Dan San

© Getty Images Mark Cuban once said, “Sales cures all.” Yet in the startup world, I see many companies raising venture capital money in the hopes of creating a viable product while ignoring the part where they actually create a business model and sell to a real customer base. I've personally generated over $3 million in revenue for three different startups while keeping the cost of acquisition extremely low by understanding how to effectively negotiate and sell.

By Dan San, founder of Silicon Alley Consulting Mark Cuban once said, “Sales cures all.” Yet in the startup world, I see many companies raising venture capital money in the hopes of creating a viable product while ignoring the part where they actually create a business model and sell to a real customer base. I've personally generated over $3 million in revenue for three different startups while keeping the cost of acquisition extremely low by understanding how to effectively negotiate and sell.

In 2008, a startup called Airbnb began to popularize the sharing economy. The concept was simple: If you have extra space in your home, list it on Airbnb and people will rent it out. You get paid and the visitor has somewhere cheaper and homier than a hotel to stay. A year later, Uber arrived on the scene and people began sharing their cars and driving services in exchange for cash. In both cases, similar questions around sharing, safety and legality arose.