SaaS GTM specialist | Co-Founder of Cosmic Partners | Working with VC backed tech startups

I'm an experienced SaaS sales leader and GTM expert sharing revenue-focused insight to help early-stage B2B tech founders. I worked in commercial leadership roles for 15 years helping VC-backed B2B technology companies scale revenue, transition from founder-led sales, and build high-performing sales teams. 

In that time I saw how much of an impact hiring the right people can have on the success of early-stage startups trying to hit ambitious growth targets. 

And as a former hiring manager in software sales myself, I know the frustration of being presented with candidates who haven’t been properly screened by recruitment companies.

That’s why I co-founded Cosmic Partners. To bring together SaaS and recruitment expertise to deliver a seamless, time-saving hiring process tailored to startups. Founders and Revenue Leaders trust us to deliver exceptional candidates who align with their sales motion and growth stage, freeing up time to focus on scaling their business. 

At Cosmic Partners we specialise in sales recruitment for VC backed B2B tech companies.

Want to find out more: DM me or email me – matthew@cosmicpartners.co.uk 

Get a free 60-minute GTM review - https://cosmicpartners.co.uk/gtm-review-request

View our recent case studies - https://cosmicpartners.co.uk/resources/case-studies

This was our f*ck it lets do it moment.

It was the 18th March 2020 at 19.32.

It was just before lockdown in a London pub. 

It was our "ah ha" moment. 

It was the very moment Vinay and I first had the idea for Cosmic, in a noisy London pub and over a lager with my Macbook open. 

But here is the part that one one saw... because we didn't start straight away. 

It took 2 more years after this moment before we went all in. 

We used those 2 years to: 

- Validate the problem 
- Pressure test the model 
- Build domain credibility 
- Make sure there was real product-market fit 

I know everyone loves a just quit your job and get started story. But sometimes you need a bit of patient conviction. 

And the thing is we didn’t just validate the market. We validated each other (you have too when you spend so much time together!).

That’s why when we finally went all in…It worked.

I haven’t looked back.

And I wouldn’t change a thing.

p.s I forgot how much younger we looked!

Matthew Codd

I think there are 2 SaaS products that make people worse at sales.

Notetakers and calendar booking links. 

I've never used either.

And this week it clicked why (when I've been on the receiving end of them). 

They change behaviour.

Here is my thinking:

1. Notetakers

When you know that AI is capturing everything you stop truly listening. You stop writing notes you stop re-articulating the problem back to the buyer and that re-articulation is where trust is built. They stop you from processing live information. It's also super annoying knowing the notetaker is there and stop people fully opening up because the meeting is being recorded. 

2. Calendar booking links

They remove control... You send a link, they pick a time and it feels transactional. A big part of selling is creating urgency but these links hand over that control. It's just weird to me that someone else can control your diary. 

Instead of doing this:

1. Take loads of notes on a pad on electronically, show you are listening, summarise what you heard back. Get them to open up knowing the red light isn't flashing and build trust. 

2. Book meetings in, that special moment of sometimes going back and forth a little makes the meeting more special. That slot you suggested when you have time to prep before vs straight back from the school run or something will be worth it. 

They might seem small but outsourcing these 2 parts of the sales process are significant. It's the small things that matter in a sales process. 

Don't outsource these. Keep them manual.

So take your own notes and book your own meetings in!

The number 1 lesson I’ve learned starting a company:

There can’t be a Plan B.

Because in the early days I thought about quitting. It feels like the easy thing to just get another job. That's always the sensible thing to do. 

But I realised something important in that moment...

If I allowed myself a Plan B then eventually I’d take it because being a founder is tough.

So I made a decision.

I had the mindset that there can never be a Plan B.

I had to go all in otherwise it wouldn't work.

Because I knew if the door existed it could be easy to walk through it.

Since then I haven't ever considered quitting it was a mindset shit. And looking back now I think this is something people misunderstand about entrepreneurship.

Founders don’t win because they never doubt themselves.

They win because they remove the option to quit.

Because when quitting isn’t an option…

You stay in the game longer.
You figure things out.

And over time that momentum starts to show up.

I joined 4 pipeline reviews last week with founders. 
In every one of them the same thing was blocking deals:
Relying on sales methodologies.

Instead of knowing how to sell.

Because they substitute for actually learning how to sell.

I see it all the time with early-stage founders.

Instead of investing time getting good at selling…

They adopt a sales methodology, one like:

MEDDIC.
SPICED.
Challenger.

Then every deal becomes a framework exercise.

They ask questions like:

Do we have a champion?
What’s the pain?
What’s the decision process?

