Andrew Peterson’s Post

Wanted to repost this goodie from Andrew Peterson. Yes, there's a ton of desire to start your own company and get a fancy CEO title (or similar) but you need to be fully aware of and comfortable with what you're signing up for. Great words of wisdom #enterpreneurship #startups

If you’re in sales at a startup, your title doesn’t matter. You’re doing everything. Think being a salesperson means just closing deals? At a startup, you’re not just in sales. You’re in everything else too. Here’s the reality no one tells you about being in sales at a startup: You’re wearing multiple hats. And sometimes all of them at once: - BDR ➔ Cold outreach, prospecting, and hunting leads like it’s your full-time job. - AE ➔ Running demos, negotiating contracts, and closing deals—while thinking two steps ahead. - Sales Ops ➔ Building workflows, optimizing CRMs, and figuring out why that automation broke again. - Marketing ➔ Writing emails, creating pitch decks, and brainstorming campaigns because there’s no one else to do it. - Customer Success ➔ Onboarding clients, troubleshooting issues, and answering emails at 9 PM because startups don’t have a 9-to-5. It’s not glamorous. It’s messy, chaotic, and exhausting. But here’s why it’s also the best thing for your career: 1. You Learn Every Part of the Sales Process In big companies, you’d specialize in one area. At a startup, you touch everything: prospecting, closing, onboarding, retention. You don’t just become a better salesperson. You become a better businessperson. 2. You Develop a Founder’s Mindset You stop thinking like an employee and start thinking like an owner. Every client closed feels like your own win. Every dollar saved feels like it’s coming out of your own pocket. 3. You Build 10x Skills Sales ops? Marketing? Customer success? Those aren’t just “extras.” They’re skills that will make you a more valuable asset anywhere you go. 4. You Become an MVP At startups, the best players aren’t specialists. They’re versatile. Your ability to juggle hats will make you indispensable to any team. If you’re in sales at a startup, remember this: You’re not just a salesperson. You’re part marketer, part operator, part customer success. And that’s exactly what makes you unstoppable. — Enjoy this? ↳ Follow Haythem PS. ♻️ Share this with someone who’s grinding in startup sales They’ll appreciate it.

Don't hire a traditional sales team. Here's how I generated a $25M deal on LinkedIn instead: Most people think LinkedIn success means: - Using corporate buzzwords - Connecting with everyone - Posting every single day - Having a fancy title - Lots of followers - Going viral Dead wrong. Here's what really works: 1. Frame your Core Offer ⪼ “I help [dream client] ⪼ solve [their pain point] ⪼ to get [their desired outcome] ⪼ through my [USP].” 2. Profile Setup ⪼ Customer-focused headline: "I help {X} achieve {Y}" ⪼ Results-first banner: Share your best case study ⪼ Problem-solving About: Start with their pain ⪼ Clear CTA: "Book a call" (not "Let's connect") 3. Content Formula ⪼ Customer-focused headline: "I help {X} achieve {Y} through {Z} ⪼ Results-first banner: Share your best case study ⪼ Problem-solving About: Start with their pain ⪼ Clear CTA: "Book a call" (not "Let's connect") 4. Daily Actions (30 mins) ⪼ Track calls booked (not likes/views) ⪼ Comment on 5 prospect posts ⪼ Post one valuable insight ⪼ DM 3 engaged followers The results? → 6-8 qualified leads weekly → 80% reduction in CAC → Sales happening in DMs My clients are seeing the same: - IT startup: Strategic seed investment - Robotics startup: $25M enterprise deal - Education company: $12K from 5 countries - Testing company: Secured $200K R&D fund The best part? This system: - Works 24/7 - Scales infinitely - Needs zero cold calls Don’t believe me? I just got 6 leads for my client in 6 days. Want my exact playbook? Hit "Follow" for daily LinkedIn growth tactics. or better, Book a FREE 1:1 consultation call with me.

