandrogonzalezca8691]

Peter Thiel help us allot with this with CAC example in the Book CERO TO ONE... Thanks YC! This is just underrated! From Monterrey, Mexico.

[@ratanvaghela7666]

Thanks ❤

[@lusk_ai]

Read "The Challenger Sale" By Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson

[@zhiyongyao5697]

very nice

[@ArturVegas]

One of THE CLEAREST FOR GROWTH channels for enterpreneurs worldwide. i combine all THE Y-COMBINATOR Venture Capital ideas with business energy of Grant Cardone.

[@taumohlodi5875]

Impressive

[@loremipsum7513]

"I was offended." LMAOOOO HAHAHAH. This hits home.

[@tothemoonentrepreneur5673]

Haa! For real! =)

[@AdamDawoodjee3]

The link to the slides is broken

[@willcomptonmusic]

How different is the process when selling to consumers instead of businesses? A lot of the apps that are sold to consumers have free trials. Has it been determined that this is in fact bad practice?

[@user-cg2fj5mh4h]

Why you gotta throw shade on MKE though

[@tonydong13]

create talk!

[@ahmedhamed1092]

THIS IS THE PRICE!!!!!!! that i just pulled from thin air

[@senior_java]

Just in case: Slides - www.dropbox.com/s/v9zlx72t9b4yk8d/Tyler%20Bosmeny%20-%20How%20to%20Sell.pdf?dl=0

[@Thecornisians]

Thank you !

[@janmolski]

If my product can save $45k /year how much should I charge? Is $25k fair? Costs are marginal so I can make it both 6k and 30k

[@sales-made-easy]

We've always found that if you Have the ROI numbers, you should charge the amount that creates some resistance. If you are selling your value, you should be able to charge more.

[@LostMonk679]

29:30

[@astghmav]

Haven’t watched all the way through yet but Mad Men to me is more marketing than sales

[@sales-made-easy]

Founders need passion for their product, but they have to recognize that people don't really care about their product. Only what it does for them.

[@pixelperfectpravin]

Spend alot of time on either Building product or Talking to customers

[@u2b83]

12:06 This chart also reflects the types of women you will encounter through your life lol

[@ulugbekkadyrbekov232]

He looks and sounds like Richard Hendrix lol. cool.

[@vovatereschenko9527]

Giggity giggity!

[@ldanielr133]

A waste of time

[@hellyeah.]

**Sales Opportunities for Startups** - Network - Don’t Underestimate your network - Conferences - With executives - Get the list - Find who is going to be at the event, Then Email / connect with them beforehand - Cold email

[@davidbassock]

Hi, this is all knowledges that you can find on Lessons of week5 : How to Sell of Tyler Bosmeny 1- How Tyler Bosmeny learn to sell ? 2- What people thing about sales and sales people ? 3- 2 things Paul Gram say that every founder must do every day in his startup 4- How to be incredibly powerful at sales and very potent ? 5- How sales actually works ? : The enterprise sales process from zero to 1,000,000 revenue 6- How to find your first prospects, customers, users ? 7- How to convince prospects and mistake to avoid ? 8- How to close a deal and mistake to avoid ? 9- Where to find open source sales template agreement ? 10- Why having customers is your first priority if you are an early stage startup ? 11- How to deal with customers that ask you new feature before to buy your product ? 12- Why free trial product is often a mistake and how to give it ? 13- Five ways to build 100 million dollar business from a sales perspective by Kristof Jents 14- When to you know that you have product market fit ? 15- Big or small companies which should you prioritize for sales ? 16- How to set pricing ? 17- How to learn to sale ? 18- How to hiring sales ? More details here : copybrain.net/brains/15/knowledges?grp=YC Lessons>SUS2018>Week5>How to sell

[@travispercy]

So true! Thanks for sharing! Started a channel about generosity in online entrepreneurship. Just released a bunch of content on mastering sales & marketing from lessons learned at Harvard & from other experts. Feel free to check us out and join the conversation if you can. Best, Trav

[@-www.chapters.video-]

01:01 Importance of Metrics and Milestones 11:49 Reaching out to potential buyers 13:02 Using networks, conferences, and cold emails to find prospects 15:02 The power of conferences in sales 17:04 Effective cold email strategies 23:02 Salespeople should listen 70% of the time and ask relevant questions 25:00 Sales process involves multiple steps and requires persistence and follow-up 27:00 Getting a 'no' can be valuable as it helps to focus on potential customers 29:00 Closing a contract requires having a proposal and avoiding unnecessary negotiations 31:00 Building one-off features for customers can be counterproductive 33:53 Closing the deal with annual agreements and opt-out option 35:38 Considerations for long-term sales motion and pricing 46:57 Case studies not necessary for early sales 48:13 Learn sales through practice and experimentation 49:32 Don't hire salespeople until you've done sales yourself