CEO & Co-founder @Hyperly | Helping founders acquire clients through LinkedIn funnels | Building Hyperly — Social Selling platform | Learn about my 4-week Linkedin Sales Cohort

Most early-stage founders don’t need a sales team.
They need a system — one they can run themselves till $1M.

I’ve built and sold two companies. The first one taught me how hard sales is without a plan. The second one taught me how to fix it.

Now, I help AI, SaaS, and IT Services founders build Founder-Led Sales Engines that work in the US — without hiring too early or burning leads.

What I build with founders:

- Clarity on ICP & messaging

- Lean outbound & LinkedIn systems

- Email + DM + Cold call playbooks

- AI-powered sales tools

- Founder-to-closer mindset shifts

It’s not about closing more — it’s about knowing what not to do before $1M.

If you’re in the 0–$1M zone, let’s talk systems.

Want to see how I build founder-led sales systems?

Download the exact 0–$1M Sales Playbook I use with AI-SaaS & IT founders selling into the US:

👉 https://www.elephantedge.academy/playbooks

Just the real frameworks that work before you hire a sales team.

Venkatesh M.

I’ve officially partnered with GTM Partners to enable founders build $1M US GTM engine.

In 2025, I worked hands-in-hand with 5 different companies, as a Fractional VP Sales, to help them move from ad-hoc selling to a repeatable B2B pipeline in the US.

All of them and many founders I've been having conversation with, had the same question..
- How to sell AI products to SMBs in the US
- How to sell Agentic AI services to mid-market clients
- How to crack enterprise sales with deal sizes >$250K for the first time

The reality in 2026:

Without sales + distribution and the know-how to achieve the first $1M in revenue, there is no next stage, nor a serious funding conversation.

Partnering with GTM Partners gives me deeper leverage to help founders crack the US market in the right way at the right speed. 

If you’re building for the US, this is the work I’m focused on.

Thanks to Sangram Vajre and Bryan Brown for the partnership and trust. Thanks to my team at Elephant Edge | Fractional VP Sales Leadership for making this happen.

-----------------
I’m Venkatesh M., Fractional VP Sales. I build and run US sales teams for 50–200 employee companies, from first hire to first $1M, until it works. DM me if cracking the US market is your #1 priority in 2026.

#founder #GTM #USSales

Fractional VP for AI-SaaS & Tech Startups Scaling to $1M+ | US Market GTM & Sales | Certified GTM OS Partner

Most coaches rely on referrals because most marketing is transactional, misaligned, or simply not built for the kind of work they do.

But that reliance creates uncertainty.
Great months followed by quiet ones.
Impact limited by chance.

I help coaches create consistent demand without forcing them out of integrity.

After failing my own coaching business trying to apply generic marketing/sales playbooks, I rebuilt my approach.

Now I build simple, repeatable systems for coaches that translate integrity, clarity, and their lived experience into steady, human conversations with the right people.

No pressure.
No performance.
No pretending.

Just consistent demand for your work.

I'll happily create your growth engine for free. Schedule some time with me here:
https://calendly.com/jeremy-hamiltongrowth/growth-engine-design

Jeremy Hamilton

No one is looking for a coach

People don't wake up thinking about a modality.
They wake up with a problem.

They want relief.
Support.
Someone who understands their situation.

Coaching is how you serve.
It is not why they come.

Demand is organized around painful problems.
Not titles. Not labels. Not identities.

When you lead with coaching, you blend in.
When you lead with their struggle, you stand out.

Do you lead with coaching, or with the struggles you help solve? Choose wisely.

Founder & Coach @ HamiltonGrowth | Helping coaches create consistent demand

I started giving my paid stuff away for free. Now I’m fully booked.

For a long time, I was careful with my best offers.
I didn’t want to give too much value away.

I thought value should be protected and saved for paying clients.

So I shared vague, high-level content.

The result?
Crickets.

Everything changed when I tried the opposite.
I started solving real problems for free.

Not tips or teasers, but actual problem solving.
Helping people forward.

I started receiving dm’s, calls, clients.
Conversations started warmer with more trust.

By the time investment came up, my value was already known and it became easier to start collaborating.

What can you give away for free?

Hint: If it's painful to give away for free, it's probably the right thing to offer.

