Startup Sales — 5 Common Sales Mistakes by Founders
August 12, 2025
Founders are responsible for the first sales a startup will make. For many founders, this is one of their very first experiences of sales and mistakes are often made.
This week’s big news was that the Musk/Twitter deal is now back on. Here’s my unsolicited thoughts on the main questions people are asking.
I remain very skeptical. I suspect we are in for numerous twists and turns before any deal closes. My guess is that being friendlier to Twitter will make it easier for Musk’s teams to find a material problem that either kills the deal or reduces the price.
Some have speculated that some terrible details were about to be revealed in discovery, so Musk was forced to cave. I think more of the theory that the judge in the case did not seem interested in Musk’s legal arguments, so there wasn’t much point in continuing to try this avenue with that judge.
According to a few sources, the internal rollercoaster is causing both staff turnover and HR issues. I imagine there are many more departures to come too, regardless of the outcome here. In fact, it may require a new CEO with Musk-level magnetism to plug the gaps this episode has created. But we are finally getting an edit button.
