Monthly Archives: February 2012

Why I’m No “Hustler”

It’s a well-known fact that the startup community (of which I’m a card-carrying member) loves it’s buzzwords and catch phrases. When I was getting my start as a Java developer back at my first Web 1.0 startup in 1999, everyone (including us) was building a “portal.”  Then out of the shadows came the “ninjas,” assassinating your customer service problems and slinking back into the night.  Of course, the talent market has been flooded with companies seeking  ”Rockstar” developers, Python “wizards” or “gamification” “gurus.”

When it comes to business development, people want a “Hustler.”  But to me, the term does a disservice to the role of Biz Dev.

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What Does a Biz Dev Person Actually Do?

According to the Grand Unified Theory of Business Development, Biz Dev is simply about pursuing opportunities for long-term growth.  Sounds simple enough, but what, exactly, does a “Biz Dev Person” do?  Too often, Business Development has been considered the “junk drawer” of the business world – an ambiguous, unstructured job title for people who do a little bit of everything.
But at it’s core, I believe a Biz Dev job is focused on 3 activities:

The Grand Unified Theory of Business Development

“I do biz dev.”

Few times in history have more ambiguous words been spoken.  Ask ten “VPs of Business Development” or similarly business card-ed folks what, exactly, is business development, and you’re like to get just as many answers.

“Business development is sales,” some will say, concisely.
“Business development is partnerships,” others will say, vaguely.
“Business development is hustling,” the startup folks will say, annoyingly.

 

The amalgam of varied and often contradictory responses to the basic question of “what is business development” reminds me of the way physicists seek to explain what, exactly, is the universe.  With conflicting theories on the nature of black holes and bosons, the ultimate goal for those scientists is a Grand Unified Theory, a single definition that can elegantly explain how the universe itself operates at every level.

 

Lacking any concise explanation of what business development is all about, I sought to unite the varied forces of business development into one comprehensive framework. And eureka, for I have found it - the Grand Unified Theory of business development:

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