Funky Flywheels Show โ Your Ultimate Podcast for Scaling B2B Startups
Scaling a B2B startup from 1 million to 10 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) can be very similar to managing a band of rock stars. When Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, and Product teams work together seamlessly, accelerating growth becomes effortless. However, if they are out of sync, you will inevitably encounter significant challengesโsooner or later, it's guaranteed.
Join us on the Funky Flywheels Show, where Bjรถrn W. Schรคfer, one of Europeโs foremost Go-to-Market (GTM) experts, passionately explores the pathways to sustainable and scalable growth. With his extensive experience advising over 150 B2B startups from Pre-Seed to Series B, Bjรถrn has played a pivotal role in shaping the success stories of determined SaaS founders throughout the DACH region and beyond. As the founder of Rowing8, a dedicated business angel, and the author of ๐๐๐ป๐ธ๐ ๐๐น๐๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฒ๐น๐, he advocates for self-accelerating growth engines, moving away from the "too much, too fast" mindset.
Every week, Bjรถrn hosts insightful discussions with top tech founders, go-to-market experts, and early-stage investors. Together, they explore practical strategies for go-to-market execution, predictable revenue generation, and scaling startups. Listeners will gain access to useful insights, established frameworks, and valuable lessons from those who have skillfully navigated the transition beyond founder sales.
This podcast is designed for B2B SaaS founders, revenue leaders, and investors eager to discover practical growth strategies, optimise their go-to-market efforts, and improve customer retention.
P.S. If you search for the previous podcast titleโ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐, we have saved all episodes since day one. You will find them below.
Funky Flywheels Show โ Your Ultimate Podcast for Scaling B2B Startups
The Founder Led Sales That VCs Don't Tell You - EP 110 ๐ฌ๐ง | Classics with Seth DeHart
[This episode was initially published in February 2024 and remains a timeless deep dive into the most critical phase of any B2B startup.]
In this episode, I'm talking with Seth DeHart โ Serial Sales Leader, Advisor, and author of the legendary Point Nine "First Sales Hire" article. A conversation about the most challenging transition in B2B scaling: When and how to move from Founder-Led Sales to your first scalable sales organisation.
What you'll learn:
- The Network Reality: Why Founder-Led Sales isn't "real" sales and what that means for your first hire
- The 3-6 Month Problem: Why it takes so long to find your first sales hire โ and why most founders start looking too late
- Repeatability vs. Product-Market-Fit: Seth's controversial thesis that 5% conversion from outreach to discovery is enough for scaling
- Full-Cycle vs. SDR First: The strategic decision that determines the success or failure of sales scaling
- Startup vs. Enterprise Experience: Why it's "Tennis not Football" โ the psychological requirements for early-stage sales hires
My highlights:
- "All founders can do it โ whether they do do it is different" โ The brutal truth about founder capabilities
- The Pipeline Experiment: 100 Prospects โ 10 Meetings โ 7 Paid POCs = Scaling Signal
- Advisor Quality Check: Why sample size matters more than single success stories
About the guest:
Seth DeHart is a Serial Sales Leader who has scaled multiple B2B startups from first sales hires to exit. As the author of the Point Nine "First Sales Hire" guide and a sought-after sales advisor, he works with over 80 startups on the critical transition from founder-led to systematic sales. His expertise lies in building repeatable sales motions in early-stage companies, from SMB to Enterprise.
Book tip: This episode offers an excellent practical deep dive into "Funky Flywheels" Chapter 3 "Pipeline Generation" โ showing how to develop systematic sales processes that go beyond founder networks and enable genuine scaling.
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Bjรถrn's Linkedin Profile: www.linkedin.com/in/bjoernwschaefer
Order Now: My GTM Book Funky Flywheels ๐บ๐
My Homepage: www.rowing8.com