A demo that goes well and dies usually means you pitched your product instead of positioning it against what the buyer would otherwise do. April Dunford's point is that founders trained on investor pitches sell the future and the market size, while customers need proof you solve a painful problem they have right now, framed against their existing alternatives. Fix the story first, then fix the process: name the next step on the call, get the economic buyer into the room early, and stop treating silence as progress. Also raise price and budget on the first call. Gong's data shows win rates go up around ten percent when pricing is discussed on call one, and stalls are often just a budget conversation you postponed.
4 hand-picked resources, 4 link-checked. Pick how you want to dig in.
Why we picked it Explains why the deck that impresses a VC actively repels a buyer: different positioning, different proof, different ask. If your demos go well and then stall, this is usually the reason and nobody tells you.
From aprildunford.com by April Dunford short read
Open aprildunford.com →Why we picked it The reference explanation of all eight letters from the people who own the methodology, free to read. Use it as a deal checklist: the letters you cannot fill in are exactly where your deal will die.
From MEDDICC long read
Open meddicc.com →Why we picked it Covers ICP definition, the PBC structure for running a sales call, pilot design and weekly forecasting in one place, with templates for the call scorecard and the forecast model. The most useful single page for a founder building their first process.
From First Round Review by First Round Review with Emery Rosansky long read
Open review.firstround.com →Why we picked it Settles the most common argument in early sales: 11,331 opportunities show win rates rise when price comes up on the first call, and that waiting for the buyer to raise it does not help you. It also pins down when in the call to do it.
From Gong Labs by Devin Reed short read
Open gong.io →How running a sales process and closing reads from a different seat.
The same ground, over in Money, pricing & model, our Starting Up track.
The same ground, over in Money, pricing & unit economics, our D2C track.
