Hints for proposing deals . . . (or, "My word, this inbox is a mess")

As one of Google's Principals for New Business Development, I am on the front line of inbound business proposals. I would gather I see 40-50 per day. The launch of Google Talk has probably added another 15-20 per day.

So, as I sit with trepidation considering how many emails I have flagged for follow-up in my inbox on this Sunday afternoon, I thought I would take a minute to type out some hints that will make it easier on both of us and increase the likelihood that your company and mine will get some business done. These are in random order and I might expand the list as time goes on. As always, your comments are welcome. Anything I missed? (Keep in mind, this is my personal blog and nothing herein is approved by my employer.)

Email Rules - Phones are very yesterday. Voicemail is so broken. Until someone can really make it easy for me to extract a number from a voicemail, file the message away for later, label it, quickly find it again, search over it, forward it, reply at my convenience, etc etc, I am going to stick to email. Email is awesome (especially Gmail). It allows me to ensure that I get back to you. It also helps me bring in all the folks within the company whose input would matter on your topic. So, please, please, please - email. If you insist upon calling, you will hear a message saying that I won't check your voicemail anyway. So, before you think me rude, I implore you to please send email.

Thesis Statements - Lead with what you want. Please, put it in the first sentence or two. Just tell me how we can work together. You can expand on it later, but please don't make me go too far. This is particularly tough when I have to forward your message to a lot of other execs who are also looking for a thesis statement.

What problem are you solving? - Hand in hand with the thesis statement is identifying the problem you are solving. Many times I have conversations with folks who can't answer that question. We are obsessive about solving problems that enhance our end-user experience. We are lucky in that the company doesn't even ask us to make money with each enhancement. We are instead rewarded for the impact we have on users. So, please tell me what about their experience is broken now, and how we can fix it together. (By the way, we are very humble about this and realize there are myriad ways to improve the experience. Just help us by being specific.) Also, please keep in mind that we try to solve big problems. Huge problems. Problems that affect millions and millions of users everyday. In that light, some of your niche proposals may be cool, but it often comes down to a matter of prioritization for us.

Differentiate - Tell me right away why you guys are different and what comparative advantage you have on the market. Why are you the best to help us? 90% of the time we realize that we would like help in a space, but we need help finding who is best positioned to be our partner. Kick that off right away and accelerate the process.

Follow-up - Following up by repeat email is perfectly fine with me and may often help if I have fallen behind. When doing so, please propose a concrete next step. That said, what doesn't help is when you go over our heads to other execs. At the end of the day, those random emails to the big guys come right back to me and just leave me a little less excited to collaborate. So, don't be afraid to ping me by email if need be.

Google is Bottom-up - That last point reminds me that Google buying/partnering decisions are made bottom-up. Meaning, product managers and engineers are your ultimate clients. Sure the deals may be signed by VPs, but they are just endorsing the recommendations and leadership taken by the PMs. Our executive team truly empowers folks here to get done the deals needed in their spaces. You want to partner with Google Talk? Our CEO is not going to drive that. The Product Manager for Google Talk will be your guy. So, my advice is to avoid shooting for a meeting with a bigwig and instead, know your audience. I assure you that your deal will get done faster.

Meetings aren't always necessary - Often, vendors are in a rush to meet in person. They want to bring a big team in to press the flesh. I went along with this for a long time and soon saw my schedule descend into gridlock. Truth is, meetings can be inefficient. Let's start with email. Send us a deck. Maybe next we can do  a brief call. There is no need to hold a meeting with me to build a relationship. I swear I have done business over instant messaging networks.

NDAs aren't a helpful start - As an IP company, NDAs can be frightening. Asking us to sign one before we are really getting into the nitty-gritty of a partnership will likely grind things down. I will ask you to just not share anything with us that is confidential. I think NDAs have just become automatic in the Valley. However, when people stop to consider them and the pitfalls, they realize they can be superfluous in many instances.

Lead with engineering - I would rather have a meeting with technical people in the room than just business people any day. (Note: This is a statement against self-interest as I am only a wannabe geek and am not an engineer by background.) At the root of 99% percent of our partnering decisions is evaluation by an engineer(s). We like to dive into the nuts and bolts of what is currently broken, how we will fix it together, and what that collaboration will look like, all with specificity. A deep technical understanding on both sides is a precursor to starting any conversation about who pays whom, etc. So, thanks in advance for bringing your smart people into the loop with our smart people.

PR is a distraction - As a matter of principle we tend not to do PR with our partners. Truth is, I think PR is just a distraction. I know what it feels like to be a start-up and craving some public awareness. I have definitely been there and can sympathize. However, PR can be  very empty and doesn't add much concrete value to anyone. Focusing on building something cool that users will really dig is the best path for both of us to succeed. Believe me, when that happens, your company and mine will get all the exposure we could want, and more. So, let's avoid the PR discussion for now and just concentrate on making cool stuff work. If it rocks, the world will know soon enough.

Threats don't work - A surprising number of people write to me saying "If you do not act in 5 days I am taking this to Microsoft  . . . " or "This note will be forwarded to Terry Semel . . . " I am very inclined to let those proposals go. To me, partnerships are as much about the partner as they are about the technology. I am not psyched about working with people who want to coerce me into action. Microsoft and Yahoo are both awesome companies, with solid engineers. They are both tackling big problems and having a lot of success with many pieces. I think each of us has our strengths, and, in the end, it might just be possible that one of them might make a better partner for you. While I wouldn't seek your exclusivity upfront, please give me a break on the threats. I would rather you spend that energy on explaining why Google is uniquely positioned to make a great partner for you. Thanks.

