Selling early - 1st episode of the new season of Fundraising Radio!

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They're releasing to fundraising
video a podcast about

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fundraising for early-stage
startups, the major rule that we

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follow here is no bullshit on
this podcast.

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No music to relax, you know,
advertisements of our sponsors.

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And in this new season of
fundraising radio, we are

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changing things up and talking
about sales, for early-stage

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startups, instead of just the
fundraising portion of it.

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And today's guest speaker, we
have Lisa falzone, co-founder

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and president at Athena security
and in the past Lisa solds one

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of her company's Revel systems.
And in this episode, we're going

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to talk about both things
switches, the build-up of the

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past company and a current
company that Lisa is working on

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and how different is Lisa's
sales approach to these two

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companies.
So we said, let's kick it off.

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Simply just give us some
background yourself and on a

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thing security.
Yeah, so great to be here.

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So I started Athena security.
After I sold my last company

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Revel systems, we grew up from
zero to eight hundred employees,

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and sold it to private equity
and 2017.

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Then kind of retire for a little
bit and wanted to do something

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more altruistic afterwards and
wanted to go after the school

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shooting problem that was
happening in schools.

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And so I wanted to create
technology to help.

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Save people's lives.
And so that's exactly what we've

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done at Athena.
So it's a brief background about

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what I've done.
Perfect.

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And can you actually on our
pre-interview called that was

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the instant use case that I
thought of?

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But it can also be used in a
bazillion other ways.

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So, shortly, it is a detector of
concealed weapons, right?

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Different from metal detectors,
just so that everyone is on

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board here.
Yeah.

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So our product is concealed
weapon detection.

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So with metal detection, you
have to, you know, stop anyone

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with metal, that has metal on
their body but what this we let,

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what we let things through like
cell, phones keys, and then we

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stop someone if they have a
weapon.

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So, you know, it's more
frictionless than a metal

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detector.
Where it's a passed through

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says, some obviously, not
everyone is passed through,

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because if they do have a weapon
or something that looks like, A

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weapon, they would get stopped
but it doesn't, you know, it

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doesn't slow down the flow of
traffic and so when someone yeah

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and so that's, that's how it
works.

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Perfect.
Good to know.

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All right, in that case.
Yeah, let's start by talking

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about the previous company that
you've mentioned that you build

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from the ground up and ended up
selling Revel systems.

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What do you think, allowed you
to get to the point where, you

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know, you could actually find
someone who is willing to buy

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the company would do you think
was the key?

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Parts of reaching that success.
I know it's a broad term.

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So let's let's let's focus on
the sales part of that question.

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Yeah, I mean, so we started the
company in 2010 and really, it

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was a pivot from doing online
ordering and so, my co-founder

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and I Chris who's also, my
co-founder and Athena we were

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out there selling different
restaurants and retail shops

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online ordering at the time and
everyone was like, you know,

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that It's cool.
But what I really need is a

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point of sale system.
And I was right, when Steve Jobs

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had, just announced the iPad and
we were getting just a lot of

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demand for a point-of-sale
system.

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People are like, you know, cool
ordering system school, but I

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really need, you know, a new
point of sale system.

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So we just thought it was such a
huge pain point and the market

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and pivoted to do iPad
point-of-sale and really never

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look back and scale from I'm
there we raised a series a

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series B series C and then with
the last transaction of series,

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D my co-founder and I accident
majority of our shares to the

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private Equity Firm.
Sweet.

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Always happy to hear some nice
exit stories and that is, yeah.

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Let's, let's talk about the
changes in your sales approach

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on our printer recall.
You specifically mentioned the

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book, which I forgot to write
down by the way.

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So if you name the title and the
author, they'll be great for our

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listeners.
Puts the book is focusing on

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selling the product before
actually creating the product

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which is a very popular idea in
the startup world, but still a

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lot of Founders do not follow it
or even Attempt to follow it.

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So in your case, how did you
apply that strategy to both

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Rebel systems and then to your
current company thing to

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security?
Yeah, no, it's really good

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question.
So, the book is by a Stanford

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Professor, Steve blank, and it's
four steps to the Epiphany and

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it's a really dense book, but
the bottom line is sell the

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product and then create a
product.

