Impact 11

Helping B2B startups accelerate their GTM efforts - specializing in engineering, automations, and AI-assisted GTM acceleration for Series A-B companies, as well as hyper-targeted zero-to-one market and sales channel establishment for Seed and Pre-Seed startups.

Founder

Reply

Certified Expert

ApolloShield Counter-Drone Systems

Founded and led ApolloShield from idea to a profitable world-class drone detection and mitigation company.

Sold critical perimeter security systems to top-tier stadiums, prisons, militaries, critical infrastructure, law enforcement and government agencies worldwide.

Raised $3m from Y Combinator and prominent Silicon Valley funds.

Co-Founder & CEO (YC S16, Profitable)

Viggo Hotel TV

Led development and deployment of a hardware and software smart TV content system in thousands of hotel rooms worldwide.

Chief Architect

iOnRoad

Directed UX, branding, marketing, business development, and media activities for driving > 3m YouTube views and ~1m downloads one year after product launch.

iOnRoad won the CES 2011 Innovation honors award and was acquired by Harman Automotive and later integrated into Samsung

Head of Product Management (acq. by SAMSUNG)

Unit 8200 - Israeli Intelligence Corps

Led a critical part of an Israel Defense Prize winning system; Managed engineering teams and led innovative inter-organizational projects with dozens of participants across four associate units

Researcher, Team Leader, Project Manager

StartupGTM.com | I help b2b founders hack traction | Profitable founder (YC)

Transforming a startup from early to repeatable sales is HARD.

If you’re a B2B founder with early sales, then you've done many things right to win your first customers.

BUT - to raise a round A, your startup will need to have a product that's ready to scale because it can be 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮.

To get repeatable sales - there are four blockers. 
 
You'll need to change each one from "not working" to "working": 
 
1️⃣ Consistently creating a 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 of conversations with customers 
 
2️⃣ Converting these conversations into a 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 of first meetings 
 
3️⃣ Converting these meetings into a 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 of trials 
 
4️⃣ Converting trials into a 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 of deals. 
 
These blockers need to be removed 𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 - i.e. one by one. 
 
💡 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗡𝗢𝗪. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀.

—

I'm a former co-founder and CEO at ApolloShield - a profitable YC startup.

I work hands-on with B2B founders on turning their early sales into repeatable sales through a combination of disciplines:

1️⃣ 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀: Understanding the market, identifying target customers, and analyzing competitors.

2️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴: Defining how the product fits into the market and crafting compelling messages to appeal to the target audience.

3️⃣ 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀: Developing strategies for selling the product, including choosing sales channels and partnerships.

4️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Creating and executing campaigns to build brand awareness and generate leads.

5️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀: Managing discovery and commercial discussions with clients and partners to get their business.

5️⃣ 𝗢𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸: Gathering customer feedback and continuously adapting the product and strategies accordingly.

6️⃣ 𝗜𝗧 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Building support systems to holistically orchestrate and manage your GTM efforts.

7️⃣ 𝗥𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗱 𝗜𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Developing a method to move forward quickly, iterate and get market feedback - doubling what works and tossing what doesn’t.

🚀 Let's connect and accelerate your startup together!

Nimo Shkedy

Excited to announce the second (N)YC GTM+AI Masterclass! 🎉

📍 Same venue: Clay's NYC HQ
🕰️ Same time: Wednesday at 5:30 pm
📆 Date: November 19, in 2 weeks
👥 Same guests: YC founders, alumni, and friends
🎓 More mentors and speakers
💪 More learning & building!

👉 Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/dKXuhw7K

This event will comprise of 2 parts:
1. TED talks + Expert panel
2. Hands-on masterclasses with mentors

Agenda:
• ​5:30-6:00 pm - Snacks, Drinks, Networking
  Music by Yotam Koren 
  
• 6:00-6:45 pm - Expert panel
  Topic: Value vs Fluff in the GTM+AI space
  David Ronen (Anomalo)
  Gal Fontyn (WalkMe)
  Ajinkya Nene (Trellus (YC W22))
  John DiLoreto (Knock2.ai)
  Avishai Sam Bitton (DemandBox)

• ​6:45-7:15 pm - TED talks
  Asaf Raz (Agora):
  AI-Powered GTM: From Hype to Action
  Maya Mandelbaum (Drata):
  Building global, multi-product GTM with AI

