Build and Scale your 1st Sales Team with me 🪄 | Build your Own Fractional Business with the Fractional School 📕 | Follow me on Instagram @matteopapaluca

Most founders don't struggle with sales because they're bad at it.

They struggle because no one ever taught them how to build it properly.

I've seen this pattern for years - first inside fast-growing companies, and now alongside founders building from zero.

I started my career in B2B sales at Ryanair, LinkedIn, and Cloudbeds, between Italy and Ireland, where I spent 15+ years selling, hiring, and leading sales teams.

I've hired 100+ salespeople, owned revenue numbers up to €10M, and lived the reality of scaling before it becomes "predictable".

Then I stepped into the founder world.

In January 2023, I launched Inscaler with a simple idea:
💡 help founders turn sales from chaos into a system.

Since then, I've worked with 150+ startups, supporting founders as they move from:

→ founder-led sales
→ to their first real sales team
→ to repeatable, predictable revenue

What I learned  is this:

Founders don't need more advice. ⛔
They don't need lead gen agencies ⛔
They don't need wannabe consultants but real operators ⛔

We focus on enabling founders exit the founder-led sales and build their first sales team right.

No hype. 
No "growth hacks".
Just fundamentals, appropriately applied.

⸻

Why Inscaler is different 👨🏻‍💻

I don't believe in copying what works for Series C companies and forcing it on early-stage startups.

I believe:

✅ Sales is simple — when the foundations are right
✅ Growing people matters more than chasing revenue
✅ If the process is proper, the numbers follow

(And yes, I do all this with a Calabrian accent.)

⸻

What's changing now ♻️

After helping 150+ startups hands-on and 600K in revenue, Inscaler is evolving.

We're transitioning into a productized sales offering - built for founders who want:

👍🏻 Clear sales foundations
👍🏻 Proven frameworks
👍🏻 Hands-on guidance without agency dependency

If you're a founder navigating your first sales hires, your first pipeline, or the moment where sales can't depend only on you anymore - this is precisely what Inscaler was built for.

I share practical sales lessons, frameworks, and real founder stories every week.

DM me to start a conversation or more on inscaler.com

Matteo Papaluca ⚡️

Today I'm launching something new.

Inscaler 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀.

And honestly, this wasn't planned.

Since day one of Inscaler, I've helped 𝟭𝟱𝟬+ 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺.

I've always charged for services.

And I've never asked for equity.

Why?

Because diluting a cap table for sales execution never felt fair to me. (except for a few expectations).

Then something happened.

I kept getting the same question at home.

My brother, 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗼.

He's a doctor.

Far from the startup bubble.

Every time I told him about a founder I was working with, he'd ask:

"𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦?"
"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦?"
"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦?"

At first, I brushed it off as you would do with your old brother, you know.

Then I stopped and thought.

Who actually sees early-stage startups up close?

Not the pitch deck version.

The real one.

I do.

I sit with founders while they build revenue from zero.

I see how they sell.

How do they hire.

how they build their products.

If a company works, I know it early.

If it doesn't, I know that too.

That's when it clicked.

If I'm already putting my time, brain, and energy into these businesses…

Why wouldn't I put my own money behind the ones that prove it on the field?

So here we are.

Inscaler Ventures backs early-stage Italian founders.

Family-owned.

Small tickets for now.

More capital is coming.

We're officially open for pitches and applications.

If you're curious, all the details are on the 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 → 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀 → 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀.

And if you're a founder building something real,

You know where to find me.

Matteo Papaluca

Founder at Inscaler.com | Your First Sales Team Done Right | Helped 150+ startups

Inscaler Discovery Call Full Framework (Matteo at the whiteboard) 📋🖊️



#sales #coaching #whiteboard

Nothing beats a well-designed and clear sales cycle

My 1st YouTube video is out - not the best I know, but we're getting there 😅

👉🏻 https://lnkd.in/dfDMFgXh

I've seen founders lose their startup because of a bad hire.
Because of their *first* sales hire.

