Building an Effective Sales Strategy for Tech Startups

The fastest way to kill your healthtech startup is to sell to everyone. It feels like the smart move: You’ve built a powerful product, and it seems like everyone could use it. So you pitch hospitals, pharma companies, clinics, governments, even direct to consumers. More buyers = more chances to win… right? Wrong. Because each of those customers buys in a completely different way. - Different sales cycles. - Different value metrics. - Different decision-makers. - Different compliance barriers. When you try to be everything to everyone, you lose clarity, waste resources, and watch your momentum slip away. So, instead of burning out, focus your energy on picking one customer segment that can say “yes” fast and build exclusively for them first. Here’s how to find the right one for your startup: ▶︎ 1. Go where the pain is urgent Who feels the problem now - so intensely they’re searching for a solution and have budget to act? ▶︎ 2. Understand the full buying dynamic Your user is not your buyer, and your buyer is not your decision-maker. If you can’t map who influences, approves, and pays - you’ll get stuck in endless conversations with no real progress. ▶︎ 3. Go for speed — if your product is affordable If your product is affordable, prioritize speed. Go after buyers who move fast — like diagnostic labs, specialty clinics, or mid-sized provider networks. Fewer layers = faster pilots = faster feedback. ▶︎ 4. Go for budget — if your product is expensive If your product is very expensive, selling to independent practitioners or clinics may be tough. Chain hospitals or insurance companies may be more likely to invest if you can save them money in the long run. Early traction isn’t about pitching to everyone. It’s about choosing one segment that can say “yes” fast and succeed quickly with your product. That’s how you get faster pilots, sharper feedback, and investor confidence. Focus on your ICP, and everything else will follow. Who was your first paying customer and how did you pick them? #entrepreneurship #startup #funding

For my first 16 years in tech sales, I averaged 240K/year W2 income. In my last 4 years, I averaged 720K/year. In order to triple my income, I had to change my sales approach entirely. Here's what I changed: I started using a new approach that I now call Yo-yo selling: 🪀 Yo-yo selling emphasizes starting at the executive level, conducting thorough discovery within the organization, and then returning to the executive with a tailored business case. Like holding a yo-yo, you are constantly in communication with the Executive Sponsor and updating them as you collect information and conduct deep discovery lower down in their organization. You are literally going up and down the organization, but always taking everything back to the Executive Sponsor to surface your findings along the way. Here's a breakdown of the framework: 🎯 𝐈𝐚𝐧 𝐊𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐤’𝐬 “𝐘𝐨-𝐘𝐨 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠” 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 This strategy involves a three-step process: 1. Start at the Top (Executive Engagement) Initiate contact with a senior executive to understand their most pressing challenges, the reasons behind the need for change, and the consequences of inaction. If your solution aligns with their needs, secure their sponsorship for further discovery within their organization. To secure the Executive Meetings, it's essential to create a tailored POV (point of view) on where you think you may be able to help them based on your initial research of their highest level goals and priorities. Chat GPT has made this research a LOT faster now. 2. Conduct In-Depth Discovery (Middle Management) Engage with department heads and key stakeholders to uncover the day-to-day challenges they face. Focus on understanding their processes, pain points, and the implications of current inefficiencies. Gather direct quotes and insights to build a comprehensive view of the organization's needs. 3. Return to the Executive (Present Findings) Compile the insights gathered into an executive summary and business case. Present this to the executive sponsor, highlighting how your solution addresses the identified challenges. Tailor your demonstration to focus solely on relevant aspects that solve their specific problems. 🚀 Why It Works 1. Accelerates Sales Cycles: Engaging executives early ensures alignment and expedites decision-making. 2. Builds Credibility: Demonstrates a deep understanding of the organization's challenges and showcases a tailored solution. 3. Facilitates Internal Buy-In: By involving various stakeholders, you ensure that the solution meets the needs of all parties, increasing the likelihood of adoption. I'm pleased to share that that Yo-yo selling was recently awarded as a Top 15 Sales Tactic of All Time by 30 Minutes to President's Club, and I received a cool plaque for entering the 30MPC Hall of Fame. Since I have no chance of entering the Hall of Fame for my baseball or golf game, this is a nice consolation prize 😁

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.

