Tristan Pollock is a venture partner at 500 Startups, the most active VC fund that has invested in over 1,200 startups over its 5 year history. Storefront is an online marketplace that connects makers to short-term retail space and has raised $10 million with a team of 20 people. The document discusses sales hacking, which is using technology to rapidly grow and automate sales processes, and provides tips for building customer lists, writing better emails, mass outreach, and scaling sales.

1. Tristan Pollock
500 StartupsVenture Partner
@writerpollock
tristan@500.co
SALES
HACKING

2. ~ Most ActiveVC
~ 5Years Old
~ 1,200 Startups Invested

4. STOREFRONT IS AN ONLINE
MARKETPLACETO CONNECT
MAKERSTO SHORT-TERM
RETAIL SPACE

5. ~ 2.5YEARS OLD
~ RAISED ~$10M
~TEAM OF 20

6. OVER 1,000 STORES OPENED

7. Tristan Pollock
tristan@500.co
WHAT IS SALES HACKING?

8. “Sales hacking is the practice of
using technology to rapidly grow
and automate your sales process.”
-Tammy Camp, 500 Startups DistroTeam

9. WINTER HAS
ARRIVED

10. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Who are your customers?
Build Lists
1

11. 1 IN 10 STORES ARE
EMPTY

12. 28 MILLIONsmall businesses and entrepreneurs in the US.
*1/6 work in the creative industry.

13. KANYE

14. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Target the right customers
Demographics, business size, etc.
Find directories (e.g.Yelp,AngelList)
Need the right data to build a lead
Buy it, scrape it, or build it
Building Lists

15. WINTER HAS
ARRIVED

16. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Talk to your leads like you know them.
Write Better Emails
2

17. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Short - humans scan and skip
Personal - mention things that resonate
Friendly - we can sniff out spam a mile away
Ask questions - sales isn’t always on the first email
Edit and test - iterate on your subject lines, copy, CTA
Sales Emails

18. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Send A LOT of emails.
Mass Outreach
3

19. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
More is better - if you are targeting the right customer
Send in batches - sales people need to keep up
Automate and drip - don’t do one-and-done emails
Send as an executive or founder - builds trust
mail-tester.com - DKIM & SPF - don’t be spammy
Emailing 200,000 People

20. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Build the process. Get more efficient.
Scale Your Sales
4

21. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Upwork (Odesk) for virtual assistants*
Growbots for lead generation
Tout or Outreach for mass emailing
CitationLabs for gathering emails
And on, and on…
Scale Your Sales

22. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOODSo. Many. Tools.

23. See for yourself: bit.ly/saleshacking
Tristan’s sales hacking resource guide

24. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Target the right investors
Fund size and stage, investment thesis, past investments
Build the list with directories (e.g.AngelList, Crunchbase,
Mattermark)
IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE:
Always get introductions, or personally reach out 1:1
Even For Fundraising!
SiliconValley Etiquette: 500.co/silicon-valley-etiquette

25. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Always Be Closing (and make $$$).
A.B.C.
5

26. @WRITERPOLLOCK +TRISTAN@500.CO