When raising a seed round, it's common for software companies to hire one or two engineers to build their product, but founders should handle sales themselves until they achieve product-market fit.

Raising a seed round is akin to consumer sales, while raising a Series A is more like enterprise sales, requiring deeper relationships and the ability to educate potential investors about your business.

To effectively integrate design into product development, startups should consider hiring a designer by Series A, especially if they have a user-facing element.

Don't approach a Series A fundraising without demonstrating that you've used early investment wisely to create a product that people love and show sustained growth.

The first two hires in a startup should focus on sales and customer satisfaction, ensuring that the business can both sell its product and maintain happy customers.

Founders should not hire a sales team until they have learned how to do sales themselves, as this knowledge is necessary to recognize what effective sales look like.

Sales should be prioritized early in the startup process, as engaging with customers can lead to better product development and quicker sales success.

Founders need to be technically competent and understand that they may have to become salespeople to successfully market their products.

By Series B, startups need to focus on building a design team rather than just hiring a single designer, as having multiple engineers without a design team can create a challenging environment for designers.