What a Chief Revenue Officer at Braintrust Tutors Wishes They Had Known Before Entering the Education Technology Industry
Jon, a CRO in education technology, learned that some education companies are "a little bit unsophisticated" in their understanding of enterprise sales processes, legal paperwork, and revenue recognition. This lack of familiarity with core business functions creates "speed bumps," a fact Jon wishes he'd known beforehand to better prepare for navigating the industry.
Enterprise Sales, Education Technology, Business Development, Revenue Recognition, Contract Negotiation
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Jon Small
CRO
Braintrust Tutors
McGill University 2000
MA NYU and MBA UCLA
Fine Arts, Music, Psychology
Education
Education
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. Education technology companies may not always have sophisticated sales processes, so be prepared to navigate this and upskill yourself.
2. Understanding enterprise sales processes, legal paperwork, and revenue recognition are crucial skills in this industry.
3. There will be speed bumps; it's important to be aware of this before entering the industry to manage expectations and challenges effectively.
Transcript
What have you learned about this role that you wish someone would have told you before you entered the industry?
I thought about this while reviewing the different content we were going to cover. There are a number of things I could raise here.
But the one I probably talked about the most, being someone who's been involved in sales and top-line generation within education technology, is that sometimes education companies are a little bit unsophisticated.
They understand education processes and running a business because they are profitable. However, they sometimes don't quite understand what an enterprise sales process is like, what tools are typically used for those kinds of transactions, or what legal paperwork is associated with closing a deal.
There are some core business functions and protocols that seem to be somewhat foreign, or that the education technology industry is learning on the fly. Knowing this coming into it, you realize there are going to be some speed bumps as you navigate it. I think it's good to have that kind of heads-up in advance.