It happens more than you think.

You're a founder.
Limited sales background.

You know you need to build your first sales team. 
So what do you do?

You hire the senior salesperson.

Big CV.

From a competitor.

Investors like it too.
They feel safer when you're not the only one selling. 🙈

Let's call her Maria.
You pay her a lot.
More than anyone else.
3x your founder salary.

Maria joins.

You give her the title: Head of Sales. CRO, whatever.

A few months go by.

Maria is slow.

She doesn't really get it.

After the first quarter:

❌ No deals closed
❌ No outbound pipeline (she has no time…)
❌ Blame it on your product
❌ Didn't hire or built anything meaningful

She doesn't fit.

You are back in sales, involved in all deals + on Maria's deals.

After two quarters, it's almost over.

No trust.

On either side.

She thought it would be easier.

You thought the same.

You ask around.

You bring me.

I assess Maria and find critical miss on her leadership skills. 
She never managed reps or built a process from the ground up.

She never been in a startup, either, only in safe corporations where everything is ready.

Shortly after, she leaves.
As expected.

The damage is done.

You lost 6 months and thousands of run rate.

Maria lost 6-9 months of her career.
She was successful before, but now she feels useless.

You start again from zero.

I see this story all the time in early-stage startups.

It's not your fault.
It's not Maria's fault.
It's about timing, system, and fit.

Wrong moment.
No structure.
Wrong role.

If you want to avoid this mistake, I put together 

the 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺.

✔️ questions to ask before hiring
✔️ A-players scorecards
✔️ 3 interview templates, including questions
✔️ Gsheet to track all your candidates without spending money on ATS

____

You can get it by signing up for my new YouTube channel.

𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 "𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗯𝗲" 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗗𝗠 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸 to sign up (we must be connected).

It has 0 subscribers right now - just getting started with our weekly videos starting next week 📹

Inscaler Demo Full Framework (Matteo at the whiteboard) 📋🖊️


#sales #coaching #matteopapaluca #demo

One of the most promising industries I see in Italy right now -->
Marketing agencies 🦸🦸‍♀️

For the first two years of Inscaler, 90% of my clients were tech startups.

And most still are.

Then an agency founder showed up.

Smart. Forward-thinking. 

He thought he needed a more "tech-style" way of building his first sales team.

So I stepped in as their Fractional VP of Sales.

At the beginning, it was messy.

No qualification frameworks. No real discovery. 

Sales happened via referrals and face-to-face.

And honestly? The classic tech playbook didn't land.

So I stopped forcing it.

I adapted.

Instead of pushing BANT or any other qualification framework ⤵
I asked the team to slow down and 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆.

Before briefings. Before proposals.

We started with simple questions:

- 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴?
- 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘷𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴? 
(most projects are based on tenders or RFPs)

Nothing fancy.

Then came the most difficult shift.

Marketing agencies are used to sending out proposals with poor qualifications. 

This leads to:

❌ low conversions - very low.
❌ productivity issues where they *think* they are busy.

So I asked them to stop sending out proposals and ask:

"𝘋𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝟧𝟢% 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?"

Not 50? Okay.

40? 30 at least?

If the answer is no, don't send the proposal.

That one change alone saved time, energy, and morale. 💪

I love agencies ❤

The most significant upside often sits in industries that were left behind from a sales perspective.

Tech startups and scaleups know the playbook. 
Or at least they *think* they know 👀

Agencies were left behind. 

They used old sales tactics and a poor process. 

But now they are back on track.

That's why I'm excited to keep working with agency founders and their sales teams.

There's so much room to grow.





----

If you are an agency owner or a founder, I have a few spots open from February 2026

DM me for a free sales assessment or if you are not ready -> keep following Matteo Papaluca and Inscaler for more tips on how to build and scale your first sales team.

Inscaler's solo business crossed 600K in total revenue.

Here are 3 mistakes I wish I hadn't made 👇🏻

𝟭. 𝗗𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱

I love admin.

