Selling B2B has an entrenched playbook, and some might say it’s so ingrained that it needs to be disrupted. Our guest today is Ross Rich, Co-Founder and CEO of Accord. Accord is a platform that leverages collaboration and community to make the B2B sales and onboarding process smoother. Ross shares how he got accepted into YC based on a hand-drawn piece of paper presentation and no working prototype and how Accord has been able to land high-profile customers like Figma and Stripe in their first year of operation.
About Ross Rich:
Ross Rich has an entrepreneurial mindset, starting an events company in school with his brother, transitioning to managing music acts then working at Columbia Records, before landing at Stripe. In 2019 he co-founded Accord, a Customer Collaboration Platform for high-growth startups who need to build a repeatable sales & onboarding process to hit ambitious revenue goals.
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In this episode we discuss:
02:43 How Ross landed on the path to founding Accord
03:25 Lessons from the Music Industry that he still uses today
06:09 The open culture at Stripe
07:26 What Ross took from his time at Stripe
11:55 Early misperceptions about partnerships Ross had
15:52 How Accord got accepted into YC with no working prototype
22:05 The problem Accord solves
24:20 Advice to sales teams working to create relationships with potential clients
26:30 How to setup a more modern B2B customer pipeline
29:02 Why collaboration is at the core of what Accord does
31:44 How Accord helps manage communication and collaboration
35:54 Advice to early startups to build their customer journey
38:06 Things startups should avoid in B2B sales
40:07 Use cases from Accord successes like Stripe
43:53 How Accord leverages social media in its own marketing
45:58 Plans for the next 12 months
Fast Favorites:
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All In Podcast w/ Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
📰- Favorite Newsletter /Blog:
SaaStr or First Round blogs on early startup advice
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Airpods, noise canceling (especially on flights)
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WFH
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🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson:
Your greatest strength is your greatest weakness
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How to Leverage Customer Collaboration to Close B2B Sales with Ross Rich of Accord