Founders often face significant challenges when trying to close their first 12 key customers. While founding CEOs are typically strong evangelists for their product, they often struggle to build a scalable sales process. Securing those initial “lighthouse” customers is critical for increasing valuation, yet the high cost of customer acquisition and the need to conserve cash can make early sales especially difficult.

At the same time, founders are pulled in multiple directions—managing fundraising, marketing, product development, operations, and hiring—leaving little time to focus on sales. Many also lack deep industry networks or community connections to open doors. Hiring a sales leader early can be risky, costly, and prone to high turnover, making it even more difficult to gain initial traction.

That’s where I come in—helping founders land those first 12 referenceable customers with a proven, low-burn approach that drives real traction without the guesswork.