Pete Kazanjy is the author of Founding Sales: The Early Stage Go-to-Market Handbook and the founder of Modern Sales Pros, an invite-only peer learning community focused on sales operations and sales leadership. He’s also the co-founder of Atrium, a B2B SaaS company that provides data-driven sales solutions. Pete got his start in product at VMware and then dove deep into the art and science of sales. In today’s episode, we talk about the importance of founder-led sales and how to methodically scale a sales department. He explains the difference between old-school sales and modern sales, which focuses on human connection and solving problems for customers. He also shares actionable tips to improve your sales technique and explains how to use data to monitor your success at different milestones in the sales process.
Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Google, Overcast, and YouTube.
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Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/founder-led-sales-pete-kazanjy-founding-sales-atrium/#transcript
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Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for supporting this podcast:
• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security: https://vanta.com/lenny
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Where to find Pete:
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kazanjy
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kazanjy/
• Website: https://kazanjy.svbtle.com/
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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Referenced:
• Founding Sales: The Early Stage Go-to-Market Handbook: https://www.amazon.com/Founding-Sales-Go-Market-Handbook-ebook/dp/B08PMK17Z1
• Brianne Kimmel’s SaaS school: http://briannekimmel.com/saas-school/
• Modern Sales Pros: https://modernsaleshq.com/
• The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses: https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898
• The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products That Win: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Successful-Strategies/dp/1119690358/
• Pete’s presentation on founder-led sales: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAXIVAZJyPA
• Pete’s guest post on Lenny’s newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/sales-bottom-up
• The Cadence: How to Operate a SaaS Startup: https://medium.com/craft-ventures/the-cadence-how-to-operate-a-saas-startup-436aa8099e8
• Maker vs. Manager Schedule: http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
• Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/
• Atrium: https://www.atriumhq.com/
• Greenhouse: https://www.greenhouse.io/
• Pete’s ICP Template: https://www.foundingsales.com/2-product-marketing#building-narrative
• Marissa Fuhrer Bell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marissafuhrer/
• Data-driven sales master class: https://salesnerds.atriumhq.com/msp-nailing-science-of-sales-figma-webinar-video
• The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement: https://www.amazon.com/Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement/dp/0884271951
• The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/Score-Takes-Care-Itself-Philosophy/dp/1591843472
• All-In podcast: https://www.allinpodcast.co/
• Encanto on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/encanto/33q7DY1rtHQH
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) How Pete met Lenny
(05:05) Pete’s background
(07:20) Modern sales vs. old-school sales
(09:17) What is founder-led sales, and why is it so important?
(14:58) When to hire your first salesperson
(18:20) Why you should keep your in-person events to around 10 people
(19:34) What a sales motion is and why it needs to be updated regularly
(20:55) What are the leading indicators of success?
(23:54) Why founders don’t need to be rock stars at sales
(28:28) Sales mindset changes—the number-one tip to improve your sales
(33:30) How modern sales should focus on helping customers solve problems
(36:00) A few tips to help you get better at sales
(36:40) ICP and personas
(39:14) Why you should hire junior sales staff in the early stages
(45:40) Signs your new hires aren’t a good fit
(47:38) The importance of using metrics for success
(49:33) Month-by-month expectations for sales hires
(51:19) Why work from home is bad for junior salespeople
(54:19) Why you shouldn’t be afraid of sales
(55:19) Lightning round
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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
Founder-led sales | Pete Kazanjy (Founding Sales, Atrium)
I'm not sure how to say this so I'll just say it. I'm a woman in my 40's, somewhat successful and I love your podcast, but listening to a guest speaker that talks up (many sentences ending in a question) and can't eliminate the "like you know what I mean, like it's like this or like that" it's as bad as saying "uh" all the time.
I'm not trying to be pompous or mean, It just irritates me and the "likes and up talk" was too much for me. I have a 15 year old daughter who started talking like that and we sat down and I explained that it may be OK amongst her peers but for many others it's not and if she wants to be taken seriously, she has to eliminate the uptalk and the "like" out of her ability to communicate with others.
Today I'm proud that she no longer talks and sounds like that. Yes, as a listener, It's my pet peeve and I don't have to listen to that guest if it irritates me which is why I simply stopped listening half way through the interview. Too bad, the content seemed to be valuable.
Chances are he's a great guy, very knowledgeable and smart. But if he talks like that, like you know what like I mean, it's probably like what his peers like you know like how they talk. (Sorry, got carried away there)
Anyway, keep up the great job, I feel you have a lot to offer the business community and hope your guests in the future understand that like that's totally not like ok as a guest. (Damn, did it again... sorry)
This looks awesome. Subscribed to your podcast and adding that episode to my playlist.