Ken Krogue

Today I had lunch at the MountainWest Capital Networks Entrepreneur of the Year Award Luncheon watched Josh James, Founder & CEO of Domo, and former founder and CEO of Omniture give the keynote address and receive the annual award for Entrepreneur of the Year.

Much deserved.

Anyone selling their company for well over 1 billion dollars is in a league shared by only a handful on the planet. And to lay it all on the table again within a year and start up another company is audacious to say the least. He has a reputation for doing the unexpected.

Josh James Receives Entrepreneur of the Year 2012

Well, right in the middle of his keynote address he mentions his desire to promote up-and-coming tech companies based in Utah and asks our own CEO, Dave Elkington, to come up and take two minutes to “pimp his company” and tell the whole audience about InsideSales.com and why they should pay attention. Dave spilled the beans and shared with the room of movers and shakers that Josh James recently invested in our company, along with some other key players in the high technology area.

Nobody I know shares the stage of their own awards ceremony and keynote address to share the love with a budding hyper-growth company… except Josh James.

Thanks Josh!

Josh went on to tell the amazing story of how he raised $50 million for Domo without any revenue by telling everybody “No, not interested.” I was sitting there at the table and thumbed through a small booklet with a collection of quotes called “Josh James – Startup Rules.” I was spellbound.

Josh James shares 36 Startup Rules; and the Stage with our Own Dave Elkington

Here they are (#jjsr):

1. I only care about sales. Don’t talk to me about marketing, booth, HR, comp, legal, etc. Can be fixed later with $$$$$$$. Close Deals.
2. I’m note trying to be rude by ignoring you. Your topic isn’t important yet. It will be but not now. No coddling. — Good person. Bad topic.
3. Don’t listen to your customers or potential customers when trying to #innovate. Use their feedback only to iterate.
4. Think big. I never think big enough. Be audacious. Imagine deals people around you think will never happen. Believe.
5. Don’t be afraid to hire execs older than you; But if treated like their child slap ‘em upside the head figuratively. #MutualRespect.
6. Attorneys work for you. The best make great partners, but you must manage them not them manage you. You have to make the decisions. Don’t let them intimidate you with legalese. Have them explain the full spectrum of choices. It’s still your business.
7. 1st things 1st. Ignore everyone until most important item is completely done. #RelentlessLikePitBull
8. Find salespeople who love to spend money: watches, cars, houses. The more they spend the better your prospects.
9. I relish an all-nighter like my dad relishes the smell of jet fuel in the morning. #Startups #SaaS
10. Nothing crystallizes your strategy like several hours of continuous, peaceful, uninterrupted focus.
11. Nothing is more motivating and nothing pisses me off more than people who doubt me. #Startups #Omniture #SaaS #Cloud
12. Spelling and grammar: Great employment filters. If they can’t, I don’t want them at company. 1% exception. #TakeToTheBank
13. Customers first!!! In every way. Had 100% retention of customers at #Omniture for 5 years. Aim to do the same at #Domo.
14. Believe in your tech team more than they believe in themselves they will rise to the occasion.
15. Make everyone responsible. Create internal conflict to quickly fix complex problems because it forces cooperation.
16. Make mistakes faster than anyone else. I do and it’s rad.
17. Big time execs put their pants on one leg at a time–treat them like an old high school friend. #Don’tBeIntimidated
18. Culture–be polarizing–some people will leave but others will love it. #WeedEmOut #FindTheBallers
19. In zeal to close deals, be careful not to become the CEO 10% discount. Sales won’t invite you back. #SaaS #Cloud
20. Hire hungry, angry, slighted, bad-luck, orphans and others waiting for their chance to prove the world wrong. #Startups
21. Competitors are trying to take food from your family and your team’s families. Treat accordingly.
22. I got 99 problems but hiring ain’t one. Fire fast. Hire slow.
23. Making decisions with more than 75% of the information is by definition hesitation.
24. When raising money, your 1st move is to tell potential investor, “No, not interested.” Makes them crazy.
25. CFO office not allowed to lose any sales. Prohibited from lying about finances but not allowed to lose deals either. #Startup
26. #Cloud: Pay attention to churn early because retention gets very nerve-wracking when 10% churn equals a $50M hole in the bucket.
27. When in #Cloud and #Startup, strive for perfect uptime. Fire repeat offenders. Measure uptime from inside and outside. Customers will.
28. #GuerrillaMarketing for #Startup: Get universities to run competitions about your space. $5K-10K goes a long way in branding + hiring.
29. Don’t spend #Startup money on anything until you have to, but when the time comes, don’t be chintzy… #PlayToWin
30. Early to bed early to rise hurts my head. Give me peace and quiet at 2AM and I’ll give you opportunity for genius. #Startup
31. Don’t be a scared American. Go solo overseas for biz. A jointventure is like playing roulette with your brand and success. #Startup
32. Do not negotiate with Israelis in business. You will lose.
33. Pay commissions only after receiving cash from customer. Sales people hate it but collections are easy. #SaaS #Startup
34. Family and friends more important than #Startup so act accordingly. More effort, zeal, creativity at home than work.
35. Unless emergency, until #Startup is stable, work like dog during week; weekends and friday nights are sacred time for family + fun.
36. If old enough to die for country, you should be able to rent a freaking car. Charge more if I’m a risk. #StillMadAtHertz