Start by talking to twenty people who have the problem, with no intent to sell, and write down the words they use. Then go back to the ten who leaned in and ask them to buy, badly, in a call you run yourself. You will be awkward and that is fine, buyers forgive awkward far more than they forgive vague. Do not hire a salesperson to skip this part: the first ten deals are how you learn what your product is actually worth and to whom, and nobody can learn that on your behalf. Budget three to six months of doing it yourself before you even think about a hire.
5 resources, 1 India-specific, 5 link-checked.
The single most practical starting point for a founder who has never sold: do things that do not scale, and do the selling yourself. Alstromer ran growth at Airbnb, so the advice is specific rather than motivational.
On Y Combinator Startup School by Gustaf Alstromer ~30 min
Finding your ICP starts with interviews you are not allowed to sell in, and this is the clearest guide to running them. The rule about avoiding hypothetical questions alone will save you from a fake ICP.
On Y Combinator Startup School by Eric Migicovsky ~30 min
Abel has coached 300+ early founders through their first sales, and this walks the whole path from cold outreach to procurement for a founder aiming at the first $1M. It is tactical to the level of what to write in the email.
On Lenny's Podcast by Jen Abel ~90 min
Open lennysnewsletter.com →The whole 400 page book is readable free chapter by chapter, written specifically for founders and first-time sellers rather than career sales people. Chapters 4 to 8 (prospecting, outreach, pitching, closing) are the ones to read first.
From foundingsales.com by Pete Kazanjy full book, free online
Open foundingsales.com →The story of an Indian company arriving at a very specific ICP, founder-developers at zero-to-one startups facing a build versus buy decision. Shows ICP discovery as a series of uncomfortable questions rather than a workshop.
From SeedToScale (Accel India) by Shekhar Kirani ~10 min read
How what gtm actually is reads from a different seat.