GSheets. CRM updates. Invoicing.

Most people hate it. I enjoy it.

What don't I enjoy?

Strategic work. Questioning what works. Preparing for what's coming next.

For a long time, I hid behind tasks I liked.

Now I block admin time and force myself to focus on 1 or 2 strategic goals per period.

𝟮. 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗽𝘂𝘁

Since day one, Inscaler had one offer. I never changed the structure.

3 Packages based on live hours with me.

I never sold "hours".
But my SKU was hours.

That's changed now.

After helping 150+ startups build their first sales teams, I finally have the data and the information to commit to clear outputs.

I couldn't do it before.

It took time. Longer than expected.

𝟯. 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 "𝗼𝗻"

If I had nothing to do, I worked anyway.

Even during holidays.

A few days ago, my wife Federica walked into my office and said it clearly:

"𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘴."

She was right.

I worked on Christmas Day and when I was sick in bed.

I'm writing this at 6 am.
__

2026 will be a big year for Inscaler.
New offering. New structure.

I'm scared and excited at the same time.

The format works. That's clear.

Now it's time to step up.

Consulting and LinkedIn are full of noise.

My goal is simple.

Be the opposite of that noise.

We'll see.

Stef Curcio

Growth Marketing Manager

LinkedIn client acquisition in <​15 mins/day | Trusted by the top 1% of LinkedIn’s Creators

“We don't have time to send DMs and create content”

This is the #1 LinkedIn lead generation problem for founders and teams.

- Some companies we’ve worked with have seen revenue boosts of up to 327% in <90 days -

⭐Some people who trust our services:
- Jasmin Alic (290k+ followers)
- Richard Van Der Blom (220k+ followers)
- Okoye Chinelo (150k+ followers)

… and many others.

Most businesses know they should have a DM strategy in place…

But let’s be real...

most people do not have time for this!

(And everyone hates DMs)

But LinkedIn lead generation comes hard for many for mainly 3 reasons:

1) Don’t know how to start a conversation
2) You are used to annoying pitch slaps
3) Have better things to do

We simply do this for you.

**Scale Acqusition**:

A system of AI agents that generates clients on autopilot

*Including*

✅Content Agent
✅Lead validator Agent
✅DMs Generator Agent
✅Appointment setter Agent

🔒**Safe:**
Avoid annoying account restrictions.

👬**Don’t burn through leads:**
Avoid the pray and spray approach.

⏱️**Timeline from start to results:**
Start to see 20%-50% reply rate in 14-21 days.


📈Case studies:

- Trevor Longino, Founder - Crowd Tamers, GTM agency: +$44k in revenue in 30 days
- Gal Agadi, Founder - Gravity, Content agency: +$90k in sales in 40 days
- Beatrice Vladut, Founder - B Branded, Branding: Doubled sales calls in 30 days
- Justin Fowler-Lindner, Founder - The Rose Garden, Lead generation agency: +12 clients in 90 days


✍️How to start:

Copy and paste the URL below to get and learn how to generate clients in <15 minutes a day:

https://bit.ly/15-min-acqusition

Founder

The FREE community for entrepreneurs that want to master Elegant Lead Generation

Join at: 

stefcurcio.com

A lead went quiet after our call 6 months ago.

What I did not do: I did not panic.

I didn't send three follow-ups asking:
"Did you see my message?"

I didn't assume they forgot about me.

Instead, I did something different.

( I use 2 tools for this: Extrovert and Kondo: Superhuman for LinkedIn DMs)

I added them to a nurturing track in Extrovert.

Every other month, I comment on their content.

Nothing pushy.

Just genuine observations.

Then, six months later, I started a reactivation sequence.

(You can do it after 60-90 days)

Four thoughtful comments on their posts.

Then a personalized message referencing something real:

A previous conversation, a commonality, a trigger that made sense.

(Extrovert suggests DMs from previous DM conversations)

The message wasn't about my offer.

It was about them.

