Podcast

"Sell the alpha, not the feature": The enterprise sales playbook for $1M to $10M ARR

Jen Abel · Lenny's Podcast, with Jen Abel Free Intermediate

Jen Abel has coached hundreds of early-stage founders through their first enterprise deals, and this episode is unusually concrete about who actually replies inside a big company and why. It reinforces the same lesson as the short answer: vision-cast to the person who feels the pain rather than problem-solving for someone who doesn't yet believe you.

  • Tier-1 logos often make better early customers than mid-market, because their teams move faster on real pain
  • Vision-cast to the person living the problem instead of leading with your feature list
  • A small paid pilot or service engagement is often the real 'foot in the door', not a cold demo ask
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The question it answers

  1. How do I cold email people at big enterprises when I'm a small unknown startup from outside the major hubs?

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  5. 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
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