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.
Hello, everyone. Today, we’re talking about being a part time founder during investor conversations. Something I hear a lot from founders just getting started is “I will go full-time after I raise money”.
Unfortunately, this is a red flag for many investors. You want a potential investor to feel like they’re going to miss out if they don’t decide right now. That this train is leaving the station with or without them. But if you’re telling an investor you can’t really get started without their money, well that proposition is nowhere near as interesting.
When a potential investor does ask about this and you’re still part time, you might say something like:
“I expect customer demand will force me to go full time soon” or “ I’m currently building up my personal runway, so I can be fully focused when the time comes”.
