Why Founders Must Sell Early!

Today on the podcast, we're going to be going over a few issues around building trust for your company. So again, today we're going to be talking about building trust for your company. Who should do that? Is it only the founder? Who is supposed to do this job? And when should you stop building trust for your company? Now, the reason why we're doing this is because we're continuing with the theme that we started yesterday or maybe 2 days ago,

conversations with the tech bro. And this was a series of this was 1 lecture rather where a famous tech entrepreneur in Nigeria spoke to the tech community in Lagos at an unnamed event where he spoke about a couple of things related to sales, marketing and building a business. So the video was sent over to me by someone else and I am running commentary basically from a sales and business development perspective for the opinions that he expressed while he was at that event.

What did he get right from a sales perspective? What did he get wrong? What can be improved upon? You know, things like that. So that is what we are continuing today. If this is your first time off listening to the podcast, my name is Tavishima Aide and I am your host for today. Well, and always because I don't have a Co host. And if you like these sorts of things, then subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, YouTube, Apple, or any player of your choice.

Because every every other day, you know, some 2-3 times a week. This is all that I do here on the podcast. And I've been doing this for the last five years, solving business problems, basically, especially solving business problems from a sales and business development perspective. So if you have business challenges, attracting customers, talking to customers, converting them into paying clients, you know you're having problems, especially when it comes to customer facing functions of your business, then this podcast is your jam.

Then if you would love to connect with me, you can call, send me a text message or what's that message on 08064662140. So like I said, conversations with the tech bro, building trust for your company. Now one thing that this guy said was he said that building trust for your company is a function that only the founder can do. I repeat, my guy stood on stage in a room full of tech Bros and tech sisters and he told them,

he said very, very, I say unto thee, only the founder of this company can build trust for your company. So you in the audience, those of you who are building your fintech, building your startup, building your this building your that, it is your responsibility to go forth and build trust in your company. And that is what he told them. Well, of course he was not dramatic. He didn't use the exact words, but you know, you get the point I'm trying to make.

Oh, by the way, I'm making today's recording in the parking lot, so expect to hear bosses driving by and stuff like that. All right, so where was I? So he told them, all of you starting fintech, starting tech, tech startup, starting the starting that it is your job to go and build trust for your company. So that's all we're looking at today. Is that true that only the founder can build trust for a fledgling company, a new startup?

Is it true? The answer is maybe. It's one of these things that doesn't have a hard yes or a hard no, because the instance is where. And of course, I know some of you remember Steve Jobs where there's somebody who is the brains of the operation, the person who knows what the technical know how the technical Gizbao, because you know, Apple was Steve Jobs. So excuse me. And then the other guy, what's his name? Wozniak. So Jobs and Wozniak.

So everybody knows that when it comes to the technical side, Wozniak was the was the ish. He knew all the gish binary in and out, top and down. But then they needed a visionary, somebody to sell the company and that's where Jobs came in. So, you know, he's, he's one of these things. But let me take it from the angle that this guy was saying that, OK, how do I put it this way? Let me put it this way, since you can go either way, let's look at it from the angle of,

yes, let's assume that it's only the founder that can do it. And let's try and see what the implications are and how we should go about unraveling that. So only the founder can build trust for the company. Well, the answer is maybe. But in instances where that works, it is because the founder has product knowledge. The founder, especially nowadays is like when somebody's building a startup, you know, they're usually building it off of an itch, you know, a problem that they face or a problem that they have lots of knowledge about.

So the founder has the product knowledge and he has the problem knowledge. So because of that, if you're the founder, you know the product, you know the problem intimately. It gives you the balls, it gives you the courage, it gives you the the host part. It gives you the you understand the Veem to be able to talk with your full chest. And that makes you very convincing when it comes to sales, because it's not as if you know the coffee.

Do the confidence is how do I put it? You know what? I don't know how to rank confidence on the scale of importance when it comes to selling, but one thing is for sure, when you're talking to somebody and this person doesn't believe in what it is that he's selling, you can you can't smell it. You just know that this guy or this babe like something is off and you just freed. So when the founder, you're the one that has the product knowledge and you have the problem, knowledge gives you very full confidence.

You removes all those kinds of issues. So when it comes to demoing the product, showing people what the product can do, showing people what the app can do, showing different use case scenarios or troubleshooting. If somebody's already using the product and something goes wrong because you have the product knowledge and you are the founder, you'll be able to sort people out 1231 hand you just show them you just put them through.