Budget dilemma for start-ups: How much product and how much professional sales?   For every start-up in the software industry, the focus at the beginning is on developing the product. However, after the first presentable prototype, there is nothing to stop you from tackling the marketing of the new baby. A product demo is quickly developed and the website has already been prepared. But how do you go about sales? And above all, who? Well, someone in the team will be found for it. If in doubt, one of the founders will do it anyway. Perhaps there is already a COO or CFO. A dedicated sales colleague? It will work out somehow, anyone can do that - the main thing is that product development progresses. If necessary, you give a discount to get through to the customer. An experienced salesperson can always be brought onto the team later. The list of important tasks and functions in a start-up is varied. This abundance must be distributed across a few shoulders. It is quite clear that you have to make compromises here before you can take the next step in growth. But I keep seeing start-ups with interesting ideas and business models that underestimate the complexity and effort that a promising sales approach entails. And the tight budget does not allow for professional salespeople and a sales manager. Additional staff is particularly painful because of the long-term commitment that this entails. It is of little help to be told that the total costs of an established software product provider are roughly distributed as follows: one third product development, one third administration and management, one third sales and marketing. Development comes first. It certainly will not work without investing in building up market access. Of course, it is best to do this with experienced staff right from the start in order to place the product on the market with force from the very beginning and to quickly win the first customers. This is exactly where you can achieve a lot with an external consultant as an interim manager for the sales that is being built up. Of course, such a service is not free. However, you still have the flexibility to stop this advice at short notice. You get some breathing room with a tight budget. If the interim manager is experienced, the training is manageable and productivity remains high. Well, there you go! There is a way to implement the same excellence in sales early on as the product promises anyway. Both are possible, take a look here: bizconz.eu.

3 years ago, I knew nothing about marketing or sales. Now my LinkedIn system does £40,000/mo. Here’s what happened: 🗓 2022: - I started dabbling in LinkedIn - I tested everything: daily posting, profile setup - And DMing like crazy. - I picked up my first few clients - And built my first repeatable system for generating leads - This was also the year I realized something huge: - Success isn’t about working harder. - It’s about building systems that do the heavy lifting for you. - By the end of the year, I hit my first consistent £10k months. 🗓 2023: - This was the year everything started to click. - My lead generation system became a well-oiled machine. - I stopped chasing clients and started attracting them. - But the best part? I spent more time OFF work than ever before. - I learned how to acquire clients efficiently - This was the year I realized this: - Success isn’t just about growth - It’s about sustainable, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴-𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 growth. 🗓 2024: - Scaling was the next challenge. - I hired a small team, productised my service - It wasn’t easy: I’ve doubted many times if I’m ‘good enough’ - But I persisted through them - We got up to £40k/mo together - And in 2025 are aiming to have our first £100k month - We’ve learned to deliver real impact for people - One client made £110k in 4 months. - Another booked 60 calls in 90 days. The biggest thing I’ve learned? It wasn't as impossible as it felt all that time ago. Sales and Marketing are learnable skills.

As an early-stage startup founder, you are the best person in your company to close deals - Here are 4 Founder-Led Practices to Start Implementing   1. Engage Directly in The Sales Process to Gather Customer Insights Leads and clients are often willing to provide honest product analysis throughout the sales journey—especially when they’re talking to the founder.   These early sales conversations are critical for: - Identifying areas of product refinement - Providing insights on how your product addresses their pain points - Finding opportunities for customer retention   Take this information and: - Perfect your offer - Ensure you’re targeting the right audience - Assist with product or service refinement    2. Use Your Vision to Define Your Market When you're raising money, you need to paint a big picture to VCs. This is the exact opposite approach you need to take early in the sales process.   A lot of founders make the mistake of trying to build for too many use cases. This will cause... - Customer feedback to be all over the place - Product experience to be too open-ended - Difficulty in defining your positioning - Challenges in gaining GTM momentum   Niching down allows you to focus on a specific customer pain point, so you can:  - Build trust and credibility with your ICP - Provide a specialized product tailored to your customers needs - Develop a deep understanding of the industry - Create targeted marketing messages   3. Founder-Led Strategy Calls As a founder, your direct involvement in strategy calls can set the tone for your company's market positioning and customer relationships. By handling these initial meetings personally, you can: - Adapt your pitch based on real-time feedback - Demonstrate deep commitment and expertise to potential clients - Establish a personal connection that builds trust and credibility These conversations provide insights that can: - Refine your value proposition based on actual customer needs - Enhance your content strategy by understanding what resonates most with your audience - Optimize your GTM strategies to better align with customer expectations Direct engagement helps you identify and address common objections, positioning your solution as the definitive answer to your market's challenges.   4. Build a Community Through Your Expertise The goal is to drive revenue through digital channels by establishing a strong thought leadership presence. This approach enables you to clearly communicate your market offerings. Sharing your story and what you are building can help you get more people invested in your vision.   - Showcase your expertise - Build meaningful connections through educational content - Identify potential partnerships with businesses offering similar services. - Engage with leads through community building   Being involved in the sales process early on is essential as a founder.   You need to be in the trenches to be able to know when to pivot and be able to move fast.

