David Cummings on Startups

Sales Focused Cultures

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David Cummings

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I just finished reading the book Jungle Rules by John Imlay and really enjoyed learning about the origins of the technology community in Atlanta. What the book really did was drive home the importance of having a sales focused corporate culture. Here are a few anecdotes that emphasize the type of sales focus of a few companies:

  • MSA, the largest software company in the world at one point in the 1970s, brought in exotic animals, especially tigers, at their annual sales kick-offs, among other events
  • The CEO of Omniture, a company recently acquired by Adobe for $1.8B, had “QBSR” as his car license plate – Quota Bearing Sales Rep
  • Salesforce.com, the largest SaaS company in the world, has approximately 3,000 employees, of which 1,500 are in sales

I recommend analyzing ways to make sales more top of mind in startup cultures.

Comments

6 responses to “Sales Focused Cultures”

  1. Mike Schinkel Avatar
    Mike Schinkel

    Great post. While I don’t always like the culture created by a company so top heavy on sales people as Saleforce.com, I wholeheartedly agree that startups need to make sales one of their primary concerns.

    Reply
    1. davidcummings Avatar
      davidcummings

      Thanks Mike. I agree that startups don’t emphasize sales enough.

      Reply
  2. Joe Colopy Avatar
    Joe Colopy

    Good post and very true.

    As a general rule of thumb, you want at least 20% of your company to be quota holding. Easier said than done when you are small but extremely important.

    Reply
    1. davidcummings Avatar
      davidcummings

      Thanks Joe. I hadn’t heard the 20% rule before but it makes sense. In my company we’re just under 20% QBSRs.

      Reply
  3. Hiring Your First Sales Person « 10,000 Startup Hours – David Cummings

    […] Sales Focused Cultures […]

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  4. The Unacknowledged Legacy of MSA on Atlanta « 10,000 Startup Hours – David Cummings

    […] well documented but there’s an area that is rarely talked about: the MSA legacy of a hyper sales-focused culture. In my experience, B2B software companies that are the most successful are ones with excellent […]

    Reply

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