Passionfroot AMA: Building your startup’s sales function from 0 to 1

Vivek Ramani is a startup advisor and a sales expert. Having helped build up the sales team at Stripe, Notion, and Box, Vivek is now heading the sales function at one of his invested startups, Numeral.

In the dynamic world of B2B startups, evolving your sales strategy as your company grows is essential. Passionfroot recently sat down with Vivek to discuss key insights from his experiences at Stripe and Notion.

Here’s what you can learn:

• Evolution of sales in product-led companies
• Importance of a VC mindset in sales
• Key advice for new account executives

How sales evolves in product-led companies

Vivek joined Stripe and Notion when they primarily relied on product-led sales, with little emphasis on a traditional sales function. However, as companies grow from 0 to 1, a more explicit sales strategy becomes necessary, especially when targeting scale-ups and large organizations.

• Large Clients Need a Sales-Driven Approach: While smaller companies might quickly adopt a self-serve model, larger clients often require a more personalized, hands-on sales process.
  Vivek: “At Stripe and Notion, my role was to work with larger organizations and do big deals. We had to marry the typical self-serve motion with a sales-led motion. This required significant internal collaboration because a sales process looks very different from a self-serve onboarding process.”

• Human Touch Matters: Larger clients often need a more human touch to fully integrate and utilize a product. For example, while startups might quickly adopt Stripe for payments, a large corporation may need a more tailored approach to implement Stripe for all their payment functions.
• Align Sales Strategy with Company Ethos: Stripe initially focused on a self-serve model to develop their product, delaying the formation of a sales team. In contrast, Notion targeted larger companies early on to establish a sustainable revenue base, even though their product initially appealed to individuals and small startups. Long-term revenue often comes from larger clients.

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Keeping a VC mindset — even in sales

Look for “thingish” companies as clients — companies that have the potential to become the next big thing. This might be an unexpected answer, but even sales executives are scouts too.

Why? You’re looking for clients that could grow into major revenue drivers. You’re looking for clients that are also growing from 0 to 1, benefiting your sales in the process. Never dismiss a small company; understand their vision and growth potential.

Vivek: “This approach is akin to being a VC, where you spend time nurturing customers who can become major players. All it took at Stripe was a handful of these companies to go big, and they turned into Shopify, Lyft, Kickstarter, and Airbnb.

This experience taught me never to dismiss a conversation with a small company based on face value. I always want to hear their vision.”

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Advice for building your sales engine from 0 to 1

1. Strongest channel for growth? Email.
Email, especially with connections from mutual contacts, is a powerful sales channel. If your product is loved, push for virality and word-of-mouth growth.

2. Be customer-obsessed, and make them feel special.
Talk to as many customers as possible to understand their needs and challenges. Involve high-level executives, like the Head of Sales, to make large clients feel valued and understood.

3. Cross-functional collaboration is key.
Work closely with your product and GTM teams. In a startup, the product feedback loop is tighter, allowing for quick responses to customer needs.
Vivek: “Hopefully, you're doing something that the customer didn't even think of. The customer didn't think to ask for certain features, but by implementing them, you solve a big problem for them. This is where innovation comes in.
For basic features, the feedback loop is crucial. If you lose a deal because of missing features and then build them in the next sprint, you can go back to the customer and say, "We have this now, are you ready to move?"

4. Do things that are unscalable to get your first big sale.
Sometimes, unconventional tactics are necessary. For example, Uber gave out free iPhones to get enough drivers during their first few years. Notion ran a deal with Square to give a three-month free trial as a proof of concept for their Australian CashApp team, which eventually turned into a deal worth 450k ARR within a year.

5. Overcome your fear — take action!
Vivek: “In the early days, it's about activity and doing things. Even if you make mistakes, it's about learning from them.
People are often too scared to cold email or ask hard questions. The biggest mistake is being afraid.” Have thick skin and do not be afraid to pitch your product!

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Want to push product-led growth? Make creators your next growth channel.

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