Startup go-to-market goes through 3 major phases. Failure to recognize which phase you’re in will cause pain, frustration — and often, failure. 🔴 Phase 1 — Market Experimentation This phase is all about learning. But it’s not “research.” The fastest way to find a viable market is by selling. The keys to this phase are speed and volume — you’re trying to get in front of as many potential customers as you can. You’ll start with your network, but should also be creating content, cold DMing prospects, attending meetups, etc. The goal isn’t to hit $1M ARR. It’s to figure out who cares most about the problem you’re solving. Once you know that, you can focus your efforts. 💢 A word of caution: This phase is messy. You’ll face rejection. A lot. But keep going and remember, this is temporary. You’ll know you’re ready for the next phase when you have a gut feeling that you could sell a lot of your product to a specific market. 🔵 Phase 2 — Beachhead Growth This phase is about building systems. The name of the game here is “repeatability.” 👉 To create effective systems, you MUST narrow your focus. You need to solve one use case for one specific group of people. This focus is your competitive advantage for breaking into the market. Without it, you’ll feel like you’re boiling the ocean, and your GTM efforts won’t be effective. Tactically, this phase is about setting up the “plumbing” for how prospects find, evaluate, buy, and use your product. This often involves: • Building marketing and sales assets (homepages, sales decks, email campaigns, etc.) • Developing top-of-funnel content (blogs, social posts, webinars) • Setting up tools to track leads and prospects (CRM) • Creating onboarding materials The goal? Dominate this segment. This should get you to at least $1M ARR. 🟢 Phase 3 — Expansion Growth By this point, you should have a repeatable GTM program that’s generating revenue and earning you some name recognition as a rising player. Now, it’s time to reinvest that revenue and grow. You have 2 main options to consider: • Enter adjacent markets with the same use case (horizontal) • Solve new use cases for your current market (vertical) Which route you take depends on the type of business you want to build, who you want to serve, and your market’s appetite. 💢 But don’t make the classic mistake of going after multiple markets all at once. Expansion is like restarting phase 2—new segments require new systems. The smartest move? Take it one segment at a time. (Sequencing) ——— Remember: Building GTM programs is just like building a product. Mindset is key. There’s a time for learning. There’s a time for building something small (but viable). And there’s a time to scale. Know what phase you’re in, and you’ll have a much smoother time growing your startup. #startups #gotomarketstrategy #growth

As startups scale, effective sales implementation becomes the difference between stagnation and sustainable growth. After analyzing hundreds of sales organizations across startups, I’ve distilled the key pieces of advice that founders and leaders should keep in mind. 1. Sales Strategy Fundamentals - Start with the right price: Establish pricing that reflects value rather than just covering costs. - Define your ICP: Clearly identify your ideal customer profile before building your sales process. - Understand sales velocity: Recognize that sales success depends on both deal size and deal frequency—optimize for predictability. Your first sales hire should generate predictable and consistent revenue, not just hunt elephants 2. Team Structure - Build a complete sales organization: Structure your team with marketing, SDR/ADRs, and account executives with clear handoffs. - Choose between top-down or bottom-up: Determine whether to pursue enterprise-led or product-led sales motion. - Invest in sales operations: Create systems that maximize selling time and minimize administrative burden. Effective sales organizations separate lead generation, qualification, and closing responsibilities 3. Pipeline Management - Calculate required pipeline coverage: Pipeline is prologue. Maintain a pipeline that’s at least 5x your bookings target. - Master lead qualification: Develop clear criteria for MQLs, SQLs, and PQLs to maintain quality. - Analyze conversion metrics: Track conversion rates at each funnel stage to identify bottlenecks. 4. Sales Process - Implement Challenger selling: Train reps to teach prospects, tailor messaging, and take control of the sale. - Map key stakeholders: Identify champions, opponents, decision-makers, and influential stakeholders. - Create a consistent demo: Develop a compelling product demonstration that clearly shows value and addresses pain points. Great salespeople don’t just ask about problems—they teach customers about problems they didn’t know they had 👉 Read the full post here: https://lnkd.in/gePqUC3g

