Sydney Leigh

I couldn't agree more. It would be advantageous for Mattermark if more startups were transparent as it would determine whether the company will sustain in the long term (e.g Glassdoor's need for salary data). However in a startup landscape with an ever growing population of not so great startups, quality is necessary. Even if Mattermark were to become the Google of business data, information is not knowledge. 

Danielle Morrill outspokenly claims being a Capitalist. I don't think altruism is the motive behind Mattermark's act of transparency rather it's a clear example of reusing a successful marketing strategy that has become somewhat of a trend.... The question is whether or not this marketing strategy fits in with the company's product/mission/vision/culture.

You should not have to convince a customer to buy a product they need. Simply, after learning more about your customer whether through observation, analysis or both, if a pen is not what they need, then there's no point of wasting of your time selling a pen.  However that doesn't mean a missed sale opportunity.  Maybe through your analysis or observation you've determined that a pencil is a better fit. Instead of wasting time trying to convince your customer to buy a pen, just tell them about a pencil.