No, no, be like this, noise like this is like this or have you tried this way better off doing it like this. Then you come off as the guy or the girl, you come off as the pro. So these are some of the reasons why the founder can build trust for the company or be the best salesperson for the company in the beginning. So whether male or female, then of course, if you're the one who has the product knowledge or the problem knowledge, it makes you very good at the need analysis stage because you can clearly figure out quickly where people are using your product or your service in a manner that won't give them the best results.

Because you uniquely know the problems that you are trying to solve, that the product or the service is trying to solve, the app, the whatever. So these are one of the reasons why you being the founder of the company makes you the best person, at least in the beginning to build trust for the company and despair head sales. Then another reason why sometimes the founder is the best person. So excuse me is because since this is your baby, it is your baby.

You have product knowledge, you have problem knowledge like you're uniquely tied, intimately tied into this thing. You're taking it personal. It gives you the passion to work for cheap. I mean, look at it in my own example now, for instance, this podcast, been doing this for over 5 years. And I've not, I've never lied to you guys that it wasn't until year, maybe like 3 1/2 until I got the first inquiry to say, oh boy, you know, how far are you available?

How much can we work together? So the thing that keeps you going from year zero to year 3 1/2 is precisely the passion. You're working for cheap, or you're working for free or you're working for zero. It's because you're the founder, you are the starter, you are the spearheader, you are the promoter, you are the whatever it is. Yeah, baby. So because of that, you can stand on the line and continue to push forward. Now, if I had been hiring somebody, I said, look, this is my podcast, blah, blah, blah.

You come and be the face of the podcast and you know, if after two months of not giving the guy salary, what do you think will happen? The guy has a girlfriend or the guy has a wife that he has to report to. After a while, the people say, look, what are we doing here? This guy is building this podcast. Everything you bought into the vision, but now vision, we go chop. You have been working for free for six months. What's the way forward?

So eventually you guys won't have to come back to me and have that conversation and say, look, Tavish man, you know, you're my guy and I feel you and I value you know, but you understand, you know, I don't marry you. So, so therefore, you know, we have to have that conversation. And by the way, there's something that's happened to me before. So this one is not, there's not fake gist I'm giving you. So there's this guy I'm supposed to do some work with.

Let's just say his name is Judy. But that's what's your name. But your bad guys are based in Abuja. So we have been cool. We have already discussed everything how we're going to pursue this idea and how in the in the beginning, you know, the money will not be sweet. So what we're doing at that time, I think what I was going to be giving him on every single deal was 50K and Jada agrees. So everything don't set then as the first opportunity pull around now I called him, I said Jada, what's up?

Are you down? Are you free? And Jada was like, I'll come, I'll call you back. I'll call you back. Say what's happening, Say I'm coming, I'm wifey. Let me just call you back. You know, he had just gotten married. OK, No problem. No problem. Later. We got the call later on the afternoon. Call me back. I said Tavish, man, you know what? You know, now, at the time when we agreed this thing, you know, then I'm still a single guy.

So yeah, I understand. So, you know, say I don't marry. So my wife was saying, you know, so tavish my look to be honest, you've not be 150. I can't leave the house. You know, I couldn't beef the guy. I couldn't fault the guy. I understand because you know, at that time each I was married, I just had we're just drop one on ground At that time I first born so understood this. No other no problem, no problem, no beef, no nothing.

So I had to go and look for somebody else who was willing to run this thing with me and I will now collect 50K. See, by the way, this is what I'm talking now is this is over like 10 years ago. So don't say I'm wicked now. I'm trying to pay somebody 50K for something today. I'm not talking about 50K in 2025. I'm talking about 50K in over a decade ago. So where was I now? How did I enter this matter? Yes, about how when you're the founder, you can walk for free.

You can walk for cheap, but you can't expect other people to work for you for cheap. You can't. So if you're the founder, you put somebody in the sales role, you expect a person to build trust on behalf of your company. And then you're given the person you know something that you know is not substantial. They can call you and say you're my guy and you know, you're friends and you know, I love you and, you know, ride or die or support you anyhow.

But God on my and you know, yes, this is what we agreed to, but I can't continue like that. So these are reasons why as a founder, as the promoter, as the chief visionary officer, as the whatever, sometimes that's the reason why you are the one who can build trust for your company. You can be the face. You can start moving the sales motions forward then. Plus, since you're the founder, you're the one that you know, division is inside you.

