Never Be Afraid to Win (EP 23)
You Me and Your Top Three host, Gregg Garrett, speaks with Amos Schwartzfarb an expert in scaling sales who is a six-time entrepreneur, is currently the Managing Director of Techstars Austin and is a very recent author of Sell More Faster: Ultimate sales playbook for startups. As an avid climber and biker who truly lives life as an adventure, Amos credits his success to having learned how to not be afraid to fail. Additionally, Amos discusses how to sell more, faster and how the principles can apply to startups and enterprises with some nuances for each. Of course he talks about his “Top Three” and how advice from his current business and investment mentors mesh with earlier “in the trenches” experiences with startup colleagues. He even shares advice his mother and high school wrestling coach gave him which changed his trajectory on the mat, and maybe in life.
About Amos Schwartzfarb
Amos is the Managing Director of Techstars in Austin. He has more than 15 years of sales leadership and strategy experience in software, digital, advertising and entertainment. Before joining Techstars, Amos served as co-founder and Head of Customer Development at Joust. Prior to Joust, Amos served as Vice President of Customer Development for BlackLocus, which was acquired by The Home Depot in 2012. Amos was also Co-Founder and served as COO of mySpoonful, which was acquired in 2011. Prior to mySpoonful, Amos served on the Executive team of Business.com, as Vice President of Sales and Client Services, which was acquired by RH Donnelly in 2007. Prior to Business.com, Amos spent 5 years at HotJobs.com during which time went through both an IPO and acquisition by Yahoo!.
Amost has lived in Austin since 2008 with his wife and two daughters. When you can’t find him at home or work, you can usually find him on one of his 5 bikes.
Show Highlights
Segment 1: Overview
1:00 Market Facing Functions: Among the necessary capabilities to compete in the Connecting World
4:10 Amos Schwartzfarb: An expert in sales and business development who understands products, service value
Segment 2: Identifying Mentors through Life Experiences & the “Top Three”
5:50 A kid from Jersey fell into interesting situations, sought adventure and eventually landed at Techstars
6:53 Amos’ “Top Three”: When your mom asks, “are you afraid to win?”
10:40 Amos’ “Top Three”: Bridging hobbies and interests into working relationships and confidants (Rob Taylor – BlackLocus)
13:22 “Ability to be my most authentic self”
13:33 Vulnerability: Understanding the “why” to various mentors
14:19 Amos’ “Top Three”: A teacher, a cousin and influencer named Neil
16:23 “Are you reapplying lessons learned outwardly back?”
17:22 What is Techstars?
19:22 Amos’ “Top Three”: “At light speed, Mark has become one of the most special and important people in my life.” (Mark Solon – Tech Stars)
22:02: Amos’ “Top Three”: His bike a.k.a. him
23:27 Do your mentors know they are your mentor?
Segment 3: The birth of a book: Sell More Faster
25:28 Becoming the author of “Sell More Faster: Ultimate sales playbook for startups”
28:53 “Serendipity is an interesting thing”
31:07 “Everyone told me I was crazy.”
31:50 The W3 Model: Who is the customer, what are they buying and why are they buying it?
Segment 4: Don’t hire a sales person too soon
33:00 “Is sales, sales?”
35:27 Hire Customer Development people to bridge the gap between product marketing and sales
36:42 “How do we act like a startup?”
38:24 It’s all about who you surround yourself with
40:30 Can a head of sales also be an operator?
Segment 5: Wrapping Up
42:38 Disruption in industries to pay attention to
45:43 Firm Transformation: “Pivot worn as a badge of honor in startups”
48:46 The importance of starting small to figure out if you’re right: “Have big vision but be humble in the process”
49:23 Rapid Fire Questions
50:58 Monday Morning Hack
51:24 How to get the book and how to connect with Amos
Additional Information
Contact Amos Schwartzfarb:
Contact Techstars:
Contact Gregg Garrett:
Contact CGS Advisors:
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