Speaker Jason M. Lemkin emphasizes transparent communication between startups and customers/investors. He advises realistic deployment timelines, clear budgeting and progress updates (pilot status, odds of success) to build trust and reduce investor stress, and references his experience as an investor who has backed multiple successful companies.
You have to complete the deployment in a reasonable amount of time, right? It does not have to be done in a week. As founder. Founders think they can close million dollar deals in a week. They learn, they learn how the cycles work. But this transparency back, what is budget? How am I doing? What are the odds this is going to happen? How is our pilot really going? Right? This level of trust and transparency de stresses the investment that the startup has to make because sometimes the CIOs and the CXOs underestimate the investment that the startups are making. Right? I'm also an investor, which I should have hit. I've invested in five unicorns.
