At Algolia, we didn't use a sales deck until we reached $10 million in ARR; we relied on product demonstrations, which proved more effective.

At Palantir, product managers are typically promoted from forward-deployed engineers, ensuring they have firsthand experience with customer needs.

I remember when we implemented Algolia for Product Hunt, which helped us build a strong relationship with the founder, Ryan. This connection allowed for candid conversations and better product development.

Segment primarily grows through engineers who bring the product into their companies, often solving complex data pipeline issues.

Realizing we were selling to students with limited funds, we shifted our focus to building a product for companies to help them identify the right developers based on skills.

Our growth trajectory improved significantly when we brought in a sales leader who understood the importance of hiring great salespeople who genuinely care about customers.

After realizing we needed to expand our sales team, we went from 12 to 100 salespeople in less than a year to better serve our growing customer base.

Hiring passionate users of your product can be advantageous, as they are often more committed and aligned with the company's mission. At Stripe, we successfully hired several early users who contributed significantly to our growth.

The transition from a sales-driven company to a product-driven company was challenging, as it required changing our organizational DNA and objectives.