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Yeah. Well, can all sales people run businesses? Let's start from the basic questions: 1. How do you know X is more difficult than Y technically. How do you tr
by abc_lisper 14y ago
Yeah. Well, can all sales people run businesses?
Let's start from the basic questions:
1. How do you know X is more difficult than Y technically. How do you trust somebody who says X or Y? Should they sell you the idea because, ya know, you are a sales person?
2. What makes a sales person? Ability to sell a product A? Is selling A different from B? Do you specialize in A? How are you different from somebody who too can sell A? Do they need a degree to do it? Can our average car sales man do it? Yes or no, please give me your reasons..
3. Can you give me good examples of sales people running any other businesses? Businesses that, ya know, don't suck.
4. Salespeople usually do well in business where the technology is mature. Ya know, not long ago, there was this "fruit" company that was brought to its knees by a "cola" sales guy. And there is a Seattle company that is getting off rails slowly.
- apapli 14y agoAnswer to q3. Benioff (salesforce.com), Ellison (oracle), heck probably Ballmer as well, he certainly doesn't seem to get how to run product development.
- abc_lisper 14y agoEllison was a programmer. Benioff was a programmer too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Benioff#Career http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Benioff#Career Given the position Microsoft was in 2000, when Mr.B took charge, I don't think their position could be much worse.
- apapli 14y agoTrue, but I expect all three spend a fair portion of their time selling nowadays. Sales is a collection of activities, not necessarily a full time role.
- thedufer 14y agoBut isn't the article about sales people starting businesses? Those people would undoubtably have been called programmers, not sales people, when they started (except Ballmer, who didn't start a company at all).
- apapli 14y agoAnd agree with your comment about Mr B, probably could have found a better example :)
- JanezStupar 14y agoAnd Balmer has certainly been around some leet techies enough to have a better understanding of technology than 3/4 of HN people.
- jzukoff 14y agoYour 4th point is key here and its something the author just doesn't seem to understand..