Subhanjan Sarkar - Pitch.Link Blog

Is your Sales and Marketing aligned?

June 27, 2019What I Learnt Today, Sales 1

An IDC Survey found that up to 80% of marketing generated content goes unused by sales teams. While building Pitch.Link one key issue we wanted to address was sales and marketing alignment. This we did by ensuring that while Marketing is building entire pitches (not only a particular collateral – but the flow where they envisage it will be used) they could ask for feedback from the sales team and fine tune the messaging and narrative to make it most useful for the value communication process.

UnFocus.

June 26, 2019What I Learnt Today, Managing yourself 0

So here is the thing. Most of us believe, me included that focus is the key to better productivity and meaningful life.

Srini Pillay thinks otherwise.

Dr. Srini Pillay is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry (Part-Time) at Harvard Medical School. He is also an executive coach, technology innovator and author of the 2017 book Tinker Dabble Doodle Try: Unlock the Power of the Unfocused Mind. He was Director of the Outpatient Anxiety Disorders Program at McLean Hospital and was Director of the Panic Disorders Research Program in the Brain Imaging Center. There, he spent 17 years studying functional brain imaging.

More ‘Rule of 40’ : Figuring Burn Rate

June 25, 2019SAAS, What I Learnt Today 0

This is one interesting analysis by Fred Wilson in his AVC column posted in 2017. What burn rate is acceptable and sustainable? Understandably the discussion with founders and boards could be emotional at best when discussing burn rate. All companies and their backers want to get to the Unicorn status as soon as possible and no spend is enough to get there.

The Gestalt (Language) Protocol

June 24, 2019What I Learnt Today, Startup 0

The Startup life full of challenges. Managing relationship through difficult situations that need discussions and decisions is critical. Not without reason co-founder conflicts seem to be one of the key reasons for startup failures. That made me reflect on how many of our difficult discussions with colleagues and contemporaries devolve into nothingness and how we can possibly change the approach to make it more meaningful. Giving feedback or discussing tactical issues at hand can be tricky. They tend to land up in debates, the need to defend ones position becomes imperative. It is rare to have an environment which is safe and open for the group to share openly and that’s where the Gestalt (language) Protocol comes in.

Growing 40%+ CAGR? Focus on codifying your Culture.

June 21, 2019What I Learnt Today, Biz Tech 0

Jordan Valencia, Programs and Partnership Manager at Grab Ventures, in her latest article in Harvard Business Review talks about the need to focus on culture when companies are in the Hyper Growth phase. Defined by Alexander V. Izosimov in HBR in 2008, “Hypergrowth refers to the steep part of the S-curve”. The rapid growth comes with steep rise in employee count. This is where the challenges set in.

The Buyer Seller Disconnect

June 20, 2019What I Learnt Today, Sales 0

We knew it. The sellers don’t really know What Buyers Want. TrustRadius has conducted a detailed study on buying and selling of Business Technology and surveyed 941 people – 712 Buyers and 229 vendor marketers and salespeople and figured “they don’t see eye to eye!”.

Walking up the stairs, backwards!

June 19, 2019What I Learnt Today, Managing yourself 0

“Victory awaits the one who has everything in order. People call it good luck. While defeat always follows bad preparations and people call it bad luck.”
Ronald Amundsen

Erling Kagge is the first man to complete the Three Poles Challenge. He walked to all the three poles. “- North Pole in 1990, the South Pole in 1993, and the summit of Mount Everest (the “third pole”) in 1994”.

SalesForce Tableau acquisition and what it means for SAAS

June 18, 2019SAAS, What I Learnt Today 0

Tomasz Tunguz is the one you turn to for analysis when watershed events happen. Salesforce Tableau acquisition is one such event in a string of similar ones (although the most expensive by value by far) playing out this month. It follows Google’s Looker acquisition and Sisense’s acquisition of Periscope Data.

A Founder’s course on Spreadsheets.

June 17, 2019What I Learnt Today, Startup 0

Lindsey Rogers Cook, editor for Digital Storytelling and Training at the New York Times wrote this very interesting piece on How We Helped Our Reporters Learn to Love Spreadsheets. One of the key reasons Journalists became journalists was because they were not interested in Math. Or so we thought. But it is now apparent that an increasing number of journalistic disciplines are dependent on data and those who control the narrative – governments, politicians and corporations all want to twist those numbers in support of their own agendas. It is akin to the earlier question of whether Journalists should learn to code. While the answer to that was a resounding “No” , those who did learn to code went on to “have mashed databases to discover wrongdoing, designed immersive experiences that transport readers to new places and created tools that change the way we work.”

Being the Disruptor

June 14, 2019What I Learnt Today, Biz Tech 0

It is clear. Everything legacy, every business, every process will be disrupted. So the choice is yours if you will be the one to be disrupted or you will be the disruptor. The disproportionate value that the disruptor harnesses is clear (Uber, AirBnB, Dropbox, Zappos). What makes someone to become the disruptor? Sometimes it is by accident, but more often than not it is because the disruptor decides it was enough of the status quo and acts.

Author: Subhanjan Sarkar

Posts pagination