Explore the best startup sales advice: metrics, founder-led selling, revenue architecture, and frameworks from top experts.

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1. Canonical metric blueprint (free).

David Skok’s SaaS Metrics 2.0. Skok dissects CAC pay‑back, the Magic Number, quota/OTE ratios and cash‑flow troughs with spreadsheet examples you can copy. Almost every tier‑1 SaaS investor still checks models against these formulas.

2. Operator field manual for the first 20 customers.

Pete Kazanjy’s Founding Sales**.** This book is written by an ex‑founder who became HubSpot’s #1 outbound SDR and later built Atrium. It covers everything a founder does personally until the first AE is fully ramped: discovery scripts, objection maps, pricing nerves, deal review cadences. Founding Sales

3. Architect revenue, not just the funnel.

Winning by Design’s Bowtie Model & Revenue Architecture Standard. Moves you beyond an acquisition funnel to a closed‑loop model that ties expansion, retention and advocacy back to the original deal. WbD just published the Bowtie as an open data model in 2024 with example SQL schemas and board‑level KPIs. Winning by Design

4. Wrap it all in a durable strategy lens.

Hamilton Helmer’s 7 Powers framework (see NFX’s operator notes) forces you to translate features into defensible GTM moats (e.g., counter‑positioning, network economies). NFX

Use it to pressure‑test new sales motions: ask which Power the motion strengthens and measure if the metrics in Step 3 actually shift.

5. When you’re crossing $0 → $5 M ARR, follow First Round’s fresh 2025 series.

Tactical interviews with founders from Figma, Stripe & Dropbox on sequencing: founder‑led selling → first AE → first enablement hire. Comes with onboarding checklists and comp bands. First Round Review