We Think in Decades: How to Sell New Tech Into Pharma | SalesDNA Podcast

Chris Li, CEO and co-founder of BioBox, joins Harrison and Nick to talk about what changes when a startup goes from selling to biotech to selling to big pharma. They cover who in pharma carries the risk of a decision, why demos go wrong when you show too much, the pre-demo with an internal champion that changed BioBox's sales process, and when a founder should make their first sales hire. Chris Li:   / bx-christopher-li   BioBox: https://biobox.io/ Chapters: 00:00 Meet Chris Li and BioBox 01:35 A missed flight and a red-eye demo in Basel 05:04 Pharma vs biotech: "We think in decades" 08:00 Why fast biotech deals don't renew 09:54 Judge the decision, not the outcome 13:13 Find who in pharma carries the risk 15:02 R&D leaders: risk averse or glory chasers? 19:48 Clone your best decisions 22:51 Selling to skeptical scientists 24:09 Selling in Japan and Germany 25:48 Gin vs whiskey: build pharma pipeline early 26:52 How often to follow up 30:11 Breaking into pharma as a founder 35:49 Bad demos and too many features 42:20 Run a pre-demo with your champion 46:10 Hiring your first pharma sales rep --- We're doubling down on our YouTube content, so if you want to watch this video instead of listening to it, you can watch it on our channel here:    / @successionbio   About Succession Succession helps founders and sales teams close more deals with biotech and pharma. We partner with our clients to run modern lead generation campaigns, up-skill their team through personalized sales training, and build AI workflows using cutting-edge tools and technology. Ready to take your go-to-market to the next level? Check out all our free tools: https://succession.bio/free-tools Subscribe to our newsletter: https://blog.succession.bio Book a strategy call: www.succession.bio Ask us anything: https://forms.gle/6cJJo7imyekPcwdEA