http://disqus.com/by/sfrancis/enFri, 01 Jun 2012 10:56:10 -0000(u'http://alexsrandomtechthoughts.tumblr.com/post/5392623960',%20201481778L)#comment-201481778<p>Followup question - if you're just focusing on pitching and closing deals - then how would you describe the difference between Sales and BD?<br></p>Jane KimWed, 11 May 2011 12:10:58 -0000(u'http://alexsrandomtechthoughts.tumblr.com/post/5392623960',%20204382440L)#comment-204382440<p>Sales can be defined by having a set discrete product (ads, subscription, etc) that clients purchase in exchange for revenue.  Some people define BD as everything else that grows the company (including revenue, but also traffic, users, content, etc).  Because of this, BD people have to be imbedded into the business, not just sales, but also product, marketing and the c-level vision of the company.  Their deals may actually take a lot of time to develop, so there's a willingness required to let some deals burn slowly until the stars align and the deal accelerates to the finish.</p><p>There's also the motivation of sales people vs. BD people.   Sales people are driven by their compensation structure, which is something that is often discussed/debated among management (how do you align the companies' goals to the sales compensation structure?). This often leads to a career path that can be very reliant on existing relationships (Sales people will jump from company to company, leveraging their network - the best sales people hit the ground running and are already earning revenue within the first few weeks -  since they're incentivized to and they have the rolodex within reach).  BD people need to be meeting new people/companies all the time because they need to know how the market is changing and what new opportunities present themselves via new products and relationships.</p><p>There's also a difference in the way that creativity is applied.  I think great sales people are very creative in the way they nurture their relationships and work around existing rules.  I think BD people are creative in changing the rules or coming up with features to make partnerships work.</p><p>The career path for sales vs. BD are also quite different.  For anyone who's gunning to be a CEO, strong experience in BD will probably carry more weight than in sales (probably explains why a lot of MBA grads end up in BD - which always leads to another hot topic "Do you need an MBA to do BD?" ).  Yes, of course there are many CEO's that come from sales, but usually that's because the primary immediate focus is on revenue generation (think Tim Armstrong, Dick Costolo).</p><p>Just some thoughts from someone who's done both.  *Of course* it's not completely black and white and I'm generalizing which is why I'm looking forward to the nextNY breakfast on this topic!<br></p>Jane KimMon, 16 May 2011 04:58:25 -0000(u'http://alexstechthoughts.com/post/18956343379',%20459985163L)#comment-459985163<p>How about Deal modeling?</p>Jane KimThu, 08 Mar 2012 14:09:14 -0000(u'http://alexstechthoughts.com/post/18956343379',%20460315560L)#comment-460315560<p>I mean taking the deal from a concept to the details of what your company gets vs what it's going to cost you.  I.e, what is a non-revenue user/member worth vs. what you're willing to pay? How to forecast growth based on the deal (and how *not* to forecast).  How to make sure that you're not creating more work for a dev team for something that's throwaway functionality (not repeatable for future business deals).  How to navigate through the legalese (and when you need to pull in a lawyer).</p><p>Or better yet, how about a list of potential pitfalls of deal terms?</p>Jane KimThu, 08 Mar 2012 23:07:20 -0000(u'http://reecepacheco.com/post/24129699640',%20545003279L)#comment-545003279<p>I just saw this and the other 12 experiments.  Love it. </p>Jane KimFri, 01 Jun 2012 10:56:10 -0000