Andy Budd on Why Technical Founders Struggle with Sales – and How to Fix It

At this year’s Infobip Shift conference in Zadar, Andy Budd – investor, advisor, and former design leader – will deliver crucial lessons to startup founders on achieving product-market fit and building a growth engine.

As a Venture Partner at Seedcamp and the author of The Growth Equation, Andy Budd draws on extensive experience in startups and design. In the interview below, he offers a preview of what he plans to share during his talk.

The Biggest Mistakes Startup Founders Make

Andy believes startup founders most often struggle with sales and marketing. Almost everyone today knows how to build a good product, so product development no longer gives founders a competitive edge. Instead, founders who master sales and marketing gain the real advantage.

There’s a saying: “First-time founders focus on product, second-time founders focus on sales and marketing”. Many founders go wrong here – they misjudge the demand for their product at launch. They expect customers to come rushing in. When that doesn’t happen, or when interest builds slowly, they feel frustrated.

Through his work as an investor and as the author of The Growth Equation, Andy helps founders recognize these challenges early. He guides them to activate sales, start marketing efforts, and design a go-to-market strategy that secures the first hundred and then the first thousand customers. His book focuses on showing founders how to build the engine that fuels growth.

Why Startup Founders Must Build the Sales and Marketing Engine Themselves

Andy urges founders to build this engine themselves at the start.

Many founders, especially those with a product background, prefer to focus on product development. They hire a head of marketing, but after six months, that person produces mediocre results. The founder fires them and brings in someone more experienced – perhaps a former marketing leader from Meta in Europe – yet still fails to see success.

The same pattern occurs in sales. Founders hire a salesperson or a sales manager, but the results disappoint. Andy explains why:

These professionals know how to drive growth for a product that already fits the market and follows an established playbook. In the early stages, no one has written that playbook. The product hasn’t proven itself in the market. Only the founder can discover that fit.

Andy emphasizes that founders must figure out what works and what doesn’t before they delegate that responsibility. Founders who build the foundation themselves can later attract customers who truly want the product.

Curious to hear more from Andy? Catch him live at Infobip Shift, September 14–16.