And it can feel like progress it can feel like you are running a slick sales process. 

But it's not and you are not. 

I hear the discovery calls and this is just box ticking if it's not used correctly. It becomes a case of asking a question then moving on and asking another. 

And then when deals get stuck so do the founders. 

Because the methodology isn’t the skill.

SELLING is the skill. 

You need to know how to:

- Do discovery very well.
- Understand the buyer.
- Read the room.
- Handle objections.
- Navigate multiple stakeholders.
- Position your product around outcomes not features.
- Create urgency without sounding pushy.
- Adapt in real time.
- Turn vague pain into a clear business case.
- Make the demo exciting. 
- Control the conversation.
- Make the proposal not look like an extra cost. 
- Drive next steps with confidence.

And so much more......

And yes frameworks can support good sellers.

But founders often aren't good sellers. And I keep seeing founders rely on them too early… They often avoid doing the hard thing which is getting genuinely good at selling.

I've said it many times to founders: experienced buyers can spot an inexperienced sales process immediately.

The moment that happens the power dynamic flips.

The buyer is now running the deal.

Sales frameworks don’t win deals.
Sales skill does.

p.s I've been on a mission for the last 3 years to help founders sell better and have now helped over 100. If you are a VC backed B2B SaaS founder drop me a DM and I'll help you!

I became a VP Sales at 27.

And then I got fired.

And I deserved it. 

I was the 1st VP Sales at a Seed stage company.

I was hungry for progression and wanted to prove myself.

And I took the 1st role I was offered. 

But I made a bunch of mistakes. 

Before joining I didn't:

- Do proper due diligence
- Ask for all the metrics
- Speak to the investors
- Get an informal view from others in the LT

After joining I didn't:

- Upskill fast enough
- Build a repeatable motion
- Document a playbook
- Obsess over the numbers
- Learn from other sales leaders

Instead I tried to hustle my way through it.

And eventually… I got fired.

And it hurt my ego for a little bit.

But I was reflecting this week following a load great feedback from founders I helped. And actually it was the best thing that could have happened to my career. Because it forced me to level up.

After right after that moment :

- Built a peer network of sales leaders
- Found mentors
- Spent time with founders and VCs
- Became obsessed with data
- Read everything I could about sales
- Treated sales like a craft, not just a job

That rejection became the turning point.

I've found that sometimes the moments that hurt your ego the most are the ones that build your career the most.

I think AEs close revenue faster than VPs at Seed to Series A.

Hungry AEs create momentum. 

But every week I speak to founders that think just because they have the cash that they should hire a VP because it feels safer. 

So the VP Sales shows up with:

 A 30-60-90 plan
 A hiring roadmap
 A refined ICP
 A new CRM structure
 A new GTM strategy

And the founder is impressed. 

But here’s the hard truth...

At seed stage progress = closed deals.

Not plans.
Not frameworks.
Not dashboards.

Literally just closed deals.

In contract a hungry AE is thinking who they can progress in their pipeline today, who they can call to book a meeting. 

They don’t care that:

- The positioning isn’t perfect
- The deck needs work
- The product has rough edges

Here’s the pattern I see over and over (and this is what contributes to the low average tenure for VPs):

Month 0: Hire VP Sales
Month 3: New messaging, new CRM, new comp plan
Month 6: Still “figuring out PMF”
Month 9: VP leaves or gets fired

Versus:

Month 0: Hire a ruthless AE
Month 1: Onboarded and is prospecting
Month 3: 3 customers
Month 6: 10 customers
Month 9: Found repeatability

And the thing is from my experience early stage start ups don't die because of lack of process they die from lack of momentum.

Hire the person that will close the deals first then hire the VP once their is something to lead.

I keep seeing the same reason early-stage SaaS companies die.
It’s not product.
It’s sales culture.

Why?

Because most SaaS founders have never worked in a real sales environment. And to make things worse most sellers are used to the sales culture post covid. 

So they don’t know what good actually looks like.

It's a situation where nobody in the room has seen the sales culture needed to succeed in this market. 

And the culture needed to succeed has been diluted. 

Instead I see:

- Soft pipeline reviews
- Optimistic forecasting
- Reps working from home with 'full pipelines'
- Deals that have been closing this month for 4 months
- People playing table tennis in we works during core time

And it creates a sluggish revenue culture. 

The best early-stage sales teams operate very differently because they are absolutely relentless about pipeline and sales culture. 

A few things I always advise founders to do:

1. Brutal pipeline reviews
Clear entry and exit criteria. It should feel like a beating and if it’s not a meeting in the diary it doesn’t exist.

