Founder-Led Sales
Also called Founder Sales
The founder personally selling the product in the early days, running discovery, demos, and closes, before hiring a dedicated sales team.
Why it matters
Founder-led sales is not a stopgap but a source of deep learning: the founder hears objections, learns the buyer, and works out the pitch that a future team will use. Selling it yourself first is how you build a repeatable motion worth hiring against.
For example
Before hiring a sales team, the founder personally closes the first 30 customers, learning the objections and the pitch that a future team will use.
Go deeper
Related terms
Also in Starting Up
See how founders actually handle this on Getting your first customers, part of the Starting Up hub.
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