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Founding Sales
Pete Kazanjy
The TL;DR
Technical founders must learn B2B sales from zero because no one else can sell the vision with authenticity in the beginning. Kazanjy walks through the complete early-stage sales playbook: prospecting, discovery before every demo, running demos that close, handling objections, and hiring your first reps. The core insight: sales is a process you instrument and improve, not an innate talent that some people are born with. Discovery must happen before every single demo. Hire your first rep only after the founder can repeat the sale reliably. Outbound, inbound, and your personal network are all required at the start — there are no shortcuts.
Core ideas
- 1Founders must sell the first 10-50 deals personally. No exceptions.
- 2Sales is a process you instrument and improve, not a talent.
- 3Discovery before demo. Every time.
- 4Hire your first rep only after the founder can repeat the sale.
- 5Outbound + inbound + your network are all needed at the start.
Key quotes
"If you're not selling, you're not learning."
"You'll close more deals by qualifying out than by qualifying in."
"Founders sell first. Always."
Apply it this week
- →Run founder-led outbound for 10 hours a week before hiring sales.
- →Map your sales funnel stages and track conversion at each.
- →Write a discovery script with 7-10 questions; use it every call.
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