You know where you're heading. So like now on the podcast, things are taking shape. People are looking now and saying, oh, OK, I understand. But five years ago when I was telling people that, you know what, this podcasting is not a bad idea. I'm all triangle. Not everybody saw it. The vision was in my head. And of course, I couldn't really explain it too well. So you, the vision is in your head, you know what it is you're building.

You can see the vision clearly, other people can't. So these are the reasons and these are the dynamics that make you the most suitable person sometimes to be the one to build trust for your company and start putting your face out there and start the sales motions. So these are the dynamics and these are the reasons why some people will say, are you the founder, then you are the guy or you are the girl who should show face.

You're the one who should be at the vanguard. You're the one who should be at the front. You're the one who should be leading the charge. So when people say things like this, they're not entirely wrong. But for those of you who they fear, you know, you don't want to put your face forward and no problem. In subsequent episodes, we'll talk about how you can run display where you don't have to people don't have to see your face, but no one thing shall especially using Apple because that Apple story Jobs and Wozniak in the beginning, they'd be friends 5 and 6 by the end of the day.

When Jobs died, did you notice that Wozniak didn't come for the funeral? I was not wondering what kind of anyway, you never know money, but just know it's one of these things if you want to be putting your face forward at the end of the day, the person that put in his face for the guy now overshines. You just know that these are some of the dangers or these are some of the beef that can now follow and will now cause friends who used to be 5 and 6

will now cause them to quarrel, will now reach the stage that Jobs died and wasn't according to show for the burial. So anyway, I'm not going through all that. You know, this sales podcast is a business podcast. I shouldn't be talking all kinds of personal issues here. So let me get back on point. So excuse me, I'm recovering from a cold. You know how my tongue has started, at least in Abuja. So if you are the one who's going to build trust for your company and you are the founder,

then what is your role in this mix? What are you supposed to do? Because it is easy for people to say you are the founder. Stand on the line. Yeah, Therefore, front go first. It's easy to do all that big talk, but The thing is, lots of us who have found us, we have absolutely no idea about what we're supposed to do. OK, I'm supposed to lead the church. OK, I'm supposed to be in front and Amigo build trust sales and Amigo showface.

OK, So what next? Let me break it down for you now. The first thing you're going to do is the ICP. The ICP is the ideal customer profile. The ideal customer profile is just the answer to the question, who are we supposed to be chasing? Who are we supposed to be going after? So that's the first thing. As a founder, you have to provide the answer to that question. Answer that question for the rest of the team. You tell them clearly this is who we're chasing after.

Now, don't worry if you get things wrong. It's normal. That is sales for you, sales and business development. Some of it is trial and error. Sometimes you assume this person is the right person for your product or service you go after. And then by the time you get some small feedback and I realize that you know what, this class of customers is not as sweet as I thought. Let's try somewhere else. That one is just life.

Excuse me? So, you know, same as in relationships, there's also the same thing as in business. Young men listening to podcasts, especially those of you who don't marry, you understand what I'm talking about. Remember back in university we all had that experience where there was one girl that we decided that if it was not this girl that I would die. But then 20-30 years later is not her. You're married to somebody else.

Life is fine. Half of you who have been through this experience, you cannot even remember the girl's name. Now you can't. But at the time you thought, if not this babe, I will die. I will kill myself. If she tells me no, I will jump in the lake. But currently it's not her children. You have 5. Life is going all fine. So that's just what happens when we're trying to figure out the ICP, the ideal customer profile. Sometimes we assume that this is the customer for the, for us,

for our startup, for our product, for our service. These are the use case scenarios you're supposed to be following, but then you go forward, you interact with the market, you get some feedback, and then you pivot. So that's just normal. But The thing is, you are the one who's supposed to lead the charge. If you accept that as the founder, you're the one who's going to build trust for the company. You can't afford to just let everybody be running on their own direction.

It has to come from you, your one that will decide. This is my app. This is what we built it for. Because of that, these are the people who are going to chase after, let everybody know clearly. And if you don't have a team yet, then all running up and down you're doing is you're trying to figure out who is the ideal customer, who are the people that need this product, that need this service that we should be going after.

Then as a founder, you should also be trying to come up with the selling framework. Selling framework is the the tactics, the particulars. Now we know the customers that we're supposed to be going after. So the selling framework is where do they hang out real life? Where do they hang out online? Online. What is the process for starting conversations, for getting contact details, starting a conversation with them, moving the conversation forward?

You know, offline is the same thing. How do you approach them? How do we start the conversation? How are we going to guide the conversation? The answer to those questions, those are all the things that are going to be spelled out in your selling framework. And of course, you know, you build Sops around it, standard operating procedures. Now, if you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you know that when it comes to sales, and I strongly recommend this, it doesn't have to be formal.