• ​7:15-9:00 pm - Hands-on masterclasses:
  ​AI hyper-targeted lists and signals,
  ​AI revenue operations, automations, and agents,
  ​AI outreach & sequences,
  ​AI content & SEO,
  Context aware GTM engines,
  ​+ Vibe-coded apps with the amazing Shira Luk-Zilberman 

Special thanks to previous mentors + speakers, as well as friends who helped & inspired this event: Omer Shkedy Boaz Descalo Nir Sandbank Keren Milman Adir Ben-Yehuda Keenan D. Williams David Pawlan Brittany Levy Aakash Shah Boardy Gil Birnboim 🐰 Shahar Sorek Nir Goldstein Arnon Sobol Augusto Ferreira🌴 David Goecke 

CCd + Mentors and speakers I wish would join our next events: Amos Bar-Joseph Matan Zamft Osnat Lidor Omer Maman Nima Gardideh Matthew Silberman Andreas Wernicke  Tom Granot Karthiga Ratnam Jared Robin  Ofer Hermoni, Ph.D.

B2B GTM | 2x Founder | YC | MBA | Former hacker (yes, for real)

Awesome masterclass this Wednesday at Clay's HQ! 😍

📆 𝗦𝗲𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 (𝗡)𝗬𝗖 𝗚𝗧𝗠+𝗔𝗜 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀:
https://lnkd.in/dPTNjbHD (Wednesday, Jan 21, 5:30pm)

(I'll announce speakers & mentors soon. Let me know if you have experts to nominate!)

👑 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 & 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀: 
• Asaf Raz ​Building and executing an organizational GTM engineering plan
• Maya Mandelbaum ​AI for enabling partnerships + A Hands-On Growth Workshop From Insight to Income
• Avishai Sam Bitton ​AEO mastery
• Shira Luk-Zilberman ​Vibe Coding Apps with Base 44
• Ajinkya Nene ​Building products with AI to compete with giants
• Gal Fontyn ​Org-wide AI project strategies for executives
• John DiLoreto ​Evaluating AI in GTM: Separating Real Revenue Economics Value from Fluff
• David Ronen ​Building context-aware GTM automations
• Randall Bennett ​Expert prompt-writing for agents and chats

💡 𝗔𝘄𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲:
Gil Birnboim Lior Meitar Boaz Descalo Andreas Wernicke Matthew Silberman Omer Maman Nima Gardideh Aakash Shah Adam Alpert Tom Granot Gil Dabah Tom Mes TJ (Tsion) Gonen Amit Yampolsky 🎏 Shoham Eckhaus Gadi Evron 

🤝 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 (𝗡)𝗬𝗖 𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆:
https://lnkd.in/d2Drua36

It took me 7 years to hit $2M a year

Today I understand: I was learning too slowly

Homeland security sales cycles drag on for 12–24 months and many end up closed lost

It was part miracle, part design that we survived long enough to get traction

So now, I pivoted to B2B software and services - what a relief 😎

But even in B2B, here’s how to move faster:

𝟭. 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 >𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁<, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮.
↳ Volume is too low to wait for A/B tests that yield 5% improvement
↳ Five real conversations beat 5000 clicks with 0.1% conversion
↳ You’ll learn more in a week of calls than a month of dashboards & guesswork

𝟮. 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘅𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀.
↳ If deals take months to close, find leading indicators.
↳ Second meetings. Proofs of value.
↳ Those tell you 𝘯𝘰𝘸 if you’re building something people want.

𝟯. 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲, 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘀.
↳ Write down every hypothesis. Record every experiment.
↳ The faster you learn & adapt, the faster you move.
↳ Place bets that can have dramatic outcomes, not single digit improvements.

You don’t grow by doing more of the same.
You grow by learning & adapting faster.

Speed & magnitude of iteration is everything.