2. Negative forecasting
Assume deals will slip or die. Sellers should have to prove why it will close.

3. Hire hunters and not order-takers
Early stage = outbound, rejection, hustle. Hire the people that are willing to do what ever it takes. 

4. Get in front of customers
Too many SaaS reps hide behind Zoom and Slack.

5. Have 15X pipeline coverage
You can't kill a company with too much pipeline so have enough to make it a champagne problem. 

The truth is that early-stage SaaS has been glamorised. It's become a sexy job. But it shouldn't be, it's not a lifestyle job it’s f*cking grind. 

And when founders don’t set that culture early the company pays for it later.

And the uncomfortable truth in my experience is that most SaaS companies die because nobody was REALLY selling.

I’ve come to a simple conclusion:

Closed Lost reasons are usually just polite excuses.

Because I've seen hundreds of pipelines and I always see in close lost:

- Not a priority right now
- Budget constraints
- Went with another vendor
- Timing isn’t right

But let’s be honest, those aren’t real reasons.

They just words to get you to stop pestering them.

Because if a buyer really sees the value then budgets get reshuffled and timing suddenly works.

So when someone ghosts you or sends a vague breakup message the real reason is usually much simpler:

- You didn’t create enough value early in the process.
- You didn’t connect the problem strongly enough to their business.
- You didn’t make the cost of inaction painful enough.
- You didn't engage the right people.

It's on you not them. 

And the best way to spot these is to REALLY dissect deals when they go to closed lost to really get the learnings:

- Where did the urgency disappear?
- When did the champion lose conviction?
- Did we tie the problem to revenue, cost or risk?
- Did we control the process?

Because those polite excuse tell you so much. They are telling you where you f*cked up in the process. And yes it can be hard to hear but it's the best place to get the learnings. 

Just pick up the phone and be authentic with them. Tell them that you clearly didn't sell value and ask for another shot and take them back 3 stages back in your pipeline. 

And when you didn’t sell the value clearly enough remember it's actually good news. Because fixing sales process is in your control!

I realised that I never try to sell anything.

It's the reason people buy from me.

I literally never pitch or push anyone through a sales process. 

I just find pain and solve problems.

My process has always been simple:

1. Ask questions
2. Build trust
3. Diagnose the problem
4. Help solve it
5. If can't help then find a way to add value.

That’s it.

No aggressive pitch.
No long slide decks.
No pressure.
No fake urgency.

This week I realised that most founders I speak too they jump straight into selling product. They talk about feature and functions before they understand the problem. 

When you slow down and focus on understanding first something interesting happen in the process. Prospects start opening up.. They start explaining what isn't working, where the pain is and what they have already tried.

And once you truly understand the problem the next step becomes obvious.

At that point they’ve basically sold themselves.

The conversation shifts from you trying to sell to you helping fix the problem they just described.

And that’s the real secret.

Great sales doesn’t feel like selling.

It feels like solving problems together.

I’m hiring for my team! 

It's a Growth Lead at Cosmic Partners!

I'm looking for someone that will work directly with me to help build our GTM and work on some pretty cool projects together. 

Yes I'm aware I might be biased... but this really is a great opportunity for the right person. 

Over the last 3 years we’ve focused on helping early-stage VC-backed SaaS companies transition from founder-led sales to building high-performing sales teams.

 Along the way we have:

- Built strong relationships with founders, and VCs across the SaaS ecosystem
- Helped startups build sales team and structure their commercial teams
- Created the strongest offering on the market
- Grown the business profitably with a lean team

And it's now the right moment to hire someone full time to help with our next growth phase. 

So just a small list of some of the things you’ll help drive:

- Turning insights from founder conversations into deep domain content
- Mapping VC targets and running targeted ecosystem campaigns
- Supporting with distributing our content through various channels  
- Launching webinars, events, roundtables and community initiatives
- Running ABM and outbound campaigns and iterating quickly
- Creating guides, courses, playbooks, and resources for founders
- Helping grow the Cosmic community
- Testing new growth channels
- Helping increase Cosmic brand awareness

This is a great role for someone who wants to learn fast (I'll be able to connect you with great people in my network for learnings), build things from scratch, and work closely with a founder while building a brand inside the startup ecosystem.

Salary: £50k plus 30% bonus
Location: Remote and I'm open to flexible working around childcare

You will also get the best hardware and software you need. 

If you’re excited by this opportunity or know someone who would be just drop me a message to find out more.

p.s I’ll drop a link to role in the comments. We’ll also be running the same hiring process we use for our clients!

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