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And so that's exactly what we
did arrival.

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We, you know, we're kind of out
there.

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Elena.
And then we wanted to make sure

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there was a ton of demand and
then and which product has a ton

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of demand before we then created
it.

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So we actually, when we started
Rebel, we were in a meeting.

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Like I said, selling the
ordering app and it was our, you

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know, it was this client,
Michael a poor, it's out in

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Sausalito and he's like cool
idea kids.

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But what I really need is an
ordering and I a point of sale

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system.
And so I looked at him I said,

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we'll build that for you and so
we Really kind of like pivoted

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on the spot, but we had gotten a
lot of demand, you know, a lot

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of demand and feedback from the
market.

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That was the pain point.
So we really sold the product

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and then and then you know,
we're like hey as long as you

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know, will build it for you as
long as you buy it.

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So he sign the sales contract
and then we went off to build it

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and then you know, from there we
just kept growing with Athena

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security.
I think I was a little bit.

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You know, I don't want to say
arrogant, but you know, I wasn't

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as humble as when I was starting
its Rebel systems.

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You know, I had done it before I
had a success and so I didn't

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really follow that framework.
And I really came at it from

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more of an altruistic point of
view of like, hey, we want to go

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after this.
Huge problem gun violence that's

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happening in America.
We want to use technology, help

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solve the problem.
And I went through it that way

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in our first product was
natural, light weapon detection.

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And there was demand, there was
interest, but kind of like the

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ordering a poor.
There was like some demand and

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some interest, it wasn't like
pots, so it wasn't like I think

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there's like various degrees of
like product Market fit but

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anyway, so then through selling
that, you know, it took a little

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bit longer but people were like,
hey, this is cool.

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But, you know, I can only see I
can only see a notify a brandish

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weapon.
I want to see concealed weapon.

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And so then we started building
the concealed weapon detection

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product and that's what we have
today.

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Yeah, I chose.
So let's before we talked a

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little bit more about the things
that you ready, let's talk about

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that pivot for Revel systems.
I've heard a lot of stories

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where Founders, make major
changes based on the advice of

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like an individual contributor
or even if that contributor is

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extremely wealthy and Promises a
lot in your case, why do you

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think that was justified?
You know, it was the contract.

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So big or did you just have a
lot of faith in that specific

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individual?
What did you see that same

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feedback coming from?
Number of people and then yeah,

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because it wasn't just that
individual.

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I mean, that individual I mean
at that point we thought it was

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pretty like a pretty big rush.
So I mean he was like a freak,

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you know, a franchise and
there's three or four stores and

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Sausalito.
And to us at that time, that

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seemed pretty big, but we didn't
just build it for him.

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Obviously, like we had gotten
feedback from other, you know,

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restaurant owners that we were
selling to of like, hey, cool.

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Like you're ordering out of
school but I need to integrate

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to my point of sale.
Then we Call the point-of-sale

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company and like they didn't
have open apis, and it was like,

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nah, Cloud base and just, it
just seemed like such a pain

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point, from an API perspective,
like integration.

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And then also just from a
customer demand, like everyone

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kept complaining about the
point-of-sale system.

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They just really, really
complained about the

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point-of-sale system.
So we're like, you know, that's,

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you know, an every single and we
also liked it because every

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single breath Strong typically
has to buy a point-of-sale was

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like they don't have to buy
necessarily like an ordering

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happy like it was mission
critical for the business and so

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then we knew that there was
demand mission-critical that's a

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good term which a lot of
Founders should definitely think

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about otherwise it does not
Mission critical most likely

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it's just a nice to have kind of
solution.

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Yeah so let's get back to that
book.

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I do like that whole strategy of
selling before it's builds so

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forth in a security.
How did you manage to do that?

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Because I would imagine in that
building a concealed gun

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detector is kind of complicated.
So how its selling that before

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it was actually developed?
Or did you well demo will was

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that stage when you decided to
start being reaching out to

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people and trying to get
contracts?

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Yeah.
Well actually, so we were, we

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were selling the visual light
weapon detection to a large mall

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and this is like right before
covid.

