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Closing Conversations
Closing Conversations is a podcast for founders, leaders, and sellers who win together - featuring insightful discussions on leadership, team building, and strategies for driving success in sales and business.
Closing Conversations
Episode 5: Founder on the Frontlines: Why You Can’t Outsource Early Sales
In this no-BS conversation, host Max Notis sits down with Deepak Srivastava, co-founder of Sunrise AI, to unpack the art—and the necessity—of founder-led sales. Dive into the “Wild West” of scaling where your first round of funding means nothing without real market validation. Learn how to:
🔥 Presell before you code – use customer conversations as your R&D lab.
🤫 Listen 70% of the time – measure airtime, not buzzwords, to unearth raw pain points.
🤝 Be a missionary, not a mercenary – build trust with brutal transparency, not fake-it-’til-you-make-it hype.
Whether you’re pre-product or plotting your next growth leap, Deepak’s battle stories from Dropbox to Porter & Sale will show you why the heartbeat of every startup is in the founder’s own sales pitch—and why outsourcing that relationship is a death knell. Tune in for candid tactics on turning your vision into revenue—and keeping the magic alive as you scale.
Linkedin:
Deepak Shrivastava: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepak-shrivastava-3baa12/
Connect with me:
Max Notis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxnotis/