Comments on: It’s so easy to fake being good at biz dev that even my baby brother can do it.

By: F0ul

F0ul — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:05:42 +0000

I know this is an old post but it still needs a response!

It is all about expectations. Many geeks have wonderful ideas and get frustrated that biz types can’t convince the rest of the world of how wonderful these ideas are.
Biz types actually believe the geeks are as good as they say they are and expect miracles – possibly thanks to the Hollywood idea of geeks.

At the end of the day, most businesses fail miserably due to a whole host of issues. If it was possible to run a business just through sticking to a formula, we would all be millionaires by now!

By: Clive

Clive — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:00:51 +0000

@Jacob. Agreeing customers need segmenting into decision makers and time wasters. Just like Karl Rove segmented voters into red and blue states then manipulated their emotions to make darned sure they voted. How many biz dev people have these skills versus how many just chase any lead with a pulse? Steve Jobs applies the same axioms, but instead of a mass audience he’s focused on a premium paying customer segment.

evil C

By: Jeremy Welch

Jeremy Welch — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:15:10 +0000

I think the more accurate point is that its easy to get conned by a good salesman. Biz dev skills and sales skills are related, but someone can be terrible at managing/developing business and have tremendous sales skills.

I wouldn’t trust my uncle developing a business, but he can sell just about anything a manager tells him to.

By: Callum

Callum — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:04:06 +0000

I can see the arrogance side being a downfall for bus devs, but their technical ignorance can give them the ability to promise anything!

If you are able to create solutions to peoples problems, your in for the big money. If you are not an expert at it, be an expert, it doesn’t matter how much sleep you lose. Making ridiculous amounts of money isn’t easy

By: rick

rick — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:54:55 +0000

Both sides should see each other as a necessary evil. Obviously, no one’s yet figured out how to get by without both of them, so they’re both equally necessary. Fair analysis by you

By: 15 Meanings » Blog Archive » Random thoughts from today’s headlines….

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:18:43 +0000

[...] Jessica Mah Meets World – It’s so easy to fake being good at biz dev that even my baby brother can do it. Hold your horses now. I am sure your brother is smart and all, but I am willing to bet he [...]

By: Jacob "Danger" Du'Loque

Jacob "Danger" Du'Loque — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:09:13 +0000

Pure logic to understand customers? That sounds like a delicious recipe for disaster, to me. Maybe trends or overall populations could be understood through logic, but customers? Never!

There’s a reason why nerds are frustrated by the overwhelming popularity of Windows, it doesn’t seem logical to them. Ditto with that blasted AOL.

Charming about customers, really, is that they’re rarely logical. I mean, I only own a Macbook now because it’s so damn pretty.

-jdl

By: Clive

Clive — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:43:53 +0000

The best biz dev people I’ve worked have Karl Rove like skills.
They use pure logic to understand customers and position our product. They design sales and marketing processes to orchestrate and win over prospective customers by triggering their emotions (just like Karl did twice).

Marry up a Karl Rove type with a high tech company designed and built to Mesh with others, via great products and on-line communities. Then we just need sales execution — not biz dev types — order takers.