Formal. Formal, like bullet points at this stage is fine. Like the conversation framework that I give on the podcast all the time, which is greeting, intention, proposal, sorry, greeting, intentions, question, proposal, close. See, that's a simple outline. You know, it's just bullet points, but enough to guide the structure of the conversation that in the beginning you were given appropriate greeting. After that you will go straight into your intention.

You will let the person know why you are talking to them. Then you will ask them a couple of questions because the questions is what we give you the information that you need to make it relevant proposal. Then after the proposal, you will try and get them to take action, which is the close. So you can see the conversation outlined a simple framework here. All right, greeting, intention, question, proposal close. So in the beginning, Mr.

Founder, excuse me or Madam founder, listening to the podcast right now, it doesn't have to be that detailed, especially for those of you in the text space, you know, you like to do everything hyper detailed, you know, with bullet points, with everything. But this one just simple. So we figure out who the ICP is, who is the people, who are the audience? Who is The Who are the group? Who are the segments? Who are the whatever you want to call them that we are chasing after?

Who needs this product or service? After that, you come up with the framework. Now, the reason why this framework thing is important, I must put it down in writing, is because in the beginning is you, but later on you raise some funds, you have a bit of money, and then you hire a team. It is a cardinal error to send people out to sell on behalf of your company. Meanwhile, you know, give them guidance. You're supposed to give them guidance.

When you're in the field, this is our selling framework. When you're approaching people, this is our selling framework. If you're talking to stakeholders, this is how you structure the conversation. If you're talking to fundraisers, I say fundraisers. Why are they called people when they give money? What do you call them now? Investors. This is how you don't just send people out blind. You send people out blind. They'll be trying to manufacture things on the go.

It's a problem, no unified brand experience. And the biggest problem is when you send people out blind, those not making promises that you can't keep and you cause all kinds of problem. So Mr. Founder, if you're the one or Madam Founder who's going to build trust for the company, going to be the face of the company, you're going to be one who is leading the charge as you are doing all the early things, all the things, you know in the early days, talking to customers and things like that.

You also trying to figure out the selling framework, I'll put it in writing so that when you have a team, there's something that you can use to train other people. Then you're also trying to figure out the UVP, the unique value proposition. Why do people buy my product at all? We need to know because when we know why people buy our product by the service, why they download the app, it helps us to cut to the chase when we're having conversations because we can use that to guide the conversation.

You can now say something like our happiest customers typically use this for ABC and XYZ. Is that the case with you? You start the conversation of that. When a person says I owe to you may have never had these problems before. You now know that this person is not a good contact, a good prospect to be talking to. You now know that they're not part of your ICP. They're not part of your ideal customer profile because the unique value proposition or the case, what's it called?

Again, the you know, the unique value proposition or the, the different case scenarios where people typically use your product or your service. There's no match. So you just let the person walk on by. So you're also trying to figure out the unique value proposition. It helps a lot while we're having business conversations and selling conversations. Then you're also trying to figure out your distribution channels or your go to market strategy as you tech people like to call it.

Although in my own opinion, you tech Bros and tech sisters stop manufacturing new terms. Also all these fancy terms. You just like to feel cool with yourselves. All of you running around now saying GTMGTM. And that's the thing, the trends always change. So in five years now you people would have started coming up with another term. So excuse me buying a less country now with GTM go to market for me. When I when I hear go to market,

I say, look, why are you deceiving yourselves? GTM is just sales basically, as long as you give it a brand new name. Well, let's continue since you guys like saying GTM. So what are the distribution channels and what is your GTM? What is your go to market strategy? That's what you're trying to figure out. So as a founder, when people say you're supposed to be in front, these are the things that you're trying to figure out in the early days when it's just you and your Co founder, you're trying to figure out who is our ideal customer, who is the target audience?

Who is our avatar? Who should we be chasing? Whom really, really needs this thing? Then you're trying to figure out the selling framework. How do we approach people? How do we chose people? How do we handle the conversation? How do we move things wrong along? Sorry, that was AT moment there. You know, T people are able people. We have this R&L something. Then where was I selling framework and then unique value proposition or the case scenarios.

Why do people buy from us? Why do people use this product? Why do they use this app? Why? What are the scenarios under which you know people best use these things? You need to know because we'll help you with your sales conversations. And then you're trying to figure out the distribution channels as well or the go to market strategy. Distribution channel just means what is the way that you get people? How do I put it?

