ActVen

Background: I was part-owner of a company that sold last year for 8 figures. It was primarily a professional services firm with software that drove our competitive advantage. Most of our projects ranged in price from 20k to over 200k.

For us it was taking an open and educational marketing approach online. Even though it may seem obvious for many of those in the technology and B2C worlds, a very large proportion of B2B companies do not believe they can generate leads online. Even if they do realize this, they typically approach it by only talking about how great their product is with language that simply doesn't resonate with the potential buyer. Prior to implementing these strategies we generated business by cold calling and other outbound marketing techniques. We were able to get to a point where 80% of our revenue was coming from our inbound marketing. This led to a great "hockey stick" pattern on our revenue chart and our eventual acquisition.

Stock prices for companies like Apple have little to do with fundamental value. Prices are based largely on the trajectory of the company's success in the recent past. Apple has done some outstanding things in the last five years. There is not a tangible failure they have had that would make the market think this history of success would not continue, except for the resignation and passing of Steve Jobs. I think you will see a major reduction in price when Apple makes its first significant mistake in the post-Jobs era.

I bought the Kindle DX specifically for this purpose. The size and general text comes out well for Kindle format books. However, the PDF experience is really lacking. You can zoom in on the pages and exhibits, but it is not intuitive. If you have a PDF that has significant margins on it, it really starts to lose its appeal. I have found myself using an iPad pdf reader or my laptop quite a bit more than the Kindle DX for reading PDFs. Having a color screen also really helps for the code sections. I probably wouldn't have bought the DX if I knew what I know now about its abilities within the PDF sphere. It does a great job with ebook formats, but my books are split 50/50 between PDF and ebook formats.

I can't agree with you more. I think this is one area where there would be some demand...but nothing is available at the right price point. It could be that the technology isn't there yet.

This generation is the first to grow up staring at close, backlit screens most of the day. There will be some long term consequences if we don't find some way to lessen the impact on the human eye. Our eyes evolved in a very unique way due to our environment. Drastically changing how we use them within one generation is already causing more people to have issues. Our eyes developed to perform well at varied distances in sunlight. Now, we typically look at something very close that projects an image with light. Granted, everyone needs to take a break and get outside and away from technology...but that gets harder as talented developers and engineers keep on creating great products and experiences.

Yes. I don't have many specific complaints with Google Search. However, as companies get larger they often look "upward" at upper management and investors instead of looking "downward" at their customers. What I mean by this is they are often more concerned with pleasing their bosses, meeting revenue goals for investors, and generally not rocking the boat. This presents a great opportunity for small companies to disrupt the market.

You should definitely read "Seeing What's Next" by Clayton Christensen to get a better idea of where the weaknesses can be found in companies that dominate the market. A focus on semantic search certainly sounds like it could be a good area for a new entrant to gain some ground. Good luck!

I haven't worked with them, but take a look at www.SproutBox.com They are a VC firm with a pretty cool model. It appears as though they have worked with non-developer founders in the past (i.e. Proposable).

I think it is great that you provided a follow up to the post. Thanks for adding value to the community.

Yes you should get a lawyer to help you understand it. However, try to get a recommendation from someone you trust and then give specific instructions to the lawyer. Tell the lawyer you want to have them review the contract with you in the room and explain what the various terms mean. This will help you learn about some of the topics and see if it is a lawyer with which you might want to build a relationship with for future business dealings. Spending a few hundred dollars on this type of activity will greatly benefit you in the long run.

I'm not sure about YC's case. But, at the base of it: Convertible Notes = Debt. Even though they provide a chance at equity in the future, that is not guaranteed. I have heard more than a few Angel Investors indicate they are in the business of investing in companies, not lending money.

In addition to discussing this with customers and a/b testing, I think you should consider the capital your firm has available. If you have sufficient capital to use a commission model, that lines up all of the incentives correctly. However, you should also pay attention to the cost to onboard the new customers. If this cost and/or time commitment is significant, you may have additional pressure on your bottom line during a time of high growth. You should also think about how many customers only conduct one of these deals and then drop off the map. If your cost to onboard is high then these customers will pose problems with your commission model. You might consider adding a commitment to a minimum number of events(deals) or price points if they want the commission model. That should help address the possibility of one time users becoming a liability.

