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 tactics and a supportive mindset, we’ve got to confront one more thing: how dang long product-market fit takes.

You already know that the founder experience is a grind, a marathon, a journey of such epic proportions that even Odysseus would opt out.

Let’s look at the statistics, though.

Lenny Rachitsky interviewed over twenty of today’s top B2B founders on their product-market fit journey, and found that most companies got an alpha product into the market in about three months, and from there, it took around eighteen months to feel the first clear pulls of product-market fit. Some companies, like Slack, took closer to four years in total.

This means founders, even those who find clear commercial success, will spend years selling a product that isn't quite right.

Maybe the feature set doesn’t resonate with the buyer. Maybe who you’re targeting isn’t right. Maybe your messaging isn’t in the buyer’s language.

Statistically, it will take a few years of selling for you to figure out this out and find the right product and messaging for the right buyer. And that sucks.

It sucks to not know if the market wants something you’ve built – something that you believe in, that you’ve dedicated endless hours to, and made many sacrifices for.

And yet… maddeningly… being a founder rocks at the very same time.

It’s an incredible, singular experience.

Building a product that embodies the kind of world you want to live in, having full agency to shift and pivot as you see fit, reporting to no one but the market? Glorious.

The feeling of making your customers’ lives easier, all thanks to something you dreamt up and built from nothing? Magic.

This is why we take the leap and embark on this arduous, demanding, multi-year odyssey.

And this is exactly why consistency matters so much.

If it takes years to find product-market fit even in a best-case scenario, we need a sustainable way to keep moving forward – throughout the sucky parts and the moments of magic. A consistent sales practice is your key to getting there faster.

Your sales habit can and should be designed around your schedule, your best working hours, and your personal/family commitments. But sales needs to be a consistent part of your daily life as a founder.

When sales becomes a non-negotiable daily practice, so much goodness happens:

• You quickly get better at selling, thanks to more reps in a concentrated period of time
• You receive more market insights faster as well, which allows you to iterate on your sales strategy at the speed of the market's shifts
• You learn how to navigate the million other competing priorities you’re balancing without sacrificing your sales efforts
• You feel a sense of momentum and pride (like a Wordle streak but with the potential to make you money)
• You directly confront and work through any hesitations or judgments around selling, fast-tracking your route to a sales-positive mindset

And there you have it: my three key components to get your early sales flywheel spinning.

1. Sales tactics proven for early-stage selling
2. A sales-positive mindset
3. A consistent sales practice

This three-pillar approach is exactly what I've built into all my services, including my Early Sales Cohort program, which launches next week. Over three months, founders will learn the tactics and develop the mindset and daily practices that help them find their “yes, right now” buyers as fast as possible.

I would love it if you might…

• Forward this to a founder who might be interested in joining our Cohort or learning about how I work with founders more broadly. They can book a call here.​
• Spread the news about Extra Extra to anyone who might enjoy reading it by sharing this link.​
• Let me know how this three-part methodology lands with you. Hit reply and let me know what resonates (or doesn’t).

This wraps up your welcome sequence to Extra Extra (and because I haven't said it enough – WELCOME!). Your next dispatch lands in two weeks.

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This is Extra Extra, a newsletter about the tactics and mindsets that drive early sales. I’m Caroline Fay, and I’m an exited social impact founder that’s spent my career launching and selling new products. I help non-traditional tech founders build sustainable, recurring revenue.

Good Work Music: Here’s what I listened to while writing this newsletter.

grow revenue ON YOUR TERMS ​ Early Sales Cohort Program: A new, more cost-effective way for founders to get all the curriculum and coaching needed to reach sustainable, recurring revenue. Book a quick meeting with me to apply, or reply to this email. 💥New three month option available💥 1:1 Sales Consulting: If you’re looking for individual support to grow or refine your startup’s sales process. Executive Coaching for Founders: Coaching and advising on all elements of founder life.

Caroline Fay

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