Ask HN: What's the hardest part of doing biz dev to generate direct sales?
Would love to hear thoughts from HNers who hack AND sell.
For those who had to jump in on the sales/biz dev efforts at your startup, what are the biggest challenges you face?
Is it lead generation? Is it identifying the decision maker and figuring out how to get in front of them? Is it closing deals?
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I find it the first two. Identifying prospects and finding who to contact. Especially when we don't yet have a mentor. I think if we had a mentor who knew the right people, how the industry works and what works, it would be invaluable. Building something was the easy part for us (well, not easy) but making a profit is the hard part.
Timing.
You need to know when you're selling yourself, and you need to know when you're selling your product. You can't sell your product until you sell yourself; if you try to, especially in B2B and smaller markets, you might lose your sale.