Lead

A person or company that has shown some interest or fits your target, and might become a customer. The raw material of the sales funnel, before qualification.

Why it matters

Leads feed everything downstream, but volume without fit just wastes sales time. Defining what a good lead looks like, and qualifying ruthlessly, is what keeps a sales team working the right deals.

For example

A visitor who downloads a guide and leaves their work email becomes a lead the sales team can follow up with.

Go deeper

Founding Sales: The Early-Stage GTM Handbook Pete Kazanjy · guide Lead in context: the free handbook on running early-stage sales as a founder, from first outreach to a repeatable motion. Open foundingsales.com →

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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