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

Sriharsha Guduguntla

CEO at Hyperbound (YC S23) | Helping marketing leaders build pipeline with AI at scale

Call me Sai! I'm the Co-Founder & CEO of Hyperbound. I'm a YCombinator Founder (S23) who's interested in startups and the intersection of AI and sales and marketing. Currently building next-generation GTM tools at https://hyperbound.ai. 🚀 

I'm a self-learned full-stack engineer and designer with experience building software for 12+ years.

http://sriharshaguduguntla.com

Member

This is Mason Smith, our Chief of Staff, and yes he bikes the San Francisco hills at 7 am in the morning and 10 pm at night to and from the office.

He’s the first one in and the last one out every single day and has single-handedly taken enormous amounts of responsibility off of Atul and my plate! 

He moved his family from Utah to SF in weeks as soon as he joined Hyperbound.

He’s a former D2 basketball player (yes he can dunk) and he moved to SF seeking bigger opportunities and making a name for himself.

In fact, within week one, Mason’s task list was bigger than everyone at the company, and he completed all of them no questions asked.

Mason is what you call a jack of all trades, you want a CFO, COO, CCO, CMO?? 

It doesn’t matter, he can do all of them. 

And that’s the best part about having team members that have the founder mindset, you know you can rely on them no matter what the task is or how urgent it is. 

If you want to work at Hyperbound, we’re hiring on all fronts right now! DM me or Mason!

CEO at Hyperbound (YC S23) | Building AI Sales Roleplay Simulations to upskill GTM teams

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Over 22 million people saw Hyperbound yesterday, featured during the Super Bowl LX aired nationwide on NBC Sports 🤯

...
..
....

🥁 YES, you heard that right!

Within minutes, friends, family, and even strangers were messaging our team on every channel calling out how they saw us saying things like:

"Love the promo on tv haha"
"Saw you guys on the superbowl pre-game show!"
"Wait… I just saw you guys on TV!"

So how did this happen???

48 hours ago, Riley Sims, our newest addition to the team, decided if the Super Bowl was going to happen in our side of town in San Francisco, we better be there, showing up guns blazing.

So Mia Kosoglow, Nitin Bhoopal, Mason Smith, Nicolas Keil, and Samuel R. jumped on a ferry out to hijack the pre-game show in Alcatraz!

This wasn't just cool — it was crazy exposure. This is the definition of scrappy. 

So proud of the team for thinking out of the box and continuing to put Hyperbound on the map!

Be honest: if you're a C-suite leader, when was the last time you sat across from a customer in person?

If your founders or C-suite aren't consistently in the room at industry events, you're underestimating how enterprise deals actually get done.

I've been collecting badges from every event I attended since starting Hyperbound. 

Sales Enablement Summits
Sales Training Conferences
HubSpot Inbound.
Salesforce Dreamforce
Revenue Summits.
Enterprise roundtables.
Intimate 10-person executive dinners.
Massive 5,000-person expos. and tradeshows

A few were last-minute flights we booked because we heard the right Chief Revenue Officer would be there.

From day one, events weren't just a "brand play" for us.

They were how we built the company.

When we launched Hyperbound, we didn't have the credibility of a big logo wall or the comfort of an established category. 

So Atul Raghunathan and I showed up.

And I don't mean sending a junior rep with a booth.

I mean founder-on-a-plane. Founder-on-the-floor. Founder-at-dinner.

Some of our earliest meaningful opportunities didn't start with an inbound demo request. 

They started with a hallway conversation or a dinner where someone said, "Okay, I get what you’re trying to build."

I remember one event in particular where we had zero brand recognition. I must have had 30 conversations in two days, most of which went nowhere. But one CRO pulled me aside after a panel and said, "If you can actually deliver this, it changes how we run enablement." 

The trust gets built:
– Attending early morning 7 am pre-event breakfasts
- Splitting tables during lunch to meet as many people as possible
- Chasing keynote speakers on their way out
- Making a last impression after your keynote
- Handing out Kota stuffies to everyone you meet
- Staying late at the hotel bar
- Attending or organizing post-event dinners
- Flying out again two weeks later

Enterprise buyers aren't just evaluating your software. 

They're evaluating whether:
- the people running the company will still be there when something breaks
- they move fast
- they think clearly under pressure
- they actually understand the operational reality of a sales org.

A single, honest, in-person conversation can do what months of email threads and Zoom calls fail to accomplish.

As we've grown, employees have asked whether it's still necessary for Atul and I to be at so many events.

