This is a fabulous post. I don't know that I've ever though “yeah! I want to go into Biz Dev!” but you know, on a smaller scale, we are ALL in Biz Dev if we're in this Web 2.0 world. Because we are all needing to interact on these levels… even if it's just as people. Because you never know who might be doing what down the road and how that might flow into opportunities for everyone involved.

Great post again Micah – I really need to remember to get over here more often! :)

Your question is interesting. First off, sales and business development are two different things. Use the lijit widget on my sidebar, as there is a post I wrote, and my friend Eric Olson (used to do BD for feedburner) wrote about the difference.

Second, the answer is really a mix. Startups require every member to wear multiple hats. I think its why I like them. I wear the hat of a product manager, business development dude, evangelist, and many other things (some times appreciated, and some times not).

But at the end of the day here is the deal: You have a product or service that you want people to use, so 1) make sure its the best it can be; 2) it has inherent value to those using it; and 3) you believe in it. Sometimes to make that a reality, you have to do multiple things.

I also think that a fundamental difference between sales and business development is the internal measure of success. For sales its all about numbers; for business development its all about usage. Those lines are often blurred, which is why sales and business development get confused, but if you have a compensation plan that includes a variable component, and you find yourself motivated to achieve goals to make the commission/bonus/whatever you are a sales person.

I work on a very small Biz Dev team at Collective Intellect (another local start-up. You running the Bolder Boulder tomorrow?) I'm also just of out my undergrad and don't have much to compare my current work against.

When people ask me details about my day, I stumble through a mediocre explanation along the lines of, “A little bit of sales, a little bit of strategy and planning. But more than half of my day is totally unstructured work – reading, learning, talking to contacts, etc.” Your description is much better.

Question – should the unstructured nature of my job at CI (no day is the same, wearing lots of hats, very little instruction as to what my responsibilities are) be attributed to working at a start-up or working in Biz Dev?? Do you think all biz dev jobs require as much creativity to be successful?

Its interesting. I began to write about integrity, but I figured at the end of the day, its so self evident that it doesnt need mention. After all, what other than one's reputation do you really own or control?

I like the idea of “inter-related.” Its really the concept that business development discussions have to be about “you” not “me.” If both parties are thinking about the other, then the deal can do nothing but benefit both parties.

Here is an example: When someone (a board member, a good friend, my CEO, anyone) presents me a publisher that they think should install Lijit, the first question I ask myself, is “why?” Why should that publisher give up valuable screen real estate for my widget? Does it make them a better publisher (either by demonstrating increased pageviews/revenue, or providing information or utility to uncover information about the publisher's readers), does it work with their look and feel (after all, our blogs and publications are reflections of us), or is it something that makes the publication itself better (better search, more content uncovered, more engaging).

And, if my reputation is that I dont ask a person to add the widget unless the three questions above are answered “yes!” then I am not selling anything, rather, I am just helping out a friend.
And, more than anything, I would rather help out a friend than hit some made up, random, bogus number that indicates that I am doing a good job.

After all, what really indicates whether I am doing a good job or not is if most people say “that micah, he may be a douchebag, but I do trust him.”

The one word you implied but didn't explicitly state is integrity. The world is now so small that a lack of integrity will catch up with you awfully quickly. Your reputation as a biz dev person will travel quickly in all the circles that matter to you, for better or for worse.

P.s. Instead of “enhanced”, how about inter-related, ally, or alignance (yes, I made that last one up)…

Do I get a raise now?