Book · book (~400 pages)

Founding Sales: The Early Stage Go-to-Market Handbook

Peter Kazanjy · foundingsales.com Freemium Intermediate

The authoritative handbook on founder-led sales, written for technical/first-time sellers building B2B SaaS. Readable free online via membership, and covers the whole motion end to end.

  • Do ~50 demos and hit a ~20%+ win rate before hiring your first sales rep.
  • Discovery before demo, understand the problem before you pitch.
  • Dedicated chapters on prospect outreach and demo appointment setting.
  • Turn founder selling into a documented, repeatable, transferable process.
Open on foundingsales.com ↗

It answers 36 questions

  1. How do I actually get my first 10 customers when nobody has heard of me?
  2. I'm a technical founder and I hate selling, do I really have to do sales myself?
  3. How do I land my first enterprise customer when nobody has heard of us?
  4. How do I run a sales call without sounding like a pushy salesperson?
  5. How long is a B2B sales cycle and how do I not run out of money waiting?
  6. How do I handle objections and prospects who go silent on me?
  7. Who do I actually sell to inside a big company, and how do I find the decision-maker?
  8. What's the best channel to launch on, Product Hunt, Reddit, Hacker News, or LinkedIn?
  9. Is cold outreach even worth it, or is it just spam that hurts my brand?
  10. They want a free pilot, should I do it?
  11. How did real successful startups actually land their first customers?
  12. What sales process should I follow if I've never sold anything before?

And 24 more across the hub.

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. A tactical follow-on covering the channels and motions top B2B startups scale after the first ten. Grounds distribution... Lenny's Newsletter Article · ~15 min read How to win your first 10 B2B customers Lenny Rachitsky
  3. When your first ten will come from cold outreach, this guide gives you the full mechanics: building a target list, qualifying,... Close Article · Multi-chapter guide The Ultimate Startup Guide to Outbound Sales Steli Efti
  4. 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
  5. The permission slip to recruit users by hand, do things manually, and deliver 'insanely great' experiences to your first few... paulgraham.com Essay · ~15 min read Do Things That Don't Scale Paul Graham
  6. An Indian founder story where the early demand test was manual, cold emails and direct outreach to find the first customers... Prime Venture Partners Podcast Podcast · ~50 min How Khadim Batti Built Whatfix Into a Global SaaS Leader Prime Venture Partners
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