Inspired by Eytan Levit & David Katz's podcast episode (from 10 years ago!) about placing big bets + tips from YC, Ron Binder, Gil Dabah, Adir Ben-Yehuda, Erez Moscovich, Tobia De Angelis, Rob Snyder and Logan Gott 

--

P.S: I have space for 2 startups this month, to remove guesswork from their lead gen efforts

Using "PMF sprints" - a method I perfected while working with 30+ seed/A B2B startups

Want to learn the method? Book a meeting from my profile (it's free)

Want to see the best GTM+AI practitioners in NYC show their best work? 👇

Today's amazing mentors:

Asaf Raz on ​​building and executing an organizational GTM engineering plan

Maya Mandelbaum on the path from insight to income: A hands-on growth workshop

Avishai Sam Bitton on ​AEO mastery

Shira Luk-Zilberman on vibe coding apps with Base 44 (CC: Lior Meitar + Ofer Hermoni, Ph.D. @)

Ajinkya Nene on building products with AI to compete with giants (CC: Kaushik Tiwari + Beeri Amiel)

Gal Fontyn ​on org-wide AI project strategies for executives

David Ronen on building context-aware GTM automations

John DiLoreto ​on evaluating AI in GTM: Separating real revenue economic value from fluff

Randall Bennett on expert prompt-writing for agents and chats

---

In case you missed this event -

👉  𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗚𝗧𝗠+𝗔𝗜 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀: https://lnkd.in/dPTNjbHD

and join us on Wednesday, Jan 21, at Clay's office

Speakers & mentors on my wishlist: Jared Robin Amit Yampolsky 🎏 Nima Gardideh Andreas Wernicke Amos Bar-Joseph Matan Zamft Ron Binder Omer Maman Matthew Silberman Karthiga Ratnam 

💡 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀? Let me & them know in the comments :)

Last month, I ran a campaign I was 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 would crush it.

Tight copy. Perfect audience. BUT: No results.

I was baffled. What am I going to do now?

That’s when I realized something many founders miss:
𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱. 𝗜𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆.

And that’s the trap I see so many founders fall into:

We stare at dashboards, trying to decode why one version wins and another flops.

But those numbers seldom tell us what we should do next.

So if you’re stuck in that loop, stop running “yes/no” experiments.
✅ Click / ❌ No Click
✅ Reply / ❌ No Reply

Instead, talk to 5 customers.
Say the same message out loud.
Watch how they react.

You’ll learn more in an hour of conversation than in a month of A/B testing.

This week, an investor in 500+ startups told me 95% of B2B founders fail at GTM.
 
Here's what he sees in the 5% who succeed:
 
𝟭) 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗿-𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗽 𝗜𝗖𝗣
 
Not "CFOs at enterprise companies."
 
CFOs using Stack X, tried Solutions Y and Z (heard about them from Channel Q), failed because of Problems A, B, C.
 
If you can't describe your ICP in one breath with this level of detail, you're guessing.
 
𝟮) 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲
 
Some founders are naturally good at GTM. Others are really well connected.

With B2B buyers already confused by the competition and still having sky-high expectations, GTM is a knife fight. Founders play in hard mode from day one.

Good founders who aren't experienced with knife fights get coaches or expert fighters, or both.

(Note: For proper founder-led sales, founders still need to lead. They keep ownership and accountability, and manage their coaches / experts while getting their own hands dirty too)
  
𝟯) 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀 - 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻
 
They find tricks to get to the right people. They read between the lines in every conversation.
 
They don't pitch. They don't get "happy ears." They don't fall in love with their solution.
 
They're IN the conversation - curious, wanting to help, but staying ready to adapt and open to learn what they got wrong.
 
---

P.S: I learned GTM solo. I made it work. But there was a shorter, better way.

Now, I get help to achieve my goals.

Expensive? Yes. Always works? No. Worth it? Absolutely.

If you're a funded B2B founder and want to talk GTM - book a quick meeting from my profile.

Dhruv Patel

Saleshandy

Saleshandy is a cold outreach platform that helps B2B businesses automate and scale their outbound sales efforts. 

» I am the person responsible for
- majority of marketing stuff
- people management
- developing and implementing systems & procedures throughout the organization
- operations

Co-Founder

Appitsimple Infotek Pvt. Ltd. [www.softwaresuggest.com]

- Lead Marketing strategist & enabler, strategic vision, and involved in growth of the marketing team from 1 to 6 
- Grew organic acquisition, leveraging website optimization, SEO, and PR 
- Setting up marketing infrastructure i.e Google analytics, Webmasters, SEO tools, Adwords, Social platforms & paid social media networks.
- Influenced product development within application to increase page on time, no of page view per session, reviews, goal conversions and increase in paid click through rates.
- Coordinated communication amongst team members
- Social Media Management – wrote blog posts & managed corporate Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter
- Email Marketing – created and sent industry updates, regulatory notifications, Promotional emails, guides to customers and prospects via MailChimp & Sendy.
- Played a role in team building, recruitment / hiring & data extracting.

