StartupGTM.com | I help b2b founders hack traction | Profitable founder (YC)

Transforming a startup from early to repeatable sales is HARD.

If you’re a B2B founder with early sales, then you've done many things right to win your first customers.

BUT - to raise a round A, your startup will need to have a product that's ready to scale because it can be 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮.

To get repeatable sales - there are four blockers. 
 
You'll need to change each one from "not working" to "working": 
 
1️⃣ Consistently creating a 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 of conversations with customers 
 
2️⃣ Converting these conversations into a 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 of first meetings 
 
3️⃣ Converting these meetings into a 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 of trials 
 
4️⃣ Converting trials into a 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 of deals. 
 
These blockers need to be removed 𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 - i.e. one by one. 
 
💡 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗡𝗢𝗪. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀.

—

I'm a former co-founder and CEO at ApolloShield - a profitable YC startup.

I work hands-on with B2B founders on turning their early sales into repeatable sales through a combination of disciplines:

1️⃣ 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀: Understanding the market, identifying target customers, and analyzing competitors.

2️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴: Defining how the product fits into the market and crafting compelling messages to appeal to the target audience.

3️⃣ 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀: Developing strategies for selling the product, including choosing sales channels and partnerships.

4️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Creating and executing campaigns to build brand awareness and generate leads.

5️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀: Managing discovery and commercial discussions with clients and partners to get their business.

5️⃣ 𝗢𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸: Gathering customer feedback and continuously adapting the product and strategies accordingly.

6️⃣ 𝗜𝗧 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Building support systems to holistically orchestrate and manage your GTM efforts.

7️⃣ 𝗥𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗱 𝗜𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Developing a method to move forward quickly, iterate and get market feedback - doubling what works and tossing what doesn’t.

🚀 Let's connect and accelerate your startup together!

Nimo Shkedy

Dhruv Patel

Co-founder @ Saleshandy

Hey there,  

I'm a guy who wears many hats, and I like it that way! 

My marketing journey kicked off at a company where I managed a team of over 25 folks as the Marketing Lead and Operations Manager. 

But my itch for something more took me down the road of content and niche marketing. That's how I ended up co-creating Saleshandy, a place where I'm still enjoying the ride and helping the company grow.

I'm a marketing junkie and a business starter, and I get my kicks from companies that encourage teamwork and don't put up roadblocks to success. I live to meet and exceed what customers want. I keep a close eye on the results and always tinkering with my game plan based on what's needed. When things go south, I don't get bent out of shape; I see it as a chance to learn. I take a good, hard look at what went wrong, figure out why, and then cook up solutions based on the facts.

As a growth hacker and digital marketing buff, I thrive on the hustle and meet life with a never-say-die attitude. My constant grin shows my love for creating strong teams and my readiness to lend a hand at the drop of a hat.

So here I am, a Co-founder at Saleshandy, extending an invitation for you to join me on this wild ride as we take over the marketing world, one success story at a time. 

Let's get together and see how we can help each other grow. What do you say?

Co-Founder

Saleshandy is a cold outreach platform that helps B2B businesses automate and scale their outbound sales efforts. 

» I am the person responsible for
- majority of marketing stuff
- people management
- developing and implementing systems & procedures throughout the organization
- operations

No outbound tool on earth can solve this debate (including Saleshandy).

I saw this exact question pop up on Reddit:

"I tried cold emails and LinkedIn DMs, but neither worked. What tool should I try?"

Here’s the thing: It’s not the tool — it’s your expectations.

Cold email is designed for reach.

LinkedIn is built for visibility.

Cold email requires you to:
> Send in volume
> Use data
> Test fast
> Have new conversations

LinkedIn requires you to:

> Have social proof
> Take a warmer entry
> Use lower volume, but with higher intent
> Provide context before outreach

But here’s the mismatch:

People expect cold email to book meetings in less than an hour.

People expect LinkedIn to scale like ads.

That’s where things break.

Both channels have their risks:

Cold email: Deliverability issues, spam complaints, bad targeting hurts fast.

LinkedIn: Slower scale, inactive users, platform restrictions.

Neither channel is magic.

If you understand the differences, your strategy is simple.

If you don’t, you’ll be stuck blaming tools FOREVER.

Co-founder @ Saleshandy | Automating cold emails to drive lead generation & sales

Most founders don't have a productivity problem.

They have a body problem they've renamed as a productivity problem.

The truth is:

We build systems for everything:

Pipeline. Hiring. Product. Revenue.

But very few real systems for our body.

And here's the dangerous part 

You don’t notice it breaking down in one dramatic moment.

You slowly become:
> Less sharp
>  Slower to decide
> Quicker to snap
>  Less focused after 3pm

You’ll blame it on workload, but it’s not just that.

It’s years of quiet neglect compounding.

Here’s what I now know, and wish I knew at 25:

Your body doesn’t give you one loud warning.

 It gives you a decade of small signals you ignore.

And then one day, you're 30+, dealing with back pain, lower energy, and a 
shorter focus window.

Fitness doesn’t get easier as you age.

Compounding works both ways.

If you’ve been consistent, your baseline stays high.

Recovery is faster. Focus lasts longer. Stress tolerance is higher.

If you haven’t, each year it gets harder to bounce back.

In your 20s, you can neglect your body and recover quickly.

In your 30s, the same neglect starts sending a bill.

I’ve seen founders spend their 30s trying to rebuild what could’ve been maintained in their 20s.

Don’t wait for the wake-up call.

Build systems for your body the same way you build them for your business.

Every cold email expert you follow was once a beginner figuring out who to email and who not to.

They didn’t become experts because they started early. 

They became experts because they moved to the next stage.

The groundwork for all success: Knowing your stage.

There are 3 stages:

Stage 1: 0 Certainty

You don’t know anything. You’re guessing. Your message changes every week.
 
What do most people do?

They rush out of it.

They see 2 replies, assume they’ve found product-market fit, and hire SDRs.

That’s ego, not evidence.

Stage 2: Some Certainty

Now, you see traction. But confirmation bias kicks in.

You only listen to buyers who agree, ignoring those who don’t.

You shape the story to fit your beliefs.

That’s how weak positioning is born.

And most get stuck here, not knowing how to get out.

Stage 3: Scaling 

Scaling isn’t about “doing more.” 

It’s about protecting what works and testing what might work next.

Most teams either experiment forever and never scale, or scale forever and never improve.

The best teams know when to switch gears.

ICP research isn’t a marketing task—it’s decision control.

If you don’t control the stage you’re in, the stage controls you.

And that’s dangerous.

Imagine this: Your prospect is walking a thin line of patience, and you’re piling weight on with every line you send.

How is that fair?

Your prospects aren’t lounging in the Maldives with a cocktail in hand. 

They’re knee-deep in meetings, inbox chaos, and urgent fires.

So, they don’t just read your cold email. They calculate it.

> Cognitive cost: How much effort will this take to understand?
> Social cost: Does replying risk my reputation?
> Opportunity cost: What am I giving up right now to respond?

Here’s the brutal truth: 

If you miss just one of these costs, your email won’t land.

Even one cost too high, and your email is ignored.

All three too high? 

They will remember you for the wrong reasons.

So here’s what works:

 1️⃣ Keep it one idea, one action.
 2️⃣ Make replying safe and frictionless.
 3️⃣ Respect their time and attention — short, clear, valuable.

The secret?

Your email has to be cheap enough to read, but valuable enough to reply.

taplio

The Battle

Nimo Shkedy

Dhruv Patel

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Dhruv Patel

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