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So you know the world kind of
changed with physical security

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was covid, you know but now it's
back.

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So thank God.
But Anyway, we're selling this

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visual, I weapon detection, and
we had sold it to this mall, but

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then the mall CEO was like, you
know, I really, really, really

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want conceal.
What weapon detection and he has

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idea was like, Hey, do it
thermal like do it with thermal

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imaging and we're and you we
looked at thermal imaging, we're

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like, it's not really that
accurate.

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It only picks up on, you know,
he differentiation sort of like,

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at best, it's between like 10
and 40 percent like accuracy.

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He's like, I don't care if that
will help me more even more than

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the visual.
Right, says, it's like, at least

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some people we can detect coming
in with a weapon.

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Even, it's only even if it's
only ten to forty percent

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accurate.
So we're like, wow.

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Like this person is, yeah, this
one big large Mall CEO was

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willing to pay for for, you
know, something that is only

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done in 40 40 percent accurate.
Now, our product right now is

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way more accurate and we don't
just rely on thermal But yeah,

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that's kind of how we knew.
Do we sell it before?

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Yeah.
Like we, like right now we said

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it's different than the SMB
market so we sell crime or

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primarily to Enterprises where
Enterprises a lot.

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He's Enterprises that we're
selling to you got to solve the

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security first, you got to sell,
you know, to upper management.

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Then they got to sell it to the
board and there's like

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procurement and there's like
approval process - so, it's a

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difference sale.
Then the SMB were, you could get

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quick.
Yes.

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Isis.
But we knew we had like the

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yeses.
You know, we had at least the

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verbal yeses before we went and
built it.

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Gotcha.
Interesting.

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So the verbal.
Yes, is always good.

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My standard advice to Founders
is usually don't rely on verbal

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yeses as long as the money's not
in a bank that does not count as

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a yes.
Did you see a lot of the

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conversions from those verbal?
Yes.

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Has to actual paying customers
after you?

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Yeah, almost all of them.
And I would agree, I think your

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advice is correct because I do
think that you can get a trap or

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again it's like a nice to have
versus like I really really need

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this.
And I think that I think that

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that is why you're like hey like
get get the actual money in the

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pocket.
But again it's like it's a lot

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different starting to sell to
Enterprises and smbs.

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So we had pretty we had very
strong like verbals that it was

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just like Like getting the
paperwork done and the sometimes

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it paperwork takes like five
months of these up.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's the downside of the

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Enterprise.
That's why I don't like them.

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To be honest too long, too long.
No I think it's really hard to

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00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,900
sell to the Enterprise being a
start-up because it's like yeah,

226
00:12:37,500 --> 00:12:38,800
yeah.
So you have pressure from your

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00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:43,400
investors to make 10% month over
month growth and that it's just

228
00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,700
like not really you know it
doesn't really work like that

229
00:12:46,700 --> 00:12:49,600
and it probably does not
everyone.

230
00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:51,000
His butt.
Nope.

231
00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:55,900
So weíll talk a little bit more
about the sales part here.

232
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Because again, there are so many
applications to your system in

233
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the states, especially with the
current climate around.

234
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Everyone knows that mass
shootings every other day or

235
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daily.
And it's pretty much every

236
00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:12,300
industry that has some kind of
public involved in its in a

237
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physical space kind of requires
that solution.

238
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So, how are you staying focused
and just bring yourself too thin

239
00:13:18,100 --> 00:13:21,200
where you're falling into that.
Trap of trying to reach to Mania

240
00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:24,200
and eventually that becomes kind
of spray and pray approach that

241
00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,000
doesn't actually hit anything.
Yeah, yeah.

242
00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:30,800
I mean, I think that every
founder has or different

243
00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:33,800
approach for this.
I mean, I would say that like

244
00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:36,500
our biggest verticals,
surprisingly, like we started

245
00:13:36,500 --> 00:13:39,300
the company for schools and
schools are definitely like a

246
00:13:39,300 --> 00:13:42,400
big vertical and we see that as
a huge growth opportunity.