If I was a Founding AE, and my goal was to grow our SaaS startup to $5M ARR in the next 18 months, here’s exactly what I would do: 1. First, answer these core questions about your business: - What are the benefits, differentiators, and use cases of your product? - Who is your ideal customer profile? Industry, company size, job title etc. - What problems are you solving and why should your ideal customer care? - Why are you better than the competition or the prospect “doing nothing”? Then write them down, and memorize them. 2. Build the foundation for your sales motion: -Breakdown $5M in 18 months (how many deals of what deal size will you need? How often? Plan best case and worst case) -Set a daily/weekly KPI for yourself -Identify key roles in the ICPs buying committee (decision-makers, influencers, users) and create targeted lead list -Identify your most FAQ and make a talking head video for each (this will save you HOURS) 3. Build Pipeline Relentlessly: -Put time in your schedule for prospecting everyday -Setup key signals (job change, tech change, website visit etc) -Use video in email to stand out -Ask for warm intros from your current network -Ask for referrals after every win -Book calls with experts on MentorPass and Intro to grow your network (and ask for more intros) 4. Master the sale call: -Write down the discovery questions you need to ask on the initial call -Identify the most common objections -Tell your company story -Build a sales deck with 5 simple slides  -Tell a customer success story -Ask for their business before the end of the call 5. Create urgency for close: -Attach offers that expire by end of week/month -Add an opt out period to a 12 month agreement / no risk paid trial 6. Don’t let the sale stop at closed/won: -Remove handoffs and stay involved (copied) through onboarding -Casually check-in with customers via email within the first 30 days -Turn sales into case studies, upsells, and referrals 7. Visualize results - Setup a dashboard (we use Baremetrics) - Check it EVERY DAY 8. Use AI to maximize productivity: -Check out the Company Research agent on Agent.ai -Download Fyxer AI in Gmail for email drafting, email sorting, and note taking -Send personalized AI videos with Sendspark Getting to $5M ARR isn’t luck. It’s focus, consistency, and learning faster than the market. You got this! AMA anything in the comments.

Sales are predictable, only if you have the right people and playbook. Here's part of my playbook after helping guide 12 companies to unicorn status: Most startups struggle with sales not because their product isn’t great. But because they’re winging it instead of following a proven process. Here’s the process I’ve used to scale 1 in every 5 companies I've worked with to unicorn status or 9-figure exits. Step 1: Be clear about your ICP Most startups think their audience is "everyone." Wrong. - Who has the biggest pain that your product solves? - Who has the budget and urgency to buy now? - Who will refer you to others after buying? - Who is easiest to get ahold of? Pro tip: If your sales team is chasing everyone, they’re closing no one. Step 2: Fix your sales messaging If your pitch sounds like everyone else’s, your prospects zone out. Don’t say “We’re an innovative AI-powered solution…” Instead, lead with outcomes. ❌ “We help companies streamline operations.” ✅ “We helped Scott cut CAC by 37% in 60 days. Any reason you couldn't get similar results?" Buyers don’t care about your product. They care about how it fixes their problem. Step 3: Build a repeatable sales process. If you don’t have a process, you have a guessing game. Here’s what I set up: - Outbound Sequence – Cold outreach that feels warmed up - Inbound Strategy – Attract buyers to you through content - Go To Network Strategy - Get intros to the interested - Sales Stages – Steps from discovery to close - Follow-Up – “No” is better than nothing Sales should feel like a well-rehearsed dance, not an improv session. Step 4: Data-driven sales execution Gut feelings don’t scale. Data does. We track: - Conversion rates at every stage - Sales cycle length - Top-performing reps (What are they doing differently?) The fastest-growing startups aren’t guessing. They’re iterating based on numbers. Step 5: Optimize & scale A great sales strategy isn’t set in stone, it evolves, so revisit every 6 months. - Are deals stalling? We learn why. - Are leads ghosting? We refine messaging. - Is the close rate dropping? We help fix it, quickly. Sales isn’t magic. It’s a system. Build the system, and the revenue follows. If your startup’s sales feel random instead of codified, it’s time to get serious. DM me, let’s build a sales engine that actually works.

𝗖𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱—𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝗸 Your cybersecurity product is powerful. Your team is skilled. But guess what? If CISOs aren’t buying, none of it matters. 🚨 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽’𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀? ❌ You’re selling fear, not ROI—clients need clear business value, not just threats. ❌ You’re stuck in pilot purgatory—endless POCs that never convert. ❌ You’re not aligning with compliance budgets—CISOs don’t buy security; they buy compliance, efficiency, and cost savings. 💡 Cybersecurity startups don’t fail because of weak technology. They fail because of weak market strategy. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘅: ✅ 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀 : No more free POCs—charge for proof of value. CISOs with real problems will pay for testing. ✅ 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀: Security spending often comes from compliance budgets. If your product helps meet SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, or NIST standards, position it that way. ✅ 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀: CISOs don’t buy security tools; they buy reduced liability, cost efficiency, and career protection. Shift the messaging. 💡 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳: 1️⃣ Are you selling threats or business value? 2️⃣ If your clients love your product, why aren’t they signing contracts? 3️⃣ Are you pricing strategically—or just hoping clients will convert? 🔥 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸: Cybersecurity isn’t just about preventing breaches. It’s about selling confidence, compliance, and cost savings. 🔥 𝗗𝗠 𝗺𝗲 if you’re ready to stop chasing pilots and start closing big cybersecurity deals. #Cybersecurity #TechStartups #CISOStrategy #SalesExecution #ScalingStartups #TechFounders