Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu has a blunt piece of advice for engineers, scientists and doctors who want to build businesses. Go sell. Get rejected. Do it again. In a post, the Zoho chief scientist wrote that the first step for technical professionals turning to business should be sales calls. “Please go on a lot of sales calls, face rejection if necessary, but persist,” he said. The experience, he argued, forces better communication because explaining ideas turns out to be harder than expected. It also builds respect for people who sell for a living. And it might even make you decent at business.
There is no business without selling something, Vembu added. Sometimes the obvious needs saying. Vembu’s own path gives the advice weight. He built Zoho into a major software company without the usual venture-capital playbook, leaning heavily on product and direct customer relationships.
