Pete Kazanjy (author of Founding Sales) on why founders must own sales early.
Key Insights
Why founders must sell:
- You learn what you should actually be building
- You learn how to position and pitch
- You figure out what to teach your first salesperson
Steve Blank always talks about startups can’t get to scale without firing their first VP of sales. It’s oftentimes because they skip that step.
When to hire your first salesperson: When it “runs on your local” — you can reliably convert first meetings into customers at a 15-25% win rate across 50-100 attempts. Then test if it reproduces with someone else.
Scaling pattern: Don’t hire 10 reps. Hire 2. If those 2 succeed, you’ve earned the right to go to 4, then 8.
Modern sales = consulting:
You’re a consultant that has a particular predilection for a given solution. If someone doesn’t need what you’re selling, you’re an asshole for selling it to them.
Sales skills to practice:
- Building rapport quickly
- Asking good and uncomfortable follow-up questions
- Asking for money
- Being quiet after asking