Marketing & Operations

Pathnex Technologies

Getting Things Done

Co-founder @ Saleshandy

Hey there,  

I'm a guy who wears many hats, and I like it that way! 

My marketing journey kicked off at a company where I managed a team of over 25 folks as the Marketing Lead and Operations Manager. 

But my itch for something more took me down the road of content and niche marketing. That's how I ended up co-creating Saleshandy, a place where I'm still enjoying the ride and helping the company grow.

I'm a marketing junkie and a business starter, and I get my kicks from companies that encourage teamwork and don't put up roadblocks to success. I live to meet and exceed what customers want. I keep a close eye on the results and always tinkering with my game plan based on what's needed. When things go south, I don't get bent out of shape; I see it as a chance to learn. I take a good, hard look at what went wrong, figure out why, and then cook up solutions based on the facts.

As a growth hacker and digital marketing buff, I thrive on the hustle and meet life with a never-say-die attitude. My constant grin shows my love for creating strong teams and my readiness to lend a hand at the drop of a hat.

So here I am, a Co-founder at Saleshandy, extending an invitation for you to join me on this wild ride as we take over the marketing world, one success story at a time. 

Let's get together and see how we can help each other grow. What do you say?

6 months ago, a SaaS company tried to sell me features.

But today, they sold me a problem I actually care about.

Email 1 said:
→ Pulse surveys
→ Real-time sentiment
→ Easy recognition
→ All product talk.
 
Nothing about me.

So of course, I didn’t buy.

I replied with one suggestion:

“Make your email about the outcome, not the feature.”

And today, I got another email from the same company.

Same company.

Same product.

But a completely different angle:

“Teams miss disengagement until it’s too late.”

That one line did what the features couldn’t.

It made me feel the problem.

The shift they made:
FROM: “Here’s what we do.”
TO: “Here’s what happens if you don’t act.”

That’s the real game in outbound.

✅ If you send cold emails, use this framework:
1️⃣ Start with a pain your prospect already feels.
 2️⃣ Connect your product to a clear outcome (save, prevent, improve).
 3️⃣ Make the prospect the hero—not your software.
 4️⃣ End with a small ask, not a big pitch.

Before you send, do a quick check:

Count the words “we” vs. “you.”

If “we” wins, your email loses.

Outbound isn’t about explaining your product.

It’s about diagnosing their problem.

If you get that right, you’ve already won half the game.

Co-founder @ Saleshandy | Automating cold emails to drive lead generation & sales

We started Saleshandy in 2015 with handful folks.

Here’s what a decade taught us:

10 Years → 10 Big Learnings

2015: Start even if you’re unsure.
2016: A little demand is enough to move.
2017: Go where things grow.
2018: Users show the real direction.
2019: Small steps compound.
2020: Fix what’s breaking.
2021: Focus speeds everything up.
2022: Big bets change your path.
2023: Growth exposes hidden gaps.
2024: Systems > features.
2025: Evolve fast or fall behind.

What should the 2026 upgrade be?

I got this cold email yesterday — and it irritated me before I even finished the first line.

 Why?

 Because it followed every “internet sales hack”… and ignored the only thing that actually matters: the prospect.

And here’s the funny part:

 Not only did I not reply,
 Not only did I not consider their service,
  I’m never buying from them.

That’s the part most people forget about cold outreach:

👉 Your prospect may not love you from the first email.

But if you’re wrong, arrogant, or assumptive…

They might hate you instantly.

Here’s where the email went completely off-track:

“You’ve been trying to fill that senior role for too long.”

 → Pretending to personalize
They don’t know that. 
They guessed (and guessed wrong)

 → Too many “we” statements.
 The email was a monologue about themselves.
 As a prospect, none of it connected to my reality.

→ A pushy CTA
 Requesting a 20-minute call with the co-founder in the very first email… with 

→ Zero trust built?
 Bad move.

→ Triggering: but in the wrong direction.
 Emails should evoke curiosity or relief. 
This one evoked annoyance.

