Most startups fail not because they can't build, but because the founder never figures out how to sell.

After spending fifteen years learning this lesson through trial and error, I'm building the sales program I desperately needed when I was in the founder's seat.

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I've Been There

I know what it feels like to simultaneously project confidence while also feeling completely overwhelmed. There were days when I felt on top of everything, and others when I was certain it would all come crashing down.

The pressure was real. I had obligations to partners, investors, mentors, and family. But more than living up to the expectations of others, I carried the weight of my own ambitious goals. I remember the crushing realization that despite being full of "hopeium," there was no way I'd hit the revenue targets I'd set.

It wasn't from a lack of will. I devoured sales books, binged podcasts, attended workshops, and even hired coaches. But what I really craved was someone to take my hand for longer than a 30-minute coaching session.

I didn't need soundbites. I needed systems.

I didn't need motivation. I needed accountability.

I wanted certainty that I was focused on the right things.

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Most Founders Wing It, Creating Chaos Instead of Clarity

I did this too.

My most recent venture was a direct-to-consumer home security business. When leads weren't flowing fast enough, I fell into the classic founder trap: I thought more channels would lead to more results.

We tried everything. Billboard ads, bus ads, door-to-door sales teams, flyers, signage, PR campaigns, social media blitzes. You name it, we threw money at it. I was busy, the team was busy, activity was constant. Motion felt like progress.

But when I finally stepped back to analyze what was actually working, the reality was sobering. Out of our dozen acquisition channels, three were driving meaningful results. The rest were expensive distractions.

The critical few things that worked well outperformed everything else combined.

Once we focused obsessively on perfecting those core channels: really nailing the messaging, process, and follow-up that converted, everything changed. Better customers, shorter sales cycles, predictable growth.

The lesson hit me hard: movement isn't progress. Busy isn't productive. In the early stages, it's easy to confuse activity with achievement because you feel like you're fighting for survival.

I was guilty of creating my own chaos while calling it strategy.

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You Didn’t Learn This in School

Founders are builders. Many great founders that I know started their businesses because they recognized a problem to solve, or an opportunity to create something new, and they built it.

But consider this: Most of a founder's time is spent on sales-related activities. Whether selling to customers, pitching investors, recruiting employees, or rallying teams around a vision, founders are always selling.

Yet, less than 4% of higher education institutions offer even a single sales course.

Today's sales advice falls into three inadequate buckets:

1. Shallow, clickbait "tips and tricks"
2. Dense academic research requiring translation to be useful
3. Unicorn success stories that don't apply to most founders today

The result? Founders navigate one of their most critical functions with little guidance.

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Why Talks Don't Change Outcomes

Over the years, I've given hundreds of talks to thousands of people on sales and startups. I'm a decent speaker and the ratings reflect that. People walk away entertained and with a few tactical takeaways.

But here's my challenge with traditional sales training: good speaking does not lead to results and impact.

I tested this.

After running a team training on effective cold call openers, the team listened intently, took notes, and gave great reviews. When I asked for call recordings over the following two weeks, guess what? The soundbites they wrote down never translated into real customer interactions.

There's a gap between information and implementation.

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The Founder Sales Gap

Here's what struck me: there are countless sales training courses for every type of salesperson, but nothing built specifically for founders who need to create their own system.

I've been both a sales educator and a recipient of sales training. I've had incredible coaches and been inspired by amazing methodologies, but none were perfect for any one company. What I always craved was understanding the principles and following a process that would help me create a sales methodology unique to my business. One that looked, felt, and sounded right to me and my team.

I don't want you to adopt the "Eric Method" or any other branded methodology. I want you to build your own, inspired by elements that make sense for your specific situation.

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Distribution is the Differentiator

We're witnessing a fundamental shift in how companies scale. Building used to be the moat: if you could code or had technical skills, you had an unfair advantage. Those days are over.

Today, building is table stakes. Distribution is the differentiator.

Consider the numbers: companies are now reaching $10M ARR with teams under 30 people in 12-24 months, compared to the old benchmark of 5 years with 100+ employees. This isn't just efficiency, it's a complete reimagining of how businesses grow.

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In this new reality, the founder doesn't graduate out of sales. They become more essential to it.

Why? Because in a world where anyone can build, where AI democratizes creation, where products can be replicated quickly, the thing that can't be copied is the founder's unique understanding of the problem, their authentic connection to the solution, and their ability to communicate why this matters.

We used to think: build the product, hire a sales team, step back. The new playbook is: build the product, master the sale, create the system, then selectively delegate while staying close to the most critical conversations.

Distribution isn't just about having a sales process; it's about having the right founder driving the right conversations at the right time.

This isn't about founders doing all the selling forever. It's about founders designing the sales system so well that when they do delegate, it actually works. Most sales hires fail because founders try to hand off something they never systematized themselves.

The companies winning today have founder-designed, founder-tested, founder-refined sales systems. Then they scale from there.

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Introducing the Founder Sales Sprint

After years of speaking about these challenges, it's time to ship the format that creates actual behavior change and gets founders real results.

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Further details are available on the Founder Sales Sprint Website.

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This is the sales program I wish I had when I was in your shoes.

Now I'm building it for you.

Most startups fail not because they can't build, but because they never figure out how to sell.