Early-Stage Portfolio Strategic Sales Solutions for VC Investors

Bridge Technology Group (BTG), based in New York City - the heart of the critical northeast corridor, partners with investors in emerging software and information technology companies. Direct hire turnover approaches 60%+ in sales and business development within the first two years of your portfolio company's launch when resources are hired on too early in their product development, market positioning and overall growth curves. The associated hard cost of each Regional Sales Representative in a major market is over $200K in the first year - (see hard cost breakdown here).

BTG provides professional sales, business development, and field marketing capabilities to your start-up and early-stage portfolio companies at a fraction of the cost of headcount expansion alternatives. We fully-immerse proven veteran resources in your early-stage start-up clients and perform as direct employees, transparently, in retained roles from business development to direct sales to channel management in fixed term engagements; reducing risks and costs while maintaining efficiency, accelerating momentum, and maximizing early opportunities for success.

Many start-up and early-stage companies simply hire direct field resources too early. Eager to capitalize on premature indicators and please investors, companies inadvertently inflate forecasts to the board based on unqualified pipeline opportunities and hire far ahead of revenues. This acceleration of their burn rate and failure to move or adapt to the market based on qualified indicators often results in early false-start scenarios.

Additionally, even in later funding stages, scaling on initial indicators not fully vetted with the appropriate market segments or verticals, results in lower capture rates, non-performance, failure to meet revenue commitments to the board, and both field and HQ attrition. False-start or re-start scenarios can set organizations back a year or more in terms of their ramp to reacquire customer relationships and pipeline, replace critical human capital, rebuild market credibility and worse - potentially lose any competitive first-to-market or second-mover advantage. Ultimately, these risk scenarios put your investment and exit strategies at risk.

Maximize the Opportunity for Early Success, Predictable Results

Adopt and execute proven go-to-market sales strategies in key markets like New York and Boston and in key market segments

Expedite 'early-adopter' identification and capture

Leverage proven prospecting, qualification, and capture methodologies

Vet marketing, sales, and product strategy with target markets PRIOR to additional funding traunches or headcount approvals to accomplish the same

Develop and execute channel strategy in key markets, when applicable, to further reduce your portfolio company's headcount requirements

Drastically reduce burn rates and cost of sales

"Our model company experiences positive early product revenues from beta customers. Top management, eager to establish an early leadership position in the market, adopts an aggressive approach to sales. The company hires a VP of sales, as well as regional sales managers, systems engineers, inside sales reps and field sales reps. The clear expectation is that this team will deploy rapidly and efficiently, reaching breakeven within three or four quarters.

Then reality sets in. It takes longer than expected to convince initial customers to buy. The positioning of the product is not quite right, the price needs to be adjusted and product features need to be tweaked. Meanwhile, typical start-up issues, such as opening regional sales offices and establishing lines of command, distract the sales force.

The result: This oversized team burns through tons of cash and does not come close to reaching (the objective).

- Mark Leslie, former Chairman & CEO, Veritas

and Charles A. Holloway

Stanford Graduate School of Business

(excerpt from "The Sales Learning Curve")

"...A clear kiss of death that I have seen more often than not is hiring a VP of Sales too early...rather... I would encourage you to focus on generating leads and hiring a sales rep or two to follow up on them. This way you can take a smaller step to refine your sales model and product before going big"

Ed Sim

VC investor, multi-Board Member

from "When to hire a VP of Sales" - blog

Value for the Start-up and Early-stage VC Investor

"...A clear kiss of death that I have seen more often than not is hiring a VP of Sales too early...rather than hire a VP of Sales first, I would encourage you to focus on generating leads and hiring a sales rep or two to follow up on them. This way you can take a smaller step to refine your sales model and product before going big" (from "When to hire a VP of Sales" - blog link)

Ed Sim

VC investor, multi-Board Member

New York, NY

”...Travel expenses alone for California-based start-up and early-stage companies justify a capable local northeast resource...”

VP Sales

Early-stage Network Security Company

Mountain View, CA

”...we think we want to expand to two teams in NYC with the 2.0 product GA launch, but we aren't sure how to split the region most effectively, or if it can support two teams, nor have we determined what the appropriate channel strategy should be to break into the mid-tier...”

SVP Sales

Emerging application- performance vendor

San Francisco, CA

"...we need to hire someone in a pure business development role to work with the major financials closely... get alpha/beta POCs underway over the next 6 months to help validate our approach with the new product ...while the existing (direct) rep. focuses on the higher transactional business of our existing product offering..."

New CEO, re-cap'd re-start

Silicon Valley