→ Confidence:the kind no one asked for.
 There’s confidence that builds trust.
 And there’s confidence that feels like an attack.
 
This one was the second kind.

So…

How much confidence is too much?

Exactly this much.

A terrible personal life with a great professional life is not success at all.

Some take years to figure this out.

Looks like you are “winning”:

 → Revenue growing
 → Team expanding
 → Users are happy

But you might not have taken a real vacation in 3 years.

Missed a loved one’s birthday.

Stopped working out. Gained 15 kg.

Result?

 In the grind of building a successful company, you’re becoming a person you didn’t plan to.

That will hit different.

Here’s what nobody tells you about building:

The business will always need more.

 → More features
 → More meetings
 → More growth
 → More problems to solve

There’s no finish line where it suddenly gets easier.

If you don’t draw boundaries, the business will consume everything (including your life).

Hard rules I don’t break:

 → No work after 7 p.m. (unless emergency)
 → One full day off per week (Sunday, phone off)
 → Go for a run two times a week, non-negotiable

Remember: The best version of your company needs the best version of you.

And the best version of you doesn’t come from 80-hour weeks and no life outside work.

Half of my college life, I was a lone wolf.

No friend group. No "squad." No late-night hangouts.

You've seen those Bollywood college movies, right?

Friends laughing between classes. Bunking lectures together. Living the "best years of your life."

I did none of that.

I went to college. I did my work. Went home.

Most people would say I missed out.

But i didn’t. 

Here's what being a lone wolf actually taught me:

1. Comfort with solitude = comfort with deep work

When you're not constantly surrounded by people, you learn to sit with your thoughts.

No distractions. No need to fill silence.

That skill? It's everything when you're building something hard.

Most founders can't sit alone with a problem for 4 hours. I can sit with it for 4 days if needed.

2. No peer pressure = no stupid decisions

→ When your friend group decides to bunk class, you bunk too. 
→ When they choose easy electives, you follow. 
→ When they waste time, you waste it with them.

Being alone meant every decision was mine.

3. Self-reliance isn't optional in startups

In college, I learned to solve my own problems. 

No group to lean on. No one to copy notes from.

When you're bootstrapping a startup, that's your daily reality.

No support system. No hand-holding.

I learnt to run on my own. 

The skills I built in those "lonely" years? 

They're the reason I can build, ship, and iterate without waiting for anyone's permission.

Business 101: Get an office near a good tea café. (Trust me, it works.)

Every founder thinks big decisions happen in perfectly air-conditioned boardrooms with 15-slide presentations.

Wrong.

They happen over a slow-boiled chai with just the right amount of sugar.

Ten years in, I can tell you where my best decisions were actually made:

At a café, over chai, near our office.

Not because we planned it that way, but because that’s where the ideas actually show up.

Here is why: 

→ Big decisions need space to breathe.
In a meeting, there’s pressure to conclude.
Over chai, you can sit with confusion. You can let an idea take its time.

→ The formality kills honesty.
Brutal truth: In meetings, not everyone says what they think.
Over chai? People speak their mind.
Because it’s not a meeting. It’s a conversation.

→ Decisions don’t have clean answers.
When it come to taking big decisions, you need to think of every possible contradictions, think through the uncertainty. 
That doesn’t happen in 60-minute meetings. 

I am not saying, don’t take meetings. 

I am saying: 

If a decision feels forced in a meeting: 
  ➡️ Get out.
  ➡️ Go to a café. Order a chai.
  ➡️ Start talking about it. 
  
You’ll thank me later. 


Made any big decisions over chai? Share in the comments, I’m reading all.

Every year we debate what changed in outbound in {year}

But no one talks about what stays the same.

Here are 10 things that will never be replaced:

1. No one wakes up wanting to buy

They're stressed about their Q4.
Worried about their boss.
Trying to not look stupid.

Start there.

2. “Different” beats better

Everyone says they're the best.
Nobody remembers the best.

They remember “different”.

3. Done beats perfect
While you're editing 4th draft
someone else already hit send.

And got the meeting booked.

4. Caring can't be faked

People know instantly if you actually get their problem.
Or if you're just hitting your quota.

5. Write like a human

Don’t try to sell.
Send a text to help. 

6. Desperation kills

"This might not be for you" works better than chasing.

