Growing Your Organization Through Sales (Not Just Funding)

VC money has slowed. Valuations are tighter. And for many founders, the uncomfortable truth is sinking in: The money may not be coming. And now... sales must take over.

Fundraising Is Not a Business Model

For the last decade, capital has flowed freely. Founders raised seed, then Series A, then B. Some did it without ever having to prove their product in the hands of paying customers. But as capital contracts, those who treated fundraising as their growth engine are now hitting a wall. Why? Because they never built the real engine:

• Revenue driven by influence.
• Repeatable transactions with real customers.
• Systems of cooperation that produce traction, not just activity.

The Hidden Muscle You Didn’t Build

Raising money is not the same as selling. Raising is about storytelling, potential, and projections. Selling is about clarity, credibility, and results. When the VC checks stop, the question becomes:

• Can you sell without proof?
• Can you build traction with what you have?
• Can you move others to say yes—without the glow of investor backing? That’s a different skill set. That’s Transactional Intelligence™.

Selling Without Proof: What Founders Must Learn Now

If your product is still young, your team small, and your results thin—selling might feel daunting. But let me say this clearly:

You don’t need polished case studies to sell. You need a relevant problem, a clear offer, and the ability to build trust quickly.

The key is this: Start with the transaction and not the tech.

• What do they need right now?
• How does your offer help them win faster or suffer less?
• Can they say yes in small steps?

When capital isn’t available, cooperation becomes your currency.

Stop Hoping. Start Structuring.

Hope is not a growth strategy. What founders need now is structure:

• A repeatable sales conversation
• Clear agreements, not vague interest
• A process to measure and iterate
• A team trained in influence

In our work at Influential U, we teach how to build those exchanges deliberately—so that every conversation moves the right people toward a yes.

It’s not about “getting better at sales.” It’s about building transactions that work.

Build a Sales-Driven Culture

Even if you’ve never thought of yourself as a “salesperson,” this is your moment. Founders who succeed in this environment do one thing better than the rest:

They build a business that sells, even without a spotlight. They lead teams that know how to transact, not just talk. They grow through influence, not just capital.

If You're a Founder Reading This…

Ask yourself:

• Are we structured to generate revenue—or just waiting for rescue?
• Have I trained my team to sell—or just to execute?
• Do we know how to move others… or are we still hoping they’ll move themselves?

You don’t need to wait for a check to grow. You just need a repeatable path to yes.

And that starts now.

Author
John Patterson
Cofounder and CEO
INFLUENTIAL U
John Patterson steers the ship at Influential U, boldly challenging the traditional, often myopic views of success in our hyper-individualistic era. He isn’t afraid to poke fun at the archaic obsession with attributing every win or loss to single actors, calling out the industry’s penchant for oversimplified 'transactional' comprehension. Leading a crack team dedicated to innovating businesses and business ecosystems, John is all about integrating the personal with the whole system—because, let’s face it, no one wins alone.