Video

Dalton & Michael: Successful founders are OK with rejection

Y Combinator Free Beginner

Two YC partners talk plainly about why founders who avoid rejection end up avoiding their customers altogether, and why the founders who do best treat a no as information instead of a verdict on their startup. It is a useful mindset reset if objections are making you avoid sales calls entirely. Short enough to watch between calls.

  • Avoiding rejection often means avoiding the customer conversations you need most.
  • A no from one prospect is data, not a verdict on your company.
  • Founders who get comfortable with rejection ask for the sale more often.

The question it answers

  1. How do I handle objections and prospects who go silent on me?

Read with it

  1. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  2. The authoritative handbook on founder-led sales, written for technical/first-time sellers building B2B SaaS. Readable free... foundingsales.com Book · book (~400 pages) Founding Sales: The Early Stage Go-to-Market Handbook Peter Kazanjy
  3. Steli Efti (YC alum, co-founder of Close CRM) is one of the most trusted voices on startup outbound and cold email, practical,... Close Article · article series The Close Sales Blog (Steli Efti on cold email & founder sales) Steli Efti
  4. The research-backed classic on consultative selling, the antidote to 'pushy salesperson' instincts. Its... McGraw-Hill Book · book (~200 pages) SPIN Selling Neil Rackham
  5. This is the book most modern cold outbound advice quietly borrows from, so reading the source is worth it. Its "Cold Calling... Amazon Book · ~208 pages Predictable Revenue: Turn Your Business Into a Sales Machine with the $100 Million Best Practices of Salesforce.com Aaron Ross and Marylou Tyler
  6. Jen Abel has coached over 300 early-stage founders through their first sales, so this is grounded in what actually happens when... Lenny's Podcast Podcast · About 1 hour 16 minutes The ultimate guide to founder-led sales | Jen Abel (JJELLYFISH) Lenny Rachitsky with Jen Abel
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →