Techies are from Venus, Salespeople are from Mars
-
Upload
mars-discovery-district -
Category
Business
-
view
1.496 -
download
3
description
Transcript of Techies are from Venus, Salespeople are from Mars
Techies are from Venus, Salespeople are from Mars:Strategies for effective communication in a
start-up environment
Lance Laking, CEO April 3, 2008
3
Outline
Set the stage - the BTI context
Culture & communication style
Fostering teamwork
Challenges
Compensation / incentive programs
Q&A
4
Introduction
Access
Packet Optical Edge
MetroCore
Mission: A leading global supplier ofPacket Optical Edge solutions forservice provider & corporatenetworks Gigabit Services for 4G Wireless, HD Video &
Business Services
Packet + Optical + Edge Technology
Carrier Class quality and performance
90 customers
Strategic partnership with Fujitsufor Tier 1 Carriers
Global OEMs relationships
Global addressable market growingto $3.5B+ by 2010
180+ employees: Canada, US and Europe
5
A Gigabit World Driven By Growth in Video
Mb DataTransport
Log Scale
Wireline Apps Wireless Apps
Online Video: 7% traffic in 2005 18% in 2007Metro IP Traffic Growth Forecast: 400% 2006 2011*
*Source: Cisco Systems Global IP Traffic Forecast - 2007
0.01
0.1
1
10
100
1000
10000
Wireline Apps Wireless Apps
MP33 Mb
iTunes3 minVideo38 Mb
HDMovie6 Gb
iTunesfeaturemovie1500 Mb
Photoshare30 Kb
15 s Videomsg 15 fps0.9 Mb
3min Vcast15 fps10.8Mb
20 min video30 fps 180 Mb
6
BTI Systems’ Leadership Team & Investors
Lance Laking (BTI 2001) President & CEO HUBER+SUHNER, Dynasty
Components
Glenn Thurston (BTI 2004) VP Marketing Nortel (VP Global Alliances)
Paul Harrison (BTI 2005) VP Global Sales - Dallas Ekinops, Xtera, Alcatel US, Italy, Marconi UK
Jon Boocock (BTI 2007) VP Engineering VP/Co-Founder Catena (Ciena) VP Cadence
Franca Marinelli (BTI2007)
VP Organizational Development Catena / DRS / Spar Aerospace
John Haydon (BTI 2008) SVP Global Operations Breconridge, President &COO Nortel, Chief Procurement
Officer
Gregory Koss Exec Chairman (BTI 2007)
• CEO of Internet Photonics sold to CIENA in 2004• CEO of Sonoma Systems sold to Nortel in 2000
7
Service Delivery Platform
Data Storage SONET/SDH Video
MobileInternet
VideoConsumerServices
BusinessServices
EnterpriseNetworks
WholesaleServices
Extensive Protocol Suite to Deliver Today’s Services & Applications
Full Packet + Optical Flexibility for Metro/Edge Applications
8
The take-away: our playing field:
A very technical product
A technical sales process
A long, complex, B2B sales cycle
High growth market dynamics
Very much a David & Goliath landscape
9
Functional view: 125% headcount growth
16
6
45
9
4
Sales & Marketing
Product Marketing
Development
Mfg & Ops
Finance, IT & HR
29
6
109
28
8
2007: 80 employees
2008: 180 employees
10
Venus & Mars
Photonics research
Sales & MarketingSoftwareEngineers
+
= ???
+
11
Motivation & drive:different strokes for different folks
Peer recognition
Papers published, patentapplications
Speaking at industryforums
Technical challenge
“coin operated”
“show me themoney”
12
But wait a minute:we’re not that different
Everyone needs recognition - the “feeling” that you are
important, that you are contributing to the success of the
business, and that your efforts are respected and
appreciated by fellow employees
On budget / On time
Cracking a new customer
Selling on value
Customer testimonials – helping solve real problems
Technical teams want to work on a successful products.
Sales teams want to sell winning products. The common
metric is real customers and market share.
13
Culture
Every company has a culture, every company has politics
• Perception is reality
• Work with it
Observations / my sandbox
• Significant company restructuring in 2002
• Culture changes with company lifecycle:
― The $1M, 5M, 10M, 25M, 50M, 100M barriers
• We’re trés multinational
• Recruiting push to capture expanding market
14
Communication style
• Not your `typical` Tech CEO
• Be OPEN, honest, straightforward
• Try to tie in the remote teams
• Set 3, clear over-arching objectives, & repeat
• Share the numbers, the good, the bad & the ugly
• Regular informal updates
• Semi-annual formal update
• No problem with mistakes (but not repeat mistakes)
15
Challenges
The VC influence
• The same vested interest or ??
• An exit and minimum 20% IRR is natural
As the company grows up…
• Start-up excuses go away
• Employment / HR expectations expand
• Balancing formal (employee handbook)with informal (“just do it”) gets harder
• Act BIG, be small gets harder
16
Fostering teamwork
Trade notes
• Technical teams are starved for customer feedback
• Sales teams are starved to technical innovation / uniqueness
Push decisions to where the expertise resides
Product marketing / product line management isthe key linkage
On occasion…take a ‘software geek’ to a customer,and bring a ‘sales puke’ into the lab
17
Fostering teamwork – have fun
If a man insisted always on being serious,
and never allowed himself
a bit of fun and relaxation,
he would go mad or become unstable
without knowing itHerodotus
18
Fostering teamwork – have fun
Organize events at least quarterly• beach volleyball• yoga• Skating on the canal,• curling (yes, curling)• picnics, ziplines, whatever• at least one party with spouses / guests
The leader sets the tone, but the activitiesare best when event coordination is spreadaround
19
Compensation & Incentives
Fair, transparent and equitable
• People talk, especially engineers
Salaries (the “start-up” factor)
• You have to be competitive – but not the highest
• You have to pay a premium for “A” players – but it’s worth it
• Challenge, responsibility, recognition and reward trump pure $$$
20
Compensation & Incentives
Company-wide incentive plan• 10% “at plan” , 20% stretch
• Metrics must be aggressive, but realistic
• Combination of financial / market / product milestones
• Always drive home the capital efficiency message (Cash FlowPositive…)
Stock Options• Still in vogue, but not Holy Grail
“Fun” and other rewards work• Create a friendly competition / bragging rights• Does not require big bags of $$$• Examples: IP², a goofy award, employee referral bonus
21
Closing comments - Marrying Teams:
Set a tone that is open, based on mutual respect, and
interactive
Don’t play favourites
Communicate frequently – informally and formally
Tie in customer and market touch wherever and whenever
you can
Structure rewards and incentives to reinforce the behaviour
and culture that you are looking for
22
Thank-you