247
00:13:42,700 --> 00:13:47,400
But our first main vertical has
actually been Health Care over

248
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the rooms And so we've really,
really worked hard on like

249
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knowing what the customers needs
are with health care, what their

250
00:13:57,300 --> 00:14:01,600
software needs are what they
care about, what the hospital

251
00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:06,100
security people think about.
And and so yeah.

252
00:14:06,100 --> 00:14:11,800
So it's like so as far as like
customization we had to really

253
00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:13,600
make a decision on like do we
want it?

254
00:14:13,608 --> 00:14:17,300
Because my co-founder and I are,
you know, our background is snv.

255
00:14:17,300 --> 00:14:20,900
So we have like a special place
in our heart from Um, for smbs,

256
00:14:21,300 --> 00:14:24,500
you know, and so Devon and
Pitch, you know, some smbs, you

257
00:14:24,500 --> 00:14:27,900
know, jewelry stores and that
kind of thing that's still deal

258
00:14:27,900 --> 00:14:32,000
with gun violence in a little
bit of a different way, but, and

259
00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,900
they're like, grave, but we know
the product right now is like

260
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just too expensive for them.
So it's like we could go after

261
00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:42,900
this and B's and sell them hard
but it's you know you might

262
00:14:42,900 --> 00:14:45,600
you're going to get a lot better
pick up with the Enterprises.

263
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,600
So I would say we've really
focused on the Enterprises with

264
00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:52,700
this product.
And then, and then just focus on

265
00:14:52,700 --> 00:14:55,200
this Health Care, vertical
first, and then we're kind of

266
00:14:55,200 --> 00:15:00,100
expanding now.
Perfect, end to good luck with

267
00:15:00,100 --> 00:15:02,200
danger price.
It's always a tough industry to

268
00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:06,200
get into and speaking of tough
industry to get into.

269
00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:08,500
But again, as I start up,
usually don't have anything.

270
00:15:08,500 --> 00:15:11,200
You don't have ICP, he don't
really know how to pitch.

271
00:15:11,300 --> 00:15:12,600
You know, what clicks with
people?

272
00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:14,400
What kind of keywords to use.
You don't know.

273
00:15:14,700 --> 00:15:16,700
Shit.
You just go in blind.

274
00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,000
So for Founders who are
listening to this right now who

275
00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,600
have kind of a product or who
have a good idea of what the

276
00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:24,700
product is going to be look like
got to look like not be.

277
00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:27,900
What would be your advice for
them to start baking?

278
00:15:28,100 --> 00:15:30,900
Some kind of sales, even if it's
going to be like a soft limit

279
00:15:30,900 --> 00:15:33,800
plus.
I know maybe pre-order at even

280
00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:36,300
90% discount because that's
still better than nothing.

281
00:15:36,700 --> 00:15:41,500
Yeah, advice to those Founders.
Oh, my bias is just go out and

282
00:15:41,500 --> 00:15:44,700
talk to people like that's
that's what this do blank book

283
00:15:44,700 --> 00:15:48,900
talks about is like get out of
that, I'll get out of your, you

284
00:15:48,900 --> 00:15:50,300
know.
Now we all work on Overhaulin.

285
00:15:50,300 --> 00:15:52,400
Get out of your home, get out of
your office.

286
00:15:53,700 --> 00:15:56,300
And literally go talk to people
and sometimes that's hard for

287
00:15:56,300 --> 00:15:58,900
engineers, right?
Like they're you don't really

288
00:15:58,900 --> 00:16:01,000
want to go talk to people.
They just want to like, you

289
00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:04,900
know, like sit and create these,
like amazing product.

