Startup School

The talk lays out a path for founders selling B2B software: learn a customer’s problem through focused discovery, build a narrow wedge product, and move quickly toward paid pilots and recurring contracts. It warns that long, unpaid design partnerships and free trials often have vague goals and low customer engagement. Pilots should be short, tied to agreed success metrics, and designed to prove customer value; founders should discuss willingness to pay early and reduce time to first value. After closing contracts, founders should prioritize onboarding, identify internal champions, map the buyer process, and keep sales moving with clear next steps.