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sdr.chat · Profiles

Founder sales

At the start you sell. Not because it is romantic, but because nobody else can change the product the same day a customer tells you what is missing.

Founder led sales

What you actually do

  • Sell to learn, not only to bill
    The first fifty conversations are worth more for what they teach you about the market than for what they bring in. Delegate that early and you delegate the learning.
  • Talk to customers with nobody in between
    In hotels this is a huge advantage. A founder who picks up the phone and understands how a property actually runs opens doors that take a rep months.
  • Know when to stop
    The signal is not revenue, it is your calendar. When selling stops you building, or when the process repeats and you could write it down, it is time to bring someone in.
  • Hire someone to scale what you validated
    The first commercial hire is not there to invent the model, they are there to repeat and improve it. If there is no model to repeat yet, you will burn them.

What ElevenLabs does

Jonathan Chemouny, who leads GTM for Europe at ElevenLabs, described on the SaaStock podcast how they went from 100 to 200 million ARR in ten months. Three things apply to any founder who sells: they removed job titles and the whole commercial team is simply called GTM, they only hire people used to moving fast (either from an early stage startup or they founded something), and they reinvent their tactics every four to six months instead of copying another company's playbook. They also use their own product to prospect, he cloned his voice so the LinkedIn message was already the demo. And one that hits close to home here: he says the era of staying behind a screen is over, and that meeting people face to face makes the difference.

What to learn before you take it

  • Write down the process that already works before you hire anyone
  • Tell a customer who validates the model from one who pulls you off course
  • Let go of the last deal without stepping in to close it yourself

See the Go to Market role

You do not learn this by reading

Everything above is notes. The jump happens by talking to people who already made it, and that is what the community is for. It is free and we meet in person.

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The whole path

SDR
Opens the doors and books the first meetings
See
Account Executive
Runs the full process through to signature
See
BDM
Opens new markets, channels and partnerships
See
FDE
Goes into the customer's house and builds the solution
See
Sales Manager
Makes the team sell instead of selling
See
Sales Director
Designs the commercial system and owns the number
See
Go to Market
Puts sales, marketing and product into one play
See