Credentials do not win coaching clients.
They often cost you the client

Most coaches try to solve.
Get to the essence.
Prove they are competent.

But clients are not comparing résumés.

They are listening for one thing:

“This person knows this place.”

That moment has nothing to do with your ability to coach.
It comes from naming their experience precisely.

Saying the thing they have not said out loud.
Pointing to what actually hurts.
And where they are quietly trying to go.

When that happens, convincing stops.

People do not hire the most impressive coach.
They hire the one who knows them well.

I wish I realized this earlier about marketing

Marketing is about 1 thing and 1 thing only.
To build trust.

But to do this effectively, it's not about showing off my credentials or bragging about my results.

It's about connection.
Genuinely caring about the people I meet.

Being on their team.
Loving their effort.
Placing myself in their shoes and genuinely giving a damn.

Help good people make more impact.

I replaced marketing with being in connection.
It's more fun and I get to connect more genuinely with people. 

What does marketing mean to you?

I was selling my solution. It cost me $250,000.

For 3 years, I pitched as if my life depended on it.
Selling my coaching, courses, and programs.

Zero customers.
None.

I realized nobody cares about my method.
I also realized people care about solving their problems.

So, I stopped focusing on my method.
And I started speaking about their problems.

That shift alone opened up many conversations.
And it allowed people to self-select in.

What’s the #1 problem for your clients?

Nothing stalled new clients more than having great first calls

I thought being valuable on first-time calls was the lever. 
It actually kills momentum. 

Early on, I over-delivered on first conversations. 
I clarified thinking. 
I reduced confusion. 
I made things feel lighter. 

People left the call clear and grateful. 
They also left done. 

Here’s what I missed. 
Helping solves the problem.
 
But once the pressure is gone, there is nothing left to move. 

Results didn't change when I explained better. 
They changed when I stopped relieving tension. 

Holding the line keeps the problem unresolved. 
It creates tension and a need to solve it.

It unlocked many more clients for me. 

If your initial conversations calls feel good but rarely convert, look closely at where you are holding tension vs. releasing it. 

It's the key to more clients.

Marketing doesn’t work for coaches & therapists. Here’s why.

Urgency.
Scarcity.
Fricking countdown timers.

All of this puts people into a dysregulated state.

‘Act now!’
‘Limited time off!’
‘5 Spots left!’

Ugh.

It’s fake.
It’s manipulative.
It’s bullshit.

As a coach/therapist, isn’t the whole point to empower clients OUT of survival?

I failed my first coaching business. Or so I thought.

I closed it down because I was nearly bankrupt.
I was bitter.
And I felt defeated.

A powerful calling.
Like something greater was calling me forward.
And still, nothing but ashes.

I lost a part of myself on that journey.
I knew I’d come close, but something seemed out of reach.

It marked a year of integration + money survival-mode.
Not a great combo.

“Failure is a good teacher,” they say.
I mostly found myself trying to figure out what the hell happened.

“How do I grow a coaching business?”

I’d learned the hard way that most marketing and sales don’t work.
Not for coaching.

It demands trust, connection, and value.
Not bro-marketing.

When I reminisce about my glorious failure, I feel grateful.
It sparked a quest to figure out how to do this.

It took me a while, but I did.
Through my failure, I ended up building a thriving coaching business.

Without sales.
Without marketing.

Eventually, I was able to see that what I had learned wasn’t just defeat.
I had simply found a way that didn't work.

Beep. Shift. Go.

What have you learned from today's 'mistakes'?

I closed my laptop because I didn’t trust myself

It was late.
The offer was done.
Stripe was ready.
The strategy worked.
The numbers made sense.

Everything said: launch.
My hand hovered over “Send.”
I felt hesitant.

Not because I was unsure.
Because I knew exactly why I was doing it.

Money.

That pull to just go through with it felt familiar.

Automatic.
Justified.

So I closed my laptop.
Went to bed.
And killed the offer.

Not because it wouldn’t sell.

But because I didn’t want to build another thing I’d have to outrun later.

I’m done doing it just for the money.

When was the last time you said no to something that would have paid you well?

I stopped selling. I got more clients.

Selling never felt wrong because it didn’t work.
It felt wrong because of how it made me show up.

