Hey folks,
I thought I’d start off by sharing another example of how existing hiring practices in tech (including existing software solutions) are broken.
This week, after getting turned away multiple times, a software engineer created and applied to several companies using a fake resume that focused on pedigree instead of skills. They listed a well-known college (UC Berkeley) under education and names of well-known companies (e.g. Microsoft, Instagram, and LinkedIn) under experience. For specifics within each company, they listed nonsense such as:
“Improved LinkedIn search algorithm efficiency and accuracy through the usage of VoldemortDB, Charizard, and Hadoop”
Connected with Reid Hoffman on LinkedIn and slid in the dm’s
This resume received a 90% callback rate (⁉️) including from companies like AirBnB, Reddit, Dropbox, Notion, AirTable, Outschool, and others.
Oof. We’ve got work to do.
Past 2 weeks
🔴 — Acquire 2 more customers to be part of the CalmCode pilot
Customers acquired in past two weeks: Zero. Why? It’s mainly because I only pitched a handful of companies 😞.
In the last post, I stated that the one thing I could do better was to refine my sales pitch. In doing so, I realized that my pitch was too niche and not compelling enough to convert the founders I had been talking to. As a result, I ended up iterating on both the pitch and the overall product offering for CalmCode. You can find the updated offering now at calmcode.co
🟢 — Continue the search for a co-founder
I’ve had several conversations and a couple of working sessions (including an introduction that came as a result of the last post — thank you, Clark! 💚)
I’ve also begun to evaluate programs like OnDeck, Transcend Network, YC, and any others I can find that could be helpful in building a team of advisors, mentors, and co-founder(s).
1 thing I could do better
Setting better goals
In general, B2B sales conversions take time — even when you know your customer, product, and positioning well. It was unrealistic to set a goal to acquire two more high-value ($1K+ / mo) customers within two weeks.
That said, I feel like I now have more clarity on my target customer and positioning, and have a more compelling offering. I’ve also had time to determine how I will handle a couple of possible objections and have a clear ask.
These resources have been helpful in navigating the early-stage B2B sales landscape:
Next 2 weeks
[Sales + Marketing] Pitch 30 prospects
[Product] Ship v1 of the core product experience
[Team] Apply to 1 incubator program
Thanks for reading!