MV #012: 3 product demo rookie mistakes & other top startup news

I made so many rookie mistakes back in the day. I still do but just not as many.

Semir Jahic

Nov 20, 2022

Read time: 4 min

👋 Hi there, happy Sunday!

🥞 Learning from rookie mistakes

I started my career as a presales engineer/solution engineer/SE, a.k.a. SE, in 2017.

I had no idea how to succeed in the role. I just like working with customers and learning about tech. That’s it.

I learnt that a big part of being an SE is showcasing products effectively - with a demo -. I had to show prospects how the software solution would create more value for them, solve problems and overcome challenges.

My first demos were TERRIBLE. I was such a rookie.

1. Too much info

2. Too much clicking.

3. Talking too fast.

I learnt how to improve my demos bit by bit. I learned so many things in the first few months that my demos became really good quickly.

Here's what I changed to fix my ROOKIE MISTAKES.

-

❌ MISTAKE 1: Too much info

🫱 The problem?

I loved the product.
I knew the product.
I wanted to make show my expertise.

💡How did I fix it?

I realised people don’t remember much. Less is more.
I started thinking about problem-solving rather than product features
I limited my talk track to the 3 most important things.

❌ MISTAKE 2: Too much clicking

🫱 The problem?

I clicked around a ton.
I moved too fast from screen to screen.
I hovered over all the buttons in the software.

💡 How to fix it?

I realised that people could only absorb a few visuals.
I practised doing a demo with 3 clicks per screen max.
I started to spell out where I was hovering and why.

❌ MISTAKE 3: Talking too fast

🫱 The problem?

I spoke quickly.
I knew too much about the product.
I had little time to get through my planned demo.

💡 How to fix it?

I stopped caring about showing everything I planned for.
I started asking questions to keep the audience engaged.
I focused on building rapport rather than cramming in features.

TL;DR

- Talk less.
- Talk slower.
- Stop clicking around.
- Engage the audience.
- Focus on value and trust over features.

Product Demos: The Different Options and Their Benefits | Walnut

🗞️ Startup Stuff from Europe

👉 My take: The right companies are still getting funded.

What’s the right company, you ask? Companies that deliver real value to customers have solid unit economics and tackle a problem that exists (painkillers not vitamins.)

Great to see new funds that invest early stage in Europe. The results speak for themselves. Switzerland and Germany have built amazing companies, and a lot more is to come here.

🗞️ Other Startup & Tech Stuff I’m reading

👉 My take: Startups make decisions all the time. Never with perfect information.

That’s why advisors are so valuable. They provide perspective and can share their experience and how it might relate to the current situations at a startup. Should you do remote first? Should you open an office in London? Should you start sales in a new segment?

Building a good and thought-out strategy is critical. Here’s my full post.

🗞️ Other Tech News

👉 My take: On Twitter, I don’t subscribe to the Elon Musk way of hardcore. Full post here.

I absolutely understand what he’s doing. That’s Elon Musk. It’s the way he leads Tesla. It’s the way he worked at Paypal. He doesn’t know any other modes. He’s the greatest innovator of the century, but it comes at a price, and not everyone is willing to pay that.

—

🙏 That’s it. Have a great Sunday!

If you enjoyed this: Subscribe!

🤓 Don’t know me? Here’s the about section.

My name is Semir Jahic.

More Value is my newsletter with lessons, stories, observations and analyses from my experience building a VC-backed B2B software startup and leading a high-performing sales engineering team.

More value is made for startup builders & sales engineering leaders.

But if you enjoy learning, want to work in startups and become an effective go-to-market leader, you’ll enjoy reading More Value too.

More value.

Discussion about this post