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.
Today, we’re talking about how founders waste time.
1. The most common time waster is distribution partnerships. A lot of founders cultivate partnerships with larger businesses, hoping to gain access to their huge customer base. I understand the temptation to search for a silver bullet on distribution but I promise you it does not exist. You will not grow through a distribution partnership, you have to find another channel — referrals, outreach, content etc
2. The next most common is constantly meeting with investors. Ideally you want to compress the amount of time you spend fundraising into the shortest period possible and although VCs are more likely to invest in people they know, that will not overwhelm their desire for traction. You’ll be amazed at how fast a VC gets to know when you’re growing at 30%/month.