If anything, it matters more.

Hyperbound grew because we treated every room as an opportunity to build real relationships. We didn't hide behind dashboards.

On that note, I'll be in NYC on March 11-15, followed by Philly.

DM me if you're around!

Last week, Ece Uyanik closed her first deal at Hyperbound with one of the fastest-growing companies in San Francisco, valued at $250M+ 🚨

The best part?

She did it in under 14 days, first call to close.

And today marks 1 month since she joined.

For context:

- When our first two AEs joined Hyperbound, it took ~2.5 months to close their first deal.
- Ece did it in less than half the time 😅

———

Here’s what makes this especially meaningful to me:

Ece didn’t just sell Hyperbound.

She used Hyperbound.

She practiced inside Hyperbound as part of her ramp

She sharpened her discovery, objection handling, and talk tracks through reps

She even used Hyperbound during her interview process

She treated practice as part of the job, not something optional or extra.

And that preparation showed up immediately in front of buyers.

———

A few things this reinforced for me:

1) Ramp speed reflects ownership, not just skill and tenure

Great AEs don’t wait to feel ready.

They manufacture readiness through reps and feedback.

2) Conviction is built through applying skills, not watching videos or reading through slides.

When you feel yourself getting better, confidence becomes natural.

Buyers feel that instantly.

3) Fast-growing companies move fast for prepared sellers

This deal didn’t close because of luck.

It closed because discovery was tight, value was clear, and the process was controlled.

Preparation compounds.

And the cherry on top, she added an in-person touch because humans still want to buy from humans by going to their office and meeting them face to face. 

———

What I’m most proud of isn’t just Ece’s quick ramp. 

It’s seeing our sales org evolve in real time, collaborate, and really double down on the repeatable motion that Isaac Hong, ☠️ Belal Batrawy, Atul Raghunathan, and I spent the last 2 years developing! 

Huge congrats to Ece on closing her first deal at Hyperbound in record time.

=====================

And to the AEs reading this 👀

If you want to be somewhere that actually invests in your ramp, and gives you opportunities to close massive deals out of th gate, we’re hiring for 2 more Enterprise AEs right now in our SF HQ! 

Dm me if you’re serious.

$20,000 referral bonus for an engineer that we hire? YES, we are hiring for 6 full-stack software engineers at Hyperbound ASAP to join us in our San Francisco HQ!

We are growing fast and supporting Fortune 100 customers means having a cracked customer-facing engineering team that wants to solve some of the most interesting problems. 

We are making decisions within 30 days. 

Atul Raghunathan and I paid out 2 people in the last month for the same referral bonus.

Send your best.

===================
Please tag your best engineering friends in the comments AND have them apply here at: https://lnkd.in/gyiai-pq

Hyperbound is in Austin today and ☠️ Belal Batrawy, our Head of Key Accounts, will be speaking about the future of enablement, revenue activation, and the top 6 things that most sales enablement leaders are not doing today that they should!

Location: Austin Hilton, TX
Time: 11:15 AM CT

He will be joined by Nitin Bhoopal and Isaac Hong!

We have a fun after-event at Bull & Bowl, and have just 1 spot left if you're interested in reserving a spot for dinner! DM me!

If you're a CRO, VP of Sales, or a Head of Enablement, you know the pain of reps losing deals that otherwise could have been won. 

Wouldn't it be amazing if you could predict when the next mistake was going to happen or even identify a negative trend before it affects the deal?

If you haven't taken a look at Hyperbound Perform, our biggest product launch to date, then you're missing a big piece of the puzzle.

It's been making waves for our customers, not to mention our own internal team.

By popular request, Atul Raghunathan and I have decided to live stream a session on how Will Jenkins from Journey is leveraging Hyperbound Perform to streamline his team's efforts:

Date: March 10th, 2026
Time: 9 am PST | 12 pm EST

We'll be covering our continuous learning and coaching model that goes beyond general AI roleplays for certifications and puts the practice in every day deals:

Everything from our latest AI agent, Kota, to bite-sized roleplays will be covered in depth. 

Insights die in dashboards.

Stop playing detective with your own data and bias for action instead. 

========================
Join us to see how the Identify → Analyze → Practice loop helps your team win and avoid dropping deals that could've otherwise been won!

👉🏽 Register and save your spot here: https://lnkd.in/ghEjrJtM

🚨 If you're a great engineer, this code snippet should make you uncomfortable. 

If it doesn't...don't apply.

