This week on How to Unf**k Your Startup, we welcomed Alex Kottoor, a seasoned entrepreneur and business leader with over two decades of experience driving profitable growth in startups, SMBs, and Fortune 500 companies. Alex started his career at CDW, where he honed his skills in solving customer problems through technology. He then co-founded his first SaaS company, SceneDoc, which he successfully grew and exited. Now, as the founder and CEO of Dena Growth, Alex is turning his attention towards helping early-stage founders navigate the challenges of scaling, particularly around go-to-market strategy and sales. Having been a founder himself, Alex knows firsthand the challenges they face when transitioning from founder-led sales to a dedicated sales team. In the early stages of a startup, founders often wear multiple hats, including that of the head salesperson. While this hands-on approach is necessary to understand customers and craft a winning sales formula, there comes a point where founder-led sales can become a bottleneck to growth. Knowing when and how to make the transition to a dedicated sales team is a critical inflection point that can make or break a startup's trajectory. In this episode, Alex shares his framework for navigating this transition strategically, from laying the groundwork with deep customer immersion to codifying a repeatable sales playbook to making the right first sales hires. Founders will come away with a clear roadmap for scaling sales beyond themselves while avoiding common pitfalls that can derail momentum.

This episode of How to Unf**k Your Startup features a chat with Dorothy Chang, Co-Founder at Lynx Collective, an amazing community for tech startup founders and aspiring entrepreneurs. Dorothy's been a rising star in the NYC tech scene for over two decades, killing it in roles in PR, marketing, venture capital, and nonprofit leadership. Make no mistake, she knows her stuff. Throughout the conversation, Dorothy broke down why crafting an unforgettable story is non-negotiable for every early-stage startup. She dug deep into what separates a dull story from a holy-s***-I-need-to-tell-everyone-about-this story, how to sidestep the awkward rookie blunders that'll make people's eyes roll, and why even the most naturally gifted storytellers need to put in the reps to keep their skills sharp.

In the latest episode of How to Unf**k Your Startup, I had the opportunity to sit down with David Weiss, Chief Revenue Officer at The Sales Collective. David is an expert when it comes to developing value propositions that genuinely resonate with customers. He has a background in data-driven sales strategies and a proven track record of building sustainable growth. During our conversation, we dove deep into the craft of streamlining your messaging and focusing on the outcomes that matter most to your target audience. Throughout the episode, David provides practical frameworks and real-life examples that can help any startup crystallize its product's value and drive meaningful results. I highly recommend setting aside some time to listen to our conversation. Trust me, David's insights can help you navigate the challenges of startup life and set your company on the right path.

Michael Brenner is the Founder of Marketing Insider Group, a content marketing agency that helps companies reach, engage and convert new customers. With over 25 years of experience in sales and marketing, Michael has seen firsthand the challenges businesses face in capturing the attention of today's savvy, distracted buyers. As an author, keynote speaker and recognized leader in the content marketing space, he helps organizations rethink their approach to customer engagement. In this episode of How to Unf** Your Startup*, Michael and I dove into the strategies startups must employ to reach buyers in an increasingly noisy marketplace. With loads of stories and hard-won insights, Michael shares his formula for crafting marketing messages that resonate and building an inbound engine that drives sustainable growth. Our conversation drives home the importance of a customer-centric mindset in all aspects of startup operations, from leadership to demand generation.