Which Sales Strategy Is Best For Your Startup?

Ғылым және технология

Our series Versus pits two competing concepts against each other. In this episode, Y Combinator Visiting Group Partner, Pete Koomen, explores two common B2B sales strategies: Top Down and Bottom Up. Pete helps define each and discusses how a startup should choose and build their sales motion.
Apply to Y Combinator: www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Work at a startup: www.ycombinator.com/jobs
Chapters (Powered by bit.ly/chapterme-yc) -
00:00 - Sell your product: Bottoms up and Top down
00:23 - Top down sales
02:44 - Bottoms up sales
05:21 - Wrap-up
06:00 - Outro

Пікірлер: 31

  • @mPajuhaan
    @mPajuhaan Жыл бұрын

    Sales for startups are the topic I really like to hear more about it.

  • @777Kiq

    @777Kiq

    Жыл бұрын

    and the least explored.

  • @GavinTye1

    @GavinTye1

    Жыл бұрын

    Doing it well is hard!

  • @chapterme
    @chapterme Жыл бұрын

    Chapters (Powered by ChapterMe) - 00:00 - Sell your product: Bottoms up and Top down 00:23 - Top down sales 01:07 - Biggest advantage 01:34 - Biggest downside 02:06 - How to build a top down sales motion 02:44 - Bottoms up sales 03:47 - Advantages 04:30 - Building a bottoms up sales motion 05:21 - Wrap-up

  • @ACCA2016
    @ACCA20165 ай бұрын

    Thanks for making clear of top down approach and bottom up approach in such a short video. Deeply appreciate it.

  • @ycombinator
    @ycombinator Жыл бұрын

    Who is your startup selling to? Are you going top down or bottom up?

  • @ManiDoraisamy-GDE

    @ManiDoraisamy-GDE

    Жыл бұрын

    At Formfacade, we are going bottoms up - selling to Google Workspace users. The 50/50 split up between top down vs bottom up sales at YC starups is very useful. Can you share how this trends over time? e.g: Did it go from 80/20 in 2000s to 65/35in 2010s to 50/50 in 2020s? It would helps us understand, if bottoms up is an inevitable shift that SaaS startups have to go through in the future.

  • @LaduramVishnoi
    @LaduramVishnoi Жыл бұрын

    Both approaches are amazing. The Top-down is primarily outbound, and the bottom-up is mostly inbound. Great video Pete, love to see more.

  • @GavinTye1
    @GavinTye1 Жыл бұрын

    To tell top down you really must become an expert in the 3 stages of creating demand. It's only when you demand in the sales process will you consistently close sales this way...and this isn't a marketing function, it shouls form part of the overall sales strategy...

  • @ibrand23
    @ibrand235 ай бұрын

    It also seems like you will need to employ a bit from each model eventually, depending of the startup?

  • @benholmquist3589
    @benholmquist3589 Жыл бұрын

    You said "$10K price floor for mid-market, and $100K floor for enterprise". Is there a clear definition of the two? How do we know which we are? We are looking at around a $25K price for deals that we sell to colleges.

  • @MrKaugaban
    @MrKaugaban Жыл бұрын

    Can it be both and meet at the middle?

  • @themartdog
    @themartdog5 ай бұрын

    Seems like some products would need bottom-up sales to polish their products with the end-users who would use it. Then make the big sale to the top, selling how all of that job title in their enterprise should be using it

  • @legendhasit2568
    @legendhasit2568 Жыл бұрын

    Nice!

  • @chrislloyd2352
    @chrislloyd2352 Жыл бұрын

    Okay, YC companies are split evenly in terms of their sales strategy. Now let's see that split among successful YC companies.

  • @monaiqbal3978
    @monaiqbal3978 Жыл бұрын

    Hey have seen your website and have few questions: How can we know that a specific startup is funded or not?.

  • @ycombinator

    @ycombinator

    Жыл бұрын

    you can search for specific companies here: www.ycombinator.com/companies

  • @cdb5662
    @cdb5662 Жыл бұрын

    For top down… is that $10k to $100k price figure monthly or annually?

  • @petekoomen3895

    @petekoomen3895

    Жыл бұрын

    Annually

  • @williammurmann8948
    @williammurmann8948 Жыл бұрын

    Middle out

  • @jeremiahdeleon5123
    @jeremiahdeleon5123 Жыл бұрын

    Bottom up is hard now because they need approve from there team now before they try tools!

  • @OfficialClintJames
    @OfficialClintJames3 ай бұрын

    Came here for the tops vs. bottoms comments...

  • @arifbergmann007
    @arifbergmann007 Жыл бұрын

    👍

  • @AI_news_ru
    @AI_news_ru8 ай бұрын

    Funny that this video has singificantly less views then any other video. Nobody wants to do sales)))

  • @amanciocohen5965
    @amanciocohen5965 Жыл бұрын

    This is so stupid. In a startup the founder should be doing the sales directly. This is very against Paul Graham's advice

  • @gsnayyar

    @gsnayyar

    Жыл бұрын

    You are partially right but now funding is easily secured and the job of talking to customers fall on/sourced to hired resources as opposed to someone who should have his ears to the ground. Another reason why more start ups fail.

  • @petekoomen3895

    @petekoomen3895

    Жыл бұрын

    I agree that founders should be selling directly until they find product/market fit. Was there something in the video that suggested otherwise?

  • @gsnayyar

    @gsnayyar

    Жыл бұрын

    @@petekoomen3895 No, your video is very informative, I shared with business associates as well. While you explain what sort of sales process to follow, OP is more concerned with who should do it. If you can delve deeper into the subject and share more insights here or paid courses, it would be wonderful. Thank you.

  • @juliuspreloznik7236
    @juliuspreloznik7236 Жыл бұрын

    What’s the difference between top down / bottom up and PLG/SLG?

  • @ycombinator

    @ycombinator

    Жыл бұрын

    Top-down vs bottom-up sales refers to how the sales process is initiated. In top-down, the sales team proactively reaches out to target customers. In bottom-up, the sales team relies on customer interest to generate sales. PLG (Product Lead Growth) vs SLG (Sales Lead Growth) refers to what drives the growth of the company. In PLG, the company relies on building a great product that generates organic customer growth. In SLG, the company relies on hiring a large sales team to directly reach out to new customers and generate growth through sales capacity.

  • @rrichforever

    @rrichforever

    Жыл бұрын

    I think PLG goes with bottom up and SLG goes with top down... I also feel that both can be executed interchangeably especially when the product in question is in capacity.

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