Extra Extra
Extra Extra is a newsletter about the tactics and mindsets that drive early startup sales. I’ve helped dozens of startups get results like a 50x in repeatable revenue and a 400% lift in sales calls per week.
Don't set that goal (plus an announcement)
EXTRA EXTRA A newsletter about early sales from The Extra Group Read in browser I work with founders who are new to sales, and those who’ve been at it for years. They all ask the same question: “what should my sales goal be?” And I do have some answers. I’ve got recommendations on how many sales calls you should have a week, how many hours you should spend on selling, and what a good email deliverability rate is, so you know your emails aren’t going straight to spam. But I’m also very...
The customer is not always right
EXTRA EXTRA A newsletter about early sales from The Extra Group Read in browser So, let me be clear. The customer is right often. If a buyer doesn’t perceive something as high on their list, they’re right about that. No persuasion will change their mind. If the customer isn’t satisfied with your support once they start working with you, they’re right about that, too. Their perception is their reality. But when it comes to the sales cycle, prospects can be misguided. Here's a common one:...
Altitude sickness, startup style
A founder client of mine* once said that she deals with “startup altitude sickness.” I’d bet you’re right there with her. Multiple times a day, a founder goes from down in the weeds to 10,000 feet. One moment, you’re fixing product bugs, analyzing open rates, or checking for spelling errors in a new sales sequence. And then, you elevate. Often, it's not even a conscious choice. You’re writing an email, and all of a sudden you’re looking down at your startup, asking existential questions like…...
Learning to love the flop, plus a free tool
We've reached the final stretch of our journey through the sales myths and mindset traps that can hold early founders back. After tackling "building before selling" and the misconceptions about who makes a good salesperson, it's time to bust through three final limiting beliefs that might keep you from revenue momentum. Myth: "If selling doesn't go well, I'm a failure." Many founders take sales challenges personally, whether it’s a lost deal, an awkward sales call, or an underperforming...
"I'm not built for this"
“I’m not built to do sales.” So many founders silently carry this self-limiting belief from sales call to sales call. It was a story I told myself a lot, in fact. But the stories we tell ourselves often aren’t true. You know, stories like, "if I catch the next subway, I'll be three minutes late max," or “scrolling before bed definitely won’t give me anxiety or stress dreams.” We tell ourselves we couldn’t possibly be good at sales, and that story just isn’t true. Last week, we tackled the...
The first myth of early sales
The road to startup success is paved with misconceptions. None are more tricky than the myths we tell ourselves about sales. In this three-email series (which I’m affectionately calling “Mythbusters: Early Sales Edition”), I’ll dismantle some of the beliefs that can hold early-stage founders back from building a sustainable business with recurring, reliable revenue. This week we’ll tackle Myth #1: “I can’t sell yet because my product isn’t ready.” I know you’ve heard the startup mantra from...
Five counterintuitive tips for cold outbound
If you’ve worked with me before, you know that I’m weirdly into cold outbounding. I wouldn’t say it’s an obsession, as I reserve that designation for the likes of Survivor and Bruce Springsteen -- but yes, I’m a big fan of cold emails as an outreach strategy. At the most basic level, I like cold outreach because it needs to be part of your strategy if you're serious about sales. Relying on referrals or hoping for inbounds will not provide the necessary volume for sales momentum. Beyond this,...
How to not become a zombie startup
“I don’t want to be a zombie startup,” my co-founder said. I’d never heard the term, but I immediately knew what he meant. You can picture it, I’m sure. It can walk… but it’s not able to lift its feet beyond a shuffle. It has some basic human behaviors, but it’s not high-functioning enough to, IDK, spatchcock a chicken or give a TED talk. It’s not dead… but it certainly isn’t alive and thriving. This is an untimely and all-too-common fate for startups. Ruchi Sanghvi put it well: “The most...
Pillar #3: A consistent, customized sales practice
Consistency is the final, critical pillar of early-stage sales. And it's the one that makes everything else possible. In the past two newsletters, we’ve gone through the first two pillars: We’ve got to avoid Hypotheticalsville and climb Mount Market Signal, despite the discomfort, because selling is the way to find product-market fit. When we manage any judgments we hold about selling, and instead build a sales-positive mindset, early sales happen faster and easier. But even with the right...
Pillar #2: A sales-positive mindset
I’ve always been hesitant to explicitly call out the mindset part of early sales work. Founders like you need tactics that will work. You need clarity, and you need it fast. Of course you do. That’s table stakes. So, you learn the tactics. You’re bought into selling as the way to find product-market fit. You know it won’t be easy, but you sit down at your desk, and make your sales plan. And that's when things get interesting. Acting on a sales plan is hard no matter what. It’s especially hard...
Extra Extra is a newsletter about the tactics and mindsets that drive early startup sales. I’ve helped dozens of startups get results like a 50x in repeatable revenue and a 400% lift in sales calls per week.