The Top Misconceptions in Startup Sales

Episode 8

Over the last 9 plus years, hundreds of founders have come to me for coaching on their sales and go-to-market challenges. And I've done my best to help. In the next few months, in the form of weekly episodes, we'll be looking at the top startup sales misconceptions folks possess. And how I get them to think instead. Reading this series will make you smarter and more aware than most startup operators, as you'll already know how to think about go-to-market and sales, and avoid some of the biggest pitfalls. Consider this your cheat sheet in shaving months off your revenue growth journey. Here's your eighth installment. Read on.

“Let's do product launches on HackerNews and ProductHunt to get leads. We'll also ask for customer intros from folks we know and from our investors to get ourselves some pipeline.”

There's nothing inherently wrong with the above. By all means, do it all. Grab that juicy low-hanging fruit and take a big bite out of it. You won't hear me stopping you, as your coach.

And yes, doing those things will probably yield early easy leads. And maybe even some initial customers. A bit of revenue.

However, like a ton of low-hanging fruit. It can be overly tempting. Alluring even. And take you away from the unglamorous fundamentals that will take your startup places.

Doing the above exclusively can put your startup in a world of trouble. And it usually comes from a place of scarcity and urgency.

You have very few leads, and you're hoping to find some quick wins to generate some much-needed pipeline.

It usually feels a lot better getting leads that come inbound. You feel like the pretty girl at the bar. You don't have to face much rejection. You're getting plenty of attention. And when you get intros, folks come in as friendlies. They'll gladly take that call with you.

What I do ask my clients to do however is to take a step back, and take a more long term view. I'll inquire, "What happens when you've got these launches, and depleted your network with intros? How are you going to scalably grow revenue?"

The silence gets deafening.

"What we should be doing concurrently to those short term spiky tactics is to uncover GTM channels, tactics, and messaging that will get us leads in a scalable way. We should be seeking message-market fit."

Message-market fit – as many in these parts know – is a component of product-market fit. Some even say: its most external part. It's the ability to put a message out in the market and have it respond with interest. And get a sales conversation started.

And it usually takes hard work. A lot of it. Sometimes past what you think you can give. Without much dopamine to keep you going. It's what makes go-to-market such a grueling discipline.

There are two major scary parts of not engaging in real go-to-market to uncover message-market fit.

Let's look into the first. Getting intros from YC batch mates feels wonderful. Friendlies will not give you much opposition. And usually they'll be more than receptive to giving your product a try. Getting on a free trial. And even purchasing past that, without much resistance, if the ticket size is on the smaller side.

“Paul, why would that not be a good thing?”, you might ask.

Well, friendlies are incentivized to be nice. And thus won't give you the brutally honest feedback you should be craving. As a founder doing sales, you should relish the opportunity to learn from every market interaction. Particularly if the learning is not silky smooth. Especially if it contains bitterness. Grit. Rough edges.

You should be leaning in. Welcoming the difficulty. And asking for more. Those are the lessons for you to harvest. And examine carefully.

The learnings you'll get from strangers that have responded to a cold email are infinitely more valuable than the agreeable interactions and signed deals you've garnered from the customer intros your VC tee'd up.

Prospects will let you know what the market really thinks of your product. You'll get things like, “Hmmm…this isn't the right time for us.” Or, “Your product feels like it could be useful, but I'm not sure I want to rip out what we currently have.” Or even, “We've decided to go in a different direction.”

Versus, “Hey, what you guys have built is awesome. Happy to take it for a spin.” Or, “When Sarah makes a recommendation, I listen. She's never led me astray. Would love to see what you guys are building, and see if it might make sense to partner.”

Feel the difference?

The second major frightening part of not doing real go-to-market? These spikey go-to-market tactics are not scalable. And not reliable long-term. Even the greatest networks deplete over time. Which means that intros to relevant portfolio companies will eventually dry up. And your ProductHunt launches? While good to generate an influx of inbound leads. They are not something you can do week after week. I can't tell you how many startups I've either worked with or met that had little to no pipeline coming through after they had exhausted their low-hanging go-to-market tactics. And because finding message-market-fit can take six to twelve months for some startups, they'll plateau at a revenue number for months. Only then do they feel forced to dedicate the time and resources to figuring out how to generate interest from the market.

What's the simple cure to these months of barren pipeline?

Getting started with the non-glamorous hard yards of real go-to-market as early as possible. Concurrently to the facile GTM tactics. So that you can start making headway towards message-market fit, as you benefit from those early spikes of leads. Hopefully preventing any interruptions in lead flow in your startup's journey.

Next week, we'll explain why humility and open-mindedness are critical qualities to cultivate in order to be successful at go-to-market.