I first saw Allin present when he was moderating a Startup Week event in 2019. He was super impressive and this episode did not disappoint. This is a man who started in marketing, launched the BDR/SDR program at Intuit, and is now a player coach smashing it selling to the enterprise. Allin is a perfect example of a practitioner. There is real shit in here that you can take into work tomorrow to close more deals or become a better sales leader. 

Forging Ahead

Allin Bond. From selling sunglasses to big ticket software sales.

This episode is with my brother, Jeff! Jeff's been grinding away in inside sales for a decade now and shares some thoughts from the front lines.  He gives us a framework for how to identify a hypergrowth company to sell for. Jeff just celebrated 3 years at Drift.  Enjoy. 

Get hired as the 7th rep at Drift and still be around 3 years later.

This episode features JR Butler. JR is the CRO of Pillir.io. In past conversations, JR has casually talked about W2-ing a million bucks and I wasn't sure if this was hyperbole or actually attainable. So I circled back and asked. Turns out, you can W2 a million bucks as a salesperson. Listen to this episode to learn how.

How to W2 a million bucks as a salesperson

https://audiencefirst.link/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/arvidkahl

Audience First with Arvid Kahl

Louis runs Sparkloop.app, a SaaS referral tool for newsletters that is growing 20-30% every month. He runs a course called Sales for Founders, which is why I wanted to chat with him.  Louis intends to help founders get good enough at sales to close their first 100 customers. Getting to around 10k MRR allows you to take a breath, regroup, and make a plan for what to do next. This often includes shifting gears to a different customer acquisition strategy or bringing someone else in to run sales.  I'd pay special attention to how Louis talks about audience and targeting people to reach out to.  His success plan is gold as well.  You can find the course at https://salesforfounders.com/

Sales for Founders. Landing your first 100 customers with Louis Nicholls.

The biggest question you should ask yourself during fundraising? Who's your lead?  It's all about a lead investor. They are putting the price on the round of funding. They de-risk the round for fellow investors. "Once you have a lead, that's everything." Blog post that Chris mentions: https://blog.bolt.io/find-a-lead/ Traction can be a substitute for track record. If you've never gotten to the pay window, you can improve your situation with traction. Can you show up to investors meetings with some revenue generated, some customers, some cash raised in scrappy ways? Show progress. Dipjar can be found here: https://www.dipjar.com/

"Working with Investors" with Chris Selland.

Had a fun chat with Patrick Campbell.  https://www.profitwell.com/

Boston Founder Series: Patrick Campbell CEO and Founder of ProfitWell

Quick 5 minute ramble. Want to get back into the habit of hitting publish! 

Solo Ep. 5 minute Covid Check-in.

Forging ahead is documenting the early days of blacksmith dot work.

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Forging Ahead

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