A founder built an HR product that nobody wanted to buy. HR teams had no budget, no authority, and no appetite for another system. The sales process felt like pulling teeth, so they gave up, though they still wonder if they should have kept going.
We all have our inner hero and it needs us to bring that out. We are— we can all bring that out with the right support systems in place and unleash or unlock the hero within. We had a clickable prototype and I still talk to people about, you know, what are your superpowers?
What we see in all of our portfolio companies is the ones that are successful are doing something that people care about deeply, and the ones that are struggling to break through solving a problem that they care about more than anyone else. The HR people really didn't want another system. I mean, it was like pulling teeth. And even if they had, they didn't really have the budget or power to buy it. This was one of those ideas that we just, we ran out of, of all, of all options really, didn't we? We did. And I know that you and I at the time gave up, um, with regret, but feeling like one day this isn't over.
How Marcello Patané Turned An Idea Into Paying Customers in the European Biotech Sector
Why you should interview people who rejected you (as well as your customers).
