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Sounds like a somewhat uniquely New York problem, rather than a generally applicable lesson. An equally valid position is: don’t cap the size of your addressab
by jameshart 4y ago
Sounds like a somewhat uniquely New York problem, rather than a generally applicable lesson.
An equally valid position is: don’t cap the size of your addressable market to just people who live in the place you work.
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago> a somewhat uniquely New York problem, rather than a generally applicable lesson An oil & gas start-up in San Francisco is going to have a tougher time than one in Houston. You don’t see those much. But you do see e.g. agtech in the Bay Area flying out weekly salespeople to Iowa. It’s trivial for a competitor to undercut them on credibility alone. That said, I think this is more pertinent to sales than other fields. And for some businesses, proximity to capital trumps proximity to customers.
- jacobr1 4y agoIt is very common for B2B business to have local sale people in-region, regardless of headquarters.
- verisimilidude 4y agoNot to get too pedantic, but California does have a massive agriculture industry. UC Davis is one of the best schools in the field. It’s not much of a stretch at all for agtech businesses to grow and thrive here, locally. I guess you could argue those businesses should be in Sacramento instead of San Jose. But example aside, I do agree with your overall point.
- JumpCrisscross 4y agoTotally! Which doubled my Iowan buddy’s confusion. A Central Valley, Davis or Irvine-based company would have credibility a San Francisco-based on doesn’t. That “won’t even open the door” effect is huge, and part of what the author is getting at. (The other being org chart discrepancies.)
- verisimilidude 4y agoAgreed, that does make a lot of sense.
- akiselev 4y agoCalifornia’s agriculture industry is not only massive but also one of the most profitable in the country, accounting for a disproportionate fraction of the food Americans eat (as opposed to e.g. corn for distillers/biofuels/animal feed) and US exports to the rest of the world. Based on cash receipts, California is #1 in the country overall (Iowa is second followed by Nebraska and Texas)
- JumpCrisscross 4y agoDon’t think I’m going out on a limb suggesting a Fresno farmer will receive an Ann Arbor or Irvine-based start-up more warmly than one from San Francisco.
- akiselev 4y agoOh I’ll take your word on that, having no ag-sales experience myself :-) Just wanted to point out that even before accounting for industry size, there’s just more profit sloshing around California’s ag industry which makes it easier to square market fit with the returns VCs desire.