Do More Faster India, 2nd Edition

Chapter 28Startups Seek Friends

Micah Baldwin

When we wrote the first edition, Micah was the CEO of Graphic.ly, a social digital distribution platform for comic book publishers and fans. Micah has been a Techstars mentor since 2007 and joined Graphic.ly after the company participated in Techstars in 2009. After a long stint at Amazon Web Services, Micah is now running Create33 in Seattle for Madrona Venture Group.

Salespeople sell. It’s what they do. Have you ever seen the play (or the movie) Glengarry Glen Ross? Salespeople sell. Want the pink Cadillac? Sell. Want the Glengarry leads? Sell. Don’t sell? You’re fired. It’s really that simple.

In sales, the process is focused on having the salesperson win. The salesperson cannot think in any other way, since his only purpose in life is to sell. For a salesperson, the customer’s only reason to exist is to buy. While there is much discussion about the importance of the relationship, the relationship’s only importance is to allow the salesperson to continue to sell. It’s not evil—it’s just how it works.

However, this pragmatic, black-and-white approach doesn’t work for early-stage startups because the sale is not what is important. In early-stage startups, the relationship reigns supreme. Why? Because startups screw up a lot. If you have solid relationships, people allow you to fail and stick with you, just like your friends stick with you.

Take Lijit Networks, the startup I worked for before becoming CEO at Graphic.ly. Lijit provides ...