Anand Deshpande from Persistent sharing in the panel – Confessions of Entrepreneurs at EMERGEOUT Conclave

Anand Deshpande, Persistent started by talking about his experiences from 1990-95, and laid out the key sales aspects emerging companies need to think about. He talked about how trust was the core foundation of how he got his first few customers. His first customer was O2 Technologies, who he had known before while he was interning with HP. Second customer was a fellow grad student he had met during his academic years. His third customer was Microsoft, and really helped him grow, since he now had credibility. Anand mentioned the importance of network effect as a great sales tool. For a business need to happen, you need Need, Budget and Authority. For most start-ups in early phase, you will have to create a Need. A founders job is to sell. Sell to new employees, and sell to customers. This is a role not to be delegated in the early stages of a company. SMEs need to differentiate themselves. Its a key success criterion for all SMEs. Also, an SME needs to be persistent.