Go-to-market advisory for founders at the 0→1 inflection — where founder-led sales works, but doesn't repeat yet. Pre-seed through Series B.
Patterns from 50+ early-stage founders advised across engagements, accelerator cohorts, and workshops. Every engagement is confidential. The patterns aren't.
Seed-stage consumer AI · $5M raised
The tension
A clean consumer story colliding with an unproven B2B2C motion — against incumbents who already own the enterprise budget.
The work
Named the collision before it became a roadmap decision. Separated the consumer wedge from the enterprise ambition and sequenced them.
Bootstrapped vertical SaaS · MVP, early paying users
The tension
An entrenched category incumbent, and a founder trying to win on features.
The work
Mapped the competitive field and relocated the wedge — from the workflow the incumbent owns to the handoff nobody had claimed.
AI-native platform · 20–30 paying customers
The tension
Real revenue, no repeatable motion behind it. Every deal ran through the founders.
The work
Reverse-engineered the early-customer profile from who actually closed, not who filled the pipeline.
AI product · pre-revenue, strong demo reception
The tension
Product-led assumptions layered on a trust-gated use case. Enthusiasm in demos, nothing moving.
The work
Separated AI curiosity from buying intent, and rebuilt the motion around the person who owns the risk.
Construction tech · AI recruiting · Healthtech · Consumer AI · CX voice agents · Fintech The sequence transfers. The tactics never do.
All of them run the same sequence — the difference is depth and duration.
The Diagnostic
"Something's leaking and I can't tell where."
A two-week sprint to locate the constraint before you spend another quarter on the wrong one.
The 0→1 Build
"I'm the only person who can sell this."
Eight to twelve weeks turning founder-led selling into a motion someone else can run.
Retained Advisor
"I know the next move. I don't know how to sequence it."
Monthly advisory for founders navigating a specific inflection — first AE, new segment, upmarket.
Six steps, in order, with the reasoning for each. I walk founders through it on the first call.
Early customer profile before ICP. Built from who already buys, not who you wish would.
The job to be done, not the feature request. Founders confuse the two and ship the wrong thing faster.
The user and the buyer are rarely the same person. Enthusiasm is not a buying signal.
One axis, defensible, sayable out loud on a call. Complexity is a tell that you don't know what you're selling.
Only now. Only where you've earned it. Segments are the last step, not the first.
The first ten aren't proof until they renew. Churn is visible 180 days out. The second deal is the signal that the motion is real, not that the pitch landed.
15+ years across product marketing, account management, and revenue — most recently accountable for a $100M+ ARR portfolio.
Six categories in the last year. The sequence transfers; the tactics don't.
Early adopters before ICP. Budget owner before pricing. Segments last. Order is the strategy.
Advisor, SF Startup Labs · Chair, Revenue & Data Discipline, HEDNA · Builds working prototypes, not decks