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You need all three: 👉Without reps, the car doesn’t move. 👉Without a map, they go in circles. 👉Without a dashboard, you won’t know when to pull over. A sales engine isn’t one thing. It’s a system in motion. If you only optimise one piece, the others wear down faster.

🚀 Coming up on Founders Unplugged… 🚀 Matt Copley has seen the evolution of automotive, media, and AI from the frontlines—starting in car sales, scaling digital media, and now building HRIZN, an AI-driven publishing platform for the industry. In this episode, we dive into: 🚗 The shift from traditional dealerships to AI-driven sales & marketing 💡 How automotive media & ad tech are colliding with AI innovation 🔥 Why founders need to stay lean and nimble before raising VC money ⚡ The real story behind launching a startup after years in corporate Matt's journey is packed with insights for founders, marketers, and anyone thinking about AI’s role in legacy industries. Don't miss this one! 🎙️ Episode drops tomorrow at 14:30 GMT across all platforms. Don't miss it! #foundersunplugged #podcast #automotive #adtech #startuplife #AI

“They just need to get better at selling.” I’ve heard this dozens of times from frustrated founders and sales leaders. But here’s the thing: You can’t coach what you can’t see. You can’t fix what you haven’t defined. If a rep’s not closing, is it: 👉Poor qualification? 👉Weak value delivery? 👉No urgency? 👉Mishandled objections? Without structured skills data, you’re playing whack-a-mole with performance. “Better” isn’t a strategy. It’s a shrug.

I'm hitting 40 next month. My dream of being on the Forbes 30 under 30 list is dead by over 10 years and Forbes 40 under 40 by 1. Next dream? Forbes 50 under 50! #dreambig #whosgonnatellhim

You can forecast based on pipeline. Or you can forecast based on pipeline + capability. Here's the difference: 👇 Rep A has £400k in pipeline. Great! But they consistently fail to qualify properly and never challenge budget or urgency. 👇 Rep B has £300k in pipeline. But they crush discovery, build urgency, and close cleanly. Who do you bet on? Most founders and revenue leaders would still lean on gut feel or close rates from the past 3 months. But there’s a smarter way: track and understand actual rep capability across the sales funnel. That means structured, human-verified skills data: Who’s asking the right questions? Who’s positioning the value well? Who’s handling objections with confidence — and evidence? If you don’t have this layer in your sales engine, you’re not forecasting. You’re guessing. I built Peer to change that — and I advise founders who want to build teams that close, not coast. If you want to forecast with confidence — not just hope — I’d love to chat.

A sales engine isn’t something you “build” in a day. It’s something you design; intentionally, iteratively, and with brutal honesty. 👉You don’t just hire reps. You define the skills they actually need. 👉You don’t just write playbooks. You test them under pressure. 👉You don’t just record calls. You review them with purpose. The companies that scale don’t just do sales. They engineer a system that can handle noise, pressure, and growth.

Don’t wait for them to hit quota. Audit their calls. Spot the signals early. Coach before it’s urgent.

“Let’s hire someone who sold at Salesforce!” Sounds smart. Looks good on a slide. But dangerous if you haven’t mapped your context to their strengths. Are they good at: 👉Navigating ambiguity? 👉Building pipeline? 👉Educating the market? Or did they benefit from: 👉Inbound flow 👉Brand weight 👉Pre-built decks and battlecards? Hire for the context you’re in, not the one you wish you were in.

What does a successful investor’s portfolio really look like? It’s easy to assume early-stage investors just chase AI and deep tech. But Joseph Zipfel from SFC Capital reminded me that a great portfolio isn’t narrow — it reflects the diversity of UK founders themselves. From Onfido (deep tech AI) to Fussy (sustainable deodorant) to Hunter & Gather (premium food & drink), they’ve backed it all. In Part 1 of our conversation, we talked about how SFC stays close to the source — accelerators, universities, startup hubs — so they can be there when standout founders raise their first round. Because at the earliest stages, it’s not just about the idea. It’s about spotting the team with real potential. 🎙️ Watch Part 1 now by searching Founders Unplugged on the podcasting platform of your choice including YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. 📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢 Want a free Sales Team health check? Peer offers an expert human-led performance review of sales calls, demos, and meetings, and it provides detailed assessments with clear CTA for improvement and highlights best practices. Claim your free Sales Skills Audit here: https://lnkd.in/eGN6FrsE #founderlogic #venturecapital #earlystage #FoundersUnplugged

Randomly pick 3 closed-won deals and 3 closed-lost deals from the last 90 days. For each, ask: 👉Was this the right kind of customer? 👉Did the rep follow your sales process? 👉Was there clear urgency in the buyer’s language? 👉Could the rep clearly explain why the deal closed or didn’t? If you don’t like the answers, it’s not a pipeline problem. It’s an engine problem.

I'll be attending the Demo Day in London from around 2pm as well as the evening event. So, if you are a founder and want to grab me and talk about sales strategies, scaling your sales motions, increasing revenue etc. let me know. Or If you are an investor and want to join Peer's pre-seed, pop me a DM. See you soon. ☺️

You didn’t just hire someone who “didn’t work out.” You hired someone with the wrong skill-to-context match. 👉A great enterprise rep might fail in an early-stage outbound role. 👉A scrappy hunter might flounder once deal complexity rises. Output problems almost always start with input assumptions. Hiring is part of your sales engine. Treat it like it is.

I recently sat down with Jonathan Keeling (JK), Partner at Haatch and former Crowdcube exec, for my podcast Founders Unplugged. What started as a conversation about the UK startup ecosystem evolved into something much more personal. We both shared our experiences of being new fathers while working in demanding startup environments - from JK returning from just two weeks of paternity leave to colleagues asking if he'd "enjoyed his holiday," to my own experience of being expected to work remotely while my newborn was receiving specialist heart surgery. These conversations need to happen more often in our industry. In this article, I explore how the startup world needs to evolve to better support parents, particularly fathers who are often overlooked in these discussions. The most successful companies aren't just those with the fastest growth or biggest exits - they're the ones creating cultures where talented people can thrive professionally while also being present for their families. Check out Part One of my conversation with JK to hear more about his journey from CrowdCube to Hatch, the development of House Of Unicorns with BrewDog's James Watt, and his insights into the SEIS/EIS landscape. 📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢 This episode is proudly sponsored by Appunite. The right dev partner can make or break your product. AppUnite embeds with your team to build apps that scale. Learn more 👉 https://bit.ly/3FCHQlm #StartupCulture #Parenthood #WorkLifeBalance #Leadership

Founder-led sales can get you to £1M ARR. But it’ll often kill your next £5M. Why? Because founders don’t just do sales — they absorb it. You know the buyer pain intuitively You shape the product mid-call You push deals over the line through willpower Then you hire reps… and expect them to just “get it”. But they don’t have your experience. Your instinct. Your conviction. What they need is: Playbooks built on what actually worked Clear understanding of buyer situations and signals Coaching that’s based on observed skills, not hearsay This is the transition I help founders make — both hands-on as a fractional CCO and via Peer. If you’re about to scale a founder-led motion, or already feeling the pain of reps missing quota — let’s talk.

💰 COMING UP ON Founders Unplugged… 💰 “Overnight success takes about 11 years.” That was Joseph Zipfel, Chief Investment Officer at SFC Capital, on the reality of startup exits, why big wins rarely feel like "big wins," and what it takes to back 100 startups a year as the UK’s most active early-stage investor. 🔹 How SFC went from an angel syndicate to the UK’s leading SEIS fund 🔹 The £500M exit that set the tone for their investment strategy 🔹 Why founders struggle the most AFTER a Series A raise 🔹 What early-stage founders get wrong about VCs (and how to fix it) And of course, we get into startup myths, why founders need chaos shepherding skills, and what actually happens in the office the day a company exits for half a billion pounds. (Spoiler: no champagne.) 🎙️ Episode drops tomorrow at 14:30 GMT across all platforms. Stay tuned! 💬 What’s the biggest startup myth you believed when you first started? Drop it below 👇 #FoundersUnplugged #StartupInvesting #SEIS #VC #Entrepreneurship #Podcast

🚀 COMING UP ON Founders Unplugged… 🚀 What happens when a former Crowdcube exec, a VC partner, and a startup matchmaker walk into a podcast? You get Jonathan Keeling (JK)—someone who’s been at the heart of some of the UK's biggest crowdfunding and early-stage investment stories. In this episode, we dive into: 🔥 The inside track on running top 1% crowdfunding campaigns 🍷 How he helped scale WineFi 🍷 to millions in revenue 📺 The House Of Unicorns project—can the UK finally get a startup TV show right? 💡 His journey from Crowdcube to Haatch, and what founders get wrong about fundraising 🎙️ Episode drops tomorrow at 14:30 GMT across all platforms. Stay tuned! This one is a must-listen for founders thinking about funding, storytelling, and building unstoppable momentum. Dropping soon. 🔥 #foundersunplugged #podcast #startupfunding #crowdfunding #vc

That’s not sales coaching. That’s delegation disguised as development. Coaching happens when someone observes with intent, identifies a gap, and gives targeted, constructive feedback. If you’re not: Watching with a framework Scoring consistently Following up with action …you’re not coaching. You’re watching Netflix with a dashboard.

One of the hardest truths in entrepreneurship: sometimes the best thing a founder can do for their company is step aside. In my latest conversation with Jordan Schlipf on Founders Unplugged, we tackled this often-avoided topic head-on. Jordan shared a fascinating framework of three founder archetypes when facing transition: 👉The Scalers - who evolve their skillset 👉The Graceful Exits - who recognise their limits and plan succession 👉The Forced Removals - those who get kicked out when they refuse to let go What Jordan said that struck me most: "One of the greatest achievements of being an entrepreneur is to build an organisation that outlives you." As I told him, I don't care if I'm the CEO of my company in 3, 4, or 8 years. What matters is that we solve the problem we set out to solve. Have you thought about your own founder journey and potential exit? I'd love to hear your perspectives. 📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢 Thank you Appunite for sponsoring this week's episode. The right dev partner can make or break your product. AppUnite embeds with your team to build apps that scale. Learn more 👉 https://bit.ly/3FCHQlm #FoundersUnplugged #StartupAdvice #Entrepreneurship #LeadershipTransition #FounderJourney

Most founders panic when sales plateau. They fire the rep. Or change the pitch. Or pivot to a new ICP. But the truth is: It’s not a rep problem. It’s not a messaging problem. It’s a sales engine problem. A true sales engine is repeatable, diagnosable, and improvable. Without it, you're flying blind. Here’s what a sales engine really includes: Clear, evolving ICP and messaging A repeatable discovery and solutioning motion A system to review skills and coach effectively Tools that reduce friction, not create admin Clean data to measure conversion, not just activity And here’s the kicker: skills data is the part nearly everyone overlooks. You wouldn't run marketing without knowing your CAC. So why run sales without knowing whether your reps can actually sell? If you're: Trying to build a repeatable GTM motion Drowning in sales tools but light on insight Hiring reps but don’t know what “good” looks like …you don’t need a new pitch. You need a working sales engine. I'm helping founders fix this — both as a fractional CCO and through Peer, our Skills-Auditing-as-a-Service. DMs are open if this hits home.

🍜 COMING UP ON Founders Unplugged… 🍜 "Food is a language without words." That was Yuru, founder & CEO of Hey! Food is Ready 🍽️, on why she’s on a mission to connect independent chefs—many from refugee and immigrant backgrounds—with companies looking for diverse catering options. 🔹 From uni project to full-scale marketplace—how did it happen? 🔹 The power of storytelling in food & why authenticity sells 🔹 How different cultures approach food, business, & trust 🔹 What UK food gets wrong (and why a Cornish pasty is marketing genius) And of course, we get into startup pivots, fundraising, and how a smoothie bowl side hustle led Yuru to rethink her entire career. 🎙️ Episode drops tomorrow at 14:30 GMT across all platforms. Stay tuned! 💬 What’s one dish that instantly connects you to your roots? Drop it below 👇 #FoundersUnplugged #FoodStartup #CulturalDiversity #Entrepreneurship #Podcast