The Founder Led Sales That VCs Don't Tell You - EP 110 🇬🇧 | Classics with Seth DeHart
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The Founder Led Sales That VCs Don't Tell You - EP 110 🇬🇧 | Classics with Seth DeHart
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About this listen
[This episode was initially published in February 2024 and remains a timeless deep dive into the most critical phase of any B2B startup.]
In this episode, I'm talking with Seth DeHart – Serial Sales Leader, Advisor, and author of the legendary Point Nine "First Sales Hire" article. A conversation about the most challenging transition in B2B scaling: When and how to move from Founder-Led Sales to your first scalable sales organisation.
What you'll learn:
- The Network Reality: Why Founder-Led Sales isn't "real" sales and what that means for your first hire
- The 3-6 Month Problem: Why it takes so long to find your first sales hire – and why most founders start looking too late
- Repeatability vs. Product-Market-Fit: Seth's controversial thesis that 5% conversion from outreach to discovery is enough for scaling
- Full-Cycle vs. SDR First: The strategic decision that determines the success or failure of sales scaling
- Startup vs. Enterprise Experience: Why it's "Tennis not Football" – the psychological requirements for early-stage sales hires
My highlights:
- "All founders can do it – whether they do do it is different" – The brutal truth about founder capabilities
- The Pipeline Experiment: 100 Prospects → 10 Meetings → 7 Paid POCs = Scaling Signal
- Advisor Quality Check: Why sample size matters more than single success stories
About the guest:
Seth DeHart is a Serial Sales Leader who has scaled multiple B2B startups from first sales hires to exit. As the author of the Point Nine "First Sales Hire" guide and a sought-after sales advisor, he works with over 80 startups on the critical transition from founder-led to systematic sales. His expertise lies in building repeatable sales motions in early-stage companies, from SMB to Enterprise.
Book tip: This episode offers an excellent practical deep dive into "Funky Flywheels" Chapter 3 "Pipeline Generation" – showing how to develop systematic sales processes that go beyond founder networks and enable genuine scaling.
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Björn's Linkedin Profile: www.linkedin.com/in/bjoernwschaefer
Order Now: My GTM Book Funky Flywheels 🕺💃
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My Homepage: www.rowing8.com