And people felt that.

I sounded guarded.
Performative.
Like I had something to get.

So I stopped selling.

I stopped pushing outcomes.
Stopped steering conversations.
Stopped trying to “move” people anywhere.

Instead, I focused on being useful.
Sharing context.
Helping people see their situation more clearly.

That’s when things shifted.

Conversations opened up.
Trust showed up faster.
People leaned in without ‘convincing’.

I experienced more connection.
I got more clients.

The biggest learning?

Selling doesn’t work for me.
Being in connection does.

Does selling energize you or drain you?

I didn’t wait until I felt ready. That’s why it worked.

Limited cash.
No clarity on my offer.
No idea who I was for.
Message wasn’t landing.

I was stressed. 
Felt frustrated.
Scared.

I knew I had value to offer.
I just hadn’t figured out how to get clients.

Still, I kept walking forward.
In the dark.

I knew I had to figure this out myself.

To stop listening to the opinions and advice of others.
To rely on myself and my own ability to figure it out.

"I have everything I need."
"The only thing left is to show up."

Every.
Single.
Day.

Independent. 
Sovereign.

Until I get what I want.

I remember:
How scared I was.
How often I wavered.
How much pressure I put on myself..

When I look back at this phase of my business, I realize that sometimes,
Sometimes, I don’t need all the answers.

Sometime all I really need is to take one next step.

What’s your step into the unknown today?

3 Years. $250,000 spent. 2,893 leads. $0 revenue.

I did everything “right.”

Funnels.
Ads.
Content.
Systems.

On paper, it looked like growth.
In reality, nothing moved.

Not one purchase.

For three years.

That failure wasn’t loud.
It was confusing.
Quiet.
Embarrassing.

Especially as a former Head of Growth who had already scaled dozens of companies.

I kept assuming the answer was more.

More tactics.
More optimization.
More systems.

It wasn’t.

The real problem showed up only when I stopped hiding behind activity.

I didn’t know:
Who this was really for
Which problem actually hurt
What proved I could solve it
How to say it simply

I was generating motion.

Not relief.

Growth doesn’t come from better marketing.

It comes from solving a real, bleeding-neck problem someone feels today and cannot afford to ignore tomorrow.

Everything else is noise.

What problem do you solve that your clients want gone now?

I was shaking. This changed everything

I didn’t go viral.
I didn’t close a deal.

For months, I was working on the same outreach message over and over.

Offer changed.
Audience changed.
Problem sharpened.
Language simplified.

I sent messages daily.

Most were ignored.
Some polite replies.
No real traction.

Until one morning,
I looked at my calendar,

Blinked twice, but confirmed:
5 People had booked a call with me.

Overnight.

It took me a minute to take it in.
Then it hit me:

I finally found a way to open up conversations with people.
I finally locked in a version of my message that landed!

I was so proud.

Took me 86 working days before I 'cracked the code.'
Damn well worth it.

What message are you testing right now to get new clients?

Coaching changed my life. It’s also a terrible business idea.

What is healing for me doesn’t automatically translate to what people want to invest in.

This assumption cost me my first business.
But I also see many smart coaches fall into the same trap:

You fall in love with the method.
You talk about the tool and its transformational power.

You assume others are looking for the same doorway you walked through.

They’re not.
Because they’re looking for relief inside their own specific mess.

Not our awakening story.
Not our modality.

Transformation is real.
Coaching is powerful.

Market relevance is a different game.

Where does your offer land?

Sales is a losing game for coaches and consultants

In high-trust collaborations, pitching simply doesn’t work.

People feel the vibe of being sold to, and it’s not a clean way to start off working together.

I found context setting to make sales obsolete.

Context setting works like this:
- Name the problem as they experience it
- Explain how it gets solved
- Paint a vivid picture of what life looks like on the other side

My worldview. My lived experience. Genuinely delivered.
Those who resonate with it will feel seen, heard, and understood.

They’re a yes before I even share my offer.

Ever noticed some people are a "yes" before you explain your offer? They were already sold.

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Venkatesh M.

Jeremy Hamilton

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The Battle

Venkatesh M.

Jeremy Hamilton

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Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Venkatesh M.'s LinkedIn Performance

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