Scarcity creates interest.

7. Timing matters more than your pitch

You can't control timing. 
But you can stop pretending it doesn't matter.

8. People buy from fear

Not ambition. Fear.
Fear of the board meeting.
Fear of losing to competition.

Fear of explaining why they didn't act.

9. The best deals are not cold

By the time they reply
They've already decided if they trust you.
Your posts. Your comments. How you show up.

Selling starts there.

10. Understanding wins

Tools will change.
Channels will die.
Tactics will stop working.

But knowing someone's actual problem and genuinely wanting to solve it?

That's timeless.

We just changed something small in Saleshandy's email editor. 

Most cold email tools make you write like a coder, not a salesperson. 

You type {{FirstName}} and hope you got it right. 

You add {spin} tags and hope they work. 

One small mistake, and your email breaks — but you won't know until it's sent. 

So we tried something different. 

We turned those messy tags into simple, colorful buttons. 

You click and pick. 

The editor checks it right away. 

No mistakes. No broken emails. 

It’s early, but people like it. Things are faster and smoother. 

The questions about broken tabs is reduced. 

But it made me think about something bigger: 

Should email tools feel more like Google Docs... or like a complicated dashboard? 

Most people sending emails aren't coders. 

They're salespeople, founders and marketers. 

They don't like the technical stuff — they just want to write emails that work. 

So here's my question: 

If you're writing emails every day, what matters more — having every feature possible, or having a tool that stays out of your way? 

Comment "Power" or "Simple" and tell me why. 

I'm reading all of them.

I’ve started judging people by ONE thing:


How they act when they’re confused.

Because everyone gets confused.

It’s normal. It happens daily.

But what people do next tells you everything.

Here’s what I’ve seen:

1) The Asker
Says, “Hey, I didn’t understand that.”
Gets clarity in minutes.

2) The Googler
Quietly searches, watches, reads.
Figures it out on their own.

3) The Pretender
Nods like they get it…
but you can see the panic behind the smile.

4) The Blamer
“The instructions weren’t clear.”
“Someone should’ve told me.”
Nothing is ever their fault.

Same confusion.

Very different futures.

If you want to grow faster:
• Ask when you don’t get it.
• Learn whatever you can yourself.
• Don’t fake it.
• Don’t blame.


The people who grow are the ones okay with saying,

“I don’t understand this yet — but I want to.”

I don’t read emails. I scan my inbox. And trust me your prospects do the same.

I have seen people jump to guess why a campaign underperformed. 

→ Open rates dip? “Must be the subject line.”
→ Replies drop? “The offer isn’t strong enough.”
→ No meetings? “The copy failed.”

But the real cause was almost never what they blamed.

Because when you look closely at how people actually behave in an inbox, the pattern is predictable and brutally simple.

Most teams keep rewriting emails, testing variations, tweaking copy… trying to fix what prospects barely pay attention to.

What I’ve seen consistently is this:

Emails don’t fail because the content is bad.

They fail because the inbox experience is weak.

It’s not about writing better.

It’s about showing up in a way that earns attention before the email is even opened.

So, remember: It’s not the email. It’s how you appear in the inbox.

Most outbound emails fail for one reason:

We write them the way we think… not the way prospects read.

Your prospect is busy. Distracted. Trying to protect their time.

So when your message sounds heavy, unclear, or sales-driven, they skip it instantly.

The good news?

Replies go up the moment you switch from “selling” to “helping.”

That’s what this framework is built around.

Three simple approaches that make outreach feel natural.

1. Empathy
2. Educate
3. Engage

When you mix these three, your email stops feeling like “another sales message.”

It becomes a conversation starter.

And in outbound, conversations are the real win.

So, the best way to stand out in outbound? simply be a human.

Which of these 3 approaches do you personally use the most? And why?

Cold emails don't sugar coat & that's what i like the most about it.

Cold email tells you the truth faster than anything else.

When I was getting started, I tried everything to avoid the uncomfortable stuff.

→ Ads gave me hope.
→ SEO gave me patience.
→ Product gave me ideas.

But none of them told me what I actually needed to know.

Cold email did.