Most companies post "We're hiring." 

Instead, we decided to put this disturbing React code on a truck and drive it around SF for the next 30 days:

⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ 

useEffect(() => {
 setCount(c + 1);
 console.log('Still hiring.');
 }, [c]);

⬆️ ⬆️ ⬆️

If you immediately get what we're talking about…you're probably the kind of engineer we want to talk to.

Here's the thing:

We're not trying to hire someone who wants a comfy roadmap and a Jira board that never ends.

We're building Hyperbound into the first Revenue Activation Platform for enterprise sales teams and we're doing it fast.

- Y Combinator-backed and raised a $15M Series A recently
- Fortune 10 enterprise customers in under 2 years
- Shipping multiple features a DAY into production
- High ownership, zero passengers
- This isn't a "maintain the dashboard" job.
- Engineers directly interacting with customers every day

You'll work on:
- Real-time AI systems used by revenue teams daily
- Performance-critical infra
- Features customers beg for on calls
- Multimodal AI (with a heavy focus on Voice AI)
- Agentic orchestration
- Real-time behavioral modeling
- And yes, you'll be sitting next to people who care an unreasonable amount about craft, like Albert Yan

=====================
👉🏽 If you're the type of engineer who wants to be part of a generational team building the next unicorn in SF, we should talk.

If you spotted the bug, drop "SQUASHED" in the comments and go straight to:
hyperbound.ai/careers

Let's build something legendary.

The best sales leaders know this, but it's rarely taken seriously.

Sales is, and always has been, about relationships.

It's the #1  reason why we built Hyperbound fully in-person at our San Francisco HQ. 

In a world that optimized for remote everything, we optimized for proximity, to each other and to our customers.

When your entire team is in the same room: 

Reps overhear real customer objections and adjust their talk tracks in real time. 

Product gets pulled into conversations instantly. 

And when it's time to meet a customer, you don't default to Zoom, you walk over.

We have 5 customers less than a 5-minute walk from our office. 

Our reps literally walk to weekly customer success meetings, product launches, and strategy sessions. 

We've onboarded teams over lunch, mapped out rollout plans on whiteboards in their conference rooms, and handed out our famous Kota stuffies to entire sales floors in person.

Yesterday, Isaac Hong and Samuel R. were at the Notion HQ meeting with Gerard Martelly and Laura Torrelko. 

A couple weeks ago, Ece Uyanik and I spent time at the Unify office with Neema Zarrabian 🤝. 

Today, Atul and I are heading to the Glean office—roughly 100 steps from our front door.

When you're physically close to customers, relationships compound faster. Trust builds quicker. Feedback loops tighten. 

You stop being "a vendor" and start becoming part of how they operate.

============
👉🏽 If you're an Enterprise AE who believes relationships are the real moat in sales, and you want to build those relationships in person at HQ, we're hiring 2 more Enterprise AEs right now. Both our AEs last year exceeded their quota 150%+

Comp: $300K OTE + equity + cash bonuses

DM me and apply here asap: https://lnkd.in/gEfuMHeh

We just recently redesigned and refreshed our Hyperbound Demo Site and we've already had so many people messaging us about the new look and feel!

For months, we had folks asking us if they could try our more varieties of AI sales roleplays, and experience more before they even book that first meeting with our team to build their own.

We're glad we've been able to finally put this out there, since this has been long-time coming.

Thank you Eugene Reuka, Daniel Diaz, and Saswat Mishra for helping ship this so quickly!

We're going to be rolling out many more updates to this in the coming weeks!

================
Try out the new demo site here: https://lnkd.in/gGg_H87g for free!

We're glad we partnered with Anaconda, Inc.!! Its' been an exceptional experience, not to mention, they're customers of Hyperbound as well! 

We couldn't build Hyperbound without them!

Hyperbound needed their AI sales coach to behave like real prospects: skeptical, opinionated, and consistent across thousands of tests. 

Manual evaluations and mismatched environments slowed them down and made compliance harder. By standardizing on conda inside Docker, they cut evaluation cycles from days to hours and completed a SOC 2 Type II audit, showing speed and security don’t have to be a trade-off.

According to CTO and co-founder Atul Raghunathan: "Anaconda became the quiet backbone of our realism testing...Every engineer gets the exact same environment, so we know our test results are consistent and our improvements are real, not just artifacts of different setups."

Explore how Hyperbound proved organizations don’t have to choose between speed and security with our latest case study: https://bit.ly/4pJbO8L

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