Should Your Startup Have a Quota Club? (And How Much to Spend on It.)
December is when most SaaS startups are closing out the year, trying to finalize next year’s operating plan (hint: I know a software company that can help with that), starting to get a clear view on which salespeople are going to make their number, and thus beginning the process of figuring out who to invite […]
Blankets and employee engagement at Microsoft.
Microsoft is on a roll, on several levels. Share price, mojo, accessibility, cloud computing, patent strategy etc. It is a company rejuvenated. From the outside, it exudes confidence, but without the brashness of the last time it was the world’s most valuable company. This blog is at risk of too much Microsoft fandom. This morning […]
Highlights from the Fenwick & West 3Q18 Venture Capital Survey
It’s been a few years since I wrote about this survey, which I post about less to communicate recent highlights and more to generate awareness of its existence. The Fenwick & West Venture Capital Survey is must-read material for any entrepreneur or startup CEO because it not only makes you aware of trends in financing, […]
On Tech, Power and Responsibility. Notes from Nice
I recently gave the closing keynote address at DevOps world, hosted by CloudBees, in Nice. The conference was excellent. Jenkins is a mature technology and community, but it’s ready for change, under pressure from a raft of new entrants. Rather than digging in its heels, the community is looking to the future, admitting Jenkins’ flaws […]
Pivotal: transactions, Kubernetes, and taking an axe to long term support.
I recently attended Spring One Platform (S1P), Pivotal’s annual developer and user conference, in Washington, DC. Pivotal had invited me to speak at their executive briefing conference, so the CIO access was really good. I came away with a few impressions I wanted to share. Transaction Volumes Customer after customer made it clear they […]
There is always something new to learn
First things first – jet lag sucks more as I grow older . Not that long ago , I was able to function just fine with a different time zone every day as I flew around the world . This time in India – it was quite hard to shake it off , and it […]
Lost and Founder: A Painful Yet Valuable Read
Some books are almost too honest. Some books give you too much information (TMI). Some books can be hard to read at times. Lost and Founder is all three. But it’s one of the best looks I’ve seen when it comes to giving the reader a realistic look at the inside of Silicon Valley startups. […]
How To Present a Quarterly Sales Forecast to Your SaaS Company Board
While most companies put real thought into how they present numbers in their post-quarter board decks and other management reports, one area in which you’ll find a lack of discipline is in how they present quarterly sales forecasts to the board. They’re typically done as a quick update email to the board. They’ll usually mention […]
Using “Win Themes” to Improve Your Sales Management and Increase Win Rates
At most sales review meetings what do you hear sales management asking the reps? Questions like these: What stage is this opportunity in? What value do you have it at in the pipeline? Is there upside to that value? What forecast category is it in? In what quarter will it close? What competitors are in […]
Reflections
I woke up early on Saturday – and sat with a cup of coffee in our backyard, and saw this beautiful reflection. Of course I had to take a photo Friday was an incredibly busy day. I had to wake up at 4AM EST in NY to catch a flight home. I hadn’t slept much […]
