When Introducing your Company, Focus on the Pain and the Gain

When Introducing your Company, Focus on the Pain and the Gain

"The problem I solve is investors want to optimize eCommerce results so they can improve their portfolio companies faster and ultimately sell for higher multiples."

There are many ways to answer the simple question, "What do you do?"

From my experience, one of the best ways to answer the question is by explaining the problem you are solving and for whom. At the end of your statement, the other person may not yet know "how" you do it, but they will already understand if your customer bases are aligned and if they understand, agree with, support, or disagree with your mission.

The other person also doesn't have their eyes glaze over with marketing speak about "we're the leading provider of some blahblah bullshit term I made up last week".

This invites further conversation. The ideal follow-up you are looking for in the conversation is "Tell me more about how you do this." This promotes a very efficient conversation about how results are achieved.

In my case, there are many ways to improve eCommerce results and many experts in the space. And even though I have helped many different types of companies, focusing on your most valuable segment helps reinforce what you are looking for in the ideal case. Even if this ideal case isn't always 100% of your pipeline in any given moment.

I also like to frame how we do business in terms of questions. Here are the top questions we have helped investors and management teams answer in the past few years:

1 - How do we add eCommerce to our B2B or Retail Business model in the most efficient way possible?

2 - Can you help create a unique “Blue Ocean” category for our growing eCommerce software company?

3 - What is the eCommerce potential of our brand, and how do we realize it?

4 - If we acquire this company, what is likely to fail first in it as it grows?

4 - Can you help us create an eCommerce P&L to chart our next 3 years of growth?

5 - Is our acquisition target capable of growing revenue by 4-5x without significant new investments?

6 - How do we fix our technology organization as quickly as possible?

7 - Can you advise me as I begin selling my business?

Questions are nice because they drive specific business improvements == it's a very easy way for people to understand quickly why someone might ever want to reach out to you.

How Do You Work with Private Equity?

In many cases, those in the private equity industry and I seem to be kindred spirits.

* Motivated by sustainable improvements, not hype or the latest buzz.

* Focused on the practical things that can be implemented soon.

* Not just focused on the top line,

* Willing to listen. Isn't afraid of saying, "I don't know."

* Motivated. Private equity shares a lot of characteristics with value investing strategies. There is a thesis and an opportunity. A thesis and opportunity can easily be converted into an actionable Value Creation Plan and measured.

This is not to say others don't think this way, but I've found an abundance of this thinking in this market.