Fix a pipeline that stalled

Deals are sitting, the number is slipping, and nobody can say exactly why. Diagnose it in order.

4 steps, 16 questions underneath, read for breaking into gtm

1. 1
   Who you sell to

   Picking a customer worth chasing, and knowing early when a deal is not one.

   What is an ICP and how is it different from a persona? People use both words for the same thing. 4 → We have about fifteen customers and they are all different. How do I find an ICP out of that? 4 → The person who uses our product every day is not the person who pays for it. Which one is the ICP? 4 → Every deal seems to have five people in it. Who actually signs, and who am I wasting time on? 3 →
2. 2
   Outbound that works

   Cold email, cold calls, LinkedIn, sequences and lists. How to start conversations with people who have never heard of you.

   I have never sent a cold email in my life. Where do I even start? 4 → I am a founder in India and my buyers are in the US. How do I get a stranger twelve time zones away to reply? 4 → My cold emails keep landing in spam. How do I set up sending so they actually reach an inbox? 4 → Is LinkedIn a real outbound channel or just noise? Should I be using it alongside cold email? 4 →
3. 3
   Running a sales process and closing

   Discovery, demos, qualification, champions, procurement and the last mile to a signature.

   I have a call booked with a real prospect tomorrow. What do I do on it? 4 → Founder-led sales sounds terrifying. Why can I not just hire a salesperson? 4 → The buyer said yes, and now it is going to legal and security. What actually happens next? 4 → Everyone says find a champion. What does that actually mean, and how do I know if I have one? 4 →
4. 4
   Forecasting and GTM metrics

   Pipeline coverage, stage conversion, CAC payback, magic number, and calling a number you can defend to a board.

   What is pipeline coverage and how much pipeline do I actually need to hit my number? 4 → How do I work out CAC payback when I do not have a finance team? 5 → What is the magic number and should I care about it at my stage? 4 → Which handful of GTM numbers should a first time founder actually track? 6 →