**Why Many Founders Struggle with Product Visibility and How to Overcome It** As an entrepreneur, the journey from ideation to product launch is often a labor of love. However, one of the most common challenges that many founders face is getting their product noticed in a crowded market. Despite having a groundbreaking product, achieving visibility and driving sales can be incredibly difficult. Here’s why this happens and a recommendation that could be a game-changer for your business. **Why Founders Struggle with Product Visibility:** 1. **Lack of Marketing Expertise:** Many founders come from a technical or creative background and may not have the marketing acumen required to effectively promote their product. The nuances of market research, brand positioning, and targeted advertising can be daunting. 2. **Limited Resources:** Startups often operate on a shoestring budget, which restricts their ability to invest in comprehensive marketing campaigns. This limitation makes it challenging to compete with established brands that have significant marketing budgets. 3. **Focus on Development Over Promotion:** It’s natural for founders to prioritize product development over marketing, especially in the early stages. However, without a strategic plan to promote the product, even the most innovative solutions can go unnoticed. 4. **Ineffective Sales Strategies:** An ineffective or non-existent sales strategy can hinder a product’s success. Founders may not have the sales experience needed to close deals or identify lucrative market opportunities. **A Recommendation to Drive New Revenue Opportunities:** Hiring a full-time sales director might be out of reach for many startups, but there’s a cost-effective alternative that can provide the expertise you need without breaking the bank. Consider engaging a fractional sales director for a few hours per month. For only £100 per hour, a fractional sales director can bring invaluable experience and strategic insights to your business. **Benefits of a Fractional Sales Director:** 1. **Expert Guidance:** A fractional sales director brings years of experience and a proven track record in driving sales. They can provide strategic direction, identify new revenue opportunities, and help refine your sales processes. 2. **Cost-Effective:** By hiring on a part-time basis, you get access to high-level expertise without the financial burden of a full-time salary. This allows you to allocate resources efficiently while still benefiting from professional sales support. 3. **Flexibility:** You can tailor the engagement to fit your specific needs and budget. Whether you need help with a particular sales campaign or ongoing strategic advice, a fractional sales director offers the flexibility to scale their involvement as required. 4. **Immediate Impact:** With their extensive network and industry knowledge, a fractional sales director can quickly identify and capitalize on opportunities.

