#101: Sell The Pitch, Not The Code

#101: Sell the pitch not the code


Read time: 3.5 min

In this issue, I’m going to talk about the importance of selling before you build, and why it’s one of the most important things you can do as a founder.

I’ve seen many startups die slow, expensive deaths because they build first and validate later. Startups can burn through hundreds of thousands/millions of dollars building a product the market never demanded, only to scrap it, pivot, and repeat the cycle.

Selling early forces clarity. It exposes whether there is a real market need for your product, and are people willing to pay for it. If you can’t get someone to say “yes” to a deck, chances are they’re not going to say “yes” to a product six months from now.

What I’ve learned is founders avoid selling early for three reasons: they don’t know how to sell without a product, they think they need something built to be taken seriously, or they’re afraid of rejection. But if you can’t sell the vision, the product won’t save you. The earlier you test demand, the faster you find truth. And the longer you wait, the more time, money, and conviction you risk wasting on something nobody wants.

First-time founders obsess over the product. Second-time founders obsess over sales and distribution.

~Yin Wu (Founder / CEO @ Pulley)

If you haven’t read Yin Wu’s (Founder / CEO of Pulley) X thread on scaling Pulley to $1M ARR, it’s worth your time. She breaks down what it really takes to get early traction, and why a repeatable sales process is critical for scaling. I highly recommend it. You can read it here.

At Rampd, we work with two types of early stage teams.

Use Case A: Pre-Revenue, Pre-MVP
These are founders about 3-4 weeks out from shipping. They’ve built a loose MVP and now need to validate the core hypothesis. The goal at this stage isn’t scaling, it’s figuring out whether what they’ve built something that actually solves a real problem. That means walking prospects through a focused, hypothesis driven process to test for alignment between what the product does and what the market actually needs.

Use Case B: Post-Launch, Searching for Repeatability
These teams are a little further along. They might have 6-12 paying customers and are somewhere in the $100K-$250K ARR range. They’re not quite sure how they got there. Growth has been more accidental than intentional. Now they’re looking to reverse engineer what worked, build a repeatable sales process, and lay the groundwork for a scalable system, one that others can plug into and ramp up fast.

Whether you’re validating your hypothesis, or laying the tracks for scale, the approach needs to match the where you are.

In fact, one of the most effective plays we’ve see with our clients is leading with a free workflow evaluation. Instead of showing up as a vendor pitching a product, our clients position themselves as consultants offering to identify operational gaps inside their target customer’s workflow. The pitch is simple: “We’ll take a look at your current process, spot inefficiencies, and share insights, no cost, no commitment.” 

This creates immediate value, lowers the barrier to engagement, and builds trust. From there, if there’s alignment, it naturally progresses into a paid POC or design partnership. You validate the problem, show how your solution addresses it, and make the transition to a full customer seamless. I’ve seen this approach not only accelerate sales cycles but also give founders a clear line of sight into real customer needs, before locking in a long term build or scale plan.

Here's what the framework looks like at a high level.

Here’s a short list of benefits that will come from selling before building.

1. Validate or Kill Fast
   You don’t know if it’s real until someone agrees to pay. People vote with their pockets. Selling exposes the truth, fast…
   
   

2. Get Paid to Learn
   Selling as you build gives you two things: revenue and real data. You learn what works, and get paid to fix what doesn’t. Every “no” will reveal what’s broken, or what’s not hitting. And every “yes” funds what’s next.
   
   

3. Build What People Actually Want
   When you sell first, your roadmap is shaped by real demand, not speculation.
   Don’t scratch your own itch. Build for the market, not yourself. Early customers will tell you exactly what to build.
   
   

4. Pressure Creates Progress
   Trust me when I tell you that a paying customer is the best PM. Deadlines tighten, scope narrows, and fluff/bs features die fast.
   
   

5. Show Traction Before You Pitch
   Design partnerships and paid POC’s are proof. They validate demand, compress the fundraising timeline, and give you leverage to keep going.
   

The takeaway is simple: if you can’t sell the pitch, the product won’t matter. Selling early forces you to confront the truth of what the market actually wants, not what you hope they want. Before you write a single line of code, test the story, test the pain, and see if anyone’s willing to pay to solve it. That’s how real products, and real companies, get built.

That’s all for today, folks.

See you all next week!

Darren

P.S. Connect with me on LinkedIn here! 

P.P.S. If you’re a venture-backed company interested in coaching, book a call here.

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