Choosing between top-down and Bottoms Up sales strategies depends on whose problem the startup is solving; if the pitch resonates with individual contributors, Bottoms Up is preferable, while top-down is better for executive-focused pitches.

Startups typically use a top-down sales motion to sell expensive products to executives at large companies and a Bottoms Up motion to acquire individual users, which can lead to sales to those executives.

Startups that sell using a Top Down approach often see better early retention metrics compared to those using Bottom Up sales.

My experiences have led me to become a group partner at Y Combinator, where I find joy in helping founders overcome challenges to bring their technologies to market.

The advice in this talk comes from analyzing the top 100 Y Combinator companies by evaluation and understanding how they came up with their ideas, as well as from helping companies pivot and learning from thousands of rejected applications.

During Y Combinator, partners meet individually with startups to provide advice on their challenges.

I advise companies going to Y Combinator to leverage the connections and mentorship available there to craft growth strategies for their solid products.

Bottom Up sales start with the user, focusing on building a self-serve product that can be adopted without direct interaction with the company. This approach works well for startups that solve pain points for individuals or small teams, as products need to be easy to adopt and can spread virally within an organization.

After selling my company, I was invited to be the first healthcare and biotech partner at Y Combinator, where I could share my story and help other founders.