🔥Wanted: Sales Hustler for High-Growth Media Company🔥 Are you a sales machine? Do you eat "no" for breakfast and turn "maybe" into "hell yes" by lunch? We're looking for a Sales Hustler to skyrocket our ad revenue across our diverse media products, including our globally recognized VC podcast. The Gig: - Sell ad spots and sponsorships across our entire media portfolio - podcast, online courses, webinars, and more - Hunt down new clients for all our products like your paycheck depends on it (because it does) - Keep existing advertisers so happy they forget other media companies exist - Craft pitches that make Don Draper look like an amateur - Close deals faster than a VC writes a term sheet - Identify and capitalize on cross-selling opportunities between our various media products You Are: - Hungry for success (and commissions) - Not afraid to hear "no" 50 times to get to that one "yes" - A smooth talker with the numbers to back it up - Comfortable working mostly on commission (base salary is for the weak) - Ready to hustle 24/7 (okay, maybe 16/7) - Excited about selling a diverse range of media products Must-Haves: - Proven track record of crushing sales targets across different types of media (show us the receipts) - Understanding of the tech/VC world and digital media landscape - Thick skin and a never-say-die attitude - Ability to write emails that actually get opened and responded to - A network of contacts in media, tech, or VC (or the charm to build one fast) Nice-to-Haves: - Experience in podcast, online course, or digital media sales - A personality that makes people want to buy from you - The ability to turn a "no budget" into a "take my money" - Experience in bundling different media products into attractive packages for clients The Payoff: - Primarily commission-based structure - sky's the limit for top performers - Small base salary to keep you hungry - Huge earning potential - the more you sell, the more you make - Work remotely (pants optional, sales mandatory) - Chance to network with big players in the VC and startup world - Bragging rights for working with top-tier media products in the VC space Still Reading? Here's the Deal: This isn't for the faint-hearted. We're looking for a sales warrior who lives and breathes the hustle. You'll have the freedom to work how you want, but we expect results. No excuses, just revenue. Our commission structure rewards top performers, giving you the opportunity to earn significant income across our diverse product lineup. Think you can handle it? Prove it. Send us your resume and your most impressive sales story to grace@smartventurepod.com. Show us you know how to sell yourself, and we'll give you the chance to sell our killer media products. Time to make it rain! 💰🚀 #hiring #sales

One of the interesting parts of my job is working with sales and marketing functions at startups vs. mom-and-pop companies vs. large enterprises in logistics. A bit on the differences. Startups are pretty similar in mindset to other startups, and large enterprises are pretty similar in mindset to other large enterprises: Startups literally do not care how they grow, and they are willing to do guerrilla warfare. They will try just about anything if it means they will be able to get some interest. They also do not worry about scale. We are often working with founders startups and possibly someone they just brought on to help with sales. With large enterprises, the game is how you engage your org in selling. We often work with managers who are most concerned with performance managing, generating results, and whether their teams are doing the work. A big part of our time goes toward ensuring their teams are sending emails, making phone calls, and using our data. The main X-factor with enterprises are the motivation of the C-Level driving targets. To me, the most interesting category is the universe mom-and-pop businesses. In many cases, these are family-owned businesses. For all I’ve read on LinkedIn posts about how work isn’t family, they do feel more like a family than a cold, greedy corporation to me. In many cases, people have worked together for 10+ years. Often, we are working with a single sales rep or two to help grow the business. The pace doesn’t feel the same as say, a startup where 12 hr days + weekends are the norm. There normally isn’t intense external pressure to perform, but I admire their dedication to craft and servicing their customers well, who have worked with them for years. I have also seen these companies take big bets by hiring 3-4 sales reps to really grow their sales, either because they want to grow fast or build a bigger valuation to eventually be acquired. In that case, they operate primarily as an enterprise business, but with the same pressure as a startup that just raised a round. The approach that each of these businesses take and the pressures they feel changes how we interact with everyone. As someone who nerds out about different types of businesses, it’s super fascinating. Curious to hear what others think.

Entrepreneur lessons from a venture capitalist- sales vs marketing in sourcing enterprise deals From my experience, I suggests a simple approach to bucket leads into three categories: A’s, B’s, and C’s: I define “A deals” as those that have a realistic shot of closing in the next three months, “B deals” as those that you forecast to close within three to twelve months, and “C deals” as those that are unlikely to close within the next twelve months. “A deals” should get much of the salesperson’s time (say 66 to 75 percent of time), “B deals” should get the balance as each sales rep needs to build their pipeline and bigger deals take time. And the key to scaling is that “C deals” should get no time from sales. They should be owned by marketing. In many organizations, marketing is in charge of generating leads and doing basic lead qualification. Then the sales team further qualifies and eventually closes the leads. It is part of the marketing department’s job to make sure the sales team gets the information they need to just focus on qualified leads. The key to successful sales is for marketing and sales working together: Marketing’s job in working with salespeople is twofold: To arm—which means to give the reps all of the sales collateral they’ll need to effectively win sales campaigns. This includes presentations, ROI calculators, competitive analyses, and so forth. To aim—which means helping sales reps figure out which target customers to focus on. It’s about helping weed out the nonserious leads from the urgent ones.