Tag Archives: Sales

HBS Case – How Uber, Airbnb, and Etsy Attracted Their First 1,000 Customers

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Thales S. Teixeira is Lumry Family Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. In this HBS Case Study, he discusses three of the most successful “platform” startups to understand the chicken-and-egg challenge of how companies can attract their first customers. New businesses often struggle finding their first customers. The challenge is even more difficult with startups in the sharing

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What is sales traction?

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Discussions About Getting Sales Traction Today’s venture capitalists look to market and sales traction, or “referenceability,” as the single most important element before investing in a new business venture. Brooke Seawell, general partner of Palo Alto-based Technology Crossover Partners, which invests primarily in expansion and late-stage start-ups, says, “The most important thing is, can I go to four or five referenceable

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