In this episode of Nothing Ventured, host Aarish Shah interviews Zoltan Vardy, a seasoned B2B sales advisor and author of "The Launch Code." With nearly four decades of experience and over $2 billion in sales closed for major companies like CBS and NBCUniversal, Zoltan shares invaluable insights on mastering founder-led sales. The discussion focuses on transforming chaos into structure, overcoming the fear of selling, and understanding that sales is about solving problems rather than pushing products. Zoltan emphasises the importance of benefits over features, the iterative nature of sales, and how the journey from 0 to 1 differs significantly from scaling to 100. He also advocates for the significance of formal education in developing critical thinking skills. Tune in to discover how to accelerate your startup's revenue growth through effective sales strategies. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Zoltan Vardy and His Achievements 00:00:30 - Overview of Today's Episode Topics 00:01:35 - Call to Action: Rate, Subscribe, and Connect 00:02:22 - Zoltan's Journey to Writing "The Launch Code" 00:03:09 - The Impact of Zoltan's Work on Founders 00:03:38 - Zoltan's Family Background and Influence 00:06:10 - Transitioning from Corporate Sales to Startup Sales 00:07:41 - Zoltan's Entrepreneurial Experience During the Dot-Com Era 00:09:54 - Combining Corporate Structure with Startup Dynamism 00:11:04 - Founders' Fear of Sales and How to Overcome It 00:13:42 - The Importance of Problem-Solution Connection in Sales 00:15:36 - The Pain of Sales and Iterative Process 00:17:02 - Founder-Led Sales and the Importance of Direct Feedback 00:19:15 - Hiring the Right Salesperson at the Right Time 00:21:21 - Difference Between Business Development and Sales 00:22:29 - Selling Solutions, Not Products 00:24:04 - Case Study: Aleksander Niemczyk and Action Audit 00:26:32 - The Need to Have vs. Nice to Have Products 00:28:11 - Communicating Solutions in Simple Terms 00:30:15 - Creating a Clear Value Proposition 00:32:19 - The Role of Procurement in Sales 00:33:56 - Scaling Sales and Letting Go as a Founder 00:35:10 - Structure Enables Innovation 00:36:04 - Setting Clear Goals and Tracking Performance 00:37:07 - Case Study: Dexery's Growth Journey 00:39:18 - Building the Book vs. Building the Business 00:42:21 - The Risk of Founders Resisting Growth Find Zoltan Vardy online at: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoltanvardy/ Twitter: https://x.com/zvardy The Launch Code: http://www.thelaunchcode.net/ This episode is sponsored by EmergeOne, fractional CFOs for venture backed tech startups from Seed to Series B. Get in touch at https://emergeone.co.uk/contact-us/ or join the CFO team at https://emergeone.co.uk/join-the-cfo-team/ Sign up for EmergeOne’s weekly newsletter, Off Balance at https://off-balance.beehiiv.com/subscribe