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We never had venture funding, or even access to bank debt, in the early days.
Because of this, Chris and I were maniacal about keeping costs down.
We'd negotiate EVERYTHING.
Furniture. Credit card fees. Software. Leases. Coffee beans. Paper.
You name it, we negotiated it.
Because of this, Chris and I were maniacal about keeping costs down.
We'd negotiate EVERYTHING.
Furniture. Credit card fees. Software. Leases. Coffee beans. Paper.
You name it, we negotiated it.
At first, it was painful.
We didn't know how to negotiate without upsetting people.
But over time, we built out a friendly process and mastered it.
We realized that by just calling around to different places and asking nicely, we could often save 10-30%...
We didn't know how to negotiate without upsetting people.
But over time, we built out a friendly process and mastered it.
We realized that by just calling around to different places and asking nicely, we could often save 10-30%...
It worked for software, credit card processing fees, web hosting. All sorts of stuff.
And it made a big difference.
Every dollar saved was an extra dollar to hire more people, grow faster, and start more companies...
And it made a big difference.
Every dollar saved was an extra dollar to hire more people, grow faster, and start more companies...
That said...
It could be an annoying and time consuming process.
And occasionally we had to deal with tense negotiations...
It could be an annoying and time consuming process.
And occasionally we had to deal with tense negotiations...
Over time, we realized that most people aren't built for it and it's hard to get employees to value the savings.
So, as Tiny got bigger, we stopped doing it as much.
We were too busy.
There were bigger fish to fry, growth was more important than incremental savings...
So, as Tiny got bigger, we stopped doing it as much.
We were too busy.
There were bigger fish to fry, growth was more important than incremental savings...
We accepted that we would naturally have to sacrifice negotiation in order to stay focused on the big picture.
Then we got introduced to Kimia and realized he was a natural born haggler.
He LOVED negotiation and dealing with this stuff.
He LIVED for saving money.
Then we got introduced to Kimia and realized he was a natural born haggler.
He LOVED negotiation and dealing with this stuff.
He LIVED for saving money.
So, as an experiment, we hired him to help some of our companies optimize their SaaS and hosting bills.
At our size, we pay many millions of dollars a year on SaaS subscriptons, S3, credit card fees, etc.
We asked him to take a look and see what he could do...
¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
At our size, we pay many millions of dollars a year on SaaS subscriptons, S3, credit card fees, etc.
We asked him to take a look and see what he could do...
¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
BUT...
We didn't want a weird corporate "procurement department" and Kimia didn't want a job.
He's an entrepreneur.
We realized that there is likely a ton of demand for a service like this and that most companies and startups don't even *think* about negotiation...
We didn't want a weird corporate "procurement department" and Kimia didn't want a job.
He's an entrepreneur.
We realized that there is likely a ton of demand for a service like this and that most companies and startups don't even *think* about negotiation...
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