The moment you start sending 50 cold emails a week, you learn things no dashboard will show you:

→ You’ll know instantly if your offer is weak
→ You’ll know if your ICP is wrong
→ You’ll know if your value prop is confusing
→ You’ll know if anyone even cares enough to reply


And trust me, as a founder, these are the answers you can’t afford to delay.

Cold email forces you to face the reality you’ve been avoiding:

 If someone opened but didn’t reply — your message was boring.
 If someone replied with confusion — your offer wasn’t clear.
 If someone replied angrily — your targeting was off.
 If someone booked a call — your direction was right.

No investor, no advisor, no book gave me that level of clarity.

Cold email didn’t give me the answers I wanted.

It gave me the answers I needed. And that’s why it worked.

If you’re a founder and you’re not sending at least 50 cold emails a week, you’re building in the dark.

Your market is talking every single day. The question is, are you listening?

If you're building outbound from scratch, here's where to start:

Don't ask "what's working in 2025?"

Ask "what does my business actually need?"

Three things matter:

- Deal size
- Market size
- Sales cycle 

If you're selling $5K deals to a huge market? 

You need volume. Send lots of emails, move fast, learn quickly.

If you're selling $50K deals to a small market? 

You need precision. Research deeply, build relationships, take your time.

Somewhere in between? 

You need both...but you have to be disciplined about when to use which approach.

Everything else flows from this foundation.

Most sales leaders build it backwards. They find a tactic that's working for someone else and try to copy it. 

But what works for a $10K product won't work for a $100K one.

Start with your economics. Let that guide your strategy.

What's your deal size telling you?

Everything felt urgent last quarter.

→ Every Slack message. 
→ Every feature request. 
→ Every bug report.

We were constantly firefighting. 
Constantly context-switching. 
Constantly burned out.

But when everything is urgent, nothing actually is.

The problem wasn’t the work. 

 It was how we labeled it.

We were confusing urgency with importance.

 If an “urgent” request can wait 24 hours, it’s important — not urgent.

Now, we classify everything into 4 buckets:

→ Urgent & Important — Do it now.
→ Important, Not Urgent — Schedule it.
→ Urgent, Not Important — Delegate it.
→ Neither — Delete it.

The result?

 We’re finally working intentionally, not reactively.

 The pace is calmer. The output is better.

 And ironically — we’re getting more done by treating fewer things as “urgent.”

A small flower I noticed on my way reminded me of my journey: How growth happens in imperfect conditions.

I still remember: Ten years ago, Piyush and I entered a market.
 
Everyone around us said the same thing in different ways:

 “Highly competitive.”
 “Not trendy.”

Every friend told me, “Find a better niche.”

And almost everyone I spoke to had no clue about outbound.

But I believed something different: 

You don’t need perfect conditions to grow.

You grow where you are.

After all these years building Saleshandy, here’s what I’ve learned:

When things don’t feel perfect: 

 • Focus on what you can do right now.
 • Treat limits as chances to get creative, not reasons to quit.
 • Track progress each week, not just results, but your actions.

So when someone says,

 “That market’s dead.”
 “That idea’s overdone.”
 “That space is too hard.”

Believe me, that’s exactly where your wins are waiting.

I work in a space where user education can’t be avoided. 

But here is the catch: Teaching alone isn’t enough.

Most SaaS products assume users will follow best practices if you give them:

• Documentation
 • Checklists
 • Recommended routines

Reality is different. 

Users only follow best practices if the product makes it Inevitable .

We saw this clearly with deliverability. 

Founders often say, “Our deliverability suddenly crashed.” 

It doesn’t crash — it declines slowly:

• A few replies drop
 • Inbox placement shifts
 • Opens fall
 • Eventually, everything collapses

It’s predictable, if you notice early. Most teams don’t.

The real gap? 

People weren’t failing at outreach. They were failing to spot problems early.

Saleshandy's Inbox Radar solves this. 

Not with more education. Not with dashboards. Not with more tasks.

It shifts responsibility from the user to the product. 

Quiet, recurring inbox checks catch trends before they become failures:

• Domain health drifting
 • Warmup issues
 • Misconfigured inboxes
 • Early placement decline

This isn’t new. But it’s the kind of product behavior more tools should have.

Every SaaS founder eventually realizes: If outcomes depend on users, the product doesn’t own the outcome.

