June 29, 2021

#17 - Martin Koppel (Fortumo) on sales approach that landed Google & Amazon, scaling a global payments business from Estonia, getting acquired and never delegating market entry

1 hour 19 minutes

Martin Koppel is the CEO and Co-founder of Fortumo. Before iOS and Android existed they offered various SMS services. Now they are solving payment challenges for Google, Spotify, Amazon, Tencent, Epic Games in emerging markets. And they invented Android in-app payments before Google did. Fortumo is truly one of the biggest success stories coming out of Estonia (Tartu to be precise) and Martin shares how he got there.

This episode is overflowing with actionable insights and tips on business development, direct sales, Fortune500 company courting, deciding the right time to exit, deciding when and why to raise VC money, and selling with confidence in yourself and in the value you create for your customers

The topics covered in this episode with Timestamps

[2:30] - Monetizing consumers in markets where it is hard to do so with Fortumo's mobile payment solutions

Fortumo are pioneers in offering checkout with payment through mobile phone monthly bill
Estonian companies are blessed with the local market being so small that they have to think globally from day one
If you want your company to last 20-30+ years, you need to diversify and reinvent your product portfolio
Symbiotic collaboration models between Telco companies and consumer tech subscription companies

[15:00] - Scaling the company, profitability, and the right time to exit

Building a company to make a profit was old school way of doing business before startup mentality came to Estonia and the Baltics
Raising VC money as a way to improve reputation (stamp of approval) and boost top tier sales
How to decide when to sell your company?
Should big tech be regulated more strictly? Martin shares from his painful business lessons

[36:10] - Business development for startups is all grit and hustle

The benefits of starting a company using already existing infrastructure (piggybacking)
Creating value for the customer as the no.1 focus
Putting in the work to prepare for f2f sales during events
Focusing on customer needs and always thinking where the market is heading - being ahead of the curve
Even if you're successful, don't be complacent
Getting key accounts and is LinkedIn still working?
Don't start selling too early. Listen to the customer
Selling to Fortune500 companies
Book “Snap selling” by Jill Konrath - the bible for everyone doing sales
Don't be afraid to reiterate sales messaging after time if no deal has been closed
Don't be a customer-pleaser. Go into a sales meeting knowing your value. Avoid master-slave dynamic

[1:07:30 ] - Conquering emerging markets

Don't rely on local salespeople to “sell for you” in the early phase. You have to go sell by yourself or your core team
Besides local help, you also need “boots on the ground”, best case the founder himself has to spend significant time getting market intelligence

Find out more on https://www.pursuitofscrappiness.co/

Support for this episode comes from Nexpay > https://paynexpay.com/

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By Uldis Teraudkalns & Janis Zeps

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