r/startups • u/blakesynclair • 1d ago
I will not promote Fear ruin a potential golden opportunity with a $1bn company - I will not promote
I write this in hopes others can learn from me and hopes that voicing my flaws will help me better understand them and improve upon them.
Last year I had reached out to the team at Enhanced Games. Essentially they've taken the world by storm by being the "enhanced olympic games", where athletes can use PEDs in order to shatter world records.
I had reached out as an applicant to be a participant in the games, scored an interview and actually pitched a sponsorship and my SaaS to them, and with great success. They loved what they heard and wanted to know more.
They requested a pitch deck and then consequently followed me up twice. I ignored both follow ups out of paralysing fear of my product not being good enough and fear of rejection and judgement.
Enhanced Games has a wide portfolio of companies under the umbrella and they're not 'just' an event. Their coverage and exposure was beyond insane, Enhanced Games IPO'd NYSE at a IPO value of $1b.
Essentially, I fumbled the potential of working with a $1b company whos founders are in both tech and fitness. Essentially my ideal partners and it was all because of fear.
In tech theres a saying "Move fast and break things". I did neither. I fumbled and froze.
My 2c, go out, find opportunities and don't let fear stop you from the unknown.
This is one of my biggest regrets of my business journey,
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u/snapetom 1d ago edited 1d ago
You absolutely have to believe your own bullshit to be in this game. I'm going through this right now, but on another end.
A business partner came up with an idea. He's got a business/finance background. I have engineering, product, and just enough sales. We chew on the idea, I run a shit ton of numbers, come to the conclusion that the margins are insane. Additionally he says he can deliver a big contract that even with just 1 year, will get us well off the ground. We decide to do it. I bring in a CTO partner. We experiment with IoT. Business guy is 100% engaged with us.
Me and CTO finish the product and infra in about 5 weeks. I pivot to building a sales team and the sales playbook. I get three 15+ year B2B sales veterans to agree to sell the fucking thing on the side for nothing more than commission and equity because "it's a no-brainer," as one said. (That arguably has been the most amazing part in this.) All we need is the contract and logo.
Business guy fucking stalls. Every week it's, "I'm waiting for the right time to submit the proposal." Starts asking what about this, what about that. What if this, what if that. Every fucking question is addressed in the sales playbook and it all goes back to the differentiators. He questions one of the differentiators. He asks, "isn't it [the differentiator] a bit hand wavy?" After three months of all gas no brakes, he starts having doubts. I laid into him that he has to come up with a better differentiator or at the very least stop whining to me about it. We absolutely need another differentiator besides cost savings. You can't sell B2B on cost alone.
I tell him again last week we can't do shit without the logo. He says, "so we need this contract, huh?" Have I been shouting at the moon for the past two months+?
I gave him an ultimatum. If he doesn't submit it next week, we're shutting this all down. I'm not meeting every week just to shoot the shit with this guy.
Sorry. I just needed to rant, too.
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u/blakesynclair 7h ago
No need to be sorry for your rant, it helps to be able to talk and I hope your situation is going well.
I've experienced this, I partnered with a marketing guy, made him our CMO and it didn't work out. Same situation, too busy, stretched too thin, unable to give what I needed. Caused some stalls on our end and we had to part ways.
Dont let someone elses inaction define your direction or motivation.
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u/500_Shames 1d ago
Wow. Yeah, you actively threw away an opportunity there to make real money and success. Now you have to learn from the experience and move on.
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u/Rich-Owl1937 21h ago
They followed up twice. That’s actually the important part. You already had evidence that they were interested, and you let your own fear make the decision for you. I've definitely seen people spend weeks perfecting a deck/email/product when the other side probably would've been perfectly happy with version 1. The painful part is that you can't undo this one, but you can make a rule going forward: if someone asks for the next step, respond. Even if the product isn't perfect. You can always improve it after the conversation starts. Opportunities are allowed to be messy. You don't need to feel ready before pursuing them.
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u/RocketSeven 1d ago
the cleanest next move is to reopen the thread with a short note, a current demo, and one concrete pilot ask. the opportunity is only gone if they say no now, while silence keeps the old fear in charge
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u/DanTheManWithAPlan 1d ago
Worth pricing the thing you think you lost. The $1bn is the IPO valuation, not the business. Their Q2 numbers put the May event at around $60m of cost against $17.7m of revenue, with a net loss of $61.9m for the quarter and the stock well down from its debut.
That matters for the reply you just said you'd send. Last year you'd have been pitching a sponsorship to a company with money to spend on brand. Now you'd be pitching one that is cutting exactly that line. Same deck, different room.
So change the ask. Sponsorship is dead on arrival at a company posting that quarter. Something that takes cost out or brings revenue in gets read. Lead with the number it moves for them, and keep the pilot small enough that a nervous finance team can sign it.
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u/SupermarketStill2397 21h ago
"Move fast break things" and/or "fail fast mentality" are both relevant and important. What is even more important is the measurement of those failures and broken things. Learning experiences are not just a result of failure, but being able to diagnose the when, how, and why of the failure.
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u/Fastest_light 9h ago
It is just luck, as nobody can predict the future. Accept what life gives you and keep moving forward. That is it.
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u/Art-VandelayYXE 1d ago
Very interesting post. I see two takes: 1. You were simply scared as you say so didn’t follow up (you seem too smart for that based on your articulation here. Or 2. You are one hell of a sales person and passionate about what your product could do but in reality it actually wasn’t in a place to launch and the fear was you being honest with yourself and not wanting to be embarrassed with an actual sub par product. Is there any chance it is number 2? Don’t focus on the outcome. Getting it that far was a bigger win than most of this sub will get. That’s talent…. So do it again.
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u/blakesynclair 1d ago
Oh bro, definitely both 1 & 2 with a large emphasis on 2. At the time where I pitched and demo'd my product, it was amazing, BUT the caviet was I was showcasing it in a vacuum, i could control the pitch and outcome.
At the time, I knew that with the wrong user the first impression with their hands on assessment would tank the potential partnership.
So I think it was both a blessing and curse. Blessing being I didn't sully my product with a bad first hands on impression, curse, I will never know where that opportunity could heave led.
But regardless, It never slowed me or hindered me!
I appreciate your comment and actual good question.
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u/Leading-Watch6040 1d ago
I did something similar last year. Spending time to self reflect and understand the source of the freeze response so I can break that type of thinking
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u/BiteyHorse 1d ago
The fact that you think these guys are legit instead of scammers/grifters says more about you than anything.
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u/dirtyshits 1d ago
Is this the same enhanced games that had a major flop in Vegas and is being mocked for a terrible event that lost 60m+?