290
00:16:04,900 --> 00:16:08,300
You like, you might not know,
like, if they're, if they're

291
00:16:08,300 --> 00:16:11,300
gonna sell, right?
And so, you really, either, you

292
00:16:11,300 --> 00:16:13,800
have to be an engineer that
partners with a really good

293
00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:18,400
product Market, fit sale sales
person, or you got to kind of

294
00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:22,000
become that yourself.
So I would say, get out of its

295
00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:24,100
get out of your computer.
Get out of being on your

296
00:16:24,100 --> 00:16:26,400
computer and really go talk to
people that are going to be

297
00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:30,400
end-users in a, you know, in B2B
my a my experience is all be to

298
00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:32,800
be.
I think it's slightly different

299
00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:37,700
would be to see but but yeah, I
would say for doing a B2B

300
00:16:37,900 --> 00:16:41,300
company just really, really go
out and talk to as many people

301
00:16:41,300 --> 00:16:43,300
as you can.
Why do you think is different

302
00:16:43,300 --> 00:16:45,400
for b2c?
I actually think that B to C is

303
00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,400
even easier to talk to customers
because you might as well just

304
00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:50,200
go quite literally on the
streets.

305
00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:53,600
Busy street with him like
notepads and Start pulling

306
00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:56,800
people aside, unless you have a
very like, very targeted Market

307
00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:59,400
in your mind.
So, what do you think it's

308
00:16:59,900 --> 00:17:05,000
different or harder?
Why just think.

309
00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:07,900
Yeah, I mean, I think, I just
think B to C is just different,

310
00:17:07,900 --> 00:17:09,700
right?
It's like more like, you know,

311
00:17:09,700 --> 00:17:12,700
it depends on what kind of b2c
company are building the like a

312
00:17:12,708 --> 00:17:16,099
lot of is like okay free user
growth and then, you know,

313
00:17:16,099 --> 00:17:19,700
eventually will monetize later
or like for we're just trying to

314
00:17:19,700 --> 00:17:22,099
get users and then eventually
will monetize later and like

315
00:17:22,099 --> 00:17:23,800
figure out the business.
The clan later.

316
00:17:24,099 --> 00:17:26,900
B2B is like, okay, we understand
our business plan.

317
00:17:26,900 --> 00:17:29,100
Like from almost day, why are
you should understand your

318
00:17:29,100 --> 00:17:33,000
business plan from day one after
you get your product Market fit.

319
00:17:33,700 --> 00:17:36,700
Yeah.
But I agree, I think B to C is,

320
00:17:37,300 --> 00:17:44,000
you're still, you still want to
talk to users and, you know, see

321
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,800
what, see what they're willing
to spend their time on.

322
00:17:48,100 --> 00:17:54,200
Yeah, that's Fundraising radio
Prides itself on being very

323
00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:56,600
specific on advice.
So I'll try to narrow it down,

324
00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:58,500
even more.
I've heard it a lot, you know,

325
00:17:58,500 --> 00:18:01,600
go out, talk to users and I'm
sure a lot of work pretty much

326
00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,400
every single listener of this
podcast has heard that before

327
00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:07,400
and it is vague here like you
do.

328
00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:11,900
Do I just go pick up a phone and
start calling people on Google?

329
00:18:11,900 --> 00:18:15,900
Well, some the search or what
would you do or you know, what

330
00:18:15,900 --> 00:18:18,200
did you do for think security?
How did you start talking to

331
00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:19,800
people?
Yeah, I think it's a good

332
00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:22,300
question.
So like So, what we did is we

333
00:18:22,300 --> 00:18:24,400
first started talking to people
because we were selling

334
00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,500
something different, right?
So my co-founder and I, we did

335
00:18:27,500 --> 00:18:30,900
come up in an office, or at
home, or whatever, like, the

336
00:18:30,900 --> 00:18:34,600
ordering up idea.
And, but hey, that we think this

337
00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:36,900
might be a good idea.
So we went and tested it and

338
00:18:36,900 --> 00:18:41,600
actually started selling it and
then we like pivoted, same

339
00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:43,700
industry.
But like we pivoted a little bit

340
00:18:43,900 --> 00:18:45,400
it was just start showing it.
That's, that's the real

341
00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:47,500
question.
Do you start cold calling them.

342
00:18:47,500 --> 00:18:50,200
Did you like search hospitals in
my area?

343
00:18:50,900 --> 00:18:56,000
Yeah.
So 444 Revel.

344
00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:01,000
We so for Rebels if insecurity
since it's more recent so if

345
00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:05,400
yeah.
What's I was questioning him?

346
00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:07,200
Would you start making those
cells?

347
00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,100
How did you start going and
talking to people?

