How to Build Founder Led Go To Market Strategies

If I were a founder starting marketing from scratch, here's what I'd do first: Sell. That's it. Just sell. I know that sounds simplistic, but your earliest sales conversations are the most valuable marketing research you'll ever get. When I advise startup founders, they're often shocked that my first recommendation isn't a fancy marketing strategy. It's talking to actual humans who might buy your product. The reality is that most founders overcomplicate early marketing. They try to build elaborate funnels before understanding who's supposed to enter them. Here's the founder's path to great marketing: → Have real sales conversations first (no marketing team needed yet) → Identify your true best-fit customer (the one who bought quickly and got results) → Interview them deeply about their journey to finding you → Get your leadership aligned on who you serve (this is harder than it sounds) → Craft positioning using your customers' actual language (not yours) → Test your messaging in live conversations (refine based on what works) → Update website and sales materials to speak directly to your best customers → Choose ONE go-to-market motion and ONE channel to master → Prioritize clarity over creativity (in messaging, strategy, and execution) I've watched dozens of B2B startups waste 6+ months creating complex marketing strategies when they should have been having conversations. The most successful founders I work with understand that clarity comes before scale. Always. What would you add to or change about this list?

I recently spoke with an early-stage AI app founder who was desperate to hire sales reps because he dreaded founder-led sales. This is one of the most common failure modes I see with technical founders—and it significantly impedes the path to product-market fit. Here's how to think about the right order of operations in early sales motions: Phase 1: Prototype & Validation In the earliest stage, the feedback loop between customer conversations and product roadmap must be extraordinarily tight—making founder-led sales absolutely non-negotiable. This phase is critical because you're identifying your true ideal customer profile (ICP) and learning how to effectively communicate your product story and address common objections. As you accumulate hundreds of demo repetitions (while refining your product based on feedback), you gradually assemble a winning process. Phase 2: Founder-led Sales Scale-Up Your mission here is to create the sales playbook that will guide future reps. You need sufficient pattern recognition to understand which messages resonate with which personas. I recall meeting Desmond Lim, CEO of Workstream, several years ago (not an Emergence portfolio company, but I deeply admire what they've built). He showed me the remarkable 60-page playbook he crafted documenting their entire sales process—before hiring a single AE. Every nuance. Every objection. Everything a new rep would need to succeed. While perhaps extreme, this perfectly illustrates the principle: scaling go-to-market requires mastering your ideal sales motion before delegating it. Phase 3: Hiring Initial Sales Reps Most founders default to sequential hiring—start with one rep, evaluate results, then proceed. However, we recommend hiring 2-3 sales reps with diverse backgrounds simultaneously, enabling you to effectively A/B test different profiles. Regardless of approach, ensure these early hires are "renaissance reps" with rapid iteration capabilities rather than purely "coin-operated" sellers. Mark Leslie has a great foundational article on the Sales Learning Curve provides excellent guidance. I'll link it below. So embrace the early sales work, even when it feels uncomfortable. It's fundamental to building a foundation for lasting success.

Founder-led sales is often the most misunderstood advice given to early-stage entrepreneurs. Too many founders think it means they need to be a charismatic 'closer' who can single-handedly land the first 20 customers. The true purpose isn't just to sell, it's to build a repeatable system, a playbook so effective that you can hand it off to your first sales hire and it just works. I often meet founders who are amazing salespeople, but their entire process lives in their head. In fact, I was one of these founders so I know from experience that it's 1) not a scalable solution 2) has key-person dependency. The founders I know who have nailed their sales process know they are not just selling a product, they're building a system that scales. Here’s some ideas on effectively building a sales playbook that I've observed over the last 10 years of investing into early stage startups: ✔️ Document Every Step As If for a New Hire. Seems obvious but create a living document that outlines your entire sales motion from the first email outreach template, to the questions you ask on a discovery call, to the way you handle common objections. Write it with the discipline of a training manual, because that's exactly what it will become for your future sales hires. ✔️ Record Your Calls to Create a "Greatest Hits" Library. Use a tool like Gong or Fathom to record your sales calls. This isn't just for your own self-improvement, it's to create a scalable training tool. A library of your best calls is an invaluable asset that teaches a new hire the nuance of how to talk about the product, navigate customer concerns, and articulate value. ✔️ Build a "Minimum Viable CRM." Even if it's just a simple Pipedrive/HubSpot/Airtable setup, start tracking your pipeline with rigor. Proving you have a disciplined process and understand your conversion metrics is just as important as proving you can close a deal. It shows investors (and the team) that you think like a system-builder, not just a solo operator. The goal of founder-led sales isn't to be the hero salesperson forever. The ultimate success of founder-led sales is when you've built a machine so effective, you can fire yourself from the job. Love to hear other ideas on building a sales playbook from founders who have experimented with this 🙌🏼