Simple. Conversational. Human.

AI-generated, edited by me.

Here's what happened.

They replied.

They said things were going well, but timing still wasn't right.

That honest feedback was worth more than a forced follow-up.

Because I didn't push.

I stayed present.

I added value.

I found natural connection points.

And the relationship developed at its own pace.

Most people chase quiet leads.

They send aggressive follow-ups.

They assume silence means disinterest.

But silence usually means timing, interest level, or something that didn't click.

Not that they forgot you.

So here's my philosophy.

Stay consistent.

Add value.

Find natural connection points.

Let the relationship develop.

That's the conversation you want.

Not a forced yes.

Just honest, direct communication.

Build your follow-up system around respect, not pressure.

I periodically go to Kondo...

And I see who the leads are, I tagged as "Meeting scheduled" that did not convert...

And add them to my reactivation sequence.

That is how I like to reactivate dormant leads without pressure.

P.S. How do you resume conversations with dormant leads?

There is a misconception in outreach.

It's that you can convert ANY lead.

A common question I get in Link Up is:

"How do I get this lead on a call?"

(followed by a screenshot of the convo)

And most of the time, my answer is:

"You can't".

❌Typically, it's because they either:

- Lost the lead at some point in the conversation
- The lead was never interested

You cannot get any leads to become interested...

And get them on a call.

✅But you can:

- Get an interested lead on a call
- Activate dormant interest and get the lead on a call

But at some point during the conversation...

The lead has to show some level of interest.

Outreach is not black magic.

You do not pronounce a secret combination of words...

And people magically buy.

It's about talking to the right people to diagnose a level of interest...

And if it's there, you move the conversation forward.

Otherwise, you move on to the next lead.

P.S. I you want to get started with outreach, get my training by clicking here - for free: https://lnkd.in/g75c3ypS

You do not need AI to grow on LinkedIn.

I say this against my "financial" interest.

You can run a very profitable business...

With no AI involved.

And who says the opposite simply:

- Does not know how to grow a biz without AI
- Is trying to get you to buy their products

My business involves AI fairly heavily nowadays.

(I share how to run client acquisition in 15 mins/d here: https://lnkd.in/g75c3ypS)

But I got 47 clients in year one with no AI involved.

(each paying anywhere between €600 to €6k)

Here is where I see AI as the biggest opportunity for LinkedIn:

- Validation of leads
- Getting 24/7 consulting and support
- Saving a bunch of time for various tasks

That you can use when needed.

It's handy to have a bunch of agents and GPTs...

Created by some experts that can help you move forward when you get stuck at 7 pm on a Friday night.

(They do not replace the experts, but can be a good approximation)

Now, my biz proposition is to get client acquisition down to 15 min/d...

But most of my clients do not aim for that.

Although that being possible...

They prefer to automate some tasks...

While running others manually or with the support of AI...

But ultimately, having the ultimate "editing power" themselves.

And that is why in my programs, I accommodate both kinds of customers.

What I ultimately say is this:

If AI sounds like a fun opportunity, dive into it.

If it's not, keep things manual.

Either way, it can work for you as long as it resonates :)

P.S. Unrelated pic of some tonkatsu I had for dinner a couple of nights ago, because why not hehe :)

One thing AI can help ANY creator with:

Expand your network.

It's very simple:

1) Get AI to qualify leads to fit your ICP.
2) Get a list of qualified leads.
3) Send blank connections.

Now, you have 7-12 new connections that fit your ICP.

You can do it with 0 automations on your profile.

P.S. Make the validation process OUTSIDE of your profile, so it's safe.

P.S.S. Yes, I uploaded an unrelated pic of me eating an ice cream at the SPA in Japan, because why not hehe

I have doubts that the current AI will ever reach human intelligence.

I have used AI for 2+ years now.

And prompting agents for 9 months.

- I do not see AI getting closer to human intelligence.

Yes, the general quality of output has increased.

And it understands my instructions a little better...