348
00:19:10,500 --> 00:19:13,900
Oh, because we launched with a
visual light weapon detection.

349
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,600
And so we had inbounds from the
visual light weapon detection.

350
00:19:18,900 --> 00:19:21,700
And so, we just started talking
to those people and that just

351
00:19:21,700 --> 00:19:24,600
seemed like a nice to have
product.

352
00:19:24,700 --> 00:19:27,900
Not a, I have to have her
product, right?

353
00:19:27,900 --> 00:19:30,300
So, how did you get the inbounds
right away?

354
00:19:30,300 --> 00:19:32,700
The inbounds.
We did a lot of press.

355
00:19:33,300 --> 00:19:36,200
Oh, all right, that makes sense.
Okay, that's a good strategy to

356
00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,700
and that's inbound is so much
better than they have outbound.

357
00:19:39,700 --> 00:19:42,000
How about is a pain in the ass
but it has to be done quite

358
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:45,000
frequently.
Yeah, but when I like that's I

359
00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:47,200
mean we got a lot of press
because we were you know, second

360
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:48,700
time Founders.
Yeah.

361
00:19:48,700 --> 00:19:51,000
But the first time like we
weren't right.

362
00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:55,100
We're I was 25 at the time when
I started it and that and that

363
00:19:55,100 --> 00:19:57,800
we are just kind of walking door
to door talking a restaurant on

364
00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:00,500
Earth.
Well, as a painful process, I've

365
00:20:00,500 --> 00:20:04,600
done that in the past, they
would have, I not been called

366
00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:10,500
there, love that part, but that
was still one of my best startup

367
00:20:10,500 --> 00:20:13,600
experiences.
Anyways, quick advice to

368
00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:15,100
Founders who are listening to
this right now.

369
00:20:15,100 --> 00:20:18,400
If you have to make cold calls
or like do a very uncomfortable,

370
00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,600
kind of procedure, what I found
out to be useful is having one

371
00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:26,100
ear with some kind of
distraction like music or

372
00:20:26,100 --> 00:20:28,300
something like that, a little
volume and the other.

373
00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:32,400
Headphone with actual telephone
call, so dial.

374
00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:36,100
In Once In One Ear, listening to
music, the other ear, listening

375
00:20:36,100 --> 00:20:40,000
to the clients, figure it out,
it helps quite a bit, you can

376
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:42,600
dissociate a little bit more but
still listening to the clients.

377
00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:46,400
So help me in the past get over
the fear of cold calling and

378
00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:50,800
works like I don't really like I
don't like cold calling is no

379
00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:52,900
one dies.
Yeah no one does.

380
00:20:53,300 --> 00:20:55,200
Here's the thing with that
strategy.

381
00:20:55,300 --> 00:20:58,300
I'm telling you I've been
stressed about it for like maybe

382
00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:00,900
Day or two.
And that I kind of just like, oh

383
00:21:00,900 --> 00:21:04,000
okay I'm not.
You know if it goes south and

384
00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,900
they dropped the phone, I still
have the music and other here.

385
00:21:06,900 --> 00:21:11,700
I don't care moving on so it
helps a lot if you have to do

386
00:21:11,700 --> 00:21:13,700
those.
Definitely try it out.

387
00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:16,100
Yeah.
I would only do it if you have

388
00:21:16,100 --> 00:21:19,100
to but like for the for like the
restaurant industry, it was

389
00:21:19,100 --> 00:21:21,300
actually better.
Just like literally go on the

390
00:21:21,300 --> 00:21:24,700
restaurant and like talk to the
right but then it takes you like

391
00:21:24,700 --> 00:21:29,100
maybe 5-10 minutes per
restaurants of walking in True,

392
00:21:29,100 --> 00:21:33,000
but your people are way more
likely to like talk to you in

393
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:36,000
person.
I actually had when I was doing

394
00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:40,100
the restaurants tarp of my own,
I had more success called

395
00:21:40,100 --> 00:21:42,100
calling surprise anymore.
Yeah.

396
00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:44,500
Male may just volume at that
point.

