I find selling to customers is easier than to investors, do you?

This month we signed up a very large customer with the Annual Contract Value (ACV) bigger than any single investment round we had raised until now. I was having a chat with a friend and realised that selling to a customer was easier than selling to investors.

Here is a quick comparison:

  • Signing up a Customer — Faster and more efficient. It took about 4 months to close the deal, usually, large investment rounds take a minimum of 6 months. The decision-making with customer was clear and transparent. Negotiations were very objective!

  • You sell value to customers, whereas you sell the vision to investors. The former is easier. Customers are ready to pay if they see value in the product. Investors have to be convinced that what you are building is of value and that we can find a lot of customers.

  • Customer Money is an Asset, Investor Money is a Liability. Your responsibility towards customers ends as soon as you deliver product/value, for investors, it just gets transferred from one set of investors to other (acquired or going public).

While I understand that investors are very important to fuel the growth, that is otherwise not easy. Being able to sell to customers is more satisfying than raising investments!

Most important, you can have a party when customer money hits the bank account, investor money is a responsibility!

What are your thoughts? Do you find selling easier than fundraising?

Originally published on LinkedIn