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Seriously, this article made front page from someone who openly admits he is not from the software industry yet questions how it operates? Simply put: Software

by apapli 14y ago

Seriously, this article made front page from someone who openly admits he is not from the software industry yet questions how it operates? Simply put: Software companies aren't all the same. Some sell to consumers (B2C), others to businesses (B2B), and others sell to both. You won't find many B2C companies with sales people, due to the cost of sale outweighing the return from one customer. Oppositely you won't find many B2B companies without them, as cost of sale is built into the price (read up on high vs low involvement products if you need to know more). B2C's typically rely on marketers instead, as they can help spread a message across a broader prospect base, keeping the cost of sale down. Sales is a set of activities a person does to compel someone else to sign a contract. So all those B2B startups probably do have sales people (eg people selling), just that they may be the founders or developers helping prospects with the hope of them converting to customers. Finally, the reason salespeople aren't running software companies? Depends what you mean - no they may not be founders. But once a company is growing, and trying to grow faster - show me which company doesn't seek advice from their sales and/or marketers on how this should be achieved.

chriswilliams 14y ago
Apapi, Agreed, all software companies are different. There is also a huge distinction between software-to-software sales (where the product design is more important) and software-to-outside-world sales. Most of our customers pay with CHECKS, yes, checks. They aren't software people so the design doesn't need to as good in the beginning. Chris
- craigching 14y ago
  >> Agreed, all software companies are different. To a certain extent, there is a lot in common in the software industry whether you're selling to the consumer market, the enterprise market or the smb market. >> There is also a huge distinction between software-to-software sales (where the product design is more important) and software-to-outside-world sales. I'm not 100% sure I understand, are you talking about consumer software (software-to-outside-world) and enterprise software (software-to-software sales)? Because marketing can be different, agreed, but development of the product is not that different. Unless you're trying to talk about internal apps vs. products ? >> Most of our customers pay with CHECKS, yes, checks. They aren't software people so the design doesn't need to as good in the beginning. Not sure how someone pays for software matters, care to explain? Sorry, but you don't seem to really understand software product development, neither from the sales side, the marketing side, nor the engineering side. Not from the post itself nor from your comments. But I guess you say that up front so "it's ok" ... ? ... I guess?
dsfasfasf 14y ago
I think is a great article because it provides the perspective of an "outsider". It was pretty refreshing to read the ideas of somebody trying to get into the software business. What makes it more interesting is that it is a sales person, the type of people that many coders dislike because they kick our butt in, well, selling ourselves. Many times sales people do better then engineers in a big company because they are better able to impress people and forge political alliances. Note that I also think that a sales person is closely related to a business person. If you've ever been to a large corporation, many times the engineering offices are some of the crappiest while the business offices are some of the nicest.

by apapli 14y ago

chriswilliams 14y ago

Apapi, Agreed, all software companies are different. There is also a huge distinction between software-to-software sales (where the product design is more important) and software-to-outside-world sales. Most of our customers pay with CHECKS, yes, checks. They aren't software people so the design doesn't need to as good in the beginning. Chris

craigching 14y ago
>> Agreed, all software companies are different. To a certain extent, there is a lot in common in the software industry whether you're selling to the consumer market, the enterprise market or the smb market. >> There is also a huge distinction between software-to-software sales (where the product design is more important) and software-to-outside-world sales. I'm not 100% sure I understand, are you talking about consumer software (software-to-outside-world) and enterprise software (software-to-software sales)? Because marketing can be different, agreed, but development of the product is not that different. Unless you're trying to talk about internal apps vs. products ? >> Most of our customers pay with CHECKS, yes, checks. They aren't software people so the design doesn't need to as good in the beginning. Not sure how someone pays for software matters, care to explain? Sorry, but you don't seem to really understand software product development, neither from the sales side, the marketing side, nor the engineering side. Not from the post itself nor from your comments. But I guess you say that up front so "it's ok" ... ? ... I guess?

dsfasfasf 14y ago

I think is a great article because it provides the perspective of an "outsider". It was pretty refreshing to read the ideas of somebody trying to get into the software business. What makes it more interesting is that it is a sales person, the type of people that many coders dislike because they kick our butt in, well, selling ourselves. Many times sales people do better then engineers in a big company because they are better able to impress people and forge political alliances. Note that I also think that a sales person is closely related to a business person. If you've ever been to a large corporation, many times the engineering offices are some of the crappiest while the business offices are some of the nicest.