Real leverage comes when:

• The product sees problems before the user
 • The product corrects or alerts early
 • Users don’t need to stay hyper-vigilant

For our users, this shifted the mindset: From reacting to damage to anticipating it.

Great products don’t just educate. 

➡️ They take responsibility. 
➡️ They reduce vigilance. 
➡️ They protect outcomes.

Inbox Radar is one example, quietly doing what users shouldn’t have to remember.

Everyone said building apps after college was a mistake. It was the best mistake I ever made.

Right after college, I went straight to help Piyush with his business.
 → No office.
 → No structure.
 → No fancy title.

Just two people and a long list of ideas.

We built so many apps:

→ Some did okay
 → Some failed
 → Some miserably failed
 

But here’s the part I’m grateful for:

Every failure taught us how to think.
Every bad idea taught us how to pick good ones.
Every mistake made us faster, sharper, and a little less stupid.

People think success comes from one big win.

 But in reality?

It comes from hundreds of small, messy experiments.

Those early days taught me things no job could ever teach:

→ How to ship fast, even when you doubt yourself
 → How to learn without anyone explaining
 → How to build something from zero
 → How to stay calm when everything breaks
 → How to keep going when nothing works

Most people choose “safe”.
 
I chose “try”.

And that made all the difference in my life.

Looking back, those random apps weren’t random at all.

They were the training ground.

Without them, I wouldn’t be here.
 
Without those failures, I wouldn’t be a co-founder today.

Sometimes the path that looks the most messy…

 Is the one that secretly prepares you for everything ahead.

What’s one “bottom-less decision” you made that actually changed your life?

Drop it in the comments, i love it to read it all.

Bitter truth: your prospect is not thinking about you. 

You're not on the top of their minds at all.

They are:

→ Busy with Q4 goals
→ Hiring new AE 
→ Frustrated with cold pitch

If you want them to choose you, they have to eliminate everything else first. 

And trust me… they’re not doing it for you.

Every step of your outbound has to be about making that choice easy for them. 

Every email, call, or touchpoint should remove friction, build trust, and make the “other options” irrelevant.

You don’t compete on luck. You compete on:

→ Showing you understand their world better than anyone else
→ Proving you’ve solved problems like theirs before
→ Making them feel that choosing you is the easiest and only option

So next time you feel the urge to just “try” and hope for a response, pause.

Focus on making it easy for the prospect to choose you.

Because the choice is not about you. 

It’s about how well you understand their needs.

The best routine isn’t the one you post online; it’s the one you keep.

A friend of mine was very inspired by a 5 AM morning routine video… and he started it.

Meditation. Journaling. Workout. Cold shower. Green smoothie.

Thumbs up for the effort…

But it only lasted 12 days.

Then back to the usual routine:

Wake up. Coffee. Start working.

I asked him,

"What’s wrong now? What felt good then?"

His answer?

"Nothing much, Dhruv. It just felt… nice."

Don’t build a routine for the sake of an Insta story or a few snaps.

Your routine should serve your energy, not your digital presence.

You don’t have to buy everything the internet sells. 

Follow what suits you.

→ I don’t meditate in the morning. I think better at night with music on.
→ I don’t journal daily. I process by talking things through.
→ I don’t work out in the evening. I prefer to play with my kid.

The best routine is the one you’ll actually stick to.

Not the one that looks good on screen.

I’m the opposite of what people expect from a founder.

Unlike most, I stay grounded: but it has nothing to do with humility or being “nice.”

 For me, it’s about staying real.

Even after years of building Saleshandy, I still:
→ Read support tickets myself
→ Listen to lost sales calls
→ Scroll through the harshest reviews

Not because I have to.

Because I want to.

The higher you climb, the easier it is to lose touch.
 → Your calendar fills with strategy meetings.
 → Your team filters the information for you.
 → Your users become just numbers.
 → Your competitors fade into charts and reports.

Being grounded keeps me honest.
 
It reminds me why I started.

It keeps me connected to real problems, real people, and real risks.

Staying grounded isn’t optional 
 
It’s the only way to make sure you’re building the right things.

taplio

The Battle

Nimo Shkedy

Dhruv Patel

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreNimo Shkedy's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreDhruv Patel's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Nimo Shkedy

Dhruv Patel

Followers

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);}Nimo Shkedy's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreDhruv Patel's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreNimo Shkedy's LinkedIn Performance