Article · 25 min read
The Sales Playbook for Founders
Tom Blomfield · Y Combinator Startup Library Free Intermediate
Blomfield (founder of Monzo and GoCarchless, now a YC partner) gives the concrete mechanics of closing that first B2B deal: pick one wedge product and sell it hard for a couple of weeks, run paid pilots not vague free design partnerships, and use opt-out contracts to convert. It is the tactical how-to for turning your one target customer into a signed, paying pilot while you are still employed.
- Charge for the pilot: a paid pilot with clear success criteria is real proof; a long, undefined free design partnership is the most common founder mistake and proves nothing
- Pick a narrow wedge and sell it aggressively for two weeks; if it does not land, switch the wedge rather than piling on features
- Find and cultivate an internal champion who sells for you when you are not in the room, which is how a single evening-and-weekend deal actually closes inside a company