Don't assume we have thought about X already - One of the most entertaining things for me to do is read the blogs and see how much credit folks give us for our alleged next moves in a particular area. They presume we have a big honking master plan document somewhere and have the next few years set forth step by step.  Truth is, we are constantly learning. We tend to launch early and launch often. However, this doesn't mean we have it all figured out. You have a killer idea for us? Are we missing the big picture? Can you help us? Fire away. For instance, you guys who have been thinking about VoIP for years and years, what would you do if you were Google, and how can you work with us to get that done?

Consider working for us - If all of the above comes instinctively to you and you have got lots of fabulous ideas, experience getting things done/built, and are looking for a fun environment in which you can shape/make decisions affecting millions of Internet users, then I strongly urge you to come work for us. Check out our jobs page and shoot me an email if you find anything interesting.

Bottom line is that I/we want to work with you and your company! Partnerships are an essential part of our strategy and have been the impetus for massive value creation at Google. We humbly admit we can't begin to accomplish a fraction of what we would like to without teaming with others. That said, as you can imagine, we are beyond busy, so I beg your forgiveness if sometimes I am not able to get back to you on a timely basis. Hopefully keeping all of the above in mind, we will get more done together.  So, send those proposals and let's do some cool deals! Thanks.

Comments

[Chester]

Blah blah blah blah.

Is this your longwinded way of telling me that the Warm Rugby and Hot-Dog Cart is a no-go?

[Kevin Brown]

I have pointed at least five vendors to your post today already. Thanks!

[Brian]

That was funny. I mean, I couldn't stop laughing. The whole part about "we want to do business with you" -- amazing! How do you think this stuff up?

You should have a blog. I bet people would go to it.

[Joseph Rand]

"NDAs aren't a helpful start"

Then why does GOOG make every visitor sign an NDA when they walk into the door?

[Michael Parekh]

Good list...I think the "Don't assume we have thought about X already" is a particularly important one.

It's amazing how most folks on the outside assume the super-incumbent has already grokked the next thousand great new ideas and is actively in the process of executing on them.

Kind of a variation on assuming the prom queen already has dates booked every Saturday for the indefinite future.

[Nathan Eckenrode]

You are already working on Google WiFi. You guys should buy Apple computers, use the engineers there to build a VoIP cellphone that is built into an iPod.

[unknown comic]

these are good notes on keeping communication brief and to the point. but don't worry, when bubble2 bursts, your queue will get much thinner.

[Paul Dohrenwend]

Yo Sacca,
blast from New South. Paul Dohrenwend. (dohrenwendpaul@gmail.com )Saw you in the NY times and thought to drop you a note as I was in los altos yesterday having dinner. good to see you are with good people. Love this google stuff. Esp. Google Talk!Drop a line

Paul
9732246951

[Rick Spence]

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I have taken the liberty of linking to this post (and summarizing it) in my blog, Canadian Entrepreneur, at http://canentrepreneur.blogspot.com

I will keep checking in, so please keep writing!

[Mark Ahasic]

My client, a Brit wireless design firm (think WFI but more specialized in all WLAN RF delivery techs ) had asked me to contact and pitch re WiFi and related telcom deployments ops in the UK. The client represents several of the largest real estate portfolios in the UK, all of which wish to deploy Owner expensed WLAN networks within the largest office capmuses and retail malls in the UK.

This offer covers the demographics and geography of the best part of the last-mile in the UK.

While I more than like this blog...excuse the old NYC lawyer in-expertise...what is your email so we can send you the 12 point crisp pitch?

Mark

More than thanks.

Mark

[ben weeks]

The personal relationship factor is key. Just being
cool and trustworthy in your dealings goes a long way.
Thanks for another reminder to keep things real and
avoid the hype. Good stuff!

[Marc Nathan]

Great post and with a few very minor tweaks, every point could be applied to companies pitching Angels and VC's. Teaching engineers and technologists about communicating with "suits" (myself included) is difficult, but necessary. I'm sure they feel the same way when we don't "get" the technology they are talking about.

[wow gold]

indeed, gold post.
I hate formalization but in this case I personally think complete guideline and detailed procedure would help a lot to filter out inappropriate ideas and guide people about status of their issues. are you going to write something to this?

[Jenna Jameson]

There may be a story here, Ok I will be back.

[evbart]

I think a lot of entrepreneurs could benefit from this type of information.

In my day job with Angelsoft (www.angelsoft.net), I basically deal with Angel Networks all day, and help them use our software to make their investment process more efficient.

The larger groups take in 30 or 40 deals a month, so its not quite on par with what you are seeing, but it is still a problem for them to handle all these different deals at once.

In response to Wow Gold's comment,the software platform itself steps the entrepreneurs through a series of questions (which were drawn from an industry wide focus group of angel groups) resulting in a standardized application for the groups. This tends to cut down on a lot of the "junk deals" and makes the Entrepreneur think long and hard about their business before submitting.

I'm not sure how it would fit into your process at google, but it would certainly be interesting to use it to capture such an overwhelming amount of new deals.

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NDAs aren't a helpful start - As an IP company, NDAs can be frightening. Asking us to sign one before we are really getting into the nitty-gritty of a partnership will likely grind things down. I will ask you to just not share anything with us that is confidential

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