Blog

  • The Founder’s Sales Advantage: Five Evidence-Based Strategies for B2B Tech Success

    ByAK

    Conventional wisdom suggests founders should step back from sales as quickly as possible. This approach misses a fundamental dynamic: the founder’s unique advantages in B2B sales environments. Academic research demonstrates that founder-led companies consistently outperform their peers, particularly in the critical early-stage sales process. Not necessarily because of superior sales technique, but because of their…

  • Eid and Lessons in Sales Leadership

    ByAK

    Over the weekend, we observed Eid ul-Adha, honouring Prophet Ibrahim and the spirit of sacrifice he displayed in obeying Allah’s command. Religion isn’t considered the best place to derive business inspiration, especially in sales. Yet for believers, it provides a framework guiding their actions. Our beliefs—whether religious or secular—profoundly influence how we act professionally, affecting…

  • The Builder.ai Collapse: Sales vs Reality

    ByAK

    Following the collapse of Builder.ai, one of the most commonly mentioned quotes by its founder is where he said about wanting to make building an app as easy as ordering pizza.  Could it really become that? Possibly so, for there is no dearth of “make your own pizza” options around the corner of any London…

  • Two Startups: B2B Sales Strategy as Determinant of Fate

    ByAK

    In the summer of 2021, two B2B SaaS startups launched within weeks of each other. The world had started emerging from the global pandemic, but its effects were still reshaping how we work. Remote work had become the new default, and companies were scrambling to adapt to this fundamental shift. Sensing opportunity, countless startups began…

  • From Yellow Pages to AI: A Journey through B2B Sales Evolution

    ByAK

    My sales career started selling what we used to call dabbe. Originating from the Hindi word dabba which means box, it was a pejorative for cartons of a dumb product. Even in the naive cocksureness of youth, the irony of the term wasn’t lost on me. Those boxes were computing equipment – Desktop Computers (or…

  • What’s it about the NYT profile of Elizabeth Holmes?

    ByAK

    Over the weekend, I finally gave in. I just had to read the NYT profile of Elizabeth Holmes, the convicted founder of Theranos, to see what it was that had riled people so much. The piece has been called a waste of ink, but then isn’t that most of the internet anyway? If it is…

  • 2023 Week 4 – Struck by strike

    ByAK

    My kids’ school is closed tomorrow because the teachers are on strike. With the way things are across the UK, this was only a matter of time. I can’t think of any public service that hasn’t been on strike till now. I don’t think there’s anybody in this country who wouldn’t have been affected in…

  • 2023 Week 3 – No Logo, contd.

    ByAK

    Note – I’ve still been thinking about some of the questions which No Logo left me with. So I am going to cheat a bit and build upon last week’s post to add some more of my thoughts. Deleting/editing last week’s post did occur to me, but I felt it will be better to leave…

  • 2023 Week 2 – No Logo

    ByAK

    It’s been more than twenty years since No Logo was first published. I finally read my copy more than a decade after purchasing it, during which it travelled with me as I moved between four cities in three countries. Had I read the book then, it would have been a revelation. Reading it now, I…

  • 2023 Week 1 – Resolutions

    ByAK

    I don’t recall the last time I made resolutions in a new year. As far as I can remember, I never have.   Although TBH, my memory doesn’t stretch much beyond the past 6 years. Parenthood transforms the way our brains are wired. Definitely for the better, because it doesn’t leave much space for anything…