Try contacting your local American Marketing Association(or Advertising Federation) group. They are always looking for speakers and sponsors. You could speak about the issue at hand if you are able to do it without making it into a sales pitch. They also typically are looking for companies to sponsor a luncheon for a fairly small fee. Then, you get a chance to speak with some of them after the meeting.

You could also provide a few free subscriptions to the the service to marketing journalists and just ask them to take a look at the product for you. Don't ask them to write an article about it. If they see the use they may mention it in their publication.

Do you have a referral program for current customers? Something like earning a discount if they get others to sign up. This can put a viral component in your product that can help it grow.

Congratulations on the call. We just sold our business last year for 8 figures to a company that contacted us out of the blue. We weren't on the market or really thinking about selling at the time. Here are a few thoughts that might be useful to you:

-Keep these two factors in mind: You are in control and this is a sales transaction(although a bit more complicated). Like any sales transaction, the first thing that is important is to learn as much as you can about the buyers needs. You should let them speak first about what their business is and why they might be interested in an acquisition. Go ahead and start off the conversation with questions about this if they don't start with talking about their interests. Feel free to probe further during their initial description if they aren't providing enough detail. During the first part of the call you want them to be doing most of the talking. This will allow you to describe your business in a way that is relevant to their goals and needs. Remembering you are in control is important because it is critical to display confidence and not look too eager at this point.

-What you share depends on the buyer's potential for being a competitor and the existence of an NDA. During the first call we spoke in very broad terms about the upward trend in revenues, but we didn't get into too many specifics. We waited until we learned more about the buyer, had an NDA, and considered our interest in selling. Because it is a sales transaction(see above), you will need to share enough to make them want more information and continue the discussions. Even if you get an NDA, they can still use the information if they buy a competitor or start something on their own. So, try and keep the "secret recipe" of your unique success a secret until after the transaction progresses a little further.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I have only gone through this once, but I would be happy to share my experience with you.

Here are few methods that I used for my company before it was sold last year:

Always Make Direct and Personalized Pitches to Publications: Approach the editors directly with a compelling message about what your company is doing for their readers. This should be personalized to their audience and you should take a look at a few past issues and reference articles when appropriate. You can take a look at their editorial calendar and see if your product fits into any upcoming issues as well.

Work from Niche Publications to Mainstream Publications: Pitch editors at niche publications that your buyers read. We used the following as stepping stones that eventually got us calls from CNN/WSJ. Start with well written non-promotional blog entries. Reference these blog entries when you approach your niche publications as evidence that you have something important to say to their audience. After success with some niche publications, use those articles to get you into a broader publication.

See if Member Association Relationships Make Sense: We sold about 20 percent of our services to schools. We were able to arrange an exclusive endorsement from some of the leading national educational member associations. We set up a deal where they showcased our product to their members, and it created a revenue stream for the association. This allowed us to gain further exposure within the media, and gave us a very powerful endorsement during the selling process.

I hope these are useful to you.

P.S. I looked at your site and it seems like you have a great product. Feel free to contact me directly if you have any other questions.

Congrats on the launch. I have used a service called Proposable before which seems to offer some similar capabilities. The analytics and tracking of the proposal reader is something that was very valuable to me as a B2B marketer.

I think this can be addressed by really thinking about your users and their profile. If these people tend to like to be informed about unique or little-known facts, they are probably fairly inquisitive. They might even like brain teasers, quiz games, etc. I think you should test this out by including one or two featured links to products that your market might appreciate.

For example, when talking about the Abe Lincoln/Secret Service example you might include further reading about Abe Lincoln with a link to the book Team of Rivals. This is a good example of an obvious subject-link related to the little-known fact. However, you could also include links to trivia games on Amazon, or general knowledge books like the World Almanac of Presidential Facts. I would include some humor in your links as well.

Take your best ideas and include a short survey in your email to get your users' opinion on the options.

SmartFlix is great. We subscribe and I'm happy to run into one of the creators here. Congrats.