Founder Diaries: Entry 14

The Forgotten Half and What Founders Can Learn About Selling While Building

Founders who think they’re just building are already selling. Whether to investors, customers, or their own team. The faster you embrace it, the faster you grow.

There’s a dirty little secret about startups that no one tells you when you’re heads down building your product…

You’re in sales whether you like it or not.

It doesn’t matter if you’re the most product-obsessed founder in the world, obsessed with code, design, or the perfect customer experience.

If you can’t sell, none of it matters.

Selling isn’t just a department you hire for later. It’s a fundamental skill that every founder needs to master from day one.

And no, I don’t mean just selling to customers…

You’ll spend just as much time (if not more) selling your idea, your company, and even yourself to investors, future employees, partners, and sometimes even to your own self-doubt at 2 AM.

Here’s what founders learn very quickly about selling while building.

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Entry 14

You’re Always Pitching (Even When You’re Not)

You might think pitching is something you do in a meeting room with a PowerPoint deck and a neatly rehearsed script.

Wrong.