We are in 2024.
Almost every market is super crowded.
Most often, the problem is not with the sales team, nor with the technology.
The problem is with Product Positioning.
>>>When things are not going right, especially in B-to-B SaaS, the blame falls on the sales team.
As a company switches from Founder-led Sales to a Repeatable Sales Process, often, sales do falter.
Velocity cannot be achieved without a repeatable sales process.
>>>Entrepreneurs often bet on markets that are yet to develop.
Good entrepreneurs often create new markets. Steve Jobs CREATED the smartphone market.
VCs bet on such bets.
>>>Product and Technology are not the same.
While technology failures are difficult to recover from, product issues can be addressed.
Often, once a startup starts to engage with the market, it develops a more sophisticated understanding of the market’s needs. Features, functions, integrations, APIs – a lot of input comes into the company through customer immersion.
>>>At the heart of most tech companies is, of course, technology. Today, the market is particularly frothy around Artificial Intelligence. AI is a technology that is notorious for not working as envisioned.
>>>If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
When we spoke in 2020, Pura Vida CEO Co-founder Griffin Thall and his partner had turned an investment of $200 into a $130 million company. Amazing execution!
Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born and raised? What kind of background did you have?
Griffin Thall: I grew up in LA. I went to school at San Diego State. After graduating from college in 2010, my business partner and I went on a trip to Costa Rica. We were there for five weeks to travel, surf, and explore.
I’m publishing this series on LinkedIn called Colors to explore a topic that I care deeply about: the Renaissance Mind. I am just as passionate about entrepreneurship, technology, and business, as I am about art and culture. In this series, I will typically publish a piece of art – one of my paintings – and I request you to spend a minute or two deeply meditating on it. I urge you to watch your feelings, thoughts, reactions to the piece, and write what comes to you, what thoughts it triggers, in the dialog area. Let us see what stimulation this interaction yields. For today – Ukraine III
Ukraine III | Sramana Mitra, 2022 | Watercolor, Pastel, Ink | 8 x 8, On Paper
Sramana Mitra: Yes, it is tough. I have a slightly different kind of question as my last set of questions for you. No code, right now is a very attractive terminology in the industry, and part of it is coming from the fact that AI is automating everything, including coding. So no-code, AI-generated software is the future that we are going towards. What are your thoughts about this evolution? How is that impacting your business? How does that impact your product roadmap etc.?
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