Heres a straightforward yet powerful approach every Founder and Sales Leader should try when optimizing their sales motion ▶ Embed yourself in the initial sales conversations ◀ Yes you heard it right! Especially in the early stages of building your team or when introducing a new product or service Why does this matter? 👉 Direct insight You gain a firsthand understanding of customer reactions, objections and the actual value they seek. This isn't just data. It's the real, unfiltered voice of your customer 👉 Team training Demonstrate live to your team how to handle objections, the art of follow up and how to close effectively. There’s no substitute for learning from real life examples - especially when led by a leader 😎 Here is how to do it effectively ⤵ 1️⃣ Join as a silent observer - Initially simply listen in. Understand the flow and common sticking points 2️⃣ Gradually take a lead role in some calls - Share your vision directly, answer complex questions and guide the narrative 3️⃣ Provide immediate feedback to your team - Post-call, discuss what went well and what could be improved. This direct feedback loop accelerates learning and performance Example ⤵ During a call a potential client hesitates on the pricing. You step in, explaining the ROI your previous clients have seen instantly adding credibility and addressing concerns effectively Result? * You empower your team with confidence and proven strategies * You ensure your sales motion is aligned directly with market needs Integrating this practice can transform your sales outcomes making your team more adept and your strategy more aligned with your market Remember the goal isn't just to close more deals it's to build a robust, insightful sales process that scales as your team grows 🤘

This week's Founders Project episode features a conversation with serial entrepreneur Chen Amit, Co-Founder and CEO of Tipalti. Since its inception in 2010, Chen has led Tipalti to remarkable success, growing to over 1,000 employees, processing more than $43 billion in payments annually, and achieving a valuation of $8.3 billion. Tipalti is a finance automation suite focusing on removing the pains and risks for corporations as they pay suppliers. And if all of those achievements weren't enough, Tipalti continues to exhibit staggering 120% year-over-year growth. Let's dive into a few key insights from Chen on go-to-market: 1️) Founder Involvement: In the early days, founders play a critical role in the sales process. Their personal involvement is essential to fine-tune the message and understand the customers' sensitivities. It's all about nailing what drives your customers. 2️) Crafting the Playbook: Once you've honed your message and are ready to scale, build an initial playbook for your small team. This is where things start to take shape. 3️) Right Leaders for the Right Stage: Hiring is pivotal. Look for leaders who match the stage of your company. Chen emphasized that it's crucial to bring in leaders who are ambitious and scrappy, even if they might not be the long-term Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). 4️) Continuous Growth: Encourage and enable your sales team to grow. Invest in their training and development. Recognize when someone has reached their potential and be ready to hire the next person for the next stage. 5️) Timing of Transition: As a leader, the decision to step aside and delegate should come when you realize you're slowing down your team or blocking the company's growth. Recognize when it's time for you to shift from a hands-on role to an orchestrating function. The above is just a small portion of the valuable insights that Chen shared. Tune in to the full episode here: bit.ly/45UtC74

When I ask founders about their biggest growth mistakes, they almost always bring up one thing: Early sales decisions. 👉 Their first AE was a costly mishire, setting them back 6+ months. 👉 They hired (and fired) a sales leader before they were ready for it. 👉 They thought they could transition “out of sales” to focus on product. Thankfully, Seth DeHart is one of the foremost experts on this topic. After successful runs as an early sales leader, he’s gone on to advise 80+ B2B startups — including Typeform, Attio, incident.io and SuperAnnotate — on this exact journey. He also runs Founder Led Sales, the free platform and community helping 250+ founders up their sales game. Today, Seth shared his six-step framework for nailing founder-led sales. Check it out in Growth Unhinged here: https://lnkd.in/eiuSd6zR The TL;DR - 6 steps for nailing founder-led sales: 1️⃣ Find early product-market fit (PMF) - Your founder status is a superpower here. - The focus isn't on perfecting the pitch, it's about having real conversations that lead to paying customers. 2️⃣ Acquire customers - While tempting, don't hire sales people yet. - Instead, start documenting patterns of success that lead to a signed contract. 3️⃣ The first sales hire(s) - This person must have startup experience & be willing to do everything from prospecting to closing. - Hiring 2 AEs simultaneously is great if you can afford it (& find two 🔥 people). The competition & parallel learning accelerates success. 4️⃣ Make it predictable - Focus on predictability because you're preparing for more hires. - You need clear goals around KPIs, quota & comp -- plus predictable conversion & pipe gen. 5️⃣ Multiple sales hires - Steadily expand the team from one to multiple AEs -- but wait before hiring a sales leader. - This phase builds your sales leadership skills through pipeline reviews, forecasting & team mgmt. 6️⃣ Hire a sales leader - The better your foundation, the better the candidates you'll attract. - Avg. tenure for a sales leader is 18 months -- you need to maintain enough sales leadership skills to step in if needed. -- The punchline: there's no transition "out of sales" as a founder. #sales #startup #founderledsales