397
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:49,300
It's just, it's just the way to
go, you know, you know, listen

398
00:21:49,500 --> 00:21:52,500
to your music that pumps you up
and half, you know listened?

399
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,500
Yeah, yeah, that's the way, a
hundred percent.

400
00:21:55,500 --> 00:21:59,400
So now that we've covered the
old strategy of cold Which by no

401
00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,000
means is required.
But again some Industries just

402
00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,400
thriving, it's because again the
input is some Founders.

403
00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:08,500
Don't expect to cold call, you
know, B2B founders of some kind

404
00:22:08,500 --> 00:22:11,500
of a ice tarp.
Most of them list their actual

405
00:22:11,500 --> 00:22:14,900
cell phones on crunchbase.
It's just that simple and they

406
00:22:14,900 --> 00:22:17,700
just don't change it ever and
just reach out to them and say,

407
00:22:17,700 --> 00:22:19,600
hey, you found your number on
crunchbase.

408
00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:22,700
Here's what we're doing.
Open to chat.

409
00:22:23,300 --> 00:22:27,100
We're yeah, straight up Works.
Another thought?

410
00:22:27,100 --> 00:22:28,900
I had.
I've never really Done it before

411
00:22:28,900 --> 00:22:31,300
but it's like why don't people
just go to Industry event.

412
00:22:31,300 --> 00:22:33,400
So it's like they're selling
into this very, very where

413
00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:36,100
there's like heads of security
just go to just like get a

414
00:22:36,108 --> 00:22:39,000
conference ticket and then like
go to the networking events and

415
00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:40,900
just like you're right there
with the clients.

416
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:43,200
A girl.
Yes Harper sent that also does

417
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,200
work, it kind of can be
expensive depending on the

418
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:50,300
conferences but it does work
100% does and just FYI for

419
00:22:50,300 --> 00:22:54,200
people who are trying to do
that, if you plan to sell, reach

420
00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:57,200
out to the organizers of the
event.

421
00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,900
So you don't just get in Multi
kid because you get a side.

422
00:22:59,900 --> 00:23:03,500
I if you're just an attendee
trying to walk around and sell

423
00:23:03,500 --> 00:23:06,000
the hell out of everyone there
so you have to be like a

424
00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:09,200
sponsored visitor or Venture
with no tables.

425
00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,500
Some kind of dads yield that
they provides most of the time

426
00:23:12,500 --> 00:23:15,800
because again if you're coming
in as an attendee and trying to

427
00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:19,600
sell to everyone at the event,
might ghost out for you.

428
00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:21,700
So make sure to take a look at
that.

429
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,400
Make sure to not just take
advantage of organizers for

430
00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,400
putting their timing to that and
be respectful.

431
00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:30,200
So with all that That old
strategy in mind which is going

432
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,300
in person and cold calling
cannot believe.

433
00:23:32,300 --> 00:23:34,700
We're discussing that in 2023
but it does work.

434
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,200
So with all that in mind Lisa,
what do you think is the best

435
00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:41,300
technology to use right now
especially with the developments

436
00:23:41,300 --> 00:23:45,000
in AI space for sales?
Some amazing tools are coming

437
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:46,500
out.
Have you seen anything that's

438
00:23:46,500 --> 00:23:49,400
particularly useful that you've
recently employed?

439
00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:59,300
Good question.
I think we're just kind of still

440
00:23:59,300 --> 00:24:01,500
using a little builds.
Well I mean, I'd love to say,

441
00:24:01,500 --> 00:24:06,100
hey, we're using chat gbt on an
everyday basis but we're like

442
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:11,400
not really doing that.
I think just just like a variety

443
00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:17,800
of different approaches
advertising PR going just to

444
00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,000
like being industry.
Experts is really good.

445
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:23,500
We've hired some really great
industry experts on our team

446
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:29,200
that are, you know, Well known
in the industry and can kind of

447
00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:33,100
go to, you know, be an expert
and go do speeches about it and

448
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:37,700
and it's I just like educational
speeches about it and and she's

449
00:24:37,700 --> 00:24:41,100
a great way to get our name out.
Oh yeah, 100%.

