Key Skills Founders Need at Each Stage Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso — your daily shot of startup funding and investing. At each stage of the startup, the founder needs to have key skills to succeed at that level. Here are the key skills founders need: Seed stage — grit and jack of all trades. The founder at this stage needs to have grit to grind through obstacles and wear many hats. The founder needs to build a product and sell it. Growth stage — sales and focus on core business The founder at this stage needs to lead the sales effort as sales growth is all-important. Core business functions need to be established, such as product development and support. Scale stage — expand into new verticals with the product. The founder at this stage needs to hire specialists who can take the product into vertical segments. Recruiting becomes the name of the game. Beyond scale — face of the company. The founder at this stage represents the company to the outside world. This includes providing support to close big sales, win new investors, and become the visionary for the company. Investors should look for the CEO to apply the right skills at each stage of the company. Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. Let’s go startup something today. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/ For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/ For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/ For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
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Disclaimer:
Hall T Martin is the director of Investor Connect, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to the education of investors for early-stage funding. All opinions expressed by Hall and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Investor Connect. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon for the basis of investment decisions.