How do I put it now? OK, Well, distribution channel, OK, you know, the name defines each other. What are the channels? What are the ways, what are the avenues that you use to distribute these your products? Yeah. So yeah, it declines itself. You're also trying to figure out the distribution channels. Where should you be? Is it lead Mark that you're trying to use people to download or is it that you are in the Apple App Store or you're in a Google Play Store and you're trying to promote heavily by using advertisements?

You know, you're trying to figure out all these things. Now remember, the reason why it's important to figure out all these things early you is because eventually you will have a team who will work with you and who will sell with you. And when you get that team, you cannot be sending people out to wear freestyle. You need to give them some clear instructions, some clear direction. That is where we're heading. So these are a couple of things that you need to figure out.

So all these things that the founder you're supposed to figure out, make sure you put them in some SOP's. As you guys like to say, standard operating procedures. The standard operating procedure is just a document or some kind of repository. You know, it can be a Google link, it can be a whatever. Something that does not exist in your head, because if it exists in your head, then whenever there's a problem, people actually have to call you at 3:00 AM at night to say, boss,

we're getting this issue, how do we solve it? But then if it's in the document or some repository, so whether it's on the piece of paper that you printed it or whether it's on Google Maps, or whether you wrote it in a diary and you left the diary in the office Shard, there's something outside of your head that some other person can go and read and get the answer. So in green, all of this in the SOP, standard operating procedure before you involve the sales team or any other person.

So in summary, what I'm trying to say is that your role as the founder is market validation. You're trying to figure out is there a demand for this product or service? Do people even want this product or service? Under what conditions do people want this product or service in the process of figuring out market validation or what you people in the tech space like to call product market fit be recording all the steps that you took to get there.

Those are the things that will that will serve as a foundation for your SOP standard operating procedure later on. So should all founders be involved in sales? Well, it's not compulsory, but because of all these reasons that I've given you, I personally agree with the guy who was on stage and I strongly recommend that whether you like people or whether you don't like people, what I measure that tribe tribesmen song back in the day, whether you like whether you know like the team BC or you go swing the shake body the team anyway, you guys won't.

Some of you guys will know that one. This was a long time ago. This was the early days of Niger hip hop tribesmen, junior and pretty and some some cool stuff back in the day. So whether you like it or not, in my own opinion, Sha, you're a founder or you're a foundress. Whatever the female version is of a female founder, in my own opinion, yeah, you should be involved in putting yourself out there, building trust for a company.

You should be involved in sales in the early days. You don't have to be there always, but in the early days, show yourself, come forward because it will even help you as the founder gain some clarity around who the client is, around what the product is, around what problems do you solve so that when you now retire and you're doing your CEO roles, you know, CEO, you're only in the office, they chop AC, you don't go outside anymore.

You'll be able to do correct strategy because you'll be very clear now. These are our clients. This is the product. This is the problem that we solve. So any decision you make, you make it one time. Bam, correct insight with full confidence. Because in the early days, you spent some time in the field interacting with customers, testing out your product knowledge, testing out your problem knowledge. You had a vision, you had a chance to pan a big decision and see whether the thing works or not.

You were able to achieve market validation for your idea. You were able to prove that there was demand. People like this thing. At what price do they like it? These are the conditions under which they used it. So because of all this background knowledge, now when you retire as a CEO, your decisions that you'll be making will be correct decisions. So again, with the tech bro who stood on stage and who said only the founder can build trust for your company, I have to say on this one, I align with the guy.

So if you are a founder or a foundress, a female founder and you're listening to this, it might be scary. I know it might be scary, but just relax, be calm. It's, it's worth it. Get in the ring, get your hands dirty, get involved, get involved. It is worth it. If you are afraid, subscribe to the podcast. This is what we talk about here every single day or every other day. I'm here for you. You don't have to walk this path alone.

Plenty of words you don't walk on before. We've been scared. We learned what we needed to learn. We made it happen and that's why this podcast is here. So you're afraid as a founder? No problem. Continue to listen to the podcast, subscribe on Spotify, on YouTube, on Apple when you play of your choice. And I'll be here to be with you tomorrow. I'll continue with conversations with the tech bro. Well, anyway, when I check the transcript of the the transcript of the of the session that the guy had.

We'll move on to the next topic. Now remember, if you'd love to connect with me, my name is Tavishima Aidi, host of the podcast. You can call send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. Thanks for your time and attention. I'll catch you guys some other time.