450
00:24:41,100 --> 00:24:45,800
That's definitely a working
strategy, especially if you're

451
00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:47,800
selling to Enterprise, which
means that if you get one

452
00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:52,600
account out of that big speech
that it will cost you like five

453
00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:56,000
thousand dollars to set up.
Your still said in that case,

454
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:57,100
I'm going to throw in a
Suggestion.

455
00:24:57,100 --> 00:24:59,500
There, you know, obviously
tragic Beauty, everyone knows

456
00:24:59,500 --> 00:25:02,400
about that.
There are dozens and dozens of

457
00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:06,500
absolutely killer extensions.
The one, I recently started

458
00:25:06,500 --> 00:25:10,700
using is called GPT, for Sheets
tool is an absolute killer.

459
00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:15,600
If you're working with Excel or
Google Sheets, that will improve

460
00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:17,900
your life.
Like I don't 20 times, maybe

461
00:25:17,900 --> 00:25:21,400
Google ads is going to be there.
It's amazing sometimes.

462
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:25,100
It legs granted, sometimes it's
slow granted but again, it's

463
00:25:25,100 --> 00:25:26,800
improving on a daily basis, so
check it out.

464
00:25:26,900 --> 00:25:28,900
Doubt.
I'm going to leave a link in the

465
00:25:28,900 --> 00:25:32,600
description of this episode and
we are moving on to our last

466
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:34,100
question.
If today's episode which is very

467
00:25:34,100 --> 00:25:36,800
standard question that I've been
asking for three years and a

468
00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:42,300
half at this point.
So Lisa, before the listener

469
00:25:42,300 --> 00:25:45,700
drops off work right after they
drop off, what do you want them

470
00:25:45,700 --> 00:25:47,200
to do?
What is one thing that you want

471
00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:50,100
them to do to improve their
complaint to improve their

472
00:25:50,100 --> 00:25:52,200
sales?
Just one thing that will have an

473
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:55,200
actual effect on their success
or get them closer to that

474
00:25:55,200 --> 00:26:00,600
success.
Yeah, because the one advice I

475
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:06,400
have is like be comfortable with
being uncomfortable and as long

476
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:10,900
as you're putting yourself out,
there you're doing better than

477
00:26:10,900 --> 00:26:14,000
one of those cold, timid Souls,
that know, neither Victory nor

478
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:17,700
defeat, because you're out there
in the arena and I am

479
00:26:17,700 --> 00:26:21,700
paraphrasing, I like a Teddy
Roosevelt, well, you know,

480
00:26:21,700 --> 00:26:23,300
you're in there Arena.
And it's like, if you get

481
00:26:23,300 --> 00:26:26,700
rejected, it's like, actually
think that think of That is a

482
00:26:26,700 --> 00:26:30,700
good thing because you're
actually doing it versus those

483
00:26:30,700 --> 00:26:32,200
people that are too afraid to
try.

484
00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:37,900
Oh yeah. 100% granted.
Some rejections are memorable.

485
00:26:37,900 --> 00:26:40,600
I for example still remember my
days of walking door-to-door to

486
00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:44,300
restaurants and someone call me
snowflake that has nothing

487
00:26:44,300 --> 00:26:47,500
better to do but you know move
down.

488
00:26:47,900 --> 00:26:51,800
Still remember it though.
So if you think something is too

489
00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:53,500
uncomfortable for you to do,
that's also Fair.

490
00:26:53,500 --> 00:26:56,100
Don't push yourself too far or
you'll burn out.

491
00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:58,000
My piece of advice is going to
be.

492
00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:01,200
As always, check out the
description of this episode.

493
00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:02,900
I'm going to leave a bunch of
Link's there.

494
00:27:03,100 --> 00:27:04,500
A link to the book.
That's Lisa.

495
00:27:04,500 --> 00:27:08,800
Mentioned to link to Athena
security and link to the GPT

496
00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:13,000
extension dimension for Google
Sheets, and I'll also leave to

497
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,900
our sub stack because a lot of
content that I've recently

498
00:27:15,900 --> 00:27:18,800
produced is going there instead
of the podcast.

499
00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:22,600
So check that out.
And as usually have a good day,