Some of the most successful tech
leaders are often the greatest salespeople too. They understand you have to be
able to sell your product and vision to take your company to the next level. These
7 Billionaire tech moguls are proven sales masters who could probably sell you
anything.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff – Benioff was a star salesman
early in his career at oracle, making him Oracle youngest VP ever. He turned
his sales knowledge into Salesforce, a software maker that helps salespeople
make sales more efficiently. The company now worth $50 Billion has been selling
record size deals lately, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Oracle Co-founder Larry Ellison – Ellison is known for creating a
super charged sales environment at Oracle, his sales tactics are legendary
which is how he turned Oracle into a $38 Billion in revenue giant today. In fact,
he was even able to sell a struggling Hawaiian Airline he once bought to a VC
in the area.
Apple Co-founder Steve Jobs – Jobs wasn’t just a visionary, he
knew how to sell the products he created. From his presentations to small
talking, every move was aimed at creating a stronger brand and popular product.
iPhones have grown in sales every year, while Apple is now one of the most
valuable companies in the world. Steve Jobs was even able to sell NeXT Software,
a company he founded, to Apple, when he returned to the company.
LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer – Ballmer was Microsoft very first
salesman. His energy and explosive sales pitches played a big role in
transforming Bill Gates tiny startup into the largest software maker in the world.
When Ballmer took over the Microsoft CEO role from Gates in 2000, some people
saw it as the triumph of sales over technology and innovation.
Dell CEO Michael Dell – Dell showed signs of a great
salesperson from an early age. In High school, he was already making $18,000 a
year selling newspaper subscription. Soon, in his college freshman year, Dell
started selling upgrade kits for personal computers, which became the basis for
Dell Computers, once the most profitable PC manufacturer in the world.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban – Cuban, the owner of the
Dallas Mavericks, is now an investor, but he started his career selling
computer software. He was able to make a $15,000 sale just 9 months into his
job, and later started his own PC consulting business. His biggest feat is
probably selling his own startup called Broadcast.com to Yahoo for over $5
Billion. One of his favorite phrases is “sales cures all.”
Zenefits CEO David Sacks – Sacks has a history of building
startups and selling them for billions of dollars. He was PayPal COO when it
was sold to eBay for $1.5 Billion in 2002. His next startup, Yammer was sold to
Microsoft for $1.2 Billion. He is now on to his third Billion dollar startup,
Zenefits, which was last valued at $4.5 Billion.
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