The post was originally published in Polish on Szymon’s LinkedIn profile. Szymon kindly agreed to republish what we think is of great value to our readers.
A CEO who can’t sell is not fit to be a CEO. When I hear from a startup founder that they want to be only responsible for the vision, technology or product, and they just want to hire someone for revenue – I leave the table. Delivering revenue is the essence of running a company at an early stage, because who better understands a product than its creator? How can we assume that someone, in exchange for a salary, will have more motivation to do so? Why would they do it better?
Szymon Janiak, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Czysta3.VC
The brutal truth is that at an early stage goes without excellent HR, marketing, PR and many other areas. However, if there are no revenues and we do not bask in capital from investors – the company will sink. With the means, we can acquire further competences, develop, improve – but we need to have the resources to do so.
Here’s how I personally do it to this day. When I set up a new company in which I want to get operationally involved – I start with sales. I want to understand the market, the specifics of customers, their requirements and needs. I write, call, meet – draw conclusions, implement and so on until I find a working model. It’s clear to me that most people will refuse me – that’s how it works, it’s pure statistics. Only when I see concrete results and know how to do it, can I process it and get people who will support me in it.
I also observe that too many people count on marketing at an early stage. Instead of grabbing the phone, going to a meeting or even sending an email in the old Polish way – you hope that queries will start coming in from content marketing or SoMe. Of course – they can start flowing, but it takes time, and you simply don’t have it in the initial period.
Generating revenue is the foundation of running a business. If someone believes that they don’t want to do it, that they do not like sales, that they do not want to deal with customers, then they have three options. Either they find an accomplice who will take this area mostly by themselves, or they will change their attitude and take care of it, or… They should give up building a company from scratch. There are no shortcuts here.
The comment section had to add:
A company is founded by a specialist, survives thanks to the salesperson, and develops thanks to a marketing specialist. And it’s best if it’s the same person.
– Krzysztof Dworzyński, Value Proposition & Strategy Designer
Each stage of building a company requires the CEO to be fully involved in sales. Regardless of the stage of development, sales create the foundation for stable growth, and the CEO’s commitment gives it direction and energy. From the very beginning, I have been learning about the market and customers, because no one can understand the value of our solutions better than me. After I see the results, I can hand this area over to the team, but I still remain active in sales, maintaining direct contact with the market and customers. This is crucial for further development.
– Katarzyna Cebulska Bajera, Head of Business Development at DCX Liquid Cooling Systems
It’s more than just the ability to sell, it’s about the ability to tell engaging stories.
– Mark Friedman, Partner and Chief Growth Officer at Samurai Labs
A CEO who can’t sell is like a general who has never been on the battlefield?
In today’s world of hyperspecialization, can a visionary CEO be more valuable than a CEO? Maybe instead of forcing introverts to pretend to be Wolves of Wall Street, we should appreciate the diversity of leadership styles?
Maybe in some cases sales can be delegated to someone who does it better.
– Dr Paweł Pawlak, CEO at Impulse Management Group
The sources of customer acquisition can be different – it is important that the ‘CEO’ or ‘Founder’ or whatever we call them knows how to look for them and how to change them into revenues optimally in order to reach liquidity as soon as possible, i.e. stop burning investors’ money.
– Michał Stanioch, CEO at JakiKredyt.pl
Unfortunately, the so-called active sales that you write about, from my experience, is much more difficult than building a product, technology, etc. That is why this type of competence is extremely sought after in the SME and small business sectors. This, and not poor technology, is – in my opinion – the reason why most of these companies never develop.
Szymon Janiak is an investor and a business-driven Managing Director at czysta3.vc, a Venture Capital fund located in Poland. He has over 10 years of experience in the technology sector. Szymon is also a Member of the Supervisory Board at stockbroker Grupa Trinity S.A.
