Don't Miss Your Actual Customers: The Dark Matter of Enterprise Sales

For startups, the reality is that enterprise sales happen in the small conference room across the street from the trade show. Startups invest so much money in hoping to get noticed, yet don't see any results. There is a better way.

Dark matter is a type of matter that is undetectable to current imaging technology. It is in effect, hidden. The same could be said for those elusive startup enterprise sales meetings. Most startups invest a good chunk of money on space at conferences like Techcrunch Disrupt, hoping to get their products noticed. 

While this does provide visibility, the real deals are done outside the venue. The dark matter of enterprise sales is that they happen in hotel conference rooms and restaurants across the street or just down the block or maybe, a mile away.

 As Sarah Lacy mentioned in her blog post “…But he [John Battelle] doesn't mention the fifth wave of CES -- the real reason that so many Valley and New York tech CEOs whose companies have absolutely nothing to do with electronics are increasingly coming here every year religiously: They are sitting in Strip hotels closing big honking six and seven-figure ad deals.”

How do startups actually find elusive deals?

It just isn't as simple as showing up at trade shows like CES and hope that you can network your way into a conference room with those enterprise buyers. And there is no guarantee that the buyers are looking for the product you are selling. You have no way of knowing if there is a fit.

A lot of founders of new tech understand this challenge, so they enter into an accelerator. Startups can work with accelerators that can help them focus on their industry and make a targeted sale. But here is the rub - while most accelerators offer demo days, there is still no real guarantee of a match or a warm deal. 

There have been real horror stories about founders joining accelerators that promised them the moon, and they end up with nothing, not even a minimum viable product.

It is going to start getting even more tough for startups, as Fortune magazine reported in January a 30% drop in VC funding.

Get better at enterprise sales

I wrote a blog recently about how to ensure your startup is “cable scale”. A lot of factors are involved with enterprise sales, and startups that haven’t been there before can find themselves overwhelmed and unprepared. A founder has to nail the sale process before many the pitch, from answering questions related to product integration to handling and overcoming rejection.

So how do startups find these enterprise customers? This is the purpose of a platform like UpRamp. For companies with a product that fits in the global cable and broadband space - and most products are, whether it seems that way from first glance or not, UpRamp connects companies to the actual buyers of their product in the global broadband industry with programs like the Fiterator and Tech Tours.

UpRamp’s Fiterator is an accelerator that is being compared to a graduate program for startups. The program is focused on helping startups find product market fit inside the global cable industry. This 3 month, non-resident program combines C-level mentorship from the industry with over $120k in available financing. 

The Technology Tours allow startups to pitch their product/company to 20 potential customers in a single room. Every one in the room has budget & is looking for a solution to a problem. UpRamp's Technology Tours, sponsored by CableLabs, are taking applications now.

Sign up here to be considered for the summer tours.