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Ask HN: Selling with powerpoint but without product

6 points by MortenK ↗ HN
Myself and a friend were discussing the possibilities of selling a somewhat complex software product, which would be specialized toward a select few clients. The product does not exist, and such I argued that we couldn't sell it. My friend, who is a long term sales guy, argued that we could: By designing how it would work and present this to the potential clients.

I have tried this scenario before where I had only a prototype, and a very enthusiastic sales person went out and sold it to multiple clients. In this case however, we're talking about not a single line of code being written.

Personally I think it's a bit dodgy, i.e. It's a bit too much pie-in-the-sky to sell something that does not exist in any form other than as an idea. I have a hunch though that it is more common than I'd like to think.

I'm wondering if anybody here on HN has any experiences with non-existing products being sold purely on presentation? When it happens, is it an oddity or is it indeed pretty common in the IT industry?

2 comments

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danielamitay
It shouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. Even if you can't make any progress with such a pitch, there are benefits such as feedback on the concept, and if you ever do follow through with the idea, there will be a visible continuity from idea to prototype, which should make you more memorable.
agranig
When operating in the B2B landscape, it's pretty common. Large corporations take time from the first pitch until signature (sometimes >6 months), and during that time you can iterate over concepts based on their feedback. If you are realistic when estimating the probability of signing the deal and thus realistic of taking the risk, negotiate the payment terms wisely (e.g. 50% after signature, 25% on delivery, 25% on acceptance) and manage to survive until first payment, it can be a great approach for boot-strapping.

It helps having a reputation at the first clients beforehand (e.g. due to free-lancing for them, or being introduced by others), otherwise large corporations might have doubts working with a start-up anyways.

It worked well for my start-up, where I felt uncomfortable with that approach also as a first-time founder (it's pretty awkward sitting there and listen to your sales guy promising what-not to the client when nothing is there in fact), but I've learned a lot from him since then :)