Video · Talk

The Sales Playbook for Founders

Tom Blomfield · Y Combinator Startup Library Free Beginner

It makes the point most first-time founders miss, that early on you are selling the founders and the promise that you personally will solve the problem, not a product. That reframe is what makes GTM click.

Open on ycombinator.com ↗

It answers 2 questions

  1. What does 'go to market' actually mean? People say GTM constantly and I still cannot define it.
  2. Founder-led sales sounds terrifying. Why can I not just hire a salesperson?

Read with it

  1. A structured curriculum for engineers who have never thought about sales, covering channels, segmentation, quota, comp and... Andreessen Horowitz Video · 16 short videos All Things Sales! 16 Mini-Lessons for Startup Founders Peter Levine
  2. Kirani has backed Freshworks, Chargebee and BrowserStack, and his rule that the product stays horizontal while the GTM goes... SeedToScale (Accel India) Article · ~15 min read How to Build a Clear and Actionable GTM Strategy Shekhar Kirani
  3. The whole 400 page book is readable free chapter by chapter, written specifically for founders and first-time sellers rather... foundingsales.com Book · full book, free online Founding Sales: the early stage go-to-market handbook Pete Kazanjy
  4. Covers ICP definition, the PBC structure for running a sales call, pilot design and weekly forecasting in one place, with... First Round Review Article · long read The Most Common Go-to-Market Questions This Expert Gets from Early Founders First Round Review with Emery Rosansky
  5. A four phase model for handing off sales, with a clear warning that most of the damage comes from adding closers too early.... aprildunford.com Article · short read Evolving From Founder Selling To A Sales Team April Dunford
  6. The mistake is not the hire, it is stepping out of sales afterwards, which Lemkin reckons about two thirds of founders do and... SaaStr Article · short read The #1 Mistake I See Founders Make When They Hire Their First VP of Sales Jason Lemkin
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