Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Lars Dalgaard
Investing in Mem
I was supposed to do something last week. If I’m lucky, I’ll remember what it was. If I’m really lucky, I’ll remember the context around it. But counting on luck isn’t a strategy, and organizing all the information in our work lives is incredibly challenging. Sure, there are task managers, but that’s not where I keep my notes. Sure, there are note takers, but that’s not where I keep my tasks. And none of the current set of tools allow me to collaborate with my colleagues the way I want.
Boss Talk with Ben and Ali: Enterprise Selling for Technical Founders
This first appeared in the monthly a16z enterprise newsletter. Subscribe to stay on top of the latest in enterprise and B2B. For technical founders, building out a successful enterprise sales motion and team can be one of the most daunting tasks. After all, the skills and culture of enterprise selling are typically very different from the engineering and product culture that these founders come from.
My New Book, Why I Wrote It, and Where the Money Will Go
I watch your actions not just captions in the sh*t you post —Rick Ross, “Big Tyme” This month, I will be releasing a new book on culture, What You Do Is Who You Are. Why I Wrote the Book In the last few years, a lot of technology companies have been in the news because of their real or perceived cultural problems.
Why Must You Pay Sales People Commissions?
“I’d be a billionaire if I could get a dollar for all the bullshit I hear today” –Big Sean, The One I felt a little odd writing that title. It’s a little like asking “Why should you give engineers big monitors?” If you have to ask the question, then you probably won’t understand the answer. The short answer is: don’t, if you don’t want good engineers to work for you; and if they still do, they’ll be less productive. The same is true for sales people and commissions.
a16z Podcast: Independents on the Board
“Orthogonal thinking” but “shared core values” — that’s what makes an ideal board… especially when it comes to “independents”, i.e., board members who aren’t also investors. But how do you get the most out of those independent directors, who are often in the minority? How do you bring in the best board member for the company, team, product — not just as another box to check on the road to IPO, but to ensure a fresh and/or missing perspective?
How to Ruin Your Company with One Bad Process
“Real quick, whole squad on that real sh*t 0 to 100, n***a, real quick” —Drake, “0 to 100/The Catch Up” I am a giant advocate for technical founders running their own companies, but one consistent way that technical founders deeply harm their businesses is by screwing up the budgeting process. Yes, the budgeting process. How ridiculous is that? How does it happen and why is it particularly problematic for engineers? I’ll begin by describing how I screwed it up in my company.
Use Them - Andreessen Horowitz
In my experience, bad salespeople talk too much and LISTEN too little. If you’re closing deals and you haven’t been listening aggressively, you just got lucky. That success won’t be repeated. Active listening sounds tired: I think of it as extreme listening, and here I describe how to make it part of your work.
It’s Never Too Early to Fire
I have never fired anyone too early. How many founders have been in the position of hiring a senior executive — having gone through all the interviews, reference checks, board approvals, and negotiations — only to have doubts creep in all too soon after they start? Your hire doesn’t seem to be delivering on the promises they made in interviews. Or, they aren’t able to bring in the hires they promised so boldly from their network. Heck, they don’t seem to be gelling with the team.
‘Coin-operated Idiots’
“Coin-operated idiots”. Even if no one says it out loud about sales people anymore, they might still think it. It’s the perception some startup CEOs have when it comes to their sales force (unless the founders have come from sales themselves). Just load ‘em up and watch them do their mindless best … like at a laundromat. To make matters worse, the phrase is often accompanied by a smirk, as if it’s something funny. The “coin operated idiots” mindset toward sales is a mistake for a number of reasons.
WITHIN - Medium
If you think back on any of your life’s most indelible experiences — meeting someone special for the first time; stepping off a plane in an utterly foreign place; a meaningful moment with family and friends; watching a band tear through a favorite song — all your sensory memories come back. It’s what you saw, heard, and felt in that moment … all around you. In combination, those experiences represent a big part of what it means to be human.
a16z Podcast: The Why, How, and When of Sales
The hallmark of many great technical founder/CEOs is that they envision a better way of doing things, and that’s why they’re building a company that delivers on that better way, often disrupting the way things have always been done before. But this very mindset can backfire when it comes to sales. Why shouldn’t they reinvent the sales process?
Thoughts on building weatherproof companies
The best founder/CEOs want to build long-lasting, strong companies. But this isn’t just a want, it’s necessary— especially today as companies stay private longer. CEOs who expect their companies to be acquired as a “quick exit” aren’t going to have it easy.
Thoughts on building weatherproof companies
The best founder/CEOs want to build long-lasting, strong companies. But this isn't just a want, it's necessary- especially today as companies stay private longer. CEOs who expect their companies to be acquired as a "quick exit" aren't going to have it easy.
The Zero B.S. Method To Recruiting A Killer Sales Force
In most interview situations there’s often an odd, sometimes disturbing imbalance, and it boils down to one word: power. Who has it, who doesn’t. Typically it’s the interviewer who has more power, because they’re the ones deciding who should get the job and who shouldn’t.
Sales bootcamp series | Andreessen Horowitz
The CEO/leadership team needs to make up its mind about what it is they want most because they can’t have it all. This is really key and can’t be ignored.
To Clean Up Your Startup’s B.S., Bring Sales Into The Leadership Team – TechCrunch
Lars Dalgaard Contributor Lars Dalgaard is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz where he sits on the boards of Imgur, Teespring, and Zenefits. Prior to a16z, Lars founded and was CEO of SuccessFactors. “Coin-operated idiots”. Even if no one says it out loud about sales people anymore, they might still think it. It’s the perception some startup CEOs have when it comes to their sales force (unless the founders have come from sales themselves).
Karl Marx Would Have Liked Teespring
“Workers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains.” Karl Marx, 1848 Karl Marx postulated that the worker would stand on the production line and become alienated (Entfremdung), eventually losing all awareness of not only the total product process but especially of their own connection and self-identity as they were non-stop producing part #326 all day long.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Lars
Contact Lars, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack