Founder10x - Sell Before You Build - Dominique Levin, 2X CEO & Investor with over $1B in exits
Dominique Levin is a 2x CEO, a go-to-market architect, and a wildly successful investor with over a billion dollars in exits. She’s seen it all, and she has a playbook for a lot of challenges founders face while building their companies.⭐ Sponsored by Podcast10x - Podcasting agency for VCs - https://podcast10x.comLinks-Dominique Levin on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominiquelevinBook that Dominique Levin:1. Survival to Thrival: She mentioned this is a two-book series written by Bob Tinker and Tae Hea Nahm. * Book 1: Survival to Thrival: Building the Enterprise Startup (The Company Journey) * Book 2: Survival to Thrival: Change or Be Changed (The People Journey)2. The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production by James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones, and Daniel Roos.🎙️ Hosted by Prashant ChoubeyFollow Prashant on X - https://x.com/ChoubeySahabFollow Prashant on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/choubeysahabIn this episode, we talk about -- Why founders should sell before they build- The "SAFER" Note: A radical new funding model for founders who want to avoid the VC treadmill.- The secret behind her success as a VC with over $1 Billion in exits- Why the future isn't about work-life balance, but building a company that lets your team lead multiple lives- Remote work, how should leaders think about it, and how it promotes inclusivity& lots moreTimestamps:(00:00) Introduction(02:38) First discussion on go-to-market strategy(02:57) Common mistakes founders make in go-to-market strategy- Worrying about go-to-market too soon- Having multiple go-to-market motions- Mismatch between go-to-market motion and product/contract value(05:33) Definition of product-market fit- Solving a "hair-on-fire" problem- Validating by selling before building- Customers willing to pay for a solution(07:18) Approaching product development- Think big but act small- Solve a specialized, unaddressed problem- Be 10X or infinitely better than existing solutions(08:53) Fundraising advice for early-stage founders- Focus on customers first- Have at least three paying customers- Traction is the most important thing for investors(10:26) Building repeatable and scalable revenue processes- Treat sales as a process or "revenue factory"- Align marketing, sales, and customer success- Use AI to optimize go-to-market motion(13:11) AI applications in go-to-market strategies- SEO/LLM content creation- Lead generation- Prospecting research- Sales engineering support(15:57) Investing approach and philosophy- Looking for unfair competitive advantage- Leveraging unique relationships and information(19:15) Balancing product development with sales and customer success- Sell first, build later- Minimum effort to prove solving a critical problem(20:15) Building high-performance teams- Outward mindset- Focus on customer impact- Clear mission and vision(23:10) Transitioning from startup to scale-up- Different leadership styles at different stages- Adapting to company growth(25:31) AI and automation in SaaS- Becoming AI-native- Potential for customer-funded businesses- Alternative funding models(27:42) One-and-done funding model- SAFE-R (Simple Agreement for Future Equity with Repayment)- Aligning investor and founder interests(30:40) Building and managing remote companies- Challenges of hybrid work- Importance of in-person interactions- Maintaining team productivity(37:31) Flexibility in remote work- Project-based roles- Portfolio careers- Accommodating personal life and work(43:00) Work-life balance and parental leave- Personal experiences with parental leave- Challenges for working parents(47:35) Rapid-fire round about investing- Sectors, stages, and investment approachFor sponsorship or guest appearance requests, write to
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