However, to maximize it, you still need:

- Expertise in the subject
- Prompting skills

And that has not changed since I first used it.

Now, I am an AI user and not an expert.

My legitimate question is:

"What if all the AI will replace humans is another story to scare people into buying into it?"

Now, I have a community...

And I use AI to create tools for my clients.

I give them a virtual team of collaborators that...

They would spend $2-5k+ to hire just 2-3 years back.

And that is amazing.

(And real fun to set up for me 😊)

But I still see soft skills and...

Being a decent human being...

Being extremely valuable in business in the foreseeable future.

P.S. Am I crazy?

I used to spend 2 hours in Canva.

For every workshop. 

Hunt for the right icons.
I'd fiddle with fonts. 
Adjust spacing.

And usually I would go back t editing at least 1-2 times.

Back to Canva. 
More tweaking. 
More time invested.

Then I discovered tools like Gamma.

However, it always "felt like AI".

The reason why I like the Relevance AI slide builder is that it is simple.

"Like I used to make it in Google Slides."

Now, I upload my workshop outline...

Gave it one simple prompt: "Create a slide presentation."

And it built the entire deck in minutes.

Not hours. 

Minutes.

It's good.

And it feels human.

Clean. Professional. Visually coherent.

And if I have edits to make...

I ask AI to make edits directly on the slide I want to change.

"Change the title to LinkedIn DM outreach flow."

"Make it more visual."

Done.

No Canva. No design skills. No full-time designer.

Just my brain + the tool.

And suddenly, I had a beautiful presentation ready to deliver.

Click here to test it for free:
https://lnkd.in/gBntkEAy.

Brand partnership • LinkedIn client acquisition in <​15 mins/day | Trusted by the top 1% of LinkedIn’s Creators

How I create slide decks in <10 min

I strongly dislike DMs.

(Would rather do almost anything else 🤣 )

That is why I focused on building a system that removes me from them.

But let's be honest.

DMs are important.

Both to get results in the short and long term.

And are especially important if you are selling high-ticket products...

($2-5k+)

And do not have strong leverage through your brand.

Or a well-polished offer that sells itself.

You need them to generate trust.

But outreach is a fairly complex game...

That revolves around understanding the needs of the people you are talking with.

And getting started can be tricky.

What to write in the content...

What DM angle to use...

Whom should you DM...

How to position your profile...

Might be easy questions to answer for an expert.

But difficult for a beginner.

P.S. That is why I launched the Positioning and Prospecting Blueprint sessions. Grabs yours here: https://lnkd.in/ggtKqKU6

Most teams fight to hit 10% DM reply.

I consistently average 30-40%+.

Most teams are sending cold DMs to people who've never heard of them.

So the message lands in a sea of noise.

But what if they already knew your name before you hit send?

That changes everything.

Building familiarity. 
I started warming up accounts first. 
Making sure my name was familiar before the ask landed.

The reality: reply rates have dropped across the board.

What worked six months ago rarely moves the needle today.

But one strategy continues to outperform:

Increasing recognition and familiarity before the first message ever lands.

Simple in theory. Difficult to operationalize.

This Thursday, I am going to show the exact playbook live.

This workshop shows the full system behind it.

What we are covering:
The warm-up sequence that turns DMs into conversations
How to build lists of people who actually use LinkedIn
5 messaging frameworks with real examples

Who it is for:

Founders running their own outbound and wanting higher reply rates without sounding sales-driven.

Sales leaders looking for a process their reps will actually use.

Agency owners whose clients’ cold campaigns are underperforming>

SDRs/AEs wanting more replies with less manual effort.

Event details:
📅 Thursday, January 22nd
🕓 4pm CET / 10am EST

Register here: https://luma.com/cfnrire5
If you can’t attend live, register and you’ll receive the recording.

taplio

The Battle

Matteo Papaluca ⚡️

Stef Curcio

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taplio

The Battle

Matteo Papaluca ⚡️

Stef Curcio

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